Mastering Knowledge Management Systems: Building a Framework for Organizational Excellence

1. Knowledge Management Systems • Week 2 Schedule • Syllabus Updates (almost) • Class Web site • http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/2008/fall/INF_385Q/index.html • Readings Discussion • Blog accounts setup • http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/2008/fall/INF_385Q/blog/ • Topic Review & Selection Discussion

2. Blog Setup • http://courses.ischool.utexas.edu/Turnbull_Don/2008/fall/INF_385Q/blog/ • Let’s walk through a blog post • Blog content • Commentary with your own thoughts • Analysis of someone else’s ideas • Fellow class members • About our class readings • From another web page or blog post • Recommendations (with explanation & commentary • Links to other web pages or blog posts • Referring to other information sources • People, meetings, news, software… • Queries for help or discussion • Ask others for their insights into an issue or problem

3. Questions to Consider • What is KM? • What Does KM Provide? • Personal • Organizational • Best Approaches for KM? • Is KM a process? • Who Does KM? • Contexts: • Culture • Environment • Change • Cooperation

4. Working Knowledge • What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Knowledge? • The Promise and Challenge of Knowledge Markets • Knowledge Generation • Knowledge Coordination and Codification • “the only unlimited resource” – Paul Romer • Book context • 1998 (1997-1996) • Based on consulting experiences • Consulting tool (optimism)

5. Personal & Organizational KM • The organization is no longer a “black box” • Study & improvement of the processes & outcomes (but more subtle than Taylorism) • An increased focus on knowledge is the result of a more abstract, services, information economy • In G8+ countries only? (by definition?) • The cause of outsourcing? • Mobility of the workforce & lack of organizational stability places more focus on “the value of something once it is gone” (p. x) • Technology is often thought to replace people

6. KM is asking questions • What do you need to know? • What would you do better next time? • Who knows what? • How can you work together? • How can you add value to information (with knowledge)? • How can you measure or manage this knowledge? • KM is a framework for asking & analyzing thought as external work.

7. Tools and KMS • Information Technology has enabled a promise that knowledge can be managed, captured, measured and transferred. • Speed of Transfer • SIGs and User Groups • Too Fast? • Measurement of Knowledge? • Quantitative and Qualitative • Decision Making • Economics of Knowledge • Nobel Prize(s) • Business Process Modeling

8. Knowledge Boom? • Who are the Knowledge Wildcatters? • What are the Knowledge Syndicates? • Knowledge De-Regulation? • What was going on before the boom? • Knowledge Vacuum • Noticing lost knowledge because it is gone. • Working to improve organizational performance. • Driven by Technology? • IT as a means? • IT as a workplace paradigm shifter?

9. Path to Knowledge • Data • Information – Added Value • Contextualized: purpose data is gathered • Categorized: key components recognized • Calculated: analyzed • Corrected: error free • Condensed: summarized • “the difference that makes a difference” – Bateson • Knowledge • Action (decisions) • Experience (wisdom) • What isn’t knowledge?

10. Types of Knowledge (in Action) • Defining knowledge by how it is used • What other ways to identify knowledge? • Experience • Individuals • Groups • Cultures • Ground Truth • Situational • Active (evolving) • Complexity • Plastic • Subtle • Sensemaking - Interpretation

11. Types of Knowledge 2 • Rules of Thumb and Intuition • Heuristics • Procedures • “Scripts” • Goals (shared) • Intuitions (“compressed expertise”) • How are these different from person to person, from org to org?

12. Subtle Knowledge • Cultural values • Beliefs • Technology fixes • Individual orientation • Group building & consensus • “Beliefs and Commitment” – Nonaka & Takeuchi • Define the organization

13. BP Virtual Teamwork • Understanding work over efficiency gains • Distributed culture & understanding • K originates & resides in people’s minds • K sharing requires trust • Technology enables new K behaviors • K sharing must be encouraged & rewarded • Management support is essential • Use pilot programs for KM introduction to the org • Measure the pilot programs (show success) • Encourage creativity

14. Knowledge Interpreted • Is Knowledge a Product or a Service? • What isn’t Knowledge once interpreted? • That Difference that makes you more Competitive? • Knowledge is the main difference, the principle advantage. • Technologies eventually evens out • The changes to culture and individuals don’t. • Information Technology can enable changes that last beyond their influence. • Networked Knowledge • Networked Organization

15. Knowledge & Teams • Can a large organization be as effective as a smaller one? • Do larger organizations have a higher percentage of available knowledge? • Is knowledge more important than speed? • What difference does technology make? • Speed of decision making? • Cultural context for communication? • Space and Time are less of a constraint • Less focus on mechanics of work, more focus on knowledge use & creation?

16. Knowledge Markets • Economists moving into KM? • Markets Mean Measurement • KM Mutual Fund? • KM Index Fund? • Political Economy of Knowledge Markets • Organizations • Individual Roles • Buyers • Sellers • Brokers (Gatekeepers) • Types of costs, perceived value • Competition

17. Knowledge Economy • Value & Pricing (p 31) • Current Value • Future Value • Current Investment • Future Investment • Reciprocity • Repute • Altruism • Trust • Signals

18. Knowledge Market (In)Efficiencies • Is there ever a perfect market? • What is the KM equivalent of “Irrational Exuberance”? (Greenspan, Shiller) • Incompleteness • Where is the Knowledge? • Who sets the price? • Asymmetry • One Department, One Person • Localness • Neighbors • Peers • “Satisficing” (Simon and March)

19. Knowledge Market Pathologies • Do these naturally occur? • Monopolies • Technological • Organizational • (Artificial) Scarcity • Recency • Frequency • Trade Barriers • IT • Personnel • Culture • Building Marketplaces • Shopping Time to mingle, browse and famliarize • Cultural Shift to a knowledge market • Technological Shift to doing this with IT

20. Information as Product • “The Age of Also” • Options are Golden Handcuffs • End in Itself • Prosumption • The Age of User Groups (Teach & Learn at Once) • Society and Consumers (Precision & Repetition) • Information Presentation • Medium is the Message • Varieties of Literacy • The Internet Changes Everything? • Empowerment? (Value) • Speed? Expectations

21. Knowledge Generation • “Innovation Department”? • Acquisition • Rental • Processes • R & D • Fusion • Adaptation • Innovation • Resource Allocation

22. Knowledge Codification • Identifying knowledge means knowing what you should be doing • Goals for Codified Knowledge: • Decide business goals needing knowledge • Identify Knowledge in various forms to reach goals • Evaluate Knowledge for Utility and Codification • Resolve Medium for Codification and Access

23. Types of Knowledge • Tacit Knowledge • Internalized • “Not Known” • Serendipitous • Difficult to Capture • Explicit Knowledge • Externalized • Easily Found • Permanent • Difficult to Process for Utility

24. Capturing Knowledge • Maps • Narratives • Surveys • Measurement as Capture • Anthropology • Technology

25. Coordinating Knowledge • Communities (of Practice) • Networks • Knowledge Marketplace Evaluation • IT R&D • Knowledge Packet Tracing

26. Next week • Experiment with collaborative technologies • Use blog to discuss the Working Knowledge chapters 5 & 6 • Use the listserv to discuss Working Knowledge chapter 7 & 8 • Counts toward class participation • Quick review of readings, including the Tiwana article the week after