Chapter 4
Knowledge Management
(Knowledge-Based Systems; R Akerkar, P Sajja)
What Drives Knowledge Management
Following are the reasons; why knowledge management is
important.
Size and dispersion of an organization
Reducing risk and uncertainty
Improving the quality of decisions
Improving customer relationships
Techno centric support
Intellectual asset management and prevention of
knowledge loss
Future use of knowledge
Enhance an organization’s brand image
Shorter product cycle
Restricted access and added security
Evolution of Knowledge Management
The typical evolution of knowledge management in an
organization.
Ad-hoc Knowledge
There is no formal procedure of knowledge management
Sophisticated Knowledge Management
The organization might have formal KM (Knowledge
Management) process but uses only certain phases of it.
Embedded Knowledge Management
Organizations may have critical processes and
knowledgeable expert who has a high degree of knowledge
regarding the organization’s business and its knowledge
assets
Evolution of Knowledge Management
The typical evolution of knowledge management in an
organization.
Integrated Knowledge Management
All of the tasks, major operations and systems of an
organization are contained in a knowledge management
system and knowledge is shared through a common
integrated environment.
Elements of Knowledge Management
Leadership
People
Structure
Measures
Strategy
Process
Knowledge
repository
Knowledge management
Culture Technology
Communication
Figure 4.1 Elements of knowledge management
Elements of Knowledge Management
People and Skills
Skilled work force and their expertise facilitate
knowledge use.
Procedures
Standard procedures and basic operations generates
knowledge
Strategy and Policy
During the KM, the promises to customer , product quality and
policies should be kept into consideration. They improve
customer relationship
Technology
Technology plays a variety of role in providing sharing and
documenting knowledge.
Knowledge Management Process
Knowledge management process encompasses the
phases of Knowledge discovery, knowledge
documentation, knowledge sharing and
knowledge use.
Knowledge Management Process
Management,
employees, and other
users
Explicit Tacit
knowledge knowledge
Documents and Strategy, policies, and
observation skills
Development methodology, tools, and KM team
Standards
Requirements
Discovery
Sharing KM Documentation
Cycle
Use
Organization-wide
knowledge repository
Figure 4.2: Conceptual process of knowledge management
Knowledge Management Process
Knowledge Discovery and Innovation:
Knowledge discovery encompasses activities regarding the
identification and acquisition of knowledge. Creation of
new knowledge is considered as Innovation. Tacit
knowledge is extracted from the people and policies and
explicit knowledge is obtained from processes,
documentation, and reports.
Knowledge Documentation
The discovered knowledge should be stored according to its
application and nature. There should be meta knowledge.
Sorting, classification, classification strategies are used.
Knowledge Management Process
Knowledge Use
Use and reuse of knowledge is part of work process. It may be used to
solve the problems, support business related decisions and train the
work force within the an organization
Knowledge Sharing
The knowledge repository should be available centrally so
that all authorized users can handle and contribute to it. When
the content of the repository is sent to the required people it is
called as the “information push”. When the repository is utilizes
as needed and the content is fetched to solve a specific problem,
it is called as “information pull”
KM Tools and Technologies
1.Tools for Discovering Knowledge
2. Tools for Documenting knowledge
3. Tools for sharing and using knowledge
4. Technologies for knowledge Management
KM Tools and Technologies
1. Tools for Discovering Knowledge
Creative abstraction
Simulation
interactive sessions Identification and innovation
Meetings
Morphological Analysis
Presentations
Information audit Interactive dialogues
Knowledge
discovery tools
Profiling Meetings
Conceptual mapping Intelligent
agents
Figure 4.4: Knowledge discovery tools
KM Tools and Technologies
2.Tools for Documenting knowledge
Need: in the absence of high quality
documentation, an organization may face
difficulties.it incorporates authoring, testing,
editing and correcting errors.
Design Specifications
Metadata Tools
Algorithms
Knowledge Tree
Authoring Tools
Tools for Documenting knowledge
Design
specifications
Metadata tools Product data
management
Knowledge
documentation
tools
Algorithms Thesaurus
Knowledge tree Authoring tools
Figure 4.5: Knowledge documentation tools
KM Tools and Technologies
Tools for sharing and using knowledge
E-marketing
Special groups
Office Design
Portal
Network
E-marketing
Special groups Portal
Tools to share and
use knowledge
Office design Network
Knowledge centers
Figure 4.6: Tools for sharing and using knowledge
KM Tools and Technologies
Technologies for knowledge Management
Managing Knowledge
Preserving and Applying human expertize.
Using History as knowledge
Case-Based Reasoning; use of historical data; provides
different methods for using knowledge in past cases.
Discovering New Knowledge
Case-Based Reasoning Cycle
In case-based reasoning cycle, the knowledge
documented in following manner:
Take the problem and convert it into target case
The target case is combined with appropriate source.
The combined target case and source case is called adapted target case
The adapted target case is then revised using domain knowledge and
converted into revised target case.
The revised target case is considered as learned case and stored in the
knowledge-base.
Prepared By: Ashique Rasool
Case-Based Reasoning Cycle
KM Roles and Responsibilities
Chief Knowledge Officer(CKO)
Leader of KM team
Responsible for development and uses of KM system
Knowledge Engineer
Developer and administrator of organizational
knowledge repository
Problem solver, Trouble Shooter
Knowledge Facilitator
Facilitating knowledge usage at multiple sites
Understand the detailed logic of the business cycle,
principles, processes, tools and technologies
KM Roles and Responsibilities
Knowledge Worker
Use, reuse and apply the documented knowledge
Carry out the business procedures by using minimum
use of resources to achieve the goal
Knowledge Consultant
Contribute to the development of strategy, vision and
risk analysis
Audit the plans for KM activities
Support development of KM objectives and policies
Knowledge Management Models
Transaction Model
Focuses on routine work done at individual level
Highly reliant on formal procedures and dependent on
individual workers
Examples: Call centre knowledge management system,
Consultancy-providing systems
Cognitive Model
Emphasize on conceptual strength, reuse and
standardization
Knowledge Management Models
Network Model
Focuses on connections and relationships among
elements of the KM system
Considers how knowledge is acquired, shared and
transferred
Community Model
Used for collaborative and interactive type of KM
systems
Recognizes the relationships between organizations
Checks the need for continuous exchange among
knowledge roles
Benefits of Knowledge Management
Organizational and Administrative Knowledge-Related Benefits
Benefits • Documentation and safekeeping of
Improved customer service, customer knowledge
relationship, and brand image of the • High degree of availability and access
organization in the most flexible way to the latest organization-wide
Reducing cost and increasing knowledge
productivity and performance • Reduces knowledge loss
simultaneously • Provides background of innovation
Reducing process/product cycle time and new knowledge creation
and faster problem solving • Controlled redundancy of stored
Ease of administration and control knowledge
Supporting best practices
Individual
Individual Benefits
Benefits
•• High-quality decision within a given time frame
•• Job security and personal development
•• Rewards and recognition
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Challenges of Knowledge Management
Many organizations overlook factors like work environment, interpersonal
relationships, employee initiatives, and the overall attitude of the
employees.
A knowledge management system should consider an individual’s
knowledge, provide methods to reward it, and hence establish a culture that
recognizes tacit knowledge and encourages employees.
Since knowledge can get old quickly, the content in a KM program should be
constantly updated, amended, and, if necessary, deleted. KM is a forever-
evolving business practice.
With efforts required to develop KMSs and to manage the abstract nature of
knowledge, the challenge of organizing the knowledge resources of an
organization to generate a viable advantage becomes more critical due to the
following:
The marketplace is gradually more competitive and the rate of innovation is growing, so
knowledge must evolve and be incorporated at a rapid pace.
Competitive pressures are reducing the size of the workforce that holds this knowledge.
Employees are starting to retire earlier and are becoming increasingly mobile, leading to
loss of knowledge.
