KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management(KM):

combination of activities involved in gathering,organizing, sharing analyzing, and disseminating knowledge to improve performance.

Knowledge management systems(KMS):

Refers to use of modern information technologies to systemize, enhance intra and inter firm KM.

PROCESS

RELEVANT K N O W L E D G E

INFORMATION

D A T A
RELEVANT AND ACTIONABLE DATA

Characteristics of Knowledge

Extraordinary leverage and increasing returns Fragmentation, leakage and need to refresh Uncertain value Uncertain value of sharing

Rooted in time
Tacit and Implicit knowledge

KM Activity(KMA)

To make knowledge visible To make knowledge intensive culture To build a knowledge infrastructure Knowledge creation

Knowledge sharing

KM System Cycle
CREATE

KNOWLEDGE

CAPTURE

DISSEMINATE

REFINE

MANAGE

STORE

Approaches to KM

Process approach codifies org. knowledge through formalized controls, processes and technologies. (intranets, data warehousing and knowledge repositories)

Practice approach focuses on building social environment to facilitate the sharing of tacit understanding. (to provide highly customized solutions to unique problems)

KMS Implementation

Integration of three essential components

Communication technologies Collaboration technologies Storage and retrieval

Artificial intelligence

Expert location systems Interactive computerized systems

Companies such AskMe (askmecorp.com)

Employee knowledge networks

Facilitate knowledge sharing through intranet Processes emails, docs, and business communications

Discovers work focus , expertise and business relationships

Extracts employee interests and solutions to problems Ensures brain storming and communication

Role of knowledge professionals

Characterized by variety and exception Performed by professionals or technical workers. Knowledge professionals Able to extract, filter and disseminate vital knowledge.

Develop workgroup application suites

Autocategorization

Automates the classification of data into categories for future retrieval. Search engines like Yahoo! And Google use autocategorization software. For example US Robotics.

Management issues

Organizational cultural change Storing tacit knowledge

Tangible and intangible benefits of KMS

Role of various personnel in KMS Importance of KM Implementation

KM products

Knowware
Collaborative computing tools Knowledge servers Enterprise knowledge portals Electronic document management

Knowledge harvesting tools

Knowledge management suites

Search engines
Consulting firms

Success and Failure factors

SUCCESS Accelerates learning and innovation through sophisticated KM processes Facilitates knowledge convergence and enrich the corporate memory Minimizes reinvention and knowledge evaporation Helps understand customers better, deliver quality and timely response to meet the highest expectations FAILURE Over reliance on a database ensuring quality of written contributions Failure to understand and connect knowledge management into individuals daily work activities Creation of repositories without addressing the need to manage content

Infosys technologies & KM

World wide leader in outsourcing Faced the challenge of keeping its employee base up to date and effective usage of knowledge. learn once, use anywhere. 1990 Bodies of knowledge By 2000- K-Shop As volume of content increased, so did problems relating to find

useful information.

Modified the KCU, rated the usefulness from the user perspective rather than the reviewers.

Lessons from the case

Knowledge management initiatives are much more than
the implementation of technology tools to allow employees to post knowledge. They involve processes to organize, categorize and rate usefulness of knowledge to encourage knowledge sharing and use!!!!