Capturing Tacit

Knowledge
Knowledge Management
By Asher Neel D’cunha 1716029
INTRODUCTION

What is Knowledge Capture ?

 An “applied Brain Drain”
 A “manual craft that depends on the skill and effectiveness of the
knowledge developer”
 The “transfer of problem-solving expertise from some knowledge source to
a repository or a program”
 The “process by which knowledge management system developers
discover the knowledge that company experts use to perform the task of
interest”
 An investigative experimental process involving interviews and protocol
analysis in order to build a KM system.
KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE

Knowledge Capture is a mental process in which a knowlwdge developer collaborates with the
expert to convert expertise into a coded program. Three important steps are involved :

1. Using an appropriate tool to elicit information from the expert.

2. Interpreting the information and inferring the expert’s underlying knowledge and reasoning
process.
3. Using the interpretation to build the rules that represent the expert’s thought processes or
solutions.
KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE

The following suggestions can be used to improve the knowledge capture process:

1. Knowledge developers should focus on how experts approach a problem.

2. Knowing that true expertise takes the form of chunked knowledge , knowledge developers
should reevaluate how well they understand the problem domain and how well they are
modelling it.
3. The quality of human emulation is best captured through episodic knowledge based on
previous experience.
EVALUATING THE EXPERT
An expert is very important and valuable for the project. An expert has the technical know-how
to decode what lies in the program and to solve problems an organization faces on a regular basis.
There are several indicators of expertise.
• Peers regard the expert’s decisions as good decisions. The expert commands genuine
requirements.
• Whenever a specific problem arises people in the company consult the expert. The expert
admits not knowing the answer to a problem. Honesty indicates self-confidence and a realistic
view of the limitations.
• The expert avoids information that is irrelevant to the domain and instead stick to the facts and
works with a focus.
• The expert demonstrates a knack for explaining things and can customize the presentation of
information to the level of the individual listener.
INTERVIEW AS A TOOL

The interview is a tool that is used commonly in the early stages of tacit knowledge capture. It is the
oldest and the most commonly used tool for capturing tacit knowledge. It has four primary
advantages:

1) Its flexibility makes it superior tool for exploring areas

2) It offer better opportunity than any other tool for evaluating the validity of information acquired.
3) Its an effective technique for eliciting information about complex subjects and for probing an
individuals sentiments underlying expressed opinions
4) Many people enjoy being interviewed, regardless of the subject. They usually cooperate when all
they have to do is talk.
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

1) Multiple Choice Questions : offer specific choices ,faster tabulation, and less bias due to the
ways the answers are ordered.
2) Dichtomous (yes/no) questions: They are a special type of multiple-choice questions. They
offer two answers. The sequence of questions and context is very important.
3) Ranking scale Questions: Ask the expert to arrange items in a list in order of their
importance or preference.
THANK YOU