Knowledge Technology
Lecture (8)
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The American Productivity and
Quality Center (APQC) (1997)
suggests that for organizations to
succeed in KM initiatives, a suitable
IT infrastructure must be
established.
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Information technology has been defined as
“The fundamental building block that
supports and coordinates KM initiatives". For
that reason, Davenport and Prusak (1998)
termed it knowledge technologies or
“Techknowledgies”.
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There is a debate around the effectiveness of the
IT-based system as a facilitator for the KM
process.
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Some authors argue a limited role for IT in the KM process
because its effectiveness is highly dependent on:-
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Whether an individual knows or not what he is looking
for.
How individuals modify, use and transfer their
experiences to others.
An individual's trust in knowledge which resides in a
system .
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Also ,according to the resource-based view of the firm ,
all the information technology infrastructure can’t
determine as a strategic asset ,it is a tangible; it is
largely software-dependent; which is easily replicated,
copied, or cloned even when protected by regulatory
assets such as copyright, patents and licenses.
On the other hand
 Many authors maintain that technologies, if
correctly designed and implemented, can
effectively support KM.
Information technology plays different roles in
KM:1) Obtaining knowledge.
2) Defining knowledge.
3) Storing knowledge .
4)
Categorizing knowledge .
5) Indexing knowledge.
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6- linking knowledge-related digital items.
7-Seeking and identifying related content.
8- Flexibly expressing content based on
various utilization backgrounds.
 According to this viewpoint organizations
should have well-developed technology to
leverage KM.
Knowledge-intensive firms (KIF) today are
employing one technology or a combination
of many key technologies;
Groupware - Messaging Web browsers - Document management Search &Retrieval -Data mining
Visualization – Group decision support
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Three types of Knowledge technology are found.
Firstly, The knowledge -oriented technologies
such as group-ware and web browsers which
directly process knowledge work and the sharing
of knowledge within the organization.
Secondly, The function-oriented technologies
 such as office automation, robotics and desk-top
computing technologies those support
operational level activities such as data
processing, production, marketing ,and service
delivery.
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Finally, The specialty-oriented technology,
 Which supports specialized functions within
the firm: those functions which require a high
level of know-how, for example computeraided design and manufacture software
(CAD/CAM), and expert systems software
Knowledge Technology
in Organizations
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E- Bay : is an E-business example in which knowledge and
its management forms the lifeblood: the fundamental
nature of its work involves the use and convey the
knowledge to market participants, and to the system itself.
It acquires Knowledge about sellers' offers, buyers‘
commitments, and participants' market experiences.
It assimilates knowledge, filtering, screening and
organizing.
It also selects simplified knowledge as needed to satisfy
participants' requests and applies in its own internal
processing for such activities as coordinating participant
interactions and enforcing rules of conduct.
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It distributes knowledge about states (issuing
alerts, showing auction status, indicating
participant reputation),
about procedures (how to initiate auctions,
how to ensure a safe trading experience)
and about policies ( trading tips, pays ) (All in
all) .
What the E-Bay system does is an example of
Knowledge management which cannot be
done without the computer based technology
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Ford Motor is a clear example of an organization
which is heavily investing in knowledge
technologies to redefine the auto manufacturing
industry and create a SCA in the auto industry.
The organization has established the auto
exchange mart -an intensive KM technology and
electronic commerce system intended to shift the
car-manufacturing model from a ‘push’ business
model to the ’pull’ model, in which the consumer
determines the precise configuration of the car
before it is manufactured.
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Further, auto designers, marketers and
production engineers are able to gain insights
and knowledge about the customer. Thus, by
effectively harnessing the capabilities
provided by IT, Ford is attempting to create a
SCA in the auto industry .
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Microsoft also developed a project entitled ‘skills
planning development’ (SPD), which focused on
competencies needed to stay on the leading edge
in the workplace,
It implemented an on-line system which
contained a job rating system and rating
database, as well as competency levels for
employees.
This system had a web front end for easy access
through Microsoft's intranet, and thus it achieved
increased communication among employees and
an increased advantage over competitors .
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Knowledge technology and KM processes are
closely tied together, as both of them help
the distribution of knowledge vertically as
well as horizontally within the organization.
So the main goal of many organizations today
is to use advancements in KT to conduct KM
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K- Technology is a key enabler of the
knowledge creation process. Building on
Nonaka’s theory, IT is considered as another
form of Ba by which the different modes of
knowledge creation can be enhanced.
For example; data warehousing, data mining,
document repositories and software
agents have a great value in cyber Ba.
Also, information systems designed for the
support of collaboration, coordination and
communication processes are a component
of interacting Ba.
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Intranets and email can also support
individual learning (conversion of explicit
knowledge to personal tacit knowledge)
through capabilities such as computer
simulation (to support learning-by-doing)
and smart software tutors.
Furthermore, communication technology
can increase the quality of k. creation by
increasing
the
interaction
among
organizational members, sharing ideas
and
perspectives,
which
enables
individuals to arrive at new insights and
accurate interpretations.
Tacit to Tacit
Tacit to Explicit
E-meeting
Video conference
Synchronous collaboration
Telecommunication technology
Answering questions
Annotation
e-mail
CAD
Telecommunication technology
Explicit to Tacit
Visualization
Brows-able video\audio of
presentation
Communication technology
simulation
Explicit to Explicit
Text search
Document categorization
Simulation
CAD- EMS
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KT can increase knowledge transfer by
extending the individual's reach beyond
formal communication lines.
Computer networks, electronic bulletin
boards and discussion groups create a forum
which facilitates contact between the person
seeking knowledge and those who may have
access to the knowledge; such networks
expose individuals to more new ideas
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Metadata and knowledge maps prove to be as
important as the original knowledge itself,
enabling individuals to rapidly locate either
the knowledge or the individual who has the
needed knowledge, more rapidly than would
be possible without such IT-based support
Not : Metadata is defined as (Knowledge
about where the knowledge resides)
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In addition, informational communication
technology has a direct and indirect influence
on the motivation to share knowledge,
because it can play different functions:1. Eliminate hindrances& obstacles
2. Provide channels to obtain information
3. Correct Knowledge flow processes
4. Identifies the location of knowledge carrier
and knowledge seeker.
5. Make searching and using knowledge far
easier
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KT can have a positive influence on
knowledge application, through enhancing kintegration and facilitating the capture,
updating, and accessibility of organizational
directives.
For example, many organizations are
enhancing
the
ease
of
access
and
maintenance of their directives (repair
manuals, policies and standards) by making
them available on corporate intranets.
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This increases the speed at which changes
can be applied.
Also, organizational units can follow a faster
learning curve by accessing the knowledge of
other units which have gone through similar
experiences.
Moreover, by increasing the size of
individuals' internal social networks and by
increasing the amount of organizational
memory available, KT allow for organizational
knowledge to be applied across time and
space
K
K
K
Creation
Dissemination
Application
data mining
learning tools
just in time learning
groupware
intranet
electronic bulletin
boards
k-directories
internal networks
communication
channels
groupware
intranet
expert systems
workflow systems
communication
technology
groupware
intranet
Techknowledgies Examples
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Internet is a network
to share
knowledge with knowledge providers
across the world –
Intranet provides same but restricted
access from outsidethat networks
have been built in many corporations for
information sharing and ecommerce
An extranet is a computer network that
allows controlled access from the outside
for specific business. Extranets are
extensions to, or segments of, the
private intranet .
 Data
mining is the exploration and analysis
of large quantities of data in order to
discover valid, novel, potentially useful,
and ultimately understandable patterns in
data.
 Use a variety of decision trees and
modelling algorithms to discover patterns
and correlations in vast amounts of data .
 Use sophisticated data search capabilities.
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Allows to work on same document by
multiple users
Maintain and update identical data on
numerous PCs
Organising discussions
Storing information
Moving and tracking documents of groups
Preventing unauthorised access of data
Mobile use to access corporate network
Shift to dynamic social web
applications
 Network effects critical to their
success
 Provide customer services free –
Google ($200bn), YouTube ($1.6bn),
Face book ($50bn)
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Allows content from different sources to
combine with applications for different
business processes
E.g. Getting insurance quote (price offer
)from website
E.g. Starbucks helps customers locate
nearest café once they’ve entered postcode
Information from external sources can be
inaccurate or may change significantly in
future.
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Blogs – adding thoughts or diary of events
Podcasts – audio blogs
V.log – video blog
Trackbacks – allows bloggers to see who’s
linking to them
Can act as alternative to face-to-face
meetings to engage in problem solving
Engage with customers across boundaries
Twitter – micro-blogging site-(vine)
‘Connectors’ – social glue
 Information brokers on best deals etc.
 ‘Salesmen’ – good at convincing you
and getting you to act.
 Amazon is reliant on ranking of
reviewers to develop trust with
customers
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Web pages that can be viewed and
modified by anyone
Allows to create or change web content
Places power and freedom in hands of
users rather than external ‘expert’
Works in progress on virtual ‘white
boards’
Can be open to manipulation and
vandalism
Maintenance can be time-consuming
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Individuals interact with others in
community
Social network sites (SNS): Face book,
MySpace, LinkedIn.
SNS tend to support pre-existing
relationships rather than new ones
Benefit from social capital and selfpresentation
Risk over privacy from third party securing
personal information
Allows interaction with different people in
network
Database with query and reporting
tools
 Stores current and historical data from
internal and external sources
 Data mart – subset of data warehouse
which contains summarised or highly
focused data for certain users
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 Modelling
– way of representing
objects e.g. journal covers,
weather maps
 Rendering/presenting – makes
computer generated image look
like photograph e.g. texture
mapping
 Virtual reality
Computer-simulated worlds where
users interact in real time through
‘avatars’
 Avatars are ( 3-D )electronic cartoons
of users; form of alter ego
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(to represent your self in a cartoon form )
Conduct meetings, workshops and
recruitment
 Multinationals such as IBM, Dell,
Ericsson, Bain
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Capture and store past experiences as
organisational knowledge
 System searches for stored cases with
similar profile to new problem
 Adds unsuccessful cases to aid
learning
 Built on artificial intelligence
technology
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Knowledge technology can lead to a greater
breadth and depth of knowledge creation,
transfer and application in organizations,
resulting in the following :
1) Improving the decision making process
2) Increasing knowledge- transfer speed
3) Supporting knowledge codification
4) Improving knowledge productivity
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5-Improving communication among
organizational members
6-Reducing the time and cost of
information access
7-Facilitating rapid searches
8-Supporting collaboration
The End