From: AAAI Technical Report SS-97-01. Compilation copyright © 1997, AAAI (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.
Caring About Knowledge: The Importance of the Link Between Knowledge and
Values
Sue P. Stafford
Department of Philosophy
SimmonsCollege
300 The Fenway
Bostom, MA02114
sstafford@ simmons.edu
Abstract
This paper exploresthe connectionbetweenknowledgeand
values (whichI call careabouts)andarguesthat knowledge
modelingusing AI techniqueswill be mosteffective in
assisting knowledgemanagersif both knowledgeand
careaboutsare modeled.Thepaper presents sevenmajor
claims;onebusiness"casestudy"is usedto illustrate each
of them.
(1) Tomanageknowledge,we mustfLrst understandthat
knowledge
and values (careabouts)are intimately
connected.
(2) Epistemologists
are increasinglyawareof the
knowledge-careabout
link.
(3) Recentworkin cognitivescience on the connection
betweenreason and emotionalso supportsthe knowledgecareaboutlink.
(4) Knowledge
workerscreate different rived realities.
(5) Culturaldiversityin the workplace
accentuatesthese
differencesto the extentthat cultural differencescreate
differencesin careabouts.
(6) Creating and sharing knowledge-careabout
models
creates a newcorporatereality of understanding
and
facilitates knowledge
management.
(7) AI technologycan be usedto facilitate the modeling
knowledgeand careabouts.
Introduction
Let us accept, along with Peter Drueker (Drucker, 1993;
Drucker, 1994), the premise that society is transforming
from an industrial to a knowledgesociety. The future,
then, belongs to the knowledgeworker and the knowledge
manager. Barring the complete automation of knowledgeintensive
functions,
this situation
demands a
comprehensive understanding of humanknowledge-in-use.
Consider first knowledgeworkers. They are hired because
of what they knowand their potential to be continuous
learners. They are retained because they continue to gain
and apply knowledge appropriately. Consider now the
managersof these individuals. They are hired and retained
because of their ability to foster continuouslearning and to
bring people and their knowledgetogether for productive
performance. The practical demands of the workplace
reveal that there is an intimate connection between
knowledgeand the values that individuals hold. I will call
these values "eareabouts," to distinguish them from socalled corporate values which are currently receiving
attention.
Knowledgeand Careaboutsare Intimately
Connected
Knowledgeworkers come to knowwhat they care to know;
subject matter which I don’t care about, I simply don’t
learn. Likewise, what knowledgeworkers know(and don’t
know) constrains what they can care about; I can’t care
about problems that I don’t knowabout. What this means
is that knowing isn’t sufficient for knowledge work.
Knowledgeworkers must also care enough to apply their
knowledgeat the appropriate time in the appropriate way.
They must also knowwhen those opportunities arise. To
manage knowledge-in-use, then, we must also manage
careabouts.
A concrete examplewill serve to illustrate the connection
between knowledge and careabouts. Bond analysts at a
major insurance company underwrite bonds. 1 They are
college educated and have attended a company-sponsored
"Bond School." The bond analysts are supported by
Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), who are high
school graduates with perhaps a little college education.
CSRshave not been to Bond School. The majority of CSR
time is spent on what they call "processing" -- paperwork
involving typing, mailing, renewing, billing and responding
to phone calls regarding the status of bond submissions.
The company was facing productivity
problems, and
wanted the CSRsto becomeknowledgeworkers, taking on
someresponsibility for underwriting. This would free the
analysts to becomemore involved in sales and marketing.
A knowledge analysis of the Bond Unit was performed to
1The author was involved as an independent consultant in
the work described here, the workwas part of a major
rengineering effort. Becauseof the strategic nature of this
work, the client has requested anonymity.
156
facilitate an understandingof the knowledge
required for
underwriting, as well as the knowledgegap betweenthe
CSRsand the analysts. Howmuchknowledgeis required
for underwriting?Whatwouldit take for CSRsto acquire
that knowledge?1 Could the current CSRs become
knowledge workers? Was the envisioned transition
realistic?
guys, andI lovedit... I’d just keepgoingandgoing...butI
didn’t understanda wordof it."
For this project, six individualswereinterviewed:four
CSRsand two analysts. Theseindividuals wereselected by
their supervisoras beingrepresentativeoftbe BondUnit as
a whole. Theinterviews wereaudio recorded, transcribed
and analyzed to develop models of knowledge,
personalities and skills. Results from the knowledge
analysis wereusedto outline training needs,develophiring
profiles, and determinethe appropriatenessof performance
measures.Althoughthe interviews did not focus directly
on careabouts,the results of the knowledge
analysis point
clearly to their significance. In fact, one of the most
striking results of the analysis wasthe discoveryof two
fairly distinct groupsof CSRs-- those whocared about
progressingalong a career path andthose whocared little
for advancement.
Among the group which cared about career
advancement,one CSRcommented
that "Youhave to have
the desire to wantto learn moreandif youhavethat, really
you can do it." Anotherwas taking a writing course at
night "so I will knowhowto speak; and I can do fine over
the phonewith an agentexplainingthings but not so well in
writing." A third remarkedthat "Information does not
filter to CSRs
consistently... I keepmyears openso I know
what’s going on." Although these CSRslacked the
knowledgeneededto take over evenminimalunderwriting
responsibilities, they cared enoughabout learning and
advancing to makeit likely that an opportunity or a
requirement to go to BondSchool would be received
positively. Furthermore,it is likely that CSRswith these
careabouts would be able to makethe transition to
knowledgeworksuccessfully.
Contrast this group with another group of CSRswho
expressa quite different set of careabouts.In this group,
processingwasthe primarycareabout, althoughthere was
someinterest in the patina of advancement.
"I don’t care if
I doprocessing
for the rest of mylife .... I like it...but I still
wantto be a higher title," remarkedone CSR.TheseCSRs
wouldlikely feel threatened by a requirementthat they
attendBondSchool;at the very least, an offer of corporate
sponsorshipto attend BondSchoolwouldnot be viewedas
an opportunity."I feel challengedwith myprocessing"one
CSRconfides, and anotherdiscloses being content to work
in ignorance of the meaningof the workbeing done. "I
meanI wouldsit and type a 20 page submissionfor these
The knowledgeanalysis performed for this project
clearly demonstrates the close connection between
knowledgeand careabouts. Bridging the knowledgegap
between CSRsand analysts will require a significant
trainingeffort, but the effort will likely be successfulonly
with the first groupof CSRs.Althoughit mayappear that
it is just a difference in intelligence that divides these
groups, I wouldargue that the situation is morecomplex
than that. Although clearly capable of taking on
underwritingresponsibilities, oneCSRremarksthat "if we
did...a lot of the underwriting,then wewouldn’tbe able to
process, and then that would, so,...you know, I enjoy
processing a lot more to be honest." Knowledge
workers
will cometo knowwhat they care to know. Managing
knowledge effectively requires understanding and
appreciatingthis link.
Recent Work in Epistemology and Cognitive
Science Supports the Knowledge-Careabout
Link
Epistemologists have becomeincreasingly interested in
epistemics or applied epistemology,and along with this
interest has comean appreciation of the contextualized
nature of applied knowledge.Alvin Goldmanhas coined
the term "epistemic folkways"to refer to our ordinary,
commonsense
epistemicconcepts, principles and practices,
and has suggested that elucidation of these "epistemic
folkways"is "one proper task of epistemology"(Goldman,
1992,p. 155). Whilethis is a step in the right direction,
experience with knowledgework suggests new ways of
understandingcontext. Knowledge
workersintroduce new
elementsto epistemics, not only becausethey workunder
time pressure with less than perfect information, but
because they must put their knowledgeinto action. In
addition to understandingepistemicfolkways,then, wewill
also want to understand what mightbe called epistemic
workways
- the epistemic concepts and normsrequired by
and expressed in knowledgework. Wemayexpect that
careaboutswill be one of those concepts. LorraineCode,a
feminist epistemologist,points out that real knowersare
embodiedandsituated in the world. She remarksthat facts
are not simply facts, but are an intricate weaveof
subjectivity and objectivity. "’Truths’ haveimplications;
they do not pertain in isolation" (Code,1991,p. 72). Most
significantly, real knowersare responsible for their
knowledge;for themthe statement"I know"has significant
implications.Asshe puts it,
1 Whilethis company
has automatedknowledgefunctions
in someareas, automatedbondunderwritingwasnot an
optionfor this project.
157
a responsible attitude to knowledgeand
belief in generalis manifested,in part, in
caring about what one claims to believe
or know.People for whombelieving or
not believing, knowingor not knowing,
are mattersof indifferenceare unlikelyto
meet even the least stringent
requirementsof epistemicresponsibility
(Code,1987,p. 251).
memois received by CSRsin the Bondunit described
above’.
In other words, real knowledgeand careabouts are
intimately linked, andsuccessful knowledge
managerswill
be those whorecognizeandlearn to exploit that link.
Neurologist Antonio Damasio provides another
interesting supportfor the knowledge-careabout
link in his
recent book, ~ (Damasio, 1994). Damasio
describesthe case of PhineasGage,a railroad construction
foremanin Vermont
whosuffered froma bizarre injury. In
the summer
of 1848,while blasting stone awayto lay down
newtrack, a prematureexplosionresulted in an iron bar
being propelledthroughGage’sskull. Beforethe accident,
Gagewas described as a manof "temperate habits," a
"smart businessman, very energetic and persistent in
executingall his plans of action" (Damasio,1994, p. 8).
After the accident, although he was able to think and
reason normally and his memory was normal, he
nonethelesswasa significantly changedman,"capricious
andvacillating, devising manyplans of future operation,
whichare no sooner arranged than they are abandoned"
(Damasio,1994, p. 8). Damasioalso describes a similar
caseof oneof his patients, a manhe refers to as Elliot. The
predicamentof both menafter suffering damageto the prefrontal area of the brain appearsto be similar. AsDamasio
puts it, they had "the ability to know,but not feel"
(Damasio,1994, p. 45). Their brain injuries prevented
themfrom"assigningdifferent valuesto different options"
(Damasio, 1994, p. 51). Althoughthey could generate
reasonable options for action and knewthe consequences
of each proposed course of action, they didn’t act
appropriately; they wereunableto makedecisions and act
on them.
Damasio’sstudies suggest that reason and emotionare
relatively distinct functions supported by distinct
neurological systems. Damage
to one system reveals the
functionalityof the other systemoperatingalone. I suggest
that reason and emotionmaprelatively straightforwardly
into knowledge
and eareabouts. Themoral of the story is
that although knowledge
will enable knowledge
workersto
generate appropriateconclusionsabout proposeddecisions
or coursesof action, it is eareaboutsthat enableknowledge
workers to act on their knowledge.Managingknowledge
for effective businessperformancethus requires managing
careaboutsas well.
KnowledgeWorkersCreate Different Lived
Realities
Knowledge
and careabouts provide knowledgeworkers a
conceptual organization which conspires to create a
subjective componentof their world. To the extent that
knowledgeand careabouts differ, knowledgeworkers
create different lived realities. Imaginethat the following
158
In 1997, all CSRs will be able to
participate in six weeksof training to
prepare them to assume limited
underwritingresponsibilities. Pleasesee
your supervisor at your earliest
convenience
to scheduleclasses.
I contendthat receipt of sucha memo
constitutes at least
twovery different events- an opportunityin the case of the
first groupof CSRsand a threat in the case of the second
group. Likewise,respondingto the memoby meetingwith
a supervisor, and attendance at classes will also be
significantly different eventsfor these twogroups.Perhaps
mostimportantly, the results of the occurrenceof all of
these events will be predictablydifferent. Thefirst group
will transition relatively easily into the newknowledgeworkenvironment,while the secondgroup will transition
withdifficultyor not at all.
CulturalDiversity AccentuatesDifferencesin
Careabouts
Cultural differencescan create differencesin careabouts.
Althoughresearch in this area is ongoingand defmitions
are difficult (exactly whatcountsas a culture?), it seems
fair to say that differentcultural orientationsplacedifferent
emphasisin the followingbroadareas (Carr-Ruffino,1996,
pgs. 31 - 88):
(a) Control- I control or I’mcontrolled
Co)Me
first- usfirst
(c) Relationships competing orcooperating;
achievement
first or peoplefirst
(d) Equalityor rank andstatus
(e) Risk taking
(f) Time- linear or circular
(g) Spaceclose ordistant
(h) Communication
- direct or indirect
Wecan think of these areas as categories of careabouts.
Consider,then, a fewof the specific careaboutsclaimedto
be typical of Asian Americans(Carr-Ruffino, 1996, p.
277). In area Co), the groupis valuedabovethe individual,
andfairness to the groupis consideredmoreimportantthan
gaining wealth. Familyties are especially important.
Harmony is more important than making money.
Deferring to the wishes of others to maintain harmony
reflects maturity. Modestyis important for all, but
especially for women.Modestyis shownby avoiding
drawing attention to oneself. Nowimagine an Asian
AmericanCSRwith these careabouts responding to the
memonoted above. Supposethat classes will require a
changed work schedule that interferes with time
traditionally savedfor familyactivities. Supposethat the
majorityof CSRsfeel threatenedby the "offer" andchoose
not to take classes. It seemslikely that our imaginaryCSR,
though perfectly capable of transitioning to the new
environment,will choosenot to. Of course not all Asian
Americans
hold exactly these careabouts,and those whodo
mayhold themto different degrees. Careful interviewing
andthoughtfulanalysis are essential to the development
of
modelsthat are accurateandavoid stereotyping.
Althoughall of this mayappearobviousupontelling the
story, it wasnot at all obviousto thoseresponsiblefor the
BondUnit. Not only was the size of the knowledgegap
betweenanalysts and CSRswaspoorly understood, but the
discrepancy in careabouts amongCSRswas not even
considered.Asa result of an analysis whichcapturedboth
knowledge
and careabouts,this client wasable to develop
appropriate training programs as well as review
performanceevaluation and compensationwith an eye to
connectingwith the careabouts of current employeesand
hiring newemployeeswith careaboutsconsistent with the
newenvironment.
The general claim being madehere is that workplace
reality is a participatory phenomenonwhich has a
subjective as well as an objective component.Knowledge
andcareaboutsact as a set of lenses throughwhichevents
are interpreted and decisionsmade.Whenthe lenses differ,
the realitydiffers.
Creating and Sharing Knowledge-Careabout
Models Facilitates
Knowledge Management
Havingunderstood what knowledgein general is, large
organizations must understand their specific knowledge
assets. Onewayto dothis is to modelthose assets, andthis
requires modelingknowledgeand careabouts. As with any
model, a modelof knowledgeand careabouts will be an
abstraction, expressing the essential features of both
componentsas well as their interaction. Knowledgecareaboutmodelscan be specific to individuals, but will
likely be more powerful if they model patterns of
knowledge-careabout
links in groupsof individualssuch as
a particular businessunit. Thesharingof these modelsis a
sharingof multiplerealities.
Thereis significant business potential in creating and
sharing models which express the intimate relations
betweenknowledgeand careabouts. This activity has the
potential to create a newcorporate reality frommultiple
individualrealities, becauseindividualsandbusinessunits
cometo knowand understandeach other’s knowledgeand
careabouts.. Corporations undergoingthis process are
doing the equivalent of thinking; the modelscomprisea
corporatecognitivemodel,andbecausethey are shared, the
corporation can be said to "knowitself’. Weknowthat
individuals whoare self-aware are moresuccessful than
those whoare not. Individuals becomeself-aware by
introspecting, by looking deeply into themselves. The
result of this process is a clear understandingof one’s
knowledge, careabouts, abilities,
strengths, and
weaknesses.Corporationswill receive the samebenefits.
This newreality of understandingcan be evaluated by
knowledge
managersand, if desired, the understoodreality
can be changed. Changeresults from either (1) changing
knowledge(e.g. filling gaps, distributing existing
knowledge,eliminating the need for certain domainsof
knowledge),(2) changing careabouts (e.g. through
financial incentives, changedworkschedules, changedjob
responsibilities), or (3) changingthe relation between
knowledgeand careabouts (e.g. throughlinking existing
careabouts to newwaysof gaining or using knowledge).
Theinclusion of careaboutsin the modelsprovidesthe link
betweenunderstandingand acting whichis necessary if
knowledge
management
is to yield practical results.
AI Technology Can Facilitate
Knowledge and
Careabout Modeling
Creative use of existing knowledgemodelingtools can
facilitate the modelingof knowledgeand careabouts and
facilitate the developmentof shared understanding. For
example,object-attribute representation mightbe used to
modelhierarchies of values whichinclude personal values
(eareabouts) as well as instrumental values (Rokeach,
1973)andcorporate values. Therepresentationmayreveal
conflicts, consistencies and inconsistencies whichwere
hitherto unnoticed. The links between careabouts and
knowledgedomains might also be modeled; imagine a
dynamicsimulation of the expansionof workercareabouts
as a result of knowledge
acquiredthroughvarious training
efforts; workerscan only care-aboutand attend to domains
that they knowabout. Conversely,case-based scenarios
might allow exploration of the impact of different
careabouts on organizational learning and knowledge
growth.Ideally, wemightconsider the requirementsof a
modeling tool specifically aimed at modeling the
connectionbetweenknowledgeand careabouts.
Theproject describedin this paperusedonly static paper
models;they provedto be a powerfuland effective means
of communicating
the results of the knowledge
analysis. I
pose the followingquestions to those of us interested in
applyingAI techniquesto this process:
Whatmorecould be done if the knowledge-careabout
model was automated?
Whatmorecould be done if the knowledge-careabout
model was dynamic?
Whatis the business value of automatingknowledgecareabout models?
Acknowledgments
I wishto thank DorothyYu, Principal, Coopers& Lybran
Consulting,for fruitful discussionsduringthe preparation
of this manuscript.
159
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