CHAPTER 5
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, students will be able to:
 Define knowledge and knowledge management within a business context.
 Explain the importance of knowledge management in contemporary enterprises.
 Identify technologies that are most useful for capturing, organizing, distributing, and sharing
knowledge within an enterprise.
 Discuss the impact of intranets and groupware on knowledge management.
 Explain how to formulate a knowledge management strategy.
 Identify major requirements and issues for designing an enterprise knowledge architecture.
 List and describe the steps for implementing knowledge management projects.
 Identify common pitfalls for enterprises seeking to implement knowledge management and explain
how to avoid them.
Lecture Outline
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10
Introduction
What Is Knowledge Management?
5.2.1 Evolving Concepts and Directions
5.2.2 Major Trends in Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management in Action
5.3.1 Knowledge Management and Individual, Group, and Organizational Performance
5.3.2 Enterprise Knowledge Management Environments
5.3.3 Small Scale Knowledge Management Projects
Second Generation Knowledge Management
Technology Infrastructure for Knowledge Management
5.5.1 IT as an Enabler for Knowledge Management
5.5.2 Information Technologies that Support Knowledge Transfer
5.5.2.1 Intranet-Based Solutions
5.5.2.2 Groupware, Especially Lotus Notes
5.5.2.3 Knowledge Portals
5.5.2.4 Knowledge Transfer and Exchange
5.5.2.5 Search and Retrieval
5.5.2.6 Databases
5.5.2.7 Performance Support
5.5.2.8 Data Analysis Systems
5.5.2.9 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
5.5.2.10 Intelligent Agents
5.5.2.11 Visualization
5.5.2.12 Knowledge Management Software
Measuring the Value of Knowledge and Knowledge Management
Barriers to Internal Transfer of Knowledge
Planning for Knowledge Management
5.8.1 Responsibilities
5.8.2 Defining Project Strategy, Scope, and Budget
A Model for Transferring Knowledge and Best Practices
Defining an Enterprise Knowledge Management Architecture
5.11
5.10.1 Knowledge Infrastructure
5.10.2 Functionality Requirements
5.10.3 Technology Architecture
Summary
Chapter Overview
Chapter 5 provides an excellent overview and assessment of current thinking on the relatively new
discipline of knowledge management (KM). KM appears to represent a synthesis of a number of
disciplines, rather than a progression from any one of them. This factor, at least in part, may account for
the rapid explosion of interest in KM. Moreover, this convergence is consistent with emerging models
of organizations, which are process oriented and collaborative.
You may want to spend some time discussing the various definitions of knowledge management since,
as an emerging discipline, it is not yet well-defined. The chapter contrasts various definitions to provide
a sense of similarities and differences in perspective on this rapidly evolving field. One point to stress is
that KM is the concept of managing organizational knowledge, BUT in the sense of facilitating learning
and collaboration NOT in the old sense of controlling information. This is an important distinction,
which is a major departure from the long-established view of IS as guardians of corporate data resources
and management philosophy of sharing information on a need to know basis. The authors recommend
thinking of KM as knowledge plus process (KM = knowledge + process). Although knowledge creation
is a natural phenomenon, the process part of the knowledge management equation implies that an
organization can improve performance by employing purposefully designed strategies for creating,
identifying, collecting, organizing, and sharing or transferring knowledge.
Knowledge management has tremendous potential for improving organizational learning and
performance, but it faces many challenges as well. Many feel that the current high level focus on
knowledge management is too technology centric, which may ultimately lead to disillusionment with
the KM concept. Recent surveys show that many enterprises are failing to grasp the fundamental
changes to their day-to-day operations and culture that successful KM implementation requires. There
is a growing tension between a more technology-oriented approach to KM and an organizational
learning focus to KM.
At the same time, no one denies the critical importance of new digital technologies and networks as an
enabler for KM. Many industry watchers credit the rapid growth in intranets and groupware as major
contributors to the emergence of the KM concept. Key technologies used for building KM architectures
include intranets, groupware, knowledge portals, document repositories, data warehouses / datamining,
data analysis, artificial intelligence, electronic performance support, intelligent agents, and knowledge
management niche products.
Some of the key KM trends garnered in a survey by Knowledge Management Magazine include: The
rise of the corporate portal as a defining KM application, recognition of knowledge economics as the
context for 21st century business, growth in firms undertaking strategic KM projects, the embracing of
KM by major vendors such as Microsoft and IBM, and a growing focus on the behavioral aspects of
KM.
Measuring the economic value of knowledge management initiatives is a critical challenge for
enterprises. Although the idea of identifying and transferring knowledge and best practices is intuitively
appealing, implementing it is much more complex and time-consuming than most people imagine. To
be successful, enterprises must be prepared to address organizational barriers to transfer of knowledge.
Moreover, creating a KM environment entails significant cultural change that enterprises must be
prepared to address in order to succeed.
The most common objectives for enterprise level KM projects include creating knowledge repositories,
creating knowledge access, and improving knowledge environments and cultures. The number one
application is implementation of knowledge transfer and best practice programs. Other major
applications include electronic performance support and online training. The chapter includes a Model
for transferring knowledge and best practices based on research and practice conducted by the American
Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) and a methodology for defining an enterprise KM architecture.
Teaching Suggestions
1. Although KM is a relatively new discipline, a wealth of information is available, including books,
magazines, and web sites. You can also find case study examples on Web sites of vendors and
consulting firms, such as Microsoft, IBM, Andersen Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and
others.
2. Introduce the topic of KM by bringing in issues of Knowledge Management Magazine and
KMWorld (both available as free subscriptions) or take students to their web sites. Have students
compile a quick list of examples of how KM is being used and companies that are using it. You may
also ask them to list some of the major issues currently under discussion.
3. Invite a guest speaker from a local industry to explain how they have implemented knowledge
management in their firm. What kinds of applications have they developed and what have been the
results? Encourage them to share the costs involved if they are agreeable. Have they calculated a
return on investment?
4. Assign students to work in teams to design a prototype for a student KM system for your college
Intranet to provide information for some aspect of student services – registration, student aid,
housing, school newspaper, student organizations. To design the prototype, have students use
PowerPoint, web software, or simply word processing. The important point of the exercise is to
have students think about what knowledge would be helpful and how one would go about collecting
and organizing it. What would they identify as best practices? Students might research practices at
other schools and compare them to their own. How would they collect the information? Organize
the information? How will they continue to refine and expand the information base? Resources
students may find helpful include catalogs, student handbooks, school policies and procedures,
advisors, and their own experience.
Links to Web Sites/Case Studies
Note: Please visit the text Web site at www.prenhall.com/regan to access these links and possible
changes to their URLs.
www.kmmag.com.
Knowledge Management Magazine. A magazine of executives interested in organizational and
technological knowledge management strategies. It addresses issues of strategy, technology,
process, and corporate culture.
www.businessinnovation.ey.cm/mko/index.html.
Managing the Knowledge Organization (MKO).Website for the MKO Consortium, which is a
group of business leaders, academics, and researchers brought together by the Center for
Business Innovation at Ernst & Young. Their purpose is to "develop a greater understanding of
how businesses can better use knowledge to create value."
www.knowledgeinc.com.
Knowledge, Inc. Online version of the Knowledge, Inc. monthly newsletter produced by the
Stamford, Connecticut consulting firm, Quantum Era Enterprises, and designed for corporate
executives. The web site is divided into three main areas: Empires of the Mind, The Smart
Enterprise, and Leading Lights and includes excerpts from the print publication, interviews
with executives and top thinkers on knowledge management and intellectual capital,
conferences, links to other sites, and other relevant information.
http://www.ibm.com/services/bis/know_mngt_con.html
IBM Knowledge Management Services
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/data/knowledge/media/kmbooklet.pdf
IBM KM Solutions Book produced by the IBM Knowledge Management Project Office; 58 pages with
examples of KM solutions in a variety of industries and well-recognized companies including, Acer,
Amway, AT&T, Caterpillar, DuPont, Kellogg, Scotiabank, and many others.