Schedule
Date
1/31
Room
Topic
Assignment
3258 AVW Introduction
No Class
2/7
2/14
3258 AVW Introduction, N&T Ch. 1-5
2/21
1112 AVW N&T Ch. 6-8, presentations
2/28
1112 AVW Brown & Duguid, Winograd & Flores lecture
3/7
1112 AVW Examples of KM tools
3/14
1112 AVW Examples of KM tools
N&T Essay
Spring Break
3/30
1112 AVW Student presentations, TBD
4/10
3258 AVW Student presentations, TBD
4/11
1112 AVW Student presentations, TBD
4/18
1112 AVW
4/25
1112 AVW
5/2
1112 AVW
5/9
1112 AVW
5/16
1112 AVW
5/19
8-10am
1112 AVW Final Exam (need to change the date)
Oral Project
Presentations
1
Middle Up-Down Management
The Hypertext organization


most dated part of the book
book may have had an impact
In terms of knowledge management


bureaucracies good at conducting routine
• dysfunctional in time of change or uncertainty
• adaptation precludes adaptability
• operational and systemic knowledge (internalization, combination)
task forces are more dynamic
• but are temporary
• not good at disseminating knowledge
• conceptual and sympathized knowledge (externalization,
socialization)
2
Middle Up-Down (con’t)
The hypertext organization




three simultaneous layers/contexts
business layer
project-team layer
knowledge-base layer
The Knowledge-base layer



tacit knowledge: corporate vision
explicit knowledge: technology solutions
recontextualize knowledge to a larger audience
• the need for knowledge librarians, etc.
3
Knowledge-Based Organizations
Most focus on the products they produce


knowledge held by employees is secondary
change is difficult
The Kao example



products in toiletries and cosmetics
but knowledge included surface science, polymers, etc.
therefore positioned to get into floppy disk market
4
Eastern and Western Business
One of their weakest contributions
I have a hard time swallowing their tacit vs. explicit
stereotypes


yet there is a propensity toward documenting procedures in
Western culture
“We discovered a strong propensity in the West to view the
world in terms of a dichotomy.” [p. 236]
Their desire to merge the traditions is admirable
5
The Book’s Stated Goals
Construct a new theory of organizational
knowledge creation

their best success
Explain the success of certain Japanese
companies

no new ground broken here
Develop a universal management model
converging Japan and the West

re-casting the middle manager as a knowledge engineer
6
Knowledge Creation
Knowledge dissemination



if you “train, train, train these knowledge workers, they will
learn, learn, learn” [p.227]
leads to the unilateral movement of knowledge
their spiral accounts for movement in both directions
Current “Knowledge Management” tools focus on
the dissemination problem


they focus on the human processes of creating knowledge
tacit assumption that creating new knowledge leads to business
success
7
Discussion Questions
What are the most important points in the book?
How much of this is now common practice?
What are the implications for software engineering?
8
Implications for Software Engineering
Heavy emphasis on explicit models


use of manuals, etc.
documenting software processes
Tacit knowledge receives little attention

meetings are largely demonized
How can the knowledge transfer be facilitated?

tacit <--> explicit
9