2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
Knowledge Management at the Work Place
Norhidayah Ali1, Zuraidah Mohamed Isa2, Dahlia Ibrahim3, and Rabitah Harun4, Mohd Norhisyam
Awang5
1,2,3,4
Faculty of Business Management
Universiti Teknologi Mara, Kedah Campus
P.O.Box 187
08400 Merbok, Kedah
MALAYSIA
1
norhidayah74@yahoo.com, norhidayah@kedah.uitm.edu.my (6019-4566966)
5
Centre of Graduate Studies, Selangor International Islamic University College (KUIS)
Bandar Seri Putra
43000 Kajang, Selangor
MALAYSIA
Abstract:- Knowledge management (KM) has
been in the arena of today’s world for more than a
decade. KM has yet to be defined as a discipline of
science. To some researchers, it is denoted as a
multidisciplinary problems characterized by a
number of core theoretical ideas, which include
data and information management techniques,
artificial intelligence, organizational theory and
behaviour, sociology of knowledge and knowledge
representation, and business economics and
strategy. Nevertheless, within a short span of time,
KM is believed to be a tool for designing an
organization’s goals, structures, and processes as
to learn and to create value for its customers and
community. It is also argued as a planned,
structured approach to manage the creation,
sharing, harvesting and leveraging of knowledge
as an organizational asset, to enhance an
organization’s ability, speed and effectiveness.
Different aspects of KM have been discussed by
academicians. However, most academicians
unanimously pointed out KM as a new innovation
in knowledge. Therefore, to understand the KM
concept, this paper will laid out KM brief
development, its importance and process in
enhancing work performance and improvement of
organizational standards.
I.INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
universal recipe for managing knowledge – each
organisation has to think through and design its own
approach (Dalkir, 2005). Rather differently, Plessis
(2006) defines KM as a planned, structured
approach to manage the creation, sharing,
harvesting and leveraging of knowledge as an
organisational asset, to enhance an organisation’s
ability, speed and effectiveness. It is a holistic
solution incorporating people, process, culture and
technology. According to him further, organisational
culture has a huge impact, positive or negative, on
programs such as KM, in accordance with what
White (2002) has mentioned above.
Frappaolo (2006) concisely defines KM as the
leveraging of collective wisdom to increase
responsiveness and innovation. It is not a
technology, although technology should be
exploited as an enabler; it is not a directive,
although strategic leadership is imperative to
successful KM; it is not a business strategy, although
one aligned with the tenets of KM must exist. Similar
Index Terms-- knowledge management, KM, work
place, organization
Knowledge
management
(KM)
as
an
organizational innovation has been with us for more
than a decade. By 2002, KM could not yet be defined
as a science of a discipline (White, 2002). He regards
KM as a multidisciplinary problem, which is
informed by a number of core theoretical ideas,
which include data and information management
techniques, artificial intelligence, organisational
theory and behaviour, sociology of knowledge and
knowledge representation, and business economics
and strategy (White, 2002). However, as early as
2005 KM as a discipline has reached a state of
maturity where we can now discern the principles,
practice, and tools that make it unique (Dalkir, 2005).
Dalkir (2005) defines knowledge management as a
framework for designing an organization’s goals,
structures, and processes so that the organization
can use what it knows to learn and to create value for
its customers and community. There is no single,
978-1-4673-0654-6/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
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2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
to Plessis (2006) and White (2002), Frappaolo (2006)
also mentions the role of organisational culture that
promotes faith in collective sharing and thinking.
However, he added that culture alone will not render
a vital KM practice (Frappaolo, 2006). From his
definition of KM, Frappaolo (2006) draws our
attention to three critical points:
1) Knowledge is connected. It exists in a
collection (collective wisdom) of multiple
experiences and perspectives.
2) Knowledge management is a catalyst for
leveraging
action.
Knowledge is always
relevant to
environmental conditions, and stimulates
actions in response to these conditions.
Information that does not precipitate action
of some kind is not knowledge. Frappaolo
quotes Peter Drucker as saying “Knowledge
in the most part exists only in application.”
3) Knowledge
is
applicable
in
an
unencountered environments. Information
becomes knowledge when it is used to
address novel situations for which no direct
precedent exists. Information that is merely
‘plugged in’ to a previously encountered
model is not knowledge and lacks
innovation.
It is therefore important to draw a clear line of
distinction between information management and
knowledge management (Frappaolo, 2006).
economies can now exist without involving in the
traditional production sector. ‘Knowledge is power’
is a long-established mantra and as it becomes more
economically significant, the control over this power
have become key issue for society, organizations and
individuals alike (Ellis, 2005).
Dalkir (2005) gives brief milestones in the
developmental phase of KM as follows:
1) Industrialization era, in the 1800’s (e.g.
Ford).
2) Transportation era, in the 1850’s.
3) Communications era, in the 1900’s.
4) Computerization era, in the 1950’s and the
birth of the Internet in 1969.
5) Virtualization era, in the 1980’s.
6) Personalization era, in the 2000’s (e.g.
eBay).
From the brief development above, we can start
to see the importance of knowledge as the latest kind
of wealth and economic asset, hence the importance
to properly manage it. Toffler (1981) in his book
describes the creation of wealth in terms on three
broad waves. The First wave was the agricultural era,
where wealth creation was and still is tightly attached
to land. The Second wave was the industrial era,
where wealth creation happens through industrial
production. Lastly, the Third wave was the
information era, where wealth creation is tightly
linked to information and knowledge handling
(Toffler, 1981).
II.BRIEF DEVELOPMENT OF KM
III.THE IMPORTANCE OF KM
To understand KM’s importance, some historical
background to its development may be helpful, so
that it can be considered in context. Lehaney, Clarke,
Coakes and Jack (2004) mentioned that the decline of
manufacturing in western economies in the last
quarter of the 20th century is well documented, as is
the associated rise in services. With this switch in the
economic base, came an important change in what
was being bought by consumers, and by businesses
from other businesses. Whilst a range of tangible
products were still being purchased, many consumers
and businesses began to purchase substantially more
intangible products (i.e. services) which more often
than not are mere knowledge (Lehaney et. al. 2004).
The purchase of goods and their associated services
(i.e. knowledge) is considered to have been major.
On this basis, the western world may now be
considered as a mix of knowledge economies where
it has large bases in services and knowledge is at a
premium. This change from manufacturing to
services has impacted on all organisations within
such economies (Lehaney et. al., 2004). With similar
idea, Ellis (2005) mentions that highly successful
The knowledge economy has become a reality
for many organisations and nation states (Abell &
Oxbrow 2001). The rapid development of ICT has
changed the basis of trading and doing business. The
wealth of a nation no longer depends on its ability to
acquire and convert raw materials, but on the
abilities, skills and intellect of its citizens.
Information and communication technology has not
only enabled global connection and information
exchange but also has resulted in new ways of doing
business (Abell & Oxbrow, 2001). In addition to the
fact that knowledge is now a valuable and tradable
asset, today’s major business drivers lie on four key
areas (Dalkir, 2005), which give further increased
interest in KM:
1) Globalization of business: Organisations
today are more global – multisite,
multilingual, and multicultural in nature.
2) Leaner organizations: People are doing
more and working faster, and need to work
smarter as knowledge workers, adopting an
increased pace and workload.
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2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
Develops professional skills.
Promotes peer-to-peer mentoring.
Facilitates
more
effective
networking and collaboration.
o Develop a professional code of
ethics that members can follow.
o Develop a common language.
For the organisation, KM:
o Helps drive strategy.
o Solves problem quickly.
o Diffuses best practices.
o Improves knowledge embedded in
products and services.
o Cross-fertilizes ideas and increases
opportunities for innovation.
o Enables organisations to stay ahead
of the competition better.
o Builds organisational memory.
(Dalkir 2005)
It is obvious then, proper KM application in an
organization will inevitably contributes to high job
satisfaction among the workers and the professionals,
and the organisation will stand a chance of getting
high performance and above-average-returns due to
the competitive advantage it builds up.
3) “Corporate amnesia”: People are more
mobile as a workforce, which places
continuous learning demands on the
knowledge worker. A worker no longer
expects to spend his entire work-life in the
same organization.
4) Technological advances: People are more
connected and advances in information
technology not only have made connectivity
ubiquitous but have radically changed
expectations. A worker is expected to be
“on” at all times, and the turnaround time in
responding is now measured in minutes, nor
weeks (Dalkir, 2005).
He added that KM is even more important today
because the work environment is more complex
where a worker needs to attend daily to the increase
in the number of subjective knowledge items (e.g.
hundreds of emails, faxes, voicemails, etc. on a daily
basis).
KM facilitates a collaborative working culture
through the provision of collaborating tools,
environments, encouragement and values (Plessis,
2006). KM increases collaboration through the
provision of appropriate technology, as well as
forums and community of practice. It also provides
the platform to convert tacit knowledge to explicit
knowledge, where from values then can be extracted
and avoid knowledge attrition (Plessis, 2006).
Ellis (2005) mentions that, organizational
development goals should now begin to focus far
more around the challenge of stitching together the
diverse and incommunicative pockets of knowledge
to promote ‘intelligent working’. Intelligent working
is the direct opposite of what has been called ‘silo
working’ where work functions were often heavily
compartmentalized, leading to frequent breakdowns
in communication, duplication of effort and
confusion. Silo working is generally a clear example
of the poor use of organizational knowledge assets
(Ellis, 2005).
Dalkir (2005) listed the following benefits that
KM can provide to individual employees, to
communities of practice, and to the organisation
itself. This three tiered view of KM helps emphasize
why KM is important today.
For the individuals, KM:
o Helps people do their jobs and save
time through better decision
making and problem solving.
o Builds a sense of community bonds
within the organization.
o Helps people to keep up to date.
o Provides
challenges
and
opportunities to contribute.
For the community of practice, KM:
o
o
o
IV.KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
AND THE ROLE OF IT
According to White (2002), the key criticism of
much of the KM literature is the over-emphasis on
technology-based approaches to harnessing and
transferring the knowledge resource of organisations.
He mentions of literature surveys that have
highlighted the overwhelming emphasis on IT and
major gaps in the treatment of people (White, 2002).
Gottschalk (2005) had quoted Alavi and Leidner
(2001) who developed a systematic framework used
to analyze and discuss the potential role of
information technology in KM. According to this
framework, organisations consist of four sets of
socially enacted, interconnected and intertwined
knowledge processes:
1) Knowledge creation (also referred to as
construction).
2) Knowledge storage and retrieval.
3) Knowledge transfer, and
4) Knowledge application
Similar to Alavi’s and Leidner’s above, AlHawamdeh’s (2003) model has an extra dimension,
making it a total of five dimensions of KM activities,
as depicted in the following diagram:
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2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
w
in the way they
employees who can no longer work
are most comfortable (Ellis, 2005
5).
Knowledge and information at first glance seem
like the same thing and can be used interchangeably,
at least to the lay person. Howeveer, Frappaolo (2006)
reminds us to draw a clear line off distinction between
and
knowledge
information
management
management. Nevertheless, it is
i still logical and
natural to examine the application of information
technology (IT) to manage knowledge
k
like AlHawamdeh (2003) did, desp
pite many experts
differing in opinions regarding the value of IT to
enable KM (Botha, A., Kouriie, D., & Snyman,
R.,2008). Botha et.al. (2008) in giving the technology
perspective on KM, quoted Daavenport and Prusak
(1998) that KM is much morre that technology.
“Knowledge derives from minds at
a work… Successful
knowledge transfer involves neiither computers nor
documents but rather interaction
ns between people.”
(Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Nevertheless, the
availability of certain technolog
gies such as Lotus
Notes, Lotus Domino, the Intern
net, etc. has been a
major catalyst for the awarenesss and acceptance of
the KM paradigm (Botha et. al., 2008). In this spirit,
this paper will examine the ap
pplication of IT in
capturing the minds at work
k, assisting people
interactions and ultimately make KM activities easier
and more efficient. According to Botha et. al. (2008),
Beckman (1999) has contributed a lot of work in
support of the value of IT in KM. Al-Hawamdeh
(2003) also mentions that tecchnology plays an
important role in KM, although
h he does agree that
KM is not about technology, per se. The advances in
ICT, the internet revolution and th
he move towards the
information and knowledge socieety have highlighted
the importance of knowledge an
nd spurred the KM
discipline. IT has improved th
he ability to store,
access, manipulate, and use information and
otha et. al. (2008)
knowledge in many ways. Bo
identified six areas of IT application for KM, as
follow:
1) Document management
2) Information managemen
nt
3) Searching and indexing
4) Communication and colllaboration
5) Expert systems
6) Enterprise software.
They then proposed four components
c
of IT
infrastructure required for KM, ass:
1) A knowledge base or repository – most
likely a database that houses unstructured
information.
2) A directory of know
wledge source and
locality of expertise
3) A directory of learning resources
r
Al-Hawamdeh (2003) further m
mentions that
many of the IT tools can be used to suupport different
KM activities. For example, in know
wledge creation
activity (i.e. the discovery and generation of new
knowledge through experimentation,, observation,
research, etc), some of the technologgy tools might
include mind-mapping tools, simulatiions, data and
text mining, and visualisation tools.
In knowledge capture activity (ii.e. identifying
knowledge sources and try to capture tthat knowledge
or assist in transferring it from oone person to
another), technology tools that migght apply are
document imaging, optical characteer recognition
(OCR), data warehousing, e-learning tools, e-mails,
etc.
In knowledge retention activity, either in the
form of explicit or tacit knowledge, thhe two type of
knowledge mentioned by Firestone & McElroy
(2003), technology such as databasee management
systems, intranets, data warehousingg and so on
facilitates the storage and orgganization of
information.
In knowledge sharing and transferr activity, there
are many IT tools such as e-mail, onlline discussion
forums, video conferencing and so on that can
facilitate the distribution of informatiion and in the
process enhance knowledge transfer.
In effectively using or leveraging on knowledge,
technology such as visualisation tool, data analyses
and reporting tools, decision support systems, data
and text mining and so on can asssist in making
knowledge ready for the decision-m
making process
and problem solving (Al-Hawamdeh, 2003).
Organisations need to recognise thhe significance
of maintaining employee connectivity to knowledge
networks, particularly for those emplooyees who are
expert at using them outside of workk (Ellis, 2005).
Once this is done, organisations neeed to plan for
greater connectivity, identify and installl the resources
and processes to enable it to happen. The
consequences of not successfully adddressing this
issue would include less effective empployees, higher
costs as employees use less effective m
mechanisms for
gaining and sharing information, annd disaffected
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2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
5) Multiple channels for knowledge transfer:
The knowledge manager must realise that
knowledge is transferred through multiple
channels – on-line discussion, face-to-face
contact, reports and journals, etc. Again this
justifies the application of IT as enablers for
KM.
Botha et. al. (2008) quotes Beckman (1999) for
four several challenges in implementing KM in a
typical organisation. We can relate the issues to most
of the CSFs mentioned above:
1) Knowledge is often hoarded, rather than
shared.
2) Valuable knowledge developed by others is
often ignored, rather than applied in daily
work situations.
3) Knowledge and expertise are often not
valued by the corporate culture, by failing to
measure intellectual assets.
4) Employees who share knowledge and
expertise are considered naïve, rather than
rewarded for their valuable organisational
behaviour.
We can relate the first point above with what AlHawamdeh (2003) mentions, that knowledge sharing
first and foremost is social activities and they take
place among people. Due to the complexity
associated with knowledge sharing, a culture of
learning and knowledge sharing needs to be instilled
and cultivated within the organisation and change the
mindset of people. He further listed in his book the
six key factors that could influence people’s
willingness to share knowledge.
For the third point, Al-Hawamdeh (2003)
mentions that, today the market value of an
organisation can be considerably higher than the
book value. This is particularly true in the case of
knowledge-intensive companies such as IT, elearning, consultancy and so on. The increased
emphasis on intangibles created a growing interest in
how organisations measure and manage their
intangible assets (Al-Hawamdeh, 2003). For this, he
listed the four categories of measurements such as (i)
Direct intellectual capital methods (DIC), (ii) Market
Capitalization Method (CMC), (iii) Return on assets
methods (ROA), and (iv) Scorecard Methods (SC).
Details about these methods are obviously beyond the
scope of this writing. Readers can refer to his book
for further queries.
4) Groupware for collaboration between the
knowledge workers.
According to Botha et. al. (2008), these
components are then must be supported by various IT
elements such as hardware, software, user support,
communication and networking, etc. All these
technologies can be applied for KM with strong
agreement among experts about the value of internetbased networking and groupware technologies for
knowledge sharing (Botha et. al., 2008).
Dalkir (2005) concluded that content creation and
management IT tools are used to structure and
organize knowledge content for easy retrieval and
maintenance. Groupware and other collaboration
tools such Wikis, networking technologies, etc. are
essential enablers of knowledge flow and knowledge
sharing activities. Data mining can be used to
discover or identify new emerging knowledge and
insights. Intelligent filtering tools are a KM
technology that can address the issue of information
overload. Another is the knowledge repository tools,
the most frequently used and most visible aspect of
KM (Dalkir, 2005).
V.ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN KM
According to Buono and Poulfelt (2005), many
companies that invested heavily in IT-based KM
systems, however, lacked a sufficient understanding
of their internal abilities and the necessary
requirements to administer and support these
systems.
In
fact,
organisations
frequently
overestimate the abilities, availabilities, and
commitment of their internal staff to effectively
implement and support KM initiatives. Thus, while
the processes underlying knowledge transfer can be
facilitated by computer-mediated communication,
success depends much more fully on the human
element (Buono and Poulfelt, 2005).
Botha et. al. (2008) listed out various critical
success factors (CSFs) for KM. They quoted
Davenport and Prusak (1998) in listing nine CSFs.
Here, we quote only relevant five of them, as follow:
1) A knowledge-oriented culture: Building a
positive knowledge-friendly culture is the
most important factor.
2) Technical
and
organisational
infrastructure: This is the focus of this
writing, discussing about the employment of
a set of technologies that are compatible
with the KM project.
3) Senior management support.
4) A link to economic and industrial value:
KM can be expensive and therefore must be
justified through economic benefit or
organisational success.
VI.CONCLUSION
It has been illustrated in this paper that
knowledge is quite different from information, and
the ability to share and utilize knowledge requires a
rich array of concepts, tools, and processes.
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2012 International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology Research (ICIMTR2012), Malacca, Malaysia :
21-22 May, 2012
[4] Buono, A. F. & Poulfelt, F., (ed.) (2005),
Challenges and Issues in Knowledge
Management, USA: AIP.
[5] Dalkir, K. (2005), Knowledge Management in
Theory and Practice, UK: Elsevier
[6] Davenport, T. H. and Prusak, L. (1998) Working
Knowledge: How Organisations Manage What
They Know, Boston, MA: Harvard Business
School Press.
[7] Ellis, S. (2005), Knowledge Based Working:
Intelligent Operating for the Knowledge Age,
Oxford: Chandos
[8] Firestone, J. M. & McElroy, M. W. (2003), Key
Issues in the New Knowledge Management,
USA: B-H
[9] Frappaolo, C. (2006), Knowledge Management,
England: Capstone
[10] Gottschalk, P. (2005), Strategic Knowledge
Management Technology, USA: Idea Group
[11] Lehaney, B., Clarke, S., Coakes, E., & Jack, G.
(2004), Beyond Knowledge Management, USA:
Idea Group
[12] Liker, J. K., (2004), The Toyota Way: 14
Management Principles from the World’s
Greatest Manufacturer, New York: McGrawHills.
[13] Plessis, M. d. (2006), The Impact of
Organizational
Culture
on
Knowledge
Management, Oxford: Chandos
[14] Toffler, A. (1981), The Third Wave, London:
Pan Books.
[15] White, D., (2002), Knowledge Mapping &
Management, Hershey, PA: IRM Press.
Knowledge flow through communities much more
than it resides in databases and information system.
Knowledge has become key strategic resource, and
there is a need for broader and better understanding
of the various KM processes. The knowledge based
environment is formed and nurtured by people in all
parts of the organisation: managers, stakeholders,
workers, etc. There are certain challenges, centered
around the people and the culture of the organisation.
The application of KM using IT to achieve
competitive advantage is an important yet
challenging endeavour. Information systems and
information technology can and should be used to
support KM. Technology is used to facilitate
primarily communication, collaboration, and content
management for better knowledge capture, sharing,
dissemination, and its application. The role and
importance of IT is growing, but many mistakes and
wrong investment are representing setbacks. KM
technologies help support emergent phenomena
involved in the creation, sharing, and application of
valuable knowledge assets.
Since KM is much more than IT, that it is more
on the organisational social activities, the
incorporation
of
Organisational
Behaviour
knowledge is undoubtedly required to build-up the
organisation’s learning culture and to make a KM
attempt a success. As good as IT technology can be,
it is essential that KM and its relationship to decision
making and organisational or business success is
understood within a human and social framework.
Implemented correctly, KM will contribute to the
success of the organisations, like what had been
proved by Nokia, GE, Toyota and Xerox, just to
name a few. The readers are recommended to carry
out this separate case study readings such as in Dalkir
(2005) textbook. As a closing remark, let us quote
Toyota’s view on IT as follows, “IT is critical to
Toyota, but Toyota looks at technology as a tool that,
like any other tool, exists to support the people and
the process, not to replace them.” (Liker, 2004).
VII.REFERENCES
Abell, A. & Oxbrow, N., (2001), Competing
With Knowledge, London: Library Association
Publishing.
[2]
Al-Hawamdeh,
S.
(2003),
Knowledge
Management:
Cultivating
Knowledge
Professionals, Oxford: Chandos.
[3] Botha, A., Kourie, D., & Snyman, R. (2008),
Coping with Continuous Change in the
Business
Environment:
Knowledge
Management and knowledge management
technology, Oxford: Chandos
[1]
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