Knowledge Management
BY
C S R PRABHU
Deputy Director General
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE
HYDERABAD
Knowledge Management
Definition
Knowledge management is the process
of discovery, acquisition, creation,
dissemination and utilization of
knowledge for the organization.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge has been recognized as an
important productivity factor for the
organization
Knowledge Management
Working Definition
Knowledge Management is a discipline that
seeks to improve the performance of
individuals and organisations by maintaining
and leveraging the present and future value of
knowledge assets.
Knowledge Management
The three basic means of human knowledge acquisition are :
to discover
- One can discover something all by oneself
to study and to communicate
- One can obtain knowledge from others by
studying information that has previously
been recorded or by communicating
directly with them.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is in practice in many organisations
for the purpose of achieving,
• Improvement in operating efficiency of business
processes which benefit from having access to superior
information at the point of need e.g customer-facing and
marketing processes, product development etc
• A knowledge-empowered organisation
• A way of addressing concerns over the loss of corporate
memory arising from the increasing mobility of labour
Knowledge Management
Principles of Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management is a discipline
 Knowledge is shareable in the organisation
 Cultural change is not automatic
 Create a change management plan
 Stay strategic
 Pick a topic, go in-depth, keep it current
 Don’t get hung up on the limitations
 Set expectations or risk extinction
 Integrate KM into existing systems
 Educate your self-service users

Knowledge Management
Significance of Knowledge Management
Track, measure, share and make use of
intangible assets in an Organisation
Paying attention to ensure that they are
capturing, sharing and using productive
knowledge within their organisations to
enhance learning and improve performance.
Knowledge Management
Critical success factors can be categorized as follows
 Leadership
 Culture
 Structure, roles, and responsibilities
 Information technology infrastructure
 Measurement.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge and Learning
Data, Information, Knowledge
• Data – raw facts; numbers
• Information – data in context; readily
captured in documents and databases
• Knowledge – information plus experience
to act upon
Knowledge Management
Knowledge involves a higher degree of certainty or
validity than information
BASICS to Knowledge :
• Information
• Values
• Beliefs
• Experiences
• Rules and Procedures
Knowledge Management
Knowledge and Learning
Learning Organisation
It facilitates the learning of its members and
continuously transforms itself.
In a learning organisation everyone, and the
organization as well, are engaged in a
continuous learning process.
Knowledge Management
Teaching Organisation
In a teaching organisation everyone is a
teacher, everyone is a learner and reciprocal
teaching and learning are embodied into
everyday activities.
Teachers belong to the organisation and the
teaching process is completely developed
with organisational resources.
Knowledge Management
Coaching Organisation
Creates an environment where the behaviors and
practices involved in continuous learning
exchange both explicit and tacit knowledge;
reciprocal
coaching
and
self-leadership
development are actively encouraged and
facilitated
Coaching relationship with his/her training
involves mutual commitment, trust and respect.
Knowledge Organisation
Knowledge Management
Successful organizations are often described
as Knowledge Organizations composed of
knowledge workers who continually perform
knowledge intensive tasks using and creating
new knowledge.
Successful
organisations
create
new
knowledge, share and spread this knowledge
through the entire organization and quickly
embody it in new products and technologies.
Knowledge Management
Organisation knowledge is frequently categorised into
•Tacit knowledge
–
personal; wisdom and experience;
context-specific; more difficult to
extract and codify
Can be transmitted through social
interactions and socialisation
•Explicit knowledge – what is recorded; easily identified,
articulated, shared
•Cultural knowledge – Cultural Ethos specific to a line of business
or region or language or relegion or nation.
Conceptual Frame Work of Knowledge Management
A Conceptual Architecture is Required to Position
Technologies Relevant to KM and Provide a Context For Selection
Interface
Knowledge
Management services
Knowledge Portal
Discovery Services
Collaboration Services
Taxonomy
Knowledge map
Information and
process management
Infrastructure
Information and
Knowledge Sources
Knowledge Repository
E-mail, file servers, Internet / intranet services
WP
Email
Corporate
Databases
Collaboration Services
Discovery services
Knowledge Map
Knowledge Repository
World Wide
Web
People
supports knowledge sharing
helps users to retrieve and analyse the information in the
corporate memory
provides a corporate schema for knowledge
classifications
provides the information management functions for
captured knowledge
Knowledge Management
Characteristics of KM Implementation Trends
Key Problems knowledge enterprises face today are :
 Poor utilisation of knowledge
 Information and knowledge islands
 Knowledge loss
 High cost of sharing knowledge
 Reinvention / Repetitions
 Lack of responsiveness
Knowledge Management
Characteristics of KM Implementation Trends
Popular Application Areas :
Most oragnisations have an interest to manage and
increase their knowledge in the following areas :
 Customer Needs / Preferences
 Performance Trends / Variations
 Competitor Plans, Products, Market Perceptions
Knowledge Management
Characteristics of KM Implementation Trends
Approaches Adopted :
Society Centric Approach – Treats knowledge
management as a social communication process
Process Centric Approach
mapping in business process
– Focuses on knowledge
Technology Centric Approach - Focuses on knowledge
artifacts their creation storage and reuse in IT systems.
Knowledge Management
Characteristics of KM Implementation Trends
Typical Activities :
 Appointment of Knowledge leader
 Creation of knowledge teams
 Development of knowledge bases
 Knowledge centres
 Knowledge sharing
 Intellectual asset management
Knowledge Management