Knowledge Management
Task complexity and coordination
mechanisms
Task
Organization &
coordination
KM practices
不同的組織知識與組織結構
Lin p. 525,26
集體的能力
為競爭重點
個人的能力
為競爭重點
(1)
依賴例行性知識
的組織
(Embedded
knowledge)
(3)
依賴專家的組織
(Embodied/brain
ed knowledge)
面對相同的
任務
(2)
依賴密集溝通的
組織(Encultured
knowledge)
(4)
依賴符號分析的
組織 (Embrained
knowledge)
面對新的問題
解決
Knowledge-Routinized
Organizations:
Knowledge embedded in
Emphasis on
technologies, rules and procedures.
collective
endeavour
Hierarchical division of labour and
control. Low skill requirement.
Example: ‘Machine Bureaucracy’
such as a McDonalds.
Expert-Dependent Organizations:
Embodied competencies of key
Emphasis on
members.
Contributions
of individuals
Performance of individual specialist
experts is crucial. Status and power
from professional reputation &
qualifications.
Communication-Intensive
Organizations:
Encultured knowledge and collective
understanding.
Communication and collaboration
the key processes. Empowerment
through integration.
Example: ‘Adhocracy’ such as a
large management consultancy
Symbolic-Analyst-Dependent
Organizations:
Embrained skills of key members.
Entrepreneurial problem solving.
Status and power form creative
achievements.
Example: ‘Knowledge-intensive-firm’
Example: ‘Professional Bureaucracy’ such as a science-based, high tech
such as a hospital.
firm.
Focus on familiar problems
Focus on novel problems
不同的組織結構與知識管理重點
組織結構
知識管理重點
依賴例行性知
識的組織
依賴密集溝通
的組織
依賴專家的組
織
依賴符號分析
的組織
典型組織
大型傳統製造業、 剛創業、重視創
公家單位
新的小型科技公
司
醫院、法律事務
所、大學
(teaching)
軟體顧問公司;
advertising, PR,
Consulting;大學
(research)
面對問題
例行性
例行性
非例行性、獨特
的問題
核心優勢
成本低、效率高、 團隊整體的能力； 專家的經驗、技
生產力高的流程
彈性、反應力與
能與工作能力
與運作
創業精神
員工個人的卓越
觀念、創意、與
企業家能力
知識類型
內含於組織運作
的知識
內含於組織文化
的知識
內含於員工的經
驗型知識
內含於員工的觀
念型知識
知識管理重點
強化工作流程的
協同合作能力與
效率
強化成員間的溝
通與知識分享，
以形成綜效
專家技能與經驗
的訓練與養成
強化員工的抽象
觀念與創意
主要作法
利用IT提升流程
效率、最佳實務
移轉，及內部、
外部之標竿學習
建立支援人際網
路與溝通的網路
系統與實務社群
師徒制、最佳實
務移轉、重視員
工在職訓練
建立豐富的知識
庫支援員工的知
識與創意
非例行性、獨特
的問題
Examples of organizational principles
Linking mechanism
• Collective knowledge can be more, or less
than the sum of the individuals’ knowledge,
depending on the mechanisms that translate
individual into collective knowledge
– E.g. organizational structure, norms, culture,
incentive and control
Bounded rationality and
organization
• “It is only because individual human beings are limited in
knowledge, foresight, skill, and time that organizations are
useful instruments for the achievement of human purpose;
and it is only because organized groups of human beings are
limited in ability to agree on goals, to communicate, and to
cooperate that organizing becomes for them a “problem”.”
(Herbert Simon, 1957)
Task characteristics
High
Routine
manufacturing
(例行生產技術)
Engineering
production (工
程製造技術)
Craft work (手
工性技術)
(Non-routine
Research)非例行
性研究
Task
analyzability
Learning by doing;
Far transmission
between groups
High
Low
Task variability
(Bystrom, 1995)
Task uncertainty
• Task uncertainty
– End product
– Means to achieve the ends
Task complexity, cont.
•
•
•
•
Multiple Paths
Multiple Outcomes
Conflicting interdependence among paths
Uncertain or probabilistic linkages
• Task
– Task characteristics
• Complexity
• Uncertainty
– Task environment
• Rate of change
• Information load
• Information diversity
Organization and complexity
• All arrangements are temporary solution in the face
of complexity.
– Craftsmanship, Transmission belt (Mass production),
Bureaucracy, .....
• As the pace of change increases, the arrangement
will have to follow suit
• Lin, P522 (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967)
Task complexity
Analyzable
Few exceptions
Many exceptions
Routine, the few problems that
occur are usually easy to
understand.
The applications of well-known
principles and technologies to
lots of new and different
situations (heuristics)
Un-analyzable Routine work, but when
problems crop up, it is hard to
figure what to do.
(Perrow, 1967)
Tasks that no one really knows
what to do; work on intuition,
implicit knowledge.
the nature of search that is undertaken by individuals when exceptions occurs
Task analysis: maximising the re-sale value of a car
TASKS
ACTIVITIES
FUNCTIONS
OUTPUTS
OUTCOMES
Change spark plugs
Change oil and water
>
Service the car
>
Check air in tyres
Maintenance
Replace worn tyres
Replace headlight bulb
>
Presentation
>
Polish paintwork
Vacuum interior
Wash wheels
>
Clean the car
A car that is:
 Well maintained;
 well presented; and
 mechanically sound
Replace faulty
or worn parts
Speedometer Cable
Clean windows
>
>
>
Car re-sale value
is maximised
Analysing tasks, activities, functions, outputs and outcomes of an organisation or of a particular
area of an organisation and understanding the dependencies that exist.
TASK
ACTIVITY
TASK
TASK
ACTIVITY
What are the benefits?
TASK
TASK
ACTIVITY
FUNCTION
TASK
OUTPUT
OUTCOME

Enables a common
language across agencies

Assists you to
decompose outcomes

Draws an explicit link
between activities you
undertake with the
outcome being delivered

Identifies efficiencies,
deficiencies and
implications
TASK
TASK
ACTIVITY
FUNCTION
TASK
ACTIVITY
TASK
TASK
ACTIVITY
TASK
Tasks are the lowest
level of effort they
breakdown the
activities.
A cluster of tasks may
often seem unrelated.
Tasks can exist in
several clusters at the
same time.
Activities are
the major tasks
which support
and assist in
achieving the
work function.
Functions are the
largest unit of
business activity.
They represent major
responsibilities that
are managed by an
organisation/area.
An output is the
deliverable from
the function/s.
An outcome is
the end result
derived from
the output.
Decomposable/analyzable
• Decomposable systems
– The interactions among the subsystems are negligible
• Nearly-decomposable systems
– The interactions among the subsystems are weak; but not
negligible
• Non-decomposable systems
– The interactions among the subsystems are essential
Simon’s parable of two
watchmakers
• There once were two watchmakers, named Hora and Tempus, who made
very fine watches. The phones in their workshops rang frequently; new
customers were constantly calling them. However, Hora prospered while
Tempus became poorer and poorer. In the end, Tempus lost his shop.
What was the reason behind this? The watches consisted of about 1000
parts each. The watches that Tempus made were designed such that,
when he had to put down a partly assembled watch (for instance, to
answer the phone), it immediately fell into pieces and had to be
reassembled from the basic elements.
• Hora had designed his watches so that he could put together
subassemblies of about ten components each. Ten of these subassemblies
could be put together to make a larger sub- assembly. Finally, ten of the
larger subassemblies constituted the whole watch. Each subassembly
could be put down without falling apart.
Organization structure
• Defines how tasks are formally divided, grouped, and
coordinated
• Six key elements
–
–
–
–
–
Work specialization
Departmentalization
Chain of command
Span of control
Centralization and decentralization
Organization structure
•
•
•
•
Work specialization
Departmentalization
Chain of command
Span of control
•
•
•
•
• Centralization/decentraliza •
tion
•
• Formalization
To what degree are activities
subdivided into separate jobs?
On what basis will jobs be grouped
together?
To whom do individuals and groups
report?
How many individuals can a manager
efficiently and effectively direct?
Where does decision-making
authority lie?
To what degree will there be rules
and regulations to direct employees
and managers?
Span of control and “flat”
organization
Mechanistic vs. organic
Two Major Archetypes to organization
• Mechanistic
– Specialized jobs (clear
boundary)
– Lot of rules, policies,
and procedures
– Simple coordination
mechanisms
– Centralized authority
– Standardization
– Status-conscious
formal organizations
• Organic
– Joint specialization
(boundary crossing)
– Communication,
experience, judgment
as control
– Complex coordination
mechanisms
– Decentralized
authority
– Less standardization
– Expertise-conscious
informal organization
Mechanistic vs. organic design
Bureaucracy
• Highly routine operating tasks achieved through
specialization/departmentalization, very formalized
rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped into
functional departments, centralized authority,
narrow spans of control, and decision making that
follows the chain of command.
Mechanistic model
• Characterized by extensive departmentalization, high
formalization, a limited information network, and
centralization
• Cost minimization strategy (interaction and
transaction cost)
“Organic” model, metaphor
• A structure that is flat, uses cross-hierarchical and
cross-functional teams, has low formalization,
possesses a comprehensive information network,
and relied on participative decision making
• Innovation strategy
• Another dilemma in KM
– Redundancy and combination/aggregation
– Efficiency and innovation
Information processing and organizational
structure
• Formal/mechanical
– Departments and hierarchies
– Teams and task forces
• Operational
• Project
• Informal/organic
– Social network
– Communities of practice
Strategy-structure relationship,
• Innovation
– Emphasizes the introduction of major
new products and services
• Cost minimization
– Emphasizes tight cost controls,
avoidance of unnecessary innovation
or marketing expenses, and price
cutting
• Imitation
– Seek to move into new products or
new markets only after their viability
has already been proven
Lin p.520
• Organic
– A loose structure; low specialization,
low formalization, decentralized
• Mechanistic
– Tight control ; extensive work
specialization, high formalization,
high centralization
• Mechanistic
– Mix of loose with tight properties;
tight controls over current activities
and looser controls for new
undertakings
Modularity
• describing the degree to which a system’s
components may be separated and
recombined.
• referring to both the tightness of coupling
between components, and the degree to
which the “rules” of the system architecture
enable (or prohibit) the mixing and matching
of components.
Hierarchy
• “In hierarchic systems... We can distinguish between
the interactions among subsystems on the one hand,
and the interactions within subsystems –i.e., among
the parts of those subsystems – on the other”
Hierarchical organization
Standardization
Command
Information
Hierarchical barrier to sharing
Another metaphor
In a hierarchical structure,
“professionals seeking to collaborate
need to go up the organization before
they can go across it ”
(Mobilizing mind, p.30 )
”Vertical structures force them to
search across poorly connected
organizational silos to find knowledge
and collaborators…”
(p. 28)
p.35
The need for “shortcut”
Matrix structure
Can be considered Matrix structure?
Coordination
• Action performed or mechanism devised in order to
“bring different elements of a complex activity or
organization into a harmonious or efficient
relationship”
– (Oxford Concise Dictionary, 1999)
How to integrate the knowledge and skills of
many different individuals in the process of
producing goods/services?
• The nature of coordination within the firm
– Organizational structure
– Allocation of decision-making right
– Innovation
–…
Coordination mechanisms in knowledge
production
•
•
•
•
•
Access to communication channels
Social coordination through agreed norms
Role responsibilities to link individuals together
Authority and control
Careful selection of individuals to ensure an
appropriate mix of skills and expertise
• Incentive system
(Newell et al. p. 55)
Social as well as structure capital
Coordination mechanisms
Prime Coordinating Mechanism
– Direct Supervision
One individual is responsible for the work of others
– Standardization of work processes
The content of the work is specified or programmed
– Standardization of outputs
Specifies the results, or output, of the work
– Standardization of skills
Explicitly specifies the kind of training necessary to do
the work
– Mutual adjustment
Coordinates activities through informal communications
Organizational forms according to TASK
characteristics
Complex task
Decentralized
Bureaucratic
(standardization
of skills)
Decentralized
Organic
(mutual adjustment)
Dynamic:
Stable environment
Centralized
Bureaucratic/mechanical
(standardization of work
processes)
simple
Centralized
Organic
(direct supervision)
High degree of
Unpredictable
Change
Coordination and complexity
Informal coalitions
Structural constrains
• Bureaucracy
Work processes organized
around functional groups
Many formal rules, policies and
procedures
Direct control characterized by
supervision
Centralized decision-making
Coordination achieved through
explicit rules and procedures
Highly mechanistic form
• Adhocracy
Work processes self-organized
around team
Few or no formal rules, policies
and procedures
Normative control
characterized by selfmanagement
Decentralized decision-making
Coordination achieved through
mutual adjustment
Highly organic form
Synergy
• The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Aristotle
• Kurt Koffka: "It has been said: The whole is more
than the sum of its parts. It is more correct to say
that the whole is something else than the sum of its
parts, because summing up is a meaningless
procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is
meaningful." (Kurt Koffka, 1935: New York: HarcourtBrace. p 176)
Specialization, then synthesize
• “what you’d like is a way for individuals to specialize and
to acquire local knowledge– which increases the total
amount of information available in the system– while
also being able to aggregate that local knowledge and
private information into a collective whole, much as
Google relies on the local knowledge of millions of Webpage operators…” Surowiecki, p.72
• Coordination mechanism