BSBIMN501A
QUEENSLAND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ACADEMY
1.1 Identify learning needs of relevant personnel and stakeholders for input into,
and use of, an information or knowledge management system.
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Information and knowledge are arguably the
most valuable assets an organisation holds.
Identifying those assets and then building,
storing, retrieving, maintaining and
distributing them so that they are
useful for planning, analytical, and decisionmaking purposes is what information and
knowledge management is all about.
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Knowledge is what happens to information
when it is interpreted into something
meaningful.
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To create meaning, knowledge must exist in a
time and place.
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Two basic types of knowledge-tangible and
intangible.
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Both types of knowledge are necessary for
working effectively and innovatively in
business and therefore both must form part
of an organisation's learning activities.
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Knowledge can be considered tangible when
it is drawn from explicit information such as
that
expressed in scientific formulas, instruction
manuals, financial figures and other types of
data.
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This type of information can be formally
stored, processed and used to verify and
substantiate
knowledge. Tangible knowledge is relatively
easy to impart to others in a formal learning
environment such as a classroom or lecture
theatre.
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Intangible knowledge is harder to explain,
largely due to its subjective nature.
It originates through values, ideals and
emotions and encompasses intuition,
instincts and gut feelings.
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Intangible knowledge is gathered during
social or business interactions, observations,
by 'reading between the lines' in written
communications, or by taking time out to
clear the mind and 'listen within'.
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Intangible knowledge is shared through dialogue,
often on an individual basis, such as in a mentor
relationship or in an apprenticeship system.
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Also, it can sometimes be explained using pictures,
icons or designs; we see strong evidence of this in
advertising.
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Likewise, metaphors in language create
images and meanings that might otherwise be
indistinct, as in the sentences, 'The contract is set in
stone', or 'We have reached the peak of our tolerance'.
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The characteristics of intangible knowledge
make it challenging to capture and process
because it is shared by common experiences.
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Shared intangible knowledge within an
organisation is difficult for
others to imitate and therefore it should be
exploited to promote a competitive edge
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Can you separate what you know into
tangible and intangible groups
1.
List three tangible things you know and
explain how you know them
2.
List three intangible things and explain
how you know them
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Before we can assess the learning needs of
people using and providing input into an
information or knowledge management
system, we should first consider what these
systems do, how they are used within
organisations and the value of their output.
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In the current context, information or
knowledge management systems refer to
electronic systems that have been developed
for a specific purpose.
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These systems deal with tangible information
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Once this information is turned into tangible
knowledge, it can be used in combination
with the difficult-to-define, organisationspecific, intangible knowledge held by groups
and individuals to help devise plans, solve
problems, and make decisions.
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Quality decisions begin with quality information.
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A well-run information or knowledge
management system will supply answers to
crucial who, what, where and when questions.
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It will also reveal trends and patterns.
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These types of information provide the
foundation for making informed decisions.
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when you make a decision, you need to
present valid arguments to convince others of
your rationale.
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Information retrieved from the system will
help you to explain the principles behind
your decision and may minimise opposition.
present information in different ways
reveal how the most recent information may not
represent
 an accurate situation
 expose inconsistencies
 estimate the likelihood of events
 demonstrate the relevance of information
 persuade others to change a current course of
action
 portray how different conclusions can be drawn.
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An organisation may have a number of
information or knowledge management
systems in place for different organisational
functions.
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Or it could have one system that integrates
different functional areas of the organisation.
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Individual information or knowledge
management information systems
can link with one or more other types of
systems through an enterprise resource
planning system.
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An enterprise resource planning system
integrates the data from each of the
information or knowledge management
applications into one collective database.
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financial management and budgeting
customer service and information records
product and service information
human resource records and management
project management.
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Systems are also commonly developed for
particular industries such as healthcare,
media or engineering.
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Information or knowledge management
systems are sometimes tailored to fit
organisation-specific needs.
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Record management systems
Project management systems
Budget management systems
Financial management systems
Customer information management systems
Product and service management systems
Human resource management systems
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Record management systems are web-based
systems that are designed to manage all
types of paper and electronic documents.
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Organisations can upload all archival and
current records and documents
onto one central system that allows for
secure delegated access and accountability.
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Web-based record management systems
have a main home page and often other
home pages for each organisational
department.
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Once an organisation's documents have been
uploaded to the website the Web-based
record management system can become
functional
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search for documents
track documents
create checklists
write file notes for documents
create document templates
generate automated reminders
generate reports for auditing
comply with legal responsibilities.
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In groups - discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of having a web-based IMS or
KMS.
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Some of the issues that you might consider
are:
 cost , accessibility, environmental impact,
efficiency , security
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Present your groups ideas to the class
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Typically, project management systems
incorporate tools to:
 schedule tasks.
 allocate resources
 monitor events and costs.
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These systems also provide information to
relevant workers about task lists and workload,
project progression and potential problems.
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They can be web-based or desktop-based.
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Budget management systems assist
organisations to plan for the allocation of
resources for various projects and processes
and to report on these plans.
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They are also useful for monitoring the
current- year budget and providing estimates
for future-year budgets.
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Information gathered from budget
management systems is used as a basis for:
 requesting additional funding
 transferring funds
 developing initiatives
 providing revenue projections
 identifying threats to revenue
 analysing the history of income and expenditure
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Incorporate the functions of budget
management systems, but
their functional scope is wider and includes:
 asset management
 expense management
 financial accounting (general ledger, accounts
receivable/payable, purchasing, inventory)
 financial forecasting
 financial planning
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Customer information management systems
are designed to efficiently manage an
organisation's customer relationships.
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Their function is therefore to administer the
processes involved in:
 responding to customer enquiries
 generating and managing customer leads
 automating marketing campaigns
 nurturing customer rapport
 consolidating customer information
 targeting customers
 segmenting customers
 identifying cross-selling opportunities
 ensuring compliance with regulations
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Product and service management systems
provide a centralised location from which
information about an organisation's products
and services can be accessed and managed.
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The products and services are managed with
a view to marketing and selling them through
one or more distribution channels.
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These channels could be outputs to a
website, print catalogues, electronic data
feeds or an enterprise resource planning
system.
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Output to an enterprise resource planning
system would commonly integrate with a
customer information management system.
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coordinating pricing information
detailing size and weight information
controlling supplies and stock
calculating packaging and postage costs
marketing and selling products and services.
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information contained within a product and
service information system often has to
cater to different regions, countries,
currencies and languages.
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By having all the information in
one location, managing these complex
geographical and linguistic requirements
becomes less cumbersome.
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Most large organisations have a human
resource management system to deal with
their human resources.
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These systems are typically integrated with
financial management systems.
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human resource planning and recruiting
administering payroll and benefits
administering work rosters
organising training and development
keeping performance records
tracking workers' personal data such as
experience, skills and education
managing workers' compensation.
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Different kinds of personnel and stakeholders
will have gained different levels and types of
formal knowledge that will have been learned
in educational institutions or through
professional development courses and
workshops.
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To identify the learning needs of relevant
personnel and stakeholders, we should start
with what these people already know about
the new information or knowledge
management system.
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From there, we can establish what needs to
be learned about the system and by whom.
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Records that are helpful in identifying the
learning needs of workers.
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job descriptions
descriptions of past training activities
performance criteria and competency standards
data of team performance over time
reports on the impact of technological development
in the industry
 legal requirements affecting workers
 occupational health and safety standards:
Old system and
ways of doing
things
Systems
Skills
Knowledge
Policies
Processes
GAP
New system and
ways of doing
things
Training
needs
Systems
Skills
Knowledge
Policies
Processes
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Information or knowledge management goes far
beyond the technological systems that support
it.
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The systems are only useful when they are
properly used and maintained by people who
know what they are doing and why.
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Consequently, involvement and participation in
the system's capabilities across all levels of
relevant personnel is integral to successful
information or knowledge management.
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Managers
Owner
Staff, team members, colleagues
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Clients and customers
Tenderers, suppliers and contractors
Employee representatives
Funding bodies
Sponsors
Industry, professional and trade associations
Regulatory bodies and authorities
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Managers at different levels of the
organisation are likely to have an interest in
the information or knowledge management
system.
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The nature of their involvement, however,
will depend largely on the size of the
organisation and how close they are to using
the system themselves.
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The interests of all types of managers are addressed in
the following questions:
 What types of outputs can the system generate?
 How can those outputs help me with my duties as a
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manager/ supervisor/coordinator/team leader?
What is involved in producing those outputs?
How long does it take to perform particular tasks?
Who is able to do particular tasks on the system?
Who is responsible for doing particular tasks on the
system?
Who has the authority to do particular tasks on the
system?
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Senior level managers are often on the board of
directors and may have shares in the organisation.
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They are responsible for looking at the big picture and
making key long-term decisions.
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Using analytical data gathered from different sources,
these managers make plans for the organisation's
future strategic direction.
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Senior level managers are also ultimately responsible
for improving the 'bottom line'-an organisation's
yearly profit or loss.
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Since they are responsible for the financial
success of the organisation, senior managers
will want to know how the information or
knowledge management system justifies its
initial and ongoing costs.
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They will need to be educated about who
uses the system and what the system
contributes to the organisation's productivity
and bottom line.
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Because middle managers are responsible for
the operational needs of their department,
they will want to be aware of workers'
responsibilities in relation to the system.
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They are interested in how the system
improves or streamlines workflow so that
they can weigh up issues around human
resource requirements
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The terms supervisor, coordinator and team leader
are often interchangeable and their roles are
managerial in nature.
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Generally, supervisors, coordinators and team leaders
are responsible for assigning and overseeing the work
that is being carried out on the system.
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Like other types of managers, they must be aware of
the system's capabilities, but they also need to have
'hands-on‘ knowledge of the system so that they can
help team or staff members.
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The owners of the information or knowledge
management system will have made a substantial
investment, not only financially, but also strategically.
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How much owners need to know depends largely on how
much they want to know.
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Some owners will have carried out their own research in
purchasing the system, whilst others will have followed
the advice of trusted consultants.
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Whatever the case may be, it is important that the
system's owners are kept informed about its
implementation and its ongoing operations.
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Groups of workers like staff, team members and
colleagues who operate the information or
knowledge management system software are
responsible for entering the data and generating
various reports for managers and owners.
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These workers should have a thorough
understanding of what impact one piece of data
has on other data within the system.
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They must be trained in matters such as:
 how to access the system
 how data is entered into the system
 what happens when data is entered into the
system
 how user-friendly the system is
 what reports can be generated from the system.
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Workers who provide assistance to other groups
that operate the system have to be trained in its
technical aspects so that they can troubleshoot
problems associated with it.
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When either a new information or knowledge
management system is implemented, or
improvements are made to an existing system,
these workers need to know what functional
impact the changes will have on issues they face
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Issues for IT support include
 tracking complaints
 identifying technical problems
 solving technical problems
 keeping users informed of the status and progress
of problem-solving
 informing users of any planned or unplanned
changes to service and availability
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External stakeholders in the information or
knowledge management system are the
institutions and individuals outside of the
organisation who have an interest in the
system because they are affected by
decisions relating to its management.
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These groups may not be aware of a new or
upgraded system, and they probably have no
means of participating in any decisionmaking that relates to its use.
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How much these stakeholders are affected by
the information or knowledge management
system depends on its function.
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Clients and customers might need to access the
information or outputs from the system to make
decisions about buying products or services.
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It is in an organisation's interest to keep its
clients and customers loyal and happy, so that
not only will they continue to purchase from the
organisation, they will also give the organisation
positive word-of-mouth publicity.
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Clients and customers will want answers to
questions such as:
 What products do you stock and what services do you
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offer?
How do I access the system?
How quickly can I receive the products and services?
How much will I have to pay?
What guarantees and warranties do you provide?
Do you have any loyalty programs?
Do you offer any discounts?
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People who tender their services, contractors
who provide services, and those who supply
products to an organisation either have a direct
interest in how to use the system to carry out
the work required of them or, will want to
understand how the new system affects their
role in providing goods and services to the
organisation.
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Many of the issues that apply to clients and
customers will also be of interest to tenderers,
suppliers and contractors.
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Employee representatives may come in the
form of trade union representatives whereby
workers are members of a union.
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A union is an external organisation that acts
on behalf of its members to secure the rights
and benefits of workers in the workplace.
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In situations where all or some of the workers
in an organisation are not represented by a
union, employee representatives may be
appointed either by management or elected
by the workers themselves.
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Employee representatives are usually
workers who are internal to the organisation.
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Both trade union representatives and
employee representatives should be available
for consultation with, or on behalf of a group
of workers.
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They should also be informed of any changes
to the roles and conditions of workers.
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Funding bodies can be government
organisations or private entities that have an
interest in financially supporting the
organisation.
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That support might be solely for a specific
project or it could be ongoing.
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It is in the interests of funding bodies to be made
aware of any major purchases and changes of
direction for the organisation
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Sponsors also support organisations, but
their support is not limited to financial
support-they may also provide goods or
services.
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In return for their support, sponsors usually
expect public recognition for their
contributions such as by having their logos
printed on marketing publications, signs and
promotional clothing.
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Sponsors will also expect to be publicly
thanked for their support. Because of the
public nature of sponsorship, a sponsor's
reputation is tied to the organisation's
reputation, so they should also be kept
informed of important changes within the
organisation.
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Industry, professional and trade associations
often require members to have fulfilled
particular certification criteria such as
qualifications in the given field.
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These types of associations are usually
involved with monitoring professional
development and offering skills update
programs, as well as providing advocacy for
the profession.
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Industry, professional and trade associations
typically publish a regular newsletter or journal
for members to keep up-to-date with the latest
trends, developments and research into their
specialty area.
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Keeping associations informed of any new
information or knowledge management systems
may not only benefit members, but might also
encourage the associations to become involved
with training programs.
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Regulatory bodies and authorities have the legislative
power to oversee and control the activities of
an organisation.
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Their principal concerns lie in protecting public
interest and safety.
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For example, the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission (ASIC) is a regulatory body
which, among other things, helps to protect investors
and consumers with investments and financial
deposits, as well as loans and insurance.