A. Knowledge Management Processes

 

Knowledge management is focused on capturing the expertise of organizations and individuals and on the disposal and application of this expertise in order to maximise the benefits and the returns from knowledge assets. KM helps to bring the right knowledge to the right people at the right time, thus enabling them to make the best decision. KM involves the identification and analysis of available and required knowledge and the subsequent planning and control of actions to develop knowledge assets so as to fulfil organization objectives.

 

In order to transform knowledge into a valuable organizational asset, knowledge, experience, and expertise must be formalized, distributed, shared, and applied. Knowledge Management is considered a key part of any strategy using expertise to create a sustainable competitive advantage in today’s business environment. Many authors have proposed different models for Knowledge Management ranging from 2 to more than 8 different processes [1, 2, 4, 8] Fig. 1.3 (7).

 

 

Figure 1.3 (7) Knowledge Management Processes. Source: Bergeron (2003)

 

 

Knowledge Management contains several processes [1]:

 

§          Creation or acquisition – knowledge is created or gathered by knowledge workers;

§          Modification – knowledge is modified in order to suit immediate or future needs;

§          Use – the knowledge is employed for some specific, useful purpose;

§          Archiving – knowledge is stored in a form and format that will survive in time and will still be accessible and usable for knowledge workers in the organization, into the future (codification);

§          Transfer – transfer or communication of knowledge from one person or place to another;

§          Translation/repurposing – knowledge is translated from its original form into a new form more suitable for some new purpose;

§          User access – provision of limited access to knowledge workers according to their position in the company and their needs;

§          Disposal – It is important to identify which information/knowledge to keep and which to destroy.

 

For the purposes of practical knowledge management, these processes could be grouped into more generalized processes which better fit the business processes of the organization.

For example, as outlined earlier, Firestone considers that there are two main knowledge management processes [2]:

 

§          Knowledge production – includes knowledge claim formulation, individual and group learning, information acquisition, knowledge claim evaluation, organizational knowledge;

§          Knowledge integration – comprises knowledge broadcasting, searching/retrieval, teaching, knowledge sharing, distributed organizational knowledge base.

 

Figure 1.3 (8) below presents a reference model for KM developed as a result of surveys in KM practices [8]. This model is composed of three layers:

 

§          First layer – The value-adding business processes are the application areas of knowledge. KM is strongly linked to the business processes of the organization and within them, new knowledge is generated

§          Second layer – The KM core processes should be integrated into the business processes

§          Third layer – It forms the design field of KM, and includes essential KM success factors / enablers.

 

 

Figure 1.3 (8) Core Processes and KM Design Fields. Source: Metrtins et all (2003)

 

B. The Knowledge Management System

 

The term ‘system’ is more than a simple collection of components; it could be defined as a set of objects forming a whole, together with the links between them and the links to their environment. The system must also have a goal or objective and characteristics.

 

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) are often viewed from a technological point of view, however, they emerged fundamentally as systems of human activity. KMS are based on human activities in relation to KM. However, they contain subsystems that are technological or organizational. The purpose of these technological and structural elements is simply to better enable the human activity system to function.

 

From sociotechnical perspectives the following three layers of KMS are considered [9]:

 

§         Infrastructure: provides the physical components for communication between the network members;

§         Infostructure: provides the formal rules that govern the communicational exchanges within the actor-network. It provides the cognitive resources such as metaphors and common language that are used to make sense of the communicational exchanges;

§         Infoculture: provides the background knowledge that is taken for granted and embedded in the social relations and work processes. This infoculture provides constraints on knowledge and information sharing.

 

From a technological point of view, the integrated architecture of the KMS accessible by the company users (U₁, U₂, etc.) could consist of seven layers (Figure 1.3 (9)). As is often the case, most of the technologies needed for knowledge management already exist within the organization. However, there is a need to focus on their effective integration [5].

 

 

Figure 1.3 (9): A Model of KM System Architecture. Source Tiwana (1999)

 

 

In designing a KMS, some principles of Knowledge Management should be taken into account:

 

§          Effective management of knowledge requires hybrid solutions involving both people and technology

§          Knowledge management requires knowledge managers. Leadership is essential

§          Knowledge management means improving knowledge work processes

§          Knowledge management never ends

§          Knowledge management requires a knowledge contract (i.e., governing of intellectual property issues).

§          Knowledge Management requires training

§          Practical Knowledge Management is technology dependent

§          Knowledge Management is a process, not a product.