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A process view of knowledge management:

Famalic o, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010. What do we need to be able to do to processes? ... European Conference on Knowledge Management. Famalic o, Portugal, 2-3 ...

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A process view of knowledge management:

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    Slide 1:A process view of knowledge management: it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it

    Professor John S. Edwards 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 2:Overview

    Many organisations still find knowledge management a bit of a struggle Need to think (more) about process What process thinking means Where we (you?) might go from here 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 3:KM is like learning to drive

    There’s a big difference between: Doing the theory test Sitting in the front passenger seat while someone else drives Actually driving the car yourself

    Slide 4:“Driving” KM

    General awareness is one thing… …understanding is quite another A commonly heard cry is that “we know about knowledge management as a concept, but how do we do it?”

    Slide 5:Doing KM isn’t easy

    Over the past ten years or so, our research teams at Aston have seen: ? Organisations where KM has been successful ? Organisations where an ongoing KM initiative has had little or no impact ? Organisations where KM has gone well for a time and then stopped ? Organisations where KM can’t get started

    Slide 6:“The Problem”

    Managers seem to be happy about the basic principles of KM in isolation But they have trouble in applying the ideas to their own organisation Workforce may also have difficulty in doing what the KM recommendations suggest that they should

    Slide 7:Why is it difficult?

    Not really much disagreement about “good KM”, at least in general terms The fatal mistake is to treat KM as if it were a game of chess, where thinking of a move is the same as doing it… …rather than a game of tennis, where doing it is what makes it difficult!

    Slide 8:NEED TO THINK PROCESS!

    11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 9:What do processes do?

    They flow They do things for people They cut across organisational boundaries They make you think about the demand for knowledge, not just the supply of it 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 10:People, processes and technology

    Directories, Communities of Practice New ways to work, build in what you want to achieve Repositories, Knowledge-based Systems

    Slide 11:KM History so far

    Some say there have been two generations: First generation KM – emphasis on Technology Second generation KM – emphasis on People …perhaps it’s time for more emphasis on Process? Others, like Mouritsen and Larsen (2005) that there have been two waves: The first, knowledge in individuals The second, knowledge as intellectual capital The second includes much more focus on process 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 12:What do we need to be able to do to processes?

    Identify processes Design/plan processes Implement processes Facilitate processes Monitor processes Analyse processes Mend processes Retire processes 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 13:Or, as a diagram

    11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 14:Changing a Process can be especially risky… Let’s watch some videos

    11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUvagsM176o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msXKYgTCDec

    Slide 15:Knowledge management (KM) and risk management (RM)

    Risk management has increased priority/visibility at present Global financial crisis Natural disasters (global warming, pandemics) Increased fear of terrorism Recently we have been working on KM and RM, two sectors we have been researching being financial services (Eduardo Rodriguez) and health care (Athina Anthropopoulou)

    Slide 16:Biggest similarity – silo mentality

    In hospitals, risk communication has to go up the silos and “over the top” They say they cannot cut across at lower levels as no-one has the boundary spanning knowledge In financial services, it seems different departments simply do not talk to each other, although it seems likely that they could understand one another Middle managers in both cases focus “down” more than “up”

    Slide 17:Processes cut across silos

    Despite what they say, especially in hospitals, those involved in “adjacent” or connecting activities within a process must be able to share knowledge This doesn’t mean they have to have completely the same knowledge It does mean they must have enough common knowledge to communicate where their responsibilities overlap This requires that someone must oversee this communication (may be management, leadership or just facilitation) May be a need for better ba 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 18:Another non-process failure

    A manufacturing company who thought that better IT support was the answer to a lack of knowledge sharing, but only the IT people wanted to share knowledge in this way 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 19:Process successes

    Bou and Sauquet (2004) – documenting the process of helping the unemployed to find a job; a proper process view with an awareness of knowledge led to very different documentation Spies et al (2005) – implementing an intelligent search engine in Allianz required close attention to what the searchers did with it, and this was different between different departments Apostolou et al (2007) – implementing a system in a management consultancy using what they called a “KM-enabled business process” Barcelo-Venezuela et al (2008) – stress the importance of core processes; what the business – a university in their case – actually does 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 20:And one of my own…

    Public transport timetabling information – they thought they needed a “knowledge base” – a codified system But a study from a process viewpoint revealed that codification would be solving the wrong problem The major knowledge sharing issues were only about new staff So the best approach to take was one of improving the induction process 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 21:Key themes to watch for

    Breaking the silos Leadership and roles Someone has to have the overview as a process How does this relate to knowledge champions or CKOs, CIOs? Learning – must be in the context of the activities that the task involves Managing risk/uncertainty 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

    Slide 22:Do…and Don’t…

    Do: Lead from the top Make sure to cut across boundaries Think in terms of an ongoing KM activity, not a “project” that is done and finished Don’t: Go against the organization’s culture Expect people (or systems) to change overnight Ignore the exceptions to the process

    Slide 23:References

    Apostolou D, Abecker A and Mentzas G (2007) Harmonising codification and socialisation in knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 5(4), 271-285. Barcelo-Valenzuela M, Sanchez-Schmitz G, Perez-Soltero A, Martín Rubio F and Palma J (2008) Defining the problem: key element for the success of knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 6(4), 322-333. Bou E and Sauquet A (2004) Reflecting on quality practices through knowledge management theory: uncovering grey zones and new possibilities of process manuals, flowcharts and procedures. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 2(1), 35-47. Maier R and Remus U (2003) Implementing process-oriented knowledge management strategies. Journal of Knowledge Management 7(4), 62-74. Mouritsen J and Larsen HT (2005) The 2nd wave of knowledge management: The management control of knowledge resources through intellectual capital information. Management Accounting Research 16(3), 371-394. Spies M, Clayton AJ and Noormohammadian M (2005) Knowledge management in a decentralized global financial services provider: a case study with Allianz Group. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 3(1), 24-36. 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

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