Frameworks of Knowledge Management

1. Frameworks of Knowledge Management Madz Quiamco AIJC

2. Frameworks of KM Highest ranking authors in KM (Social Science Citation Index, 2008): • Ikujiro Nonaka The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi (1995) NY: Oxford University Press • Thomas Davenport Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What they Know by Thomas Davenport and Lawrence Prusak (1998) Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press

3. Frameworks of KM Differing concepts of knowledge: • Nonaka: Knowledge - a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief toward ‘truth’ • Western concept: • emphasizes the absolute, static, and nonhuman nature of knowledge, e.g., in propositions and formal logic

4. The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation

5. The Knowledge-Creating Company • Central idea: knowledge creation through knowledge conversion – from existing to new Knowledge = ‘justified true belief’

6. …TO EXPLICIT 1) FROM TACIT… …to organization 2) From individual… The Knowledge-Creating Company • Production/Creation of new knowledge through knowledge amplification

7. Interaction Conversion A. The SECI Model 4 modes of organizational knowledge creation:

8. The Knowledge-Creating Company • Socialization – acquiring tacit knowledge by sharing experiences Apprentices learn from masters through - observation - imitation - practice Employees learn new skills through on-the-job training

9. The Knowledge-Creating Company • Externalization – converting tacit knowledge into explicit concepts through - abstractions - metaphors - analogies - models; or triggered by - dialogue - collective reflection

10. The Knowledge-Creating Company • Combination – creating explicit knowledge by bringing them together from different sources Individuals exchange and combine explicit knowledge through - telephone conversations - meetings - memos, etc. Existing info may be categorized, collated, sorted to produce new explicit knowledge

11. The Knowledge-Creating Company • Internalization– embodying explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge, internalizing experiences into individuals’ tacit knowledge bases through shared - mental models, or - work practices Internalization is facilitated by - documents - stories

12. Four categories of ‘ba’ B. The Concept of ‘Ba’ ‘Ba’ – a shared context in which knowledge is shared, created, and utilized through interaction.

13. The Knowledge-Creating Company Using the 4 categories of ‘ba’ (Example: 711 Stores in Japan • Originating ‘ba’ – the shop floor; enables people to interact with each other and with customers • Dialoguing ‘ba’ – employees’ tacit knowledge created through dialogue is used to create sales forecasts • Systemizing ‘ba’ – sales forecasts are tested vs. actual sales and are fed back to sales units, i.e., the stores • Exercising ‘ba’ – using this info and comparing it with reality, sales staff improve their sales forecasting skills and ability

14. C. Knowledge Assets • company-specific resources indispensable for creating value; • the inputs, outputs, and moderating factors of the knowledge creation process

15. Four categories of knowledge assets

16. Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What they Know

17. Working Knowledge Knowledge = • a fluid mix of • - framed experience • - values • - contextual info • - expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and info

18. Working Knowledge Knowledge • among individuals, originates and is applied in the knowers’ mind • in organizations, are embedded in - documents - repositories - organizational routines, processes, practices, norms

19. The Knowledge Market Organizations behave as knowledge markets, with • buyers – people seeking knowledge to solve an issue • sellers – people with internal reputation to have knowledge about a process or subject • brokers – people who connect those who need and have the knowledge, i.e., gatekeepers, boundary spanners, corporate librarians

20. REMEMBER: Knowledge markets require trust to function. Working Knowledge Knowledge markets have pricing and payment mechanisms: • reciprocity • reputation • altruism

21. Working Knowledge B. KM Processes KM processes required to excel: • Knowledge generation • Knowledge codification • Knowledge transfer

22. Working Knowledge • Knowledge generation - activities that increase the stock of organizational knowledge

23. Modes of knowledge generation: - Acquisition – by hiring, buying another organization, or renting/leasing external knowledge - Dedicating resources – setting up R&D units, corporate libraries developing and providing new knowledge - Fusion – bringing together individuals and groups with different specializations and perspectives to working on a problem or project - Adaptation – organization responding to new conditions in its external environment - Building knowledge networks – linking people who share common work interest, problems, or motivation to exchange knowledge

24. Working Knowledge • Knowledge codification - creating symbols to represent a certain knowledge and the particular process of knowing - codification of tacit knowledge – limited to locating the knowledge (person), pointing seeker to it, and encouraging them to interact

25. Principles of knowledge codification:

26. Working Knowledge • Knowledge transfer - market spaces and places where trading and sharing of knowledge can happen; - occurs through personal conversations. Encourage conversations through -- water coolers -- talk rooms -- knowledge fairs -- open forums -- etc.

27. Working Knowledge Barriers to knowledge sharing: - lack of trust - different cultures, vocabularies, frames of reference - lack of time and meeting places - status and rewards going to knowledge owners - lack of absorptive capacity in recipients - belief and knowledge a prerogative of particular groups - the ‘not-invented-here’ syndrome and intolerance for mistakes or need for help

28. Working Knowledge • Communities of practice – self-organizing teams that emerge around shared interests and work practices to exchange knowledge Wenger (1998): CoP – groups whose members - face common work tasks and interests - can see the benefits of sharing knowledge - share norms of trust and reciprocity. C. Communities of Practice (CoP)

29. Summary • Nonaka and Takeuchi - the dynamics of knowledge creation, particularly the conversion oftacit into explicit knowledge • Davenport and Prusak – the design of organizational processes that enable knowledge generation, codification, and transfer • Both models recognize that knowledge creation, sharing, and use are social activities embedded in a web of cultural norms and human relationships. • Davenport and Prusak: ‘communities of practice’ Nonaka and Takeuchi: concept of ‘ba’ (shared contexts for knowledge creation and sharing).