Knowledge & Knowledge Management

Knowledge & Knowledge Management “Knowledge is power” to “Sharing K is power” Yaseen Hayajneh, PhD

From Data to Knowledge • DATA: • Facts - dispersed elements • INFORMATION: • Data organized for a purpose • reduces uncertainty • Patterned data • KNOWLEDGE: • Capability to act • That which enlightens decisions and action • Organizational context

Types of Knowledge: Explicit • Information that is organized in a particular way for future retrieval; e.g., documents, databases, spreadsheets, procedures manuals, checklists • This is concrete information that some agencies are already capturing through desk manuals, checklists, and other types of job aids. • Organizations tend to focus on this type of information more….This usually easier to capture than tacit

Types of Knowledge : Tacit • Knowledge that people carry in their heads. • It is difficult to access and most people are not even aware of what they possess or how it is of value to others. • It provides context for ideas, experiences, people, and places and is not easily captured. • Many times the experienced employee performs functions automatically, handling situations effectively through experience they’ve gained – not through anything captured in a procedures manual

Types of Knowledge • Another classification describes the following types of knowledge: • Descriptive k • Procedural k • Reasoning k • Linguistic k • Presentation k • Assimilative k

Types of Knowledge : Descriptive K • knowledge about state of some world • describes past, present, future, hypothetical states • also called data or information • can be acquired via observation • can be derived from existing knowledge • is what makes a decision maker “informed”

Types of Knowledge : Procedural K • knowledge about how to do something • specifies step-by-step nature of accomplishing some task • can be acquired or derived • is what makes a decision maker “skilled”

Types of Knowledge : Reasoning K • knowledge about what conclusion is valid in what situation • is not procedural, is not descriptive • knowing why (rather than knowing that or knowing how to) • can be acquired or derived • is what makes a decision maker “expert”

Types of Knowledge : Linguistic • knowledge that enables comprehension of incoming messages • may be characterized as one or a mix of the three primary types. • lexicon (describes meaning) • grammar (rules for parsing expression) • parser (procedure) • can be acquired or derived

Types of Knowledge : Presentation K • knowledge that enables production of outgoing messages • inverse of linguistic K • may be characterized as one or a mix of descriptive, procedural, reasoning knowledge • can be acquired or derived

Types of Knowledge : Assimilative • knowledge controlling what enters the knowledge store and what its impact is, the structure of the store, and its efficiency • basis for learning and filtering • controls the validity and utility of a knowledge store • can be acquired or derived

Value of Knowledge • The value of knowledge is derived from the value of the decisions with which it is associated.

Knowledge can be: • Embedded - in procedures • Embodied - in people's roles • Embrained - in people's minds • Encoded - on paper • Encultured - in the way things are done

Change in Perspective • From “Knowledge is power” To “Sharing K is power”. • 80% of the Fortune 500 companies have KM teams and 25% have Chief Knowledge Officers (CKOs)

Knowledge Management (KM) • The ability to create, communicate, and apply knowledge to achieve our goals. • Learning from others to avoid reinventing the wheel • Sharing our experiences and insights so others can benefit • Knowing who the experts are and how to find them • Knowledge management includes how knowledge is gained, maintained and shared

Knowledge Management (KM) • is getting the right information to the right people at the right time, and helping people create knowledge and share and act upon information in ways that will measurably improve the performance of individuals and organizations. • KM is making better decisions by understanding the knowledge ingredients for decision making. • Knowledge Management is the process of developing knowledge and accumulating it

KM Types : Competency management • One of the fastest growing areas of knowledge management. • The ability to use knowledge management to consistently facilitate the formation of new ideas, products and services that support the core competency of an organization.

KM Types : Knowledge sharing • A process of communication between two or more participants involving the provision and acquisition of knowledge. • A growing number of firms use Intranets and online forums to spread knowledge. • Knowledge sharing involves a process of communication whereby two or more parties are involved in the transfer of knowledge. • Involves • the provision of knowledge by a source, followed by • the interpretation of the communication by one or more recipients. • The output of the process is the creation of new knowledge.

Knowledge Transfer • The process of sharing knowledge between on person and another • Captures institutional memory

Knowledge Management: Why? • Aging workforce • The average age of your employees is fairly senior • Lack of mentoring program • to help share and transfer K between the experts and novices (newcomers) in the organization • Weak documenting of processes and capturing of knowledge • Increased technology use • New software & services • More information is generated or provided

KM leads to: • Better appreciation and expression of the skills required and available. • Improved ways of supporting people through the provision of appropriate processes and information. • Greater encouragement for learning and sharing of knowledge to build skill sets. • Higher levels of understanding. • Creating a motivating environment

Challenges to KM • KM efforts may fail if: • Lack of integration of KM strategy with strategic and business goals of the organization • Lack of commitment and active involvement of senior mgt • Poor KM plan

Knowledge Management Enabling Technology • Tools that can help manage knowledge assets: • Knowledge bases – databases where knowledge is stored. It’s important to capture the information that is in people’s heads in order for it to be useful to others. • Search engines – make the process of accessing the knowledge provided by others efficient and effective • Document management system– help ensure the integrity and accuracy of the knowledge we are sharing

How a Knowledge Management System Works? • Example: • A customer calls with a problem or a question. • The Help Desk nurse searches the knowledge base for previous instances of the same problem or question. At this point, one of two scenarios are possible. • If the problem has arisen in the past and was documented in the knowledge base, the Help Desk agent can efficiently answer the question and resolve the customer’s problem. • If it has not occurred in the past, the agent can research the problem and document the solution in the knowledge base.

How a Knowledge Management System Works? 2 • Example: • A Later on, if a customer calls with the same or a similar problem or question, the Help Desk nurse who answers that call can use the search engine to find the information in the knowledge base and efficiently answer the customers question. • Eventually, when a knowledge base has matured, it can be made available to end users directly so that they can find answers to questions on their own in a self-service manner.

Benefits of Knowledge Management • Greater access to knowledge • One place to search, but ability to search multiple sources • Better maintenance of knowledge • ensure the accuracy and integrity of knowledge used by people in a department and made available to outside customers • Increased customer service levels • efficient and more accurate answers

Knowledge & Knowledge Management