Q1. What is knowledge management? What are its objectives?
Knowledge Management:
Knowledge management is basically a map that shows the flow of information so that the company can successfully complete its tasks and projects.
It is the concept of searching, collecting, evaluating, organizing, and sharing information or knowledge. Information and knowledge includes the documents, methods, resources and skills of the workers.
It is a useful tool to help companies collect and organize critical information so that tasks and projects can be completed effectively.
Objectives:
Main objectives of KM are:
Enable an organization to be more effective
Building a Culture for Business Knowledge
Ensure all employees have clear and common understanding
Support for innovative products and development with helpful resources
Improve innovation and develop new products
Facilitate organizational learning
Collaboration and knowledge among employees increased
Collaboration and sharing knowledge with foreign partners / customers
Get innovation and knowledge from sources
Collect and share information and knowledge about best practices.
Managing Knowledge Assets both implicit and explicit
Manage intellectual property rights
Q2. Distinguish between KM foundation and KM solutions. What are the components of KM foundation and KM solutions?
KM SOLUTIONS KM FOUNDATION
The solutions of KM are specific in nature. The foundations of KM are broader and long-term.
They refer to the ways in which the specific aspects of KM can be achieved (discovery, capture, exchange and application of knowledge). They are the broad organizational aspects that support KM in the short and long term.
KM solutions includes KM processes and KM systems. KM foundation includes KM infrastructure, KM mechanisms and KM technologies.
Components:
Knowledge Management solutions include two components:
Knowledge Management processes and
Knowledge Management systems.
Knowledge Management foundations include three components:
Knowledge Management infrastructure
Knowledge Management mechanisms
Knowledge Management technologies.
Q3. Describe briefly knowledge management infrastructure and its components.
Knowledge management infrastructure:
The knowledge management infrastructure reflects the long-term framework for managing information and knowledge. The Knowledge management Infrastructure includes five major components:
• organization culture
• organization structure
• organization’s information technology infrastructure
• common knowledge, and
• Physical environment
Q4. In what way does organizational culture contributes to knowledge management within an organization?
The culture of an organization reflects the values and beliefs that determine the behavior of the members of the organization. This is an important knowledge management tool in organizations.
The attributes of creating an organizational culture include an understanding of the value of management methods, knowledge management at all levels, incentives that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and knowledge about creation and sharing for interaction.
Q5. In what way does knowledge management depends on the organization structure?
Knowledge management is also largely dependent on the organizational structure. The organizational structure determines the method and degree of delegation, management and responsibility of roles, powers and responsibilities, as well as the method of transferring information between the levels of the management.
Q6. What is common knowledge? What does it include, and how does it support knowledge management?
Common Knowledge is another important component of the infrastructure that allows you to manage knowledge. It refers to the accumulated experience of the organization in the understanding of the categories of information and activities and the organizational principles that support communication and coordination.
Common knowledge ensure unity to the organization. It includes:
• a common language and vocabulary,
• recognition of individual knowledge domains,
• common cognitive schema,
• shared norms, and
• elements of specialized knowledge that are common to people who share knowledge.
Common knowledge helps to increase the value of the knowledge of an individual expert, combining it with knowledge of others.
Q7. What are the four basic knowledge management processes and their sub processes? Describe briefly these processes.
There are four basic knowledge management processes, and each process consists of two sub processes:
Knowledge discovery
• Combination
• Socialization
Knowledge capture
• Externalization
• Internalization
Knowledge sharing
• Socialization
• Exchange
Knowledge application
• Direction
• Routines
Knowledge discovery:
Knowledge discovery can be defined as the development of new implicit or explicit knowledge from data and information, or from the synthesis of prior knowledge.
Combination: the discovery of new explicit knowledge relies most directly on the Combination.
Socialization: the discovery of new implicit knowledge relies most directly on socialization.
Knowledge capture:
Knowledge capture is the process by which knowledge is transformed from silent to explicit form (inside people, artifacts or organizational objects) and vice versa through sub-processes of externalization and internalization. The knowledge provided may be outside the organizational boundaries, including consultants, competitors, customers, suppliers, etc.
Externalization: is a sub-process whereby an organization captures the tacit knowledge that its employees possess so that they can be documented, verbalized and shared. This is a complex process, because implicit knowledge is often difficult to articulate.
Internalization: is a sub process by which workers gain implicit knowledge. It is a traditional notion of learning. Knowledge may also be collected outside the organization.
Knowledge sharing:
Knowledge sharing is the process by which implicit or explicit knowledge is passed on to other individuals.
Socialization: Depending on whether explicit or tacit knowledge is being shared, exchange or socialization processes are used.
Exchange: is used to share or transfer explicit knowledge between individuals, groups and organizations.
Knowledge application:
The knowledge application is when available knowledge is used to make decisions and do tasks through direction and routines.
Direction: refers to the process through which the individual who possesses the knowledge directs the action of another individual without transferring to that individual the knowledge that underlies the direction.
Routines: involve the use of knowledge embedded in the procedures, rules, regulations and processes that determine future behavior.
Q8. Give an example of one knowledge management mechanism that could be used to facilitate each of the four knowledge management processes.
Near-term:
• learning by doing
• on-the-job training
• learning by observation
• face-to-face meetings
Long-term:
• hiring a Chief Knowledge Officer
• cooperative projects
• across departments
• traditional hierarchical relationships
• organizational policies, standards, initiation process for new employees,
• employee rotation across departments
Example:
At the level of top management, new explicit knowledge is created by sharing documents and information related to mid-range concepts (for example, product concepts) with large concepts (for example, corporate vision) to generate new knowledge on both areas.
Q9. Give an example of one knowledge management technology that could be used to facilitate each of the four knowledge management processes?
Technologies that support KM include:
• artificial intelligence (AI) technologies encompassing:
• those used for knowledge acquisition
• case-based reasoning systems
• expert systems and many others
• electronic discussion groups
• computer-based simulations
• databases
• decision support systems
• enterprise resource planning systems
• management information systems
• expertise locator systems
• videoconferencing
• information repositories encompassing best practices databases and
• lessons learned systems
Many of these technologies are now being \"renamed\" as Web 2.0
Example:
World Bank: uses a combination of video interviews and hyperlinks to documents and reports to systematically record the knowledge of employees close to retirement.
British Petroleum (BP): Desktop videoconferencing has improved communication and has allowed many problems in oil fields on the high seas to be solved without the need to travel a lot.
Q10. Briefly explain the four kinds of classification for knowledge management systems based on the process supported. How each KM system can facilitate knowledge management?
Knowledge discovery system
Knowledge discovery
• Combination
• Socialization
A blog or forum can help this part by developing a brainstorm and sharing it among people.
Knowledge capture system:
Knowledge capture
• Externalization
• Internalization
Moodle could help people to improve their skills and develop international communication.
Knowledge sharing system:
Knowledge sharing
• Socialization
• Exchange
Social networks will be facilities to exchange data between people and keep a good view of the news.
Knowledge application system:
Knowledge application
• Direction
• Routines
Data mining and the control panel could help the management to have a view of the available data.