What is Knowledge
Management, anyway?
Like with many new terms, the definition of Knowledge Management depends on who you're
asking.
The Delphi Group Study
For some folks it's a computer technology or group of technologies. When the Delphi
Group did its survey of knowledge management in corporations, they surveyed "500
professionals with experience and interest in electronic document technologies."
43% of those folks saw knowledge management as "an opportunity to add value to
information inside the organization" and 37% saw knowledge management as a
"major new strategic initiative for staying competitive."
WALLY'S COMMENT ... Among the folks who see knowledge management as a technology issue
are just about everyone who makes software.. These days it seems like every maker of
software or computer technology is striving to re-position themselves as a knowledge
management vendor. This is done most often by force-fitting the term "knowledge
management" into already existing materials.
Ernst & Young: Executive Perspectives on Knowledge in the Organization
Another study, starting from a different point, got somewhat different responses. Ernst
and Young did a survey (431 US and Euro firms) called "Executive Perspectives on
Knowledge in the Organization." 87% of their respondents named knowledge as critical
to competitiveness and 44% reported that they were poor or very poor at transferring
knowledge within their organization.
The respondents saw chief barriers as top management failure to signal importance
(32%), lack of shared understanding of strategy or business model (30%) and organization
structure (30%).
WALLY'S COMMENT ... I like this better because it starts from the business side of the
street. My only quibble would be to add "culture" into the "structure"
as a barrier. There are other definitions that are less survey-based and more
philosophical.
Other Definitions of Knowledge Management
Peter Novins of Ernst & Young: "organizing information from disparate sources
into a context that reflects the business and the decisions and processes of the
business."
Ron Weissman of Verity, Inc.: "What senior managers are trying to do with
knowledge management is manage intellectual assets the same way they manage physical
assets."
WALLY'S COMMENT ... These are good, but lack a couple of key elements. They leave out
key elements of the process. And they don't mention how you handle the people part of
things.
Wally's Definition of Knowledge Management
To define "knowledge management" we have to pull apart the two parts of that
term.
Knowledge
Knowledge is part of the hierarchy made up of data, information, knowledge and wisdom.
Data are raw facts. Information is facts with context and perspective. Knowledge is
information with guidance for action. Wisdom is understanding which knowledge to use for
what purpose.
Management
Management is part of another hierarchy that includes supervision, management and
leadership. Supervision is dealing with individual tasks and people and works at the
operational level of an organization or sub-unit. Management is dealing with groups and
priorities at the tactical level. Leadership is dealing with purpose and change at the
strategic level.
A good working definition of knowledge management must be true to both concepts.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the way that organizations create, capture and re-use knowledge
to achieve organizational objectives.
Knowledge management can also be defined as a process with four parts that comprise a
loop.
Knowledge is created. This happens in the heads of people.
Knowledge is captured. It is put on paper in a report, entered into a computer system
or some kind or simply remembered.
Knowledge is classified and modified. The classification can be the addition of
keywords, it may be indexing. Modification can add context, background or other things
that make it easier to re-use later. The test of this step is how easily people in the
organization will be able to find and use the knowledge when they need it.
Knowledge is shared. When knowledge is shared and used, it's modified by the folks who
use it. This takes us back to knowledge creation.
Repositories of Knowledge
There are three types of repositories of knowledge. They are Structured Repositories,
Unstructured Repositories, and People and they form a continuum in terms of searchability.
Structured Repositories
Structured repositories are databases, expert systems and the like. They are
characterized by their ease of searchability because they have search aids like indexes,
keywords, controlled vocabulary and so forth.
Unstructured Repositories.
In most organizations these include project reports, sales call notes and other
sources. These are searchable by free text means.
Those two repositories are for explicit knowledge, the knowledge that's out there for
all to find and to see and to use. There's also tacit knowledge.
People as Repositories of Knowledge
Tacit knowledge resides in the heads of people. That's our third repository. The tools
to get to this knowledge are phone directories, annotated company directories, company
knowledge yellow pages and other people listings.
Technologies Often Included Knowledge Management
There are a number of technologies commonly thought of when the term "knowledge
management is intoned. Here's a list developed by Dataware Technologies.
- Intranets
- Document Management Systems
- Information Retrieval Engines
- Relational and Object Databases
- Electronic Publishing Systems
- Groupware and Workflow Systems
- Push Technologies and Agents
- Help-Desk Applications
- Brainstorming Applications
- Data Warehousing and Data Mining Tools
- Technologies That Should Be Included Knowledge Management
What I don't like about the Dataware list is that it addresses explicit knowledge
almost exclusively and it doesn't address knowledge creation at all. Let me try adding
some things to the Dataware list.
I'll use Peter Drucker's definition of technology as "the application of knowledge
to useful work."
Knowledge management should certainly include recruiting and training. It should
certainly human relations and leadership, management and supervision processes that define
culture and reward systems. The biggest barrier to effective knowledge management in most
organizations is a culture that consistently rewards information and knowledge hoarding.
You don't get at that with new software, you get at that with leadership, management and
supervision.
Where Knowledge Management is Working
There's a lot of hype from vendors about comprehensive knowledge management solutions.
There's also a lot of junk about where knowledge management is likely have the greatest
impact. While some of the claims are extravagant, the fact is that we are seeing
substantial, powerful results from knowledge management activities in a couple of areas.
As you read this, remember that sometimes knowledge management goes under another name
-- like data mining, or best practices sharing.
There are three areas where knowledge management seems to be paying off -- Opportunity
Finding, Field Support, and Process Improvement.
Wally's Comments: Thinking is mandatory, but it's not tough
Let's try to sort out the important stuff and dilute the hype for just a bit. Plan on
just about everyone who makes software or computer systems, as well as every
general-practice consulting firm to tout themselves as doing, or aiding and abetting
"knowledge management." There will also be the usual ejaculation of books and
articles and Fortune magazine features.
Beware of the "just push a button" myth. This little darling, which has now
metamorphosed into "with the click of a mouse," has the key decision maker
envisioning an end product where no thinking will be required and the system will do all
the work. Wrong. Thinking at all stages is mandatory.
If you're in a large company
Watch out for the all-encompassing solution. This is the one that will fix everything.
Most often this is proposed by a large consulting firm, SAP, or the CEO. The big, fancy,
do-it-all solutions simply don't work. There are two reasons.
First as the complexity and scope of a project increase, the difficulty increases
geometrically. If you're already in a large organization, it's already complex.
Second, most complex projects outlast their champions.
If you're in a small company
Don't get dazzled by the technology, especially the expensive technology. Instead think
of the concept and seek out tools that you and your people can use.
Be complete
Look at your entire business, not just information systems. Look at all your business
processes. Look at the entire process of Knowledge Management -- Creation, Capture,
Classification, and Sharing.
Make sure all your systems -- hiring, training, rewards -- everything support what you
want to do.
Keep it simple
There are four phases of knowledge management. There are three repositories of
knowledge. That's simple enough. Limit your efforts to those things likely to make a big
difference.
The first place to look for those is your strategic focus and key business processes.
If you can apply knowledge management there it's likely to have the most impact.
Then, look at the places where knowledge management seems to be having maximum positive
results.
Support a Field Force
Make a broad array of information and knowledge available to folks in the field. The
net is a great tool for this. Give them access to customer records, PowerPoint files,
technical manuals -- everything they might need.
Then, go further. Give them access to each other. Set up listservs or chats where they
can share tips and experience. Develop application files that help them apply what's been
learned in one place to another situation. Encourage them to collect customer and
technical lore and put it in a database where everyone can find it and add to it.
Use the net as a way to get new folks up to speed faster.
For good examples, check out Cadence Design Systems, Hewlett Packard, Booz-Allen, and
Rank Xerox.
Find Opportunities
Mine your data. You don't necessarily need datamining software to do this. Remember
that you want to place different sets of data next to each other to look for surprise
correlations. One supermarket found one between the sales of diapers and the sales of
beer. Their next step -- check to see if this is a real connection by trying out different
stocking and display options.
Look at your data and information in different ways. Try sorting by order size,
profitability, date, time, anything you can come up with. Sort by sales of individual
products and by different product combinations.
Make an inventory of your intellectual capital. Dow did that with patents. The question
is what do we know that's valuable? Then the next question is: Where else can we use this?
Improve Processes
Trace the information flows that parallel your processes. Then look for ways to make
them more effective.
Look for key knowledge by asking: "What do we lose when key people leave?" or
"What do we have to teach every new person?" Then find ways to move some of that
technologically.
Switch your thinking from "training" to "facilitating learning."
Put job aids and learning tools in the hands of folks on the job. Some estimates are that
70% of learning about the job is done on the job. Find ways to make that more effective.
Provide data and knowledge bases to help your customer service and tech support folks
solve problems quickly. Consider making those available to customers so your support staff
can be more effective. Then, loop your learning about new problems and solutions back to
the data and knowledge bases so they're available to all.
For some good examples look at folks like Hughes and Ford who've made old production
drawings available. Check out DuPont's use of expert systems. Find out what folks at GM
are doing to move training right to the service technician down at the dealership near
you, deliverable when that tech has a question.
Don't Miss the Most Powerful Knowledge Management Practice -- Best Practice Sharing
It's one of the simplest knowledge management tools and I think it's the most powerful.
Best Practice sharing is powerful all by itself, but you can turbocharge it by using
networks and knowledge tools. Check out Texas Instruments effective system, one that's
saved on the need to construct at least three $500 million plants. Or look at Chevron
generating savings on fuel cost.
Best Practice sharing doesn't involve lots of super-sophisticated technology. Instead,
like most really powerful applications of knowledge management it involves strong
leadership, attention to culture and change, and the application of technology to make a
good process better.
Note: This article originally appeared in Wally
Bock's Briefing Memo newsletter.
Reviewed: 2/15/03
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