Chapter 04

Elements of
Knowledge Management
A complete Knowledge Management system must
contain:

 Knowledge creation and capture

 Knowledge sharing and enrichment
 Information storage and retrieval
 Knowledge dissemination
 1-Knowledge creation and capture

 The first element of knowledge management is knowledge creation and capture.

Knowledge is continually being created in any:-
group corporation organization
 The very interaction among people generate knowledge
 Competitive nature of todays markets - increasing in needs with in corp.& org. to
create new knowledge and novel ideas and concepts.
Two factors in determining competitiveness are:
Creativity and innovation not only important but essential to long term viability of the corporation /
organization
1-Knowledge creation and capture

The organization will have great difficulty in competing in fast

changing market if it can’t :-
1- Create new products
2- Develop more efficient manufacturing processes.
3- Introduce improvements in design or function,
Creativity and Innovation

Creativity and Innovation are the two most important traits or skills needed to make the
organization more productive and competitive. require proper management. If managed
effectively,these skills can be harnessed to discover :-
1-Alternative approaches to doing things
2- Faster way of completing tasks
3-Cheaper methods of producing outputs.
4-Easier paths to accomplishing desired results
Methodology for creativity

Through brainstorming it becomes possible to bring out the diversity of perspectives and mental
sets that exits in the brains of the participants.

By properly managing such brainstorming sessions, it is possible to produce a composite

perspective on a common problem. This composite perspective could lead to innovation and new
knowledge.
 Creativity and Management

The process of creating new knowledge is the most difficult to manage. Often creativity
and innovation flourish when there is a minimum of intervention from management.
Nevertheless, for many organizations there is no option but to find ways and means to
manage this process since for some their survival as a viable organization depends on how
well they can manage this process.
Once new knowledge is created, it will be necessary to capture it so that it can be utilized.
Capturing knowledge by tacit and explicit

Explicit knowledge:
Within organization : Printed reports Record of meetings Copies of memos
Outside organization: Publications Websites Emails The Internet
Tacit knowledge
can be created and captured during:-
Discussions and meetings with Office colleagues Stakeholders, institutional
partners, consultants and experts.
Seminars and workshops speakers or the participants.
 Knowledge creation and capture & content management

In general, three essential decisions are involved in the process of populating the
information database:-
• The first decision is on how new information will be created, contributed
and published
• The second decision is on who will have the access or rights to
subsequently update or delete information in the database.
• The third decision is on which information are worthy of inclusion in the
database.
 Knowledge creation and capture & content management

• The first decision is on how new information will be created, contributed

and published

Information can be contributed in many ways.

• Prescribed form
• web page
• Email
• Shared public folders
• Shared network directories.

Content management involves making a decision on acceptable means of adding content

into the database.
 Knowledge creation and capture & content management

• The second decision is on who will have the access or rights to

subsequently update or delete information in the database.
Users of a database are usually provided multiple paths to facilitate access to
information.
On the other hand, contributors to the database should not encounter too many
barriers as to discourage them from further contributing useful data or information.

So the system’s ability to distinguish those who have rightful access from those who have
not is an important component of content management.
 Knowledge creation and capture & content management

• The third decision is on which information are worthy of inclusion in the

database.

Information from documents, web pages and emails are generally not structured in accordance to
the requirements of the database.
On the other hand, information that is retrieved from the database is usually structured in a certain
way.
Content management requires that there be a means to determine which:-
- Structured information from databases
- Unstructured information from other sources are to be included in the system.
 Knowledge creation and capture & Submission and indexing

There are many ways by which knowledge or information can be gathered and submitted into the
KM system.
• Information can be collected from existing data storage systems within an organization, for
example, from the hard disks of computers belonging to the staff.
• Information can also be automatically captured as they are created, for example, from structured
reports being prepared by the staff.
Alternatively, authors can first write the reports and submit them when complete.

It is important that the process of submitting information or knowledge be designed in a way that it
is as natural as possible.
It must be unobtrusive and as closely integrated as possible with the organization’s day-to-day
systems and processes. In this manner, the users will be more likely to submit their contributions and
follow the set procedures.
 Knowledge creation and capture & Submission and indexing

To facilitate the subsequent retrieval of information, it is necessary to tag content as data and
information are added into the database or KM system.
This can be done by:-
1-Creating a web interface through which a user can submit a document to the system.
2-The user will then be asked to answer a series of questions about the document.
3-Through the answers provided by the user, the document will be properly tagged or
categorized, which will facilitate subsequent search and retrieval. This is achieved through
what is termed XML indexing.
 Knowledge creation and capture & Submission and indexing

By indexing the organization’s file system information and data can be:-
1-Captured and organized.
2-Become searchable as a component of a central depository by generating a keyword index
against the files.
 Knowledge creation and capture & Submission and indexing

Compared to a system where users have to submit or post new documents, this system of indexing is easier to use and
implement.
However, this system suffers from two disadvantages:
first, this indexing method does not support the same level of categorization in comparison to a more active system;
Second, this may require the development of workflow processes such as an approval process to validate the
information.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

This element is probably the most crucial among the four elements of knowledge management.
It is during the process of sharing that knowledge is usually refined and enriched.
Knowledge can be shared :-
1- By the organization with its employees (e.g., through memos and instructions).
2- Can occur between employees of the organization (e.g., through group discussions and
internal meetings) .
3- With people outside of the organization (e.g., through attending seminars and workshops).
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Cleaner Production example,

1- An employee may share the captured knowledge on cleaner production technologies with other
employees or groups who are interested or concerned .
2- The groups of employees discuss and debate
3- The knowledge and give their own comments and inputs.
4- New insights are formed that add relevance to and enrich the original knowledge that was shared.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Cleaner Production example,

Furthermore, as the knowledge on cleaner production technologies is distributed by the organization
to its staff,
1- Various sector committees and thematic networks can provide a forum where new ideas can be
exchanged, debated and made more relevant.
Through this process of dissemination, debate and discussion,:-
1- The organization’s knowledge on cleaner production technologies is enriched.
2- The staff members knowledge is enrichment so when the attend outside seminars, workshops and
meetings on cleaner production technologies , can share their knowledge and take place.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

The competitive advantage of many organizations is generally determined by the magnitude of

knowledge sharing.
*But knowledge sharing does not automatically take place.so It must be encouraged and
nurtured.
In general, it is necessary to facilitate communication and nurture the right culture within the
organization in order for proper sharing of knowledge to take place.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

A worker with specialized knowledge in one area might ask, “If my knowledge
is a valuable resource that makes me an essential asset of the company, why
should I share it and create a competition?”
On the other hand, a worker confident of his or her expertise in one
field might ask, “Why should I use the knowledge of others when it
might put to risk the quality of the work that I am doing?”

So when designing a knowledge management system for any organization.

 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

So when designing a knowledge management system for any organization the knowledge
manager must take into consideration the natural tendency of human beings to hoard their own
knowledge.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Knowledge sharing can be enhanced by:-

1-The implementation of appropriate technologies, operations and systems that stimulate
collaboration, facilitate the process of sharing.
2- Reward those individuals that share the most knowledge.
3- Reward the individuals that actually utilize knowledge that have been shared.

When knowledge is efficiently shared organizations:-

1- are generally able to make decisions with impact .
2- will be able to make and execute decisions rapidly
This happen when individuals throughout the organization can gain access to important strategic
ideas.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Knowledge managers must ensure that

right employees have direct access to one another rather than requiring them to go through
higher management whenever needed information or knowledge are required in the
implementation of certain projects or the design of certain products.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Communities of practice
1- Have been proven to be excellent means to share knowledge among people who have a common
interest.
2-They share knowledge, concerns or interest in a given area.
3-As a result of their continuing interaction with one another, generally through
1-The use and application of information.
2- Communication technologies
so the members of the community enrich their knowledge and expertise in that particular area.
4-Provide their members with very powerful cooperative tools for further developing their expertise and
abilities.

These groups are an effective and flexible means to examine some knowledge issues and gain further
insights into specific knowledge domains
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment

Communities of practice
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Communities of practice are not synonymous to teams or task forces that are formed for a specific
purpose for a certain period of time.

Rather, they are peers that form groups to learn from one another and improve their understanding of a
particular subject of common interest.

What binds them is their common desire to improve their knowledge and their respective need to know
what the other knows. In other words, a community of practice is where members share “work stories”.
During the process of “story telling” the exchange of tacit knowledge takes place.

This process is particularly important to new staff members since the sharing of knowledge tends to
accelerate their movement from a mere tangential contact to a fuller involvement with the
older staff members.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

When an organization starts to manage its knowledge to attain competitive advantage, one key initiative
would be to foster the formation of communities of practice around the core knowledge of the
organization.
Although communities of practice generally grow spontaneously around personal relationships, it is
important that organizations create a condition conducive for such growth to occur.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Once in existence, there will be need to manage

such communities of practice in order to
optimize their contribution and help ensure
their success.
There will also be need to have the goals of the
communities of practice aligned with the goals
of the organization. Unless there is convergence of objectives, the outputs of the
communities of practice would be of little use to the
organization. In other words, the impact of communities of
practice would be severely limited if they lack strategic
relevance for the organization.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Many progressive organizations rely on communities of practice to maintain the professional

excellence of project teams regardless of where team members may be geographically located.

Because communities of practice facilitate knowledge exchange, they are essential to overcoming
the challenges involved in creating, exchanging, disseminating, and using knowledge.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

A good example of this is the experience of the World Bank.

One of the World Bank's primary goals is poverty reduction.
tries to achieve this goal
1- Money (for example, through loans and grants for governments)
2- Knowledge (for example, through relevant publications, training,workshops, etc.).
In this regard, the World Bank uses communities of practice in various fields in order to enhance its
expertise in the areas that
Important for developing countries, for example, in water resources
Development, environmental protection or energy supply and generation.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Communities of practice:-
1- Not only just web sites, databases and sets of best practices.
2-Consists of members exchanging knowledge, and in the process they build relationships and
develop a sense of belonging and mutual commitment.
3-Their members develop a homogeneous vision and common approach to solving problems,
attaining a desired objective, or designing a product.
4- Their members have their individual official and unofficial roles, create reputations for
themselves, and acquire status and spheres of influence as they actively participate
in interactions.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

The communities of practice may therefore be viewed as social entities in which views are
ventilated and shared and where conflicts and disagreements can sometimes appear but
mechanisms are available to handle tensions when required.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Why communities of practice can provide that underlying layer of stability to many organizations.?
In many organizations, communities of practice
1- informal groupings that are separate.
2-not in conflict with the formal organizational structure or hierarchy.
3-act as parallel structures but do not interfere with the regular responsibilities and accountabilities of
staff members.
4-can continue indefinitely as long as there are groups of people that are interested in sharing
knowledge. ( not linked to project or event).
5-Knowledge is the continuous element that binds their members
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

Why communities of practice can provide that underlying layer of stability to many organizations.?
In many organizations, communities of practice
1- informal groupings that are separate.
2-not in conflict with the formal organizational structure or hierarchy.
3-act as parallel structures but do not interfere with the regular responsibilities and accountabilities of
staff members.
4-can continue indefinitely as long as there are groups of people that are interested in sharing
knowledge. ( not linked to project or event).
5-Knowledge is the continuous element that binds their members
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment Communities of practice

There is an old saying that it is the string and not the pearls that make a necklace.

an engineer in a manufacturing marketing professional in the same

industry manufacturing industry
need to regularly exchange information
about a specific product on which they
both are working with
Produce Sell
needs to understand what kind of needs to know what can be produced
product would sell efficiently with the available
facilities and materials.
Through the community of practice, they exchange knowledge useful in their own particular fields of practice
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes

In order to encourage knowledge sharing, certain incentive schemes will have to be provided.

Why?

1-In many cases, a worker may feel threatened to Introduce or Share knowledge into a system
2- another may feel reluctant to actively search out knowledge that others introduce.
3-Many may also find the process of sharing and searching as requiring considerable amount of
time and effort.
4-In practice, the fact that knowledge is available does not necessarily mean that others will use it.
 2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes

So

The knowledge manager of any organization should create an overall situation in which
knowledge is shared and reused spontaneously.
In other words, the principle of knowledge sharing and reuse must permeate through the entire
organization.

This can be facilitated through the provision of certain incentives, financial or otherwise,
to those actively sharing useful knowledge and those frequently reusing knowledge that have
been shared.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes

Way to share knowledge:-

1- From a technological point of view, there are many ways of promoting knowledge sharing within
the organization.
The installation of an application such as Lotus Notes is one example. (installing ,training
,infrastructure . etc…)
2- From Management point of view ,Annual personnel performance evaluation that takes into
consideration the staff member’s contribution to knowledge sharing.
3- From Financial point of view , incentive schemes that reward active and positive participation in
the organization’s knowledge management system have also been found useful in promoting
knowledge sharing.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes

Some organizations are beginning to evaluate and reward personnel who share and use knowledge

-IBM Lotus Development, which assigns 25 %of the total performance evaluation of its customer
support employees to knowledge sharing.

-Buckman Laboratories, which applauds the work of its top hundred knowledge sharers and honors
them with an annual conference at a resort.

-ABB evaluates some managers based not only on the impact of their decisions, but also on the
information they use in the decision-making process.
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes
2-Knowledge Sharing and Enrichment -Incentive schemes
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

The third element of knowledge management is information storage and retrieval.

The organization should ensure that acquired or shared knowledge is readily accessible to others.
This can be done by storing information in a centralized location with sufficient provisions for easy retrieval

Reports, statistical data on economic, Official documents, once approved, should be

social and environmental areas can be categorized and stored electronically in suitable
stored in databases file systems.

The documents and information in databases could then be retrieved through the Internet or the
organization’s intranet websites.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

There are four main options for storing the information that are captured or shared. These are:
(a) File system storage (local and network directories and folders)
(b) Databases
(c) E-mail
(d) Websites (intranet and external).
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Note :-
In most organizations, the bulk of information is likely to be in relatively unstructured formats as typical business
or office documents such as reports, memos, spreadsheets or emails contain valuable information but they are not
easily searched and found.
For a knowledge management system to be effective, it must provide for search engines that can deal with such
unstructured information.
In most cases, however, some form of information structuring is necessary in order to facilitate subsequent
information retrieval and use.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

OLP
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems convert data from Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) into a
format more suitable for aggregation and analysis.

OLAP operates against this secondary data store rather than the production system.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

OLP
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems convert data from Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) into a
format more suitable for aggregation and analysis.

OLAP operates against this secondary data store rather than the production system.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization

In order to facilitate retrieval, a two-step process has to be implemented:

-First, the information should be divided into manageable units.
-Second, each unit should be categorized.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization

-First, the information should be divided into manageable units.

there is need to determine the size, or granularity, of each meaningful unit.

The finer the subdivision or granularity of each unit the more tedious and time consuming the cataloging
effort will be.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization
Let us take, for example, the case of cataloging a book describing how to build a particular machine.
Question?
Shall we consider the entire book as one unit or consider as each chapter ,section or paragraph of the
book?

The larger the unit the more difficult it is to find the exact information one is looking for.
In some cases, the manner of dividing into units presents itself as obvious.
One example is an anthology of short essays by different authors. It is obvious that it can be divided into
several units where one unit constitutes one short essay by each author.
Some products implicitly assume levels of granularity.

For instance, Index Server is based on individual words. On the other hand, databases usually work with
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization
Let us take, for example, the case of cataloging a book describing how to build a particular machine.
Question?
Shall we consider the entire book as one unit or consider as each chapter ,section or paragraph of the
book?

The larger the unit the more difficult it is to find the exact information one is looking for.
In some cases, the manner of dividing into units presents itself as obvious.
One example is an anthology of short essays by different authors. It is obvious that it can be divided into
several units where one unit constitutes one short essay by each author.
Some products implicitly assume levels of granularity.

For instance, Index Server is based on individual words. On the other hand, databases usually work with
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization
-Second, each unit should be categorized.
After the information is divided into smaller units, the units
1- Must then be categorized by content type.
2- Have to create a list of all the content include classifications such as proposals, invoices, white papers, and
correspondence for the organization.
3-Each entry is then tagged with content attributes, including metadata such as document title, author, client,
and approval status.
These predefined categories and attributes constitute the site vocabulary. Microsoft Site Server has facilities
for managing content type and attributes.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information organization
-Second, each unit should be categorized.
After the information is divided into smaller units, the units
1- Must then be categorized by content type.
2- Have to create a list of all the content include classifications such as proposals, invoices, white papers, and
correspondence for the organization.
3-Each entry is then tagged with content attributes, including metadata such as document title, author, client,
and approval status.
These predefined categories and attributes constitute the site vocabulary. Microsoft Site Server has facilities
for managing content type and attributes.
3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information Retrieval
-Once the repository of information is created and populated, the next step will be to provide various
means for users to have access to the information needed.

This involves designing and providing information retrieval pathways. These pathways should be
designed
1-With the user community in mind
2- Made as user-friendly as possible.
3- Take into consideration the difference levels of technical expertise and have different purposes for
accessing information
4- Provide multiple access methods .
5- Each access method should be designed to meet a specific user level.
6-Users will be provided access to the same body of information
 3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information Retrieval

7-Personalization taps into user profiles to control what content is offered.

8- After the right to access of the user has been verified, personalization can apply the user’s
preferences for how and what to present on the page.
For example, from the same information database, different view for
- an engineer may be shown the technical drawing and specifications of a new machine .
-a marketing specialist may see the innovative features, the different models and price list of the new
product. It is also possible for users to specify the language, font or layout they prefer.
 3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information Retrieval

Example Portals, such as Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard,

are capable of showing data from heterogeneous sources side by side and simplifying navigation by
consolidating views of data.
Used integrated search tools, it is possible to reach across application boundaries to find information.
For example, it is possible to integrate human resources, finance, and time and accounting applications
by cataloging their data into a single repository.
can then allow searches against database, file system, and web data in a single query. As a result, a
search page can be configured to query multiple repositories at the same time.
 3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information Retrieval

Example Portals, such as Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard,

are capable of showing data from heterogeneous sources side by side and simplifying navigation by
consolidating views of data.
Used integrated search tools, it is possible to reach across application boundaries to find information.
For example, it is possible to integrate human resources, finance, and time and accounting applications
by cataloging their data into a single repository.
can then allow searches against database, file system, and web data in a single query. As a result, a
search page can be configured to query multiple repositories at the same time.
 3-Information Storage and Retrieval

Information Retrieval

There is another form of information retrieval called “push” technology.

In this case information retrieval is initiated by the system rather
than by a user. In this form of information retrieval, the users subscribe to areas of interest.
They then receive updates via e-mail delivery, personalized web
pages and personalized corporate portals or home pages. For instance, Site Server provides for pushing
information through Active Channels.
The Digital Dashboard also offers push capabilities. The consolidation of information from diverse sources can be
consolidated using web-based knowledge portals
 4-Knowledge Dissemination

The fourth element of knowledge management is knowledge dissemination.

Unless knowledge is effectively disseminated, the development impact of knowledge will remain
limited.
For knowledge dissemination to be effective it will require the transformation of highly individualized
tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be more widely shared.

The management must take the lead in creating an environment of understanding, cooperation
and learning,also encourage knowledge sharing, even if the positive results of doing so are not
readily apparent. Such results can best be measured in the long term.
4-Knowledge Dissemination

Forms of dissemination of knowledge

Publications, presentations, websites and libraries

Participation in external networks
Establishing partnerships with other organizations
Creation of knowledge centers

Example of participation: -
The Asian Development Bank, for example, participates in over 300 networks with professional and other
organizations throughout the world,