Knowledge Management: Overview by Mrs. Janet Scheitle

Knowledge Management: Overview
by
Mrs. Janet Scheitle
What is Knowledge?
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The Old Pyramid
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data
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information
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knowledge
 wisdom
Information that changes something or somebody—
becoming grounds for action by making an individual,
or institution capable of different, more effective
action
Drucker, The New Realities
What is Knowledge Management?
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More definitions
than Webster
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Wiig
Drucker
Rumizen
Neilson
My Take
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More varieties than
Heinz 57
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British Petroleum
Buckman Labs
Ford
Others
A few Foundation Principles and
Building Concepts
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Knowledge Influences Success
Knowledge Resides in the Heads of People
Two Types of Knowledge
 Codified
 Personalized
Knowledge Sharing Requires a Conduit to Happen
Systemically
Technology is the conduit
Knowledge Sharing Requires Trust
KM embraces both the Knowledge Based
organization and the Learning Organization
KM has planned architectural frameworks
Knowledge Influences Success
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Peter Drucker (the one factor)
Toffler (Survival in Knowledge Age is
not who can read or write but who
can learn and unlearn quicker)
Nonaka (the cutting edge)
Tom Peters (sum total of valueadded)
Handy, Drucker (primary factor of
productivity)
Knowledge Originates and Resides in the Heads
of People and the Two Types of Knowledge
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Explicit – knowledge that is codified, recorded, or
actualized into some form outside of the head
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Books, periodicals, journals, maps, photographs, audiorecordings
Webpages, websites, portals
Tacit – Knowledge from experience and insight,
not in a recorded form, but in our heads, intuition
Intellectual capital 
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Doesn’t mean much unless packaged in useful ways
technology and global environment is redefining “useful
ways”
Technology Enables New Knowledge
Behaviors
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Technology shapes how we live (radio, television,
computer, biotechnology)
Pushes KM, doesn’t drive it
Facilitates flow of knowledge
 One look, one feel
 Easy access
 Easy dissemination (push-pull)
 Different storage (from paper to digits)
Knowledge sharing and transfer
requires trust
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Trust is hard to build in cyberspace
Trust usually requires initial face-to-face
Sharing must be open and reciprocal
Based upon a commonality
Time to do so
Social identity in cyberspace
Shift from Managing Stocks of Stuff to
Managing Flows of Knowledge (Nielson)
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Librarians use to managing stuff
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Administrators use to managing stuff
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Books
Magazines
Cassettes
Buildings and furniture, land
People
Money
Automators use to Managing Stuff
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Computers
Fiber optics
Bandwidth
KM Embraces the Learning
Organization and the KBO
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Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline
Learning Styles (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic)
Change Intervention Styles (Engineer, Teacher,
Socializer, Commander)
Adult Learning Theory (Experiential, Critical
Reflection, Self-Directed)
Share knowledge to learn quicker, relearn and
“unlearn” faster
What is a KBO?
Knowledge Requires Capture,
Organization, Access and Leverage
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OLD WAY
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Capture form is written,
auditory or graphical
representations
Organization is via tables of
content, indexes,
classification systems used
by publishers, libraries, etc
Access when physical body
goes to where the
knowledge is located…a
library, a company, a
research laboratory, a
school
Tacit knowledge rarely
tapped
Leverage is a sum game
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NEW WAY
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Capture from is digits in
cyberspace
Organization via software
programs designed upon
engineering principles,
mathematical equations,
word associations in
cyberspace 24/7/365
Access wherever the
physical bodies link via
computers
Tacit knowledge tapped
using many different
technological tools
Leverage is exponential,
multiples upon multiples
Knowledge Work Activities
Ac q u i r e
An a l yz e
O r g a n i ze
C o d i fy
Co m m u n i
c aUttei l i z e
Re sult
Knowledge Architectures: It Takes a
Lot -- the Four Pillars KM
KM is different from a KMS
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KM is whole ball of wax (people, technology,
processes, learning, business)
KMS is a knowledge management system that
makes it happen
KMS is comprised of four components
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Content management applications
Expertise locator applications
Collaboration
Portal
All tightly integrated
KM Important Lessons Learned
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KM - beyond fad – a distinct management concept
suggesting it’s prudent to manage the intellectual
assets of an enterprise, to cultivate for advantage in
the marketplace
KM is complex, integrative with other disciplines
Old skills and abilities don’t necessarily work in KM
environment – must be redefined, polished, updated
Principles and concepts are not new- what’s new is
the merger with technology to do so and practical
applications
Librarians have many skills that apply to KM