CHAPTER 9

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

CHAPTER 9

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING

  1. Where does knowledge transfer fit in the KM system-building life cycle?

Once knowledge is captured, codified, tested, and deployed, the next step is to demonstrate how it is transferred to the right party in the right format and at the time needed. Knowledge transfer is a prerequisite for knowledge sharing for competitive advantage, performance, and profitability.

  1. In what way(s) is knowledge transfer a step in a process? Be specific.

Knowledge transfer is a step in the knowledge management process that start with knowledge creation and finishes with knowledge use for action or decision making.

  1. “Knowledge transfer is not only from knowledge bases or repositories”. Do you agree? Explain.

True. Knowledge can be transferred from repositories to people, from teams to individuals, and between individuals.

  1. What is ‘bounded rationality’? How does it relate to satisficing?

Bounded rationality is the tendency to select less than the best objective or alternative; engage in a limited search for alternative solutions; and have inadequate information and control of the factors influencing the outcomes of a decision.

This concept involves recognizing human limits to a person’s knowledge of all alternatives and their consequences. The hope is to get ‘good enough’ information from someone nearby. The ‘good enough’ view is referred to as satisficing rather than optimizing.

  1. Cite and explain briefly the factors that affect knowledge transfer.

To transfer knowledge, we consider three factors:

  1. Where knowledge is transferred from—knowledge bases, innovations, lessons learned, programs, books, experts, articles, data warehouses, etc
  2. The media used in knowledge transfer—local area network, wireless transmission, secure versus unsecured line, encrypted or plain text, etc.
  3. Where knowledge is transferred to—apprentice, user, another computer, a team, any authorized individual, a manager, a customer, an automated product maker, etc.
  1. Distinguish between:
  1. explicit inter-team knowledge transfer and tacit knowledge transfer
  2. values and beliefs
  3. authority and empowerment
  4. knowing-doing gap and bounded rationality
  1. Explicit inter-team transfer is the transfer of explicit knowledge from a team that has done a job on one site share the experience with another team working on a similar job on another site. Tacit knowledge transfer is transferring knowledge on a complex project stored in a human’s mind.
  2. Value is a basic belief about a condition that has considerable important and meaning to persons within a society and is relatively stable over time. Belief is a way of thinking; feeling or impression.
  3. Authority is the right to decide or to act. Empowerment is the leader’s sharing of power with subordinates.
  4. Knowing-doing gapis ignoring available information and performing a given job differently. Bounded rationality is the tendency to select less than the best objective or alternative; engage in a limited search for alternative solutions; and have inadequate information and control of the factors influencing the outcomes of a decision.
  1. Explain briefly the key prerequisites for knowledge transfer.

Technology alone is not a sure prerequisite for knowledge transfer. Neither cooperation nor knowledge retrieval occurs with much excitement. It takes a change in culture, in politics, and attitude to make things happen.

  1. List and briefly explain some of the positive cultural values in an organization.

Positive cultural values include:

  • Leadership. For example, a champion who promotes change and one who is highly regarded by the employees.
  • Understanding company mission. For example, a company can have a clear mission statement regarding knowledge management and how it plans to embed it in the organization.
  • Culturally internalized management practices. For example, enthusiastic management optimistic about the changing environment.
  • Culturally internalized operational practices. For example, decision making or problem-solving based on collaboration and team work.
  • Culturally driven forces. For example, employees trusting one another in a shared learning atmosphere. Trust in others that generates honesty and fairness for all participants.
  1. How does employee satisfaction affect knowledge transfer? Explain.

The success of knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing depends to a great extent on how satisfied employees are on the job and the turnover rate in the work place. For knowledge transfer to be effective, employees have to work in a culture that accommodates transfer, apply and share transferred knowledge in an environment of trust and trustworthiness. Regardless of these factors, employees must be satisfied with the status quo if they are to cooperate and collaborate with others as a team.

  1. Explain the factors that determine the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.
  • Mentorship
  • On-the-job training
  • Job rotation and career paths that define the way
  • Duration of the job experiences
  1. Elaborate on the key inhibitors of knowledge transfer.

The following are the key areas where friction occurs and ways to correct it:

  • Lack of trust. A major element in the success of any knowledge transfer project is the commonality of language people have with one another. Trust develops after people share proprietary knowledge and feel the reciprocal to be at least intrinsically rewarding.
  • Lack of time and conference places. To expedite knowledge transfer, people must show interest, take time, and find meeting places where they can exchange ideas. The status of the knower. People decide to act on knowledge or information based on who gives it to them.
  • Quality and speed of transfer. When knowledge is transferred from a reliable high-profile source, it is expected to be of the quality that promotes its use.
  1. In your own words, what are the distinctive features of collective sequential transfer?

The unique features of collaborate sequential knowledge transfer include:

  • Team meetings are generally brief.
  • Meetings are held with all participants being equal.
  • Whatever takes place in meetings is kept within the team.
  • The focus is on the project not the person or the personality.
  1. Give an example of your own tacit knowledge transfer.

A purchasing manager takes into consideration many factors based on his experience before making decisions such as whether to buy the whole quantity of a certain item from one supplier or from several suppliers. Hence, capturing these factors and translating the way it relates to the decision is tacit knowledge transfer.

  1. Summarize the uses and limitations of the Internet as they relate to knowledge management.

The uses are:

a. Doing business fast

  1. Gathering opinions and trying out new ideas
  2. Leveling the playing field
  3. Providing a superior customer service and support resource
  4. Supporting managerial functions, spreading ideas

The limitations are:

a. Security and privacy

  1. Fakes and forgeries
  2. Securing information

KNOWLEDGE EXERCISES

  1. How would one instill trust in an organization? Discuss.

Trust is a tricky business. It seems like it takes years to build trust in a relationship, but only one bad oversight to destroy it. Trust is prerequisite to knowledge transfer in a business relationship. Integrity, track record, and consistency are among the factors that lead to trust. Culture also has a lot to do with trust. One way to instill trust in an organization is to demonstrate that you can be trusted, that you level with your staff and share with them information as it happens, and involve employees in joint decision making, where appropriate. People usually feel they belong and begin to trust the system the more they feel they belong or feel they are part of the business or the process. Look up the Internet and pull one or more white papers that address the role of trust in an organization.

  1. In your opinion, does one fix the culture and then get the employees to share or vice versa?

A trusting organization tends to attract trustworthy employees who perform well within the cultural values of the business. This implies that it is easier and better to have the organization’s culture set for trust and for employee to begin to acculturate within the culture than the other way round.

  1. Discuss the difference(s) between collaboration and commitment. How are they related?

Collaboration is sharing in the decision-making process for solutions considered to be mutually beneficial. Anyone can collaborate through participation in a project without having to make a commitment to its use. Commitment to a project means taking responsibility for its outcome, which, of course, definitely contributes to the success of system implementation.

  1. In what way(s) is it difficult to fit the Japanese culture into American business?

From the author’s experience consulting with Japanese clients, a Japanese in general is courteous, a good listener, a thinker, accommodating, respectful of experts or specialists, and tends to follow orders without much complaining. There is also a close relationship between the Japanese worker and his or her family. There is loyalty to the job and to the firm. This type of compliance and accommodation is not so easy to apply in an American business. American employees are usually more open to address change, more independent in deciding on whom to work for, where to work, and when to change jobs, etc. American work life is very much on the go. This makes Japanese culture difficult to plug into an American work setting.

  1. How important do you think trust is in the process of knowledge transfer? Discuss.

Refer to answer #1. As a personal thought, where there is questionable or no trust, one can expect more people hoarding what they know because of the fear of becoming vulnerable. Insecurity and suspicion in people usually indicate lack of trust, which can impede knowledge transfer or knowledge enrichment.

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