CARE USA
Knowledge Sharing Strategy
(Final draft)
Atlanta, January 2007
1. Introduction
Over the last several years, effective Knowledge Sharing (KS) has become an increasing priority for CARE in its fight against global poverty. Many recent KS activities at CARE have contributed to this and yet, a common vision for what a successful KS program should accomplish at CARE has not been articulated.
The purpose of this document is to present CARE USA’s KS strategic approach, along with a three year implementation plan for the global organization. Since Knowledge Sharing is one of CARE’s critical support processes, the approach to KS has to be aligned with the organizational strategy of CARE USA and CARE International.
The CARE USA Strategic Plan – now in process – will more clearly define the global learning agenda for the organization. This agenda will shape CARE’s Knowledge Sharing efforts. However, effective Knowledge Sharing in an organization needs to take place both from the top down (i.e. in support of strategy), and from the bottom up (at the operational level). Therefore, in addition to the strategic component, Knowledge Sharing efforts at CARE must be embedded as a core process in all our projects, interventions and actions.
The strategy presented in this document builds on our organizational experience and culture, as well as the experience of other organizations. It highlights the main ideas presented in the Knowledge Sharing position paper[1], taking them down to the level of operational detail.
Knowledge Sharing includes the process of generation, dissemination and utilization of knowledge. This is the terminology generally used for these activities in the development sector. These activities are also known as Knowledge Management, especially in the private sector. We have explicitly selected the term “Knowledge Sharing” because we feel that this terminology better reflects the operational processes of dissemination and application of knowledge as well as the cultural and behavioral aspects that are so critical to success.
2. Definition of Knowledge Sharing at CARE
Knowledge Sharing at CARE refers to the open and efficient sharing and use of the critical pieces of knowledge that enable CARE to increase its effectiveness in fighting poverty and social injustice.
3. Why knowledge is increasingly important at CARE
Knowledge Sharing is important for CARE to continue to maintain and enhance its reputation as a global leader in developing successful solutions to fight poverty. CARE’s need for Knowledge Sharing is manifested in our current extended CARE USA Strategic Plan (FY06-07), as well as in the new CARE International Strategic plan (2007-2012).
Extended CARE USA Strategic Plan (FY06-07): One objective of the enabling strategies: “Develop a more coherent global strategy for knowledge sharing and information management to enhance programming and staff effectiveness.”
CARE International strategic plan (2007-2012):
Strategic Direction 1: Build shared expertise in key areas of competence
To build shared expertise in selected program areas, in order to strengthen CI member and country office operations, and thereby their impact on the causes and consequences of poverty.
Strategic Direction 5: Information and knowledge management
To become more effective in knowledge and information management. Strengthened performance in these areas will allow CI to leverage its scale in ways that increase organizational accountability, learning and relevance and, ultimately, program impact.
Making Knowledge Sharing a core support process at CARE will contribute significantly to:
a. Improving program quality and reducing duplication of efforts
b. Creating an environment that enables reflection and fosters innovation
c. Increasing cost-effectiveness
4. Current Knowledge Sharing activities at CARE
Knowledge Sharing is now taking place at CARE, to a limited extent. Some Knowledge Sharing activities are providing significant value, but only to small groups of employees. Currently these local experiences do not allow the entire organization to benefit from the knowledge that is created.
Any KS strategy should provide the structure to allow for the efficient sharing of knowledge to improve the quality and effectiveness of CARE’s work across the organization. However, this strategy should also be flexible enough to accommodate CARE’s organizational culture. Findings from the recent KS global assessment conducted by ADP/Accenture[2] provide insights suggesting what the proposed KS strategy should take into account. These key findings include:
§ Many processes, methods, tools and technologies are used to support the current local KS but these items are not built from a global perspective, hindering a better connection across the different levels of the organization.
§ CARE’s culture focuses on personal interaction. CARE’s staff members communicate and interact most successfully through verbal, face-to-face and informal communications rather than by written, formal documentation.
§ Diversity (different languages, different cultures, ethnicities, gender, etc.) as well as the decentralized structure of the organization are critical challenges for any global KS effort.
§ Employees feel that there is not always openness to constructive criticism and feedback in the organization. Additionally, staff often do not understand how valuable their knowledge is for the organization, or how to best share it. Individuals have difficulty understanding how to apply what others say to their context.
§ Although connectivity (Internet/email) is a challenge in some of the places we work, we are also challenged to take full advantage of our available technology.
§ People are not clear whose role it is to leverage and scale up local knowledge more broadly through the organization. Who is a global player at CARE?
5. Key principles for Knowledge Sharing at CARE
Based on the findings from the Accenture study, and the concepts outlined in the position paper, the following are the key principles of Knowledge Sharing at CARE:
· Knowledge Sharing at CARE must serve two key purposes:
o It must allow knowledge that is strategic to the organization to be created, documented and distributed;
o It must also connect people to allow them to share their experiences and expertise.
· Knowledge Sharing at CARE is not just about making knowledge available. The real benefit of Knowledge Sharing is not achieved unless this knowledge is used and applied.
· Knowledge Sharing at CARE is about fostering personal attitudes and behaviors that motivate people to connect and share with each other. However, it is also about creating the processes, capabilities and technology to support these attitudes.
· Knowledge is considered a social asset -- not a private asset.
Therefore all knowledge generated by CARE is to be shared with our development partners (local communities, other NGOs, Governments, etc).
Types of knowledge
Knowledge Sharing at CARE involves the sharing of two types of knowledge: Explicit and Tacit.
· Explicit knowledge is organized and structured. It is available in documents, databases, training videos and other traditional knowledge sharing channels.
· Tacit knowledge is mainly based on experience. It exists in people’s minds as memories, impressions, practical know-how, etc.
It is important to share tacit knowledge, because the real value knowledge offers to any staff member is benefiting from others’ experiences. These experiences are often difficult to articulate and “package” for sharing, since they are often stories, anecdotes or incidents that lose their richness when translated into text documents.
Tacit knowledge is best shared through personal interactions based on willingness to share and trust. This is why encouraging Knowledge Sharing behaviors is a critical component of CARE’s KS strategy.
6. Approach to KS at CARE – Core Knowledge Sharing processes
SECI Model
To develop a successful KS strategy, it is important to understand how explicit and tacit knowledge components interact. The SECI model[3] below illustrates how tacit knowledge is transformed into explicit knowledge, and back into tacit knowledge. As the model shows, the process of knowledge creation and sharing takes place through continually deepening cycles of the following four steps:
Socialization (Tacit to Tacit): People share their expertise in informal social settings through stories, analogies, drawings, and personal experiences.
Externalization (Tacit to Explicit): The knowledge shared in social settings is documented and converted into explicit knowledge that is shared through publicly accessible media (papers, books, audiovisual material etc.).
Combination (Explicit to Explicit): Individuals receive new knowledge and combine it with their own experience and former knowledge to expand their knowledge base.
Internalization (Explicit to Tacit): As individuals continue to use what they have learned, they internalize the knowledge. It becomes part of their set of beliefs and expertise that dictate their new behavior.
The CARE Knowledge Sharing Model
The proposed model for Knowledge Sharing at CARE is shown in the figure below. While the model is based on the SECI concepts, it defines five core Knowledge Sharing processes. The processes can be implemented at the global level, the regional level, the CO level or the project level, and therefore do not impose any rigid implementation criteria.
Two cyclical paths
First path
In the first path, new knowledge gets created. This knowledge – primarily explicit – is communicated and applied, expanding the organization’s knowledge base. This creates requirements for new knowledge that are fed back to the creation process. As this cycle continues, organizational knowledge grows and becomes more refined as employees gain expertise in identifying knowledge that is most relevant to them. This cycle emphasizes applying explicit knowledge. Many KS models focus primarily on documentation and dissemination. However, these activities are meaningless unless the knowledge is applied.
Second path
The second, deeper path involves deepening and enriching knowledge through socialization and interaction. These are the tacit components of KS. The first three processes in this path are the same as the first: creation, communication and application. However, this path goes further to include the processes of socialization and synthesis. In knowledge socialization, knowledge users share their experiences about applying knowledge in the context of their work. This sharing may be through informal forums such as chat groups or social events, or through more structured settings such as knowledge fairs. The emphasis of this process should be on communicating experience through conversation, story telling or dialog, rather than through formally documented presentations. This process therefore represents a tacit to tacit transfer of knowledge. The final process, synthesis, is a tacit to explicit transfer. The key learning that emerges from the conversations and stories in the socialization process is synthesized, documented and becomes part of organizational expertise, which in turn feeds new knowledge creation.
Processes at a glance
· First path: creation, communication, application
· Second path: creation, communication, application, socialization, synthesis
As part of the work plan associated with CARE’s Knowledge Sharing strategy, these processes must be created, as well as the metrics that assess their effectiveness. These processes will then be made available to regions, COs, and others throughout the CARE organization to assist with the implementation of KS activities.
It is important to distinguish between the kinds of knowledge an organization acquires by following each of the two paths described above.
By following the first path, the organization produces experts who all learn from a common source. Each expert expands his or her knowledge base by integrating the new knowledge with what he or she already knows, and gains further experience by applying the knowledge. On this path, the process of gaining experience is individual – the organization does not benefit from the collective experience of all its experts. Demand for new knowledge is therefore generated by each expert individually, and therefore the knowledge creation process runs the risk of being inefficient and duplicative.
In contrast, when following the second path, experts have a means to communicate with each other and build their collective expertise. As a result, the organizational knowledge pool is richer and deeper, and demand for new knowledge comes from this deeper source. The knowledge creation process is therefore less likely to be duplicative, and has the greater potential to innovate. The organizational burden to support the second path is clearly greater, but the returns are also potentially higher.
7. The CARE KS approach: an example
This section illustrates how the different processes of the CARE KS approach work. In this case, the focus is on the design of a new development intervention for Marginalized Girls’ Education in a specific Country Office. Defining a specific thematic is the first step for a knowledge creation process (see Knowledge Sharing Enablers, Item 8). This is a typical example that should have relevance for many levels of the organization.
PROCESS / EXAMPLEKnowledge Creation
One similar knowledge creation effort that is currently underway is the Strategic Impact Inquiry about Women’s Empowerment. A group of global staff, led by CARE’s Impact Measurement and Learning team, researched the impact (using different methods) on one of our underlying causes of poverty. The study created knowledge pertaining to the impact of our work in women’s empowerment.
For an organization such as CARE, it is important that the knowledge creation process is not restricted to the knowledge of so called “experts,” either external or internal. Knowledge creation at CARE should actively encompass knowledge from our partners and constituencies, as well as the local actors and communities we work with. / To create knowledge around the topic of Marginalized Girls’ Education, the Country Office will research what others inside and outside CARE have done (good practices); may conduct a deep analysis of the situation in the area we want to intervene; may dialogue with peers that are doing the same kind of projects; and will finally develop a hypothesis for intervention that will give rise to an intervention strategy and a proposal.
Knowledge Communication
Dissemination or transfer of knowledge can take place in different ways. Depending on the audience or the culture, different approaches will be appropriate. It is important to tailor the documentation and dissemination process to meet the needs of the users. For example, organizations with high Internet connectivity may use portals or gateways to share their explicit knowledge. Others need more personal interaction to achieve the same goal. CARE’s culture (very strong in people interaction) and decentralized structure imply that we must be flexible in using different means to ensure that knowledge is shared in the most appropriate and effective way throughout the organization. / The proposal is shared with a neighboring Country Office, which is also developing a new proposal for a different donor. It is presented in the regional ERAC meeting and posted in a collaborative area (Intranet), so that everyone can access it. The ERAC leader and the technical unit create a summary that is posted on the Intranet and distributed by CD to other country offices.