Contents
Preface 9
How to Get the Most Out of
this Book 11
Knowledge Management:
An Introduction 13
Introduction 13
Background 14
Understanding Knowledge
Management 16
Data, Information and
Knowledge 17
Towards Sustainable
Competitive Advantage 20
Framing a Knowledge
Strategy 21
Making Strategic Choices 23
Building Dynamic Capabilities 25
Implementing Knowledge
Management 26
Evaluating the Strategy 27
The Road Ahead 28
Managing a Knowledge
Business 29
Introduction 29
Key Features of Knowledge
Businesses 29
Leveraging Knowledge 33
Managing Knowledge Workers 35
The Road Ahead 39
The Social Dimensions of
Knowledge Management 42
How Knowledge Markets
Function 42
Building Social Networks 45
Nurturing Communities of
Practice 46
Conclusion 50
A to Z
Advanced Knowledge 51
Agent 51
Agile Methodology 52
AI 52
Application Service
Provider (ASP) 52
Argyris, Chris 52
Articulation 53
Artificial Intelligence (AI) 54
ASP 54
Asynchronous Communication 54
Automated Decision Making 54
Autonomy 55
Ba 56
Benchlearning 57
Benchmarking 57
Best Practices 58
BI 63
Blog 63
Brand Knowledge 63
Browser 64
Bulletin Board 64
Business Intelligence (BI) 64
Case Based Reasoning (CBR) 65
Causal Knowledge 66
Caves and Commons 66
Channel Integration 66
Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) 67
CKO 68
Clusters 68
Clustering 69
Codification 69
Cognition 70
Collaborative Filtering 70
Collaborative Platform 70
Collaboration Work 71
Combination 71
Community of Interest (CoI) 71
Community of Practice (CoP) 72
Comprehension 74
Concept Mapping 75
Condensation 75
Constraint-Based Systems 76
Content Analysis 76
Content Management
System (CMS) 76
Context Sensitivity 77
Cookies 77
CoP 78
Core Capabilities 78
Core Knowledge 78
Core Rigidities 78
Corporate Amnesia 79
Corporate Culture 79
Creative Abrasion 80
Customer Capital 81
Customer Knowledge 81
Data 83
Data Marts 83
Data Mining 84
Data Slam 84
Data Warehousing 85
Davenport, Tom 85
Decision Diary 86
Decision Making 86
Decision Support
Systems (DSS) 87
Declarative Knowledge 88
Deep Smarts 88
Defensive Reasoning 88
Desktop Conferencing 89
Dialectics 89
Dialogue 90
Digital Rights 90
DIKAR Model 90
Discussion List 91
Document Management
Systems 91
Double-loop Learning 92
DSS 92
Dynamic Capability Building 92
E-learning 93
Earl, Michael 94
EIS 94
Enterprise Information
Systems (EIS) 94
Epistemology 94
Experiential Learning 94
Expertise Directory 95
Expert Systems 95
Expert Work 96
Explicit Knowledge 97
Externalization 97
Extensible Markup
Language (XML) 98
Extranet 98
Fuzzy Logic 99
Garbage In Garbage
Out (GIGO) 100
GDSS 100
Genetic Algorithm Tools 100
Gestalt 100
Group Decision Support
Systems (GDSS) 101
Groupware 101
Hansen, Morten 103
HTML (Hyper Text Markup
Language) 103
Human Capital 103
IC 105
Information 105
Innovative Knowledge 105
Insight 106
Instant Messaging 106
Integration Work 106
Intellectual Capital (IC) 107
Intelligent Routing 108
Intention 108
Internalization 109
Intranet 109
Just-in-Case Knowledge Management 110
Just-in-Time Knowledge Management 110
K-Spots 111
Knowledge 111
Knowledge Acquisition 112
Knowledge Activities 113
Knowledge Archaeology 113
Knowledge Asset 113
Knowledge Audit 113
Know-bot (Knowledge Robot) 115
Know-how 115
Know-what 115
Know-why 116
Knowing-Doing Gap 116
Knowledge Base 116
Knowledge Business 117
Knowledge Centre 117
Knowledge Champions 117
Knowledge Enablers 117
Knowledge Engineers 118
Knowledge Growth
Framework 118
Knowledge Harvesting 119
Knowledge Integration 119
Knowledge Interrogators 119
Knowledge Management
Projects 119
Knowledge Mapping 120
Knowledge Markets 121
Knowledge Metrics 124
Knowledge Networking 124
Knowledge Object 125
Knowledge Packaging 125
Knowledge Product 125
Knowledge Recipe 125
Knowledge Refining 125
Knowledge Repository 126
Knowledge
Representation (KR) 126
Knowledge Sharing 128
Knowledge Utilization 128
Knowledge Value Chain 128
Knowledge Work
Management 128
Knowledge Workers 129
Knowledge Wrapper 129
KR 129
Learning History 130
Learning Management
System (LMS) 130
Learning Organization 131
Leonard, Dorothy 133
Lessons Learned 133
LMS 134
Management Information
Systems (MIS) 135
Market-to-Book Ratio 135
Maturity of Knowledge
Management 135
Memory 135
Mental Models 136
Mentoring 136
Meta Information 136
Middleware 136
Migratory Knowledge 137
Mind 137
Mind Map 137
MIS 137
Multimedia 137
Neural Networks 139
NIH 141
Nohria, Nitin 141
Nonaka, Ikujiro 141
Not-Invented-Here (NIH) 141
Object Oriented Databases (OODBs) 142
OLAP 143
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) 143
Ontology 143
OODBs 143
Organizational Knowledge Awareness 143
Organizational Knowledge
Creation 144
Organizational Memory 145
Parsing 146
Peer Assist 146
Personal Mastery 147
Physical Environment 147
Practice 147
Procedural Knowledge 147
Process 148
Process Networks 148
Productive Friction 149
Professional Intellect 149
Prusak, Laurence 150
Pull System 150
Push Systems 150
Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID) 151
Reciprocity 151
Redundancy 152
Report Generator 152
RFID 152
Roth, George 152
Rules of Thumb 153
Scalability 154
Schools of Knowledge
Management 154
Scripting 156
Search Engine 156
SECI Model 157
Semantics 158
Semantic Network 158
Semantic Web 159
Senge, Peter 159
Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA) 160
Single-Loop Learning 160
Skyrme, David J. 161
SOA 161
Socialization 161
Social Capital 162
Social Networks 162
Social Networking Analysis 164
Social Software 164
Spider’s Web 165
Storytelling 166
Structural Capital 166
Summarization 166
Systems Thinking 166
Tacit Knowledge 167
Tag 167
Takeuchi, Hirotaka 168
Taxonomy 168
Team Learning 169
Technology 169
Text Mining 172
Transaction Work 172
Univocality 173
Virtual Private Network
(VPN) 174
Visualizing Tools 174
Voiceover IP 174
VPN 174
Webinar (Web Seminar) 175
Web Server 175
Web Services 175
Wiig, Karl 175
Wiki 176
Willpower 176
Wisdom 176
Work Ambience 177
Workflow Management
Tools 178
XML (Extensible Markup
Language) 179
Yellow Pages 180
Zack, Michael 181
Case Studies: Knowledge
Management in Action 182
- McKinsey & Co 182
- Pfizer 185
- Kao 187
- Silicon Valley 190
- Toyota 193
- Partners HealthCare 196
- NTT DoCoMo 198
- Chaparral Steel 200
- Canon 202
- British Petroleum (BP) 205
- Buckman Laboratories 208
- Nucor Steel 210
Knowledge Management
Mantras 213
Bibliography 221
Preface
Knowledge management is an area which has interested me since the late 1990s. Having been in academics for a long time from 1996 to 2006, I was a natural believer in knowledge creation and sharing. This belief was reinforced by the strong intellectual leadership provided by Mr N. J. Yasaswy when I used to work closely with him in ICFAI. Then in 2006, I got the opportunity to head the Knowledge Management division of Satyam, one of India’s largest software companies and a consistent winner of the MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises) awards. This marked a turning point for me.
While in Satyam, I became fascinated by the challenges involved in knowledge sharing in a large, geographically dispersed organization. Unlike academic institutions, knowledge sharing did not come naturally to the busy software engineers and project managers. But the positive side of the story was Satyam’s strengths in automation and virtualization, thanks to the vision of the company’s top management, especially Mr Ramalinga Raju, its chairman. This made it possible to use technology to scale up any knowledge management initiative quickly. I was also fortunate to work under the direct leadership of Mr Mohan Eddy, Director and Senior Vice President, and Mr Sanjiv Varma, Vice President. Both of them were intellectuals in their own right and knowing my academic background strongly encouraged me to work on a compact but useful book on knowledge management. That is how this book saw the light of the day.
Working on this book was a great experience as I was a complete novice in many of the technologies used in knowledge management. I would like to thank Arun Khan who is currently with the Satyam School of Leadership for supporting me with the research work involved in this project. I would also like to thank all my erstwhile Satyam colleagues, especially Vira Komarraju and Uma Thomas for their encouragement. And last but not the least, Kapil Malhotra of Vision Books for all the support in making this book a reality.
I dedicate this book to my mentor and PhD supervisor, Prof A. Vidyadhar Reddy, Dean, Osmania University, who is a great human being and most passionate about learning . Prof Reddy is currently recuperating from a major surgery. I pray to God, along with his many well wishers, to help him recover quickly and keep guiding the academic community in its various endeavors.
A. V. Vedpuriswar
How to Get the Most
Out of This Book
Alphabetization: All entries are alphabetized by letter rather than by word so that multiple-word terms are treated as single words. In cases where abbreviations or acronyms are more commonly used than full terms, they are given as entries in the main text. For example, XML is more commonly used than Extensible markup language, and so the concept is explained under XML. Where a term has several meanings, the various meanings are given.
Cross References: To offer a fuller understanding of a concept, sometimes it is both necessary and useful to refer to some other related entries in the book as well. Such cross references are printed in small capitals.
Italics have been used to indicate titles of publications, books, journals, etc.
Parentheses: Parentheses have sometimes been used in entry headings to indicate that an abbreviation is as commonly used as the term itself; for example, Business Intelligence (BI).
Examples, Illustrations and Tables: This book contains numerous examples to help you better understand a concept, or to relate it to the real business world. Illustrations and tables are also given at many places along with their related entries.
Knowledge Management: An
Introduction
Introduction
As the foundation of today’s global economy moves away from natural resources to intellectual assets, knowledge has increasingly become the only basis for a competitive advantage that can be sustained. Rather than land, labor or capital it is knowledge that is the key factor of production in many industries. In this “third wave,”[1] the wealth system is increasingly based on thinking, knowing — and serving customers by way of providing them a unique experience. Companies need superior knowledge to leverage their traditional resources and capabilities in new and distinctive ways to serve their customers. And they must do this more effectively compared to competitors. As a result, knowledge management (KM) is being taken seriously by companies across industries.
Information technology (IT) has been a major driver of knowledge management in recent times. But knowledge management should not be equated with information technology. It is human beings who think, experiment and learn to create knowledge. Much of the valuable knowledge that lies in people’s brains and minds can be best shared through human interaction. Information technology is only an enabler, though in the words of famous journalist, Thomas A. Stewart, “It is one hell of an enabler”. Without information technology, would be quite difficult to replicate and distribute knowledge related documents in a cost effective way across an organization that is largely geographically dispersed. As Stewart mentions,[2] “knowledge management is knowing what we know, capturing and organizing it, and using it to produce returns. Nothing in that definition says anything about computers but modern knowledge management is inconceivable without using them and in some sense they created it.”
A final point before we get into more details is that knowledge management should not be looked upon as a new mantra that can produce a magical impact on the functioning of an organization. Organizations need to take a practical, hard-nosed perspective when it comes to managing knowledge. Like any other initiative, knowledge management activities will build momentum only if they generate business value. That in turn is possible only if knowledge management helps the organization to cut costs by improving efficiency, or to innovate and come up with new products / services.
Background
Development and sharing of knowledge started from the time God brought man to this world. For millions of years, human beings had limited ways of passing knowledge to the next generation. Apart from oral narratives, knowledge died with each dying person and each dying generation. Fortunately, the pace of change was so slow that it did not really matter. As Alvin Toffler mentions in his book, Revolutionary Wealth, a major breakthrough occurred about 35,000 years ago when someone drew the first pictograph on a cave wall to mark an important event. The next turning point in knowledge sharing came when man learnt to write, enabling future generations to access the knowledge of earlier generations. The invention of the printing press, which allowed copies of a document to be made and distributed cost-effectively, was another watershed event. And lately, information technology in general and the Internet in particular have given a new momentum to knowledge management.
When we go through history books, we notice that knowledge as a subject, including knowing and the reasons for knowing, was documented by Western philosophers for millennia, and undoubtedly, long before that as well. Since ancient times, Eastern philosophers too have emphasized knowledge and understanding for conducting both spiritual and material life. The Hindu religion, for example, has laid great emphasis on gaining knowledge. Along with these efforts directed towards theoretical and abstract understanding of knowledge, practical needs for expertise and operational understanding have also been important since the battle for survival first started.
Managing practical knowledge was implicit and unsystematic at first. Later, it became more systematic. The craft-guilds and apprentice systems of the 13th century, were based on systematic and pragmatic knowledge management considerations. So also was the way owners of family businesses passed on their commercial acumen to their children. Still, the practical concerns for knowledge and the theoretical and abstract perspectives were not integrated then.
There was little change in the need for putting knowledge to practical use until the industrial revolution changed the economic landscape in the 17th century. The introduction of factories and the need for systematic specialization, gave an impetus to knowledge. Still, knowledge management was largely based on traditional approaches such as a master training an apprentice. Meanwhile, schools and universities mostly focused on providing education for the elite. Knowledge was approached from a largely theoretical perspective with little effort directed at leveraging it for making products and services needed by society.
All this has changed in recent times. Today knowledge management is increasingly being looked at from a business perspective. Many organizations have put in place systems and processes for managing knowledge to cut costs or differentiate their products and services. At the same time, there is a growing belief that intellectual development plays a key role in motivating workers and making them more productive in the workplace. As Peter Senge has mentioned, people in general have a natural desire to learn. Thus knowledge management can be seen as one more step in the evolution of the move towards personal and intellectual freedom that started with the age of enlightenment and reason a few centuries go.