ASSIGNMENT

IN
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
(MIT 123)

Submitted by:
Gierald Wyne R. Bulaclac
(Student)
 CHAPTER 01

Identify an example of a KM initiative that has been undertaken in

your organization. Has the initiative been successful? What are
some of the issues, both technical and nontechnical, that were
faced during its implementation?

- The Company implemented a system to support the work of the help

desk. The software is designed to record solutions to technical issues
that have occurred in the companys computing environment. The
purpose of the system is to capture knowledge about technology-
related problems and their solutions and make this solution available to
the rest of the team, on demand, using natural language. This initiative
has been marginally successful at The Company. The main reason for
its partial success is that the management group didnt embrace the
use of the tool, and therefore didnt properly convince the staff of the
value of the tool in solving day-to-day problems. Furthermore,
performance standards were not developed to foster the staff to adopt
the tool. Finally, solutions are not validated prior to their inclusion in
the application; therefore the quality of the information is questionable
leading to lack of trust issues.

How would you go about designing a knowledge management

initiative to support your business needs? What nontechnical issues
will you face during its implementation?

Establish Knowledge Management Program Objectives

Prepare for Change
Define High-Level Process
Determine and Prioritize Technology Needs
Assess Current State
Build a Knowledge Management Implementation Roadmap
Implementation
Measure and Improve the Knowledge Management Program
Effective KM is not about making a choice between software vs. wetware,
classroom vs. hands-on, formal vs. informal, technical vs. socialuses all
the options available to motivated employees to put knowledge to work
[and] depends on recognizing that all of these options basically need each
other [Stewart, 2002].
One of the primary differences between traditional information systems and
KM systems is the active role that users of KM systems play on building the
content of such systems.

CHAPTER 02

1. Daily life: Consider five decisions you have made today. (They
could be simple, such as taking a turn while driving or even
choosing a soft drink at a store.)
1. In each case determine the (1) data, (2) information,
and (3) knowledge that were involved in your decision.
a) Action: Sending an e-mail message to a friend Data: E-mail
addresses of all individuals at the university at which the friend is a
student Information: E-mail address of the friend to be contacted
Knowledge: How to send an E-mail
b) Action: Watching your favorite television program Data: Opening the
TV guide Information: Referring to the TV guide to find out when the
program airs. Knowledge: Turning on the TV and setting it to the
correct channel
c) Action: Driving to work Data: Details about the car functions like
brakes, steering wheel, etc. Information: Directions from home to work
Knowledge: How to drive and maneuver a car
d) Action: Answering a ringing telephone Data: Hearing the phone ring
Information: Where the phone is located Knowledge: How to pick up
the receiver and answer the phone
e) Action: Setting a clock for Daylight Saving Time Data: Dates with
and without Daylight Saving Time Information: The date and time when
to make the time change Knowledge: In which direction and by how
much to adjust the clock

2. Now consider how those decisions would have been

influenced by the lack of preexisting data, information, or
knowledge.
Data comprises facts, observations, or perceptions that by
themselves represent raw numbers or assertions, and may
therefore be devoid of context, meaning, or intent. Some examples
of data could be:
 a. The age and gender of each spectator in a ballpark during a
game.
b. The price of each model of personal computer from every
possible vendor at a particular point in time. On the other hand,
Knowledge has been distinguished from data in two different ways.
A more simplistic view considers knowledge as being at the highest
level in a hierarchy with information at the middle level and data at
the lowest level.

Knowledge in your organization:

Determine the various locations of knowledge within your organization.
Classify them appropriately.
Declarative Knowledge has been used in terms of the meanings of
English words (such as physical, cognitive, etc., on page 22) and the
meanings of various punctuation marks, such as , and .
Procedural Knowledge was used in the actual reading of this book.
When you reached the end of a page, you knew that you now needed to
move on to the next page or turn to the next page, until youve reached
the end of the book.
Tacit Knowledge gained from reading the preface of this book, which
tells you about the book and its contents, helps understand this chapter.
Explicit Knowledge contained in the text of the chapter helps
understand the tables and figures in the chapter.
General Knowledge about topics such as restaurant, coins, and
hurricanes on page 12, was used to understand the concepts explained in
the chapter.
Specific Knowledge was used to apply the concepts the student read
about in the chapter to real -world situations she may have encountered
at her work place.

3. Now speculate on the negative effects of not having

one or more of those knowledge repositories and accordingly
determine which repository is the most critical to the
organization. Which is the least?
o This answer would depend on the specific organization.
 CHAPTER 3

1. KM processes in your organization: Observe and describe at

least one (preferably more) examples of knowledge discovery,
knowledge capture, knowledge sharing, and knowledge
application in your organization. Identify strengths and
weaknesses of your organizations KM, with respect to the
mechanisms and technologies as well as the infrastructure.
Note: you may wish to extend/refine work you did in
Assignment 1.
Knowledge Discovery
Some people dont differentiate data mining from knowledge discovery
while others view data mining as an essential step in the process of
knowledge discovery. Here is the list of steps involved in the
knowledge discovery process

Data Cleaning In this step, the noise and inconsistent data is

removed.

Data Integration In this step, multiple data sources are

combined.

Data Selection In this step, data relevant to the analysis task

are retrieved from the database.
 Data Transformation In this step, data is transformed or
consolidated into forms appropriate for mining by performing
summary or aggregation operations.

Data Mining In this step, intelligent methods are applied in

order to extract data patterns.

Pattern Evaluation In this step, data patterns are evaluated.

Knowledge Presentation In this step, knowledge is

represented.

Knowledge Capture
Knowledge capture is the process by which knowledge is converted
from tacit to explicit form (residing within people, artifacts or
organizational entities) and vice versa through the sub-processes
of externalization and internalization. The knowledge being capured
might reside outside the organizational boundaries including
consultants, competitors, customers, suppliers, etc.

Externalization is the sub-process through which an organization

captures the tacit knowledge its workers possess so that it can be
documented, verbalized and shared. This is a difficult process because
tacit knowledge is often difficult to articulate.

Internalization is the sub-process through which workers acquire tacit

knowledge. It represents the traditional notion of learning. Knowledge
capture can also be conducted outside an organization.

2. Suggest reasons why a knowledge sharing system could be

established between rival organizations (eg, Mastercard and
Visa) for the mutual benefit of both organizations.

o Knowledge sharing is the process through which explicit or tacit

knowledge is communicated to other individuals. Knowledge
sharing means effective transfer, so that the recipient of
knowledge can understand it well enough to act on it. Secondly,
what is shared is knowledge rather than recommendations based
on the knowledge, and finally, knowledge sharing may take place
across individuals as well as across groups, departments, or
organizations. Depending on whether explicit or tacit knowledge
 is being shared, exchange or socialization processes are used. In
the case of rival organizations like MasterCard and Visa, or
Honda and Toyota, knowledge sharing could mutually benefit
both organizations. Each organization has employees with a
certain amount of tacit and explicit knowledge. It is more than
likely each organizations employees have some knowledge that
is not known to the employees of the other organization. By
pooling these knowledge resources, it would mutually benefit
both organizations. In the case of Honda and Toyota, if Honda
designs a more fuel efficient engine and Toyota designs an
extremely aerodynamic car body, by an exchange of knowledge
between the two organizations, both benefit by developing a
very popular vehicle.

3. Critique the following statement: We have implemented

several IT solutions: expert systems, chat group, and best
practices and lessons learned databases. These powerful
solutions can surely get our employees to internalize
knowledge.
- Internalization is a KM sub process that involves the conversion of
explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. The explicit knowledge may
be embodied in action and practice, so that the individual acquiring the
knowledge can re-experience what others have gone through. In the
above statement, it is suggested that when a host of KM IT solutions is
employed by an organization, it will surely induce the organizations
employees to internalize knowledge. This statement is not entirely
true. While it is true that the above technologies will work as a catalyst
towards the ultimate aim, it is not likely to induce internalization, for a
variety of reasons. First, internalization is a form of self-learning, and
not all employees are self-motivated learners. Even with the best of
technology at hand, if the employee is not motivated enough to gather
more knowledge, it is of little use. Second, in certain industries, not all
employees have the skills needed to make use of the KM technology
solutions.
 CHAPTER 4

What various kinds of impact does knowledge management

have on organizations and organizational performance?
The relationship between KM and organizational performance is implicit
in some KM definitions (as described earlier). The assumption that KM
is needed for knowledge accumulation to result in improved
organizational performance possibly arises from the fact that
researchers have opposing views about the impact of knowledge on
organizational performance (McEvily and Chakravarthy, 2002; Vera and
Crossan, 2003). From the perspective of the knowledge based view, a
positive link between knowledge and performance is stressed. It is
expected that a particular category of knowledge, which is valuable,
rare, inimitable and non-substitutable 6(Barney, 1991), would lead to
performance. On the other side of the discussion are authors who do
not see a direct relationship between knowledge and performance.
Organizations can always attain knowledge that may not lead to
intelligent behavior. Complementary to this view is Leonards (1992)
description of how core rigidities due to deeply embedded knowledge
sets hinder innovation. Arthurs(1989) law of increasing returns also
supports the equivocal link between knowledge and performance.
Although recent empirical studies have found support for the direct
impact of knowledge on performance (e.g., Appleyard, 1996; Decarolis
and Deeds, 1999; Yeoh and Roth, 1999), Vera and Crossan (2003)
suggest that the conclusion from these studies is not that more
knowledge leads to greater performance, but the knowledge that is
relevant may have positive effects on organization performance. Since
knowledge may have an equivocal impact on organizational
performance, the management of organizational knowledge (or KM) is
assumed to have a positive impact on organizational performance. A
careful review of literature shows that only a few articles have
attempted to investigate the link between KM and performance
(Appendix A). As shown in the appendix, of these articles most are
conceptual in nature and many lack strong theoretical foundations.
Despite this assumed link, it is still possible for KM to negatively affect
organizational performance, according to Chakravarthy et al. (2003).
The authors explain by suggesting that KM has three important
processes knowledge accumulation (activities through which an
organization gains new understanding), knowledge protection
(activities that maintain the proprietary nature of an organizations
knowledge) and knowledge leverage (activities to use existing
knowledge for commercial ends). While each process is important,
there may be tensions among these three KM processes. For instance,
aggressive attempts at leveraging knowledge can inhibit knowledge
accumulation because the latter may typically not offer financial
returns in the short run whereas the former often does. Similarly to
encourage effective knowledge accumulation, organizations need to
shake up existing patterns of behavior, values, and tacit mindsets.
Since this typically requires articulation of tacit knowledge, it sacrifices
some protection of that knowledge. Further, effective protection of
 knowledge often requires segregating or embedding knowledge within
the organization, while leverage demands
Integration and articulation. Thus, if a delicate balance among KM
processes is not maintained, KM can lead to negative organizational
performance. This suggests that we need to 7 conceptualize the
relationship between KM and organizational performance differently.
One way to make sense of KM and its relationship with organizational
performance is to try to build an applied theory. An applied theory
guides empirical research. Just as Wheeler (2002) explains, Adaptive
Structuration Theory (DeSanctis and Poole, 1994) is an applied version
of the molar theory of Structuration (Giddens, 1979) or the Technology
Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) is an applied version of the Theory of
Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) (p.129) that guides
empirical research. Given the current ambiguous nature of the KM
field, it very much needs an applied theory. Theory building is an
essential part of research (Van de Ven, 1989; Huber, 1990; Wheeler
2002). The purpose of a theory is to impose order on unordered
experiences and observations to increase understanding and
prediction. Williamson (1999) asserts that sooner or later, a would-be
theory must be asked to show its handthere is a need to sort the
wheat from the chaff. Predictions, data, and empirical tests provide the
requisite screen (p.1093). Dubin (1978) argues that the purpose of
theory is to generate testable hypotheses. Thus, in this paper, we
attempt to articulate what constitutes KM and how it impacts
organizational performance in ways that can be empirically tested.

At what levels does the impact occur?

* People
is a plurality of persons considered as a whole, as is the case
with an ethnic group or nation. Collectively, for example, the
contemporary Frisians and Danes are two related Germanic
peoples, while various Middle Eastern ethnic groups are often
linguistically categorized as Semitic peoples.

* Processes
A process is a set of activities that interact to achieve a result.
* Products
is anything that can be offered to a market that might satisfy a
want or need. In retailing, products are called merchandise. In
manufacturing, products are bought as raw materials and sold
as finished goods.

* Overall performance
The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset
known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed. In
a contract, performance is deemed to be the fulfillment of an
obligation, in a manner that releases the performer from all
liabilities under the contract.
 CHAPTER 5

Last time, we explored various kinds of impact that KM may

have on organizations
*at various levels: people, processes, products, and overall
performance But why
might KM solutions have different impacts on
performance, depending on the
specific organizations circumstances?
o Direct Impacts of KM are as follows: Knowledge is used to create
innovative products that generate revenue and profit. In theory,
it is relatively straightforward to measure in terms of
improvements in ROI.
o Indirect Impacts of KM are as follows: to demonstrate intellectual
leadership within the industry, which, in turn, might enhance
customer loyalty. Use of knowledge to gain an advantageous
negotiating position with respect to competitors or partner
organizations.

What, exactly, are the key factors that determine the

suitability of alternative KM solutions? What, exactly, is the
nature of their impacts?

Different approaches to KM are not mutually exclusive and no one

approach is instinctively preferable to another (Newell et all 2002). A
universal view of KM implies that there is one single best approach to
the management of knowledge which can be applied to all contexts,
under all circumstances (Berra-Fernandez et all 2004). In contrast to
the universalism view of KM, the contingency view recognizes multiple
alternative paths (Berra-Fernandez et all 2004, Newell et al 2002). It
recognizes the need for flexibility, dependent on the process applied to
to achieve a given goal and stresses that the appropriateness of a KM
approach will depend on the business context and the available
resources (Newell et al2002).
Contingency Factors and KM Solutions :

Categories of Contingency Factors :

 Task Characteristics :

A task is a sequence of actions that a person takes to reach some goal. Just
as we could analyze users into layers we can do the same for tasks.

Physical objects and Events: Tools used for the task, material
objects that form the starting point and events that occur as the
user does the task. Note that for a computer task the computer
and its keyboard are among the physical objects.
Perceptions and Actions: Things a user is aware of during a task,
and the actions that the user performs.

Two types of characteristics are

Task Uncertainty
Task Interdependence

Knowledge Characteristics :
Most common methods are
Explicit vs. tacit
Procedural vs. declarative
General vs. specific
Identification of Appropriate KM Solutions :

Before identifying solution we have come across the challengers which

means business challenges. When your company can share expertise and
know-how across the organization, help practitioners find, use, prioritize and
share information, manage content securely, and make the social web
available, you turn information and expertise into saleable knowledge.
Effective knowledge management allows people in your organization to
collaborate, communicate, and stay connected and up-to-date on relevant
information in your field. Some challenges in knowledge management for
Professional Services include: Finding and connecting expertise Difficulty in
making real-time connections with experts inhibits value delivery and slows
decision making. Professional turnover and an aging workforce can make
finding the right resource even more difficult. Too much information, not
enough context Its hard to find relevant case information without reliable
sources, duplication and content silos. Practitioners may make better use of
information when the information is organized effectively. Secure information
sharing Content leakage and ineffective retention poses a risk for the firm.
Content needs to be protected as records with flexible compliance tools to
handle multiple schemes for retention, disposition, and legal holds. Common
insights Geographic distances and conflicting taxonomies impede
collaboration between teams and across organizations. For example, in
construction, a Framed Roof in one part of an organization may mean
Rafters in another part of the organization. Having tools that deliver results
based on relativity and concepts help deliver and cross that divide.