CHAPTER 11 – MANAGING
KNOWLEDGE
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN
BUSINESS?
Important Dimensions of Knowledge
- Knowledge is a frm asset
- Knowledge has diferent forms
- Knowledge has a location
- Knowledge is situational
The Knowledge Management Value Chain
o Knowledge Acquisition - Organizations acquire knowledge in a
number of ways, depending on the type of knowledge they seek.
Seeks to build corporate repositories of documents, reports,
presentations, and best practices.
o Knowledge Storage - Once they are discovered, documents,
patterns, and expert rules must be stored so they can be retrieved
and used by employees. Knowledge storage generally involves the
creation of a database.
o Knowledge Dissemination - Portals, e-mail, instant messaging, wikis,
social business tools, and search engines technology have added to
an existing array of collaboration tools for sharing calendars,
documents, data, and graphics.
o Knowledge Application - Knowledge that is not shared and applied to
the practical problems facing frms and managers does not add
business value. Ultimately, new knowledge must be built into a
frm’s business processes and key application systems.
o Building Organizational and Management Capital - managers can
help by
developing new organizational roles and responsibilities.
Communities of practice (COPs) are informal social networks
of professionals and employees within and outside the frm who
have similar work-related activities and interests. The activities
of these communities include self-education and group
education, conferences, online newsletters, and day-to-day
sharing of experiences and techniques to solve specifc work
problems.
WHAT TYPES OF SYSTEMS ARE USED FOR ENTERPRISE-WIDE
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND HOW DO THEY PROVIDE VALUE
FOR BUSINESSES?
, Types of Systems
1. Enterprise Content Management Systems
- Classifying, organizing, and managing structured (formal
documents) and semistructured (email, graphics, memos)
knowledge and making it available throughout the enterprise.
- They have capabilities for knowledge capture, storage, retrieval,
distribution, and preservation to help frms improve their
business processes and decisions.
- Major enterprise content management systems also enable users
to access external sources of information, such as news feeds
and research, and to communicate via e-mail, chat/instant
messaging, discussion groups, and videoconferencing.
- A key problem in managing knowledge is the creation of an
appropriate classifcation scheme, or taxonomy, to organize
information into meaningful categories so that it can be easily
accessed.
- Once the categories for classifying knowledge have been
created, each knowledge object needs to be “tagged,” or
classifed, so that it can be easily retrieved.
- Enterprise content management systems have capabilities for
tagging, interfacing with corporate databases and content
repositories, and creating enterprise knowledge portals that
provide a single point of access to information resources.
2. Locating and Sharing Experience
- Contemporary enterprise content management systems, along
with the systems for collaboration and social business have
capabilities for locating experts and tapping their knowledge.
- These include online directories of corporate experts and their
profles, with details about their job experience, projects,
publications, and educational degrees, and repositories of expert-
generated content.
- Specialized search tools make it easier for employees to fnd the
appropriate expert in a company.
- For knowledge resources outside the frm, social networking and
social business tools enable users to bookmark Web pages of
interest, tag these book- marks with keywords, and share the
tags and Web page links with other people.
3. Learning Management Systems
- Provides tools for the management, delivery, tracking, and
assessment of various types of employee learning and training.
- Consolidates mixed-media training (CD-ROM, downloadable
videos, Web-based classes, live instruction in classes or online,
2
KNOWLEDGE
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN
BUSINESS?
Important Dimensions of Knowledge
- Knowledge is a frm asset
- Knowledge has diferent forms
- Knowledge has a location
- Knowledge is situational
The Knowledge Management Value Chain
o Knowledge Acquisition - Organizations acquire knowledge in a
number of ways, depending on the type of knowledge they seek.
Seeks to build corporate repositories of documents, reports,
presentations, and best practices.
o Knowledge Storage - Once they are discovered, documents,
patterns, and expert rules must be stored so they can be retrieved
and used by employees. Knowledge storage generally involves the
creation of a database.
o Knowledge Dissemination - Portals, e-mail, instant messaging, wikis,
social business tools, and search engines technology have added to
an existing array of collaboration tools for sharing calendars,
documents, data, and graphics.
o Knowledge Application - Knowledge that is not shared and applied to
the practical problems facing frms and managers does not add
business value. Ultimately, new knowledge must be built into a
frm’s business processes and key application systems.
o Building Organizational and Management Capital - managers can
help by
developing new organizational roles and responsibilities.
Communities of practice (COPs) are informal social networks
of professionals and employees within and outside the frm who
have similar work-related activities and interests. The activities
of these communities include self-education and group
education, conferences, online newsletters, and day-to-day
sharing of experiences and techniques to solve specifc work
problems.
WHAT TYPES OF SYSTEMS ARE USED FOR ENTERPRISE-WIDE
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND HOW DO THEY PROVIDE VALUE
FOR BUSINESSES?
, Types of Systems
1. Enterprise Content Management Systems
- Classifying, organizing, and managing structured (formal
documents) and semistructured (email, graphics, memos)
knowledge and making it available throughout the enterprise.
- They have capabilities for knowledge capture, storage, retrieval,
distribution, and preservation to help frms improve their
business processes and decisions.
- Major enterprise content management systems also enable users
to access external sources of information, such as news feeds
and research, and to communicate via e-mail, chat/instant
messaging, discussion groups, and videoconferencing.
- A key problem in managing knowledge is the creation of an
appropriate classifcation scheme, or taxonomy, to organize
information into meaningful categories so that it can be easily
accessed.
- Once the categories for classifying knowledge have been
created, each knowledge object needs to be “tagged,” or
classifed, so that it can be easily retrieved.
- Enterprise content management systems have capabilities for
tagging, interfacing with corporate databases and content
repositories, and creating enterprise knowledge portals that
provide a single point of access to information resources.
2. Locating and Sharing Experience
- Contemporary enterprise content management systems, along
with the systems for collaboration and social business have
capabilities for locating experts and tapping their knowledge.
- These include online directories of corporate experts and their
profles, with details about their job experience, projects,
publications, and educational degrees, and repositories of expert-
generated content.
- Specialized search tools make it easier for employees to fnd the
appropriate expert in a company.
- For knowledge resources outside the frm, social networking and
social business tools enable users to bookmark Web pages of
interest, tag these book- marks with keywords, and share the
tags and Web page links with other people.
3. Learning Management Systems
- Provides tools for the management, delivery, tracking, and
assessment of various types of employee learning and training.
- Consolidates mixed-media training (CD-ROM, downloadable
videos, Web-based classes, live instruction in classes or online,
2
