HOW TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: DEVELOPING A QUANTITATIVE MODEL

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1 10 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp (2008) HOW TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: DEVELOPING A QUANTITATIVE MODEL Mohammad Fathian 1, Maryam Sotoudehriazi 2, Peyman Akhavan 3* and Ali Amin Moghaddam 4 1, 2 Department of Industrial Engineering Iran University of Science and Technology Tehran, Iran 3 Department of management and Industrial Engineering Malek Ashtar University of Technology Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Management Business Administration Allameh Tabatabaie University Tehran, Iran ABSTRACT In the current century, Information Technology (IT) has changed the knowledge position in enterprises. Knowledge as a critical and strategic resource is a powerful tool for recognizing enterprise leverage in the new world. Systematic management for enterprise knowledge, e.g. new ideas, innovations and patents, has a great impact on business sustainability and growth. Current management interests are also focused their efforts to create, assess and promote knowledge management in enterprises. But the efficiency of these efforts is not recognized. Without assessment of knowledge assets, agile companies can not design and run knowledge promotion programs required for survival in competitive environments in modern economy. For developing knowledge in company, a quantitative model for the assessment of as-is situation and development of knowledge promotion plans, a situational program based on assessment results, business strategy, and core competency is necessary. There is a wide variety of techniques for each step of knowledge management assessment, if considered separately; however, there exists no integrated model to cover thoroughly; in other words, no model is available to lead wise managers towards KM-related goals in enterprises. In an attempt to fill this gap, in this paper, we introduce an assessment model which covers evaluation, and positioning the level of KM in enterprise in quantitative vision. Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge, Assessment Model, Quantitative Model * 1. INTRODUCTION By passing from industrial revolution to a millennium, motive growth engine is not limited to capital and man power. Knowledge is the most important all sides growth variant s and economical agencies at present [1, 2]. Knowledge is a series of human skills and abilities that are accompany with information from better ways of product and main factors are valuable for people [1][2][3]. Organizations should be flexible to be able to match themselves with changes in the world these days. Supporting potential learning is one of the certain ways for reaching this amount of flexibility. In * Corresponding author: akhavan@iust.ac.ir addition, s should have the ability to answer the internal and external needs. This can be done by knowledge management [1][2][3]. According to Awad (2004), knowledge management is the process of collecting, making and using the people's profession in the and the process of creating, submitting, and publishing, promoting and employing the knowledge in direction of the aims and purposes and the activities of the. There are also three basic elements which are noted in the management of people's knowledge, people, information technology and the al process [4]. How many approaches expand it? We can also define knowledge management as an even approach for reaching al aims by considering and concentrating especially on knowledge in. Knowledge management supports the

2 M. Fathian et al.: How to Assess Knowledge Management: Developing a Quantitative Model 11 process of creation, transmission and employment of man's knowledge of al knowledge and making harmony between them [1][3][7][8][9].Such an approach is only made under the jointing culture. One of the characteristics is developing and supporting the information and process which are well reasoned out in the. We can suppose the following benefits for using knowledge management in the briefly [11][12][13]. Knowledge management makes the value of knowledge oriented. Knowledge management increases the staff's motivation by increasing participation. Knowledge management promotes competition and makes us reach the firm (constant) completion benefit [1][2][3]. One of the most important problems in Knowledge Management area which managers face with is knowledge level assessment, In order to employ the ways for assessing and promoting the al knowledge level. Those are the most important aims of assessment models. After considering assessment models, this article submits the one that contains the whole dimensions of knowledge management assessment in the and is able to show the real level of it. 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The following stages had been passed in this research. Completing study about knowledge management assessment models in the world and choosing four best models, according to validity of these models for this research. Comparing the selected models according to expert's idea. Choose the know-all 10 model as the best knowledge management assessment model. Developing this model and adding more parameters to this model. Evaluating the validity of new knowledge management assessment model. Weighting to the parameters of model by collecting expert s idea. 3. LITERATURE REVIEW On the basis of the researchers of the knowledge management assessment models, four models have been known as practical models for knowledge management assessment in the. These models which have been used by universal propounded s are: European Knowledge Management Forum [1][3][5] Knowledge Management Assessment Tools, APQC s Road Map [1][3][5] The Know-Net Assessment [1][3][5] The know-all 10: The Quick Knowledge Management Assessment [1][3][5][6] We are going to assess these four models of knowledge management after quick review. You can replace the explanations for each model by a summary. 3.1 European Knowledge Management Forum Eight dimensions are considered for knowledge management in this model and some questions are brought up in the area of each dimension. They are included: [1][3][5] Knowledge management strategy: al aims and their roles in knowledge management. Human and social factors: human factors which influence on knowledge management. Knowledge management : the structure and supporting roles in organizing knowledge management. Knowledge management processes: the business processing and knowledge management processes such as business, participation and keeping knowledge. Knowledge management technology: the role of information technology in knowledge management. Leadership: characteristics and activities of knowledge management action. Measurement: general criterions of knowledge management action. Application: necessary aims and purposes for employing knowledge management. 3.2 The Knowledge Management Assessment Tools, APQC s Road Map This assessment model is actually a systematic maturity level assessment. According to this model five levels are considered for al maturity, which contain the questions that we can only answer yes or no to them. In every part, when most of them are answers positive, the situation of knowledge management will be probably on that level [1][3][5]. 3.3 The Know-Net Assessment The models assess knowledge in three dimensions [1][3][5]. Properties of Knowledge: it contains human, al and market properties. Knowledge Management Structures: strategy, process, structure and systems. Levels of Knowledge Nets: people, teams,, and internal environment of (inside of ).

3 12 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008) Nine knowledge management processes are also assessed as a part of infrastructure of knowledge management. A privilege is given to each of them which its extreme score is certain and totally is 200. The noted advantage is the maximum one that we can allocate to every process. Acquisition: how to obtain knowledge and use of points of people from the past, present and future of the (15 points). Other process should be revised as this process Saving: the rate access to obvious knowledge of (5). Partnership: the rate of associating the available knowledge for improving business (15). Participation: measuring the level of active participation at whole dimensions of (30). Collecting the best efforts: applying the techniques which will be observed again after exam (20). Electronizing the best knowledge sources: converting knowledge properties of into electronic content (30). Experts: obtaining information about experienced people and using them consciously (50). Associations: working associations with some parts (25). Criterions: measuring the process of them (10). The numbers in the parenthesis show the weights of each process in this model. 3.4 The Know-All 10: The Quick Knowledge Management Assessment In this model ten categories and five indexes for each category are brought up. For each category set 10 questions that provides a quick check of where your is along 10 critical success dimensions rate your (or part of it) on a score 0-10,where 0 is doing nothing at all, and 10 is world-class [5]. We find this model more appropriate to study. Therefore, we will consider and analyze it in detail. For such analysis, we used some indexes and made the analysis. In continue we will provide more information. The categories have been described below [1][3][5][6] Leadership and Strategy The concept of learning knowledge in the as a strategic source has been proved and this belief is clarified in performance. There is a strategic planning for leading valuable knowledge source which is compiled on knowledge management of the. The responsibilities and the roles are interpreted in comparison with it; all staffs of the including top management and even operational levels are responsible for the achievement of knowledge management strategic purposes and the achievements of them will be supported Culture and Structure In such an, personal learning and al growth are received as values. All staffs from all levels and in every position believe that they should share their knowledge and information for development and success of open culture and knowledge exchange over the. Learning and thinking are supported and encourage over there. The staffs are permitted to try and mistake, do experience and learn. In such a cultural, thinking time isn't considered as wasting the time. People can easily access experts and professionals. The structure of the is designed in a way that people can talk and discuss in and informal space without disturbing others in special places Processes Principal processes of business in the s need knowledge for performing effectively. Processes of knowledge in the should be able to process effectively main knowledge of or the same necessary knowledge for receiving al business process. In fact, knowledge management processes should cover the whole steps of knowledge life cycle from producing to employing and operating. This must be compatible with the process work in the and normally have necessary concrete with performing the activities Explicit Knowledge Organization must be able to manage internal and external information sources of systematically. So, information bases of must be managed systematically and some people should be responsible for information departments to be kept suitable and be ordered in time periods. The quality of this information must be controlled. One of the suitable operational characteristics in this part of knowledge management is concrete content of information in the whole. It means that the information is linked, harmonious and agreeable with each other besides being general and preventive Tacit Knowledge Organizations must manage tacit knowledge of (the knowledge in the staffs mind) to become successful in knowledge management. There are two general approaches for it. In the first approach, the knowledge that a few experts have, and used repeatedly is obtained and changed into explicit knowledge. In the second approach, the explicit knowledge exchange directly for doing it. We can use some mechanism such as preparing data banks of

4 M. Fathian et al.: How to Assess Knowledge Management: Developing a Quantitative Model 13 experts and channels in relation to them, the meetings of argument, talking and exchanging ideas and so on Knowledge Hubs Knowledge hubs in are actually the focus of collecting, organizing and publishing of knowledge. This may be a physical or real center. The aim of making these centers are leading people to knowledge sources. In the internal and external of the, knowledge maps are prepared and kept and principally observed division points that attached to knowledge source. The existence of these centers avoids doing things repeatedly specially for obtaining knowledge Market Power Organizations should try to reveal and reflex their knowledge in their outlet. The knowledge of should make a distention in the submitted services from the to the interested. The operation of knowledge management system must be agreed with the aims of developed market. Organization must use knowledge as a source for increasing outcome. Most of the s can sell their knowledge as product or lateral services Measurement Organization must manage their thought stocks such as knowledge systematically. These stocks must measure their thought properties for management; basically if we can't measure some thing, it can't be managed. Most of the s which are successful in knowledge management, presented the reports of the situation of human thought properties to the managers and shareholders coarsely and often yearly Skills/People The skill of skills in all levels, in knowledge management course is very necessary for the success of the. Knowledge management in the must be thought as a main skill which is needed for all managers in all levels. Obtaining the skills of knowledge management in the should be encouraged and even managers can use it in assessment of employee. All managers in the are responsible for learning the principles and knowledge management techniques and developing these techniques in the different teams Infrastructure Technology The different uses of the information technology as usable tools can relieve knowledge management processes. Some of the information technologies can be informed as follows: Knowledge portals internet skills database communities of practice data warehousing text mining information retrieval tools electronic document management document and data ware technologies e-learning and CBT (Computer Based Training) knowledge based systems and neutral network. Each of categories of the fast knowledge management assessment models has five indexes. For assessing the, first assessing the indexes in the and next, recognizing the level of categories in. 4. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT MODELS For considering knowledge management assessment models some points must be noted: The assessment models must be complete and be able to evolve the whole dimensions of al knowledge management. The categories of the assessment model of knowledge management must be separated from each other. It is possible to consider the categories and the indexes of models in the, from the point of view quantity and quality. Knowledge management in the top level and middle level management in has great importance, so the number of questions must be limited, certain and obvious. As it has been shown in Table 1 the evaluation of four model result in the Know all 10 is the best. However, there are some deficient in performing in and so on. According to the table 1, the quick knowledge management assessment model (the know-all 10) is much better than the others. 5. DEVELOPING OF THE PRPPOSED MODEL For achieving the new knowledge management assessment model, these steps had been performed. Study the recent knowledge management assessment models Suggest a new model Validity of the model The quick knowledge management assessment model has some weaknesses. The categories and indexes cannot cover the all knowledge dimension of the ; therefore, through the comprehensive study about the knowledge dimension of and also acquisition of the

5 14 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008) professionals opinion, a new model was developed on the basis of the quick knowledge assessment model. This new model has 12 categories that 10 categories are similar to the quick assessment model but the indexes have some changes. The new categories are: Table 1: Evaluation of knowledge management assessment models Factor for Evaluation European Knowledge The The Know-net Knowledge Management Know-all Assessment Management Forum Assessment Tools 10 Implementing in Different Enterprises W G G E Have a Complete Guideline for Filling the Questionnaire W G W E of Models Evaluating Whole Internal Situation of Organization G G G E Completely According to the Organizational Layers W G G E Simplicity in Performing in the Organization W W W G Interaction with Environment W G G E Have a Good Universal Experiences G G G E Recognize Progress in the Organization W W W E W: Weak, G: Good, E: Excellent 5.1 Network (Teamwork, Cooperating) Team work is one of the most important parts of successful knowledge management in. Teamwork should begin from managers and employers should learn the advantage of teamwork and cooperating. Performing projects in teams and transfer the result of teamwork to others is the best way for saving time and money. Constructing new culture of cooperating and transferring the experiences of teams to each others is the aims of this index. The important points of this index are: [3] Developing the structure of team work for performing al learning and learning in Performing the projects in teams Transferring the team experiences to each others 5.2 Examining knowledge opportunities out of the One of the important parts of knowledge management development in the is considering knowledge evident around a company. It seems for complete assessment coverage, we need to assess two main criteria as follows: 1. Training and investing capital on man power for improving the ability of reflection of external area environment 2. Defining a department in (researching unit of market) to invest capital for absorbing external chances of The other criteria in this part are: The existence of al intelligence, highly al programs, for forecasting knowledge changes out of. Reviewing the programs of competitors and volunteers of the market. Considering environment factors (lawful, social, economical, technological and cultural) for development of knowledge activities orientation in and considering, the development of principal people out of to obtain knowledge [3]. In addition, Likert spectrum [21] has been used to complete assessment model and confirmation of categories and selection a suitable indexes for them. This platform has some levels (very necessary, necessary, fairly necessary, not necessary, completely non necessary). It's given them privilege from one to five. We score each of the similar categories and indexes; it will be approved if the obtained privilege for each of them is more than seventy percent. The approved categories and indexes are seated in the model as shown in Table 2.

6 M. Fathian et al.: How to Assess Knowledge Management: Developing a Quantitative Model DETERMINING WEIGHTS OF CATEGORIES AND INDEXES OF MODEL The steps which have been done for fixing the measure of categories and indexes are as follow: Preparing a questionnaire and distributing it between forty experts in learning and knowledge management and collecting information related to each categories and indexes from each of experts. Using the Eigenvector method to find the weights of categories and indexes. Approving final weight of categories and indexes and completing the model. 6.1 Distributing the Questionnaire In this part we collected the suggestion and ideas of the experts and researchers in knowledge management inside and outside of the country. The questionnaire was sent and received by . Twenty of received questionnaires were complete and have the value of reviewing. The information about experts is shown in Table 3. Table 3: Demographic Information of Statistical Society Quantity Area 7 PhD Academic levels 13 MSc 11 Male Sex 9 Female 15 IRAN Work place 5 Abroad The average experiences 7.5 of management (years) 6.2 Weighting of Categories and Indexes In this algorithm, first we make a preference matrix. It is a reciprocal matrix which is made based on pair wise comparisons between pair of dimensions. Each element of the matrix in the from, is the number of experts that believe dimension is more important than dimension, and is the number of experts that believe dimension is more important than dimension. The weight of dimensions is calculated by eigenvector of matrix [21] (the sum of weights is equal to one). 6.3 Final Weight of Categories and Indexes By using the way that s has was expressed. The following result for the weights of categories and characteristics have been taken. Each of these categories has six indexes. By using the eigenvector method, the weight of indexes will be resulted too. In this part our defined model is ready to be applied in different s. 7. CONCLUSION Knowledge and information is the most valuable asset in for companies. Nowadays the s will be successful if they are able to assess their knowledge and information well and control their quality. The best and the most successful management techniques are assessing successfully the rate of al knowledge and make the ways for improving the situation of knowledge in the. In this paper we studied the dimensions of knowledge management carefully and develop an assessment model in a way that we can examine weak and strong points and make a mirror of knowledge management situation in front of the management in the. This isn t a theory model. This model can show the weak and strong points of knowledge management in the besides the complete analysis of knowledge situation, so we can use this model and compare the situation of the against the successful and try to improve the. In this way, we presented the quantities model for assessing knowledge management with complete parameters in. Complete evaluating of finding knowledge management assessment model, develop a new model on the bases of the know-all 10 model, validity of new model, and weighting the parameters of new model by "Eigenvector method" have also been discussed in this paper. REFERENCES 1. Aminmoghaddam, A., 2005, A framework for the assessment of knowledge management, case study: The consultant company (metra), Business School of Sharif University, Master Thesis. 2. Pournajdi, A., 2002, The strategic knowledge management, Iran University of Science and Technology, Master Thesis. 3. Sotoudeh, R. M., 2006, The model for the assessment of knowledge management, case study: Iranian, Iran university of Science and Technology, Master Thesis. 4. Awad, E. M. and Ghaziri, H. M., 2004, Knowledge Management, Prentice Hall. 5. David Skyrme Associates, 1999, Measuring knowledge and intellectual capital, 6. David Skyrme Associates, 2000, Knowledge management assessment: A practical tool. 7. Meso, P. and Smith, R., 2000, A resource-based view of al knowledge management systems, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp

7 16 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008) 8. Bennett, N., Crawford, M. and Cartwright, M., 1999, Networks, cognition and management of tacit knowledge, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp Lubit, R., 2001, Tacit knowledge and knowledge management: The key to sustainable competitive advantage, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp Rezazadeh, M., 2004, The role of information technology in knowledge management, case study: Iranian companies, Business School of Sharif University, Master Thesis. 11. Cowan, R., David, P. A. and Foray, D., 2000, The explicit economics of knowledge codification and tacitness, Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp Stenmark, D., 2001, Leveraging tacit al knowledge, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp Gore, C. and Gore, E., 1999, Knowledge management: The way forward, Total Quality Management, Vol. 10, No. 4-5, pp Wagner, R. K. and Sternberg, R. J., 1986, Tacit Knowledge and Intelligence in the Everyday World, New York: Cambridge University Press. 15. Davenport, T. H, and Prusak, L., 1998, Working Knowledge-How Organizations Manage What They Know, USA: Harvard Business School Press. 16. Johannessen, J. A., Olaisen, J. and Olsen, B., 2001, Mismanagement of tacit knowledge: The importance of tacit knowledge, the danger of information technology, and what about it, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp Lam, A., 2002, Tacit knowledge, al learning and societal institutions: An integrated framework, Organization Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp Kreiner, K., 2002, Tacit knowledge management: The role of artifacts, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp Leonard, D. and Sensiper, S., 1998, The role of tacit knowledge in group innovation, California Management Review, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp Polanyi, M., 1996, The Tacit Dimension, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. 21. Likert, R., 1974, The Method of Constructing an Attitude Scale, John Wiley & Sons, pp ABOUT THE AUTHORS Mohammad Fathian an assistant professor of Industrial Engineering Department in Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran, with MSc and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology. Working in area of information technology, electronic commerce, knowledge management, with more that 18 research paper and three books in area of industrial engineering and information technology. Maryam Sotoudehriazi, received BSc and MSc in Industrial Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST). Maryam's area of research is knowledge management. She has published three papers in international conferences in the field of knowledge management. Dr. Peyman Akhavan, faculty of management and industrial engineering department, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, received his M.S.c and PhD degree in Industrial Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran. His research interests are in Business Process Reengineering, Knowledge Management, Information Technology, and Strategic Planning. He has published 1 book and has more than 25 research papers in different academic journals and international conferences. Ali Amin Moghaddam, PhD candidate of business administration at Allameh Tabatabaie University, Tehran earned his MBA and BSc in Industrial Eng from Sharif University of Technology. Ali's favorite areas of research are knowledge management and strategic management. He has published 13 papers in academic journals and conferences. (Received November 2007, revised January 2008, accepted February 2008)

8 M. Fathian et al.: How to Assess Knowledge Management: Developing a Quantitative Model 17 Table 2: A quantitative model for the knowledge management Category Index Category Index Have a compelling Knowledge vision that is actively followed Reselling your core expertise in ways that will generate new revenue streams Have activities, Strategies and Having available information and programs for developing knowledge in company knowledge in a form that enhances your services to your stakeholders Leadership & Strategy Structure & Culture Have special person for strategies and knowledge activities (e.g. chief knowledge officer) in Have a complete program for using knowledge management techniques for employees Treated with knowledge and information as vital resources and reviewed regularly at management meetings Using knowledge management techniques for providing main goals in Choosing project teams deliberately including people with a wide level of experience, different expertise and age ranges Evaluating personal performance reviews assess and reward individuals for their knowledge management contributions Have a special part in person s tasks for thinking and teaching other persons Encouraging individual experts to contribute time and expertise to support other persons and teams Have a program for keeping and transferring knowledge in the Setting workplace to encourage interaction and free flow of information e.g. informal meeting areas, open plan offices, project rooms Market Power Measurement Having the smart service i.e. customizable and adaptable e.g. by aggregating knowledge from disparate sources for customer s needs knowing among your clients and peers as exemplars of good knowledge management practice Having the publicity and marketing messages convey the importance and depth of your know-how Adapting the approach of knowledge management system in with market development aims Managing and measuring intellectual capital in the in a systematic way Having the special programs for evaluating and measuring the intellectual capital in Reporting regularly your knowledge assets, such as in supplements to your annual reports Using measurement system for encouraging people focus on learning and transferring knowledge Having the bottom line benefits of knowledge measurement clearly articulated in terms that all your managers(special chief manager) understand Having a system (including indexes of measuring the knowledge and another capitals in e.g. customers and stakeholders) for measuring the tasks in

9 18 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008) Table 2: A quantitative model for the knowledge management (cont.) Category Index Category Index Processes Explicit Knowledge Knowing what is vital knowledge - knowledge that underpins your core business processes Evaluating the knowledge readily accessible and naturally integrated into the flow of work Have the systematic processes for monitoring external knowledge sources and for gathering and classifying it Have the clear policy guidelines on what is vital proprietary knowledge and needs to be protected in processes Benchmarking your knowledge management activities against other firms (firms in world class level) Keeping knowledge in business process in Have readily accessible information and knowledge inventory within your firm e.g. on an intranet Validating the quality of explicit knowledge sources in Maintaining the databases, especially textual ones, regularly Regarding owners and experts specific information databases clearly identified and held responsible for the integrity of the information Have a mechanism e.g. an idea bank, such that ideas not immediately used are not lost for future use Accessing the information and knowledge simplicity People/Skills Infrastructure Technology Having individuals in each main group who are responsible for demonstrating good knowledge practice within their group and acting as a coach to others Having trained approach learner-centered and an integral part of the day-to-day activities of the Having special program for increasing innovation for keeping and developing knowledge among people Introduce knowledge management as a special skill that people should learn Have specific knowledge roles identified and assigned e.g. knowledge editor, knowledge analyst Encouraging knowledge learning in Accessing all important information be quickly found by new users on your intranet Using intelligent agents/filters to sift and find and sort key external information that might not normally be available Using videoconferences to connect dispersed locations into regular meetings Having the discussion forums or computer conferences that support learning networks or communities of practice Sharing people readily documents and multimedia objects (e.g. video clips) over the internal network Using information technology infrastructure for transferring and keeping knowledge

10 M. Fathian et al.: How to Assess Knowledge Management: Developing a Quantitative Model 19 Table 2: A quantitative model for the knowledge management (cont.) Category Index Category Index Tacit Knowledge Knowledge Hubs Finding the best experts for different domains of knowledge that necessary for knowledge Recording the important meeting for later reference and sharing of knowledge Documenting each key points of conversations in subsequent memos or discussion databases Capturing knowledge at the customer interface (e.g. call centers, visits) feeding back and using in service improvement Encouraging the experts to convert their tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge e.g. via seminars (videoed), how to guides etc Documenting the experiences of experts after retiring and leaving Have a catalogued library that holding external publications(e.g. books and journals that published by external persons) purchasing externally generated information coordinated to avoid duplication and fill essential knowledge gaps Having the core group responsible for creating and maintaining a map of vital knowledge Having the reservoir of information science and library skills that can act as a source of knowledge management expertise Having the internal system for searching necessary information Connecting to information sources for assessing new discoveries and information Network (Teamwork, Cooperating) Examining Knowledge Opportunities out of Organization Having an infrastructure technology for team working Learning teamwork skills to managers in Trying to do projects in teams and with team work techniques Transfered and distributed the result of teams to each other after fulfilling the projects Cooperating the teams and people that have a same work for transferring the experiences to each other Making teamwork s appointment for transferring necessary experiences to each Scheduling the work s according to economical and political and changing (environmental study) Having an special program for forecasting about knowledge changing out of Researching about competitors successful work s in market Having a research market part in Training special persons for researching about opportunities out of Trying to develop business intelligence in

11 20 International Journal of Electronic Business Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2008) Index Weight Index Code B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 K1 K2 K3 K4 K5 K6 Table 4: The weights of indexes and criterion of new model Categories Index Index Categories Categories Weight Weight Code Weight L L Market Power L L L L C C Measurement C C C C P P People/Skills P P P P E E Infrastructure E3 Technology E E E T T Network (Teamwork, T3 Cooperating) T T T H H2 Examining Knowledge H3 Opportunities out of H4 Organization H H6 Categories Leadership and Strategy Culture and Structure Processes Explicit Knowledge Tacit Knowledge Knowledge Hubs