Knowledge Management Systems Chapter 8- Create the KM Blueprint Dr. Mohammad S. Owlia Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering Department, Yazd University E-mail :owliams@gmail.com, Website : http://www.owlia.ir KM road map 2 The KMS Blueprint The KMS blueprint is concerned with the design of the KM architecture and the IT infrastructure for collecting, sharing and distributing organizational knowledge. The design and deployment of the KMS is based on this blueprint The Blueprint aims to: develop the key layers of the KM architecture to meet the organisation s requirements address the architecture s interoperability and scalability with the existing IT infrastructure finalise the scope of the KMS, defining measurable outcomes decide on system components such as: user interface options repositories tools 3 1
Issues for the Blueprint Understanding the technical components of the KMS Integration and interoperability Position and scope of the KMS (who/where/why) Build or buy? Optimal performance, scalability and flexibility Interface options Future-proof (dynamic change of technology) 4 Components of the KMS Architecture Comprises several sub-components: Repositories Store formal and informal (explicit) knowledge; Collaborative platforms Support communication, co-ordination and knowledge sharing Networks physical and logical channels for communication Organisational culture major enabler Nothing can be done if organisational culture is not supportive of KM! 5 Knowledge Repositories Knowledge repositories are essential part of any KMS Knowledge repositories must store and retrieve different types of knowledge structures. A knowledge repository organises, and makes available to all employees, basic information on the company s organisation, products, services, customers and business processes. A knowledge repository is an on-line, computerbased storehouse of expertise, experience, and documentation about a particular domain or expertise. (Leibowitz 1999) 6 2
Elements of Knowledge Content Declarative knowledge such as significant and meaningful concepts, categories, definitions, and assumptions Procedural knowledge such as processes, sequences of events and activities, and actions Causal knowledge such as rationale for decisions, rationale for rejected decisions or alternatives, eventual outcomes of activities, and associated informal pieces Context of the decision circumstances, assumptions, results of those assumptions, and informal knowledge such as video clips, annotations, notes, and conversations 7 Integrating multiple knowledge repositories Causal K Declarative K concept definition assumption Context informal information Video clip notes conversation Procedural K process sequence of events or activities 8 Integrative Repositories As users begin to add content to multiple repositories, and if there is no clear-cut validation or expiration mechanism, a situation similar to an information overload problem can begin to emerge. Centralized administration is not a viable option for a knowledge management system, since content needs to be added and revalidated by the people who actually use it, not by a central "knowledge administrator. Managing content in repositories should not be limited to adding new content, but throwing out, old content. If you already have some repositories to begin with or if the platforms in use are too diverse to physically integrate cost effectively, you might simply rely on a Web-based front end to integrate existing repositories while building new ones on a centralized base. 9 3
Content Centers Good candidates for integration: Production department Customer services Market intelligence and competitive planning Employee resources and the human resources department Administrative department Sales and marketing Finance Business partners and suppliers 10 Types of Knowledge Structures Text Data structures (eg. relational as in relational database) Document structure: forms, templates, charts, interfaces Images: pictures, video Sounds Cases/stories: in case base systems (CBR) Rules: in rule base systems (RBS) Models: frameworks, simulations (Leibowitz 1999) 11 Data Oriented Repository The data warehouse is a stable, timebased repository in which knowledge workers can access, query, and analyse information in variety of forms and arrangements to see trends over extended periods of time (Leibowitz 1999) A decision-making perspective: An integrated and consistent store of subject-oriented data that is obtained from a variety of sources and formatted into a meaningful context to support decision-making in an organization (McFadden et al. 1999) 12 4
Text Oriented Repositories Organisations interact internally and externally through text-based records that include data elements. American business generates about 90 billion documents per year. Each of these documents is copied an average of 11 times CompuTechnics, 1999 (Source: Windows Magazine) Office workers spend 20% of their time performing document management in non-automated environment A typical organization of 1,000 people wastes over $11 million per year through manual document handling and management CompuTechnics, 1999 (Source: Gartner Group) Information overload is not a function of the volume of information it s a gap between the volume of information and the tools we have to assimilate that information into useful knowledge. 8. KM Blueprint Insight Knowledge Presentation, Management Systems- Reuters Dr. Owlia- Yazd Business University Information 1996 13 Managing Text Metadata is used to define, describe and categorize documents Metadata is also used to establish ownership, access authority, providence and durability The objective is to provide the means to reconstruct the text with fidelity in respect to its original context Such metadata schemas are now defined by international standards the standards facilitates access, search and retrieval from documentary repositories 14 Text as Data: Structured Textual Information XML (extensible Markup Language) uses a system of tags that define individual pieces of text as data and describe their functions. XML can be used by a system to parse data from the rest of the text to identify data values and then store these values in a database. Example: the following statement, uses two predefined XML tags, <retailprice> and <discprice> Original text: The retail price of this CD is $17. Your discounted price is $14.99 XML text: <p>the <i>retail</i> price of this CD is <b>$<retailprice>17.99 </retailprice></b></p> <p>your <i>discounted</i> price is <b>$<disc-price>14.99<disc-price></b></p> 15 5
Process Oriented Repositories Workflow systems model, implement and manage the flow of work process by defining the sequence of actions or steps used in a business process Workflow assumes a network model of business processes that allows both sequential and parallel steps and implies more than 1 person is involved in the process. Workflow systems seek to automate formal policies and procedures but not necessarily to automates every action or step Workflow applies to information-based tasks (white collar work) but is comparable to the automation of manual work (blue collar), both aim to improve productivity white collar productivity has not increased in the last 20 years due mainly to increases in captial expenditure for IT. blue collar productivity over this period has 8. KM Blueprint increased Knowledge at double Management Systems- digit Dr. Owlia- rates. Yazd University 16 Core Services for Knowledge Repository Core services are tasks or activities that deal with knowledge by directly accessing knowledge repositories. These services can be fully or partially automated (Housel and Bell 2001) 17 Core Knowledge Services Knowledge generation services create new knowledge in forms that can be stored in the repository (eg data miming, pattern recognition, collaborate creation of documents etc..) Knowledge capture services facilitate addition to repositories Knowledge organization services arrange items in repository to facilitate retrieval and use (add or modify indexes, directories) Access management services facilitate the control of access to the knowledge repository Retrieval services make knowledge available for specific users (include searching, navigation, translation, integration) Housel and Bell, 2001 18 6
Other Knowledge Services Electronic Communication services e.g. e-mail, chats Collaboration services on-line meetings, discussion groups, groupware Translation services -from one file format to another, language to language Work management services built upon collaboration services (define work activity, view the status of tasks, share results etc ) Search and Intelligence services - Intranet, extranet, intelligent agents 19 Knowledge Usage In order to be distributed knowledge has to: exist and be available needs to be created be identifiable needs to be represented and stored properly can come from internal as well as external resources A sharing culture must exist knowledge sharing needs to be promoted and rewarded formally through organisational performance indicators informally through social learning 20 Knowledge Management Application A knowledge management application needs both integrative and interactive capabilities to provide the richness of media required for effective knowledge processing. capture explicit knowledge sharing tacit knowledge 21 7
Integrative Ability The integrative ability supports the collation of distributed knowledge repositories containing explicated or explicitly captured content. Explicated content is content that has been codified or formalized for storage in conventional repositories such as databases. Examples include project timelines, presentation overheads, memos, and code documentation. Explicitly captured content could include a recording of a manager's talk or a product designer's vision of a product. This type of content might have been recorded in a system, but its context might not have been recorded or might be subject to multiple, incompatible interpretations. 22 Integrative Application Support helps users in critically evaluating, interpreting, and adapting knowledge to new contexts, domains, and applications support sequential flow of explicated knowledge in and out of the repository provides a shared medium for knowledge exchange where members of the user community (e.g., company employees and partners) share, see, and contribute their knowledge, task experiences, and views. The authors and consumers directly interact with this application rather than with each other Integrative functionality in a knowledge management system provides the key centripetal force that pulls together all 8. KM explicated Blueprint knowledge Knowledge Management Systems- assets Dr. Owlia- Yazd that Universitya company has 23 Interactive Application Component supports tacit component for effective knowledge transfer and sharing and to retain the proper context of explicated content focuses on enabling interaction among people and providing a basic channel for sharing tacit knowledge building or enhancing the repository is not the primary focus. Development of content within the repository is a (secondary) byproduct of the collaborative work that it enables 8. KM Blueprint Researchers Knowledge such Management as Michael Systems- Dr. Owlia-Zack, Yazd UniversityNonaka, and Davenport have referred to this as distributed 24 8
KM Architectural Components (Shaded Boxes) 25 Build or Buy Choices? To build a system in-house, using team members from the internal IT department and the end-user community of knowledge workers for whom the system is being built To add external consultants to strengthen the weaker expertise areas for the option described above To develop the system from scratch (not recommended) To buy an off-the-shelf, shrink-wrapped solution such as Lotus Notes and customize its installation To buy an off-the-shelf solution sold by a consulting group and modify it to meet your needs To buy and combine an off-the-shelf set of applications and customize it to fit your needs To build in part, and buy in part A combination of the above approaches 26 Build or Buy Decision 27 9
Build or Buy Decision 28 Build or Buy Decision 29 Future-Proofing the KMS 1. The intranet is king. The standards have a high degree of modularity and extensibility. 2. Business drivers:technology design must be driven by business objectives, problems, and opportunities. 3. Separation of push: Implement push technology as a layer above the basic KM infrastructure 4. RDI and OO methodology: Use object-oriented techniques for build in-house components and use a results-driven incremental deployment process to expand the knowledge management system. 5. Common standards: Stick to standards that have the highest level of industry support. 6. Users: Keep your users on the forefront. 30 10
Conclusions Understand the architectural components of the knowledge management system. Design for both interactive and integrative content aggregation. Optimize for performance, scalability, and flexibility. Plan for interoperability. Decide whether to build or buy. Pay attention to the user interface and its design. Position and scope the knowledge management system. Future-proof your knowledge management 8. KM system. Blueprint Knowledge Management Systems- Dr. Owlia- Yazd University 31 Assignment 8 "# #$ %& # #' -1. () * #' +#. /$ $ / # -2. 01 #$ %& 2 / 32 11