Knowledge Management Advances

Knowledge Management
Advances Version 1

Tshidiso S. Moetapele
Master of Technology: Business Information Systems (In-progress @ TUT)
Business Projects Management (WBS)

Copyright © 2013 Tshidiso S. Moetapele

Contents
o What is Knowledge Management
o DIKW Hierarchy
o Knowledge Management GOALS and Objectives
o Knowledge Management “Critical” Success Factors
o Knowledge Management Audit
o Knowledge Management Strategy Development
o Why companies implement KM
o How do we know if we got it right
o Common Knowledge Management spinoffs (Advances)



What is Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management is simply the process through which organizations generate value from their
intellectual and knowledge-based assets
OR
How to manage knowledge of and in an organization by identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving and
sharing information to increase productivity and performance in an organization.

Gartner Group define Knowledge Management as;
o Management discipline that promotes an integrated approach to
identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving and sharing all enterprise’s information assets.
NASA simply define Knowledge Management as;
o Getting the right information to the right people at the right time, helping people to create more
knowledge, share and act upon information in ways that will increase performance and productivity.
Deloitte define Knowledge Management as;
o Management discipline that helps companies turn human capital into intellectual capital by creating
value.


What is Knowledge Management
… cont
Conceptual Organizational
Data Policies,
Inputs Procedures,
Inputs
Rules Methodologies,
Standards,
Information etc

POSSIBLE MEANING
How it relates to what I am doing, my work

POSSIBLE ACTION
How I use it to do my work

POSSIBLE RESULTS
How I use it to be more creative (cut costs), innovate new way of
doing things



DIKW Hierarchy
Amongst other things Knowledge Management manages the DIKW hierarchy

Extensive / Quality knowledge of something
WISDOM e.g. Years of experience in managing organizations

Actionable information
KNOWLEDGE e.g. How to manage (e.g. PMO, R&D)

Processed data
INFORMATION e.g. Proof of deliverables, SOPs

Collection of raw facts
DATA e.g. Designs layout



Knowledge Management GOALS &
Objectives
o Increase Organizational turnover
o Assist organizational efforts to increase turnover / growth by using what we know
o Competitive Advantage
o Assist organization obtain internal and external competitive advantage
o Manage Knowledge as an asset
o Started treating Knowledge as an asset e.g. including IC in the balance sheet, leverage knowledge
assets to generate new income.
o Improve Knowledge asserts
o Facilitate the process of knowledge transfer between individuals (e.g. MD to Senior Manager, Senior
Manager to Manager, Manager to Officer, Officer to Administrator) and organizational divisions.
o Enhance Knowledge environment
o Proactively facilitating and rewarding knowledge creation, transfer an use.
o Proactively creating and promoting a culture of sharing knowledge e.g. Community of Practice, KM
workshops, etc



Knowledge Management GOALS &
Objectives… cont’
o Capturing and Create Knowledge repository (Compliance)
o Capture and store knowledge e.g. MEMO’s, Reports, Presentations, articles, etc
o All, stored in a way that could be easily accessed.


Copyright © 2013Tshidiso S. Moetapele

Knowledge Management “Critical” Success
Factors
o Top Management
o EXCO is the Project Sponsor and Owner, guaranteeing enough resources (e.g. Time and Financial) to
make the project success.
o Personality
o Emotional barriers must be taken away to secure success of KM
o Personnel Development
o Key personnel must be trained and couched to secure KM
o Communication of KM
o Goals of KM must be transparent and applied. KM strategy couple with internal marketing efforts
must also be communicated with stakeholders through open communication.
o KM Strategy & Processes
o Strategy and Processes must be aligned to broad organizational goal.
o Delegation / Participation / Project Team
o Responsibilities and competencies must be clearly be defined e.g. KM Manager – 100% (subject
matter expert), KM Specialist 50% (process driven + KM + HR and Training)


Knowledge Management “Critical” Success
Factors… continued
o Staff Members Motivation
o Stimulating systems, Rewards, etc
o Organizational Culture
o Dominating organizational culture should never be in contradiction with KM efforts e.g. If KM says
from now onwards, share information and culture is the other way around. We must find a common
ground between the two cultures.
o KM System
o KM system must be able to integrate with existing systems e.g. MS SharePoint
o KM system must be user-friendly.



Knowledge Audit
o Knowledge Asserts Audit (Qualitative & Examination of Knowledge within the organization)
o Organizational Readiness (Organization Culture)
o Information Systems (Is KM doable)
“Some of the components Knowledge Audit assesses”
o Mission-critical knowledge assets e.g. SOPs, Policies, etc
o Knowledge-handling business processes e.g. can we incorporate KM efforts with existing
processes – capture knowledge during PMO feedback sessions?
o Mission-critical decisions e.g. Can decision makers use KM effort to support decision making
process
o Organizational culture and learning environments e.g. Just like PMO, KM is an agent for
change, will business agree to change EC = D x K x V.
o Organizational business infrastructure e.g. Is the IS ready to support such a system (network
connectivity, etc)



KM Strategy Development
o KM strategy, how the organization will manage its knowledge better to realize benefits. Below are the
elements / components of KM strategy
o Aligned to organizational strategy and objective
o Will increase the awareness and understanding of KM
o Articulate business case and identify potential benefits
o Gain senior management commitment
o Attract resources for implementation
o Communicate good KM practice
o Clear indication of where we are, where we want to be & how we are going to get there
o Clear basis against which to measure progress on
o KM implementation risks
o Proposed management framework for KM
o Analysis of strategic knowledge areas
o Business drivers
o Culture change approach which will be applied
o etc

Copyright © 20113Tshidiso S. Moetapele

KM Strategy Development
… cont
o KM strategy is developed after KM audits and assessments of the organization
o Developed by a KM team usually consisting of KM Manager / Director, KM Specialists, MD / CEO, COO, CIO
and CFO then signed off by Senior Management (sometimes this include some of BoDs if the organization
is concerned about mentorship, and increasing productivity and revenue using “what we know / have”).



Why many companies implement Knowledge
Management departments
o While some implement KM efforts as a quick FIX, some implement them to increase productivity, turn
around time and increasing revenue.
o In general KM efforts should address “real” growth needs in a knowledge economy, organizational
issues, suggests and propose solutions to lacking areas and areas of opportunity or growth
o Who implements KM
o Organizations who want to have competitive advantage (internally and externally)
o Organizations who are concerned about aging workforce
o Organizations who want to keep existing knowledge Intellectual Capital, embedded within in
people’s head (Tacit Knowledge).
o Organizations who want to be leaders in innovation by using what they “know / have” to get ahead.
o Organizations who want to measure what they know and how they can benefit from it
o Organizations that are concerned about “Decision Making Processes and Systems”
o Organizations who wants to transform to a “Learning Organization”
o Organizations that wants to promote a culture of learning and sharing within an organization.



How do we know if we got it right
o Increased turnover, growth consistency (and being able to forecast organizational growth with real data)
o Efficient decision making process e.g. Using less for more
o Continuous innovation e.g. organizational growth
o Quick turnaround times
o Cultural change e.g. Employees to be the best to compliment the bigger picture, Worrying about how
other departments are doing and how they can assist.
o Succession plans and Performance management system in place
o Transparent management
o Motivated employees e.g. incentivizing employees, employees registering for studies



Common Knowledge Management spinoffs
o Information Management systems
o Records and Document Management systems
o Intranets and Extranets systems
o Business Intelligence systems
o CRM systems
o Community of Practices (CoPs)



Master of Technology in Business Information Systems (In-progress @ TUT)
moetapele@gmail.com
+278 3 7501 609
END


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