Research paper presented at Knowledge Cities World Summit (KCWS) 2014, Tallinn

1. 26.9.2014 KCWS / DR. HARRI LAIHONEN, SARI MÄNTYLÄ
MANAGING A CITY WITH KNOWLEDGE –
FOUR SUCCESS FACTORS

2. AGENDA
I. Research problem
II. Our theoretical lens - how we approached the problem?
III. Recipe for better public knowledge management

3. PART I: RESEARCH PROBLEM

4. LEFT HAND DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE
RIGHT HAND IS DOING
Six blind men encounter an elephant, one touches its side and declares an elephant is like a wall,
another grabs its leg and asserts it is like a tree, the third finds the trunk and decides the animal
resembles a snake… and so it goes on
http://brandmaster.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/the-brand-and-the-elephant-the-devil-is-in-the-detail/

5. KNOWLEDGE GAP EXISTS BOTH…
In practice:
A need for an overarching knowledge strategy has not been acknowledged and
despite various very valuable development tasks have been implemented during
the last years the development work has been scattered into unrelated projects
and the overall picture remained unclear.
In theory:
Knowledge management literature states that “current examples of public sector
knowledge management are narrowly focused and do not provide rich data on the
strategies and experiences of those engaged in the process” (Edge, 2005, p. 45).

6. PART II: THEORETICAL VIEWPOINT

7. THREE STAGES OF PUBLIC MGNT
• Three cultures, practices and tools
• Three generations of managers
• Three rights and wrongs
http://swapsushias.blogspot.fi/2012/07/characteristic
s-of-new-public-management.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy_(video_game)
http://www.govint.org/news/blog/blog-post/2012/07/16/five-steps-to-making-
the-transformation-to-co-produced-local-services/?
no_cache=1&cHash=0d84a59288cdc77355e506739d37f0ff
1. Public administration 2. New public management, (NPG) 3. New public governance, (NPG)

8. KNOWLEDGE-BASED PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
Business vision
Performance gap
Knowledge gap
KM initiatives
Ferreira, A. and Otley, D. (2009) The design and use of performance
management systems: An extended framework for analysis, Management
Accounting Research, 20(4), 263-282,
Zack, M. (1999), “Developing a knowledge strategy”, California Management
Review, Vol. 41, pp. 125-45.

9. PART III: A CASE STUDY IN TAMPERE

10. ACTION RESEARCH – CASE TAMPERE
• Three workshops with two different groups: management group of
knowledge-based management and a more operative group of key actors
around knowledge-based management.
• The aim of the process was to: 1) compose a shared understanding
about knowledge-based management, 2) create “rules” for knowledge-based
management within the city, and 3) specify future steps for
knowledge-based management.
http://www.visittampere.fi/ http://www.visittampere.fi/ http://www.visittampere.fi/

11. CITY OF TAMPERE
• Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the
most populous inland city in any of the Nordic
countries. The city has a population of
220,609. Tampere is the second-largest
urban area and third most-populous
municipality in Finland.
• The city is also the largest employer in the
area (15 152 employees) and annual
expenditure of the services is € 1,380 million.
• Welfare services (health care, social care and
education) is the biggest sector (76 % of
employees) and 59% of these services is
provided by city`s own production.
http://www.visittampere.fi/

12. BACK TO BASICS – PURPOSE
Performance of the
city
Service
provision
Internal
efficiency
Vitality of the
area
What (management information) do we need to master these?

13. RECIPE FOR BETTER PUBLIC KM
City strategy
Decision-making
Data
refinement
Data quality

14. THANK YOU!
Novi research center for knowledge management
http://www.tut.fi/novi
Performance management team
http://www.tut.fi/pmteam
harri.laihonen@tut.fi