These days the use of Knowledge Management has a major impact on organizations. All the Organizations are in the process of Managing Knowledge. There is no specific definition for knowledge management but it can be explained generally as creating, sharing, applying, and transferring of knowledge.
According to (M.Alavi & D. Leidner, 2001) IT can lead to greater depth and breadth of knowledge creation, storage, transfer and application in organizations and they further say that increase in the greater depth and breadth of knowledge will result in the greater use of knowledge management and also the use of the available knowledge but on the other hand ( Powell, 1998) disagrees that use of IT results in greater use of Knowledge Management, rather he says that IT plays a limited role in Knowledge creation and IT is only helpful if an individual knows what he is looking for
However Information Technology plays an important in this modern era of technology as the standards have gone up. According to Chung Kai “IT is considered as a facilitator of Knowledge Management”. Information technology provides solution to the knowledge management, with the help of information technology we develop, design and implement methods for information system in order to protect, store, transmit the data securely. This can be done with the help of KM .Knowledge management is a practice which is followed by many organizations where they adopt new techniques along with the old practices comprising knowledge. We transmit the data or share the data with the help of information systems which is a branch of Information Technology. We transmit data via intranet, internet, over the phone and by many other services available in the market, but we should make sure that we are doing it in a systematic and in a secure way.
.
Knowledge Management does not totally depend on IT, rather it takes the support of IT because there are many other methods that support KMS. Some organizations still are dependent on traditional methods instead of employing IT systems, however the implementation of IT totally depends on the organization.
Information Technology does play a major role in Knowledge Management. However, it is not necessary that IT alone drives Knowledge Management System. In short, IT supports Knowledge Management Systems. And traditional methods are also present other than IT to support KMS. Traditional methods are also effective, however depends on many aspects when it comes to comparing which one among the two i.e., traditional methods or IT and coming to a conclusion on which one is the best. Smaller organizations can go with the traditional methods instead of employing IT systems, however it depends on the organization alone whether it want to employ IT or not.
According to (R. Demott, 1999) Information technology has led many organizations to imagine a new world of leveraged knowledge. E-mail and the Internet have made it possible for professionals to draw on the latest thinking of their peers no matter where they are Located. In every organization IT plays a major role as it makes the sharing of knowledge easier, I can support it wit an example the company that I was working with had headquarters in Chicago, but we used to share our views and opinions from India and this was done only with the help of IT, we used share our knowledge through emails, video conferencing, and using the new technology Web 2.0. And the use of technologies like video conferencing, emails helps in transfer of knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).
Most of the organizations use Information Technology to store the knowledge from different individuals of their organization and create a database of all the information that they have acquired and store them for future references and the use of technologies like video conferencing, emails helps in transfer of knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995), The purpose of storing the knowledge is to prevent the risk of loosing the Knowledge when an individual employee leaves the organization. Hence by storing the knowledge we can overcome the loss.
There may be many traditional methods such having group meetings, training sessions, conferences, exchanging views through Telephones, Meetings, where effective. Knowledge transfer occurs and they are also efficient. However, I think IT also plays a major role when it comes to the usage of Internet and Intranet. They both are highly productive and efficient and help in the transfer of knowledge easily which is helpful for the organization as said by (R. Demott, 1999) that “knowledge involves thinking with information”. There are many effective uses of IT in an organization, the most used technology is Video conferencing as it is an effective way to transfer knowledge in an organization, emails also contribute to transfer of knowledge and also use of blogs help the knowledge to transfer within the organization and also outside the organization which means that there is transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge through the use of IT.
References:
1). Powell. W, Learning from Collaboration: Knowledge and Networks in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries, California Management Review, 1998. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
2). Maryam Alvi & Dorthy E.Leidner, Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems, 2001, retrieved on 2st April, 2009
3). Sin Chung Kai, The role of IT in knowledge management, 2005. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
4).Richard Mc Dermott, why Information Technology Inspired but cannot deliver Knowledge Management. 1999. retrieved on 2nd April, 2009.
5). I.Nonaka and H. Takeuchi, 1995. The Knowledge Creating Company, 1995. retrieved on 1st April 2009.
Friday, 3 April 2009
Implementation of Knowledge Management Systems in an organization
After a long research Knowledge management is said to be very effective and essential for an organization. Earlier not many of the organizations had implemented Knowledge management, but nowadays all the organizations are implementing knowledge management. Majority of organizations believe that much of the knowledge, they need existed inside the organization but identifying that it existed, finding it and leveraging it remained problematic. Hence such problems maintaining, locating and applying knowledge have led to systematic attempts to manage knowledge (1).
According to (Ronald, 2004) Knowledge Management requires a systematic Knowledge Management Initiative in order to be used more frequently. And it includes the knowledge management strategies and the development of KM goals, it also requires a supportive organizational culture and a corresponding KMS controlling that evaluates whether the goals of using these system have been achieved
The recent interest in organizational knowledge has prompted the issue of managing the knowledge to the organizational benefit. Knowledge management refers to identifying and leveraging the collective knowledge in an organization to help the organization compete (Krogh, 1998) nowadays many organizations are trying to manage their knowledge for its own benefit, and by managing the knowledge they can also be ahead in the competition.
Some of the Knowledge Management Systems are designed to achieve process results improvements leading to organizational outcomes. The process improvements involves process like Shortening the proposal time for projects, Saving time, Improving project Management, Increasing the participation of staff, improving communication, reducing the problem saving time, and providing better measurement and accountability (M.Alavi & D. Leidner, 1999). On the other hand we have (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) and they say that according to their research Most of the projects have atleast one of the three aims listed below
• To make knowledge visible and show the role in an organization, mainly through Maps, yellow pages.
• To develop the knowledge – intensive culture by encouraging and aggregating behavior such as knowledge sharing and proactively seeking and also by offering knowledge
• To build knowledge infra structure, not only a technical system, but a web of connections among people given space, time, tools and encouragement to interact and collaborate.
Need of Knowledge Management systems in organizations.
In any successful organization, knowledge worker is the person who has a key role to play, and these knowledge workers may be scientists, engineers or architects, who designs products and creates new knowledge for the organization. Knowledge workers should able to find out effective solutions to problems. The work of the knowledge worker is to contribute their knowledge, skills, experiences, and proper judgment to organization. These knowledge workers share their knowledge through knowledge management system, they use knowledge management system as it helps the employees to communicate and learn more. People working in various departments of the organization can make effective decision using KMS. The use of KMS helps the organization to make right decision at right time. (M. Borghoff, 1997) says that“ knowledge that doesn’t flow doesn’t grow and eventually ages and becomes obsolete and useless, just as money which is saved without being invested eventually loses value until it becomes worthless” so according to him knowledge that flows, by being shared, acquired and exchanged, generates new knowledge. And he also adds further that Knowledge has been lately recognized as one of the most important assets of
Organizations and every manager, consultants, IT professionals and customers believes that knowledge makes the organization work.
After doing all the research that is related to this field and based on all the articles and journals that are related to the use of Knowledge Management in organizations one can say that there are many factors which shows the need of KMS in an organization. And the few factors are culture, strategy, Information Technology, Human Resources Management, training of employees, encouragement by giving proper incentives and using the resources that are available in a very effective and efficient way. Each and every factor that are mentioned shows as how knowledge management systems are used in organizations
References:
1). Maryam Alvi & Dorthy E.Leidner, Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems, 2001, retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
2). Davenport T.H and L. Prusak, working knowledge, Harvard business school press, 1998.
Retrieved on 31st, march, 2009.
3). Maryam Alvi & Dorthy E.Leidner, Knowledge Management systems: Emerging views and practices from the field, 1999, retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
4). von Krogh, G. Care in Knowledge Creation, California Management Review, 1998,
5).Ronald Maier, Knowledge Management Systems: Information and Communication Technologies for Knowledge Management, 2004. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
6). Uwe M. Borghoff, 1997, Information Technology for Knowledge Management. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
According to (Ronald, 2004) Knowledge Management requires a systematic Knowledge Management Initiative in order to be used more frequently. And it includes the knowledge management strategies and the development of KM goals, it also requires a supportive organizational culture and a corresponding KMS controlling that evaluates whether the goals of using these system have been achieved
The recent interest in organizational knowledge has prompted the issue of managing the knowledge to the organizational benefit. Knowledge management refers to identifying and leveraging the collective knowledge in an organization to help the organization compete (Krogh, 1998) nowadays many organizations are trying to manage their knowledge for its own benefit, and by managing the knowledge they can also be ahead in the competition.
Some of the Knowledge Management Systems are designed to achieve process results improvements leading to organizational outcomes. The process improvements involves process like Shortening the proposal time for projects, Saving time, Improving project Management, Increasing the participation of staff, improving communication, reducing the problem saving time, and providing better measurement and accountability (M.Alavi & D. Leidner, 1999). On the other hand we have (Davenport and Prusak, 1998) and they say that according to their research Most of the projects have atleast one of the three aims listed below
• To make knowledge visible and show the role in an organization, mainly through Maps, yellow pages.
• To develop the knowledge – intensive culture by encouraging and aggregating behavior such as knowledge sharing and proactively seeking and also by offering knowledge
• To build knowledge infra structure, not only a technical system, but a web of connections among people given space, time, tools and encouragement to interact and collaborate.
Need of Knowledge Management systems in organizations.
In any successful organization, knowledge worker is the person who has a key role to play, and these knowledge workers may be scientists, engineers or architects, who designs products and creates new knowledge for the organization. Knowledge workers should able to find out effective solutions to problems. The work of the knowledge worker is to contribute their knowledge, skills, experiences, and proper judgment to organization. These knowledge workers share their knowledge through knowledge management system, they use knowledge management system as it helps the employees to communicate and learn more. People working in various departments of the organization can make effective decision using KMS. The use of KMS helps the organization to make right decision at right time. (M. Borghoff, 1997) says that“ knowledge that doesn’t flow doesn’t grow and eventually ages and becomes obsolete and useless, just as money which is saved without being invested eventually loses value until it becomes worthless” so according to him knowledge that flows, by being shared, acquired and exchanged, generates new knowledge. And he also adds further that Knowledge has been lately recognized as one of the most important assets of
Organizations and every manager, consultants, IT professionals and customers believes that knowledge makes the organization work.
After doing all the research that is related to this field and based on all the articles and journals that are related to the use of Knowledge Management in organizations one can say that there are many factors which shows the need of KMS in an organization. And the few factors are culture, strategy, Information Technology, Human Resources Management, training of employees, encouragement by giving proper incentives and using the resources that are available in a very effective and efficient way. Each and every factor that are mentioned shows as how knowledge management systems are used in organizations
References:
1). Maryam Alvi & Dorthy E.Leidner, Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems, 2001, retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
2). Davenport T.H and L. Prusak, working knowledge, Harvard business school press, 1998.
Retrieved on 31st, march, 2009.
3). Maryam Alvi & Dorthy E.Leidner, Knowledge Management systems: Emerging views and practices from the field, 1999, retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
4). von Krogh, G. Care in Knowledge Creation, California Management Review, 1998,
5).Ronald Maier, Knowledge Management Systems: Information and Communication Technologies for Knowledge Management, 2004. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
6). Uwe M. Borghoff, 1997, Information Technology for Knowledge Management. Retrieved on 1st April, 2009.
Evolution of Web 2.0
What is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 refers to the second generation interactive internet based services and it is an emerging catch phrase and the applications associated with it shocked the traditional eLearning world (1). The usage of web 2.0 technologies covers a wide range of technologies and contexts and there is no specific definition for web 2.0, it is generally known as the upgrade version of web 1.0, web 2.0 establishes a social networking environment through the use of Blogs, Wikis and podcasting and helps the individuals to contribute the knowledge they have and thus it can be beneficial for everyone.
According to Tim O’ Reilly (2005) Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. He also noted that 2.0 refers to the historical context of web business coming back after the collapse of dot com bubble.
On the other hand Hinchcliffe’s (2006) says that “Web 2.0 is made of people” and he also adds further by giving in more detailed description about this web 2.0 technologies, he says that the Architecture of participation encourages user contribution in Web 2.0, and also it has Rich and interactive user interfaces.
There are many web based services and applications which give a clear idea about the foundation of web 2.0 concept and these are not technologies as such but are services built using the building blocks of the technologies and open standards that underpin the internet and web (Anderson, 2007) and the key applications of web 2.0 include Blogs, Wikis, podcasting, and RSS. Web 2.0 is easy to use, and secondly everything is done in real time and lastly it is people to people so these are some special features which make the users get attracted to it.
Blogs and Wikis are fundamentally 2.0, and their global proliferation has enormous implications for libraries. Blogs may indeed be an even greater milestone in the history of publishing than web-pages. They enable the rapid production and consumption of Web-based publications (Maness, 2006). Blogs are generally a way of communication where there is transfer of knowledge and Wikis are the webpages where we can access and edit all the information.
RSS provide users a way to syndicate and republish content on the Web. Users republish content from other sites or blogs on their sites or blogs, aggregate content on other sites in a single place (Maness, 2006). It allows us to update the information. And on the other hand Podcasting allows us to audio messages such as conferences, lectures and we can listen to them whenever we want (Anderson,2006).
Importance of Web 2.0 in organizations:
Organizations have been able to use web 2.0 in a very effective way as it helps the people working in organizations to share their ideas, opinions and also the creativity they have, and web 2.0 helps the organizations to achieve their goals by providing them with the technologies that helps in interacting with each other and they not only interact within the organization but they also interact wit the customers and also the suppliers and thus helps the organization to improve their quality of products.
I can explain it with an example, using podcasting the company for which I used to work before used to record the important conferences that were held in the head office and then they used to transmit them so that the some of employers can view them in their media devices. This was very much useful in the transfer of knowledge.
According to (Anderson, 2007) Even Social networking websites serve in Knowledge transfer by connecting different people with different backgrounds or ethnicity at a place. All these people can interact and discuss on a topic of their interest and share their knowledge with others. In orkut, Hi5 and facebook there are various communities where the interested individual can join and can share and exchange knowledge with the other individuals who are interested in the same topic and thus the process of knowledge transfer is done.
Blogging is very much useful in transferring the knowledge, Blogs really are very useful tool to share knowledge, and this can be explained with a common example, as a part of our course we have been asked to create Blogs and this was a very useful step as it allowed me to share the knowledge with other students and also got the feedbacks from the students, module leaders and had a chance to rectify the mistakes that I had in my postings and also gained some knowledge by visiting others Blogs and this helped all the students to exchange their opinions and ideas and enabling us to transfer the knowledge
On the conclusion note I can say that the Web 2.0 technologies are very useful in knowledge management as it allows us to share the knowledge and as a result of that knowledge is transferred, these technologies are useful for all the organizations and educational institutions, it also allows everyone to share knowledge through social networks sites and thus knowledge is being shared and it is very effective and useful for people who are interested in sharing their knowledge.
References:
1. O'Reilly, T., "Web 2.0: Compact Definition?", O'Reilly Radar blog, 1 October 2005 http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html
2. Martin Ebner, Andreas Holzinger, Herman Maurer, Web 2.0 technology web services journal http://www.springerlink.com/content/hrp354g32831g2qx/fulltext.pdf?page=1 retrieved on 30th march, 2009.
3. Dion Hinchcliffe (2006). "The State of Web 2.0". Web Services Journal. http://web2.wsj2.com/the_state_of_web_20.htm. Retrieved on 31st march 2009.
4. Paul Anderson (2007), what is web 2.0? retrieved on 31st march, 2009 from website http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf
5. Wikipedia retrieved on 30th march, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
6. Jack M. Maness (2006), “Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries”, MLS, University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries.
Web 2.0 refers to the second generation interactive internet based services and it is an emerging catch phrase and the applications associated with it shocked the traditional eLearning world (1). The usage of web 2.0 technologies covers a wide range of technologies and contexts and there is no specific definition for web 2.0, it is generally known as the upgrade version of web 1.0, web 2.0 establishes a social networking environment through the use of Blogs, Wikis and podcasting and helps the individuals to contribute the knowledge they have and thus it can be beneficial for everyone.
According to Tim O’ Reilly (2005) Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. He also noted that 2.0 refers to the historical context of web business coming back after the collapse of dot com bubble.
On the other hand Hinchcliffe’s (2006) says that “Web 2.0 is made of people” and he also adds further by giving in more detailed description about this web 2.0 technologies, he says that the Architecture of participation encourages user contribution in Web 2.0, and also it has Rich and interactive user interfaces.
There are many web based services and applications which give a clear idea about the foundation of web 2.0 concept and these are not technologies as such but are services built using the building blocks of the technologies and open standards that underpin the internet and web (Anderson, 2007) and the key applications of web 2.0 include Blogs, Wikis, podcasting, and RSS. Web 2.0 is easy to use, and secondly everything is done in real time and lastly it is people to people so these are some special features which make the users get attracted to it.
Blogs and Wikis are fundamentally 2.0, and their global proliferation has enormous implications for libraries. Blogs may indeed be an even greater milestone in the history of publishing than web-pages. They enable the rapid production and consumption of Web-based publications (Maness, 2006). Blogs are generally a way of communication where there is transfer of knowledge and Wikis are the webpages where we can access and edit all the information.
RSS provide users a way to syndicate and republish content on the Web. Users republish content from other sites or blogs on their sites or blogs, aggregate content on other sites in a single place (Maness, 2006). It allows us to update the information. And on the other hand Podcasting allows us to audio messages such as conferences, lectures and we can listen to them whenever we want (Anderson,2006).
Importance of Web 2.0 in organizations:
Organizations have been able to use web 2.0 in a very effective way as it helps the people working in organizations to share their ideas, opinions and also the creativity they have, and web 2.0 helps the organizations to achieve their goals by providing them with the technologies that helps in interacting with each other and they not only interact within the organization but they also interact wit the customers and also the suppliers and thus helps the organization to improve their quality of products.
I can explain it with an example, using podcasting the company for which I used to work before used to record the important conferences that were held in the head office and then they used to transmit them so that the some of employers can view them in their media devices. This was very much useful in the transfer of knowledge.
According to (Anderson, 2007) Even Social networking websites serve in Knowledge transfer by connecting different people with different backgrounds or ethnicity at a place. All these people can interact and discuss on a topic of their interest and share their knowledge with others. In orkut, Hi5 and facebook there are various communities where the interested individual can join and can share and exchange knowledge with the other individuals who are interested in the same topic and thus the process of knowledge transfer is done.
Blogging is very much useful in transferring the knowledge, Blogs really are very useful tool to share knowledge, and this can be explained with a common example, as a part of our course we have been asked to create Blogs and this was a very useful step as it allowed me to share the knowledge with other students and also got the feedbacks from the students, module leaders and had a chance to rectify the mistakes that I had in my postings and also gained some knowledge by visiting others Blogs and this helped all the students to exchange their opinions and ideas and enabling us to transfer the knowledge
On the conclusion note I can say that the Web 2.0 technologies are very useful in knowledge management as it allows us to share the knowledge and as a result of that knowledge is transferred, these technologies are useful for all the organizations and educational institutions, it also allows everyone to share knowledge through social networks sites and thus knowledge is being shared and it is very effective and useful for people who are interested in sharing their knowledge.
References:
1. O'Reilly, T., "Web 2.0: Compact Definition?", O'Reilly Radar blog, 1 October 2005 http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/10/web_20_compact_definition.html
2. Martin Ebner, Andreas Holzinger, Herman Maurer, Web 2.0 technology web services journal http://www.springerlink.com/content/hrp354g32831g2qx/fulltext.pdf?page=1 retrieved on 30th march, 2009.
3. Dion Hinchcliffe (2006). "The State of Web 2.0". Web Services Journal. http://web2.wsj2.com/the_state_of_web_20.htm. Retrieved on 31st march 2009.
4. Paul Anderson (2007), what is web 2.0? retrieved on 31st march, 2009 from website http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/techwatch/tsw0701b.pdf
5. Wikipedia retrieved on 30th march, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
6. Jack M. Maness (2006), “Library 2.0 Theory: Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Libraries”, MLS, University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Knowledge Management
The Rise and Rise of Knowledge Management:
“Leveraging Knowledge for sustainable advantage" was the title of one of the first conferences (in 1995) that brought Knowledge Management Agenda (1) from then the organisations have shown the interest in the topic of knowledge Management. In the present Scenario organisations have realized how important it is to " Know what they Know" and they try to make a maximum use of the knowledge, so most of the organisations have created some knowledge teams, these teams helps the organisation to know their knowledge assets and thus they advice the orgainsation as how to manage and make use of these assets to get maximum return and thus staying ahead in the competition.
what is Knowledge Management?
"...a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, managing and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These information assets may include databases, documents, policies and procedures, as well as previously unarticulated expertise and experience resident in individual workers." (Gartner Group Inc, October 1996)(2). Knowledge is Identified, Managed and then Shared and I can support the statement with an example, if we consider our own University, on our website we find FAQs ( Frequently asked questions) as per my knowledge the FAQs are not developed overnight, to develop these FAQs certain team must be appointed , then the team will go through the students queries and then they sort out and identify the most frequent questions that are asked by the students and then they answer the frequent questions and share them with the students.
But this view can change from person to person and there are numerous definitions of Knowledge Management which are defined by the Guru’s of KM and few of them are listed below.
"Knowledge management is a conscious strategy for moving the right knowledge to the right people at the right time to assist sharing and enabling the information to be translated into action to improve the organizational performance." (O'Dell & Grayson 1997)
The fundamental concept of Knowledge Management as explained by Ikujiro Nonaka is that between Explicit and Tactic. "Explicit knowledge is formal and systematic. For this reason it can be easily communicated and shared, in product specifications or a scientific formula or a computer program. Tacit knowledge is highly personal. It is hard to formalise and therefore difficult, if not impossible, to communicate."
Knowledge management is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organizing, diffusion, use and exploitation. It requires turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge than can be widely shared throughout an organization and appropriately applied (3).
KM is a process of knowledge creation, validation, presentation, distribution and application (Bhatt 2001)
Analysis of Knowledge Management:
After studying various articles of Knowledge Managemen I came to a conclusion and can firmly say that Knowledge Management is a useful tool or strategy for all the organizations so as to stay ahead in the competition. I can share my view about Knowledge Management with an experience that I had in my college when I was doing my under graduation. I was into my final year and being a final year student we were given a chance to organize an event, as it was an event where all the other colleges would come and compete with each for the main award i.e. The College of the year, as it was the competition for the best college, we all decided to give in our best for this event, so all our organizing committee had various discussions about this event, after few meetings we all decided to appoint some volunteers from each class and they would take the views of every student from their class and later when we all meet, the job of the volunteers was to explain us the views of students from their respective class and thus every student was given a chance to share their knowledge about how to organize the event and detail us about the strengths and weakness of our college.
After we received the views the organizing committee had a meeting where we discussed the most common problems and also our strengths and planned accordingly, by involving every student there was sharing and exchanging of knowledge and by doing so we got to know our strengths and weakness, and thus we as an organizing team gained knowledge from the views and were able to organize the event in a very successful way. According to me this is knowledge Management, the process where we gather information from different individual and managing that information in such a way that it can utilized by the organization to improve its performance.
Refrences:
(1) & (3). Skyrme, D. Knowledge management: making sense of an oxymoron. 1997 (Management Insight, 2nd series, no 2) referred on 17th feb, 2009 from Web page ref http://www.skyrme.com/insights/22km.htm
(2). Sheila Corral (1999) “Are we in the Knowledge Management Buisness?” reffered on 17th feb, 2009.
(4).Nonaka, I. The knowledge creating company. Harvard Business Review, (1991), 96-104
(5).Bhatt, G. (2001), “Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 68-75.
(6). Knowledge Management specialist Library referred on 17th feb, 2009 from web page http://www.library.nhs.uk/KnowledgeManagement/
“Leveraging Knowledge for sustainable advantage" was the title of one of the first conferences (in 1995) that brought Knowledge Management Agenda (1) from then the organisations have shown the interest in the topic of knowledge Management. In the present Scenario organisations have realized how important it is to " Know what they Know" and they try to make a maximum use of the knowledge, so most of the organisations have created some knowledge teams, these teams helps the organisation to know their knowledge assets and thus they advice the orgainsation as how to manage and make use of these assets to get maximum return and thus staying ahead in the competition.
what is Knowledge Management?
"...a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, managing and sharing all of an enterprise's information assets. These information assets may include databases, documents, policies and procedures, as well as previously unarticulated expertise and experience resident in individual workers." (Gartner Group Inc, October 1996)(2). Knowledge is Identified, Managed and then Shared and I can support the statement with an example, if we consider our own University, on our website we find FAQs ( Frequently asked questions) as per my knowledge the FAQs are not developed overnight, to develop these FAQs certain team must be appointed , then the team will go through the students queries and then they sort out and identify the most frequent questions that are asked by the students and then they answer the frequent questions and share them with the students.
But this view can change from person to person and there are numerous definitions of Knowledge Management which are defined by the Guru’s of KM and few of them are listed below.
"Knowledge management is a conscious strategy for moving the right knowledge to the right people at the right time to assist sharing and enabling the information to be translated into action to improve the organizational performance." (O'Dell & Grayson 1997)
The fundamental concept of Knowledge Management as explained by Ikujiro Nonaka is that between Explicit and Tactic. "Explicit knowledge is formal and systematic. For this reason it can be easily communicated and shared, in product specifications or a scientific formula or a computer program. Tacit knowledge is highly personal. It is hard to formalise and therefore difficult, if not impossible, to communicate."
Knowledge management is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creating, gathering, organizing, diffusion, use and exploitation. It requires turning personal knowledge into corporate knowledge than can be widely shared throughout an organization and appropriately applied (3).
KM is a process of knowledge creation, validation, presentation, distribution and application (Bhatt 2001)
Analysis of Knowledge Management:
After studying various articles of Knowledge Managemen I came to a conclusion and can firmly say that Knowledge Management is a useful tool or strategy for all the organizations so as to stay ahead in the competition. I can share my view about Knowledge Management with an experience that I had in my college when I was doing my under graduation. I was into my final year and being a final year student we were given a chance to organize an event, as it was an event where all the other colleges would come and compete with each for the main award i.e. The College of the year, as it was the competition for the best college, we all decided to give in our best for this event, so all our organizing committee had various discussions about this event, after few meetings we all decided to appoint some volunteers from each class and they would take the views of every student from their class and later when we all meet, the job of the volunteers was to explain us the views of students from their respective class and thus every student was given a chance to share their knowledge about how to organize the event and detail us about the strengths and weakness of our college.
After we received the views the organizing committee had a meeting where we discussed the most common problems and also our strengths and planned accordingly, by involving every student there was sharing and exchanging of knowledge and by doing so we got to know our strengths and weakness, and thus we as an organizing team gained knowledge from the views and were able to organize the event in a very successful way. According to me this is knowledge Management, the process where we gather information from different individual and managing that information in such a way that it can utilized by the organization to improve its performance.
Refrences:
(1) & (3). Skyrme, D. Knowledge management: making sense of an oxymoron. 1997 (Management Insight, 2nd series, no 2) referred on 17th feb, 2009 from Web page ref http://www.skyrme.com/insights/22km.htm
(2). Sheila Corral (1999) “Are we in the Knowledge Management Buisness?” reffered on 17th feb, 2009.
(4).Nonaka, I. The knowledge creating company. Harvard Business Review, (1991), 96-104
(5).Bhatt, G. (2001), “Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction between technologies, techniques, and people”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 68-75.
(6). Knowledge Management specialist Library referred on 17th feb, 2009 from web page http://www.library.nhs.uk/KnowledgeManagement/
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Data, Information and Knowledge
Data, Information and Knowledge are different terms but there is always a relation between these three terms and all three are interrelated, Tuomi (1999) argues that data emerges as a result of adding value to information, which in turn is knowledge that has been structured and verbalised. We can explain this with an illustration which suggests that the relation between data, information and knowledge is linear. The distance between data and information is the same as the distance between information and knowledge, implying that the effort required moving from one entity to another is the same.
From data to information to knowledge (6)
What is Data? Formal representation of raw materials (words, numbers or pictures) from which conclusions or interfences can be drawn (1), Davenport and Prusak, define data as a "set of discrete, objective facts about events”
According to Ackoff (1989) data is defined as a symbol that represents a property of an object, an event or of their environment. It is the product of observation but is of no use until it is in usable form. He also states that data is just raw it simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence.
According to Quigley and Debons (1999) data is defined as the text that does not answer questions to a particular problem.
But according to my analysis Data is generally representation of raw materials without any meaning and as a result, it is difficult to understand. It represents a fact or a statement of event without relation to other things
ex: 09885747970, London etc
What is Information? Information adds some context and meaning to data so that everyone can understand(1). Ackoff(1989) defines information as data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful, but does not have to be.
According to Quigley and Debons (1999) Information is defined as the text that answers the questions who, when, what or where.
Knowledge according to my analysis can be explained as a message which is received and understood. If we have to define information then it can be said as “Collection of all raw materials which have some meaning".
Ex: My number in London is 09885747970
what is knowledge? According to Akoff knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that its intent is to be useful
When we study and understand the information we acquire knowledge, in simpler words knowledge can be explained as application of data and information.
Ex: when I was traveling in tubes for the first time, I got the information about my route through tube maps and when I looked at it and understood the route of my journey then I gained knowledge.
Data, Information and Knowledge are interrelated and I can explain it with an example of our module hand book, before the starting of term our module Leader will have all the information about the module and when they give it for printing the information provide by the module leader will become data for the people working in the press, and when it is printed and given to the students it is knowledge for us.
References:
(1). Gene Belinger, Durval Castro, Anthony Mills (2004) in “Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom” retrieved on 10th feb 09 from web pages http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm
(2). GCSE Bitesize retrieved on 10th feb 09 from web page http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/databases/0datainforev1.shtml
(3).Thomas Davenport and Laurence Prusak (1998) in “Working Knowledge”
(4).Jennifer Rowley, Richard Hartley (2008) in “Organizing Knowledge: An Introduction to Managing Access to Information” retrieved on 17th feb, 2009.
(5).Quigley, E. J. and Debons, A. (1999), ‘Interrogative Theory of Information and Knowledge’, pg (4-10)
(6). Illustration retrieved on 18th feb, 2009 from web pages http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/generic/0,295582,sid91_gci1283796,00.html
Thursday, 5 February 2009
What is Strategy?
According to Michael E. Porter the need for strategy wouldn't have arised if there was only one Ideal position as there wouldn't be any competition,
but in the present scenario that is not the case as there is healthy competition in every field, hence everyone need some strategy to stay in the competition.
But according to Robert M. Grant, stratergy is explained as "The match an organisation makes between its internal resources, skills and the oppurtunities and risks created by its external envoirnment". from the above definition we can say that a strategy will have its own risks if it is not implemented in a proper way, hence there are few points that has to be considered before developing a strategy
• firstly the organisation resources should be identified and classified i.e. we should compare the weakness and the strengths of our organisation with our competitors, so that we can utilize our resources in proper way.
• secondly the capabilities of the organisation should also be identified
• finally a strategy should be selected which exploits the organisation resources and capabilities ( 2)
If we research further Roger Evered (1983) says that strategy is all about winning,he also adds that strategy is not a detailed plan or program of instructions, it is a unifying theme that gives coherence and direction to the actions and decisions of an individual or organisation. Further in his article he says that two sources of superior performance define two basic levels of strategy within an enterprise they are Corporate strategy and Business strategy. Corporate Strategy Defines the scope of the firm in terms of the industries and markets in which it competes, where as business strategy is concerned with how the firm competes within a particular industry or market(5)
Considering all the above discussed points strategy can be explained as a "process where the companies involve different set of activities to create some unique and valuable position".
According to me Companies use their Strategies to choose activities that are different from their competitors and the activities are planned in such a way that they exploit its own resources and capabilities before implementing into the market so as to avoid the risks, it can be explained with an example. I work for Lyca Mobile which is a leading SIM card dealer and they distributed their Sim cards for free for few days, the reason doing that is to ensure that they are ahead in the competition of SIM card business and before implementing this strategy into the market they exploited their resources and also their capabilities, then they implemented this strategy and it worked for them.
Ref:
(1). Porter, M.E. (1996), “What is strategy?” Harvard Business Review,
November/December retrieved on 5th feb, 2009.
(2). Grant, R.M. (1996), “Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm” retrieved on 15th feb, 2009.
(3). Michael H. Zack (1999), “Knowledge and Strategy” pg (3-21)Retrieved on 6th feb, 2009.
(4).Grant, R.M. (2002), "Contemporary Stratergy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Application" pg (3-15) Retrieved on 18th feb, 2009.
(5).Roger Evered, “So What Is Strategy?”, The Concept of Strategy pg (1-15) retrieved on 19th feb, 2009.
but in the present scenario that is not the case as there is healthy competition in every field, hence everyone need some strategy to stay in the competition.
But according to Robert M. Grant, stratergy is explained as "The match an organisation makes between its internal resources, skills and the oppurtunities and risks created by its external envoirnment". from the above definition we can say that a strategy will have its own risks if it is not implemented in a proper way, hence there are few points that has to be considered before developing a strategy
• firstly the organisation resources should be identified and classified i.e. we should compare the weakness and the strengths of our organisation with our competitors, so that we can utilize our resources in proper way.
• secondly the capabilities of the organisation should also be identified
• finally a strategy should be selected which exploits the organisation resources and capabilities ( 2)
If we research further Roger Evered (1983) says that strategy is all about winning,he also adds that strategy is not a detailed plan or program of instructions, it is a unifying theme that gives coherence and direction to the actions and decisions of an individual or organisation. Further in his article he says that two sources of superior performance define two basic levels of strategy within an enterprise they are Corporate strategy and Business strategy. Corporate Strategy Defines the scope of the firm in terms of the industries and markets in which it competes, where as business strategy is concerned with how the firm competes within a particular industry or market(5)
Considering all the above discussed points strategy can be explained as a "process where the companies involve different set of activities to create some unique and valuable position".
According to me Companies use their Strategies to choose activities that are different from their competitors and the activities are planned in such a way that they exploit its own resources and capabilities before implementing into the market so as to avoid the risks, it can be explained with an example. I work for Lyca Mobile which is a leading SIM card dealer and they distributed their Sim cards for free for few days, the reason doing that is to ensure that they are ahead in the competition of SIM card business and before implementing this strategy into the market they exploited their resources and also their capabilities, then they implemented this strategy and it worked for them.
Ref:
(1). Porter, M.E. (1996), “What is strategy?” Harvard Business Review,
November/December retrieved on 5th feb, 2009.
(2). Grant, R.M. (1996), “Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm” retrieved on 15th feb, 2009.
(3). Michael H. Zack (1999), “Knowledge and Strategy” pg (3-21)Retrieved on 6th feb, 2009.
(4).Grant, R.M. (2002), "Contemporary Stratergy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Application" pg (3-15) Retrieved on 18th feb, 2009.
(5).Roger Evered, “So What Is Strategy?”, The Concept of Strategy pg (1-15) retrieved on 19th feb, 2009.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Communities of Practice ( Cop)
what are communities of practice? certain group pf people who interact frequently to share and learn of something that they are passionate of, and also helping each other based on their common interest.
According to Etieme Wenger there are three most crucial characteritic that constitute C0P and they are
ref: Etieme Wenger Retrived on 2 feb 2009 from
http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
According to Etieme Wenger there are three most crucial characteritic that constitute C0P and they are
- The Domain
- The Community
- The practice
ref: Etieme Wenger Retrived on 2 feb 2009 from
http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
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