Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WELCOME! Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

LEARNING OBJECTIVES To explain the diversity of disciplines that constitute the field of knowledge management To distinguish between different perspectives in knowledge management To assess the differences in the management of knowledge from ancient to modern times

KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY Driven by knowledge intangibles rather than natural resources, capital or low skilled labour Economic performance based on knowledge, technology and learning Mobilising knowledge to add value to goods and services

KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY Peter Drucker argues that the workplace is changing and there was an increasing distinction between the manual worker and the knowledge worker. To him, a manual worker used his hands to produce goods and services, whereas a knowledge worker used his head to create ideas, information, an knowledge that could add value to the firm

Knowledge workers Professionals, associate professionals or managers with graduate level skills in critical thinking, communications and technology. In 2006 they accounted for 42% of all employment in the UK!

WHAT’S ALL THE KM FUSS? KM started around the mid-1990s Knowledge seen as the most important source of competitive advantage Came from consultant beginnings Some strongly into IT, some strongly into HR and some into strategy Academic roots in organisational learning, information systems, strategy and finance

KM fuss Unlike physical resources, knowledge is not depleted after its use Knowledge grows through transfer and exchange Globalization has supported the knowledge economy, as knowledge management methods and importance has been exported to lower-wage economies with the request to build products (outsourcing)!

What is knowledge management? KM is an interdisciplinary concept. Literature perspectives on KM: Information systems orientation Human resources management Strategic management Cultural change management

Knowledge management Interdisciplinary approach to KM, gives KM strengths and also challenges One discipline will not be sufficient to have all the tools and business processes to manage knowledge One outcome though>> many definitions of KM See figure 1.2>>

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Figure 1.2 Tree of knowledge management – disciplines, content and activity

DEFINITIONS OF KM Table 1.1 Representative sample of knowledge management definitions

DIMENSIONS OF KM Figure 1.3 Dimensions of knowledge management

KM definition Taking into consideration the dimensions of KM, it can be defined as: “The effective learning processes associated with exploration, exploitation and sharing of human knowledge (tacit and explicit) that use appropriate technology and cultural environments to enhance an organization’s intellectual capital and performance”

DIMENSIONS OF KM Figure 1.3 Dimensions of knowledge management

Data vs. information vs. knowledge Data - “known facts or things used as a basis of inference or reckoning” Quantitative or qualitative Problem with data, it needs context (quantitative). Also depends on the perception and perspective of the transmitter and receiver (qualitative)

M. C. Escher (1960) “Ascending and descending”

DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE Information in dictionary – “something told”, “the act of informing or telling” “systematically organized data” Systematic implies the ability to predict or make inferences 7, 9, 11, 13, ? To inform = data needs to be organized. The receiver of the message can give a subjective meaning then, it is info.

DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE Practically, knowledge can be considered “actionable information” However, it is much more complex, in chapter 2 we will explore it. Each one of us has a subjective perception of the world, and therefore subjective evaluation of information, so somehow, our knowledge base influences our interpretations.

DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE Figure 1.4 Data, information, knowledge and purposeful action

Wisdom and truth Wisdom and truth have been shown to have higher qualities than knowledge. Wisdom: is the ability to act critically or practically in a given situation. It is based on ethical judgement related to individual’s belief system Can be captured in proverbs and quotes:

Some proverbs Children have more need of models than of critics (French) You can’t see the whole sky though a bamboo tube (Japanese) There is plenty of sound in an empty barrel (Russian) Wonder is the beginning of wisdom (Greek)

Truth Truth is even more problematic Our tacit theories or conceptions of the world affect our observations. Theory-neutral observations do not exist!! It means there are multiple truths of social phenomena! T.S. Eliot – The rock (1934): Where is the life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

History of KM: Oral traditions Oral tradition and the use of human memory to store knowledge Word of mouth Bardic traditions (stories and poems to praise) Historical tales Poetry Songs Sayings Epic poems ...etc.

ANCIENT TIMES: KNOWLEDGE & ORAL TRADITIONS Utilises natural human memory Requires prolonged contact between two or more individuals Lengthy process spent memorizing information leaving little room for critical evaluation Recited traditional rituals, myths, legends, music and epic poems

BUZZ GROUP What is the best way of memorising something? What are the problems of using memory for knowledge sharing? Figure 1.6 Scribe comparing two texts in a monastery (© The British Library Board (Lansdowne 1179 f34v))

SUMERIANS & CUNEIFORM Sumerians emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC Developed writing system called cuneiform Three-corned stylus cut different combination of wedges (‘cunei’) into damp clay tablets Early tablets mainly contained numbers – precursor to money Used for land management, bills, taxes and contracts (marriage), legends and mythology. Developed ‘archive mindedness’

KING ASHURBANIPAL’S LIBRARY Writing becomes an artificial memory with an objective existence Training required many years of arduous study under headmaster or ummia in ‘tablet houses’ House of Knowledge (bit mummi) contained around 1200 distinct texts

KING ASHURBANIPAL’S LIBRARY Palace library (Nineveh) contained over 10,000 works contained in 30,000 clay tablets Omen texts predominate, astrological dreams and exorcisms. Includes literary and archival material and horoscopes, incantations, prayers, hymns, fables, proverbs and poetry

WRITING DEVELOPMENT Different technology used to make knowledge more transportable than clay or stone tablets Wood, bamboo, bark, palm leaf, bone, ivory, leather, metal, cloth, silk, Papyrus (Egyptian) and Chinese paper Thought writing – transmit ideas visually through objects and human representations such as 50,000 Chinese characters and 700 Egyptian hieroglyphs Sound writing – phonetics can manage with 20–50 signs More information can be stored in less space

Egyptians Formal writings on stone Informal on papyrus The most famous library of Pharonic Egypt is the complex built by Ramses II Included texts on poetry astronomy, history, engineering, agriculture and fiction. “The house of healing for the soul”

KM in ANCIENT GREECE Books written on papyrus rolls or parchment Aristotle’s Lyceum and Plato’s Academy possessed a library

KM in ANCIENT GREECE Literacy was much more widespread in ancient Greece. Establishing a compete text of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey Selling of knowledge through books Establishment of the great library of Alexandria, 323BC History, philosophy, music, visual arts, studies in language and literature and commentaries

KM in ANCIENT GREECE Pergamum library in Asia Minor housed around 200,000 rolls, Alexandria library 600,000 rolls! Possibly seized by Mark Anthony in 41 BC and presented as a gift to Cleopatra, as a compensation for the losses by Julius Ceasar, who destroyed 400,000 rolls in Alexandrian war. but scholars are divided as to the accuracy of this information

RISKS TO KNOWLEDGE IN ANCIENT ROME First public library was found in 39 BC, containg Roman and Greek books. Other libraries also existed Risks: Libraries vulnerable to fires Damage to texts by insects or frequent handling When Ovid fell from favour with Augustus, his works were removed from libraries in 8 AD Triumph of Christianity over paganism in 4th century led to decay of traditional culture

MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES Adherents of Latin Christendom preserved recall of the past Most common libraries were found in monasteries. Scrolls changed from papyrus to parchment Books invented as practical information conveyance and valued commodity or revered object, art and artefact simultaneously Table of contents and indexes first appeared

MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES Elevation of the role of monks as scribes. Reading and understanding Bible, theological study included history, science, and mathematics as part of understanding God’s creation.

MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES Religion was elevated above other knowledge domains Monks were involved in reading scripts, copying theological texts, and writing commentaries. Collections were kept in book chests, closely guarded (lock and key), monks were allowed to access one book at a time

MEDIEVAL LIBRARIES 12th century, intellectual life was moving back from rural monasteries back to urban centers, to match the need to train and educate people Cathedrals had traditionally trained monks on Music, theology, canon law…etc. then, more secular interests; arithmetic, rhetoric and astronomy. The same time of cathedral schools, the rise of universities 1200 University of Paris (renowned for theology), and Oxford university. Undergraduate will be 12 years old, to study 6 years, liberal arts ( reasoning and argument = Grammar, rhetoric, logic Natural laws of universe = Arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy.

PRINTING & KNOWLEDGE SHARING In 1455 Johann Gutenberg invented printing with movable type and printed 42-line Bible 16th century – new technology of copperplate engraving improved quality 1545 – as books proliferated Conrad Gesner published Bibliotheca Universalis Literacy rose as a result of printing press with Protestanism emphasis on private reading of Bible 18th century – introduction of newspapers, mechanisation of bookmaking process and cheap wood pulp

IT & KNOWLEDGE SHARING Computers leading to ‘paperless’ society but increased paper to be stored as printout backups ‘Information explosion’ leads libraries to share resources Print has limitations – learning based on dialogue Dialogue through email, groupware and video conferencing systems Can store vast amounts of data into data warehouses for store, analysis and retrieval

ROOTS OF MODERN DAY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Organisational learning Psychology Information systems Strategic management Culture

TIME FOR REFLECTION What lessons can we learn from history to improve the quality of knowledge management within organisations?