Knowledge Management & Knowledge Management Systems By: Chad Thomison MIS 650

Knowledge Management Systems Presentation Outline  What is a KMS.  Knowledge Management Process  How a KMS can help your business  Goals of a KMS  KMS Framework  The KMS architecture  To build or Buy your KMS  The Knowledge Repository  Things to keep in mind when designing the KMS  Ensuring Success

What is Knowledge Management? Knowledge management is defined as the management of organizational knowledge for creating business value and generating a competitive advantage. A KMS includes several different components, Including: Knowledge management is defined as the management of organizational knowledge for creating business value and generating a competitive advantage. A KMS includes several different components, Including: Repositories – Should include declarative, procedural, and casual knowledge and context. Repositories – Should include declarative, procedural, and casual knowledge and context. Collaborative platforms – Provides the pipeline to enable the flow of explicated knowledge, context, and the way the conversations are handled. Collaborative platforms – Provides the pipeline to enable the flow of explicated knowledge, context, and the way the conversations are handled. Networks – These include both digital and social networks Networks – These include both digital and social networks Culture – Involved enabling and sharing and use of all other components of the KMS.

What is the Knowledge management process? Knowledge management is a complex activity that cannot deliver business impact without a concrete plan. A basic knowledge management process is as follows.

What Does a KMS do, and How can it help the organization? A Knowledge Management system can be beneficial in many ways. These are a few:  Increasing customer/partner/employee knowledge  Rapid learning and redeployment of knowledge  Increasing the value of intellectual property  Adding unique values in products and services  Creating new knowledge  Having Knowledge of work processes and quality innovations

The basic goals of a KMS  The basic goals of any knowledge management system are centered around the use and maintenance of the information.  The primary purpose of a Knowledge Management system is to:  capture  integrate and connect  transform and store both old and new knowledge  must also be flexible and adaptable  include data mining  knowledge discovery  include fast and easy finding and retrieving of data.  must be embedded into the normal workflow.

Knowledge Management Framework The framework begins with the socio-cultural and organizational components. Those components that surround Knowledge are: Creation and acquisition Creation and acquisition application application distribution distribution organization and storage organization and storage

Basic KMS Architecture  The basic architecture includes 7 layers:  The Interface layer:  The access and authentication layer  Collaborative filtering and intelligence layer  Application layer  Transport Layer  Middleware and legacy integration layer  Repository layer

To Build or Buy? To build or buy your knowledge management system. Building can often be the way to go, but usually more expensive. Buying and customizing an off the shelf system is usually much faster. To build or buy your knowledge management system. Building can often be the way to go, but usually more expensive. Buying and customizing an off the shelf system is usually much faster. When you begin to develop your system, here are some options: When you begin to develop your system, here are some options: To buy an off the shelf system, and customize it To buy an off the shelf system, and customize it To buy an off the shelf solution sold by a consulting group and modify it To buy an off the shelf solution sold by a consulting group and modify it To buy and combine an off the shelf set of applications and customize it to fit 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 To build in part and buy in part To combine any of the approaches. To combine any of the approaches.

The Knowledge Repository The Knowledge repository is one of the many subcomponents of of a knowledge management system. The Knowledge repository is one of the many subcomponents of of a knowledge management system. In a knowledge repository, the context of the knowledge object, as well as the content must be stored. In a knowledge repository, the context of the knowledge object, as well as the content must be stored. The repository should record at least the following elements: The repository should record at least the following elements: Declarative knowledge - such as significant and meaningful concepts, categories, definitions, and assumptions. Declarative knowledge - such as significant and meaningful concepts, categories, definitions, and assumptions. Procedural knowledge, such as processes, sequences of events and activities, and actions. Procedural knowledge, such as processes, sequences of events and activities, and actions. Casual knowledge, such as rationale for decisions, rationale for rejected decisions, and eventual outcomes. Casual knowledge, such as rationale for decisions, rationale for rejected decisions, and eventual outcomes. The last element is the context of the decision circumstances, assumptions, results of those assumptions, and informal knowledge. ( informal knowledge includes video clips, annotations, notes, and conversations.) The last element is the context of the decision circumstances, assumptions, results of those assumptions, and informal knowledge. ( informal knowledge includes video clips, annotations, notes, and conversations.)

When designing your system...  It is important for you to:  Weed out the outdated, and obsolete material  To add new content  The data that is left needs to be defragmented to avoid redundancies  Similar works needs to be combined  The data needs to be useable  If you plan on keeping your system around, and want it to be successful:  It needs to be properly maintained  Centralizing storage is, perhaps, the way to go when starting a KMS from scratch

Designing the site  Several different user interface features need to be considered.  The Most Critical features are :  Functionality: This is the idea behind the user interface that allows them to use the site effectively, without frustrations.  Consistency: The KMS should has a consistent feel throughout all parts.  Visual Clarity: The information needs to be easy to find and use. The most vital information should be located on one page.  Navigation and control: The structure needs to be clear and concise throughout. The user needs to be able to tell which tool they are using at any given time.  Relevance: The information that is relevant needs to be displayed at the proper time.  Feedback: The use of audible cues and alerts should be used to alert the user to what is to come.

Principals to Ensure Success  There are 10 basic principals the ensure a successful site. They are as follows :  Knowledge Management is a discipline. There needs to be regular maintenance to keep the site accurate.  One Champion is not enough. There need to be several to ensure your KMS includes all the necessary features.  Cultural change is not automatic. Buy-in at all levels is required.  Create a change management plan.  Stay Strategic. Your KMS is a strategic endeavor.  Pick a topic, go in-depth, keep it current. Take the time to build a robust KMS.  Don’t get hung up on the limitations  Set expectations or risk extinctions  Integrate your KMS into existing systems  Educate your self-service users.