1. Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice
Lecture 2: The Knowledge Management Cycle

2. Overview Major KM Cycles
Knowledge-Information Cycle (ACIIC Knowledge Economy)
Meyer and Zack KM Cycle
Bukowitz and Wiliams
McElroy KM Cycle
Wiig KM Cycle

3. KM Cycle Processes Knowledge Capture Knowledge Creation
Knowledge Codification
Knowledge Sharing
Knowledge Access
Knowledge Application
Knowledge Re-Use

4. Bukowitz and Williams Knowledge ASSESS GET BUILD/SUSTAIN USE LEARN
CONTRIBUTE
OR: DIVEST

5. Bukowitz and Williams /2
Get: seeking out information
Tacit and explicit
Being selective when faced with information overload
Use: combine content in new and interesting ways to foster innovation in the organization
Learn: learning from experiences
Creation of an organizational memory

6. Bukowitz and Williams/3
Contribute: motivate employees to post what they have learned to a knowledge base
Link individual learning and knowledge to organizational memory
Assess: evaluation of intellectual capital
Identify assets, metrics to assess them and link these directly to business objectives

7. Bukowitz and Williams/4
Build and Sustain: allocate resources to maintain knowledge base
Contribute to viability, competitiveness
Divest: should not keep assets that are no longer of any business value
Transfer outside the organization e.g. outsourcing
Patent, spin off companies etc.

8. Wiig KM Cycle Processes by which we build and use knowledge How we:
As individuals
As teams (communities)
As organizations
How we:
Build knowledge
Hold knowledge
Pool knowledge
Apply knowledge
Discrete tasks yet often interdependent & parallel

9. Wiig KM Cycle/2 Build Knowledge Hold Knowledge Pool Knowledge
Personal experience
Formal education and training
Intelligence sources
Media, books, peers
Build Knowledge
Hold Knowledge
In people
In tangible forms (e.g. books)
Pool Knowledge
KM systems (intranet, dbase)
Groups of people- brainstorm
In work context
Embedded in work processes
Use Knowledge

10. Wiig KM Cycle/3 Build Knowledge Hold Knowledge Pool Knowledge
Personal experience
Formal education and training
Intelligence sources
Media, books, peers
Build Knowledge
Hold Knowledge
In people
In tangible forms (e.g. books)
Pool Knowledge
KM systems (intranet, dbase)
Groups of people- brainstorm
In work context
Embedded in work processes
Use Knowledge

11. Building Knowledge Learning from all kinds of sources to:
Obtain Knowledge
Analyze Knowledge
Reconstruct (Synthesize) Knowledge
Codify and Model Knowledge
Organize Knowledge

12. Building Knowledge - Examples
Market research
Focus groups
Surveys
Competitive intelligence
Data mining on customer preferences
Create taxonomy of customer types
Synthesis of lessons learned (what worked, what didn’t) – generate hypotheses
Project management lessons learned
Identify attribute of suppliers who were most responsive, use this to select future suppliers, also to develop requirements to include in RFP

13. Wiig KM Cycle/4 Build Knowledge Hold Knowledge Pool Knowledge
Personal experience
Formal education and training
Intelligence sources
Media, books, peers
Build Knowledge
Hold Knowledge
In people
In tangible forms (e.g. books)
Pool Knowledge
KM systems (intranet, dbase)
Groups of people- brainstorm
In work context
Embedded in work processes
Use Knowledge

14. Holding Knowledge
In people’s minds, books, computerized knowledge bases, etc.
Remember knowledge – internalize it
Cumulate knowledge in repositories (encode it)
Embed knowledge in repositories (within procedures)
Archive knowledge
Create scientific library, subscriptions
Retire older knowledge from active status in repository (e.g. store in another medium for potential future retrieval – cd roms, etc.)

15. Holding Knowledge - Examples
Company owns a number of proprietary methods and recipes for making products
Some knowledge documented in the form of research reports, technical papers, patents
Other tacit knowledge can be elicited and embedded in the knowledge base in the form of know-how, tips, tricks of the trade
Videotapes of specialized experts explaining various procedures
Task support systems

16. Wiig KM Cycle/5 Build Knowledge Hold Knowledge Pool Knowledge
Personal experience
Formal education and training
Intelligence sources
Media, books, peers
Build Knowledge
Hold Knowledge
In people
In tangible forms (e.g. books)
Pool Knowledge
KM systems (intranet, dbase)
Groups of people- brainstorm
In work context
Embedded in work processes
Use Knowledge

17. Pooling Knowledge
Can take many forms such as discussions, expert networks and formal work teams
Pooling knowledge consists of:
Coordinating knowledge of collaborative teams
Creating expert networks to identify who knows what
Assembling knowledge – background references from libraries and other knowledge sources
Accessing and retrieving knowledge
Consult with knowledgeable people about a difficult problem, peer reviews, second opinions
Obtain knowledge directly from a repository – advice, explanations

18. Pooling Knowledge - Examples
An employee realizes he or she does not have the necessary knowledge and know-how to solve a particular problem
She contact others in the company who have had similar problems to solve, consults the knowledge repository and makes use of an expert advisory system to help her out
She organizes all this information and has subject matter experts validate the content

19. Wiig KM Cycle/6 Build Knowledge Hold Knowledge Pool Knowledge
Personal experience
Formal education and training
Intelligence sources
Media, books, peers
Build Knowledge
Hold Knowledge
In people
In tangible forms (e.g. books)
Pool Knowledge
KM systems (intranet, dbase)
Groups of people- brainstorm
In work context
Embedded in work processes
Use Knowledge

20. Using Knowledge
Use established knowledge to perform routine tasks, make standard products, provide standard services
Use general knowledge to survey exceptional situations, identify problem, consequences
Use knowledge to describe situation and scope problem
Select relevant special knowledge to handle situation, identify knowledge sources
Observe and characterize the situation, collect and organize information
Analyze situation, determine patterns, compare with others, judge what needs to be done

21. Using Knowledge (con’t)
Synthesize alternative solutions, identify options, create new solutions
Evaluate potential alternatives, appraise advantages and disadvantages of each, determine risks and benefits of each
Use knowledge to decide what to do, which alternative to select
Rank alternatives & test that each is feasible, acceptable
Implement selected alternative
Choose and assemble tools needed
Prepare implementation plan, distribute it, authorize team to proceed with this solution

22. Using Knowledge - Examples
Expert mechanic encounters a new problem
Gathers info to diagnose and analyze
Synthesizes a list of possible solutions with the tools he knows are available to him
Decides on the best option and uses it to fix the part
Non-routine tasks are approached in a different way than familiar, standard ones

23. KM Cycle Processes Knowledge Capture Knowledge Creation & Contribution
Knowledge Codification & Refinement (inc. Sanitize) & Reconstruction (e.g. synthesis)
Selectively filter contributions
Knowledge Modeling
Knowledge Sharing & Pooling
Knowledge Organization &Access
Knowledge Learning &Application
Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use OR Divest

24. Five Critical Knowledge Functions for each KM Cycle Step
Type of knowledge or skill involved
Securities trading expertise
Business use of that knowledge
Increase the value of a retirement fund portfolio
Constraint that prevents knowledge from being fully utilized
Expert will retire at the end of the year with no successor
Opportunities, alternatives to manage that knowledge
Elicit and codify knowledge before person retires
Expected value-added of improving the situation
Valuable knowledge is not lost to organization