Learning Circle (C2) Summary
Knowledge Management Skills
Knowledge Management (KM) -comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational processes or practice.
- It is the concept of taking data and turning it into useful and applicable knowledge in a business environment. There is no one specific way that this done, and there's really no one specific definition of the process or the concept. The ideas are more general, though there are many specific benefits of knowledge management that can be named as well as some specific steps that must be included, no matter how simple or complex an organization's concept of knowledge management is.
Many large companies and non-profit organizations have resources dedicated to internal KM efforts, often as a part of their 'business strategy', 'information technology', or 'human resource management' departments (Addicott, McGivern & Ferlie 2006). Several consulting companies also exist that provide strategy and advice regarding KM to these organizations.
Knowledge Management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with organizational learning, and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge.
A broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline exists with no unanimous agreement; approaches vary by author and school. As the discipline matures, academic debates have increased regarding both the theory and practice of KM, to include the following perspectives:
§ Techno-centric with a focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing and creation.
§ Organizational with a focus on how an organization can be designed to facilitate knowledge processes best.
§ Ecological with a focus on the interaction of people, identity, knowledge, and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system akin to a natural ecosystem.
Regardless of the school of thought, core components of KM include People, Processes, Technology (or) Culture, Structure, Technology, depending on the specific perspective . Different KM schools of thought include various lenses through which KM can be viewed and explained, to include:
Strategies
Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities. Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into measurement plans. Considerable controversy exists over whether incentives work or not in this field and no consensus has emerged.
Other knowledge management strategies and instruments for companies include:
§ rewards (as a means of motivating for knowledge sharing)
§ cross-project learning
§ after action reviews
§ knowledge mapping (a map of knowledge repositories within a company accessible by all)
§ expert directories (to enable knowledge seeker to reach to the experts)
§ best practice transfer
§ competence management (systematic evaluation and planning of competences of individual organization members)
§ proximity & architecture (the physical situation of employees can be either conducive or obstructive to knowledge sharing)
§ master-apprentice relationship
§ collaborative technologies (groupware, etc.)
§ measuring and reporting intellectual capital (a way of making explicit knowledge for companies)
§ knowledge brokers (some organizational members take on responsibility for a specific "field" and act as first reference on whom to talk about a specific subject)
Motivations
A number of claims exist as to the motivations leading organizations to undertake a KM effort. Typical considerations driving a KM effort include:
§ Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services
§ Facilitating and managing innovation and organizational learning
§ Managing business environments and allowing employees to obtain relevant insights and ideas appropriate to their work
§ Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals)
Technologies
Early KM technologies included online corporate yellow pages as expertise locators and document management systems. Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular Lotus Notes), KM technologies expanded in the mid-1990s. Subsequent KM efforts leveraged semantic technologies for search and retrieval and the development of e-learning tools for communities of practice
Knowledge manager
"Knowledge manager" is a role and designation that has gained popularity over the past decade. The role has evolved drastically from that of one involving the creation and maintenance of knowledge repositories to one that involves influencing the culture of an organization toward improved knowledge sharing, reuse, learning, collaboration and innovation. Knowledge management functions are associated with different departments in different organizations. It may be combined with Quality, Sales, HR, Innovation, Operations etc. and is likely to be determined by the KM motivation of that particular organization.
Knowledge managers have varied backgrounds ranging from Information Sciences to Business Management. An effective knowledge manager is likely to be someone who has a versatile skills portfolio and is comfortable with the concepts of organizational behavior/culture, processes, branding & marketing and collaborative technology.
The Purpose of the Knowledge Management Process
The entire point of gathering data, storing it, organizing, analyzing it and sharing it is so that the company can use vital business information to see what needs to be done, what needs to be improved, what can be eliminated, what needs to be maximized and what's possible in the future. The knowledge from this information processing cycle can be used to reach goals, whether those goals are more sales, more clients, less waste, more employee productivity, a better public image or almost any type of goal a company could have. Knowledge can be used to further those goals if it's gathered and processed correctly.
The knowledge management process has not always been something that companies have focused on, at least not in a formal way. Few people in a company several years ago would have used the term "knowledge management." But companies that were successful have always practiced knowledge management whether they called it that or not. Gathering data and turning it into useful information and shared knowledge has always been crucial.
Information technology (IT) is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications
-It is the area of managing technology and spans wide variety of areas that include but are not limited to things such as processes, computer software, information systems, computer hardware, programming languages, and data constructs. In short, anything that renders data, information or perceived knowledge in any visual format whatsoever, via any multimedia distribution mechanism.
IT professionals perform a variety of functions (IT Disciplines/Competencies) that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as management and administration of entire systems. Information technology is starting to spread farther than the conventional personal computer and network technology, and more into integrations of other technologies such as the use of cell phones, televisions, automobiles, and more, which is increasing the demand for such jobs.
Technology Management- is set of management disciplines that allows organizations to manage its technological fundamentals to create competitive advantage. Typical concepts used in technology management are technology strategy (a logic or role of technology in organization), technology forecasting (identification of possible relevant technologies for the organization, possibly through technology scouting), technology roadmapping (mapping technologies to business and market needs), technology project portfolio ( a set of projects under development) and technology portfolio (a set of technologies in use).
The role of the technology management function in an organization is understand the value of certain technology for the organization. Continuous development of technology is valuable as long as there is a value for the customer and therefore the technology management function in an organization should be able to argue when to invest on technology development and when to withdraw.
Technology Management can also be defined as the integrated planning, design, optimization, operation and control of technological products, processes and services, a better definition would be the management of the use of technology for human advantage. Technology Management programs typically include instruction in production and operations management, project management, computer applications, quality control, safety and health issues, statistics, and general management principles
Perhaps the most authoritative input to our understanding of technology is the diffusion of innovations theory developed in the first half of the twentieth century. It suggests that all innovations follow a similar diffusion pattern - best known today in the form of an "s" curve though originally based upon the concept of a standard distribution of adopters. In broad terms the "s" curve suggests four phases of a technology life cycle - emerging, growth, mature and aging.
GROUP MEMBERS:
AGTE, JHON ERIC
ATACADOR, MA. JENNE PEARL
BARRERAS, REGILYN
MURIAL, JONATHAN
RAMOS, JOANNE
