Developing case-studies as an online resource for Knowledge Management teaching Matthew Hall, Aston Business School Learning and Teaching Symposium – Sharing of Good Practice Thursday, 18 March 2010

Overview 1.Outline of learning and teaching in Knowledge Management 2.Limitations of current case-studies 3.CLIPP project to develop multi-media case-studies 4.Challenges to overcome

Learning and teaching in Knowledge Management Aim of learning is to develop understanding of the role and importance of knowledge in the workplace, and what organisations can do to manage knowledge through their people, processes and technology Teaching aims to equip students with theoretical principles and concepts underpinning the effective management of knowledge, and to show what Knowledge Management looks like ‘in practice’ through the use of case-studies and reflection on personal experience As the subject is about soft skills and developing understanding, the subject comes to life more for MBAs and UG students who have experience of working in organisations, and less so for MScs

Limitations of current case-studies Current case-studies are all text-based, taken from journals, text books and European Case Clearing House They are often very long, with many students finding it difficult to scan through to extract the learning points intended: The use of text does not suit all learning styles Through a one-dimensional format there are limits to how the experience of the case-study organisation can come to life in the student’s mind As they are ‘off the shelf’ and not written for purpose, they do not completely fulfil the learning outcomes I wish to develop: To some extent the learning outcomes have to be adapted to fit the case-study

CLIPP project to develop multi-media case-studies Aim is to develop case-studies in ‘big name’ organisations through video recordings of managers and employees discussing how knowledge is managed and organised at both the strategic and practical levels, and visual images of the working environment and systems at work The case-studies would be woven around a commentary which explains how these examples illustrate effective practice By visualising these practices in companies known to them, the students would gain a better conceptualisation of the issues The case-studies would be online to watch before the weekly session The long-term aim would be to replace the lecture element of my teaching with multi-media programmes delivered online: The case- studies would be ‘sliced up’ according to the different themes of the module and would enable contrasting of different organisation’s practices

Challenges to overcome Developing contacts, gaining access, coordinating people to interview, and overcoming confidentiality issues: Big name companies can be highly bureaucratic Working out what to film and what to ask people about: What does knowledge management look like in practice? What are the learning outcomes which the case-studies need to illustrate according to whether UG, MSc or MBA? (This has been accompanied by a shift in my L&T focus towards skills, competencies and practices which support ‘knowledge work’) The time and logistics required to make all this happen: Will the effort pay off?