Chapter 15 Knowledge Sharing Systems: Systems that Organize and Distribute Knowledge Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Chapter Objectives To explain how knowledge sharing systems help users share their knowledge, both tacit and explicit: For tacit knowledge – systems utilized by communities of practice, particularly those that meet virtually For explicit knowledge - knowledge repositories To present the different types of knowledge repositories To demonstrate how sharing systems serve to organize and distribute organizational and individual knowledge Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Corporate Memory Corporate Memory (also known as an organizational memory) is made up of the aggregate intellectual assets of an organization. It is the combination of both explicit and tacit knowledge. The loss of Corporate Memory often results from a lack of appropriate technologies for the organization and exchange of documents. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

What are Knowledge Sharing Systems Systems that enable members of an organization to acquire tacit and explicit knowledge from each other. WWW is the main medium for knowledge sharing Knowledge markets that must attract a critical volume of knowledge seekers and knowledge owners in order to be effective as just other businesses do.

Knowledge Sharing ... Knowledge owners Knowledge seekers should also want to share their knowledge with a controllable and trusted group, decide when to share and the conditions for sharing, and seek a fair exchange, or reward, for sharing their knowledge. Knowledge seekers should also not be aware of all the possibilities for sharing, thus the knowledge repository will typically help them through searching and ranking, and want to decide on the conditions for knowledge acquisition

KS system ... Frequently mentioned system is document management system. Has repository as its core module that affords multiple access points. The document management system essentially stores information. The repository can be centralized or it can be distributed. Builds upon the repository by adding support to the classification and organization of information, Unifies storage and retrieval of documents over a platform-independent system.

Case Knowledge sharing system -- Ernst & Young Org. Its knowledge sharing systems Has a collection of 22 standardized computer-mediated tools Its KM infrastructure, KnowledgeWeb (KWeb), is home to more than 4,600 databases and Web sites that provide employees with access to internal and external resources including business, knowledge, intelligence, global news, and information. strong sociotechnical support system to help people effectively engage with these tools in practice. Has Knowledge centres in 10 countries supported by over 400 staff support employees.

Requirements for the Success of a Knowledge Sharing System Collection and systematic organization of information from various sources. Minimization of up-front knowledge engineering. Exploiting user feedback for maintenance and evolution. Integration into existing environment. Active presentation of relevant information. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Barriers to the use of Knowledge Sharing Systems Many organizations, specifically science and engineering-oriented firms, are characterized by a culture known as the ‘not-invented-here syndrome’. Organizations suffering from this syndrome tend to essentially reward employees for ‘inventing’ new solutions, rather than re-using solutions developed within and outside the organization. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Specific Types of Knowledge Sharing Systems Knowledge sharing systems are classified according to their attributes 1.  Incident report databases 2.  Alert systems 3.  Best practices databases 4.  Lessons-learned systems 5. Expertise locator systems Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Types of Knowledge Repositories Sharing System Originates from experiences? Describes a complete process? Describes failures? Describes successes? Orientation Incident Reports Yes No Organization Alerts Industry Lessons Learned System Best Practices Databases Possibly Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Lesson Learned Process Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Purpose of LLS - to Support Organizational Processes Collect the lessons: Passive, Reactive, After-Action Collection, Proactive Collection, Active Collection, Interactive Collection Verify the lessons Store the Lesson Disseminate the Lesson: Passive dissemination, Active casting, Broadcasting, Active dissemination, Proactive dissemination, Reactive dissemination Apply the Lesson: Browsable, Executable, Outcome reuse Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Expertise-Locator Knowledge Sharing Systems Goal: to catalog knowledge competencies, including information not typically captured by human resources systems, in a way that could later be queried across the organization to help locate intellectual capital. Significant challenge in the development of ELS, knowledge repositories, and digital libraries, deals with the accurate development of knowledge taxonomies. Taxonomies, also called classification or categorization schemes, are considered to be knowledge organization systems that serve to group objects together based on a particular characteristic. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Characteristics of Expertise-Locator Systems ELS Name CONNEX (HP) KSMS (NSA) SPuD (Microsoft) Purpose of the system To share knowledge, for consulting and to search for experts To staff projects and match positions with skills To compile the knowledge and competency of each employee Self-Assessment Yes Yes, supervisors also participate in data gathering No, supervisors rate employee's performance Participation Only those who are willing to share Whole personnel Whole personnel in the IT group Knowledge Taxonomy US Library of Congress INSPEC Index Own Department of Labor (O*NET) Levels of Competencies No Data Maintenance User (nagging) User and Supervisor Supervisor Company Culture Sharing, Open Technology, Expertise Technology, Open Platform HP-9000 Unix Sybase Verity OS/2, VMS, and Programming Bourne shell. SQL MS Access Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Case Study - SAGE The purpose of Searchable Answer Generating Environment (SAGE) is to create a searchable repository of university experts in the State of Florida. www.sage.fiu.edu Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

SAGE Architecture Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Technologies to Implement SAGE Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Case Study – Expert Seeker Expert Seeker is an organizational expertise-locator KMS used to locate experts at NASA. The main difference between Expert Seeker and SAGE is that the former searches for expertise at NASA (KSC and GSFC), while the latter is on the Web and seeks expertise at various universities. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Expert Seeker Architecture Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

KM Systems to Share Tacit Knowledge To create a cultural environment that encourages the sharing of knowledge, some organizations are creating knowledge communities. A community of practice is an organic and self-organized group of individuals who are dispersed geographically or organizationally but communicate regularly to discuss issues of mutual. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Conclusions In this chapter you learned: What are knowledge sharing systems Design considerations for knowledge sharing systems Specific types of such systems: lessons learned systems, knowledge repositories, and expertise locator systems Case studies of ELS: SAGE Expert Finder, to locate experts in Florida. Expert Seeker, to identify experts at NASA. Communities of practice are important to share tacit knowledge. Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall

Chapter 15 Knowledge Sharing Systems: Systems that Organize and Distribute Knowledge Becerra-Fernandez, et al. -- Knowledge Management 1/e -- © 2004 Prentice Hall