Quality and Knowledge Management Presented by: Tony Clarke Program Director, Manufacturing Career Pathways Gateway Community and Technical College American Society for Quality Greater Cincinnati Chapter September 20, 2005

Organizations don’t create knowledge, people do.

Organizational Knowledge Creation  The capability of a company as a whole to create new knowledge, disseminate it throughout the organization, and embody it in products, services, and systems  Requires the initiative of the individual and the interaction within a group Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Organizational Knowledge Creation  Tacit and explicit knowledge  Knowledge spiral  Core of knowledge creation is at the group level  The organization provides the enabling conditions  Is nonlinear and interactive Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hypertext Organization  Three layers whose interaction allows the creation and accumulation of knowledge  Business layer - the traditional hierarchy  Acquires, accumulates and exploits explicit knowledge  Project teams - Task force  Creates new knowledge  Knowledge base – Not an organizational entity  Recategorizes and reconceptualizes knowledge generated from the other layers  Corporate vision and culture  Technology Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hypertext Organization Knowledge-base layer Business-system layer Project-team layer Collaboration between teams to promote knowledge creation Teams are loosely coupled around organizational vision Team members form a hyper network across business systems Dynamic knowledge cycle continuously creates, exploits and accumulates organizational knowledge High accessibility to knowledge base by individual members Corporate vision, organizational culture, technology, databases, etc. Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Basic Premises  Knowledge  A change in the range of potential behaviors  Organizational learning systems and knowledge management systems  All organizations have organizational learning / knowledge management systems  Quality management provides the context for an organization’s organizational learning / knowledge management system

Quality Management  Interacts with knowledge management at two levels and across two dimensions Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System Timeframe

Quality Management  Interacts with knowledge management at two levels and across two dimensions PDCA cycle and other current quality management techniques and tools Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System

Daily Process Improvement and Current Practices  Builds knowledge  PDCA cycle Plan Check Do ActState Hypothesis Check Results Test Hypothesis Draw Conclusions Builds knowledge –Scientific Method

Quality Management  Interacts with knowledge management at two levels and across two dimensions PDCA cycle and other current quality management techniques and tools Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System - Provides structural and behavioral worlds - Replication - Documentation

Quality System and Current Practices  Structural  Channels of communication  Information systems  Physical environment  Procedures and routines  Systems of incentives  Behavioral  The qualities, meanings and feelings that habitually condition patterns of interaction within an organization

Quality System and Current Practices  Replication  Sharing “best practices”, process improvement ideas between entities – plants, shifts, departments, locations  Overcoming  Not Invented Here  We’re special  We’ve already tried that  Fear of appearing that you can’t solve your own problems

Quality System and Current Practices  Documentation  The identification, documentation and dissemination of a better way  When should a better way be standardized  How do we update our documents  How do we quickly and completely disseminate the new documentation so that it is implemented

Xerox’s Eureka Database  Knowledge dissemination for Service reps  Create a database to preserve ideas over time and deliver them over space  Established a user based process to help capture best practices  A rep submits a suggestion to a local expert  Together, they refine the tip  Then it is submitted to a centralized review process by business unit  Reps and engineers review the tips and call in product experts to resolve doubts and disputes  Some are accepted / rejected / duplicates that are eliminated  Accepted tips are placed in the database for worldwide access over the web  Reps using the system know the tips and database is relevant, reliable and probably not redundant  No rewards for tips – names are attached to tips - social capital within workplace community Brown, J. S. & Duguid, P. (2000). “Balancing Act: How to Capture Knowledge Without Killing It.” Harvard Business Review. May-June. pp

Quality Management and Knowledge Management  QM employs tools to learn and build knowledge in daily process improvement efforts.  QM provides the structure and behavioral world that impacts the organization’s learning and knowledge management system.  QM uses tools to manage the quality management system that also manage knowledge and allow organizations to learn.  KM provides another set of challenges for QM professionals

Knowledge Management Skills for the Quality Professional  Current Skills  Daily tools – PDCA cycle  Structural and behavioral world  Replication  Documentation  Future Skills  Using current skills for both tacit and explicit knowledge  Improving how to improve process improvement  Facilitation of knowledge sharing  Events  Communities-of-practice  Behavioral world

Quality Management  Interacts with knowledge management at two levels and across two dimensions PDCA cycle and other current quality management techniques and tools Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System - Provides structural & behavioral worlds - Replication - Documentation - Improving how to improve process improvement - Tacit and explicit knowledge

Daily Process Improvement and Future Practices  Improving how to improve process improvement  Improve processes  Increase customer satisfaction through QFD  Reducing defects through Six Sigma  Eliminating waste through lean operations  Improve how to improve processes  How do we do QFD better?  How do we do Six Sigma better?  How do we do lean better?

Daily Process Improvement and Future Practices  Tacit knowledge - Knowledge that is  Hard to articulate  Defies documentation  Is interwoven into action  Explicit knowledge - Knowledge that is  Easy to articulate  Can be documented  Can be understood separate from action

Four Modes of Knowledge Creation Socialization Externalization CombinationInternalization Tacit Knowledge TO Explicit Knowledge Tacit Knowledge Explicit Knowledge FROM Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cross-leveling of knowledge within Matsushita Company Division Team Home Bakery Easy & Rich Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

First Cycle of the Home Bakery Spiral Sharing tacit knowledge among the pilot team members Creating a concept (i.e., basic product features Justification against “Easy & Rich” Building a prototype that baked bread overcooked outside and raw inside To the second cycle SocializationExternalizationCombination Internalization Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Second Cycle of the Home Bakery Spiral Sharing tacit knowledge, Ikuko Tanaka’s apprenticing with the head baker Creating the concept of “Twisting Stretch” Justification against “Easy & Rich” Building a prototype with special ribs To the third cycle SocializationExternalizationCombination Internalization Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Third Cycle of the Home Bakery Spiral Sharing tacit knowledge among the commercialization team Creating the concept of “Chumen” Justification against cost and quality requirements Building the prototype Home Bakery To the Cross-leveling of Knowledge SocializationExternalizationCombination Internalization Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Three Cycles of the Home Bakery Spiral Ikuko Tanaka apprentices herself with the head baker “Twisting Stretch” “Easy & Rich” Prototype with special ribs among the commercialization team members “Chumen” Cost & quality requirements Perfected Home Bakery To the Cross-leveling of Knowledge Justifying the concepts against among the pilot team members Basic product features “Easy & Rich”An aborted prototype Sharing tacit knowledge Creating concepts Building archtypes Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cross-leveling of knowledge within Matsushita Company Division Team Home Bakery Easy & Rich Human Electronics Nonaka, I. & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.

Quality Management  Interacts with knowledge management at two levels and across two dimensions PDCA cycle and other current quality management techniques and tools Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System - Provides structural & behavioral worlds - Replication - Documentation - Provides structural & behavioral worlds - Communities-of- Practice - Knowledge Events Tacit and explicit knowledge

Quality System and Future Practices  Knowledge Sharing Events  Knowledge fairs  Quality needs to be involved as a participant and a supporter  Knowledge Sharing Communities-of- Practice  Facilitate and grow QM communities  Support and participate in other communities

Quality and Knowledge Management  Coexist and overlap to deliver improved organizational performance  Quality professionals must use their current skills and learn new skills to be effective in knowledge-based organizations PDCA cycle and other current quality management techniques and tools Level of Work Current Practices Future Practices Daily Process Improvement Quality System - Provides structural and behavioral worlds - Replication - Documentation - Provides structural and behavioral worlds - Communities-of- Practices - Knowledge Events Tacit and explicit knowledge