MIS 2000 Chapter 15 Knowledge Management

Outline Knowledge Explicit and Tacit Knowledge Knowledge Management Activities Computer-Aided Design/Manufacturing System Expert System Case-Based Reasoning System Groupware Systems Virtual Reality System Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management2

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management3 What is Knowledge? Data: words, numbers, pictures… $55 million Information: Data given meaning by detail and context $55 million were the annual expenses in our company in Knowledge: Linked information, causal relationships, procedures… Salaries paid to new employees hired in in 2009 (cause) increased our expenses for $5 mill. to reach $55 million (effect). Knowledge is also the procedure of calculating annual expenses

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management4 Types of Knowledge Explicit Knowledge Documented knowledge (e.g., work manuals showing how to do tasks). Represented in computer files, databases, expert systems, organizational processes, etc. Also in employees’ memory. Tacit Knowledge Accumulated experience that has not been formally documented; hard to speak up (e.g., problem solving by experts in any area).

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management5 Knowledge workers People who create new knowledge for organization by designing products/services, analyzing market, organization, etc. (engineers, R+D, various analysts…) Also, people who use intensely professional knowledge in their work Business managers are usually information workers – using reports (information) to make decisions Knowledge Workers

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management6 Knowledge Management: A set of activities developed in an organization to create, gather, store, maintain, share and distribute the firm’s knowledge Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO): Senior executive in charge of knowledge management program – Also called Chief Learning Officer (runs corporate study center), Patent Manager, etc. Knowledge Management

MIS 2000 Information Systems for Management7 Knowledge Management and ISes

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management8 Systems Supporting Knowledge Creation Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) CAD: Engineering (drawing) products CAM: Designing manufacturing tools, processes, programming machines Virtual Reality Interactive software creates simulations of real world objects User learns by “sensing” – training tool

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management9 Capturing Knowledge: Expert System Software that codifies the expertise of humans in specific areas of knowledge in the form of if-then rules Used in account auditing, medical diagnosing, troubleshooting of machinery, Medical underwriting system (Blue Cross Blue Shield), CLUES (Loan underwriting) User Interface Inference Engine Building decision trees out of rules in K-Base; getting user input Knowledge Base If-then rules representing knowledge More...

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management10Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management10 Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) Case-Based Reasoning (CBR): IS that represents knowledge as a database of cases – descriptions of problems with solutions. Think of lawyers’ work! Procedure of using CBR system: User describes problem in keywords System searches case base for similar problems System finds closest fitting case = solution User modifies case with new details and stores it back in case base

Knowledge ManagementMIS 2000 Information Systems for Management11 Sharing Knowledge Suitable for exchange of tacit knowledge, as opposed to other systems Collaboration Systems/Groupware communication (private , chat, blogs) document sharing (file repositories, wikis) group authoring of documents workflow (document routing) spatially distributed groups