1. by Rachel Woltering 0554715 & Emmanuella Koranteng 0556462
Knowledge Management
by Rachel Woltering & Emmanuella Koranteng
Hi, my name is Rachel and this is Emmanuella. Today we want to explain to you what is Knowledge management and how it works.

2. What is ?
So what is Knowledge Management?

3. „Knowledge Management is a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organizational performance“
(O'Dell & Grayson, 1998)
It is a process of:
Identifying
Organizing
Sharing
There were so many academic definitions of Knowledge management, but it always depended on the area of the definition, for example education or development, management or law. However, the most reasonable I found and i think its the one that is the easiest to understand is:
Knowledge Management is a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that strive to improve organizational performance.
This is a citation of a book written by Carla O‘dell. She is considered as one of the world leading experts in using Knowledge to drive productivity and competitiveness. And Jackson Grayson, who was the chairman and founder of the American productivity and quality center in Houston.
Knowledge Management consist a process of Identifiying, Organizing and sharing knowledge, that helps organistations to work smarter, and with greater confidence. But I will explain this later more in detail
First emmanuella will tell you more about the history of KM!
only we knew what we know: identification and transfer of 355 internal best practices

4. History of Knowledge Management
In 1990s – KM emerged as a scientific discipline
Was used by Chief Knowledge Officers
KM idea was taken up by academics
Ikujiro Nonaka
Hirotaka Takerchi
Thomas H. Davenport
Baruch Lev

5. Why is it Knowledge Management useful?
To understand:
What the organization knows
Where the knowledge is located
In what form it is stored
How to best transfer the this knowledge
To give you a better understanding on what KM is, I want to make clear for it is actually useful.
KM is especially useful to actually understand what you or your organization knows. So what do you know, what does your colleague or friend know. What is written in the documents etc.
Also it is to understand where it is located. So is it actually in the head of you or your colleague or written down in some documents. Furthermore, In what department can I find specific information? The same for in what form is it stored? on paper, on a computer? And most important and one of the main objectives: How do I transfer the knowledge best? For example is it more reasonable to Set up a relationship between experts and new employees or do I just provide general access to explicit knowledge in some form?
All this questions supposed to be clarified by KM. To further understand the process ,Emmanuella will tell you first more about the types of knowledge.

6. Types of Knowledge
Explicit
Tacit
Embedded

7. Explicit Knowledge Advantages codified knowledge aka “know-what”
formalised
fairly easy to identify, store, retrieve and modify
found in databases, memes, notes, documents, etc.
Disadvantages
considered simpler
no rich experience based know- how
create less competitive advantage
reduced capability for innovation

8. Tacit Knowledge Advantages
non codified (often personal/ experience- based knowledge
aka “know-how”
intuitive, hard to define knowledge
context dependent and personal in nature
hard to communicate
deeply rooted in action, commitment and involvement
found in minds of human stakeholders
Disadvantage
difficult to use in an IT system

9. Embedded Knowledge Advantages either formal or informal
map organisational knowledge areas
tool in reverse engineering of products
supports mechanism for processes and cultures
found in rules, processes, manuals, organisational culture, code of conduct, ethics, products, routines, artefacts, structures, etc.
Disadvantages
managing vary considerably
culture and routines can be both difficult to understand and hard to change
IT role is somewhat limited
Embedded knowledge refers to the knowledge that is locked in processes, products, culture, routines, artifacts, or structures (Horvath 2000, Gamble & Blackwell 2001). Knowledge is embedded either formally, such as through a management initiative to formalize a certain beneficial routine, or informally as the organization uses and applies the other two knowledge types.

10. Knowledge Management Process
Identification
Organization
Sharing
So we already heard what KM is and what types of knowledge we have. But I will explain to you now, how the process of KM works. There are three major steps, that are – Identification, organization and sharing.

11. Identification Discovering the knowledge a firm possesses
Patterns in the information available
Explicit Knowledge -> sorting through documents
Tacit Knowledge -> knowledge surveys, questionnaires, interviews
Embedded Knowledge -> identification of knowledge trapped inside routines, processes
First step: Identification
This process is basically discovering and identifying all the knowledge that a firm possesses
So in terms of explicit knowledge that means, sorting through documents and other records!
When we are talking about tacit knowledge it‘s a way more complex proceedure. To observe the knowledge of somebody the only way is to conduct surveys or questionnaires.
In the case of embedded knowledge it implies an examination or rather identification of the knowledge trapped inside certain routines and processes which has not been made explicit yet.

12. Organization
preparing, sanitizing, and organizing the knowledge to a "knowledge intermediary“
Explicit -> taxonomies to classify and organize knowledge
Tacit -> focus groups, social networks analysis, expertise guides, knowledge coordinators
Embedded -> workflow analysis, performance measure
The next step is the organization of knowledge. This is the process of preparing, sanitizing and organizing the knowledge to a “knowledge intermediary”. Since most of the explicit knowledge within an organization are in forms of electronical documents, the IT department will most likely take care of the organization of the explicit knowledge. They most likely use taxonomies (systems that classifies objects by different criteria) to classify and organize the knowledge.
Organizing tacit knowledge is again more complex. You would need to analys social network or extra knowledge coordinators.
In embedded knowledge it is a procedure of analyzing workflows or performance measurements

13. Sharing Can be described as either push or pull
Push -> “pushed onto” the user e.g. newsletter, trainings
Pull -> worker actively seeks out sources e.g. library search, collaborating with co- workers
Explicit -> document management system
Tacit -> Socialization
Embedded -> Scenario planning, management training
Coming to the I think the most important step and what everyone wants to achieve is to find a good way of sharing the knowledge. The procedure of sharing can be either described as push or pull. Push is when the knowledge is “pushed onto” the user in forms of newsletter or trainee. And pull is when an employee seeks for the knowledge, like going to the library and search for specific books etc. or collaborating with co workers. Sharing explicit knowledge is most likely done by document management software. Like for example zoho docs. Its an online file storage and management software. Sharing tacit knowledge requires obviously socialization. Colleagues need to talk to each other, have meetings etc. In case of embedded knowledge,.. Just to remind you.. It is the knowledge that is locked in products or procedure, so to share this knowledge, it is common to create a set of scenarios what might happen etc. or just management training.
Emmanuella will tell you now some more of organizational knowledge.

14. Organisational Knowledge
Individual
Groups/Community
Structural
Organisational
Extra- organisational
Individual: Personal, often tacit knowledge/know-how of some sort. It can also be explicit, but it must be individual in nature, e.g. a private notebook.
Groups/community: Knowledge held in groups but not shared with the rest of the organization. Companies usually consist of communities (most often informally created) which are linked together by common practice. These communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991) may share common values, language, procedures, know-how, etc. They are a source of learning and a repository for tacit, explicit, and embedded knowledge.
Structural: Embedded knowledge found in processes, culture, etc. This may be understood by many or very few members of the organization. E.g. the knowledge embedded in the routines used by the army may not be known by the soldiers who follow these routines. At times, structural knowledge may be the remnant of past, otherwise long forgotten lessons, where the knowledge of this lesson exists exclusively in the process itself.
Organizational: The definition of organizational knowledge is yet another concept that has very little consensus within literature. Variations include the extent to which the knowledge is spread within the organization, as well as the actual make-up of this knowledge. Hatch (2010) defines it as: "When group knowledge from several subunits or groups is combined and used to create new knowledge, the resulting tacit and explicit knowledge can be called organizational knowledge.“
Extra-organizational: Defined here as: Knowledge resources existing outside the organization which could be used to enhance the performance of the organization. They include explicit elements like publications, as well as tacit elements found in communities of practice that span beyond the organization's borders.

15. The SECI Model and Knowledge Conversion
Introduced by Nonaka and Takeuchi
Socialization: Tacit to tacit. Knowledge is passed on through practice, guidance, imitation, and observation.
Externalization: Tacit to explicit. This is deemed as a particularly difficult and often particularly important conversion mechanism. Tacit knowledge is codified into documents, manuals, etc. so that it can spread more easily through the organization. Since tacit knowledge can be virtually impossible to codify, the extent of this knowledge conversion mechanism is debatable. The use of metaphor is cited as an important externalization mechanism.
Combination: Explicit to explicit. This is the simplest form. Codified knowledge sources (e.g. documents) are combined to create new knowledge.
Internalization: Explicit to tacit. As explicit sources are used and learned, the knowledge is internalized, modifying the user's existing tacit knowledge.

16. Implications of KM Involved across the entire knowledge spectrum
Help knowledge development at all levels
Facilitate and promote its diffusion to individuals, groups and/or across the entire firm
Must manage organisational knowledge storage, retrieval capabilities, create an environment conducive to learning and knowledge sharing
Involved in tapping external sources of knowledge

17. Conclusion KM is dependent on the understanding and management of;
Organisational learning
Organisational memory
Knowledge sharing
Knowledge creation
Organisational culture

18. Any questions?

19. Reference