1. Knowledge, Action, and Context Uwe Riss SAP Research, Karlsruhe

2. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 2 Motivation Why is a Definition of Knowledge Necessary for IT? The concept of knowledge determines the way we deal with knowledge Knowledge as Object can be gathered, stored, distributed Knowledge as Process is embodied in action Agenda Approach: Relate Knowledge to Action Application to Practical Knowledge (Know-How) Context Dependency of Knowledge Transfer to Propositional Knowledge (Know-That) Consequences for Knowledge Management

3. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 3 Theory of Action Pragmatist Approach A concept can only be understood by its use (in actions) Constituents of Action Agent – the subject of the action Goal – what is to be achieved by the agent in the action Execution – the agents activity related to the action Result – the agents perception of the outcome of the action which might be a success or a failure Association of Action and Knowledge Every action depends on specific instances of knowledge However, also knowledge depends on action to become manifest

4. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 4 Practical Knowledge I Ryle: Practical Knowledge = Know-How … can be understood in terms of successful action … … plus warrant (Hawley 2003) Practical Knowledge = Success of Action? Problem: A failure of action is not necessarily an …………..indicator for lacking knowledge Hawleys Solution Restrict the context of action in such a way that adverse circumstances are excluded

5. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 5 Practical Knowledge II Context Restriction Problem: Such a restriction does only fix a finite number of …………. (context) factor; there are still infinite factors that can …………. lead to a failure of action Conclusion: Success of action is a very individual result that ………………depends on an infinite number of (context) factors Processive Knowledge Practical Knowledge is related to individual action describing the agents capability to lead this action to its intended goal in a planned and controlled way.

6. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 6 Practical Knowledge III Concept of Possession of Knowledge In general we assume that agents possess knowledge, i.e. they dispose of it at any time However, this view only expresses the expectation of successful action Dialectics of Knowledge Expectative (moment of) knowledge occurs in our thinking The expectation of action success bases on the experience of successful action Processive (moment of) knowledge manifests itself in individual successful action Individual action success only represents knowledge if it is based on experienced expectation

7. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 7 Context Context Dependency via Action Actions are naturally context dependent Knowledge inherits this dependency via its association to action Context Dependency of Knowledge Processive knowledge is directly context dependent via the associated action Expectative knowledge refers to multiple contexts and therefore it is mainly context independent

8. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 8 Propositional Knowledge I Ryle: Propositional Knowledge = Know-That … can be related to action Subjective Level Consistency: The reasoning about a proposition leads a result that does not contradict other beliefs Intersubjective Level Consensus: The statement of a proposition is accepted by the communication partners Objective Level Correspondence: Practical application that bases on a proposition is successful

9. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 9 Propositional Knowledge II Relation to JTB Definition Knowledge = Justified True Belief Belief is related to expectative knowledge Justification is an action that supports the proposition by a successful result and belongs to the processive knowledge Truth refers to successful action and is therefore related to the processive knowledge... but it is also related to the expectative knowledge due to its claim of generality

10. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 10 Relation to William James James: Truth = Verification / Verifiability James describes a similar transition from truth as state to truth as process Truth as Process is Verification, i.e. it is an action – every successful action that is associated to some knowledge is a verification of it Truth as State corresponds to Verifiability, i.e. the Expectation of Verification

11. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 11 Knowledge Management I Handling Knowledge Objects … is concerned with collecting and distributing… … … … information in repositories … enables people to act successfully in standard … … … contexts However, it is questionable whether this kind of knowledge transfer is very efficient Processing Knowledge Services … is concerned with supporting people in their actions … enables people to act successfully in the current.…(individual) context What does this mean in detail?

12. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 12 Knowledge Management II Knowledge Services Knowledge transfer has to be adapted to the context E.g. offer only those documents to users that they can understand Knowledge transfer has to be interactive E.g. feedback mechanism must ensure whether the transfer is successful or must be altered Knowledge transfer must be complete E.g. if the system cannot offer a sufficient solution the user must be passed on to human expert

13. SAP AG 2004, Knowledge, Action, and Context, Uwe Riss / 13 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. Microsoft®, WINDOWS®, NT®, EXCEL®, Word®, PowerPoint® and SQL Server® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM®, DB2®, DB2 Universal Database, OS/2®, Parallel Sysplex®, MVS/ESA, AIX®, S/390®, AS/400®, OS/390®, OS/400®, iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, zSeries, z/OS, AFP, Intelligent Miner, WebSphere®, Netfinity®, Tivoli®, Informix and Informix® Dynamic ServerTM are trademarks of IBM Corporation in USA and/or other countries. ORACLE® is a registered trademark of ORACLE Corporation. UNIX®, X/Open®, OSF/1®, and Motif® are registered trademarks of the Open Group. Citrix®, the Citrix logo, ICA®, Program Neighborhood®, MetaFrame®, WinFrame®, VideoFrame®, MultiWin® and other Citrix product names referenced herein are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. HTML, DHTML, XML, XHTML are trademarks or registered trademarks of W3C®, World Wide Web Consortium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. JAVA® is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. JAVASCRIPT® is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape. MarketSet and Enterprise Buyer are jointly owned trademarks of SAP AG and Commerce One. SAP, SAP Logo, R/2, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright 2003 SAP AG. All Rights Reserved

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