Knowledge Management: An Art with Tools

Overview

Knowledge management (KM) has been evolving as one of the prominent management concepts in recent years. Business and multilateral organizations are developing its processes, tools and techniques. It was born of the need to achieve better productivity and effectiveness from the intangible assets or intellectual capital of the organizations. Governments are also moving ahead to manage knowledge as a part of the development of public administration and an initiative to improve governance. Managing knowledge is not a new idea to an organization or a government. But the concept of KM as it is evolving focuses on the reinforcement of the established tools from the perspective of improving the management of knowledge resources (creating, storing, sharing, and transferring) within an organization and outside world. Efficient and effective management of knowledge is critical to secure benefits from the knowledge resources (data, information and knowledge) developed and obtained over a period of time.

Concept

Knowledge is psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning. This knowledge is viewed as Object and Process relying on concepts from information theories and philosophy, sociology and psychology respectively. To build a knowledge systems knowledge is viewed as object; and, to build individual skills, behavior in mankind knowledge is process.

Knowledge is classified Explicit and Tacit. Explicit knowledge lies in textbooks, workbooks, and databases and has a specific language to transmit among the individuals. Tacit knowledge lies in the heads of individuals and do not have a specific language. This knowledge is transmitted through communication, word of mouth, models etc. Tacit knowledge is to be seen in two dimensions: Technical dimension and Cognitive dimension.

1. The technical dimension is the basic understanding about the subject and its scientific principles are present. People find difficulty in joining the technical and scientific principles.
2. The cognitive dimension where there is strong belief in their values, morals, thinking and ideas. These figures out the mentality of the employees present in the organization as well the people around us. People see the world in the cognitive dimension.

The knowledge that lies in the individuals of organization benefits the organization when it is properly shared and managed. To get benefited organizations started using knowledge management system.

Adaption & Implementation

For implementation of KM in reality, to achieve a basic entry-level KM program, four pillars are to be addressed and is must. They are leadership, organization, technology and learning.

Leadership: For organization to have a position in today’s dynamic world, a leader who can provide strong and dedicated leadership is required, for a successful KM system that is in alignment with the business tactics to drive the value of KM throughout the enterprise.

Organization: Operational processes must align with KM framework and strategy. Operational needs dictate organizational alignment. A KM framework should be designed to fit into the organization. An organizational change is required for introducing KM in to the organization. KM acts, as catalyst to bring the change and KM must be integrated into business processes.

Technology: Every enterprise need to clearly define their KM strategy, scope and requirements and technology required to meet the needs. Technology provides all infrastructures to support KM in an enterprise. Cultural, organizational changes are to achieve KM strategy. Lack of tools, technology and infrastructure can lead to failure of the same. Proper assessing and usage of IT capabilities in alignment with organizational requirements is essential.

Learning: People are responsible to achieve a better KM strategy planned by leaders and attainment of organizational changes. People are the one who use the tools and technology in performing the operations. Organizational learning plays a role to achieve peoples concentration towards KM. Learning can be described as the acquisition of knowledge or skill through study, experience or instruction. Organizational learning must be addressed with approaches such as increasing internal communications, creating a learning community etc. enterprises must understand that people communicate through learning and sharing knowledge in building ideas. Managers must recognize that knowledge resides in people and knowledge creation lies in process of social interaction and learning. Learning is to be embedded in the organizations business processes, as there is no special department in KM or KM process.

A fundamental architecture to implement and initiate KM is to be designed through which KM achieves permanent performance, innovations and improvements. The four pillars provide the necessary architecture.

Industry Relevance

Many organizations do not know what they know. A knowledge management system works in these organizations, and, enables it in analyzing two important questions:

• What are our knowledge assets?
• How should we manage those assets to ensure a maximum return on them?

There is no right or wrong answers to these questions. Solutions will depend upon several factors such as the type of organization, its culture and its needs. Nevertheless, effective management of knowledge focuses on solutions that encompass the entire system: organization, people and technology.

Computers and communications systems are good at capturing; transforming and distributing highly structured knowledge that changes rapidly. Some companies are using analysis, planning and computer supported work systems to radically improve decision making, resource allocation, management systems, access, and promulgate process know-how and overall performance as a way to develop core strategic competencies.

An internal web site Intranet in an organization for KM an easy to use information resource for the staff is internal web site- Intranet that provides gateway to databases, documents, and internal web content and external web sites.

To know the content that is to be filled up in creation of Intranet for an organization; a list of type of contents is given:

• News
• Policies
• Articles
• FAQs
• Internet
• People
• Community

Formats for each of these are to be analyzed.

Taking peoples internet navigational experience two options are to be focused: a) A navigation bar based upon the taxonomy b) A navigation bar based on the item type. In a KM intranet system, people should have freedom in sharing their experiences, a Favorites area for book marking and an area for discussion. Prior to publication new content contributions are to be approved.

Next is how to facilitate knowledge retrieval? The answer comes as Searching for Knowledge and Seeking Knowledge facilitates knowledge retrieval.

Searching for Knowledge: A number of fields are to be provided to search and gain the knowledge. Business sector, company name, relationship, contact, category, sub category, product name, type, matter are the general fields in which information is to be provided. Each item should have unique description. A third party search engine technology should be incorporated to complement the content text search.

Seeking Knowledge: There may be insufficient knowledge to solve a problem, to reach a decision, or to create a solution. Experiences of the employees and interaction between them, sharing the knowledge can be provided through intranet that solves the problem. Through offline or electronic meetings colleagues can communicate with each other and it allows knowing the solution, reference materials and a gain of knowledge for rest of the employees.

It is understood that Intranet is the best tool in having a knowledge management system in any type of an organization.

Best KM Process 

Collective and systematic KM processes can make a very big difference in Organizational development, performance, effectiveness, profitability and growth. Whereas a task or a project may be a onetime event, with a clear beginning and end, we know that a process is a continuously occurring set of defined tasks. So, in KM circles, we realized that the steps in creating, sharing and applying knowledge could be built into a systematic, and even collective, process. This process we call the KM process, or knowledge process. It can then be embedded into the existing work processes and practices of the organization at all levels. The result will be even more effective creation, transfer and application of knowledge and even better management of the key knowledge assets. The 5 Step in KM Process is:

1. Identify

2. Create

3. Store

4. Share

5. Apply

Embedding the 5 steps contained within the KM process into the organization, at all levels, personal, team, organization and even inter-organization, will dramatically improve the organizations productivity, quality, profitability and growth.

The basic KM process can be considered to have, at least, 5 steps. Briefly, they are:

1. Identify – this step means identify the knowledge that is important for you to capture and/ or develop
2. Create – this step means perform the best practices, processes and use the best tools for creating new knowledge
3. Store – this step means use the best tools and environments to effectively store the knowledge
4. Share – this step means using the best practices, processes, tools and techniques to transfer and amplify the knowledge
5. Apply – this step means the best ways to access the knowledge and use it effectively, in order to achieve the results you are seeking.  

Important Factors for KM Success

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) in KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• A CKO is to influence and provide incentives to deliver value to the organization by using the existing and unexploited explicit and tacit knowledge of the individual.
• Six major competency areas that CKO’s are to possess are: Communications, Leadership and management, Personal knowledge and cognitive capability, Personal behavior, Tools and technologies, strategic thinking.
• CKO personal attributes: passion, patience, persistence, sensitivity, organizational savvy, smart, wise, life long learner, thick skinned, integrator, depth and breadth of knowledge.

Rewards and Recognition system:

Recognition is visible and is at any level. Reward reflects exemplary contribution or performance. In spite of different approaches to rewards and recognitions, the goal is to reinforce desired behavior with desirable rewards. A standardized reward system may help institutionalize the practice into the common culture. There are two options to address the recognition and reward issues raised in the assessment as barriers in knowledge sharing.

Developing guidelines and suggestions for all groups encouraging knowledge sharing by HR, KM of some business or creating their own approach related to their own group. The variation to be maintained has to be addressed with examples of the other recognition and reward system present throughout the organization (for the group, creating their own system). Two different approaches for overall Knowledge sharing are a) Host visible knowledge sharing events. b) Embed sharing knowledge in to routine work process. 

Reward and Recognition are a way to acknowledge the value of sharing knowledge. A knowledge sharing culture enhances organizations success and also beneficial to all the employees - Personally and Professionally.

Don’t let your best people leave - The best option for not losing knowledge. To achieve this, offer increment in pay, providing alternative career paths, transitioning them with new challenges while retaining the employees and their knowledge within the organization, job rotation and to be in touch with the employees and what they feel about their position in the organization are some of the best ways.

Mentoring and coaching - For big organizations where in the number of employees reaching retirement age is high, this is a good practice to gain knowledge from the senior people. New and inexperienced employee to the organization when matches with Senior and experienced personnel the tacit knowledge can be passed on effectively.

Sharing best practices - Best practices are suggestions for an organization; they vary from one org to another. But the ability to use proven and tested knowledge of other organizations shall help in making decisions and improvements with greater speed and reliability. The goal is to begin sharing what works out to new ideas and to benefit from success of others. Sharing can be formal or informal.

Sharing lessons learned -This is best practice that allows sharing of experiential knowledge of the employees. These are just opinions on cause and effect, and not proven like best practices. These are shared in large group and successes and failures are put forth formally or informally.

Documentation- Documenting the thoughts and ideas is the most tedious way of reducing the knowledge loss as remembering our own thoughts is difficult and attempting to uncover someone else is the same. Due to deadlines and time constraints, making note of the decisions taken is bit difficult. But it helps in retaining the knowledge of decision maker. A content management center can be used by the organization with content managers to update the documents and review them frequently with multiple authors and see that it is accurate and available up to date.

Organizations are dynamic so solutions aren’t to be static. Before selecting an approach, find the exact problem, understand the problem and select the approach. Continuous monitoring about the strategy that’s been applied is must.

Knowledge management systems work best when the people who generate the knowledge, are the same people who store it, explain it to others, and coach them as they try to implement it. The people who are implementing what is known, not those who understand information technology, must manage these systems. Learning plays a role and knowledge gains the importance giving a path for Knowledge workers that helps in uplifting the organization and achieving the goals.

Case Study

Knowledge Management at TATA STEEL 

Mining Value From Managing Knowledge 

Tata Steel has cut costs and wired 8,000 employees to share knowledge that will benefit the organization. Now it wants to hook the entire 40,000 employees into this program. 

Sample this: Like all major steel makers, Tata Steel faced a difficulty in getting rid of the boulders ('burden' in mining parlance) that invariably crops up while extracting coal from the mines. Disposing these burden continued to be an expensive proposition for the company until Tata Steel's engineering department suggested that they be used for constructing drain walls, for instance. The suggestion was lapped up immediately and implemented right away. 

Tata Steel claims that inter-department knowledge sharing initiatives like this one has helped the company save Rs 10 lakh during 2003-04. 

As the company strives to take its Knowledge Management initiative forward, there is one problem facing it: how to bring the involvement of the entire 40,000-odd Tata Steel employees into this fold? Says Ravi Arora, head of Knowledge Management at Tata Steel, "So far, we have been able to connect about 8,000 employees under this Knowledge Management program. The biggest challenge facing us now is to connect the shop-floor level workers who have a problem interacting in the English language." 

Knowledge Management was initiated at Tata Steel way back in July 1999 with an objective to shift the basis of growth from natural resources and physical assets to intellectual capital, which has become a source of innovation, growth and value today. Knowledge Management was brought under the more ambitious change management initiative called ASPirational Initiatives to Retain Excellence, or ASPIRE, across Tata organizations in 2,000. But now, it is increasingly gaining critical mass. 

While the Tatas are also on the lookout for a vernacular computer interface to connect the employees and thereby broad base the initiative, efforts are also on to interconnect other Tata Group companies with Tata Steel. 

According to Arora, Tata Steel has saved Rs 30 crore from knowledge sharing initiatives in 2003-04, up from Rs 14.80 crore during 2002-03. 

New Task

While knowledge sharing has so far paid rich dividends within the company, Tata Steel is pushing for a bigger bottom-line savings during the current fiscal. As a first step, Tata Steel will connect its subsidiaries. 

Tata Steel is planning to connect about 20,000 group employees within a year by extending the initiative to other group companies. Currently, the Tata Group has about 2,10,000 employees on its rolls. The Knowledge Management framework at Tata Steel rests on a Knowledge Repository which was created as per guidelines laid down by consuting firm McKinsey. The repository was built up initially with voluntary contributions from officers working in various departments who shared their work experiences which included best practices, learning from failures, improved and new practices adopted, customer and supplier knowledge etc. 

Sharing Knowledge

The Knowledge Repository was followed by creating Knowledge Communities which are actually groups of like-minded people who come together to share what they know and learn from one another. "There are 29 such communities that are in existence today. They exchange e-mails giving valuable information that can be adopted by others," says Mr Arora. 

He also adds that writing mails did not come easily to many employees, therefore, the company waited for two years to acclimatize them with writing before making it a mandatory practice. 

"For example, the Tata Steel maintenance department may have discovered a particular brand of grease that reduces the wearout of rotating equipment significantly. A maintenance knowledge community may recommend the use of this grease to their counterpart in Tata Tinplate," explains Arora. 

Another significant development of the Knowledge Management initiative has been the formation of a "Ask Expert" system. Under this system, any employee facing a particular job related problem may seek advice from experts who are available online. Currently, there are about 250 such experts at Tata Steel who provide expert assistance to the employees. 

However, Tata Steel's claim of knowledge sharing paying rich dividends has been discounted by other steel makers. "Many of their practices are common and has been in existence for years in other organizations," says a spokesperson of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), the country's largest steel maker.