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A process view of knowledge management: it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it

A process view of knowledge management: it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it. 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de Famalicão Famalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010. Professor John S. Edwards. Overview.

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A process view of knowledge management: it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it

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  1. A process view of knowledge management:it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it 11th European Conference on Knowledge Management Universidade Lusíada de Vila Nova de FamalicãoFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010 Professor John S. Edwards

  2. Overview • Many organisations still find knowledge management a bit of a struggle • Need to think (more) about process • What process thinking means • Where we (you?) might go from here 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  3. KM is like learning to drive • There’s a big difference between: • Doing the theory test • Sitting in the front passenger seat while someone else drives • Actually driving the car yourself

  4. “Driving” KM • General awareness is one thing… • …understanding is quite another • A commonly heard cry is that “we know about knowledge management as a concept, but how do we do it?”

  5. Doing KM isn’t easy • Over the past ten years or so, our research teams at Aston have seen: • Organisations where KM has been successful • Organisations where an ongoing KM initiative has had little or no impact • Organisations where KM has gone well for a time and then stopped •  Organisations where KM can’t get started

  6. “The Problem” • Managers seem to be happy about the basic principles of KM in isolation • But they have trouble in applying the ideas to their own organisation • Workforce may also have difficulty in doing what the KM recommendations suggest that they should

  7. Why is it difficult? • Not really much disagreement about “good KM”, at least in general terms • The fatal mistake is to treat KM as if it were a game of chess, where thinking of a move is the same as doing it… • …rather than a game of tennis, where doing it is what makes it difficult!

  8. Need to think process! 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  9. What do processes do? • They flow • They do things for people • They cut across organisational boundaries • They make you think about the demand for knowledge, not just the supply of it 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  10. People, processes and technology Directories, Communities of Practice New ways to work, build in what you want to achieve Repositories, Knowledge-based Systems

  11. KM History so far • Some say there have been two generations: • First generation KM – emphasis on Technology • Second generation KM – emphasis on People • …perhaps it’s time for more emphasis on Process? • Others, like Mouritsen and Larsen (2005) that there have been two waves: • The first, knowledge in individuals • The second, knowledge as intellectual capital • The second includes much more focus on process 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  12. What do we need to be able to do to processes? • Identify processes • Design/plan processes • Implement processes • Facilitate processes • Monitor processes • Analyse processes • Mend processes • Retire processes 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  13. Identify Analyse Design Monitor Facilitate Mend Retire Implement Or, as a diagram 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  14. Changing a Process can be especially risky…Let’s watch some videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUvagsM176o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msXKYgTCDec 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  15. Knowledge management (KM) and risk management (RM) • Risk management has increased priority/visibility at present • Global financial crisis • Natural disasters (global warming, pandemics) • Increased fear of terrorism • Recently we have been working on KM and RM, two sectors we have been researching being financial services (Eduardo Rodriguez) and health care (Athina Anthropopoulou)

  16. Biggest similarity – silo mentality • In hospitals, risk communication has to go up the silos and “over the top” • They say they cannot cut across at lower levels as no-one has the boundary spanning knowledge • In financial services, it seems different departments simply do not talk to each other, although it seems likely that they could understand one another • Middle managers in both cases focus “down” more than “up”

  17. Processes cut across silos • Despite what they say, especially in hospitals, those involved in “adjacent” or connecting activities within a process must be able to share knowledge • This doesn’t mean they have to have completely the same knowledge • It does mean they must have enough common knowledge to communicate where their responsibilities overlap • This requires that someone must oversee this communication (may be management, leadership or just facilitation) • May be a need for better ba 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  18. Another non-process failure • A manufacturing company who thought that better IT support was the answer to a lack of knowledge sharing, but only the IT people wanted to share knowledge in this way 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  19. Process successes • Bou and Sauquet (2004) – documenting the process of helping the unemployed to find a job; a proper process view with an awareness of knowledge led to very different documentation • Spies et al (2005) – implementing an intelligent search engine in Allianz required close attention to what the searchers did with it, and this was different between different departments • Apostolou et al (2007) – implementing a system in a management consultancy using what they called a “KM-enabled business process” • Barcelo-Venezuela et al (2008) – stress the importance of core processes; what the business – a university in their case – actually does 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  20. And one of my own… • Public transport timetabling information – they thought they needed a “knowledge base” – a codified system • But a study from a process viewpoint revealed that codification would be solving the wrong problem • The major knowledge sharing issues were only about new staff • So the best approach to take was one of improving the induction process 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  21. Key themes to watch for • Breaking the silos • Leadership and roles • Someone has to have the overview as a process • How does this relate to knowledge champions or CKOs, CIOs? • Learning – must be in the context of the activities that the task involves • Managing risk/uncertainty 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

  22. Do…and Don’t… Do: • Lead from the top • Make sure to cut across boundaries • Think in terms of an ongoing KM activity, not a “project” that is done and finished Don’t: • Go against the organization’s culture • Expect people (or systems) to change overnight • Ignore the exceptions to the process

  23. References • Apostolou D, Abecker A and Mentzas G (2007) Harmonising codification and socialisation in knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 5(4), 271-285. • Barcelo-Valenzuela M, Sanchez-Schmitz G, Perez-Soltero A, Martín Rubio F and Palma J (2008) Defining the problem: key element for the success of knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 6(4), 322-333. • Bou E and Sauquet A (2004) Reflecting on quality practices through knowledge management theory: uncovering grey zones and new possibilities of process manuals, flowcharts and procedures. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 2(1), 35-47. • Maier R and Remus U (2003) Implementing process-oriented knowledge management strategies. Journal of Knowledge Management 7(4), 62-74. • Mouritsen J and Larsen HT (2005) The 2nd wave of knowledge management: The management control of knowledge resources through intellectual capital information. Management Accounting Research 16(3), 371-394. • Spies M, Clayton AJ and Noormohammadian M (2005) Knowledge management in a decentralized global financial services provider: a case study with Allianz Group. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 3(1), 24-36. 11th European Conference on Knowledge ManagementFamalicão, Portugal, 2-3 September 2010

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