Phase Of The Knowledge Management Program example essay topic

Introduction In today's economy, corporations are constantly seeking was to achieve faster decision making, higher levels of product, better service, and process innovation to gain competitive advantage over other corporations. Various information technologies have been adapted in to corporation's business plans in order to optimize competitive advantage. However, with the increase in competition, information technology's applications in business no longer serve as a great advantage. The need for new business strategies arises along with the emergence of the knowledge society (Sty hre, 2003) having information is no longer a source of competitive advantage.

In today's business environment, organizational knowledge is recognized as a significant source of competitive advantage, how quickly organizations determines knowledge and creates value out of it determines its competitiveness. (Shukla) In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of competitive advantage is knowledge. When markets shift, technologies proliferate, competitors multiply, and products become obsolete almost overnight, successful companies are those that consistently create new knowledge, disseminate it widely throughout the organization, and quickly embody it in new technologies and products. -Harvard Business Review (1998) Knowledge management is a business strategy that identifies, organizes and shares information essential to the company so it can be applied to optimize business performance. The content of this paper provides the fundamental concepts to the practice of Knowledge Management and how it should be applied. Explanation of the technology, its application in business, benefits, and the essentials of designing a knowledge management program are introduced and explained in further details.

Knowledge Management: Technology and Trends The practice of knowledge management is often confused with information management. So what is knowledge management? And exactly how should it work? B. Begeron (2003) defines knowledge management as "the ability to selectively capture, archive, and access the best practices of work-related knowledge and decision making from employees and managers for both individual and group behaviors". Knowledge management is still a relatively new practice in business organizations today and since it is a very broad concept; there is no certain definition of how it should be practiced. The concept of recording knowledge first began about 15,000 years ago; it began as writing down selected knowledge of society's rules, regulations, and cumulative knowledge for the government. In Mesopotamia about 5,000 years ago, people began losing track of the thousands of baked-clay tablets used in recording legal contracts, tax assessments, and laws.

Thus, result in the first institution aimed for knowledge management, the library. The library was located in the centre of town and collections of knowledge tablets were organized by knowledge managers. (Bergeron, 2003) Through out the 1900's the concept of knowledge management has also been applied in the military in the form of command and control. (Harvard Business Review, 1998) In a knowledge organization, defined by Bergeron (2003) as "corporations that take a systematic approach to capturing information", knowledge and knowledge workers are treated as the organization's most valuable asset. Therefore, the sharing of knowledge between employees is essential in knowledge management.

But how does an organization make this work? In order for a knowledge management program to be successfully applied, several key factors must be considered: employees, leadership, application of information technology (to be discussed in later section), and most important of all, knowledge. Knowledge workers serve as the basis of information sharing in a knowledge organization, as mentioned before, knowledge workers are treated as one of the company's most valuable asset. Bergeron (2003) define knowledge workers as "employees and managers who contribute significantly to the intellectual capital of the company". To get the most out of its workers, some form of incentive that encourages the sharing of information must be created. This increases internal competition to achieve the overall goals.

An example of this is Buckman Labs USA, a biotech firm that reorganized it self to optimize knowledge sharing. Buckman Labs created a knowledge transfer department to co-ordinate effort; employees best at knowledge sharing gain both financial rewards and management positions. (Sveiby, 2001) The training and education of knowledge workers is also important since it is a way of increasing the value of organization's asset. The loyalty of knowledge workers is also essential to the company, since they are treated as the company's asset, knowledge workers resigning from a company would be a loss to the organization since great amount of resources have been invested in to its workers. The loyalty of knowledge workers are put to the test when competing companies offer greater salaries for comparable work. The key to knowledge worker's loyalty is to build trust among management and workers, workers need to understand the effort and resources the company put in to them.

This idea is stated as follows in Essentials of Knowledge Management. Bergeron (2003) Knowledge workers bring certain competencies to the corporation in exchange for pay, benefits, recognition, a sense of contributing to something greater than themselves, an increased sense of self-worth, the opportunity to work with and learn from others, and, in many knowledge organizations, formal educational opportunities. The responsibility of building the knowledge worker's relationship with the company is left to the management group, which will be discussed in the next section. Leadership plays an important role in knowledge organizations, it is the management group's responsibility to set a business objective and define a knowledge management program that complies with it. Typical responsibilities of management also includes: motivating employees, assigning individual responsibilities, safeguarding information. In order to optimize the performance of knowledge workers, management must set a systematic framework of information sharing among knowledge workers within the organization.

Setting a systematic framework provide employees with clearly defined responsibilities, at the same time, it should define how individuals within the organization can relate to each other. (Shukla, 2002) Honda and other Japanese companies often do this by giving workers information beyond their operational requirements, this assists in the sharing of information responsibly, and innovates creative solutions from unexpected sources. (Sveiby, 2001) Another way to encourage the sharing off information is for the management group to create the right environment. Xerox USA, does this by providing convenient places where workers can get together called the "distributed coffee pot" (Sveiby, 2001) Hewlett- Packard, USA, does this by building offices as open spaces. (Sveiby, 2001) A successful company is one that consistently create new knowledge, share is throughout organization and quickly apply it in new technologies and products.

Therefore it is up to the management group to assure the sharing of knowledge on a daily basis, as a business practice. Most knowledge managers go through special trainings in philosophy, psychology, sociology and business management. Table 1 lists the five main categories of knowledge leadership and their roles in the corporation: Table 1 Position Role Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) Promoting, communicating, and facilitating Knowledge management practices. Usually reports directly to the CEOKnowledge Analyst Lower to mid-level position. Involves learning and advertising the practice of the organization. Knowledge Engineer Lower level position that focuses on collecting information and representing it in organized form.

They are experts in computer technologies and they form the link between knowledge workers and IT. Knowledge Manager Mid level position that coordinates the work of knowledge engineers and analysts. They report to the CKO, CIO, or CEOKnowledge Steward Low level position, have the least experience and primary responsibilities vary within different organization. Knowledge, being the most important asset in a knowledge organization, comes in two aspects: Explicit and Tacit. Tacit knowledge is information in a more personal level, and it is hard to be formalized, thus, difficult to be shared. Shukla (2002) defines tacit knowledge as "Knowledge that is unspoken or implied".

Explicit knowledge is knowledge that has been formally transferred, anything that's documented, explicit knowledge can often be found in written manuals. Since not all information is valuable, it is up to organizations to decide what information can be used as knowledge base assets. (Bergeron, 2003) A knowledge based organization's priority in determining knowledge should be transferring tacit knowledge in to explicit knowledge. (Glasser, 1998) There is no distinct supplier in the field of knowledge management. Organizations usually form their own knowledge management department with leaders experienced in the practice or consult specialized management groups. However, in recent years, automated decision making system, a form of artificial intelligence, has been applied in to knowledge management.

Automated decision making systems are used to make decisions and categorize data (knowledge) under certain rules and guidelines inputted. (Davenport, 2004) Since knowledge management is still a relatively new concept in business organizations today, the question many ask is where is knowledge management going? Under the amount of competition organizations face in today's markets, there is constant need for knowledge to be acquired, codified, and transferred more effectively and with greater speed than competition. With the new information economy characterized by globalization, increased complexity, and rapid change (Shukla, 2002), it is fair to predict that there is great potential growth for this knowledge management. As mentioned before, automated decision making systems are now adapted in to determining knowledge, analysts believe at some point, knowledge workers will be replaced by the system since the costs associated are much lower. (Davenport, 2004) Harvard business review on knowledge management (1998) made a prediction as follows:" Twenty years from now, the typical large business will have half the levels of management and one-third the managers of its counterpart today.

Work will be done by specialists brought together in task forces that cut across traditional departments. Coordination and control will depend largely on employee's wiliness to discipline themselves". Knowledge Management's Application In Business In a knowledge organization, one of the management group's primary responsibility is to design a knowledge management program that complies with their business goals to optimize success of the organization. So how is knowledge management applied in a business organization? Designing a knowledge management program involves eight stages, these eight stages form the knowledge management life cycle: 1.

Knowledge creation or acquisition 2. Knowledge modification 3. Immediate use 4. Archiving 5. Transfer 6.

Translation / re purposing 7. User access 8. Disposal Each phase of the knowledge management life cycle is associated with issues, input data, support mechanisms, and output data. (Begeron, 2003) The differences between the input and output data depends on the process involved in the particular phase of the knowledge management cycle. As illustrated in diagram 1 Diagram 1: (Taken from "essentials of knowledge management" 2003, p. 88) In the creation and acquisition phase of the knowledge management life cycle, information is determined by knowledge workers, acquired through outsourcing, or purchased from and outside source. This phase starts with setting a requirement of the information needed.

The primary issue associated with this phase in the knowledge management life cycle include cost, application of hardware and software technologies, the format and naming of information, quality control, security, and methods of tracking information. After certain information is acquired, they are labeled and stored, for future re purposing. In this phase, ownership of information is established. (Bergeron, 2003) In the modification phase of knowledge management, the information is modified to suit the future needs of knowledge workers and management. This phase also determines the degree of author involvement, responsibility for the sign-off process, and the reversibility of the modification to the information. The modification of the information should be reversible.

After information have been modified, they are to be sign-off by someone with authority to indicate that the information is correct, like the original data. The key support mechanism for this phase includes editing tools, information security, and version control. General information is modified with graphic programs and text editors. Version control is used to track the version of document and is the key to locating the authorized information internally. (Begeron, 2003) In the use phase of the knowledge management life cycle, the information is employed for some useful purpose. The potential use of information depends on the industry and the needs of knowledge workers within organization.

The key issue in this phase include, usability, accessibility, security, and tracking. Information must be in proper form and can be easily accessed by users. The mechanisms used in this phase include feedback, tracking systems, and search technologies. Search technologies allow knowledge workers to go through the large amount of information efficiently and effectively. (Bergeron, 2003) The archiving phase involves storing the information in a form that will survive elements such as fire, floor or other natural disaster and still be accessible in the future. This is often done by storing multiple copies of the information; however, this presents a great risk of the information being hacked.

Due to the potential of intervention of hackers, securing the information is of great concern in this phase. Archiving also involves a filtering process that is used to rate the quality, importance of information and likely need for the information in the future. This phase requires a variety of information technology support mechanisms ranging from database managing systems to expert systems. The setting of a maintenance program also takes place in this phase, often in the form of a librarian to monitor the archiving process. (Bergeron, 2003) The transfer of information from person to person or place is an essential part of the program.

This determines the efficiency of the knowledge management program. The key issues considered in this phase includes, cost, security, and transfer time. Security of the information while being transferred is critical because it is often done through a public network. Transfer time, the time it takes to move information from one point to another in the organization, often defines the usability of the knowledge management system. The shorter the transfer time, the more usable the information. The primary support mechanism in this phase is network, and in some instances, physical transfer.

In the translation / re purposing phase of the knowledge management life cycle, information is translated from its original form in to a more suitable for that fits the purpose of the organization. This translation process often involves the original author to ensure that the context and accuracy of the information is maintained. The purpose of this is also to avoid breaking any moral rights. The support mechanisms used include outsourced expertise and specialized translation hardware. (Bergeron, 2003) The previous phases in the knowledge management life cycle serves as a set up for the access phase, information must be stored and organized properly so they can be easily accessed in this phases. In organizations the access of information in this phase is usually on a need to know basis.

The key support mechanisms in this phase are corporate policies, and the librarian. The librarian, or a manager is needed to prevent any misuse of the information and to ensure corporate policy is enforced. (Bergeron, 2003) The final phase of the knowledge management life cycle is the disposal, often destruction of information. Although information is treated as one of the primary assets in a knowledge organization, it needs to be discarded when its no longer of use to save up space and cost. The method of identifying what information to save and what to destroy should follow corporate policy, as well as governmental rules regarding business records. Security is a key concern in the disposal phase because corporations must ensure that the information can not be recovered by competition.

(Bergeron, 2003) The costs associated with knowledge management programs are usually expressed as cost per quantity of information accessed, manipulated or stored. The value of the data stored reflects both the cost of replacement and resources already invested in acquiring the information. (Myers, 1996) Several of the costs considered in each phase of the knowledge management program are mentioned above. The downsides of knowledge management are the difficulty in applying the practice successfully, the cost and time associated, and the uncertainty of results... Knowledge management, being such a broad concept, often requires trial and error to further improve a company's knowledge management program.

In the phases of this practice, great amount of time and money is put in to acquiring information and maintaining it. Failures can often happen due to unorganized sharing of ideas from knowledge workers, failure in leadership of the management group, and not having enough economic reserve to survive data loss due to unavoidable accidents ranging from human error to hardware failures. The application of knowledge management provides many benefits for business organizations, and they are the key reasons why knowledge management is practiced or consider to be practiced. Knowledge sharing between knowledge workers created innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas, this often leads to creative solutions from unexpected sources. The key to knowledge management is the phase of gathering and building up a knowledge system which can be easily accessed when needed, this in turn, results in faster operations and reduced costs by already eliminating and unnecessary processes. (Santosus, 2001) Another advantage of this is an improvement in customer service by faster response time.

The overall benefits of knowledge management for an organization are often increases in revenue, improvements in efficiency, and higher productivity. Case Study: Insurance Giant, CNA In 1999, under the direction of a new chairman, CNA sets off on a new mission of redirecting its business directions. Their ultimate goal was to "Get off the distribution business and become a great under writing company" as stated by the executive vice president, Karen Foley. (Santosus, 2002) In order to do that, the company needs their workers to gain more understanding of the industry and their customer's needs.

However, CNA's original structure of 35 business units and 175 branch offices made the task seem impossible. CNA knew that they must reeducate their employees with much broader knowledge of all the company's products, and combine their 175 branch offices to enhance relationships between staff members to ultimately increase the sharing of knowledge within the company. CNA did this by collaboration with different departments. CNA reeducated its employees by dispersing in depth knowledge among 15,000 employees.

CNA also built a web-based knowledge network that collects the expertise of its employees. CNA worked with consultants from Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and chose the Ask Me enterprise software from Ask Me corp. in settle. The software was customized to fit CNA's requirements so that whenever an employee have a question about a different industry, he would type the question on the knowledge network and employees in that industry would be informed by email and responded to the question immediately. To further increase efficiency, a knowledge management department was created and a chief information officer was employed. The end results? If a customer wants insurance coverage in one area, all his need would be met through one representative instead of going through different departments and filling out different applications.

(Santosus, 2002) Conclusion Knowledge management, being a relevantly new practice in business organizations, requires a great deal of planning and setting systematic knowledge management program according to the organization's business goals. Several factors must be applied to building a successful knowledge management program: 1. Leadership is essential. 2. Training and reeducating of knowledge workers is the key to increasing the organization's assets 3. Business goal must be set and expectations must be managed.

4. Knowledge management depends on information technology. 5. Knowledge management is a constantly evolving process.

If a knowledge management program is designed and applied accordingly, beneficial results would occur. We can conclude that knowledge management, instead of being applied as a technology based concept, it should be applied as a daily business practice of sharing information among employees and departments in order to properly import knowledge in to use when it is needed.