1. KM Enablers
Knowledge Management Application

2. Enablers of transfer
 Enable?
 to make possible, practical, or easy
 to cause to operate
 Enabler?
 one that enables another to achieve an end;

3. Enablers of Transfer
 Culture
 Technology
 Infrastructure

4. Enablers of transfers
organization
structure, processes, and
people networks to ensure
Infrastructure knowledge flow
Technology
enabling platform upon which Culture
many KM initiatives are built
organizational
norms

5. Class Activity

6.  Culture
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SogtNWp6g7M
 Technology
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jir_x1BXbUw

7. Enablers of Transfer: Culture
 The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that
depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to
succeeding generations
 The customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a
racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic features of
everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in
a place or time <popular culture> <southern culture>
 The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that
characterizes an institution or organization
<a corporate culture focused on the bottom line>
 The set of values, conventions, or social practices associated with a
particular field, activity, or societal characteristic

8. Culture in KM context
 Culture relates to organizational norms
 Culture relates to such knowledge enabling (or inhibiting) factors as
willingness to share, support for learning from
mistakes, encouragement to share knowledge, allowing time for
reflection, and recognition for new knowledge create
 How to get people in an organization to appreciate the value of
knowledge attributes and how to motivate them to put in the effort
required, if any, to generate or extract knowledge attributes and use
technology that exploits knowledge attributes? Reasons for not using
knowledge attributes may be complacency, apathy, lack of
awareness, lack of understanding or proof of their value, or technology
not yet being up to the mark.

9. Culture as an enabler of transfer
 KM begins with self knowledge
 KM deals with people
 The tacit & explicit spiral – SECI model

10. Initiatives to instill KM culture
 Believe people want to share (help colleagues, learn from others)
 Prepare to lead (actions speak louder than words)
 Develop collaborative relationships (CoP- communities of
practice, project teams)
 To reward or not to reward (a ‘standardized’ reward system)

11. Culture: Case Study
 Organizational culture should encourage and foster information and
knowledge sharing as an activity that is part of the job rather than a form of
idle socialization.
 This requires more than simply incorporating knowledge sharing in the
organizational culture.
 It requires a shift in perceiving knowledge sharing as a professional, rather
than a social, activity.
 A striking example is British Petroleum (BP), showing how the first attempts at
KM failed, despite leadership's stress on the value of knowledge sharing. It
was not until BP made it part of the job to move personnel to other
divisions and departments, where they are encouraged to share their
knowledge, that KM succeeded.
 Incorporating knowledge sharing in the job design resulted in employees
changing their behavior, gradually changing the culture to one in which
knowledge sharing became one of the most admired professional skills.

12. Enablers of Transfer: Technology
 Technology relates to the enabling platform upon which many KM
initiatives are built.
 Technology extending the reach and enhancing the speed of
knowledge transfer
 Right information to the right people at the right time
 An excessive focus on technology [as] the most common pitfall in
knowledge management
 Although IT is a wonderful facilitator of data and information
transmission and distribution, it can never substitute for the rich
interactivity, communication, and learning that is inherent in dialogue.
 Knowledge is primarily a function and consequence of the meeting and
interaction of minds. Human intervention remains the only source of
knowledge generation" (p. 273).

13. Guidelines to implement technology
 Understand the business purpose
 Determine whether the current technology can be adapted
 Identify internal support requirements for maintenance of the system
 Organize your content
 Design for ease of use
 Consider initial costs

14. Commonly Used Technologies
 Databases & Knowledge-base
 Document Management
 Intranets
 Groupware & Collaborative Tools
 Search Navigation Tools
 Decision Support and AI
 Internet & Web
 Multimedia

15. Enablers of Transfer: Infrastructure
Definition of infrastructure
 The underlying foundation or basic framework (as of a system or
organization)
 The system of public works of a country, state, or region; also : the
resources (as personnel, buildings, or equipment) required for an
activity

16. Infrastructure in KM context
 Infrastructure includes organization
structure, technology, processes, and people networks to ensure
knowledge flow
Approaches:
 Self Directed
[storage, codification, repository, database, retrieval, yellow
pages, intranets, internet]
 Knowledge services and networks [information services, help
desk, networks, communities of practice, knowledge managers]
 Facilitated transfer [facilitators, implementers, technical
assistance, consultants]

17. Measurement
How do we measure ‘knowledge’ or ‘best practices sharing’?
Measure by :
 Observing its impact on other forces e.g. competition and
innovation
 Employee morale productivity
 Product excellence

18. Measurement
 Measuring Through Outcomes
 business objectives
 business needs
 business process
 Measuring Through Activities
 how frequently users are accessing
 Actual Costs and Returns
 Costs associated with developing support systems (people &
technology)
 Support costs

19. The importance of measurement
 Design future systems and applications
 Improve the current sharing processes
 Ensure the transfer effort stays on track