B418 Lecture 9

1. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.1
Analysis 1: Evidence and the Nature of
Knowledge in the Digital Age
Topic: Mobilising Knowledge
Topic Number: 9

2. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.2
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To explain the nature of organisational culture
• To describe different typologies of organisational
culture and their roles in knowledge conversion and
creation processes
• To discuss the nature of communities of practice and
the importance of storytelling

3. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.3
DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE
• The culture metaphor points towards another means of
creating organised activity: by influencing the language,
norms, folklore, ceremonies, and other social practices that
communicate the key ideologies, values, and beliefs guiding
action (Morgan, 1986)
• Culture is ‘how things are done around here’. It is what is
typical of the organization, the habits, the prevailing
attitudes, the grown-up pattern of accepted and expected
behaviour (Drennan, 1992)
• Culture is the commonly held and relatively stable beliefs,
attitudes and values that exist with the organization
(Williams et al., 1993)

4. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.4
SURFACE MANIFESTATIONS OF CULTURE
Figure 9.2 Surface manifestations of organisational culture

5. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.5
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
• Artefacts: corporate logos, mission statements,
building architecture etc.
• Language: jokes, metaphors, stories, myths and
legends
• Behaviour patterns in the form of rites, rituals,
ceremonies and celebrations
• Norms of behaviour
• Symbols and symbolic actions

6. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.6
CONTENTS OF CULTURE (CONTINUED)
• Heroes
• Beliefs, values and attitudes: E.g. Adaptability,
autonomy, co-operation, creativity, equality, honesty,
rationality etc.
• Basic assumptions – taken for granted solution
to a problem
• History – founders of the organization as shapers of
the culture

7. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.7
TYPOLOGIES OF CULTURE?
• Power culture (web)
• Role culture – bureaucracy (Greek Temple)
• Task culture (lattice)
• Person culture (cluster)
• Strong or weak depending on strength of consensus
and intensity of culture
• Sub-cultures

8. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.8
HANDY’S TYPOLOGY OF CULTURE
Figure 9.3 Handy’s typology of culture (Handy 1985)

9. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.9
CONCEPT OF Ba
(Nonaka & Konno, 1998)
• To enhance knowledge creation
• Originating Ba – individuals share feelings, emotions
and experiences (socialization)
• Interacting Ba – selecting people with right mix of
knowledge and capabilities (externalization)
• Cyber Ba – virtual space of interaction supported by ICT
(combination)
• Exercising Ba – focused training with mentors and
colleagues (internalization)

10. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.10
KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND CULTURE
Figure 9.8 The zone of knowledge creation and the dialectic between cooperation
and competitive cultures

11. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.11
KM & CULTURE?
• Culture greatly influences how an organization
handles knowledge
• Can be functional to reduce need for rules and
regulation etc.
• Can be dysfunctional – closed off, avoidance of new
ideas etc.

12. Slide 9.12
WILLINGNESS TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE (Von
Krough, 1998)
• Concept of ‘care’ influences knowledge creation
• Mutual trust
• Active empathy
• Access to help – directly
• Lenience in judgement, i.e. criticisms
• Courage – voice opinions and give feedback
• Sharing to help people grow
Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011

13. Slide 9.13
INSTRUMENTS TO MAKE ‘CARE’ WIDESPREAD
(Von Krough, 1998)
• Incentive system rewarding cooperation or behaviour
that shows care
• Mentoring programs
• Knowledge sharing and caring behaviour as part of
employee assessments and career management
• Explicitly state values of trust, openness and courage
• Training programs in care behaviour
• Project debriefings
• Social events and meetings
Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011

14. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.14
SHARING KNOWLEDGE THROUGH GROUPS?
• Semi-autonomous groups
• Multiple overlapping groups
• Committees
• Quality circles
• Learning laboratories
• Learning networks
• Technology groups
• Best practice teams

15. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.15
COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
• Coined by Lave & Wenger (1991) exploring
relationships between masters and apprentices
• Set of relations among persons, activity, world and
other communities over time
• Do not appear on organization charts (Brown &
Duguid, 2000)

16. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.16
COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE (CONTINUED)
• Open ended without deadlines nor deliverables
• Informal and self-selecting
• Knowledge sharing facilitated by norms of reciprocity
• Storytelling is more important way of communicating
knowledge than codifying it in an ICT system

17. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.17
CULTIVATING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE
(Wenger, 2000)
• Events
• Leadership – ‘community coordinator’
• Connectivity – between different groups
• Membership – critical mass
• Learning projects
• Artefacts – documents, tools, stories, websites etc.

18. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.18
STORYTELLING
Figure 9.9 The ontology of storytelling

19. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.19
Reading and preparatory work to be done
Read:
• Jashapara, A. (2011) “ Knowledge Management:
An Integrated Approach” Pearson Education,
Chapter 9
Work to be done before the seminar:
• Carry out all the reading above
• Answer the questions on the handout
• Bring your work to the seminar
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20. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.20
Essential work for next week
• Please consult the OLE for details of:
– Essential readings*
– Seminar/workshop preparation work*
– Recommended further readings
– Any additional learning
* Essential readings and preparation work must always be completed in time
for the next session
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21. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.21
End of presentation
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