ppt on knowledge managment

1. CAPTURING TACIT
KNOWLEDGE

2. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
What Is Knowledge Capture ?
 A process by which the expert’s thoughts and
experiences are captured
 Transfer of problem-solving expertise from some
knowledge source to a repository or a program
 Includes capturing knowledge from other sources
such as books, technical manuscripts, etc.
 A knowledge developer collaborates with an
expert to convert expertise into a coded program
 Knowing how experts know what they know
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3. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Improving the Knowledge
Capture Process
 Knowledge developers should focus on how
experts approach a problem
 Look beyond the facts or the heuristics
 Re-evaluate how well knowledge developers
understand the problem domain and how
accurately they are modeling it
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4. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Knowledge Capture Steps
 Using an appropriate tool to elicit the information from the expert.
Extensive interview with the expert usually accomplishes this step.
 Interpreting the verbal information and inferring the expert’s
underlying knowledge and reasoning process.
 the knowledge developer decides where the information gathered fits into
the development process of the knowledge-based system.
 Throughout the interviewing process, the knowledge developer gathers
information on the expert’s rationale for arriving at a decision.
 It is important that the knowledge developer thoroughly questions the
expert on all angles of the problem domain.
 Taking the results from step two and using it to build the rules that
represent the expert’s thought process or solutions.
 This step may require several checks to ensure the resulting system meets
the needs of the user and has captured “the expert” as closely as possible.
 Flowcharts, flow diagrams, decision trees, decision tables, and other
graphic representation can be used to depict the rules for the expert’s
solution.
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5. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Indicators of Expertise
 Peers regard expert’s decisions good decisions
 Every time there is a problem, the expert is
consulted
 Expert sticks to the facts and works with a focus
 Expert has a knack for explaining things
 Expert exhibits an exceptional quality in
explanations
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6. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Expert’s Qualifications
 Knows when to follow hunches
 Sees big picture
 Possesses good communication skills
 Tolerates stress
 Thinks creatively
 Exhibits self-confidence
 Maintains credibility
 Operates within a schema-driven orientation
 Uses chunked knowledge
 Generates motivation and enthusiasm
 Shares expertise willingly
 Emulates a good teacher’s habits
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7. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Level of Expertise
 Highly expert persons generally give concise explanations
and assume the knowledge developer has enough
knowledge about the problem. This means focusing on the
key steps, often skipping vital detailed information.
 Moderately expert problem solvers may be more attentive
in their explanations, yet they tend to provide detailed
explanations. They are quicker to give answers than the
highly expert person and more often adapt their description
to the level of the knowledge developer.
 New experts are more likely to offer answers that are brief
and fragmented, which suggests shallow knowledge of the
domain.
 The knowledge developer must adapt the questions to the
level of the expert and understand that the types of
questions asked of the expert will be different for each
expert type. 7

8. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Pros and Cons of Using a Single
Expert
Advantages:
 Ideal when building a simple KM system
 A problem in a restricted domain
 Facilitates the logistics aspect of coordinating
arrangements for knowledge capture
 Problem-related or personal conflicts are easier to
resolve
 Shares more confidentiality with project-related
information than does multiple expert
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9. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Pros and Cons of Using a Single
Expert (cont’d)
Drawbacks:
 The expert’s knowledge is not easy to capture
 Single experts provide a single line of reasoning,
which makes it difficult to evoke in-depth
discussion of the domain
 Single experts more likely to change scheduled
meetings than experts who are part of a team
 Expert knowledge is sometimes dispersed
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10. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Pros and Cons of Using Multiple
Experts
Advantages
 Complex problem domains benefit from the
expertise of more than one expert
 Working with multiple experts stimulates
interaction
 Listening to a variety of views allows knowledge
developer to consider alternative ways of
representing knowledge
 Formal meetings frequently a better environment
for generating thoughtful contributions
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11. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Pros and Cons of Using Multiple
Experts (cont’d)
Drawbacks:
 Scheduling difficulties
 Disagreements frequently occur among experts
 Confidentiality issues
 Requires more than one knowledge developer
 Process loss in determining a solution
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12. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Developing a Relationship With
Experts
 Create the right impression
 Do not underestimate the expert’s experience
 Understanding the experts style
 Procedure type—methodical approach to the solution
 Storyteller—focuses on the content of the domain at the
expense of the solution
 Godfather—compulsion to take over the session
 Salesperson—spends most of the time explaining his or
her solution is the best
 Prepare well for the session
 Decide where to hold the session
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13. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Approaching Multiple Experts
 Individual approach—holding a session with one
expert at a time
 Primary and secondary experts—start with the
senior expert first, on down to others in the
hierarchy. Alternatively, start bottom up for
verification and authentication of knowledge
gathered
 Small groups approach—experts gathered in one
place to provide a pool of information. Each
expert tested against expertise of others in the
group
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14. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Analogies and Uncertainties In
Information
 Experts use analogies to explain events
 An expert’s knowledge is the ability to take
uncertain information and use a plausible line of
reasoning to clarify the fuzzy details
 Understanding experience. Knowledge in
cognitive psychology is helpful background
 Language problem. Reliable knowledge capture
requires understanding and interpreting expert’s
verbal description of information, heuristics, and
so on
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15. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
The Interview As a Tool
 Commonly used in the early stages of tacit
knowledge capture
 The voluntary nature of the interview is important
 Major benefit is behavioral analysis
 Interviewing as a tool requires training and
preparation
 Great tool for eliciting information about complex
subjects
 Convenient tool for evaluating the validity of
information acquired
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16. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Types of Interviews
 Structured: Questions and responses are
definitive. Used when specific information is
sought
 Multiple-choice questions offer specific choices, faster tabulation,
and less bias by the way answers are ordered
 Dichotomous (yes/no) questions are a special type of multiple-
choice question
 Ranking scale questions ask expert to arrange items in a list in
order of their important or preference
 Semistructured: Predefined questions are asked
but allow expert some freedom in expressing the
answers
 Unstructured: Neither the questions nor their
responses specified in advance. Used when
exploring an issue 16

17. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Guide to a Successful Interview
 Set the stage and establish rapport
 Properly phrase the questions
 Question construction is important
 Listen closely and avoid arguments
 Evaluate session outcomes
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18. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Set the stage and establish rapport
 Knowledge Expert Style:
 Friendly
 Timid
 Resident
 Knowledge Developer Guiding Factors
 Honesty
 Confidentiality
 Modesty
 Efficiency
 Professionalism
 Respect
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19. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Question Phrasing and Question
Sequencing
 Proper question phrasing ensures validity of
the question. It should be worded correctly
and clearly and should be asked in the same
order (question sequence) as it appears on
the interview question.
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20. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Question construction :Primary and
Secondary Question
 A primary question is a question that elicits
the most important information in one area
during the interview. This, in turn,
normally paves the way for secondary
questions to obtain pertinent details.
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21. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Question construction :Open-ended
and Closed Questions
 Open-ended questions ask for general
rather than specific responses.
 Question sequencing determines
whether the interview begins with
general, open-ended questions
followed by secondary questions
(closed-questions) or vice versa.
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22. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Things to Avoid
 Taping a session without advance permission from
the expert
 Converting the interview into an interrogation
 Interrupting the expert
 Asking questions that put the domain expert on
the defensive
 Losing control of the session
 Pretending to understand an explanation when you
actually don’t
 Promising something that cannot be delivered
 Bring items not on the agenda
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23. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Sources of Error that Reduce
Information Reliability
 Expert’s perceptual slant
 Expert’s failure to remember just what happened
 Expert’s fear of the unknown
 Communication problems
 Role bias
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24. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Errors Made by the Knowledge
Developer
 Age effect
 Race effect
 Gender effect
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25. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Problems Encountered During
the Interview
 Response bias
 Assumed to answer “yes”
 Contamination effect
 Circular triad
 Inconsistency
 Validity
 Reliability
 Communication difficulties
 Hostile attitude
 Standardized questions
 Lengthy questions
 Long interview
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26. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Validity and Reliability
 Validity means integrity and consistency in
the way a question or a phrase is
interpreted. For example, on an exam, if a
question means different things to different
students, then there is a validity problem.
 Reliability means trustworthiness and
dependability. It is a measure of
truthfulness or credibility.
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27. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Issues to Assess
 How would one elicit knowledge from experts who cannot
say what they mean or mean what they say?
 What does one say or do when the expert says, “Look, I
work with shades of gray reasoning. I simply look at the
problem and decide. Don’t ask me why or how.”
 How does one set up the problem domain when one has
only a general idea of what it should be?
 What does one do if the relationship with the domain
expert turns out to be difficult?
 What happens if the expert dislikes the knowledge
developer?
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28. Chapter 5: Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Rapid Prototyping
• Knowledge is added with each knowledge capture session.
• This incremental or iterative approach allows the expert to
verify the rules as they are built during the session
• Rapid prototyping can open up communication through its
demonstration of the KM system.
• it also reduces risk of failure.
• Allowing the knowledge developer to learn every time a change
is made in the prototype.
• Its iterative nature encourages discovery of better ways to build
the KM system.
• Rapid proto typing depends on the teamwork spirit of the
knowledge developer, the expert, and the end user.
• Its continuous feedback leads to improvements and refinements
all the way to completion, which creates a KM system that
corresponds as closely as possible to its stated requirements.
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