The document provides an overview of knowledge management (KM) and its importance in organizations, highlighting the need for effective management of intellectual assets. It emphasizes that KM involves a conscious strategy to facilitate the sharing and application of knowledge for improved organizational performance. Additionally, it addresses the challenges and considerations in implementing KM practices, along with the benefits such as reduced costs and increased innovation.

1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTORY SESSION SOME BASIC CONCEPTS & AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND AND DEFINE KM

2. Knowledge is power , which is why people who had it in the past, often tried to make a secret of it. Power comes from transmitting information to make it productive , not from hiding it Knowledge makes resources mobile. Knowledge workers, unlike Manufacturing workers, own the means of production. They carry their knowledge in their heads & can, therefore, carry it with them. At the same time, the knowledge needs of organisations are likely to change continually. - Peter Drucker Knowledge is the beginning of practice; doing is the completion of knowing. - Wang Yang-Ming, 1498

3. There is a lot of confusion about what precisely ‘Knowledge Management’ means. Knowledge Management" has been applied to a very broad spectrum of activities designed to manage, exchange and create or enhance intellectual assets within an organisation, and that there is no widespread agreement on what KM actually is. The American Productivity and Quality Centre has, however, provided a succinct and appealing definition: " Knowledge Management is a conscious strategy of getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and helping people share and put information into action in ways that will improve organizational performance.“ Another proposed definition: Knowledge Management is the deliberate design of processes, tools, structures, with the intent to increase, renew, share, or improve the use of knowledge represented in any of the three elements [Structural, Human and Social] of intellectual capital. ( Seemann et al, 1999)

4. Why translate KM? KM is obscure At first glance KM concepts are either mystifying or obvious KM is a means, rather than an end Managers don’t care about KM – they care about value and results KM is a broad set of principles and tools Must be tailored for a specific workplace.

5. ARE WE CLEAR WHAT WE INTEND TO ACHIEVE WITH KNOWLEDGE? · What applications do you think you need? · Is your focus on following best practice in-house; establishing an external standard; encouraging innovation and creativity; or learning knowledge from data? · What technologies do you think you need? What technologies do you currently have skills in? · Do your people rely on explicit or tacit knowledge to solve problems? · Do you plan to analyse existing knowledge or to create new knowledge? ·

6. Yours is a Knowledge Driven Organisation if any of the following activities are a part of your Process Design Classification Diagnosis Assessment Monitoring Optimisation Configuration/design planning/scheduling Control?

7. Benefits of Knowledge Management Reduced costs Repeatable results Faster cycle times Innovation Disaster recovery Intelligence / patterns Knowledge retention Reduced costs in rehired annuitants

8. Enterprise Search is not Working “ Managers spend up to two hours a day searching for information, and more than 50 percent of the information they obtain has no value to them” Accenture Survey, January 2007 “ 59% of all users are unsatisfied with their current intranet search” Presentation by Jane McConnell at Enterprise Search Summit East, 2008

9. Find a Restaurant: Find The list of results leads to another set of search items The order of results matters. The search tool knows very little about the user, so there is little chance of successful results. I want to know where the restaurant is, what people think of it and how to make a reservation.

10. Find a Restaurant: Act The order of results does not matter. The map allows me to select a restaurant based on my criteria I can select a restaurant based on where I am and call them right from the search results. Reviews also allow me to make a judgment on which restaurant I want to visit based on others opinions.

11. Financial Services: Find Another list of results, with little order or sense to them. It is obvious that MarketWatch has no idea what I want to do with this information. As a result, I get a jumble of mostly unimportant information.

12. Financial Services: Act I have chosen to look for investment information on IBM. The overview tab shows me everything I need to know about IBM. I am immediately armed to take action based on the information I am getting from this stock page.

13. SOME SOUL SEARCHING BEFORE WE SET OUT Who are the key decision makers, providers, users or beneficiaries of knowledge? What resources are used in the business process? - information systems, equipment, materials, technology, patents, etc. What are the key knowledge assets in the organisation? What are the cultural “rules” of the organisation? - styles of working, authority structures, communication styles and networks, etc. What is the task type of these key assets? - classification, diagnosis, assessment, configuration, scheduling, ... Is the knowledge used largely symbolic, numerical, geometric or perceptual? How long does a human take to solve the same problem? Is the knowledge available?