knowledge management

1. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.1
WELCOME!
Chapter 9
ENABLING KNOWLEDGE
CONTEXTS AND NETWORKS

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

3. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.3
Organisational culture (1)
• A pattern of shared basic assumptions
that the group learned as it solved its
problems of external adaptation and
internal integration, that had worked
well enough to be considered valid, and
therefore, to be taught to new members
as the correct way to perceive, think
and feel in relation to those problems
(Schein 1999)

4. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.4
Organisational culture (2)
• The taken-for-granted values, underlying
assumptions, expectations, collective
memories, “how things are around here”
• Conveying a sense of identity, providing
unwritten rules and often unspoken
guidelines
• Enhancing the stability of the social
system that they experience
(Cameron & Quinn 1999)

5. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.5
DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE
• 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
• Culture is the commonly held and relatively stable
beliefs, attitudes and values that exist with the
organization

6. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.6
SURFACE MANIFESTATIONS OF CULTURE
Figure 9.2 Surface manifestations of organisational culture

7. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.7
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
• Norms: are expectations of appropriate and inappropriate
behaviour
• They can vary along two dimensions:
– intensity of approval or disapproval attached to an expectation;
– degree of consistency with which a norm is shared.

8. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.8
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
• Artefacts also provide us with shared systems of meaning that
construct organisational life.
• They can exist as material objects, physical layouts, technology,
language and behaviour patterns as well as procedures and
practices in organisations
• Material artefacts can exist as company logos and mission
statements.
• Company logos give us clear signals of the meaning and values
behind them.
• Mission statements inform the reader about company aspirations
in terms of its principal aims, beliefs and values.
• The corporate architecture and identity in terms of appearance
and uniform also provide clues about an organisation’s culture.

9. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.9
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
• Stories are powerful artefacts that tell us about problems and
solutions, disasters and triumphs.
• They also tell us about informal rules and procedures; how things are
done around here.
• Recurrent patterns of behaviour such as ceremonies, rites and rituals
remind and reinforce organisational members of cultural values
– Ceremonies may include presentations and prizes for high
achievers.
– Corporate heroes or champions may be celebrated in order to
share their success stories and the values communicated through
them.
– Rites may be planned activities such as rites of passage from one
role or status to another.

10. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.10
CONTENTS OF CULTURE
• Symbols are rich in meaning and can occur as a word, a
statement, an action or a material phenomenon.
• There are private symbols and collective symbols which
stand ambiguously for something else or more than the
object itself
• Organisational culture can be construed as a network of
meanings or shared experiences that provide members
with a shared and accepted reality
• This shared reality can derive from certain symbols that
may stand for a multiplicity of meanings that serve to link
emotions and interpretations and compel people to action.

11. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.11
Types of organisational culture (1)
• Clan
– friendly, bound by loyalty and high
commitment from staff
– emphasis on teamwork, collaboration and
consensus
• Adhocracy
– dynamic and entrepreneurial
– emphasis on innovation and risk-taking,
with individuality encouraged

12. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.12
Types of organisational culture (2)
• Market
– results-oriented, competitive and goal driven
– tough and demanding environment with an
emphasis on winning.
• Hierarchy
– formal and structured, governed by process
and efficiency
– continuity, security and predictability a major
focus

13. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.13
Core values
Culture types
Trust
Respect for people
Honest communication
Cohesive relationships
Clan
Innovation and change
New ideas
Visionary thinking
Trying new concepts
Adhocracy
Producing results
Getting the job done
Goal attainment
Outcome excellence
Market
Order
Stability and continuity
Analysis and control
Predictable outcomes
Hierarchy
Types of organisational culture (1)

14. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.14
HANDY’S TYPOLOGY OF CULTURE
• Power culture:
– There are few rules and people tend
to act politically and are more
concerned about ends rather than
means.
– Such organisations can react quickly
to environmental changes but may
suffer from high turnover rates if
suitable people are not recruited.

15. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.15
HANDY’S TYPOLOGY OF CULTURE
• Role culture:
– are characterised by bureaucracies
where rules, procedures and job
descriptions tend to predominate.
– They are successful in stable
environments but may have difficulties
adapting to more turbulent
environments.

16. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.16
HANDY’S TYPOLOGY OF CULTURE
• Task culture:
– are characterised by project or matrix
organisations that bring together the
appropriate resources and competence
required for effective team functioning.
– These cultures can be highly effective for
innovative projects but are less
successful where there is an emphasis
on cost rationalisation and economies of
scale.

17. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.17
HANDY’S TYPOLOGY OF
CULTURE
• Person culture:
– are characterised by individual
autonomy and collective action based
on fulfilling individual self-interests.
– Individuals decide on their work
allocations rather than it being a
function of a central body.

18. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.18
Impact of culture on organisational
performance
• Cultural differences, especially unique
characteristics, are difficult for competitors to
replicate
• In turbulent environments, values too must
change, and this requires cultures that are
capable of self-adjustment yet rare enough to
be imperfectly imitable

19. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.19
Impact of culture on knowledge
• Culture shapes assumptions on the nature of
knowledge and about what knowledge is
worth managing
• Culture defines relationships between
individual and organisational knowledge
• Culture creates the context for social
interaction and knowledge use
• Cultures shapes the K-creation, K-
legitimisation and K-use processes

20. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.20
Definition of a knowledge-friendly culture
• The employees value learning highly and
exhibit a positive orientation to
knowledge
• Experience, expertise and rapid
innovation are held to be more important
than hierarchy
• Knowledge and the opportunities that
come with learning are embraced
(Meso & Smith, 2000)

21. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.21
Effective knowledge cultures (1)
• People are positive about knowledge
and free to explore
• Knowledge-sharing not inhibited by fear
of job losses
• External knowledge the start (not the
end) of innovation
• Assumption that somebody has already
solved a problem

22. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.22
Effective knowledge cultures (2)
• Proactive attitudes to learning, with staff
responsible for their own learning
• Staff proactive in knowledge creation
and idea submission
• Staff are confident that management
values their ideas and will reward them
• Continuous questioning of core beliefs
and practices

23. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.23
Management’s role in knowledge cultures (1)
• Ensuring that policies and norms for
behaviour and work processes are clear and
reflect knowledge outcomes
• Leading by example (sharing, mentoring),
promoting sharing, telling good news stories
• Promoting sharing as a company value
• Encouraging the formation of external
networks (avoiding not-invented-here)

24. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.24
Management’s role in knowledge cultures (2)
• Creating dedicated knowledge positions
• Requiring employees to record lessons learned
or brainstorm after engagements (with
sanctions for those who do not)
• Establishing knowledge-relevant HRM policies
and practices
• Modifying rewards systems to encourage
knowledge sharing, including for sharing
outside the firm

25. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.25
PROMOTING KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE
• Make a visible connection between sharing knowledge and
practical business goals;
• Promote appropriate reward and recognition interventions;
• Provide adequate resources to encourage human networks of
knowledge sharing
• Try to link knowledge sharing with widely and deeply held core
values rather than aspirational values;
• Encourage ‘boundary-spanning’ individuals who can translate
knowledge and experiences from one group to another;
• Support a committed project champion who can enthuse and
motivate others with the knowledge-sharing initiative.

26. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.26
• What is Community?
– The body of people in a learned occupation. They have:
• Common interests
• Agreement as to goals
– A group of people having common interests: the scientific
community, the international business community”
• Similarity or identity: a community of interests
• Sharing, participation, fellowship
• What is Practice?
– A customary way of operation or behavior
– Translating an idea into action
– The exercise of a profession
– Knowledge of how something is customarily done
What is a Community of Practice
(CoP)?

27. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.27
27
What is a Community of Practice in the KM World?
• “A group of individuals informally bound together
by shared expertise and passion for a joint
enterprise”
• The term “community” suggests that CoPs are not
constrained by typical geographic, business unit or
functional boundaries but rather by common tasks,
contexts and interests.
• The word “practice” implies knowledge in action – how
individuals actually perform their jobs on a day-to-day
basis as opposed to more formal policies and procedures
that reflect how work should be performed.

28. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.28
Dimensions of Practice as the
property of a community
Joint enterprise
Mutual engagement Shared repertoire
What is the “work” of community
members? e.g. KM practitioners
What are the accepted objectives
of the community?
Artifacts: routines, tools, stories, ways
of doing things, language, concepts,
history, discourse

29. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.29
How are CoPs Different?
Purpose Membership Glue Duration
Community
of Practice
Exchange
knowledge
Self select Passion,
identification
with group
As long as the
interest lasts
Work Group Deliver
product
All under
manager
Job &
common goal
Until
restructured
Project
Team
Accomplish
specific task
Assigned or
selected
Project
milestones
and goal
Project
completed
Informal
networks
Pass on
business
information
Friends &
business
acquaintances
Mutual need As long as
reason exists

30. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.30
Cultural barriers to knowledge
management
• Hoarding
– knowledge is power
• Reinventing the wheel
– people will not ask for help
• The not-invented-here syndrome
• Rigidity
– where organisational routines, even best
practice, can stifle innovation

31. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.31
Summary
• Culture is a social construct
• Organisational culture impacts on KM
and vice versa
• Management has an important role in
creating a knowledge-friendly culture

32. Jashapara, Knowledge Management: An Integrated Approach, 2nd Edition, © Pearson Education Limited 2011
Slide 9.32
THANK YOU