3 ELEMENTS IN KM: People, Process and Technology
Executive Summary
In the world of rapid change driven by globalization, knowledge management becomes important part for the organization. In order to compete in the competitive environments, organizations must be more innovative, more agile, and smarter. The organizations must be able to created added value and generates value from knowledge assets in their organizations. To remain at the forefront public sector also needs to have knowledge management capabilities. The final stage of E-Government is transformation. This is marked by a redefined structure in public organization’s delivery services to citizens and constituents through a single point of contact.
In the E-Government environment, the knowledge management strategy plays a central role towards realizing the benefit of K-Economy and achieving economic competitiveness of the country. Knowledge management can transform knowledge which reside in several knowledge locations including people, processes, and technologies into value creation organizational capability in order to sustain a high performance organization in this rapid changes environment.
Knowledge management will focus on developing a knowledge friendly culture and knowledge friendly behavior among people in an organization which should be supported by the appropriate processes involve such as capture, transfer, share, apply and create. While, technology is use as a crucial enabler that brought new opportunities and challenging in sharing, integrating, representing and disseminating knowledge to create the electronic government in public sector’s delivery system for the country’s advance into the knowledge-based economy.
Introduction
Most people perceive knowledge management as basically the activities that involve capturing all the best practices and knowledge that people possess and storing it in a computer system in the hope that one day it will be useful. In actual fact, knowledge management can be defined as the process of continually creating new knowledge, disseminating it widely through the organization, and embodying it quickly in new products and services, technologies and systems thus perpetuating changes within the organizations [4].
To understand the knowledge management concept, distinctions have to be made first between data, information, and knowledge. In general, data are raw facts. For data to be of value, they must be processed to obtain information, which decision can be made. Knowledge is perceived as meaningful information. Knowledge is derived from information. It results from making comparisons, identifying consequences, and making connections. Some experts include wisdom and insight in their definition of knowledge. Wisdom is the utilization of accumulated knowledge. So, knowledge is neither data nor information. Knowledge is an understanding, and one gains knowledge through experience, reasoning, intuition and learning. Individual expand their knowledge when others share their knowledge, and one’s knowledge is combined with the knowledge of others to create new knowledge.
Therefore, good knowledge management is all about getting the right knowledge, in the right place, at the right time. The right knowledge is the knowledge that you need in order to be able to undertake certain task, manage a project, make a decision or plan strategically, interpreting a piece of research or deal with suppliers and many others of the kind. The right knowledge can be obtained from a variety of sources such as research reports, journal articles, manuals, technical reports, databases and web documents, databases and more often in peoples’ heads. The right place refers to the point of action or decision such as in a meeting, help desk, hospital bedside and customers complaint counters. The right time is when the person or team of workers needs the knowledge.
Benefits of Knowledge Management
There are many benefits to be reaped from knowledge management. In an organizational setting, benefits can occur at two level; individual and organizational. At the individual level, knowledge management provides employees opportunities to enhance skills and experience by working together and sharing other people’s knowledge and learn from each other thereby improving personal performance and thus leading to better career development.
At the organizational level, knowledge management will improve the organization’s performance through increase efficiency, productivity, quality and innovation. Organization that manage knowledge claim higher rates of productivity. By having greater access to their employees’ knowledge, organizations make better decisions, streamline processes, reduce re-work, increase innovation, have higher data integrity and greater collaboration. In other words, for public sector, managing knowledge could reduce the cost of operations and improves customer service. Knowledge management also will increase the financial value of the organization by treating people’s knowledge as an asset similar to traditional assets like inventory and capital facilities.
Knowledge Management Readiness
At X Department, the knowledge management maturity model is at level one. There is low commitment to managing anything other than essential, necessary survival-level tasks where at least a few staffs have explored the benefits of knowledge management for the organization. At level one, formal training is the main mechanism for learning, and all learning is taken to be reactive.
Knowledge Management is not a technology or set of methodologies rather it’s a discipline, which deals with people and process component, which are overlooked, in knowledge management programs. Many knowledge initiatives are started at the grass-roots level with the expectation that people will automatically create and use knowledge. But one has to be clear that the failure of any one of the pillars among people, process and technology will lead to failure of knowledge management.
Finally, knowledge sharing culture can be created at X Department by establish Community of Practice (CoP). CoP is a term that describes a group of people who share an interest, a craft, and/or a profession. The group can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created specifically with the goal of gaining knowledge related to their field. It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that the members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop themselves personally and professionally [3]. X Department should setup the CoP by using discussion board and newsgroups and this can be apply by using Email Application. Besides providing email capability, this application comprised of modules such as news, discussion board, calendaring, e-learning as well as document management.
Organizational processes plus infrastructure involves various structures like physical structure e.g. building in which we work and its geographical location, and other structures like the way resources are allocated e.g. finances, technology, equipment, etc. These layers play an important role on how knowledge is created, shared and used in an organization. For knowledge to be created, it needs a physical place. It needs a place to enhance exchange of views and ideas where by knowledge can be shared and also can enhance the creation and utilization of knowledge. At X Department, we have 6 meeting rooms and this can encourage staff to exchange views and ideas where knowledge can be shared in the convenient room during discussion and people can get together routinely.
Knowledge management involves number of processes such as capturing, transferring, sharing, applying and creating a new knowledge.
Knowledge Management Elements
Knowledge Management is not a technology or set of methodologies rather it’s a discipline, which deals with people and process component, which are overlooked, in knowledge management programs. Many knowledge initiatives are started at the grass-roots level with the expectation that people will automatically create and use knowledge. But one has to be clear that the failure of any one of the pillars among people, process and technology will lead to failure of knowledge management.
Knowledge Management and People
One of the three elements or components of knowledge management is people and least developed in this context in comparison to process and technology. This wide gap can be attributed to many factors of which first and foremost will be lack of vision in using knowledge management for the benefit of the organization vis-à-vis people and process. Knowledge management is first and foremost a people issue.The success of knowledge managment initiatives depends upon people’s motivation, their willingness, and their ability to share knowledge and use the knowledge of others.
Knowledge in the organization is present mainly in two forms tacit and explicit. Tacit knowledge is kept in the heads of the people at all levels of the organizational hierarchy and hard to obtain. This is due to the conventional overall system of educating people where we taught them no to share their work and knowledge with others. So that the traditional system must be change. Organization have to provide the sense of security that knowledge sharing is for the benefit of people and in turn for the organization [1].
The structure of the public sector organizations has traditionally been compartmentalized. The ‘silo’ syndrome such as ‘knowledge is power’, ‘what’s in it for me’, and ‘not invested here’ are typical mindsets of the manager and staff having in organization. In X Department environment itself, information and knowledge are hardly shared across different units and different organizational levels. This is due to the lack of awareness of important of knowledge sharing and management. However, people tend to share knowledge for some reasons such as reciprocity, reputation and prestige. To change the attitude and behavior of the people and to reduce barriers, a knowledge sharing culture need to be created at X Department.
First, raise awareness of benefits of knowledge management among staff at X Department. Staff and higher authority should be aware of the changes and advantages of knowledge management and the power of it through sharing. Then, environment of trust must be built in the department. This is because people tend to share their knowledge when they know each other. The more trust that exists, the more people are willing to share. At the same time, department must develop leaders who foster for sharing as a role model. A champion is needed to knowledge management implementation [2].
A formal rewards and recognition system must be established for knowledge sharing. Employees must be rewarded and recognized, not only for sharing their knowledge with others, but also for being willing to use other’s knowledge. This can be done by acknowledging the people who contribute their ideas, knowledge, and time by linking this to their annual evaluation (LNPT) and Excellence Services Award (APC). Rewarding also can be done by providing special recognition to volunteers, change agents, and role model and rewarding them. In order to gain acceptance among employees, the higher authority must celebrate success stories and propagating tales of savings and contribution of the staff and engage them in further participation. The higher authority must set up a standard that making knowledge sharing is a job requirement for each staff.
Knowledge Management and Process
Knowledge management processes refer to involvement of two components–organizational processes plus infrastructure and knowledge management processes plus infrastructure [4].
Organizational processes plus infrastructure involves various structures like physical structure e.g. building in which we work and its geographical location, and other structures like the way resources are allocated e.g. finances, technology, equipment, etc. These layers play an important role on how knowledge is created, shared and used in an organization. For knowledge to be created, it needs a physical place. It needs a place to enhance exchange of views and ideas where by knowledge can be shared and also can enhance the creation and utilization of knowledge. At X Department, we have 6 meeting rooms and this can encourage staff to exchange views and ideas where knowledge can be shared in the convenient room during discussion and people can get together routinely.
Knowledge management infrastructure includes the knowledge management processes and the organizational infrastructure that is created to enable these processes where by the essential management and staff roles and responsibilities that need to be put in place in order to support the new process and initiatives.
Knowledge capture can be defined as the process of retrieving either explicit or tacit knowledge that resides within people, artifacts, or organizational entities. Also, the knowledge captured might reside outside the organizational boundaries, including consultants, suppliers, and customers. In the capture process, organization must attempt to obtain needed knowledge from both inside and outside sources and to formalize and document the obtained knowledge. This can be done at X by transform tacit knowledge into storable explicit knowledge such as record a brainstorming or meeting session in recording tape or meeting note. Knowledge capture also can be conducted outside an organization through surveys and public-response cards especially to get information on how public give the perception about services provide by X Department. Another example of knowledge capture practicing at X Department is having new Information Technology staff read a book on innovative software development, and learns from it. This learning helps the new staff to capture the knowledge contained in the book. Other examples is such reading manuals or other’s stories, or experientially through simulations or experiments.
Knowledge transfer occurs at various levels in an organization; transfer of knowledge between individuals, from individuals to explicit sources, from individuals to group, between groups and from the groups to organization. Knowledge transfer process is transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to another (or all other part) of the organization. At X Department’s environment where we have email facility, then knowledge transfer can be done through this. It also can involve certain task such as learning games, on-the-job training, internships programs, and knowledge fairs.
Knowledge sharing is how individuals communicate knowledge to other individuals. This activity might involve emails and the transfer of documents like policy manuals. In sharing process, the knowledge is classified and retrieves from organizational memory and makes it available for the knowledge users. This can be done by using such method like storytelling, learning networks, and sharing best practice.
Knowledge application is when available knowledge is used to make decisions and perform tasks through direction and routines. Direction is the manner in which an individual who possess knowledge advises another, but the knowledgeable party does not actually transfer the knowledge to the other. Routines are the embodiment of directives in procedures, rules and processes. An important difference between application and sharing is application does not require the person applying the knowledge to understand it. Application can be facilitated through the use of sophisticated data models that identify the correct actions to take in certain situations. In apply process, knowledge is utilize in performing the tasks such as solving problems, making decisions, researching ideas, and learning. Knowledge is also use to improve quality and consistency. Information is made easily accessible from a database, for example over intranet and users can access it as they need it.
Organizational knowledge creation involves developing new content or replacing existing content within the organization’s tacit and explicit knowledge. Through social and collaborative processes as well as individual’s cognitive processes, knowledge is created. In creating process, new knowledge is discover through a variety of processes such as surveys, best practices, research, pilot studies and data mining.
If an environment is created for continuous learning, people will willingly share knowledge and it will not be necessary for one person to take the lead. The sharing of knowledge will be a natural reaction, supported by a well-balanced infrastructure consisting of human-social techniques and the most important technological developments. Many organizations regard the knowledge of their employees and an efficient infrastructure for sharing knowledge as major keys to competitive advantage.
Knowledge Management and Technology
Knowledge management requires an ICT (Information Communication Technology) infrastructure as enabler and facilitates the collection, sharing of knowledge as well as software for distributing information and making it more meaningful. It is vital that any technology used fits the organization’s people and processes. To facilitate the connections, first among knowledgeable people (by helping them find and interact with one another) and second, between people and sources of information, definitely ICT is a key enabler..
Throught ICT, explicit knowledge can be captured and disseminated. The management of information to enable connection should be based on these three (3) trusts [4]:
i. To create repositories (data warehouse, operational systems) to house important information both quantitative and qualitative.
ii. To cross link those repositories so that navigation is easy and the technology is transparent to users.
iii. To improve organization’s capabilities to perform, analyze in support of decision-making.
At X Department, we are concern on the ICT infrastructures and what its can bring to facilitate the knowledge sharing among staffs. A variety of ICT initiatives has been setup or apply at X Department. Knowledge must be available quickly to everyone. In fact, wherever possible, knowledge should be “pushed” to the user. For example, the IT support team has develop database management system such as Private Health Care Monitoring System. The main objective is to allow the medical officers to monitor the private health care premises and allow the decision making to be made based on the information provided by that system.
Electronic mail or commonly known as e-mail has rapidly become the communication method of choice in many public sector organizations. It’s a method of exchanging digital messages across the internet or other computer network. Each e-mail sent and received in the workplace is an enterprise record. E-mail infrastructure will facilitate in sharing knowledge among employees, customers and vendors. At X Department, we have email application where almost 3,000 user already registered. This will allow information and knowledge to be shared more conveniently and thus enabling staff to use information in a broadly informed way to achieved organizational specific objectives.
Conclusion
The elements for successful knowledge management include a common, reliable technology infrastructure to facilitate sharing, connecting the people who know, and the behaviors to ask, listen and share, and some processes to simplify sharing, validation, and distillation. All too often we embark on a change program, and concentrate energy disproportionately on one, or possibly two of the circles or elements. If we focus on people and technology, but neglect to consider process, then we risk automating the past. Technology and process together are powerful partners, but without the people aspect, there is a strong risk that any effort to make change will generate resistance. Finally, by considering people and process, but neglecting technology, we fail to capitalize on the power that ICT brings to make explicit knowledge globally accessible.
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