Article Review for Successful knowledge management projects

1
Article Review for Successful knowledge
management projects

• Thomas H Davenport, David De Long Michael Beers
• Sloan Management Review v39n2 (Winter 1998)

2
Article review

• Definition of knowledge and knowledge management
  projects
• Study Methodology
• Study Results
• Key factors that lead to knowledge project
  success
• How are knowledge projects different?

3
Definition of Knowledge

• Knowledge is information combined with
  experience, context, interpretation, and
  reflection. It is a high-value form of
  information that is ready to apply to decisions
  and actions.

4
Definition of Knowledge Management Projects

• Knowledge management projects are attempts to
  do something useful with knowledge to accomplish
  organizational objectives through the structuring
  of people, technology, and knowledge content

5
Study Methodology

• Studied 31 knowledge management projects in 24
  companies
• Visited four companies
• Interviewed other companies by telephone
• Sources were typically managers of the knowledge
  projects or the knowledge management function
  within the organization
• Researchers rated the projects using 4 indicators

6
Study Methodology Indicators to evaluate
projects

• Growth in resources attached to the project,
  including people, money, and so on.
• Growth in the volume of knowledge content and
  usage ( of documents, of accesses for
  repositories or of participants for
  discussion-oriented projects)

7
Study Methodology Indicators to evaluate
projects

• The likelihood that the project would survive
  without the support of a particular individual,
  in other words, the project is an organizational
  initiative, not an individual project
• Some evidence of financial return either for the
  knowledge management activity itself (profit
  center) or for the organization (cost savings or
  revenue)

8
Study Results

• 18 projects were successful
• 5 projects unsuccessful
• 8 too new to determine success
• -------------------------------------------
• 31 total

9
Four basic objectives for the Knowledge
Management Projects

• Create Knowledge Repositories
• Improve Knowledge Access and Transfer
• Enhance Knowledge environment
• Manage Knowledge as an asset

10
Four basic objectives for the Knowledge
Management Projects

• Create Knowledge Repositories (3 types)
• External knowledge, such as competitive
  intelligence
• Structured internal knowledge and information,
  such as research reports, product-oriented
  marketing material, technical product
  information, sales presentation
• Informal Internal knowledge, such as discussion
  databases full of knowhow and lessons learned.
  Knowledge that resides in the minds of the people
  in an organization but has not been but in
  structured, document-based form. Also known as
  tacit.

11
Four basic objectives for the Knowledge
Management Projects

• Improve knowledge access and transfer
• Building and managing expert networks
• Developed an infrastructure to facilitate access
  and transfer through videoconferencing, document
  scanning and sharing tools rather than extract
  from a repository
• Instituted formal practices for knowledge
  transfer
• Developed a knowledge transfer group

12
Four basic objectives for the Knowledge
Management Projects

• Enhance Knowledge environment
• Change the organizational norms and values
  related to knowledge encourage reuse
• Make contributions to knowledge base a factor in
  compensation

13
Four basic objectives for the Knowledge
Management Projects

• Manage Knowledge as an asset
• Treat knowledge like any other asset on the
  balance sheet
• Conduct an internal audit on intellectual capital
  and include in annual report to stockholders
• Focus on managing specific knowledge-intensive
  assets. Dow Chemical saved 4 million on reviewing
  and managing patents by lowering taxes on patents
  that were no longer useful.

14
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Linked knowledge project to economic performance
  or industry value through illustrating money
  saved or earned. Or indirect cost like cycle
  time, customer satisfaction, phone call averted
  or amount of knowledge reused.

15
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Used a broad technical and organizational
  infrastructure. Most companies used multiple
  tools (for example, Lotus Notes and Web-based
  intranets) Also, use standardized personal
  productivity tools to facilitate exchanging
  documents. Building an organizational
  infrastructure means a set of people who have
  skills to serve as resources, set knowledge
  strategy, prioritize knowledge projects, etc.

16
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Developed a standard, flexible knowledge
  structure. Created categories and key terms.
  Another important issue is who controls decisions
  regarding the structure. One company created a
  thesaurus of technical terms

17
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Created a knowledge-friendly culture where people
  have a positive orientation to knowledge. People
  are not inhibited in sharing knowledge. Some
  people feel their knowledge is critical to their
  value or maintaining their job. Pressure to be
  creative and original.

18
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Clear Purpose and Language is particularly
  important for knowledge management. For example,
  the terms knowledge, information and
  organizational learning are subject to varied
  meanings and interpretation. Successful projects
  paid attention to this factor and addressed it.
• Normal business language gives the
  impression of being fact-based, often drawing on
  military and natural science metaphors. But
  knowledge management deals with things like
  complexity and uncertainty.

19
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Change in Motivational practices. Knowledge does
  not emerge from or flow easily across role or
  functional boundaries. Therefore, the motivation
  to create, share and use knowledge is a critical
  success factor

20
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Multiple Channels for Knowledge transfer.
  Successful Knowledge projects usually address
  knowledge transfer though various channels,
  recognizing that each adds value in a different
  way and that their synergy enhances use. For
  example, should not eliminate face to face
  meetings.

21
8 Key Factors that lead to success

• Senior Management support. Support includes
  sending messages that knowledge is critical to
  companys success, providing funding and
  resources and clarify what types of knowledge are
  important to the business.

22
Authors view on How are knowledge projects
different?

• Executives seem to more conceptual in knowledge
  management public comments and have faith that
  knowledge management will benefit their company,
  although they usually still want benefits
  measured.
• Knowledge management projects require more
  fundamental behavioral shifts than other change
  projects
• Change projects can benefit from a process
  orientation, but there are less obvious process
  focus value in knowledge projects.
• In knowledge management the complexity of human
  factors to be managed is greater than most data
  or information projects.

23
Donnas perspective

• Still dont have a clear distinction between
  data, information and knowledge (i.e., address).
• Disagree - that successful knowledge management
  projects require more fundamental behavioral
  shifts than most other change efforts
• Agree knowledge is created invisibility in the
  human brain, and only the right organizational
  culture and climate can motivate people to create
  and share. To be successful, knowledge management
  project must focus more on the behavioral factors
  (creation, transfer and sharing) than technology

24
Journal Information

• Sloan Management Review is a business journal
  that bridges the gap between management research
  and practice, evaluating and reporting on new
  research to help readers identify and understand
  significant trends in management.
• SMR is ranked between 9th and 13th in six
  articles in IS World
• A peer-reviewed quarterly, the journal covers all
  management disciplines, although its particular
  emphasis is on corporate strategy, leadership,
  and management of technology and innovation. SMR
  accepts approximately 7 percent of submitted
  articles.

25
Article structure

• Clear, concise and well-organized
• Easy to follow and understand

26
Other Sources for Knowledge management

• Hansen, MT, Nohria, N Tierney T.,What's your
  strategy for managing knowledge?, Harvard
  Business Review, 1999, Mar-Apr77(2)106-16, 187.
  Cited by 347
• Hedlund, G, A model of knowledge management and
  the N-form corporation, Strategic Management
  Journal, 1994, Cited by 214
• Alavi, Maryam Leidner, DE, Knowledge
  Management Systems issues, challenges, and
  benefits, Communications of the AIS, 1999. Cited
  by 88