KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
-Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE
When
everything is changing fast and when we are surrounded by uncertainty, probably
the only constant is Knowledge. The companies which can create consistently new
knowledge are successful today. What we know, why we know and how we know
matters these days. Human minds can alone produce and process knowledge.
Knowledge is a mixture of experience, beliefs, value systems, information and expertise; it is the core asset of every company. Knowledge is neither data nor information alone. Data represents facts and figures which are true and cannot be changed. Information comes from data organized in a meaningful manner. It may or may not be processed. Knowledge is the next step where information is clubbed with past experience and validated on its basis. The last step obviously is wisdom.
Knowledge can be tacit or explicit. Tacit knowledge is personal in nature. Tacit knowledge is subconsciously understood and applied, is difficult to articulate, developed from direct experiences and actions, and is generally shared. Contrary to that explicit knowledge is formal and systematic.
Knowledge is crucial for continued operation and development of organizations. Obviously it is expensive and comes with a price tag. Knowledge is interchangeable, sharable and expandable.
How to create and sustain knowledge in an organization is the million dollar question these days. One way is socialization, formal or informal wherein one individual shares his/her knowledge with another. It can be transferred by observation, imitation and by practicing. Thus other employees begin to internalize it.
Generally after attending an external training programme, we ask the participant to make presentation of his/her learning experience in front of his departmental colleagues. This is one good form of knowledge management. This serves three purposes-
Knowledge is a mixture of experience, beliefs, value systems, information and expertise; it is the core asset of every company. Knowledge is neither data nor information alone. Data represents facts and figures which are true and cannot be changed. Information comes from data organized in a meaningful manner. It may or may not be processed. Knowledge is the next step where information is clubbed with past experience and validated on its basis. The last step obviously is wisdom.
Knowledge can be tacit or explicit. Tacit knowledge is personal in nature. Tacit knowledge is subconsciously understood and applied, is difficult to articulate, developed from direct experiences and actions, and is generally shared. Contrary to that explicit knowledge is formal and systematic.
Knowledge is crucial for continued operation and development of organizations. Obviously it is expensive and comes with a price tag. Knowledge is interchangeable, sharable and expandable.
How to create and sustain knowledge in an organization is the million dollar question these days. One way is socialization, formal or informal wherein one individual shares his/her knowledge with another. It can be transferred by observation, imitation and by practicing. Thus other employees begin to internalize it.
Generally after attending an external training programme, we ask the participant to make presentation of his/her learning experience in front of his departmental colleagues. This is one good form of knowledge management. This serves three purposes-
- Development of internal faculty within
organization
- Sharing can devise plan of action of what newly
learnt/acquired knowledge can be implemented/practiced within
department/organization.
- Decisions regarding future deputation or otherwise
by HR Department based on the transfer of knowledge that has taken place.
Another form is when an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a new whole.
Typical problems associated with knowledge can be-
- Execution:
If one spends time in locating appropriate knowledge base, then the speed of execution becomes slow. - Lost Business Opportunities:
Inability of marketing team to respond customer queries may lead to lost sales. - Time to Market:
If expertise is not available at opportune time, the entire new product development cycle may get delayed. - Knowledge bottleneck:
Shortage of a particular skill or expertise can jeopardize the entire operations in an organization. - Retention Issues:
Organizations often fail to retain knowledge acquired and lessons learned in the past. People just resign/retire and carry the entire knowledge bank with them outside company gates. - Sub standard decisions:
If knowledge application fails it leads to sub standard decisions taken by the policy makers. This primarily happens since the organization is not aware of what knowledge resources it has and how to capitalize on potential new initiatives.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Organizational success
is prima facie decided by the intellectual and system capabilities it owns
rather than mere physical assets. How an organization manages its human
intellect and converts it into products/services is fast becoming the success
mantra.
The process of generating organizational wealth from optimum utilization of knowledge and intellectual assets of an organization is called as knowledge management.
There are five major area of Knowledge Management:
1. Knowledge Acquisition
2. Knowledge Utilization
3. Knowledge Enhancement
4. Knowledge Facilitation
5. Knowledge Implementation
The process of generating organizational wealth from optimum utilization of knowledge and intellectual assets of an organization is called as knowledge management.
There are five major area of Knowledge Management:
1. Knowledge Acquisition
2. Knowledge Utilization
3. Knowledge Enhancement
4. Knowledge Facilitation
5. Knowledge Implementation
Knowledge
Acquisition: It is
the starting point of any knowledge management assignment. How knowledge is
acquired from various sources and its synthesis is primarily important here.
Knowledge Utilization: Mere acquisition of knowledge will be useless unless it is shared through various ways and means among employees at all levels periodically. What matters is Knowledge transfer.
Knowledge Enhancement: It involves gap analysis between desired and actual knowledge base of the employees. The current and potential knowledge requirements of the employees are systematically and scientifically evaluated with a view to upgrade them in a phased manner.
Knowledge Facilitation: Organizational climate, employee relations, transparency in communication all equally matter when it comes to building knowledge base. A lot depends on enabling processes that take care of the array of emotions and feelings, likes/dislikes, attitudes, sentiments etc; which the employee brings to workplace.
Knowledge Utilization: Mere acquisition of knowledge will be useless unless it is shared through various ways and means among employees at all levels periodically. What matters is Knowledge transfer.
Knowledge Enhancement: It involves gap analysis between desired and actual knowledge base of the employees. The current and potential knowledge requirements of the employees are systematically and scientifically evaluated with a view to upgrade them in a phased manner.
Knowledge Facilitation: Organizational climate, employee relations, transparency in communication all equally matter when it comes to building knowledge base. A lot depends on enabling processes that take care of the array of emotions and feelings, likes/dislikes, attitudes, sentiments etc; which the employee brings to workplace.
Knowledge
Implementation: This
is the visible component and comes into existence only when practiced. Alone
technology cannot succeed in this process. How the knowledge possessed by
employees becomes a part of products, systems, solutions and services is
equally important. It has to add value to the end customer.
PHASES
OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
(1) Information Technology Based
(1) Information Technology Based
Management
information system using artificial intelligence, reengineering is fast growing
and is IT assisted.
Augmentation
and Automation ensure that resources are optimally utilized.
Various
knowledge tools and technologies go beyond data and information. They
facilitate organization of knowledge processes, codification and transfer.
(2)
People Based
Philosophers, Psychologists and Management Practitioners emphasize upon acquisition /sharpening of various skills and improvement in human behavior through knowledge route.
They suggest continuous learning and managing of skills and behavior at both levels- individual as well as organizational.
Though
knowledge bases are becoming effective support tools, human beings are still
necessary for this process to take place. Human intervention is necessary for
interpretation and application. Selecting and buying “KM" software, is not
the crux of the problem, the issue is how to make it work for the organization
sustainable.
Recognizing
this, it is better to focus on human resources rather than technologies or
processes.
EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge Management is complex and thus should not concentrate on just one aspect. Effective management of knowledge requires hybrid solutions of people and technology.
Human
beings are quite accomplished at certain knowledge skills. When we seek to
understand knowledge, to interpret it in a broader context,
to combine it with other types of information, or to synthesize various unstructured forms of knowledge, human beings are recommended tools.
to combine it with other types of information, or to synthesize various unstructured forms of knowledge, human beings are recommended tools.
Computers
and communications systems, on the other hand, are faster when it comes to
highly structured knowledge.
Thus
for effective Knowledge Management a combination of technology, employee involvement,
the infrastructure and culture of an organization is essential.
Advantages
of Knowledge Management
1. Supports innovation.
2.
Reduction
in cost of new projects.
3.
Enhancement
in employee productivity.
4.
Replication
of best practices.
5.
Change
acceptance and adaptability enhances.
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