A practical approach to identify the needs for Knowledge Management within a young team in a dynamic environment Elke J.E. Klaassen

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A practical framework for Data,

Information and Knowledge

Management

A practical approach to identify the needs for Knowledge Management within a

young team in a dynamic environment

Elke J.E. Klaassen

November 2006

UNIVERSITY OF

GRONINGEN

Faculty of Management and Organization

Technology Management

Supervisor:

T.W. de Boer

Co-reader:

J.L. Miedema

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A Practical Framework for

Data, Information and Knowledge

Management

Abstract

This research addresses the design and implementation of a practical framework for data, information and knowledge management in a young team operating in a dynamic environment.

Knowledge management is a concept that has been addressed in many articles over the last years. Many authors argue that the organisation’s knowledge and learning capabilities are the main source of its competitive advantage. One of the most important factors for a successful knowledge management (KM) system is the right culture in an organisation. The organisational culture has influence on knowledge management. It determines the effectiveness of knowledge management and it also influences the outcome of knowledge management initiatives.

The practical framework consists of several elements which all contribute to a more efficient way of working for the team. The elements focus on data, information and knowledge levels. The implementation of the framework and the cultural aspects of the organisation are crucial. Therefore, special attention should be paid to cultural aspects and specifically how to deal with characteristics of a culture that can limit or reduce the effect of knowledge management.

Elke Klaassen Student nr.: 1228226

Amsterdam, November 2006

Thesis supervision

T.W. de Boer University of Groningen J.L. Miedema University of Groningen H. Hallouche Company

P.G. Marques Company

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PREFACE

Working within the field of knowledge management is very challenging. Knowledge management is never first priority of people and it is difficult to show people the value and importance of knowledge management. Therefore, this internship has been a good learning experience. Not only because I had the chance to experience working in a big, complex and multinational company, but also because I learned the cultural and political issues connected to knowledge management.

This thesis would not have been realised without the assistance and support of many people. First of all, my supervisor from the University of Groningen, Thomas de Boer, who was very helpful with his feedback. In addition, I want to thank my team, they were always willing to spend time to provide me with knowledge and input. In addition, I like to thank the knowledge management team within the department, who were willing to introduce me to the knowledge management initiatives within my department, Helge Kreutz and Rick Eirew, as well as Chris Peltier from the Business Process Improvement department. Furthermore, I want to thank my family and friends, who made my time as a student a great time. Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to some special persons. My boyfriend, for reading my thesis, giving me feedback and keeping me motivated and my parents for supporting me throughout my entire study.

Elke Klaassen November 2006

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INTRODUCTION

The Strategy & Portfolio team in the company focuses on the long-term strategy of certain products, as well as the total portfolio of the company. The Strategy & Portfolio team is still a relatively new team. This is related to the fact that the business is still quite young. Two years ago, the Strategy & Portfolio team did not exist in its current form. Strategy was separated and performed by a team physically elsewhere located. The Strategy & Portfolio team in its current form, therefore only exists two years. The main activities of this team are the yearly strategy review and the yearly portfolio review. These activities are reshaped and adjusted during the year in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these activities. At the moment this project started, knowledge management was not part of these activities, which results in a sub-optimal way of working since it is not always possible to retrieve the knowledge that is already present within the team. Next to that, the knowledge is not always retained in the team due to staff transitions.

The absence of a framework for knowledge management that can enhance the efficiency of the work of the team is the basis for this project. This research examines the issues that should be regarded to introduce a framework for knowledge management within the Strategy & Portfolio team. It describes the key activities of the team, the information flows between the team members and will discuss the influence of organisational culture on knowledge management. The objective of this research is described as: ‘To introduce and implement knowledge management within the Strategy & Portfolio team’. First a description of the company and the team is presented. Subsequently, the problem definition will be discussed in more detail. Thereafter, knowledge management will be explained and the final framework is presented.

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1

THE COMPANY

The company is a large multinational company, active in a dynamic environment. This research focuses on a specific team within this company. This team is the strategy & portfolio team of a specific business unit and focuses on specific products in the company.

1.1.1 Background of the research

The motivation for the assignment comes from the growing amount of analyses conducted by the team. The team would like to have a structured way of, on one hand, keeping the knowledge inside the team and on the other hand share it in a structured way with persons and teams who need this knowledge. The large number of team member changes is one of the drivers for this need. There is also a need for a structured way to organise the output the team produces.

Knowledge can make the difference between competing organisations. Knowledge sharing is therefore vital in the business and especially in a dynamic environment. This is also a driver why the team would like to have a more systematic approach to knowledge management.

Within the department, a knowledge management team is active. They are concerned with the whole department. Since this team is (still) relatively new and the number of people in this team is small, their initiatives are still in a starting phase. Moreover, these initiatives are often focused on how to share knowledge within the department and between other businesses within the company. However, they do not have a specific focus on a more micro-level. Therefore the wish for a more practical approach for knowledge management on a micro level exists within the strategy & portfolio team.

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2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

In this chapter, an introduction to the research will be presented. The objective and the main questions will be discussed. Also the focus of the research and the method used will be mentioned.

2.1 Background

The strategy & portfolio (S&P) team is still a relatively new team. This is related to the fact that the business in which the team operates is still quite young. The business is in a growth phase, which also leads to a growing department within the company. Two years ago, the strategy & portfolio team did not exist in its current form. Strategy was separated and performed by a team physically located elsewhere. The S&P team in its current form, therefore has only existed for two years.

The main activities of this team are the yearly strategy review and the yearly portfolio review, where the total portfolio of products is analysed. These activities are reshaped and adjusted during the year in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these activities. At this moment knowledge management is not part of these activities, which results in a sub-optimal way of working, as it is not always possible to retrieve the knowledge that is already present within the team. Next to that the knowledge is not always retained in the team as a result of staff transitions.

2.2 Research objective and main question

The previous paragraph described the absence of a framework for knowledge management that can increase the effectiveness of the team’s portfolio management activities and that can enhance the efficiency of the work of the team. This research examines the issues that should be considered to introduce a framework for knowledge management within the strategy & portfolio team. It describes the elements of the final framework. The framework should also focus on data and information management, because a proper foundation is necessary. And it will go into more detail on the influence of organisational culture. The objective of this research is described as:

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Before continuing with describing the research question, it is important to further specify the focus of this research. Knowledge management might be more useful or more urgent for some activities than for other. And, as already mentioned above, for some activities also data and information management might be crucial. It is also important to phrase a research question which can be answered within the given time span. After interviews with the different team members it was decided that the portfolio activities of the team should be the main focus of this research.

This results in the following research questions:

What framework is suitable to introduce knowledge management within the Strategy & Portfolio team and which items should be part of the framework to increase the efficiency of the portfolio review and to enhance the efficiency of the team’s day-to-day work?

Which changes in behaviour, culture and procedures within the team are necessary to secure and enhance the effectiveness of the implemented knowledge management framework?

2.2.1 Sub questions

In order to develop a practical approach the following questions have to be answered. By answering these sub questions the main research questions will eventually be solved.

I. Which frameworks for knowledge management are known from the literature?

The first step in this research is to conduct a literature study on knowledge management and to provide an overview of the existing literature divided by subject.

II. Knowledge Management within the company; which frameworks and tools are already available within the company?

KM within the company is not new. Some departments already are relatively advanced in this area.

III. What are the needs for KM and what are the flows in the current situation? a. Which needs exist in the team regarding knowledge management?

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b. What are the data, information and knowledge flows between the key activities and between the team members?

Before being able to design a framework for KM for certain activities, it is important to map the data, information and knowledge flows related to the activities. Also the persons associated with the different parts of the activities should be mapped in order to be better able to design a proper framework.

IV. Which items should be part of the framework and which tools are suitable to support the KM framework?

Without the right tools there will not be an effective KM framework. Note that the tool should not play a prominent role, it plays an important role in the design and implementation of the framework. Also the acceptance can be increased if the tools fit in the working environment.

V. Which changes in behaviour, culture and procedures within the team are necessary to secure and enhance the effectiveness of the implemented KM framework?

Knowledge management cannot be just implemented without a change in the way of working of all the team members. The team members will have to respect the new guidelines and procedures in order to guarantee the functionality of the new framework.

The above-mentioned sub questions will be dealt with in separate chapters as can be seen in the schematic representation below.

Figure 1: Approach to answer the research question Culture

Tools & Framework Conclusion & Recommendation Literature KM

3

KM within company 4 6

7

Needs and Flows

5

6

S&P Team

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2.3 Research Methodology

There are several types of research. It is important to define which type of research is concerned here to determine the appropriate research methodology and research steps (De Leeuw, 2001). In general, there are two types of research within Business Administration: theoretical and practical (De Leeuw, 2001). Theoretical research contributes to general knowledge. Practical research contributes to the management within companies. The difference between theoretical and practical research is that practical research focuses on the need for knowledge of a specific party, in contrast to a theoretical research that focuses on the general need for knowledge. In this case, the need is present within the department and specifically within the Strategy & Portfolio team. This research can therefore be classified as a practical research.

This research can furthermore be characterised as problem solving. This can be represented in a system design or in recommendations (De Leeuw, 2001). A problem solving research will start with an analysis of the current situation, after which a proposal to solve the problem will be presented. This proposal will be implemented and the new situation will be evaluated. If it appears to be necessary, the implemented solution will be adjusted to fit the requirements. A typical problem solving process has three main phases as can be seen in figure 2.

Figure 2: Problem solving approach (source: De Leeuw, 2001) Multiple perspectives Describe Evaluate Determine direction Design Change Implementation D IA G N O S IS D E S IG N C H A N G E

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The diagnosis phase describes and evaluates the current situation. It is important to look at the situation from multiple perspectives. The description of the current situation is partly presented in chapter 2. This chapter described the organisation and the motivation for this research. Literature from the field of knowledge management will complement the description and evaluation in chapter 3. The description of the current situation related to knowledge management and the evaluation of the requirements will be presented in chapter 4 and 5.

The design phase consists of two parts: to determine the output direction and to design a concrete solution. The design is based on information both from theory (literature) and practice (team and current situation). Chapter 6 will deal with the design phase.

The change phase is the last phase and this involves the implementation of the developed knowledge management framework within the team. This also addresses the relation between organisational culture and knowledge management. This will be addressed in paragraph 6.3 and 6.4.

2.3.1 Data collection

There are several methods for data collection in an academic research (De Leeuw, 2001). In this research, information sources within the company (specifically within the department), interviews and especially existing literature will be used. The next chapter will describe the used literature in more detail.

2.3.2 Deliverables and scope setting

- The research is conducted within six months.

- The research is conducted as a graduate thesis for the study Technology Management at the University of Groningen and therefore is subject to all requirements for a graduate thesis as can be found on www.rug.nl/bdk.

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3 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT LITERATURE

“In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge.”

(Nonaka, 1991)

3.1 Introduction

Knowledge Management is a concept that has been addressed in many articles over the last years. Numerous books have been written on the topic as well. Companies invest heavily in knowledge management systems (Ofek and Sarvary, 2001). Many argue that the organisation’s knowledge and learning capabilities are the main source of its competitive advantage (e.g. Kogut and Sander, 1992; Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Starbuck, 1992). One of the most important factors for a successful knowledge management (KM) system is the right culture in an organisation.

Before elaborating on the concept of KM, its fit in organisations and related concepts like knowledge retention, it is important to first distinguish between data, information and knowledge. Data are a set of separate, objective facts about events (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). There is no obvious meaning in data and data say nothing about their own significance. Information is defined by Davenport and Prusak (1998) as a message, either in the form of a written document or an audible or visible communication, which has a sender and a receiver. The primary goal of information is to inform. The transformation from information into knowledge occurs when a person understands and interprets the information (Lee and Yang, 2000). How information is interpreted and the way knowledge is created also depends on the commitment and understanding of the individual holding certain values and beliefs, which are influenced by people's interaction and the development of judgment and behaviour (Berger and Luckmann, 1967). Figure 3 below shows the relation between data, information and knowledge.

Nonaka (1991) articulates the difference between information and knowledge as such: information is a flow of messages, while knowledge is created and organised by the stream of information, based on the commitment and beliefs of its holder.

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Figure 3: Data, information and knowledge (Source: Spiegler, 2003)

3.2 Knowledge Types

Typically knowledge is divided in explicit and tacit knowledge. Polanyi (1966) was the first to make this classification. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that is already documented in contrast to tacit knowledge, which is knowledge stored in employees’ heads. According to Nonaka (1991), explicit knowledge is knowledge that is easily expressed, captured, stored and used. It can be spread as data and is found in databases, documents and messages. Tacit knowledge is not easy to express, highly personal and hard to document, communicate or share with other persons (Gore and Gore, 1999). An important aspect of tacit knowledge is the human influence, since mental models, beliefs and perspectives determine the content and shape of tacit knowledge (Nonaka, 1991).

In addition to the distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge, other separations can be identified. One of these separations is based on an organisational perspective: the division in individual and social knowledge (Spender, 1996). Spender identifies four different types of knowledge when he combines his individual and social dimension with the explicit and tacit dimensions. The different forms are ‘conscious’ and ‘automatic’ knowledge for the individual, and ‘objectified’ and ‘collective’ knowledge for the group or social dimension respectively.

Wisdom Reality

Data

Information

Knowledge

Data Processing: Organising, sorting, calculating, retrieving, reporting Information Processing: Reformatting, qualification, qualification, clustering, learning

Representation, recording, storage

Discovery, values, judgment, intuition, abstraction

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Figure 4: The different types of knowledge (Spender, 1996)

By ‘conscious’ knowledge is meant the personal evaluation of explicit knowledge according to institutionalised social standards. Conscious knowledge is a set of notes or a notebook, which is potentially available to others. For the organisation this explicit knowledge is a fact, or ‘objectified’ knowledge. This type of knowledge is focused on memory: libraries, data banks, standard operating procedures, and is not focused on knowledge development. ‘Automatic’ knowledge refers to the routine recognition of knowledge. Automatic knowledge is not codified and may be unavailable to others. Spender (1996) then relates ‘collective’ knowledge back to the individual, by stating it is something known because it is ‘widely known’.

3.3 Knowledge Strategies and Knowledge Management

In the literature on knowledge management, two core knowledge processes can be distinguished: knowledge creation and knowledge transfer (Davenport and Prusak, 1998). Based on this distinction, four generic knowledge strategies are identified by Von Krogh, Nonaka and Aben (2001): leveraging, expanding, appropriating and probing.

Figure 5: Four knowledge strategies (Based on: Von Krogh, Nonaka and Aben, 2001) Explicit Implicit Appropriating strategy Probing strategy Existing New Transfer Creation Knowledge Process Knowledge domain Leveraging strategy Expanding strategy Individual Social Conscious Automatic Objectified Collective Internal External and Internal Knowledge focus

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The leveraging strategy focuses on the transfer of existing knowledge throughout the organisation and is therefore focussed internally. This strategy is essential to the standardisation of tasks. The expanding strategy starts with existing knowledge in an organisation and aims at knowledge creation from the existing data, information and knowledge. This strategy also has an internal focus and aims to increase the current level of knowledge available. The appropriating strategy is focused both internally and externally. The key element is to transfer external available knowledge into the organisation, in order to increase the present knowledge level. The probing strategy refers to the effort made to create new knowledge from scratch.

According to Hansen, Nohria and Tierney (1999) knowledge can be managed in two ways, namely through codification and through personalisation (explicit and tacit). The first way to manage knowledge refers to the codifying and storage of knowledge in a database, after which other persons can use it. The latter way of managing knowledge refers to the sharing of knowledge via a direct contact. Effective knowledge management implies that both these strategies should be used, since knowledge management should both encompass explicit and tacit knowledge. The interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge is referred to as ‘knowledge conversion’. This knowledge conversion can take place through different processes: socialisation (tacit to tacit knowledge); externalisation (tacit to explicit knowledge); combination (explicit to explicit knowledge) and internalisation (explicit to tacit knowledge).

3.3.1 Knowledge Management

Sarvary (1999) refers to knowledge management as a business process through which organisations create and use their institutional or collective knowledge. He identified three sub-processes: organisational learning (the way an organisation obtains information and knowledge), knowledge production (the transformation of information into knowledge) and knowledge distribution (the access and use of knowledge throughout the organisation). Gurteen (1998) defines KM as ‘an emerging set of organisational design and operational principles, processes, organisational structures, applications and technologies that helps knowledge workers to leverage their creativity and ability to deliver value’. Knowledge management can also be defined as the acquisition, creation, packaging or application of knowledge (Davenport, Jarvenpaa & Beers, 1996; Bowman, 2002). In appendix 1, an extensive overview is presented with different definitions of knowledge management. In this research, the definition of Burkowits and Petrash (1997) is used: ‘KM is getting the right knowledge to the right

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people at the right time so they can make the best decision’. This definition is used because the three elements (knowledge, people and timing) are crucial in knowledge management.

3.4 Implementing Knowledge Management

According to Bennet and Bennet (2003) the goal of knowledge management is ‘for an organisation to become aware of its knowledge, individually and collectively, and to shape itself so that it makes the most effective and efficient use of the knowledge it has or can obtain’. Thuraisingham et al. (2001) refer to KM as the process of using knowledge as a resource to manage an organisation. Knowledge can be used in a variety of ways, for example for sharing expertise, learning from experiences, teaching the staff and for teamwork. This process is very closely related to the culture of an organisation. KM basically changes the way an organisation functions. Instead of competition, it supports cooperation and teamwork. In order to make this work effectively, managers have to motivate people to share ideas and cooperate, by giving incentives such as awards, or it can be included in the performance criteria and evaluation of employees.

For successful knowledge management the culture is very important and on top of that the involvement of top management in creating a culture that encourages to share knowledge is vital (Cleland 1988). Since corporate culture determines values, beliefs, and work systems that could support and/or slow down learning (knowledge creation) and knowledge sharing, Alavi and Leidner (1999) and Slater and Narver (1995) argue that organisational culture is the most important factor for effective KM and organisational learning. It is especially the necessary change in the culture of a company and the change in people’s working habits, that is the most difficult (McDermott 1999). This change is necessary since knowledge management implementation requires a different way of working, but more important, a change in how people behave and how they interact with each other (Angus, Patel and Harty, 1998). Without an environment that encourages sharing both by expectations and management, initiatives within a corporation are destined to fail.

Often, people are reluctant to share their expertise and knowledge, because they calculate their personal gains and loses when making decisions to share information at work (Jian and Jeffres, 2006) and they are afraid other people will receive the credits for their work. Therefore, team spirit and mutual trust is essential for a successful knowledge management introduction (Morey et al., 2001). Managers should diminish the behaviour of not sharing information. It is preferred to do this by motivating and educating the staff to all the benefits that can occur with good knowledge management

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practices instead of forcing the issue. This can for example be done through the communication of ‘success stories’, which are stories that tell the positive consequences of knowledge management.

Morey et al. (2001) argue that organisational behaviour and team dynamics play very important roles in knowledge management. There are different strategies to initiate knowledge management. By introducing techniques, like ways to share documents and tools, which facilitate knowledge management. By creating a knowledge company and making the staff so called knowledge workers. Or by introducing measurable items that stimulate knowledge management and measure the effectiveness.

3.5 Organisational culture and knowledge management

As mentioned earlier, the organisational culture influences knowledge management. It determines the effectiveness of knowledge management and it also influences the outcome of knowledge management initiatives. Therefore it is interesting to find out what kind of culture support which knowledge management initiatives and which characteristics of an organisational culture have either a positive or a negative influence on knowledge management. In the rest of this paper, the words culture and organisational culture will be used interchangeably.

Several researchers in the field of knowledge management have focused on the relation between organisational values and knowledge management (Barrett et al., 2004; Davenport, De Long and Beers, 1998; DeTiene and Jackson, 2001). They suggest that organisational values are important for effective knowledge sharing within a company. Gold, Malhotra and Segars (2001) show in their research that some characteristics of a culture are related to KM capabilities and effectiveness of the KM initiatives. Companies with a more open and supportive culture tend to have more constructive knowledge behaviours, such as firm members sharing insights with others. Other types of cultures can have negative influence on knowledge management. De Long and Fahey (2000) bring forward that strategies or policies that emphasize individual power and competition among firm members will lead to knowledge keeping behaviours. However, organisations that value trust and collaboration will experience a larger willingness between firm members to share their knowledge and expertise. The studies that examined the relation between culture and KM find that certain types of organisational values will lead to different types of KM behaviour and these behaviours will lead to different types of outcomes. This is why organisations should try to strive for values in their organisational culture that

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Alavi, Kayworth and Leidner (2005) extended the field of research on organisational values and knowledge management practices. Instead of focusing solely on the processes of knowledge sharing and creation, they also focused on other processes, such as knowledge seeking and use, the employment of tools to support KM, and the outcomes of KM. In addition to this, they study the choice of technology in support of knowledge management and how this choice may be influenced by organisational values. Their findings indicate that the way in which knowledge management technologies are used is influenced by the values of organisational members. In addition they find that groups with different values using the same KM tools are likely to experience diverse KM outcomes. This suggests that when the technical aspects of a KM tool are being developed, the social environment to facilitate effective knowledge-related behaviours should receive attention as well. Finally, Alavi et al. (2005) also report that a firm’s approach to knowledge management is influenced by cultural values.This thus suggests that knowledge management by itself is not an independent and objective initiative within organisations. The opposite is true; social settings, cultural aspects of the organisation and interactions between individuals, influence heavily the knowledge management processes.

3.6 Difference between sectors and types of companies regarding KM

This paragraph deals with the differences regarding KM between companies. It is useful to understand the differences in order to focus attention in this research.

Not much research has been done regarding the differences of knowledge management and KM implementation in different types of companies. Most literature is focused on KM in large companies. This is a logical consequence of the fact that knowledge management is more incorporated in large, multinational companies (Wong and Aspinwall, 2005). However, some authors do make a distinction between different types of companies. For example, McAdam and Reld (2000) make a distinction between companies in the public sector and companies in the private sector. Several conclusions are drawn from their study. Namely, in general, public companies are more advanced and developed regarding knowledge management. Organisations in the public sector are more dependent on people-based knowledge embodiment. Also, these companies rely more on people-people-based approaches for knowledge distribution across the company. However, both companies in the public and in the private sector have much to gain by developing effective KM systems. The public sector has recognised more that KM can be useful in the current development for increased efficiency in all areas. Another author focused his research specifically on small and medium size enterprises (Wong, 2005). He argues that the most general success factors for implementing knowledge management are the same for large as

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for smaller companies, namely management leadership and support, culture and IT. The author added several items to this list, of which the most important are a proper KM strategy and training and education. However, since so few studies have been done in this field, it is difficult to say if the success factors for implementing KM differ a lot for smaller and larger companies.

3.7 Knowledge management and technology

Technology is often considered as a replacement for knowledge. The computer, database management software, data warehouses and particularly the internet are often linked with information and knowledge. These technological means are unquestionably helping to access data quickly and efficiently; software packages and communication facilities enable accessing, retrieving, transformations, visualisations, and other operations on data. Still, they are information and not knowledge (Spiegler, 2003). However, there is support that the use of these knowledge management technologies lead to improved communications and increased levels of participation among employees, efficiencies in problem solving, improved financial performance, better marketing practices and improved project team performance (Alavi and Leidner, 1999).

3.8 Knowledge retention

How can a company guarantee that the knowledge currently available in the company is still there in the long-term? This is the central question that leads to the concept of knowledge retention. Knowledge retention is often mentioned as part of a bigger knowledge management system or framework. Knowledge retention focuses specifically on the transfer of knowledge from employees who are leaving to new employees. This in order to guarantee the organisation is able to build on and extend its current knowledge base and to prevent to invent the wheel over and over again.

Knowledge sharing practices are the core of any knowledge retention strategy. Pioneers in organisational knowledge retention recognise that their most important challenges involve behaviour or process changes (De Long and Davenport, 2003).

According to De Long and Davenport (2003), knowledge retention initiatives should start with the identification of what essential knowledge is at risk. Especially the transfer of tacit knowledge and skills is challenging, since this it is mainly fixed in individuals. The majority of the research on knowledge retention focuses on the issue of the retirement of employees and how to transfer the

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in relation to so-called job-hopping. This phenomenon has less impact, since the employees stay within the organisation. However, this should not be underestimated, since in practice the priority of the employee is on his/her new job.

3.8.1 Knowledge mapping

Knowledge mapping is a process that identifies knowledge, skills and tools needed to sell or deliver a solution. Knowledge maps can serve as a place to store explicit knowledge and to serve as a pointer to the holders of implicit knowledge. According to Vail (1999) a knowledge map is the representation of captured information and relationships, which facilitates the communication and learning of knowledge by employees with different backgrounds at multiple levels of details. In general, knowledge maps contain information about knowledge rather than knowledge itself (Seemann and Cohen, 1997).

3.9 Way forward

This chapter showed an overview of the existing literature on knowledge management and described relevant definitions. For the rest of the this research, the following items will be used.

The different levels: data, information and knowledge. This research will deal with both implicit and explicit knowledge. The knowledge strategies from Von Krogh, Nonaka and Aben (2001) will be used to discuss the existing KM in the company and to identify the new strategies and solutions. In addition, the literature on cultural implications will be used, since a successful implementation of KM is dependent on culture changes.

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4 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE COMPANY

This chapter depicts the current situation with regard to knowledge management and the different tools already available in the organisation. The knowledge management team within the department is an important source for this chapter as well as the internal website on KM of the company.

4.1 Knowledge Management within the company

According to the knowledge management team, efficient management of knowledge within the organisation will be fundamental to maintaining the competitive advantage. Knowledge management is defined within the company as:

‘The leveraging and linking of people's knowledge, processes and technology to improve the way of working and to connect people who have the expertise, insight or experience with those seeking it’ According to the company, better decisions are achieved by spending less time on information gathering and more on the creative process.

Figure 6: Creative process of knowledge management (Source: company website)

According to the knowledge management team, the challenge is to increasingly use the electronic space in addition to the physical space by working with new tools, processes and interactive behaviours. Embedding knowledge management processes and associated new ways of working will facilitate the company to grow in strength and speed of project implementation and eventually it will change the company culture. These are the knowledge management aims within the company:

KM Gather Information Filter Information Analysis Creative Ideas Actions Gather info Filter Information Analysis Creative Ideas Actions

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KM Mission

The knowledge management mission is to increase effectiveness and productivity within the company by providing technology and encouraging a culture in order to gather, share and use knowledge effectively, to the benefit of the organisation.

KM Objectives

The objectives of knowledge management are the following:

- To enable and promote the sharing of knowledge throughout the business. - To determine the knowledge requirements of all groups within the business. - To facilitate virtual team working.

KM Process

The following steps describe the knowledge management process:

- To identify and address learning and knowledge sharing issues and needs within the company. - To provide the tools, support and processes to enable virtual team working.

- To develop, facilitate and embed knowledge-capture practices, using all available technological resources.

- To embed KM practices in the company culture to achieve ‘unconscious competence’.

Knowledge management aims to help people in their daily work by providing access to people who know what they need to know and offering tools that contain knowledge and information they need to do a better job. It is a systematic approach that facilitates access to total global knowledge and sharing it all across the business. Knowledge management gives people access to company knowledge, enabling them to learn from it while saving time. Though it is important that all employees recognise there is a dual role to play in effective knowledge management, namely searching for knowledge as well as sharing it. By adopting the behaviour of ‘Ask before, Learn during and Share after’ every business activity, the capturing and use of the collective knowledge can be optimised.

Figure 7: Egg Model – ‘Nobody in an organisation knows what the total organisation knows’ I don’t know who to ask GLOBAL NETWORK I know who to ask MY NETWORK I Know ME

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4.1.1 Benefits of KM

As represented by the diagram below, KM benefits can be broken down into three distinct streams: Knowledge Benefits

These are the benefits derived from more efficient processing of information and knowledge, for example by eliminating duplication of effort or saving valuable time.

Intermediate Benefits

These are how the knowledge benefits can be translated into benefits that can be expressed in terms of efficiency or effectiveness.

Organisational Benefits

Benefits that impact some of the organisation's key goals, such as productivity and customer service.

Figure 8: Benefits of Knowledge Management (Source: company website)

Access to best &

latest thinking _{Novel approaches}

New ideas

Better & faster innovation Faster access to knowledge Faster problem-solving Improved customer service Better sharing

New hires work effectively quicker Knowing who’s doing what Minimises duplication & reinvention Productivity and performance benefits Knowledge Benefits Intermediate Benefits Organisational Benefits Reduced knowledge loss

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4.2 Knowledge management tools

This paragraph describes the knowledge management tools currently used within the company.

Shared drive

The shared drive is the location on the network where the team can store documents. The purpose of the shared drive is to stimulate to share documents. In this way, cooperation between team members should become easier. Moreover old files can be found easily for reference purposes and the continuation of work in case of illness of a team member should be supported by the shared drive, since documents are available for other team members as well. The shared drive contains both data and information.

LiveLink

LiveLink is a web-enabled, collaborative knowledge management system for all employees. It is used for collaborative knowledge management across different organisational units. Sharing of documents and other work in an organised, central, secure location with version control and audit trail. It facilitates team collaboration; to work as a team, to share documents, enable structured meetings and team discussions. The permissions to the different areas in LiveLink differ between employees. In this way, it is possible to share documents with others in a relatively easy way and assuring that only the right people can access the file. LiveLink is used to share documents, but especially to share knowledge and to guide people to specific knowledge.

Benefits

- By storing documents in LiveLink the knowledge repository that is available to all staff grows.

- Using the LiveLink team space provides a natural environment to share documents, post news, hold discussions, provide meeting information and it enables the team to become more organised and effective.

Limitations

- The user-interface is web based and is therefore not as fast as using a shared drive. Communities of practice

The International Global Networks (IGN) are communities of practice supported by web based discussion groups. IGN provides a simple way to communicate within various groups of specific expertise and interest. The Global Networks are a mechanism where discussions can be held, searched for and retrieved. All members can participate in network discussions and use the search facilities.

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Email summary notifications of new postings alert members of new entries posted by staff and allow to decide which entries to look at and when. Becoming a member of a community provides the opportunity to reach a potentially large audience with varying levels of experience and expertise. Global Networks are not only a way to find answers to questions but also an excellent way to connect with other employees throughout the organisation, stimulate new ideas and to share knowledge and expertise. In SIGN information, learnings and successful practices can be shared so that others with a ‘need to know’ will not have to reinvent the wheel and therefore save valuable time and money.

Teleconferencing

This tool/service provides employees with a personal ‘meeting room’, enabling them to hold teleconferences at any given time. It saves travelling time and it is a quicker and cheaper alternative to travel. It is quick to set up and suited for ad-hoc discussions. The disadvantage is that it has no face-to-face contact option, which can make meetings slightly more inefficient.

NetMeeting

NetMeeting is the option to share the computer between several people. In this way people can easily share documents and work on these documents simultaneously. It is also easy to show local applications or to allow remote control over these applications.

4.2.1 Knowledge management tools to be introduced

The following tools and/or initiatives will be introduced within a short time span. These tools focus not only on explicit knowledge but also on implicit knowledge.

Wiki

Wiki is derived from the well-known Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) on the World Wide Web. Wiki within the company is an encyclopaedia with all kinds of information related to business subjects. Wiki will be introduced via a phased introduction. This is scheduled for autumn 2006. Since users of Wiki will contribute to this system by adding information to this tool, it is important that this is done in a proper and consistent way. Therefore the KM team decided to introduce this tool to a smaller group first, after which it will be dispersed by communications between employees. In this way, the KM team is able to make sure that all the entered information will be displayed in a consistent way. This is important for the success of this introduction. As the organised way of presenting information

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and the easy navigation through the information is important for positive responses and experiences. The large amount of users and contributors is the key for this tool.

AAR

AAR stands for After Action Review, which is a process developed by the US Army to help teams to learn quickly from their successes and failures and share their learning with other teams. It involves conducting a structured and facilitated discussion after a task or project has been completed to review what should have happened, what actually happened and why it happened; this allows participants to learn how to sustain strengths and improve on weaknesses in subsequent tasks or projects. AAR was introduced in another department of the company in September 1997. Now it will be introduced as a standard in the department of the strategy & portfolio team as well.

The after action review can be done by asking the following questions: 1. What did we set out to do?

2. What did we actually do? 3. What have we learned? 4. What are we going to do? 5. Who are we going to tell? Objectives AAR:

- Being really clear on what we meant to do. - Review the facts of what actually happened.

- Look at the difference between what we meant to do, what actually happened and learn from the difference.

- Make a plan to keep doing what we did well end improve what didn’t go so well. - Tell others about our learnings.

Deliverables of an AAR:

A shared understanding of what actually happened and what we learned from the difference with the plan; a prioritised, SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound) action plan based on ideas generated during the day; and a communication plan to tell those who need to know our ideas.

The AAR is a good example of an expanding strategy discussed in paragraph 3.3. It starts with existing knowledge in an organisation and aims at knowledge creation from the experiences of employees.

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4.3 Knowledge Retention

Knowledge moves with people. Where knowledge is held only at an individual rather than organisational level there is a high risk of losing knowledge. There are several situations, including retirement, mergers and acquisitions, downsizing and people moving within the organisation where knowledge retention plays an important role.

There are five key drivers for adopting a knowledge retention process: Prevention of the loss of technical knowledge from the organisation Prevention of the loss of business knowledge from the organisation Retention of valuable knowledge as employees move internally Reduction in ‘time-to-competency’ for new joiners

Capture of project lessons learned for subsequent re-application

Knowledge retention aims to mitigate the impact of departing staff. In the knowledge retention procedure, a step-by-step approach is described that makes use of a risk management process to minimise the potential impact on the total capacity. This process was developed primarily for retiring staff but can also be applied to staff leaving for other reasons e.g. transfer, or resignation.

A summary of the procedure steps include:

- Identify: What knowledge is possessed by staff that is about to leave.

- Assess: The business impact of potential loss of knowledge held by the staff, and the criticality of having this knowledge in-house.

- Control: The methods for controlling knowledge loss fall into two main classes: o Transfer the staff’s knowledge to another staff member,

o Delay or cancel the departure of staff.

- Recover: During the assessment, it may be found that some critical knowledge has already been lost, or the departure time is too short for effective transfer. In this case the lost knowledge has to be re-built. The rebuilding of this knowledge is similar to the development of new capacity.

Obviously it is important for staff to pass on their knowledge to the appropriate colleagues. This is not necessarily a one-to-one transfer, but different individuals may pick up different competencies. The coaching and mentoring process allows experienced staff to pass on knowledge to more junior staff.

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The described process below specifically addresses the knowledge drain through employees leaving the business. However, also for employees switching between jobs within the organisation, the same procedure can be followed.

Practical Process for knowledge retention

1. Outgoing staff member accepts new post.

2. Human Resources Inform 'Starters & Leavers Distribution List' of transfer date.

3. Line manager agrees exit program with outgoing staff member, allowing sufficient time (usually about three days) for knowledge transfer activity.

4. Line manager nominates team member to assist in capture process.

5. Outgoing staff member completes knowledge capture form and then undertakes knowledge transfer with nominated colleague.

6. Meeting arranged with line manager after knowledge capture period.

7. Line manager signs off form and notifies knowledge management adviser of completion. In practice, this process can be quite difficult. Therefore, it is advisable in case a person with critical knowledge leaves a post, to contact the knowledge management department. These people are trained to capture the most important knowledge and can learn how to execute this process in the best way. Special attention should be paid to implicit knowledge, since this is the most difficult to capture.

This chapter described the available knowledge management tools in the organisation and how the employees and the organisation can benefit from them. The next chapter will focus on the specific knowledge management requirements of the team.

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5 NEEDS FOR KM AND FLOWS IN CURRENT SITUATION

This chapter will describe the needs and requirements of the team regarding knowledge management. It will also show a detailed overview of one of the most important activities of the team.

5.1 Data collection and approach

The needs and requirements that will be discussed in paragraph 5.2 have been identified after interviews with the different team members and with people outside the team. All the items and issues mentioned were subsequently divided in so called ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’. Based on the total scope of the project and time limitations, the final list with needs and requirements has been accomplished.

The next step in the process is the analysis of the requirements. The analysis was an interactive process with numerous discussions with the team, with former team members and with the knowledge management team of the department. First, the current situation and problems have been identified and discussed. The complex portfolio review activity is mapped to be able to present a comprehensive overview as a starting point. The models used for different activities have been studied in detail, to make sure the new solution fits with these models. Thereafter, a solution is proposed which should meet the needs and requirements of the team identified earlier. These solutions will be presented in the framework in chapter 6. These solutions have been implemented afterwards.

5.2 Needs and Requirements

At this moment, knowledge management is new to the strategy & portfolio team. Obviously the concept itself is not new to the team, since all team members are aware of the increased importance of knowledge management in the business environment in general. However, knowledge management has not received very much specific attention from the team. Since the team operates in a dynamic environment and competition is increasing, knowledge management can contribute to a competitive advantage. This is one of the main reasons for the increased interest of the team in KM. The possibility to increase the efficiency of the team is another important reason.

The aim of this research is to design a practical framework to introduce knowledge management to the team, which increases the efficiency of the way of working of the team. In order to do so, it is important to first identify the needs of the team. There are several issues addressed by the team and

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1. First of all the team mentioned data alignment within the team and between other teams. Related to this is the cooperation with other teams, on data, information and knowledge level. In order words, how can knowledge management increase or improve the data alignment and knowledge exchange between teams.

2. The team would like to have a more structured way for managing the output (analyses, documents, reports) the team produces.

3. Next to that the team would like to improve the reporting activities of the team. A lot of analyses executed by the team are presented in a PowerPoint presentation. It would be of great value if the flexibility of analysing and reporting could be increased and if there is a more structured way of presenting the analyses.

4. The last item mentioned by the team is to find out if and how knowledge management could improve one of the main activities of the team; the yearly portfolio review.

From the team the following three key elements have to serve as a guideline in designing a new framework or solution. Integrity refers to data integrity which means data in different locations should be linked as much as possible to avoid gaps or mistakes. Security refers to the fact that some of the data in the team are classified as highly confidential and should be treated as such. Efficiency should increase or at least stay at the same level.

Figure 9: Guideline for new KM framework

The knowledge management team within the department is specialised in the field of KM. As can be read in the previous chapter, many KM initiatives have been introduced already. Several of these initiatives are company wide, some are department wide and others are business unit or team specific. In cooperation with the KM team the following opportunities for improvement of the current situation in relation with knowledge management have been identified:

• Stimulation of an ‘ask-learn-share’ culture. • Systematic review of activities afterwards.

Integrity

Efficiency Security

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• Structured system for sharing information that can lead to the sharing of knowledge between individuals.

Based on the above identification of issues, it can be concluded that the team identifies needs on different levels; namely on data, information and knowledge level. This means that the eventual framework will consists of different levels as well as can be seen in figure 10. The will be discussed in chapter 5 and 6. It is important that the different parts will fit together in a coherent framework. The needs identified by the team will be assessed and analysed and initial solutions will be discussed in the next paragraphs. The identified requirements will be analysed in paragraph 5.3. Thereafter, the portfolio review will be captured in a schematic diagram flow in paragraph 5.4, which will provide detailed insight of this activity since it is a very complex set of actions. Based on this analysis the parts of the final framework will be designed in the next chapter.

Figure 10: Levels of the framework

5.3 Analysis requirements

This paragraph will deal with the identified needs and requirements by the team. It will first describe the different needs and will address the critical issues to be taken into account when designing the final parts for the framework. The yearly portfolio review will be discussed separately in paragraph

KM recommen-dations Level Sharing Information Knowledge Culture Data Review Data alignment AAR Wiki Efficient reporting Portfolio review Shared drive Context

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Data alignment and Cooperation between and within the different teams

It is important that the output the team produces is consistent. Therefore assumptions and updates should be applied consistently throughout the different teams. At this moment, there is some data sharing between the different teams. However, this is not done in a structured and/or consistent way. Also updates to the data are not communicated in a systematic way. Since it is important to be able to ‘trust’ data and to make sure that different analyses made by different teams are originally based on consistent assumptions, it is important to pay attention to this subject.

Cooperation between and with other teams is very important. This avoids duplications of work and one team can benefit from the data, information and knowledge from another team. The current way of cooperation between relevant teams is going relatively well. Many informal conversions and formal meetings are held to make sure that the employees are well aware of the activities of other teams. No specific requirements have been identified by the team to improve this area. However, there is always room for improvement. After discussions held with the team it is decided that this part will not be an important part of the final framework. Instead, it will be dealt with when analysing the data alignment between teams and it will also be discussed together with the introduction of new KM initiatives.

Document management and Local data storage

The identified issues at this moment are as follows. There is no systematic way for storing documents or explicit data and knowledge. It is not clear which documents to store (especially regarding working versions). There is no standardised way for naming documents and it is not easy to find the documents another team member has worked on in the last period, while this is important when a team member is on leave or ill.

A proper document management system is important for the following reasons. It is important that documents are stored in a consistent way. In this way the team is able to access files from a colleague who is on leave or ill. It will be easier for team members to be able to work together on files. A new team member will be able to easily find relevant documents and historic or old files can be used as a basis for new files (as a starting point).

Efficient way to analyse and report data

Data analysis is an important activity of the team. A lot of analyses are eventually presented in a presentation. Therefore the team identified the need for a structured way to manage the data they receive and produce and also to manage the information and knowledge output from the analyses. The team started to use a new reporting tool that will be used to produce graphs for different analyses. It is

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preferred to have all data in one location, because this allows for maximum flexibility, both for analyses and reporting. In order to be able to do such analyses, a separate table has to be introduced. It is important to determine and design the most optimal structure for the reporting table in order to maximise the flexibility and to minimise the inefficiency. This table will be made in Access, a database program. The details of this new solution will be discussed in the next chapter.

Introduction of KM initiatives

The team is open for new knowledge management initiatives. Wiki and AAR are examples of these new initiatives, which have been discussed in the previous chapter. The focus of these initiatives is on both explicit and implicit knowledge. In the next chapter it will be discussed whether and how these principles can attribute to the team.

5.4 Mapping of data, information and knowledge flows portfolio review

Before being able to design a framework for KM for certain activities, it is important to map the data and information flows related to an activity. Also the persons associated with the different parts of the activities and the knowledge flows between persons should be mapped in order to be better able to design a proper framework. As mentioned above, the yearly portfolio review is a rather complex activity. Therefore it is decided to map this activity in a diagram flow. This diagram shows the different processes and document flows related. It also shows the information flows and/or knowledge flows and the interaction between different persons and/or processes. There are different ways to map an activity and several software programs offer this functionality. For this purpose a software package called System Architect is used, for the main reason that this program is also used in other departments within the company. Also the Business Process Improvement department uses this program, which means they can benefit from this effort as well. In appendix 2, a snapshot of the portfolio diagram flow is included. This shows the different processes, documents and relations. Based on this detailed schematic overview and after having participated in this exercise, the following issues have been identified:

- Many steps in the process and therefore many data transfers. - Lack of a systematic way for storing the (intermediate) results. - Communications between relevant persons not always structured.

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The main outcome of the analysis of this activity will be recommendations. This is a logical consequence of the fact that this activity is far from standard. Only certain parts of the activity are standardised. Another issue is the likelihood of this activity being reshaped drastically next year. Therefore the improvements for this activity will concentrate on recommendations and less on actual implementation.

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6 DESIGN FRAMEWORK AND CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS

This chapter will deal with the different parts of the framework and will discuss which tools are suitable to support the KM framework. Without the right tools there will not be an effective framework. However, the tool should not play a prominent role, it plays an important role in the design and implementation of the framework. Also the acceptance can be increased if the tools fit in the working environment. In the first part of this chapter an answer will be given to the question: what does the desired framework look like. The second part of this chapter will deal with cultural implications of the implementation of the framework.

This chapter will not describe the complete framework in too much detail because of confidentiality reasons.

6.1 Final framework

As discussed in the last chapter, the final framework will consist of several parts. It is important however that all items are related to each other and all will contribute to a more efficient way of working for the team. As has been discussed in previous chapters, the final framework will not only be related to knowledge management, but also to information and data management.

The framework consists of five elements. Four of them are based on the needs and requirements identified by the team. The fifth element is an outcome of the literature study and discussions with the knowledge management team of the department. The elements of the framework will be discussed in this chapter. The solution is presented and the practical implications are shown.

Below a schematic representation of the KM framework can be found. On purpose it has been shown rather disorganised to illustrate that knowledge management is not a stand-alone and easy concept. The key in this framework is that the different parts are all related to each other and that no item is a stand-alone item. It also shows the multiple relations between the different parts of the framework. The dotted line is the border of the framework.

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Knowledge Level

Information Level

Data Level

Figure 11: Relation between the different parts of the total KM framework

6.1.1 Data alignment and cooperation between and within the different teams

In order to be able to align the data within the team better and more efficient, I built and introduced a new database. This database integrates several other tools into one tool. The most important items in this database are details of the projects and allocation specifications of project A to project B. The advantage is that all data are in one location, whereby changes made to data will be automatically updated in related data. This thus means a significant reduction in updating work. Another advantage is that the new database has the same structure as a related database and therefore data exchange has become easier. The database has a system for version control, therefore up-to-date data are guaranteed. Audit trail is also included in the database, so changes can be tracked. All the team members have access to the database, however, only one person is responsible for updating the data.

It is important after introducing a new way of working with this database, to define the different responsibilities carefully. This mainly refers to who is responsible for which part of the data. Therefore, a guideline is presented in which the abovementioned items are included. It also addresses the functionality of the database and how it works.

6.1.2 Shared drive

Organisations make increasingly use of electronic databases for the purpose of pooling information as shared resources. These shared locations contribute to organisational efficiency, learning and innovations (Constant, Kiesler and Sproull, 1994). Though in reality these shared resources are not

Shared drive (2) Efficient Reporting (3)

KM Initiatives and KM Recommendations (5)

Portfolio Review

(4) Data alignment (1)

A practical approach to identify the needs for Knowledge Management within a young team in a dynamic environment Elke J.E. Klaassen

A practical framework for Data,

Information and Knowledge

Management

A practical approach to identify the needs for Knowledge Management within a

young team in a dynamic environment

Elke J.E. Klaassen

November 2006

UNIVERSITY OF

GRONINGEN

Faculty of Management and Organization

Technology Management

Supervisor:

T.W. de Boer

Co-reader:

J.L. Miedema

A Practical Framework for

Data, Information and Knowledge

Management

PREFACE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE COMPANY

2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

3 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT LITERATURE

4 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WITHIN THE COMPANY

5 NEEDS FOR KM AND FLOWS IN CURRENT SITUATION

6 DESIGN FRAMEWORK AND CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS