Knowledge Management

Question 0

What is Tacit Knowledge?

Answer 0

Knowing “How” e.g Charisma, Wit, How to play chess.

Question 0

What are the FOUR steps of the knowledge management lifecycle?

Answer 0

Generation -> Codification -> Sharing -> Leveraging -> Repeat…….

Question 1

What are the 5 methods to turn data to information?

HINT: The 5 C’s

Answer 1

Categorisation - classify data
Calculation - transform data mathematically
Correction - remove errors
Condensation - summarise data
Contextualisation - add context to data (hardest…)

Question 3

What is information?

Answer 3

When meaning is added to data, data becomes information.

Receiver of information determines the meaning , however the sender can shape the interpretation.

Question 4

What is Data?

Answer 4

Values of qualitative or quantitative variables, belonging to a set of items.

Objective (no interpretation given)

Set of discrete facts

Essential for deriving information or knowledge

Question 5

What is “Knowledge Management”?

Answer 5

“The set of processes associated with understanding and using this asset”

Question 6

What is Michael Polanyis model of knowledge ?

Answer 6

In contrast to Ryle , Polanyis view is that TACIT and EXPLICIT knowledge cannot be separated; they are not distinct.
“All knowledge is either tacit or rooted in tacit knowledge”

Question 7

Which factors may change how organisations manage their respective knowledge bases?

Answer 7

Leadership and organisational models in place
Available technologies/resources
Competitive and institutional factors

Question 8

What is Knowledge?

Answer 8

Difficult to define absolutely!

Something that adds value to data and/or information

Application of information to address specific situations in an organisational context?

Question 10

What is Explicit knowledge ?

Answer 10

Knowing “That” e.g. Math formula, the rules of chess, a recipe.

Question 10

What was the philosopher Gilbert Ryles model of knowledge ?

Answer 10

Ryle differentiated between TACIT and EXPLICIT knowledge

“It is one thing to know the rules of chess and quite another to know how to play it”

Question 11

Define learning ?

Answer 11

An entity learns , if through the processing of information , the range of its potential behaviour is changed.

Question 12

What is Single-Loop learning?

Answer 12

Improvement within an existing system that rests on unchallenged assumptions that are implicit and unchallenged.

E.g improving at solving equations

Question 13

Define double-loop learning

Answer 13

Reflecting on the outcome of the action/experiment changes the assumptions you have about the work , the goal , or even how you achieve it.

Example; changing a business target demographic to match current customers as opposed to repeatedly targeting a less successful demographic.

Question 14

What is meant by a “learning organisation” ?

Answer 14

An organisation consists of people/knowers [K(O) = K(P1) + K(P2) + …] ?

The challenge is to “institutionalise” this knowledge by managing and maintaining it at an organisational level

Question 15

What are the two perspectives of Knowledge Management ?

Answer 15

KM as a human resource management issue

KM as an information systems issue

Question 16

What are some problems associated with KM?

Answer 16

Information overload (TMI)
Lack of time for sharing knowledge
Inability to use knowledge efficiently
Human is a cause for failure (insufficient communication and lack of training)

Question 17

What is “knowledge Generation” ?

Answer 17

Knowledge that is acquired by an organisation as well as developed within it.

Question 18

How may an organisation generate knowledge through external resources ?

Answer 18

Acquisition

Rental

Question 19

How may an organisation generate knowledge through internal resources?

Answer 19

R&D
Fusion
Networking
Adaption

Question 20

What is knowledge acquisition ?

Answer 20

Buying of knowledge new to the organisation (does not have to be newly created)

E.g IBM $3.5 billion purchase of Lotus (only valued at $250 million.

Question 21

What are the problems of buying knowledge ?

Answer 21

Measuring the value of purchased knowledge

Recognising where the Knowledge resides

New environment

Question 22

What is knowledge rental?

Answer 22

Renting a knowledge source

E.g providing financial support to a university in exchange for the right to commercialisation of results.

Aim to retain as much rented knowledge as possible.

Question 23

What is R&D ?

Answer 23

Research and Development
Internal units set up specifically for knowledge generation.

Labs, training units, corporate libraries

Question 24

What is knowledge fusion ?

Answer 24

Bringing together of people with different perspectives to work on a problem.

Question 25

How is knowledge generated by networking ?

Answer 25

Knowledge can also be generated through communities of knowers

Initially informal , mainly a mechanism for knowledge sharing.

Question 26

How is knowledge generated through adaptation ?

Answer 26

When an organisation responds to external stimulus such as competitors, regulations etc.

Success can breed complacency (the enemy of success)

Question 27

What are key factors for an organisations ability to adapt ?

Answer 27

Having existing internal resources that can be used in new ways

Having a high absorptive capacity

Question 28

What is a knowledge map?

Answer 28

Directory that can be used to help locate an individual with particular expertise.

Example: LinkedIn skills endorsement

Question 29

How does a knowledge map relate to both tacit and explicit knowledge ?

Answer 29

Explicit - the map itself , the locations of knowledge/knowers

Tacit - individuals or resources located may hold both tacit and explicit knowledge