© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Supporting Knowledge Work Chapter 14...

© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Supporting Knowledge Work

Chapter 14Information Systems

Management in Practice

8th Edition

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Chapter 14

Introduction Companies want to manage knowledge

A model for managing knowledge Building structural capital Building customer capital The cultural side of knowledge management

Intellectual capital issues Value issues Usage issues Sharing issues Social and ecological issues

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Chapter 14 cont’d

Wikis A simple open source for online knowledge repository Wikis for business use

The vast arena of computer ethics A little history What is computer ethics? Information privacy Intellectual property rights Legal jurisdiction Online contracting

Conclusion

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Introduction

Managing knowledge Willingness to share knowledge Codifying tacit knowledge

Embedding outside (of firm) knowledge Customers’ and researchers’ knowledge

Real-time system

Computer ethics Information privacy and intellectual property rights

Challenges to existing laws and regulation

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Companies Want to Manage Knowledge

Knowledge cannot be controlled or engineered, but can be leveraged through organizational processes and culture

Two states of knowledge (Nonaka) Tacit

Exists within a person’s mind and is private and unique to each person

Explicit Articulated, codified and made public

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A Model For Managing Knowledge

FIGURE 14-1 A Knowledge-Management Framework

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Building Human Capital

A form of intellectual capital that consists of Knowledge, skills and innovativeness of

employees Company values and culture

1. Knowledge creation and capture Getting people together to share knowledge and

acquiring it from outside (e.g. customers) High-touch: encouraging sharing culture, innovation

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Buckman Laboratories

Case Example: Knowledge creation and capture K’Netix

Knowledge transfer system to bring knowledge from all of Buckman worldwide to bear on a customer problem Online forums (Intranet) to share knowledge

Online conversations (threads) are captured and stored in the forum library

System facilitates timely and high-quality responses to customers’ needs

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Building Human Capital cont’d

2. Knowledge Absorption and Reuse Getting people to internalize the knowledge

(information) where it can be enhanced and reused

Identifying source of organizational memory Social networks perspective

Which employee(s) in the network holds vital information? T-managers (boundary spanners): Roles in vertical

(departmental) and horizontal (inter-departmental) domains

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British Petroleum

Case Example: T-Manager Concept Researchers found that company implemented

mechanisms to foster and guide managers’ knowledge-sharing activities Peer groups

Defining responsibilities and roles Setting and measuring performance metrics

T-manager Role as tertius iungens (bringing people together)

Egypt divisional head personally involved in 3 of 20 “peer assists” a year

Related expertise sourced directly rather than through HQ

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Building Structural Capital

Intellectual capital embedded in hardware, software, databases, organizational structure, patents and trademarks Knowledge that has been codified into tangible

company asset Knowledge organization and categorization

Creating metadata indexes for knowledge repositories (documents, databases)

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A Pharmaceutical Company

Case Example: Improving a Knowledge Support Process Knowledge Imperative Conference: Creating a

knowledge infrastructure with the objective to improve new drug development cycle Created generic ‘knowledge tree’ of all drugs filed with

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 60,000 documents

Commissioned 10-year drug study beforehand to serve as guide for development team(s) “Public” template (Post-It notes) Mental model (huge sheets of paper on the wall)

Results significantly exceeded expectations

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Skandia Future Centers

Case Example: Valuing Intellectual Capital Putting a value on knowledge

Aimed to find a common mechanism for establishing value and trading that value Project began as small network for exchanging

knowledge Network evolved into a Web-based trading arena

where people can buy and sell knowledge assets Value: When knowledge contributors feel they are

on a “journey” or have “freedom”

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Building Structural Capital cont’d

Knowledge Distribution and Access “Pushing” knowledge out to users and

accommodating users who “pull” information to themselves

Generally, companies focus on high-tech approaches, such as implementing networks and networking tools to access human and structural capital

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A U.S. Energy Company

Case Example: Knowledge Distribution and Access Management promulgated “best practices” to instill sharing

culture amongst 15 autonomous business divisions Practice, know-how or experience that had proven effective or

valuable in one division might be applicable to another A booklet based on TQM principles (which everyone

understood) used as guide for sharing best practices “Technical knowledge experts” (like T-managers) given

responsibility of disseminating tacit knowledge Lotus Notes database to house “best practices”

Online discussion databases Network culture

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Building Customer Capital

Customer capital is the strength of a company’s franchise (relationship) with its customers

Put differently, it is the total discounted lifetime values of all of its customers (driven by satisfaction)

Components of customer capital Brand capital

Familiarity with company and its products and services Value capital

Value customers place on company’s product and services as a function of price and quality

Retention capital Loyalty (repeat customer)

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A North American Bank

Case Example: Building Customer Capital How to evaluate customer intangible assets to minimize

risks of bank loan defaults and delinquencies? Defining and measuring customer capital

Depth of knowledge about the bank within a customer’s organization Breadth of knowledge by a customer Loyalty to the bank

Educating customers and aligning bank’s values with customers to strengthen those aspects

Bank was able to transform into a customer-centric organization

Determine customers’ needs, communicating effectively with customers, develop purposeful relationships, engendering learning (about bank) by customers

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Recap: Stages of KM

FIGURE 14-2 Knowledge Management Stages

Source: Reprinted with permission from Best Practices in Knowledge Management, Giga Information Group, 1997,www.gigaweb.com.

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The Cultural Side of Knowledge Management Knowledge management: Implementing new technology

yes, but we must also change organizational culture (behavior)! Focus on people’s knowledge sharing efficacy and motivations

What are the cultural red flags? Behavioral

Whistle blower or messenger of bad news Losing one’s place as a knowledge gatekeeper Time implications (it takes time!)

Management Saying the project is not cost justifiable because benefits are intangible Concern that too much participation will reduce employee productivity Concern that creating the taxonomy of knowledge categories will be too

expensive to undertake

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The Cultural Side of Knowledge Management cont’d

How to design an information system to match what users value so that they actually will use it and gain value from it? Demand driven Roots out tacit knowledge In members’ email box every day Full of intriguing opinions

The system should facilitate conversations rather than serve as a library of sorts

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Partners Healthcare System

Case Example: Design the system to match what the users value

A system that delivers just-in-time knowledge to physicians Online order entry Notifications and recommendations (as drug prescription is

ordered) Possible drug interactions

side effects, patient allergies New or better drugs available Event-detection mechanism

Flags event(s) that could endanger patient’s health Committees of top clinicians identify and maintain system’s

knowledge bases

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Intellectual Capital Issues

Legislation to address pertinent issues on data, information, content and intellectual capital created in some, but not all countries in the world (problematic given globalization) Country and cultural variations Resolution is salient to the further development of

e-commerce Four dimensions of issues in managing

information

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1. Value Issues

Information’s value depends on the recipient and the context Pricing (demand and supply) as a practical way to establish

the value of information Tools to increase the value of information

Information maps Textual charts and diagrammatic maps

Point to location of information Information guides

People who know where the information is Documents Groupware

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2. Usage Issues

Information use is difficult to manage because Information complexity must be preserved

Maintain information “richness” People do not share easily

Highly competitive organizational climates and cultures (Who gets the glory?)

Technology does not change culture on its own Change in basic employee values, attitudes and

behaviors, and management expectations

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3. Sharing Issues

A sharing culture must exist in an organization in order to effectively implement a sharing system Technical solutions do not address the issue Change managers must work out entrenched attitudes

about organizational control

Balancing encouraging employees to share information and intrusive management (coercion)

Limits to information sharing Do you want anarchy in your organization?

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Social and Ecological Issues

Knowledge is widely fragmented and thus its power is in the heads of a large number of stakeholders Employees, customers, partners

How to get people to work together in shared vision instead of against each other (agency)?

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Wikis

A simple open source for online knowledge repository Collaborative software that allows Web pages to be

created and edited using a Web browser Facilitates group work (collaboration) without face-to-face is

the key feature of a wiki Knowledge creation based on trust and code of ethics

Wiki for business use Low cost of acquisition (OSS) and use (built for dummies) Reasonable level of functionality, security and durability Self-organization and management of corporate knowledge

(Web documents)

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The Vast Arena of Computer Ethics

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A Little History

New technologies pose ethical issues when they introduce new possibilities for human action Mainframe era

Invasion of privacy PC (desktop) era

Intellectual property rights Internet era

Resurfacing of all past concerns and more on a global scale Privacy, intellectual property rights, censorship (e.g. many

instances in Asia)

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What is Computer Ethics?

Ethical issues arise because of “policy vacuums” engendered by new technologies (especially the Internet)

Areas of ethical concern include: Privacy Intellectual property rights Liabilities Free speech Professional conduct and accountability

Should there be new laws or are there alternatives? Can we rely on traditional moral values and norms?

Country and cultural variations

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Information Privacy Privacy includes

Freedom from intrusion, Right to be left alone Right to control information about oneself Freedom from surveillance

Internet privacy Cookies, private information submitted on e-commerce sites

Some countries have enacted laws to address such issues We all have a part to play: Things that can be done to increase

information privacy protection At the national level By computer professionals By technology In institutions By individuals

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Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property protection is critical as many digital products and services are easily imitable

Four traditional types of legal intellectual property protection Copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets

But the real value of such mechanisms is only proven when they can be successfully enforced during litigation

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Legal Jurisdiction

Laws are written for particular jurisdiction with clear geographic boundaries Difficult to extrapolate traditional institutions into virtual world

(Internet) What is being done to cope with institutional

underdevelopment on the Internet? International level (United Nations Commission on International

Trade and Law) Developed a model law that supports commercial use of international

contracts in e-commerce National level

Adaptation and extension of existing commercial laws Firm level

Placing online contracts on Web sites (“I agree”)

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Online Contracting

Contract law looks for evidence that the parties have mutually assented (i.e. agree after much deliberation) to the terms of a particular set of obligations

In e-business, evidence of acceptance of a contract can be a simple click on a button saying, “I Accept” or “I Agree”

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Clickwrap Agreements

Case Example: Online contracting A “clickwrap contract” is an example of what

the law calls a contract of adhesion A contract you did not really bargain over in any

way, but which was presented as more of a take it or leave it offer

Adhesion contracts are generally enforceable

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Conclusion

Managers need to understand the 4 stages of the knowledge lifecycle to properly facilitate knowledge work in their organizations Recap: What are the four stages and which specific

approach should be used at each juncture? Managers should have at least a general

understanding of the vast arena of computer-related ethical issues to set, promulgate and enforce appropriate company policies Whether adherence to national or international laws and

regulations or organization-instigated (strategic or operational imperatives)

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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice HallPublishing as Prentice Hall

© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall Supporting Knowledge Work Chapter 14...

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