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ISO30401:KnowledgeManagementSystems-whatdoesitmeanforKMprofessionalsandfororganiza?ons

implemen?ngKM?

PatrickLambe–10December2018www.straitsknowledge.com

www.mykmroundtable.org

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Informalcommunity(volunteers)Quarterlysharingandnetworking

mee:ngsAnnualonedayconference“KM

Exchange”

LetyourKMcontactsandcolleaguesknow!

www.mykmroundtable.org

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Agenda

•  TimelineofstandardsdevelopmentinKM•  Whyarestandardsconten?ousinKM?Argumentsforandagainst

•  ISO30401–whydiditsucceed?•  ISO30401–structureandrequirements•  Limita?onsofthestandard•  Howcanyouuseit?

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1.KMStandards:ATimeline

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Timeline

2000-2005“Struggle”

2011-2018“Success”

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2000-2005

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2011-2018

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2.TheBaXleoverKMStandards

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“SothisISOKMstandard,how’sitgoingthen?”“It’spreJymuchwhatyou’dexpect.There’slotsofpeopleaccusingeachotherofcrasscommercialism,beingwrong,notrecognizingeachother’sgenius.Everyonereallyseems

tohateeachotherinthisgroup.”

(MaJMoore–SIKMLeadersForum)

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Emo?onalCri?ques

•  KMCer?fica?onWars1998-2006

•  Fearofcommercialbias•  Lackoftrustorac?vemistrust

•  Fearoflossoffreedom•  Compe?ngaffilia?onstomodelsofKM

EdwardSwanstrom

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Emo?onalCri?ques2003:InterimAS5037“toosimplis?c,”“toorigid,”“toomechanis?c,”“toolinear,”itwould“reduceKMtothelowestcommondenominator,”“itwouldexcludelegi?mateapproachestoKM,”“itwouldbecompromisedbythecommercialac?vi?es”ofBusinessExcellenceAustralia(thecommercialdivisionofStandardsAustralia),“toomuchjargon”(Hasan2004;Ferguson2006).

HelenHasan

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ReasonedCri?quesComplexityofKM•  KMasafieldistoobroadandcomplextobecapturedinasinglestandard(orcer?fica?on)

•  Itispossibletoholdequallyjus?fiablebutopposingviewsonKMdecisions

•  KMiss?llevolving•  ThereisnoconsensusonKM(andinsufficienttrusttoreachconsensus)

JosephFirestone

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ReasonedCri?ques

ComplexityofOrganiza>ons&Knowledge•  Organiza?onsarecomplexadap?vesystems–futureoriented

•  Standardsassumepredictabilityandconsistency–pastoriented

•  It’snotpossibletobeprescrip?veinKM,whichisledbyvariablecontextualneeds

DavidSnowden

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ResponsesComplexityofKM•  KMasafieldistoobroadand

complextobecapturedinasinglestandard(orcer?fica?on)

•  Itispossibletoholdequallyjus?fiablebutopposingviewsonKMdecisions

•  KMiss?llevolving•  ThereisnoconsensusonKM

(andinsufficienttrusttoreachconsensus)–exceptataverygeneral“common-sense”level

ComplexityofKM•  Itshouldbepossibletomapthe

landscapeatleastatahighlevel,leavingscopeforvaria?onandadap?veness

•  Nottocapturewhateverconsensusexistsleavesinnocentbuyersvulnerable

•  In-principleresistanceisaself-fulfillingprophecybutstandardsdevelopmentprocesscannudgeafieldtowardscommonreferencepointsandaddstability

•  Whatisobviouscommonsensetoprac??onersmaynotbeobvioustoothers–e.g.seniorleadershipteams

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ResponsesComplexityofKM•  Notallaspectsof

organisa?onallifearecomplex–somearewellstructuredandpredictable

•  Evenincomplexadap?vesystems,someprac?cesbecomehabituatedandstabiliseover?me,andbecomenorma?ve

ComplexityofOrganiza>ons&Knowledge•  Organiza?onsarecomplex

adap?vesystems•  Standardsassume

predictabilityandconsistency•  It’snotpossibletobe

prescrip?veinKM,whichisledbyvariablecontextualneeds

KMstandardsarelikelytoworkashigh-levelframingandorienta:ondevicesforKMprac:ce,andtheyarelikelytoworkbestforthoseaspectsoforganisa:onallifethatarestable,rou:nizedandrela:velypredictable.Theyarelesslikelytobeusefultostructureorgovernmorecomplex,emergentandadap:veprac:cesandcontexts.

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3.ISO30401

Whydiditsucceed?WhatitsaysLimita?ons

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WhydidISO30401succeed?

•  ISOasanins?tu?on–separa?onofthestandardfromcommercialexploita?on(e.g.cer?fica?on)

•  Imposi?onofaconsistentmanagementsystemsstandardtemplate–“framework-free”

•  CommiXeeworkwasdisciplinedandplanned•  Thestandardisprinciples-basedratherthanrules-based

•  Debatewaschanneledintopubliccomment

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ISO30401Principles1.   NatureofKnowledge:intangibleandcomplex;createdbypeople.2.   Value:knowledgeisakeysourceofvaluefororganiza?onsto

meettheirobjec?ves.3.   Focus:KMservestheorganiza?onalobjec?ves,strategiesand

needs.4.   Adap>ve:thereisnooneknowledgemanagementsolu?onthat

fitsallorganiza?onswithinallcontexts.KMadaptsitselftopar?cularneeds.

5.   Sharedunderstanding:Forsharedunderstanding,KMshouldincludeinterac?onsbetweenpeople,usingcontent,processesandtechnologies.

6.   Environment:knowledgeisnotmanageddirectly;KMfocusesonmanagingtheworkingenvironment,andnurturingtheknowledgelifecycle.

7.   Culture:cultureiscri?caltotheeffec?venessofKM.8.   Itera>ve:KMshouldbephased,incorpora?nglearningand

feedbackcycle.

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ISO30401Requirements–“Shall”1.   Determine:theorg.purpose,businessenvironmentand

stakeholderstodeterminegoalsofKM2.   Scopeandpriori>se:theknowledgedomainstobecovered3.   Cover:processesforknowledgeacquisi?on,applica?on,reten?on,

discarding,humaninterac?on,codifica?on,synthesis,learning4.   Includeandintegrate:allenablers–people,process,

infrastructure,governance,culture5.   Leadership:values,policy,integra?onofKMintobusiness

processes,resourcing,KMrolesandresponsibili?es,communica?ons,changemanagement,metrics,con?nualimprovement

6.   Planning:defineobjec?vesandoutcomes,managetheplananddocumentoutcomes

7.   Resource:resourcing,competencies,awareness,communica?ons8.   Monitoringandevalua>on:improvement,internalaudit,

managementreview

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ISO30401Limita?onsISO30401isaprescrip?vestandardandiswriXenincompliancelanguage–“shall”;BUTbecauseitis

•  principles-ledratherthanrules-led•  intendedtoallowforavarietyofKMprac?ceandapproach,•  lackinginspecificityandgranularity…itishighlydependentonauditorexperience,interpreta?onandjudgement.Thiscanleadtothreeaudit-relatedissues:

1.   Ambiguity:wheretheunderlyingprincipleissovagueorambiguousthatitprovidesnosubstan?veguidanceforac?onorforaudit.

2.   Decoupling:wherethevisiblethingsyoucandocumentdon’tguaranteethereal(invisible)effec?venessoftheprac?ce;

leadingto…3.   Auditinconsistency:wherethesameprac?cesmaygiverisetodifferent

interpreta?onsbydifferentauditors.

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Ambiguityexamples1.   NatureofKnowledge:intangibleandcomplex;createdbypeople.

Notallknowledgeisinintangibleform.It’smucheasiertomeasuremanagementoftangibleformsofknowledgethanintangibleforms.Thereisnoguidanceonhowtoauditintangibleforms,andtherequirementsaswriXenwould“pass”organiza?onsthatmainlymanagetangibleformsaslongastheyalsomanageinterac?onsbetweenpeople.2.   Value:knowledgeisakeysourceofvaluefororganiza?onstomeettheir

objec?ves.Notallknowledgeisofequalvalue.Thestandardgivesnoguidanceonhowtodiscriminatehighvaluefromlowvalue.Itjustsaystheorganisa?onshalliden?fycri?calknowledge.Thereisnoconsensusorclarityonhowthisprincipleoritsrequirementscouldbeaudited.

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WhatisDecoupling?Themarksofadecoupledmeasurementsystemare:a)  theuseofgeneralcategories(ormotherhoodstatements)inplaceof

granulardefinedoutcomes,b)  theuseofambiguouslanguagethatiscapableofsuppor?ngmul?ple

interpreta?ons,andc)  afocusonmeasurementanddocumenta?onofobservedbehaviours,

regardlessofhowwelltheyreflecttherealac?vityofthesystem.Thismeasurementfocusconcealstheactualdifficul?esinmeasuringeffec?venessofcomplexhumansystems.

Theresultistocreateanillusionofmeasurementwhiletheactualprac?ceofinterpreta?onandaudi?ngissubjecttoinformalnego?a?ons,dependentontheskillsof“specialist”(butopaque)exper?seofauditors(MeyerandRowan1977).

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DecouplinginISO30401Decouplingisawell-knownriskintheaudi?ngofmanagementsystems(Terlaak2007).ISO14001onenvironmentalstandardsisanolcitedexample.Contribu?ngcondi?ons:1.  lackofconsensusonspecificbestprac?ces,2.  noncomplianceisdifficulttoobserveordetect,and3.  thereisaperceivedrewardforcompliance(legi?macyeffects).

E.G.ISO304014.5:“Theorganiza?onshalldemonstratethatorganiza?onalculturehasbeenaddressedasameanstosupporttheknowledgemanagementsystem”.AnnexC:•  definingadesiredknowledgeculture;•  runningagapanalysis;•  crea?ngaplantoaddressthegaps;•  ac?nguponthisplan;•  revisi?ngandupda?ngallpreviousstepsatdefinedintervals.

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AuditInconsistencyISOdoesnotcer?fyitsownstandards.Youcandointernalauditsorbeauditedbyaccreditedna?onalstandardscer?fica?onbodiesaffiliatedwithISO.

Ambiguityanddecouplingplacesaheavyburdenonauditors’judgmentandexper?se–theauditorhastointerpretwhathe/sheseesusingambiguousguidance.a)  KnowledgeofKMb)  Knowledgeofcontextualpar?culari?esoftheorganisa?on

(stakeholders,businessenvironment,structure,culture,history)c)  Insightintoinformal,intangibleaspectsofknowledgeuseinthatorg.

BUT–weknowthatvaguestandardsgenerallyleadtolower(external)auditoreffort(itpaystochecktheboxes,itdoesn’tpaytoinves?gateambiguousareas)

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WilltheStandardDistortPrac?ce?Taleoftwoorganisa>ons:

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4.Discussion

WhataretheProsandConsofhavingthisstandard?Howmightyouuseit?

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Poten?alBenefitsofISO30401Benefit Observa>on ISO30401Implica>on

1.Compa>bilityandinterchangeability

Componentsandprac?cescanbecombinedwithouterror.

ISOmanagementsystemsstandards–enableorg-wideapproachnotfunc?on-based

2.Commonunderstandingandconsistentvocabulary

KMprac??oners,andmanagementteamswillusekeyKMtermswithgreaterconsistencyandlessambiguity.

Despitesomeambiguitythestandardprovidesacomprehensiveandreasonablyconsensus-basedframeofreferenceforKM.

3.Transferabilityoflearningbetweencontexts

KMprac??onersandorganisa?onscancompareprac?cesmoreeasily,andlearnfromeachother.

UsethestandardasabasistobenchmarkandcollectexamplesofKMprac?cesfromelsewhere

4.Compe>>venessandcomparabilitybetweensuppliers

KMcommercialtoolsandserviceprovidersusedis?nc?onsinlanguagetoconfusebuyers,andjus?fyoneproductorserviceoveranother.Par?alapproachescan’tbedis?nguishedfromcomprehensiveones.

ThestandardprovidesacomprehensivesuiteofhygienefactorsforKMagainstwhichproviderscandefinetheirofferingsinaconsistentandeasytocompareway.

5.Qualityandsafety

Implementershavegreaterassuranceofthelikelyqualityofimplementa?on,andtheirriskofapoorimplementa?onisreduced.

Thestandardalonedoesnotbringabsoluteassuranceofquality.SuperficialuseofISO30401couldincreaseimplementa?onrisks-butifthereisbalancedandpragma?cuseofthestandardalongsideotherinstruments,qualityandriskshouldbebeXermanaged.

6.Enhancinglevelsofcompetenceamongprofessionals(Skyrme2002)

Providesaprofession-wideapproachtodescribingcompetenciesandskillsareasforKMprac??oners,iden?fyinggaps,andprovidingdevelopmentopportuni?es.

Thestandarddescribesacomprehensiverangeofac?vi?esthatKMprofessionalsandtopmanagementwillneedtobeengagedin.

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CompetencyDevelopment

hXps://www.cilip.org.uk/page/KnowledgeManagementChartership

TheCILIPProfessionalKnowledgeandSkillBase(PKSB)isbeingupdatedtoincludeKM,usingISO30401asareference

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Review(1)1.  TheKMcommunityhasresistedprescrip?vestandardsun?lvery

recentlywithfiercedebateonbothsides.2.  ThehistoryofstandardsdevelopmentsuggeststhatKM

standardsarelikelytoworkashigh-levelframingandorienta?ondevicesforKMprac?ce,andwillworkbestforthoseaspectsoforganisa?onallifethatarestable,rou?nizedandrela?velypredictable.Lessusefulformorecomplexaspectsoforganisa?onallife.

3.  AKMstandardcouldeasilybeusedinappropriatelyiftheselimita?onsarenotrecognised.

4.  ISO30401standardforknowledgemanagementsystemsispresentedasaprescrip?vestandardwithrequirementsthatcaninprinciplebeaudited–butitcontainsambigui?es,andhaspossibledecouplingeffects.

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Review(1)

5.  Ambigui?es/vaguenessinthestandardcreateadependencyonindividualauditorjudgementandexperience–leadingtoauditinconsistenciesandaretreattotheeasilyobserved.

6.  Thestandardformalisesanumberofwell-knownbasichygienefactorsforeffec?veKMimplementa?onbutdoesnotcaptureallthenecessaryandsufficientcondi?ons.Itcanguidecompetencydevelopmentforprac??oners.

7.  TheISO30401standardmightbeusefulasaframinginstrumentalongsideotherknowledgeauditandKMassessmentapproaches.

8.  Knowledgeauditsandknowledgemappingwouldhelporganisa?onstoimplementKMaccordingtoISO30401requirements.

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References•  Aravind,Deepa,andChristmann,Petra(2011)‘Decouplingofstandardimplementa?onfromcer?fica?on:Does

qualityofISO14001implementa?onaffectfacili?es’environmentalperformance?’BusinessEthicsQuarterly21(1):73-102.

•  Boyes,Bruce(2018)‘Implemen?ngKMstandardISO30401:risksandopportuni?es’RealKM6AprilretrievedfromhXps://realkm.com/2018/04/06/implemen?ng-km-standard-iso-30401-risks-and-opportuni?es/

•  Corney,PaulandMcFarlane,Karen(2018)‘ThenewISOstandardforKMiscoming’Informa:onProfessional25September.

•  Ferguson,Stuart(2006)‘AS5037–2005:knowledgemanagementblueprintforAustralianorganisa?ons?’TheAustralianLibraryJournal,55(3):196-209.

•  Hasan,Helen(2004)‘BoXlingfog:conjuringuptheAustralianKMStandard’ProceedingsofACKMIDS2004):organisa:onalchallengesforknowledgemanagement,Melbourne,VIC,29-30November2004(Melbourne:AustralianScholarlyPublishing)100-12.

•  ISO(2018a)Guidelinesforaudi:ngmanagementsystems–ISO19011:2018(E)(Geneva:ISO).•  ISO(2018b)Knowledgemanagementsystems–requirements–ISO30401:2018(Geneva:ISO).•  Meyer,JohnW.andRowan,Brian(1977)‘Ins?tu?onalizedorganiza?ons:formalstructureasmythand

ceremony’AmericanJournalofSociology83(2):340-63.•  Skyrme,DavidJ.(2002)‘KMstandards:doweneedthem?’retrievedfromhXps://www.skyrme.com/updates/

u65_f1.htm•  Terlaak,Ann(2007)‘Orderwithoutlaw?Theroleofcer?fiedmanagementstandardsinsharingsociallydesired

firmbehaviors’AcademyofManagementReview32(3):968-85.•  Vílchez,VeraFerrón(2017)‘ThedarksideofISO14001:Thesymbolicenvironmentalbehavior’European

ResearchonManagementandBusinessEconomics23(1):33-39.•  Wilson,JohnP.andCampbell,Larry(2016)‘DevelopingaknowledgemanagementpolicyforISO9001:2015’

JournalofKnowledgeManagement20(4):829-44.

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CallforPar?cipa?on

h]ps://>nyurl.com/KMglobalsurvey

CompareyourKMcapabili?eswithpeers–freefor2018

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Thistalkisbasedonresearchformynewbook

KnowledgeAudi:ng:PrinciplesandPrac:ce(2019)

PatrickLambeplambe@straitsknowledge.com

www.mykmroundtable.org