Knowledge Management Profile

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: THE PROFILE

by Alwi Mohd Yunus

Lecturer

Faculty of Information Management, UiTM Shah Alam.

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge Management is a very new field in business organization. It is a talk in town today. Even in Malaysia, there is a growing interest in the knowledge management subject or field. Thus, it is very crucial for us to take a brief look into some aspects that are quite interesting to be explored.

Some facts to consider

What is actually happening that really make us ponder from UiTM’s perspective that should be taken seriously.

l Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) through the Faculty of Information Studies is the first higher learning institution that offers this subject at master level – Master Science in Information Management in Malaysia since November, 1997. (SEE ATTACHED COURSE OUTLINE)

l Only few local companies in Malaysia are trying to implement Knowledge Management namely:

1. MIMOS

2. Malaysian Development Corporation (MDC)

3. Telekom Multimedia Division

4. Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd

as well as some internationally known consultant companies in Malaysia like:

1. Ernst and Young

2. Anderson Consulting

3. Price Waterhouse

4. KPMG Peat Warwick

l Some master students, who currently take Msc in Information Management, are from those companies mentioned above as well as those who are already graduated.

l Other higher institutions are very keen to introduce Knowledge Management subject at diploma, degree and even master level such as:

i. Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR)

ii. Multimedia University (MMU)

INTERNATIONALLY ACCEPTED DEFINITION ON:

A	Knowledge Economy
	“For countries in the vanguard of the world economy, the balance between knowledge and resources has shifted so far towards the former that knowledge has become perhaps the most important factor determining the standard of living-more than land, than tools, than labor. Today’s most technologically advanced economies are truly knowledge-based.” World Development Report, 1999
	“The economy today is based on knowledge processing. Businesses that insist on hanging on to the commodity-processing economy of yesterday are soon going to find themselves unproductive and noncompetitive” Richard T. Due

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGES (Peter Drucker)

Knowledge Spectrum and its relationship with the development of K-Economy

B	Knowledge Management
	“The art of creating value from organization’s intangible assets” Karl E. Sveiby
	“It is a potent competitive tool for an ever more brutally competitive age of shrinking margins, shorter product development times and fickle customers” Hewson, David. (1999). It’s not what you know…, Sunday Times. London.
	“Knowledge Management caters to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings” Yogesh Malhotra, (1997) Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea www.brint.com
	“practical knowledge management is the art of leveraging tacit knowledge like insights, instincts and intuitions-to benefit a company’s bottom line” Prof. Amin Rajan, CEO of CREATE

C	Knowledge Workers
	“those who are involved in the knowledge works” Drucker, P., (1999). Management challenges for the 21st century. Harper Business, New York.
	“knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experiences, values, contextual information, expert insight and grounded intuition that provides an environment and framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organizations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices and norms.” Davenport, Thomas, H., and Laurence Prusak. (1998). Working knowledge: how organization manage what they know. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
	“the ability to acquire and to apply theoretical and analytical knowledge where they require a habit of continuous learning” Peter Drucker
	“the Third Wave person is one who is computer and media literate, who could understand when they see something on television that has been manipulated, who is sending a message to who” Alvin Toffler-Citibank June-Sept. 2000

For more information, please refer to articles attached.

Profile of Knowledge Workers

A	Who?
	l Professionals in every fields	l Technical people, engineers, expert systems, accountants etc
B	Characteristics
	l Drucker-apply knowledge	l Tiwana-acquire, share and utilize knowledge
	l Alvin Toffler- computer and media literate	l Continuous learning at every rank
	l Teamwork-working in group	l Community of practice (CoP)
	l Innovate	l Transform knowledge
C	Tasks
	l Finding knowledge	l Create new knowledge
	l Package and assemble knowledge	l Apply knowledge
	l Reuse knowledge	l Revalidate knowledge
D	Designation
	l Chief Information Officer l Knowledge Management Sales Executive l Knowledge Management Specialist l Knowledge Management Project Leader l Knowledge Manager l Knowledge Management Consultant l E-Commerce Market Intelligence l Intranet Developer/Knowledge Management Consultant	l Chief Knowledge Officer l Knowledge Management Consultants and Project Managers l Knowledge Coordinator l Director of Knowledge Management l Knowledge Strategist l Research Analysts/Manager l Market Intelligent Librarian l Document Analysis l Strategic Information Management l Cyber-commerce Competitive Intelligence l Natural Language Processing Specialist
E	Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
	Role	Job Descriptions
	· Championing · Educating users · Educating management team · Measuring impacts of KM · Mapping existing knowledge · Defragmenting scattered knowledge · Creating technology channels · Integrating business processes with technology enabler	· Optimizing process design for KM · Creating channels · Integrating KM · Breaking barriers and eliminating impediments · Watching the learning loop · Creating financial and competitive value · Supporting IT and eliminating knowledge flow gaps · Create sharing culture · Identify knowledge gaps · Develop CoP and support group work · Diffusing best practices · Training · Structuring process · Removing knowledge sharing barriers · Aligning local knowledge · Creating process triggers · Provide platform for collaboration · Building repositories · Introducing cross functional tools · Infusing external knowledge · Enabling tacit knowledge transfer

KM Implementation

	What?	How?
1.	Appointment of knowledge leader	To promote agenda, develop framework
2.	Creation of knowledge teams	People from all disciplines to develop methods
3.	Developing knowledge bases	Best practices, expert directories, market intelligence
4.	Active process management	Knowledge creation, gathering and storing
5.	Knowledge centers-for knowledge flows	Focal points for knowledge skills and facilitating knowledge flows
6.	Collaborative technologies-	Intranets or groupware for rapid information access
7.	Intellectual capital teams	To identify and audit intangible asset
8.	Knowledge webs-network of experts	Network of experts who collaborate across divisions
9.	Shareware-knowledge exchange	Occasions and locations that encourage knowledge exchange