Step 2: Focussing KM for business benefits: having
established that Knowledge Management is best utilised
from the lens of the required business results, the next step is
to identify which results KM will support, and then to keep
all KM activities focussed on these results. It is helpful in
this respect to look at the RAKID model, which is the mirror
image of the DIKAR model above which guides managers in
a step-by-step manner to identify the data required (supply)
to support an agreed set of results (demand).
It is widely agreed that the ultimate benefits of KM would
be to make an organisation more competitive and more
profitable. This can be achieved by ensuring a firm offers
products or services that are uniquely tailor-made to respond
to customer and consumer needs or that are delivered to
them in a way that is superior to their competition. In order
to achieve this, a thorough knowledge of consumer and
customer needs is required, which is where Knowledge
Management can play a big role, both in understanding the
organisations capabilities internally but also in shedding
light on market and consumer trends, customer channel
evolution and insights and the likes (Murray 2002).
The next step is an important one, which is to establish
how KM can lead to those advantages.
Step 3: Knowledge Management for real benefits: After
identifying the business results that KM is meant to affect and
focussing KM efforts towards them, the real benefits only
result from individual behaviour. It is only when individuals
adopt different ways of working that performance ultimately
improves. It is people behaviour that will yield the benefits,
and not the technology. The above can be summarised in 2
sequential steps where in the first, the right ways of working
are identified, and then technology and organisational
enablers such as the creation of appropriate teams, agreements, or processes, come into play to realise the benefits.
Step 4: Knowledge Teams and where to use them.
Knowledge can be thought of as being present in three
places: as codified information sets, inside the heads of
individuals, and within teams. Table 1 below explains the
challenges posed by each of these as organisations strive to
leverage that knowledge.
The two key objectives for KM are:
– To help the firm succeed by supporting well-informed
decisions.
– To ensure the optimum utilization of the firm’s knowledge base (Murray 2002).
Lubit (2001) has suggested two routes that firms can
adopt to generate a competitive advantage out of knowledge
management. The first one, known as tacit knowledge, is
where the company generates and disseminates knowledge
internally, which is difficult for other companies to
Table 1 The three types of
knowledge (Hosseini et al. 2018)
Knowledge as body of
information
Knowledge as know
—How the individual
Manage phase know—How
the team
Nature of
Knowledge
Explicit
Codifiable
IS can play a part
Packaged
Tacit
Personal
Diffuse
Tacit
Fluid
Dependent on team
dynamics
Diffuse
KM Issues
Finding it
Validation
Value assessment
Obtaining it at reasonable cost
Integration with own systems
Making available to the right
population in the right form
Sensible use of technology
Ensuring subsequent
beneficial use
Establishing suitable
extraction processes
Tight ownership
Reluctance to impact
Motivation and
reward
Experiential so hard
to encode
Trust
Finding suitable way
to pass on learning
Limited role for
technology
Formal management of
essentially free—form
activity
Establishing suitable
frameworks and processes
Members’ own perception
of their role
Mutual trust = need 100%
buy-in
Formal learning mechanics
Dissemination
Creating and using
Knowledge repositories
Technology has
background work
Common
KM Issues
Knowledge about knowledge (knowing it exists and where:
Its context and hence its importance)
Understanding the relevant business context
Ownership and buy-in to KM processes
Updating and reuse of knowledge
Demonstrating casual link between KM activity and business benefit
Towards an Understanding of the Sources of Sustainable …
309
established that Knowledge Management is best utilised
from the lens of the required business results, the next step is
to identify which results KM will support, and then to keep
all KM activities focussed on these results. It is helpful in
this respect to look at the RAKID model, which is the mirror
image of the DIKAR model above which guides managers in
a step-by-step manner to identify the data required (supply)
to support an agreed set of results (demand).
It is widely agreed that the ultimate benefits of KM would
be to make an organisation more competitive and more
profitable. This can be achieved by ensuring a firm offers
products or services that are uniquely tailor-made to respond
to customer and consumer needs or that are delivered to
them in a way that is superior to their competition. In order
to achieve this, a thorough knowledge of consumer and
customer needs is required, which is where Knowledge
Management can play a big role, both in understanding the
organisations capabilities internally but also in shedding
light on market and consumer trends, customer channel
evolution and insights and the likes (Murray 2002).
The next step is an important one, which is to establish
how KM can lead to those advantages.
Step 3: Knowledge Management for real benefits: After
identifying the business results that KM is meant to affect and
focussing KM efforts towards them, the real benefits only
result from individual behaviour. It is only when individuals
adopt different ways of working that performance ultimately
improves. It is people behaviour that will yield the benefits,
and not the technology. The above can be summarised in 2
sequential steps where in the first, the right ways of working
are identified, and then technology and organisational
enablers such as the creation of appropriate teams, agreements, or processes, come into play to realise the benefits.
Step 4: Knowledge Teams and where to use them.
Knowledge can be thought of as being present in three
places: as codified information sets, inside the heads of
individuals, and within teams. Table 1 below explains the
challenges posed by each of these as organisations strive to
leverage that knowledge.
The two key objectives for KM are:
– To help the firm succeed by supporting well-informed
decisions.
– To ensure the optimum utilization of the firm’s knowledge base (Murray 2002).
Lubit (2001) has suggested two routes that firms can
adopt to generate a competitive advantage out of knowledge
management. The first one, known as tacit knowledge, is
where the company generates and disseminates knowledge
internally, which is difficult for other companies to
Table 1 The three types of
knowledge (Hosseini et al. 2018)
Knowledge as body of
information
Knowledge as know
—How the individual
Manage phase know—How
the team
Nature of
Knowledge
Explicit
Codifiable
IS can play a part
Packaged
Tacit
Personal
Diffuse
Tacit
Fluid
Dependent on team
dynamics
Diffuse
KM Issues
Finding it
Validation
Value assessment
Obtaining it at reasonable cost
Integration with own systems
Making available to the right
population in the right form
Sensible use of technology
Ensuring subsequent
beneficial use
Establishing suitable
extraction processes
Tight ownership
Reluctance to impact
Motivation and
reward
Experiential so hard
to encode
Trust
Finding suitable way
to pass on learning
Limited role for
technology
Formal management of
essentially free—form
activity
Establishing suitable
frameworks and processes
Members’ own perception
of their role
Mutual trust = need 100%
buy-in
Formal learning mechanics
Dissemination
Creating and using
Knowledge repositories
Technology has
background work
Common
KM Issues
Knowledge about knowledge (knowing it exists and where:
Its context and hence its importance)
Understanding the relevant business context
Ownership and buy-in to KM processes
Updating and reuse of knowledge
Demonstrating casual link between KM activity and business benefit
Towards an Understanding of the Sources of Sustainable …
309