A Framework For Knowledge Management System Implementation In
Collaborative Environment For Higher Learning Institution
Rusli
Abdullah, Mohd Hasan Selamat, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Shamsul Sahibudin, Rose Alinda Alias, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
ABSTRACT:
“Knowledge management (KM) system” is a phrase that is used to describe the creation of knowledge repositories, improvement of knowledge access and sharing as well as communication through collaboration, enhancing the knowledge environment and managing knowledge as an asset for an organization. In this paper, we analyze the KM concept, system and architecture; then we propose a framework of KM system implementation in collaborative environment for Higher Learning Institutions (HLI). We also discuss various issues involved in this field that will help organizations to increase productivity and quality as well as to achieve return on investment (ROI). Issues that are highlighted in this paper include how best to acquire and disseminate knowledge; how to determine the best way for approaching and acquiring knowledge effectively including motivating people to share and access knowledge through the system; how to determine metrics for evaluating KM efficiency; how to identify how people create, communicate and use knowledge; and how to create more inclusive and integrated KMS software packages.
1. Introduction
Knowledge is something that comes from information processed by using data.
It includes experience, values, insights, and contextual information and helps
in evaluation and incorporation of new experiences and creation of new
knowledge. Knowledge originates from, and is applied by knowledge workers who
are involved in a particular job or task. People use their knowledge in making
decisions as well as many other actions. In the last few years, many
organizations realize they own a vast amount of knowledge and that this
knowledge needs to be managed in order to be useful.
Table 1: The
Difference Between Information And Knowledge
|
Information |
Knowledge |
|
Processed data |
Actionable information |
|
Simply gives us facts |
Allows making predictions, casual associations, or predictive
decisions |
|
Clear, crisp, structured and simplistic |
Muddy, fuzzy, partly unstructured |
|
Easily expressed in written form |
Intuitive, hard to communicate, and difficult to express in
words and illustration |
|
Obtained by condensing, correcting, contextualizing, and
calculating data |
Lies in connections, conversations between people, experienced-based
intuition, and people’s ability to compare situations, problems and
solutions |
|
Devoid of owner dependencies |
Depends on the owner |
There are two type of knowledge, namely explicit and tacit knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Tacit knowledge is obtained by internal individual processes and stored in human beings. Suchknowledge is sometimes described as Experience, Reflection, Internalization or Individual Talent.
Explicit knowledge is stored in a mechanical or technological device, such as documents or databases. This knowledge would be more useful if it could be shared and used among the community that works together using collaborative technology at anytime, anyplace and anywhere as shown in Figure 1.
Same Place Different
Figure
1: The Collaboration Computing Technology
The knowledge management (KM) is very important in the 2000’s because it helps organizations to gain competitive advantage and effective working through sharing and re-using knowledge. In the market place of e-business, KM initiatives are used to systematically leverage information and expertise to improve organizational responsiveness, innovation, competency and efficiency (RICE) (Lotus, 2001). There are many reasons why knowledge should be managed properly especially using the collaborative technology. Among these are information overload, technology advancement, increased professional specialization, competition, workforce mobility and turnover, and capitalization of organizational knowledge.
Based on this, Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), proposed four KM interactions is also called SECI model. This model consists of Socialization (Tacit to tacit using teleconferencing technology, Externalization (Tacit to explicit using e-mail and broadcasting technology), Internalization (Explicit to tacit using visualization technology) and Combination (Explicit to explicit using groupware technology).
In this paper, the discussion of knowledge and its characteristics will be based on Davenport and Prusak (1998) and Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) because we found that their knowledge of context is more relevant and applicable for organizations that involved in learning activities as a knowledge management system (KMS) where a lot of information will be take into action from knowledge repositories and the potential of generating of new knowledge among communities of practice (CoP) in collaborative environment. A KMS is an important system that should be developed in an organization. There are many ways to describe a KMS. One of them is from the technical perspective as proposed by Meso and Smith, (2000), as shown in Figure 2, which consists of three components: technology, function and knowledge. This KMS involves the processes for acquiring or collecting, organizing, disseminating or sharing knowledge among people in an institution.
Figure
2: The Technical Perspective Of A Knowledge Management System
2. The Importance Of Knowledge Management Framework
The knowledge management (KM) framework is very important for the organizations that intend to implement the KM system in their organization. It will become as the guidelines in order to ovoid the errors and gain other benefits in terms of time and effort as well as cost involvement. Numerous researchers have proposed several KM frameworks. Many of these frameworks are prescriptive, providing direction on the type of KM procedure without providing specific details on how those procedures should be accomplished. For example, Wiig’s (1997) KM framework proposes three KM pillars which represent the major functions needed to manage knowledge. The pillars are based on a broad understanding of knowledge creation, manifestation, use, and transfer. The Leonard-Barton (1995) model highlighted a KM framework that comprises of four core capabilities and four knowledge-building activities that are crucial to a knowledge-based organization (KBO). Arthur Andersen and APQC (1996) have advanced a model comprising seven KM processes that can operate on an organization’s knowledge: create, identify, collect, adapt, organize, apply, and share. The framework advanced by Van der Spek and Spijkervet (1997) identifies a cycle of four knowledge management stages: conceptualize, reflect, act, and retrospect. Chih-Ping et al. (2002) proposed another framework by integrating the previous frameworks. It consists of three aspects, knowledge resources, knowledge management activities, and knowledge influences. Although Chih-Ping et al. (2002) has conducted a review on these frameworks, the cases used in the study were only based on highly knowledge-intensive companies. Therefore, knowledge management performed in other industries such as global support environment where there is rapid technological advancement and changes are not studied. The summary of the framework review is shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2: A Review Of Knowledge Management Frameworks
|
Frameworks |
Descriptions |
|
Leonard-Barton,1995 |
1.
Shared and creative problem solving 2.
Importing and absorbing technological knowledge
from the outside of firm 3.
Experimenting and prototyping 4.
Implementing and integrating new methodologies and
tools. |
|
Arthur Anderson and APQC, 1996 |
1. Share 2.
Create 3. Identify
4. Collect 5.
Adapt 6. Organize
7. Apply |
|
Wiig, 1993 |
1. Creation
2. Manifestation 3.
Use 4. Transfer |
|
Choo, 1996 |