Business

Intelligence
21AI641 Semester VI

Module 4
Knowledge Management

Syllabus:
Knowledge Management: Introduction to Knowledge Management,
Organizational Learning and Transformation, Knowledge Management Activities,
Approaches to Knowledge Management, Information Technology (IT) In
Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management Systems Implementation.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 Knowledge Management

Introduction to Knowledge Management

Knowledge management is a process that helps organizations identify, select,
organize, disseminate, and transfer important information and expertise that are part of
the organization's memory and that typically reside within the organization in an
unstructured manner.
Knowledge management (KM) is the systematic and active management of ideas,
information, and knowledge residing in an organization's employees. The structuring of
knowledge enables effective and efficient problem solving, dynamic learning, strategic
planning, and decision making.
KM initiatives focus on identifying knowledge, explicating it in such a way that it can
be shared in a formal manner, and leveraging its value through reuse. The information
technologies that make KM available throughout an organization are referred to as KM
systems.
Through a supportive organizational climate and modem IT, an organization can
bring its entire organizational memory and knowledge to bear on any problem, anywhere
in the world, and at any time.
For organizational success, knowledge, as a form of capital, must be exchangeable
among persons, and it must be able to grow. Knowledge about how problems are solved
can be captured so that KM can promote organizational learning, leading to further
knowledge creation.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Knowledge

Knowledge is very distinct from data and information (see Figure 12.3). Data are
facts, measurements, and statistics; information is organized or processed data that is
timely and accurate. Knowledge is information that is contextual, relevant, and actionable.
For example, a map that gives detailed driving directions from one location to
another could be considered data. An up-to-the-minute traffic bulletin along the freeway
that indicates a traffic slowdown due to construction several miles ahead could be
considered information. Awareness of an alternative, back-road route could be considered
knowledge.
Having knowledge implies that it can be exercised to solve a problem, whereas
having information does not carry the same connotation. An ability to act is an integral part
of being knowledgeable. Whereas data, information, and knowledge may all be viewed as
assets of an organization, knowledge provides a higher level of meaning about data and
information. It conveys meaning and hencetends to be much more valuable.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Knowledge has the following characteristics

 Extraordinary leverage and increasing returns. Knowledge is not subject to

diminishing returns. When it is used, it is not decreased (or depleted); rather, it is
increased (or improved). Its consumers can add to it, thus increasing its value.
 Fragmentation, leakage, and the need to refresh. As knowledge grows, it
branches and fragments. Knowledge is dynamic; it is information in action. Thus, an
organization must continually refresh its knowledge base to maintain it as a source
of competitive advantage.

 Uncertain value. It is difficult to estimate the impact of an investment in knowledge.

There are too many intangible aspects that cannot be easily quantified.

 Value of sharing. It is difficult to estimate the value of sharing one's knowledge or

even who will benefit most from it.
Explicit and Tacit Knowledge
Explicit knowledge deals with more objective, rational, and technical knowledge (e.g., data,
policies, procedures, software, and documents). Tacit knowledge is usually in the domain
of subjective, cognitive, and experiential learning; it is highly personal and difficult to
formalize.
Explicit knowledge

 Explicit knowledge comprises the policies, procedural guides, white papers, reports,
designs, products, strategies, goals, mission, and core competencies of an enterprise
and its IT infrastructure.
 It is the knowledge that has been codified (i.e., documented) in a form that can be
distributed to others or transformed into a process or strategy without requiring
interpersonal interaction.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  For example, a description of how to process a job application would be documented
in a firm's human resources policy manual.
 Explicit knowledge has also been called leaky knowledge because of the ease with
which it can leave an individual, a document, or an organization due to the fact that
it can be readily and accurately documented.

Tacit knowledge

 Tacit knowledge is the cumulative store of the experiences, mental maps, insights,
acumen, expertise, know-how, trade secrets, skill sets, understanding, and learning
that an organization has, as well as the organizational culture that has embedded in
it the past and present experiences of the organization's people, processes, and
values.

 Tacit knowledge, also referred to as embedded knowledge is usually either localized

within the brain of an individual or embedded in the group interactions within a
department or a branch office.
 Tacit knowledge typically involves expertise or high skill levels.
 Sometimes tacit knowledge could easily be documented but has remained tacit
simply because the individual housing the knowledge does not recognize its
potential value to other individuals.
 Other times, tacit knowledge is unstructured, without tangible form, and therefore
difficult to codify. It is difficult to put some tacit knowledge into words.

Knowledge management systems

 Knowledge management systems (KMS) refer to the use of modern IT (e.g., the
Internet, intranets, extranets, Lotus Notes, software filters, agents, data

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 warehouses, Web 2.0) to systematize, enhance, and expedite intra- and inter- firm
KM.
 KM systems are intended to help an organization cope with turnover, rapid change,
and downsizing by making the expertise of the organization's human capital widely
accessible.
 They are being built, in part, because of the increasing pressure to maintain a well-
informed, productive workforce. Moreover, they are built to help large organizations
provide a consistent level of customer service.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND TRANSFORMATION
Knowledge management is rooted in the concepts of organizational learning and
organizational memory. When members of an organization collaborate and communicate
ideas, teach, and learn, knowledge is transformed and transferred from individual to
individual.

The Learning Organization

 The term learning organization refers to an organizations capability of learning from

its past experience. Before a company can improve, it must first learn. Learning
involves an interaction between experience and competence.

 To build a learning organization, three critical issues must be tackled:

1. Meaning (determining a vision of what the learning organization isto be).
2. Management (determining how the firm is to work), and
3. Measurement (assessing the rate and level of learning).
 A learning organization is one that performs five main activities well: solving
problems systematically, experimenting creatively, and learning from past
experience, learning from the best practices of others, and transferring knowledge
quickly and efficiently throughout the organization.

Organizational Memory

 A learning organization must have an organizational memory and a means to save,

represent, and share its organizational knowledge.

 Organizations “remember” the past in their policies and procedures.

 Individuals ideally tap into this memory for both explicit and tacit knowledge when
faced with issues or problems to be solved.

 Human intelligence draws from the organizational memory and adds value by
creating new knowledge. A KMS can capture the new knowledge and make it
available in its enhanced form.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Organizational Learning
Organizational learning is the development of new knowledge and insights that have
the potential to influence an organizations behavior. It occurs when associations, cognitive
systems, and memories are shared by members of an organization.
Learning skills include the following:

 Openness to new perspectives.

 Awareness of personal biases.
 Exposure to unfiltered data.
 A sense of humility
Establishing a corporate memory is critical for success. IT plays a critical role in
organizational learning, and management must place emphasis on this area to foster it.
Because organizations are becoming more virtual in their operations, they must
develop methods for effective organizational learning. Modern collaborative technologies
can help in KM initiatives.

Organizational Culture

 An organization’s ability to learn, develop memory, and share knowledge is

dependent on its culture. Culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions.
 Over time, organizations learn what works and what doesn’t work.

 As the lessons become second nature, they become part of the organizational culture.
New employees learn the culture from their mentors, along with knowhow.
 The impact of corporate culture on an organization is difficult to measure. However,
strong culture generally produces strong, measurable bottom-line results: net
income, return on invested capital, and yearly increases in stock price.
 Sharing initiatives and proper motivation are critical for the success of knowledge
management. However, an organizational culture that does not foster sharing can
severely cripple a KM effort.
Encouraging employees to use a KMS, both for contributing knowledge and for
seeking knowledge, can be difficult. Riege (2005) reviewed past studies and identified a

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
number of possible reasons that people do not like to share knowledge:

 General lack of time to share knowledge and time to identify colleagues in need of
specific knowledge.

 Apprehension or fear that sharing may reduce or jeopardize people’s job

security.

 Low awareness and realization of the value and benefit of the knowledge others
possess.
 Dominance in sharing explicit over tacit knowledge, such as knowhow and
experience. that requires hands-on learning, observation, dialogue, and interactive
problem solving.
 Use of a strong hierarchy, position-based status, and formal power.
 Insufficient capture, evaluation, feedback, communication, and tolerance of past
mistakes that would enhance individual and organizational learning effects.
 Differences in experience levels.
 Lack of contact time and interaction between knowledge sources andrecipients.
 Poor verbal/written communication and interpersonal skills.
 Age differences.
 Gender differences.
 Lack of a social network.
 Differences in education levels.
 Ownership of intellectual property due to fear of not receiving justrecognition
and accreditation from managers and colleagues.
 Lack of trust in people because they may misuse knowledge or take unjustcredit
for it.
 Lack of trust in the accuracy and credibility of knowledge due to the source.
 Differences in national culture or ethnic backgrounds and values and beliefs
associated with it.
THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
This section describes several major activities that take place in knowledge management
projects.

Knowledge Management Initiatives and Activities

 Given the changing dynamics of the global marketplace and the increasingly intense
competition, organizations need to leverage intellectual resources in order to reduce
the loss of intellectual capital due to people leaving the company, as well as to
reduce costs by decreasing the number of times the company has to repeatedly solve
the same problem.
 IDC estimated that the cost for an organization of 1,000 knowledge workers to find
existing knowledge they need, to waste time searching for nonexistent knowledge,
and to re-create knowledge that is available but cannot be located can be more than
$6 million per year.

 In addition, knowledge has been recognized as the single most important source for
generating value in the modern company.
 For instance, companies can use business intelligence (BI) to reveal opportunities
and then create revenue-generating programs to exploit them.
 In some highly skilled professions, such as medicine, retaining and using knowledge
of best practices are critical in life-and-death situations.

Most KM initiatives have one of three aims: (1) to make knowledge visible,mainly
through maps, yellow pages, and hypertext; (2) to develop a knowledge-

intensive culture; or (3) to build a knowledge infrastructure. These aims are not mutually
exclusive, and, indeed, firms may attempt all three as part of a knowledge management
initiative.
Several activities or processes surround the management of knowledge. These
include the creation of knowledge, the sharing of knowledge, and the seeking and use of
knowledge.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Knowledge Creation

 Knowledge creation is the generation of new insights, ideas, or routines. Nonaka

(1994) described knowledge creation as interplay between tacit and explicit
knowledge and as a growing spiral as knowledge moves among the individual,
group, and organizational levels.
 The four modes of knowledge creation are socialization, externalization,
internalization, and combination.

 The socialization mode refers to the conversion of tacit knowledge to new tacit
knowledge through social interactions and shared experience among organization
members (e.g., mentoring).
 The combination mode refers to the creation of new explicit knowledge by merging,
categorizing, reclassifying, and synthesizing existing explicit knowledge (e.g.,
statistical analyses of market data).
 Externalization refers to converting tacit knowledge to new explicit knowledge (e.g.,
producing a written document describing the procedures used in solving a
particular client’s problem).
 Internalization refers to the creation of new tacit knowledge from explicit
knowledge (e.g., obtaining a novel insight through reading a document).
Knowledge Sharing

 Knowledge sharing is the willful explication of one person’s ideas, insights,

solutions, experiences (i.e., knowledge) to another individual either via an

intermediary, such as a computer-based system, or directly.
 However, in many organizations, information and knowledge are not considered
organizational resources to be shared but individual competitive weapons to be kept
private.
 Organizational members may share personal knowledge with trepidation; they
perceive that they are of less value if their knowledge is part of the organizational
public domain.
THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  Research in organizational learning and knowledge management suggests that some
facilitating conditions include trust, interest, and shared language.

Knowledge Seeking

 Knowledge seeking, also referred to as knowledge sourcing, is the search for and use
of internal organizational knowledge.
 Lack of time or lack of reward may hinder the sharing of knowledge, and the same is
true of knowledge seeking.
 Individuals may sometimes prefer to not reuse knowledge if they feel that their own
performance review is based on the originality or creativity of their ideas.
 Individuals may engage in knowledge creation, sharing, and seeking with or without
the use of IT tools.
APPROACHES TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
The two fundamental approaches to knowledge management are the process approach and
the practice approach.

The Process Approach to Knowledge Management

 The process approach to knowledge management attempts to codify organizational

knowledge through formalized controls, processes, and technologies. Organizations
that adopt the process approach may implement explicit policies governing how
knowledge is to be collected, stored, and disseminated throughout the organization.
 The process approach frequently involves the use of IT, such as intranets, data
warehousing, knowledge repositories, decision support tools, and groupware to
enhance the quality and speed of knowledge creation and distribution in the
organization.
 The main criticisms of the process approach are that it fails to capture much of the
tacit knowledge embedded in firms and it forces individuals into fixed patterns of
thinking.
 This approach is favored by firms that sell relatively standardized products that fill

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 common needs. Most of the valuable knowledge in these firms is fairly explicit
because of the standardized nature of the products and services

The Practice Approach to Knowledge Management

 The practice approach to knowledge management assumes that a great deal of

organizational knowledge is tacit in nature and that formal controls, processes, and
technologies are not suitable for transmitting this type of understanding.

 The focus of this approach is to build the social environments or communities of

practice necessary to facilitate the sharing of tacit understanding.

 These communities are informal social groups that meet regularly to share ideas,
insights, and best practices. This approach is typically adopted by companies that
provide highly customized solutions to unique problems.

 For these firms, knowledge is shared mostly through person-to-person contact.

Collaborative computing methods (e.g., group support systems [GSS], e-mail) help
people communicate.

 The valuable knowledge for these firms is tacit in nature, which is difficult to
express, capture, and manage.
 Because tacit knowledge is difficult to extract, store, and manage, the explicit
knowledge that points to how to find the appropriate tacit knowledge (i.e., people
contacts, consulting reports) is made available to an appropriate set of individuals
who might need it. Consulting firms generally fall into thiscategory.

Hybrid Approaches to Knowledge Management

 Many organizations use a hybrid of the process and practice approaches. Early in the
development process, when it may not be clear how to extract tacit knowledge from
its sources, the practice approach is used so that a repository stores only explicit
knowledge that is relatively easy to document.

 The tacit knowledge initially stored in the repository is contact information about
experts and their areas of expertise.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  Such information is listed so that people in the organization can find sources of
expertise (e.g., the process approach). From this start, best practices can

eventually be captured and managed so that the knowledge repository will contain
an increasing amount of tacit knowledge over time.
 Eventually, a true process approach may be attained. But if the environment changes
rapidly, only some of the best practices will prove useful. Regardless of the type of
KMS developed, a storage location for the knowledge (i.e., a knowledge repository)
of some kind is needed.
Best Practices
 Best practices are the activities and methods that the most effective
organizations use to operate and manage various functions. Chevron, for
example, recognizes four levels of best practices (see O’Dell et al., 1998):
 1. A good idea that is not yet proven but makes intuitive sense.
 2. A good practice, an implemented technique, a methodology, a procedure,
or a process that has improved business results.
 3. A local best practice, a best approach for all or a large part of the
organization based on analysis of hard data. In other words, the scope within
the organization of the best practice is identified: Can it be used in a single
department or geographical region, or can it be used across the organization
or anywhere in between?
 4. An industry best practice, similar to the third level but using hard data
from industry.
Historically, the first knowledge repositories simply listed best practices and
made them available within the firm. Now that knowledge repositories are
electronic and Web accessible, they can have wide-ranging impact on the use of
knowledge throughout a firm. For example, Raytheon has successfully used best
practices to merge three distinct corporate cultures. See O’Dell and Grayson
(2003) and O’Dell et al. (2003) for more on best practices.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Knowledge Repositories

 A knowledge repository stores knowledge that is often text based and has very
different characteristics. It is also referred to as an organizational knowledge base.
 Capturing and storing knowledge are the goals for a knowledge repository. The
structure of the repository is highly dependent on the types of knowledge it stores.
 The repository can range from simply a list of frequently asked (and obscure)
questions and solutions, to a listing of individuals with their expertise and contact
information, to detailed best practices for a largeorganization.

 Figure 12.4 shows a comprehensive KM architecture designed around an all-

inclusive knowledge repository.
 Most knowledge repositories are developed using several different storage
mechanisms, depending on the types and amount of knowledge to be maintained
and used.
 The most important aspects and difficult issues are making the contribution of
knowledge relatively easy for the contributor and determining a good method for
cataloging the knowledge.

 The users should not be involved in running the storage and retrieval mechanisms
of the knowledge repository.
 Typical development approaches include developing a large-scale Internet- based
system or purchasing a formal electronic document management system or a
knowledge management suite.
 The structure and development of the knowledge repository are a function of the
specific technology used for the KMS.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 FIGURE 12.4 A Comprehensive View of a Knowledge
Repository.

Developing a Knowledge Repository

 Most knowledge repositories are developed using several different storage

mechanisms, depending on the types and amount of knowledge to be maintained and
used.
 Each has strengths and weaknesses when used for different purposes within a KMS.
Developing a knowledge repository is not an easy task.
 The most important aspects and difficult issues are making the contribution of
knowledge relatively easy for the contributor and determining a good method for
cataloging the knowledge.
 “One of the biggest hurdles in putting a formalized knowledge management structure
to collaborative systems is making the structure as seamless as possible,” said to Terry
Jordan, vice president of marketing for Hyperwave (hyperwave.com).
 “You really have to make the process painless, or you lose all of the knowledge that
you are trying to capture because people don’t want to have to go through an
enormous number of steps” (Zimmermann, 2003b).
 The users should not be involved in running the storage and retrieval mechanisms of
THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 the knowledge repository.
 Typical development approaches include developing a large-scale Internet-based
system or purchasing a formal electronic document management system or a
knowledge management suite.
 The structure and development of the knowledge repository are a function of the
specific technology used for the KMS.
 Measuring the success of a knowledge repository system is a tricky affair; the
repository is only as good as the information stored in it and the willingness of the
target users to use it. Also, it is critical that the value of the repository be measured or
estimated and that it continually be re-estimated, because the value is sure tfluctuate
when knowledge reuse occurs and newer information is collected (see Qian and Bock,
2005)

Information Technology (IT) In Knowledge Management

The two prima1y functions of IT in knowledge management are retrieval and

communication. IT also extends the reach and range of knowledge use and enhances the
speed of knowledge transfer. Networks facilitate collaboration in KM.

The KMS Cycle

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
A functioning KMS follows six steps in a cycle (see Figure 12.5). The reason for the cycle is
that knowledge is dynamically refined over time. The knowledge in a

good KMS is never finished because the environment changes over time and the
knowledge must be updated to reflect the changes.

The cycle works as follows:

1. Create knowledge. Knowledge is created as people determine new ways of doing

things or develop know-how. Sometimes external knowledge is brought in. Some of
these new ways may become best practices.
2. Capture knowledge. New knowledge must be identified as valuable and be
represented in a reasonable way.
3. Refine knowledge. New knowledge must be placed in context so that it is
actionable. This is where human insights (i.e., tacit qualities) must be captured
along with explicit facts.
4. Store knowledge. Useful knowledge must be stored in a reasonable format in a
knowledge reposito1y so that others in the organization can access it.
5. Manage knowledge. Like a library, a repository must be kept current. It must be
reviewed to verify that it is relevant and accurate.
6. Disseminate knowledge. Knowledge must be made available in a useful format to
anyone in the organization who needs it, anywhere and anytime.

Components of KMS

Knowledge management is more a methodology applied to business practices than

a technology or a product. IT enables knowledge management by providing the enterprise
architecture on which it is built. KMS are developed using three sets of technologies:
communication, collaboration, and storage and retrieval.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 Communication technologies allow users to access needed knowledge and to
communicate with each other-especially with experts. E-mail, the Internet,
corporate intranets, and other Web-based tools provide communication capabilities.
Even fax machines and telephones are used for communication, especially when the
practice approach to knowledge management is adopted.

Collaboration technologies provide the means to perform group work.

Groups can work together on common documents at the same time or at
different times; they can work in the same place or in different places.
Collaboration technologies are especially important for members of acommunity of
practice working on knowledge contributions.
Other collaborative computing capabilities, such as electronic brainstorming,
enhance group work, especially for knowledge contribution.
Other collaborative computing systems allow an organization to create avirtual
space so that individuals can work online anywhere and at any time.

Storage and retrieval technologies originally meant using a database

management system (DBMS) to store and manage knowledge.

This worked reasonably well in the early days for storing and managing most
explicit knowledge and even explicit knowledge about tacit knowledge.
However, capturing, storing, and managing tacit knowledge usually requiresa
different set of tools.

Electronic document management systems and specialized storage systems that are
part of collaborative computing systems fill this void. These storage systems have
come to be known as knowledge repositories.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Technologies That Support Knowledge Management

Several technologies have contributed to significant advances in knowledge

management tools. Artificial intelligence, intelligent agents, knowledge discovery in
databases, extensible Markup Language (XML), and Web 2.0 are examples of technologies
that enable advanced functionality of modern KMS and form the basis for future
innovations in the knowledge management field. Following is a brief description of how
these technologies are used in support of KMS.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Al methods and tools are embedded in a number of KMS, either by vendors or by

system developers. AI methods can assist in identifying expertise, eliciting knowledge
automatically and semi automatically, interfacing through natural language processing, and
intelligently searching through intelligent agents. AI methods-notably expert systems,
neural networks, fuzzy logic, and intelligent agents- are used in KMS to do the following:
 Assist in and enhance searching knowledge. (e.g., intelligent agents in Web searches)
 Help establish knowledge profiles of individuals and groups.
 Help determine the relative importance of knowledge when it is contributed to and
accessed from the knowledge repository.

 Scan e-mail, documents, and databases to perform knowledge discovery, determine

meaningful relationships, glean knowledge, or induce rules for expert systems.
 Identify patterns in data (usually through neural networks).
 Forecast future results by using existing knowledge.
 Provide advice directly from knowledge by using neural networks or expert
systems.

 Provide a natural language or voice command-driven user interface for a KMS.

INTELLIGENT AGENTS
Intelligent agents are software systems that learn how users work and provide
assistance in their daily tasks. There are other kinds of intelligent agents as well (see
Chapter 14). Intelligent agents can help in KMS in a number of ways. Typically, they are
used to elicit and identify knowledge. The following are some examples:
• IBM (ibm.com) offers an intelligent data-mining family, including Intelligent Decision
Server (IDS), for finding and analyzing massive amounts of enterprise data.
• Gentia (Planning Sciences International, gentia.com) uses intelligent agents to
facilitate data mining with Web access and data warehouse facilities. Combining

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 intelligent agents with enterprise knowledge portals is a powerful technique that can
deliver to users exactly what they need to perform their tasks.
The intelligent agent learns what the user prefers to see and how the user organizes
it. Then the intelligent agent takes over to provide that information at the desktop, just
as a good administrative assistant would.

KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY IN DATABASES

 Knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) is a process used to search for and

extract useful information from volumes of documents and data.
 It includes tasks such as knowledge extraction, data archaeology, data
exploration, data pattern processing, data dredging, and information harvesting.
All these activities are conducted automatically and allow quick discovery, even
by nonprogrammers.
 Data and document mining is ideal for eliciting knowledge from databases,
documents, e-mail, and so on.
 Data are often buried deep within very large databases, data warehouses, text
documents, or knowledge repositories, all of which may contain data,
information, and knowledge gathered over many years. (For more on data
mining, see Chapter 7.) AI methods are useful data-mining tools that include
automated knowledge elicitation from other sources.
 Intelligent data mining discovers information within databases, data
warehouses, and knowledge repositories that queries and reports cannot
effectively reveal.
 Data-mining tools find patterns in data and may even (automatically) infer rules
from them.
 Patterns and rules can be used to guide decision making and forecast the effects
of decisions. KDD can also be used to identify the meaning of data or text, using
knowledge management tools that scan documents and e-mail to build an
expertise profile of a firm’s employees.
THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  Data mining can speed up analysis by providing needed knowledge. Extending
the role of data mining and knowledge discovery techniques for knowledge
externalization, Bolloju et al. (2002) proposed a framework for integrating
knowledge management into enterprise environments for next-generation
decision support systems (DSS).
 Their framework includes model marts and model warehouses where model
marts are analogous to data marts and model warehouses are analogous to data
warehouses (refer to Chapter 8).
 They act as repositories of knowledge created by using knowledge-discovery
techniques on past decision instances stored in data marts and data
warehouses.
 The model marts and model warehouses capture operational and historical
decision models, similar to the data in data marts and data warehouses. For
example, a model mart can store decision rules corresponding to problem-
solving knowledge of different decision makers in a particular domain, such as
loan approvals in a banking environment.
 This integrated framework accommodates different types of knowledge
transformations.
 Systems built around this framework are expected to enhance the quality of
support provided to decision makers; support knowledge management
functions such as acquisition, creation, exploitation, and accumulation; facilitate
discovery of trends and patterns in the accumulated knowledge; and provide
means for building up organizational memory.

EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE (XML)

EXtensible Markup Language (XML) enables standardized representations of
data structures so that data can be processed appropriately by heterogeneous
systems without case-by-case programming. This method suits e-commerce
applications and supply-chain management (SCM) systems that operate across
enterprise boundaries.
THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 XML can not only automate processes and reduce paperwork, it can also unite
business partners and supply chains for better collaboration and knowledge
transfer.
XML-based messages can be taken from back-end repositories and fed out
through the portal interface and back again. A portal that uses XML allows the
company to communicate better with its customers, linking them in a virtual
demand chain where changes in customer requirements are immediately reflected
in production plans.
Wide adoption of XML can pretty much solve the problem of integrating data
from disparate sources. Due to its potential to tremendously simplify systems
integration, XML may become the universal language that all portal vendors
embrace (see Ruber, 2001)

WEB 2.0

 The Web has evolved from a tool for disseminating information and conducting
business to a platform for facilitating new ways of information sharing,
collaboration, and communication in the digital age.

 These technologies have given knowledge management a strong boost by making it

easy and natural for everyone to share knowledge.
 One of the bottlenecks for knowledge management practices has been the difficulty
for nontechnical people to natively share their knowledge.
 Therefore, the ultimate value of Web 2.0 is its ability to foster greater
responsiveness, better knowledge capture and sharing, and ultimately, more
effective collective intelligence.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IMPLEMENTATION
The challenge with KMS is to identify and integrate the three essential components
— communication technologies, collaboration technologies, and

storage and retrieval technologies—to meet the knowledge management needs of an

organization.

Knowledge Management Products and Vendors

 Technology tools that support KM are called knowware.

 Most knowledge management software packages include one or more of the
following tools: collaborative computing tools, knowledge servers, enterprise
knowledge portals, electronic document management systems, knowledge
harvesting tools, search engines, and knowledge management suites.
 Many packages provide several tools because they are necessary in an effective KMS.
For example, most electronic document management systems also include
collaborative computing capabilities.

SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES AND EIS VENDORS

Software development companies and EIS vendors offer numerous knowledge

management packages, from individual tools to comprehensive knowledge management
suites. The variety of knowware that is readily available on the market allows companies
to find tools that meet their unique KM needs.

Collaborative Computing Tools

Collaboration tools, or groupware, were the first tools used to enhance tacit
knowledge transfer within an organization. One of the earliest collaborative computing
systems, Group Systems, provides many of the tools that support group work, including
tools for electronic brainstorming and idea categorization.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
KNOWLEDGE SERVERS

 A knowledge server contains the main knowledge management software, including

the knowledge repository, and provides access to other knowledge, information, and
data.

 The server provides a knowledge repository — a central location for searching and
accessing information from many sources, such as the Internet, corporate intranets,

databases, and file systems— thereby enabling the efficient distribution of time-

sensitive information.

 The server seamlessly extends and integrates with the company’s e-business
suite, allowing rapid deployment applications that span the enterprise andcan
even leverage AI-assisted technology to harvest knowledge assets.

Enterprise Knowledge Portals Enterprise knowledge portals (EKP)

 EKP are the doorways into many KMS. They have evolved from the concepts
underlying EIS, GSS, Web browsers, and DBMS.
 Using EKP is an ideal way to configure a KMS. Most EKP combine data integration,
reporting mechanisms, and collaboration, while a server handles document and
knowledge management.
 An enterprise information portal is a virtual place on a network of online users. The
portal aggregates each users total information needs: data and documents, e-mail,
Web links and queries, dynamic feeds from the network, and shared calendars and
task lists.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Electronic Document Management (EDM)

 EDM systems use the document in electronic form as the collaborative focusof work.
 EDM systems allow users to access needed documents, generally via a Webbrowser
over a corporate intranet.

 EDM systems enable organizations to better manage documents and workflow

for smoother operations.
 They also allow collaboration on document creation and revision. ManyKMS use
an EDM system as the knowledge repository.
 A new approach to EDM, called content management systems (CMS), is changing the
way documents and their content are managed.
 A CMS produces dynamic versions of documents and automatically maintains the
“current” set for use at the enterprise level. With the explosion of Web-based
materials, organizations need a mechanism to provide content that is consistent and
accurate across the enterprise.
 EDM systems, EKP, and other CMS fill that need. The goal is to provide large
numbers of knowledge workers with access to large amounts of unstructured text
(see Sullivan, 2001).
 An IDC survey of attendees at the KMWorld 2001 Conference and Exposition
indicated that 63 percent of all respondents had or planned to implement CMS, while
59 percent rated CMS as very to critically important (see Feldman, 2002). Also see
Bankes (2003) and Lamont (2003b). A subset of CMS is business rules management.
New software tools and systems, such as Ilog JRules and Blaze Advisor, have been
developed to handle these smaller chunks of content

Knowledge Harvesting Tools

 Tools for capturing knowledge unobtrusively are helpful because they allow a
knowledge contributor to be minimally (or not at all) involved in the knowledge
harvesting efforts.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  Embedding this type of tool in a KMS is an ideal approach to knowledge capture.
 Knowledge-mail is an expertise-location software package that analyzes users
outgoing e-mail to parse subject expertise. It maintains a directory of expertise and
offers ways to contact experts while maintaining privacy controls for them.
Search Engines
 Search engines perform one of the essential functions of knowledge management—
locating and retrieving necessary documents from vast collections accumulated in
corporate repositories.
 Companies such as Google, Verity, and Inktomi offer a wide selection of search
engines capable of indexing and cataloging files in various formats as well as of
retrieving and prioritizing relevant documents in response to user queries.

Knowledge Management Suites

 Knowledge management suites are complete out-of-the box knowledge

management solutions. They integrate the communications, collaboration, and
storage technologies into a single convenient package.

 A knowledge management suite must access internal databases and other external
knowledge sources, so some integration is required to make the software truly
functional.

 Using a knowledge management suite is a powerful approach to developing a KMS

because it has one user interface and one data repository, and it is from one vendor.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRMS

 All the major consulting firms (e.g., Accenture, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Deloitte &
Touche, KPMG, PWC) have massive internal knowledge management initiatives.
Usually, these become products after they succeed internally and provide assistance
in establishing

 KMS and measuring their effectiveness. Consulting firms also provide some direct,
out-of-the-box proprietary systems for vertical markets. Most of the major
management consulting firms define their knowledge management offerings as

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
 services. For more on consulting firm activities and products, see McDonald and
Shand (2000).

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ASPS

 ASPs have evolved as a form of KMS outsourcing on the Web.
 There are many ASPs for e-commerce on the market. For example,
Communispace is a high-level ASP collaboration system that focuses on
connecting people to people (not just people to documents) to achieve specific
objectives, regardless of geographic, time, and organizational barriers. As a
hosted ASP solution, Communispace is easy to rapidly deploy within
organizations.
 Unlike conventional KMS that organize data and documents or chat rooms,
where people simply swap information, Communispace contains a rich
assortment of interactions, activities, and tools that connect people to the
colleagues who can best help them make decisions, solve problems, and learn
quickly.
 Communispace is designed to build trust online; it attempts to make a
community self-conscious about taking responsibility for its actions and
knowledge.
 Its climate component helps participants measure and understand how people
are feeling about the community.
 Its Virtual Café gives dispersed employees a way to meet and learn about each
other through pictures and profiles. A recent trend among ASPs is to offer a
complete KM solution, including a knowledge management suite and the
consulting to set it up, as Communispace does.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
Integration of KMS with Other Business Information Systems
Because a KMS is an enterprise system, it must be integrated with other
enterprise and information systems in an organization.

INTEGRATION OF KMS WITH DSS/BI SYSTEMS

 KMS typically do not involve running models to solve problems. This is typically
done in DSS/BI systems.
 However, because a KMS provides help in solving problems by applying knowledge,
part of the solution may involve running models.
 A KMS can integrate into a set of models and data, and it can activate them if a
specific problem calls for it. Also, the knowhow and best practice application of
models can be stored in a KMS.

INTEGRATION OF KMS WITH AI

 KM has a natural relationship with AI methods and software, although knowledge

management, strictly speaking, is not an AI method. KM and AI can be integrated in a
number of ways.

 Much work is being done in the field of AI relating to knowledge engineering; tacit to
explicit knowledge transfer; and knowledge identification, understanding, and
dissemination.

 Companies are attempting to realign these technologies and the resultant products
with knowledge management.
 The AI technologies most often integrated with KM are intelligent agents, expert
systems, neural networks, and fuzzy logic.

INTEGRATION OF KMS WITH DATABASES AND INFORMATIONSYSTEMS

 Because a KMS uses a knowledge repository, sometimes constructed out of a

database system or an EDM system, it can automatically integrate to this part of the
firm’s information system.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML
  As data and information updates are made, the KMS can use them.

INTEGRATION WITH SCM SYSTEMS

 The supply chain is often considered to be the logistics end of a business. If products
do not move through the organization and go out the door, the firm will fail.

 It is therefore important to optimize the supply chain and manage it properly. A

new set of software called SCM systems attempts to do so.
 SCM can benefit from integration with KMS because there are many issues and
problems in the supply chain that require the company to combine tacit and explicit
knowledge.

 Accessing such knowledge directly improves supply-chain performance.

INTEGRATION OF KMS WITH CRM SYSTEMS CRM

 Systems help users in dealing with customers. One aspect is the help-desk notion
described earlier. But CRM goes much deeper than that.

 It can develop usable profiles of customers and predict their needs so that
an organization can increase sales and better serve its clients. A KMS can
certainly provide tacit knowledge to people who use CRM directly in
working with customers.

INTEGRATION OF KMS WITH CORPORATE INTRANETS ANDEXTRANETS

 Communication and collaboration tools and technologies are necessary for KMS to
function.
 If a firm can integrate its KMS into its intranets and extranets, not only will
knowledge flow more freely, both from a contributor and to a user, but the firm can
also capture knowledge directly, with little user involvement, and can deliver it
when the system thinks that a user needs knowledge.

THARANI R
Asst. Professor, Dept. of AI & ML