Knowledge Management System Design, Nonakas Seci Model - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tutor :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Title : DESIGN OF A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Institution : xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx @ 201 Knowledge management system design Introduction Knowledge management system refers to a computerized system that supports the making, storage and distribution of information. This system has an information repository as a central part that is structured well and makes use of various search tools that are easy to use and very effective (Maier 2004, 18). People make use of them to get the answers to their questions. This paper presents a design of a knowledge management system for the commonwealth organization in the case study dealt with in assignment 1. The system is designed to mange knowledge within the organization so that the problems identified in information management can be rectified (Knight and Howes 2012, 89). The knowledge problem in the case study analyzed in assignment 1 was the failure of the senior manager and other people involved in the recruitment to diffuse out knowledge to the right people at the right time. The senior manager failed to inform or consult the other managers about the recruitment. This error made them uncooperative because their needs were not considered. The contracted company also failed to inform the applicants of the requirements of the recruitment and the outcomes of the recruitment in terms of whether they had been selected for the various positions or not (Maier 2004, 29). Most applicants applied without prior knowledge of what they were applying for. In the future the Commonwealth Government. Agency is supposed to operate differently. In case of such recruitment, the senior manager should consult intensively with the other managers concerning the type of people they require in the various departments. This will ensure that the right people having the right knowledge and skills are recruited hence the success of the process. The organization will also have to ensure that whoever is given the responsibility of conducting the recruitment process avails all relevant information to the applicants so that they can know what they are applying for and the progress of the whole process. The knowledge management system when designed will help the company to manage its knowledge resources well. Employees will be able to access shared knowledge very well and therefore be in a position to understand what responsibilities they have. Problems will easily be solved vey fast and with the inclusion of new ideas. New employees will therefore be very efficient because they can get the information they need in time. Output for the organization will be maximized and the goals of the organization will be achieved in time and people will be encouraged to become more innovative. The goal of the knowledge management system is to enable the organization to be more effective in carrying out its fundamental processes. Knowledge management therefore will act as away of improving the production output of the organization hence making it better. The objectives of the system include creating a knowledge repository, improving on the knowledge assets, enhancing the knowledge environment and managing knowledge as an asset. A diagram showing a knowledge management system (Maier 2004, 25) Knowledge that needs to be managed Any kind of information in the custody of the organization could be seen to be knowledge. Knowledge can be termed as the state of the Commonwealth government agency being made aware by the government of the need to conduct the recruitment exercise. The organization received the knowledge about the responsibility of carrying out the implementation of the policy. The senior manager of the commonwealth government agency received knowledge from the government. Knowledge can also be seen in the transfer of information from the senior manager, to the print media then to the other managers. The state of the contracted company to be made aware about the contract was also knowledge. This was knowledge being passed to the company from the senior manager. The applicants being aware of the recruitment through the newspapers can also be termed as knowledge. The source of the knowledge in the case study is the government. Storage of the knowledge is carried out by the senior manager of the Common wealth government agency and the contracted company (Hsinchuen 2001, 347). Mode of delivery The knowledge will need to be delivered from the source to the target since these two will not be located at the same place at the same time. In the case of the senior manager and the other managers or the managers and the other employees the distance between them is not big. The delivery of knowledge will be done easily. Knowledge will therefore be delivered from the senior manager to the rest of the management through memos. In a situation where there is recruitment, the applicants can know of it through the news papers. This is because they are not located at the same place at the same time with the senior manager, the other managers or the recruiting company. Knowledge content and processes will be managed through the discovery and detection of the knowledge, assessment and organization of the knowledge, knowledge sharing, knowledge reuse, knowledge creation and knowledge acquisition (Myers1996, 153). Nonaka’s Seci model, Source: Mylonopoulos & Tsoukas 2003, 88. Based on Nonaka’s Seci model, socialization is one way of delivering knowledge from one person to the other. It involves the sharing of tacit knowledge with other people through face to face encounters or through experiences shared between people. Knowledge will be shared in the organization through word of mouth from the source to the target. Externalization is another process that will be used. In this tacit knowledge will be converted to explicit knowledge through the development of models and concepts. The tacit knowledge will be turned into a form that can be understood and interpreted for use by other people. Knowledge will also be combined with other knowledge earlier filed so that it can be organized and analyzed. Another process for knowledge management within the organization will take the form of internalization which comprises of the understanding of explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge will be converted into tacit knowledge through writing or printing so that readers can understand it (Mylonopoulos, Tsoukas 2003, 84). Functionality required to enable the system The system cannot work properly without particular functions. It will require functions such as; document management which will allow the organization to track and store electronic documents and take care of other issues such as security, filing, archival, retention, creation, work flow and distribution of documents. Collaboration tools are important as well because they make it possible for people dealing in common tasks to provide calendaring, wiki, management of workflow, text chat and e-mail by which they can achieve organizational goals. Wikis which is a website will be used to make it possible for visitors to remove or add and edit content with ease without registering. Federated search will enable the users to access data sources through one search question. Web portals will make it easy for people to access information within the knowledge management system very easily. This knowledge can be obtained from the intranet or web. Blogs belonging to the company will also be used as websites through which informal communication can be done (Mylonopoulos, Tsoukas 2003, 123). Knowledge assets or solutions Knowledge assets that can be leveraged include the knowledge on markets, various technologies and products that the organization deals in. These assets can be leveraged to add value and generate profits. The knowledge assets within the common wealth government agency may not be specifically identified since no information about that is available. However it is possible that the employees within the organization are endowed with various skills that comprise knowledge about various issues that the company is involved in (Maier 2004, 79). Knowledge management solution One solution that will be applied in the organization to manage knowledge is the use of the document library. This library will be created to serve as the storage place for all documents. The library will be designed in a way that is context relative so that it can allow easy control over all types of documents. The knowledge management system will have an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). The EDRMS will be integrated with the rest of the sources of necessary information and knowledge. Other options of knowledge management include non electronic methods and systems of data storage. However the electronic system has many advantages over the non electronic one and is therefore preferred. The whole knowledge management system will have to go through the process of design followed by modelling, then to execution after which it will be monitored and optimized. This process represents the whole cycle of business process management (Ikunjiro 2005, 68). A business process management diagram, source: Ikujirō (2005, 55) Knowledge management team The actors who will also play different roles in the team are the creator and the owner of the knowledge in this case the government, the custodian and the users. The custodian is the senior manager representing the commonwealth government agency while the users are the applicants and the company contracted to carry out the recruitment process (Knight and Howes 2012, 16).Knowledge management in the organization will be treated as a project that needs a team to manage it (Maier 2004, 46). The knowledge management system requires a knowledge management project leader otherwise called the chief knowledge officer. This leader will be responsible for delivering the implementation of knowledge management. The knowledge management leader leads the team tasked with implementing knowledge management. In the team there will be a spokesperson playing the role of communication, one with the role of coordination, a person with the responsibility of putting the technology suite is complete. The team will also have a sponsor to whom the leader of the project reports. This person will represent the knowledge management system to the organization in decision making. The sponsor could also work with senior players in a steering team to ensure that the framework for knowledge management designed by the implementation team has the right structures and is complete. This team could have the head of Human Resources and the head of Information Technology. In the case study of the commonwealth government agency, the senior manager and the other managers are the members of the team that will implement the design (Mylonopoulos, Tsoukas 2003, 75). Infrastructure requirements for supporting the system The infrastructure required for the knowledge management system will be among other things the rooms that will house the computers and other equipment. The system will have several computers with accompanying software to complete the intranet. It will also need operating systems and other things such as chairs and tables. Since the system will have an electronic document library it will be necessary to obtain certain things required to complete the electronic documents and records management system. The EDMS is a system on its own that will have some installations made for it to function. It will function with a network of computers, connected by cables with suitable software for operation (Becerra-Fernandez, Sabherwal 2010, 15). Evaluation, review and improvement of the system Evaluation of the knowledge management system will be the last phase. The results will be evaluated against the set measures and plans. The process will involve a review of the initial assessments so that they can be updated. Evaluation will involve timing and every state must be reviewed once it is complete. Evaluation will be done through the approaches below. After Action Review (AAR) Every methodology of project management will have the outcome review process. This approach addresses the questions about what was supposed to happen, what happened, why there were differences between the planned and the actual and the lessons that can be drawn from it. The AAR sessions will be done in an environment devoid of threats with all key players present. The assessment will then be used to determine the progress of the process. Benchmarking can also be done through the evaluation of the progress of knowledge management in the organization against that in other organizations. Assessment will also be done to check if benefits have been achieved. A questionnaire can be used so that respondents can rate the success on a 1-5 scale since quantification of benefits may be hard (Knight and Howes 2012, 61). In order to improve the system, people should be encouraged to make use of the knowledge that other people have. People should link up with others so that they can obtain knowledge from them by having their questions answered instead of looking for the answers from a system. This process will require email lists of interest groups, group collaboration tools, wikis, blogs and expertise repositories. Documents will be made available so that everyone within the organization can find them together with other important resources. Staff will also be assisted to answer those questions that are common. The senior staff will be given all the information they need to make right decisions. This will be done through consolidated status documents, solid systems of reporting and online dashboards (Gottschalk 2007, 116). Changes to be made to the way the organization operates For the commonwealth organization to improve in the way it manages knowledge, radical changes must be effected in its system of knowledge management. The new system designed for the company will have to be adopted. In such a system sharing of information must be inculcated in the operations of the company (Ikujirō 2005, 100). Previously, the senior manager tried to create a culture where information was kept private and people even the managers were denied information. To ensure that there is a change in the organization important information should be availed to all the people who are concerned at the right time. In order to effect this and other changes there should be amendments in policy. The current policies do not make it mandatory for the senior manager or any other manager to share important information with the others. The person with the information can do this at will. Change in policy will require that any information coming form the senior manager gets to the mangers heading various sections before it gets to the employees in a specified order (Frappaolo 2006, 98). Change in procedure will also have to be effected now that a new knowledge management system will be in operation. The procedure to be changed will involve the way knowledge is obtained, stored, distributed and accessed within the organization. The procedure for dissemination of information to the outside world will also be changed to endure that the organization becomes more effective (Barnes, Barnes 2002, 67). Conclusion In this paper, the knowledge management system required for the management of information in the commonwealth organization has been designed. This system is needed for the management of knowledge within the government agency since so many anomalies were identified in its method of managing knowledge. The system design comprises of the knowledge problem, identification of the knowledge to be managed, delivery methods, functionality needed for the system to operate, knowledge assets and solutions, solution for knowledge management, knowledge management team, infrastructure needed, method of evaluation, review and improvement of the system and the changes required in the organization for it to operate in a better way especially in the management of knowledge. Nonaka’s seci model will be used for the delivery of knowledge from one end to the other. This system is expected to provide a better method of management of knowledge in the organization. Bibliography Barnes, S. Barnes, J. S. (2002) Knowledge systems: Theory and practice. Cengage Learning. Becerra-Fernandez, I. Sabherwal, R. (2010) Knowledge Management Systems and Processes. M. E. Sharpe. Frappaolo, C. (2006). Knowledge Management. John Wiley & Sons. Available at: www.google.com (Accessed 13 July 2012). Gottschalk, P. (2007) Knowledge management systems: Value shop creation. Idea Group Inc. Hsinchuen C. (2001)Knowledge Management Systems: A text mining perspective. Routledge. Available at: www.google.com (Accessed 12 July 2012). Ikujirō N. (2005) Knowledge Management: Critical Perspectives on Business Management. Routledge. Available at: www.google.com (Accessed 13 July 2012). Knight, T. and Howes T. 2012. Knowledge Management: A blueprint for Delivery. (Google Books) Routledge. Available at: www.google.com (Accessed 12 July 2012). Maier, R. (2004) knowledge management systems: Information and communication technologies for knowledge management. Springer. Myers P. S., (1996) knowledge management and organizational design. Routledge Mylonopoulos, N. Tsoukas, H. (2003) Knowledge management systems: Technological and management issues. Abe books. Available at: www.google.com (Accessed 12 July 2012). Read More