The role of process modeling for Knowledge Management - Essay Example

he other accomplishments of the human mind today, rest on a wide foundation of previous knowledge that were “managed” or organized so it could be shared, studied further, and improved. This four-part paper explains and connects the key concepts in these initial considerations. The first three parts discuss how knowledge is managed and how it is transmitted. The fourth part is a simple case study that illustrates how these three esoteric concepts are put together to come up with useful products.

The world is full of what are called “processes1”, which could be defined as a set of activities, events, or mechanisms expressed as a sequence of steps that must be performed to achieve some goal. Some processes are natural, such as the weather; others are human, such as writing an essay like this one. Anyone who wants to understand the process needs only to look at the sequence of steps or interrelated events. If the process is useful, the set of activities, their sequences, and the goal or goals achieved must be represented in a way that it could be learned by others.

This representation is what is referred to as the Process Model. Examples of process models are: (1) the equation that show the behavior of a gas in an enclosed space; (2) a simple sketch by a soccer coach showing how the team will mount an offensive; and, (3) a flowchart that maps a complex piece of software. All these models represent a simple or complex process in ways that others can understand. This is why modeling the process is useful, because by describing, representing, and simulating the process, it would be easier to explain how it works, behaves, and reacts, what it’s characteristics are, where it comes from, and where it can go.

Process modeling is applicable to all phenomena, from simple ones like tying a knot to complex ones such as sending people to Mars. Models are simplified abstractions of reality representing or describing its most important driving elements and