KM Models

Ikujurio Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi in the early 1990's articulated a model for KM called SECI model and with this started the episode of KM models. Over the years various KM models were proposed by researchers based on their own view of KM and some categorised these models into different categories. Here we will go through each of them in brief, see what they all have in common and will try and put them in practice with our own experience.

Ikujurio Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi (1991) proposed the SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization) model. In their model they emphasis on the following points
• Two forms of knowledge (tacit and explicit)
• An interaction dynamic (transfer)
• Three levels of social aggregation (individual, group, context)
•Four “knowledge-creating” processes (socialization, externalization, combination and internalization). (Despres, C. & Chauvel, D. 2000.)

They state that the philosophical inquiry of knowledge is known as "epistemology" and in their model they look into the contrasting approaches of epistemology. They also introduced a concept of Ba which means "place" which was originally proposed by the Japanese philosopher Kitaro Nishida. Ba is here defined as a shared context in which knowledge is shared, created and utilised.
Eg. : Taking this concept in the real world, a retail firm where i work, the employees based on their knowledge of sales create sales forecast i.e. they predict the sales for a particular day of the week. These forecast are discussed amongst the employees until they agree on a threshold value. Goods are then manufactured accordingly. So the Ba in this case will be the place i.e. the retail firm. It is the place where tacit knowledge is getting converted into explicit. The explicit knowledge is then used by the other employees to produce the goods. So there is a transfer of knowledge. This can be said as Socialization. With the help of the knowledge, the employees are able to generate sales forecast. This can be termed as Externilization i.e. developing concepts. The forecast is then discussed amongst the other employees to agree on a threshold value. This can be termed as combination. Then the threshold value is used for manufacturing goods i.e. Internalization. So the SECI model totally fits into my firm. The limitations to SECI model is that it rely on the tacit knowledge. Again in my example what if the senior most employee who usually creates the forecast leaves the company. For this reason my organization keeps track of all the forecast made and to which extent it stand true. This helps them to make accurate forecast and also to deal which situation of employee leaving.

Over the years after SECI model researchers classified the KM models into categories depending upon their view of KM. Starting with Gunnar Hedlund (1994) using his N-form notion classified the models into cognitive, skill-based and emodied forms. His classification was based on types, forms and levels of knowledge. In his N-Form notion he mostly emphasis on knowledge transfer, storage and transformation.

Michael Earl (1998) classifies KM models into 3 broad categories. They are Technocratic, Behavioural, Economical. His classification was based on the uses/functions of knowledge. His idea was that an organization usually concern itself with creation, protection and leveraging its knowledge.

Later organizations according to their need started combining all forms of models available to give rise to a totally new and hybrid model which could suit them. There has been number of models proposed by different organizations. One such model proposed by American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) as reported by Van Buren (1999), a senior associate with ASTD was intellectual capital management model. The model included two set of measures
• Those pertaining to intellectual capital stocks, including (a) human capital, (b) innovation capital, (c) process capital and (d) customer capital
• Those pertaining to financial performance and business effectiveness.

As i was looking into different types of models i came across that all of the models have five things in common. These can be called as 5 common phases of KM models. They are
(i) Knowledge Creating Phase
(ii) Knowledge Sharing Phase
(iii) Knowledge Structuring Phase
(iv) Knowledge Using Phase
(v) Knowledge Auditing Phase

Now using the above phases let us try making a KM model for an IT firm. In an IT firm the system analyst gathers information from the clients for the system to be developed. Then combining his knowledge and the information collected he tries to structure the information to make a prototype. This prototype is then shared with the clients and the coders. The coders use this information and their programming knowledge to develop the system. The system developed is then tested for bugs. To my knowledge this is how most of the the IT firms work. So now lets try to make a model which could suit them. A model is generally a process or a life cycle or a framework. The model below is a very simple/basic one and addresses only the above mentioned requirements of the firm.

The elements of this model are :
(i) Knowledge Carriers.
(ii) Knowledge Transfer.

Knowledge Carriers are the people having the tacit knowledge. Knowledge Transfer is the transfer of knowledge between the carriers.

It starts with knowledge sharing and knowledge sharing occurs at multiple levels. Firstly the tacit knowledge is mapped from wherever possible. (In our example above the system analyst interacts with the people who will be using the system and tries to get as much information. This can also be the Knowledge Creating/Gathering phase.) Next the knowledge gained is used to build a structure. (In our case the prototype developed by the analyst.) The structure then serves as an explicit knowledge. (In our case it serves as an explicit knowledge for the coders to develop the system i.e the next level of knowledge sharing or knowledge using phase.) The explicit knowledge can then be transformed again into explicit or tacit. (In our case it is being transformed into explicit and a system is developed.)

References :

Nonaka, I. 1991, The Knowledge Creating Company. Harvard Business Review, November-December, 96-104
Ikujiro Nonaka, Ryoko Toyama and Noboru Konno, SECI, Ba and Leadership: a United Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation
Despres, C. & Chauvel, D. 2000. A Thematic Analysis of the Thinking in Knowledge Management.
Earl, M. & Scott, I. 1998 What on earth is a CKO? Survey IBM. London Business School
Van Buren, M. 1999, A Yardstick for Knowledge Management , Training & Development, v 53(5), pp 71-78, May

What is Knowledge Management ?

There has been lot of definitions of Knowledge Management by well known researchers and guru's of KM. Before going into defining KM let us first look at what is knowledge and what does management refers to. Knowledge can be any meaningful information and the simplest way of defining management is planning, organizing, controlling and prioritising. This brings us very close to the definition of KM by Karl Wiig (1997, 1999) and Bhatt G. D. (2000, 2001).

Karl Wiig (1997, 1999) states that

"KM is to understand, focus on, and manage systematic, explicit, and
deliberate knowledge building, renewal, and application – that is, manage
effective knowledge processes (EKP). "

Bhatt G. D. (2000, 2001) states that

"The knowledge management process can be categorized into knowledge
creation, knowledge validation, knowledge presentation, knowledge distribution,
and knowledge application activities."

Now the question which arises is why to manage it.

Richard E. Combs states that some of the barriers for learning are knowledge transfer, space, time and memory, culture clash , competitive intelligence and managing historical and tacit information. He states that a neutral platform is needed where issues of language don't exist, where space, time and memory are no longer a barrier to interaction or knowledge, which looks at the exterior events and helps management to looks at what lies before it, which can save and store what was said and done and acted upon. (Richard E. Combs)
KMS provides this platform to overcome all the above mentioned barriers. Taking into account all the definitions of KM and reasons why it is required we can define KMS as

"A platform to overcome barriers to knowledge like knowledge transfer, space, time and memory, culture clash , competitive intelligence and managing historical and tacit information for an organisation to get help in decision making and to gain competitive advantage."

Considering the example of my previous employer i.e. Sutherland Global Services, a BPO in relation with KM. We had our individual account in a software system called as Peoplesoft. Using our userid we used to login to the account to mark our attendance. It used to show us our attendance for the month selected, holidays taken, holidays requested and whether approved or not, our shift timings, task for the week etc. The records of our individual account can be seen and managed by our team leader through his account. The shift timings, task for the week and holiday approval was managed by our team leader. And the team leader's account were managed by the Team Manager and it goes up the hierarchy. This system eliminated the culture clash, the space,time and memory issues and provided competitive intelligence and helped in managing information. It provided a platform for overcoming the barriers to knowledge and also helped in decision making and to gain competitive advantage.

Considering our definition the Peoplesoft software can be considered as a KMS. In this case it worked because it succeeded in achieving the functionalities for which it was designed. Like it provided with successful transfer of knowledge between the employees overcoming one of the barriers to knowledge i.e. knowledge transfer. It eliminated the space, time and memory barrier by storing information on a computer eliminating space and memory issue and transfering it as and when required between the employees without wasting much time. It helped in managing the historical information by storing the attendance of the employee, their salary slips, holidays taken etc. It also helped in converting the tacit knowledge (knowledge from the team leader or manager) into explicit knowledge used by the executives for doing their task. As the team leader gets all the holiday request's of his team in his account, it helps him in decision making to approve or reject the holiday request. As the HR manager can see the attendance of all the employees it helps him in allocationg salaries accordingly i.e. again it helps in decision making. The entire system provides a competitive advantage as it provides greater service eleminating all the hassle.



References :

Bhatt, G. D. (2001), ‘Knowledge management in organizations: examining the interaction
between technologies, techniques, and people’, Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 5,
no. 1, pp. 68-75

Wiig, K. M. (1997), ‘Knowledge Management: an introduction and perspective’ Journal of
Knowledge Management, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 6-14

Richard E. Combs, Why Manage Knowledge?