Knowledge Management:A Value-Chain Approach: Knowledge Management: A Value-Chain Approach Albert Simard presented to Interdepartmental Knowledge Management Forum October 27, 2004


An opening thought…: An opening thought… An era in which the key economic resource is knowledge is startlingly different from an era in which the key resources were capital, raw materials, land, and labor. James Martin CYBERCORP (1996)


OUTLINE: OUTLINE Knowledge Assets Knowledge Value Knowledge Management Knowledge is different from industrial resources


Knowledge Attributes: Knowledge Attributes Total knowledge is increasing; half-life is decreasing Knowledge can be in more than one place at one time Knowledge may be permanent or time sensitive Knowledge can be used without being consumed Selling does not reduce supply nor ability to sell again Buyers only purchase knowledge once Once disseminated, knowledge cannot be recalled Thomas Stewart (1997)


Knowledge Costs: Knowledge Costs Production cost is independent of the number of users Reproduction is controlled by users, not producers Production cost greatly exceeds reproduction cost Costs accumulate at the front-end of production The more intangible, the greater the cost discrepancy Inputs and outputs for creative work are uncorrelated Thomas Stewart (1997)


Explicit Knowledge: Explicit Knowledge Knowledge that has been formally expressed and transferred in a tangible form; intellectual property. databases, statistics, collections books, publications, reports, documents, correspondence photographs, diagrams, illustrations computer code, expert systems, decision-support systems presentations, speeches, lectures recorded experiences, stories materials for education, teaching, and training laws, regulations, procedures, rules, policies embedded into products


Slide7: 531 assets; 211 responses


Tacit Knowledge: Tacit Knowledge Intangible personal knowledge gained through experience and self-learning. It is influenced by beliefs, perspectives, and values. awareness skills mental models expertise judgement wisdom corporate memory The Thinker - Rodin


Intellectual Capital: Intellectual Capital “Intellectual capital is intellectual material … that can be put to use to create wealth.” Thomas Stewart Intellectual Capital (1997) Intellectual capital includes both tangible, material (explicit knowledge) and intangible knowledge in the minds of individuals (tacit knowledge)


OUTLINE: OUTLINE Knowledge Assets Knowledge value Knowledge Management If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.


Knowledge Value: Knowledge Value Value is very difficult to measure Value is extracted when knowledge is used Sharing increases the value of knowledge Value increases with abundance Buyer cannot judge value in advance Value can be added by filtering knowledge Value is not well related to acquisition cost Thomas Stewart (1997)


Knowledge Value Chains: Knowledge Value Chains Flow of knowledge through a sequence of processes in which it’s value is increased at each stage. Creation Use Management Preservation Sharing Integration


Knowledge Creation Value Chain: Knowledge Creation Value Chain Knowledge creation is a precursor to everything else


Creating Knowledgeis not Enough: Creating Knowledge is not Enough Bell Labs: lasers Xerox: graphical user interface, object-oriented programming, laser printer, Ethernet IBM, DEC: mainframe/mini computers CERN: World-Wide Web Encyclopaedia Britannica: synthesizing knowledge


Knowledge Use Value Chain: Knowledge Use Value Chain The value of knowledge is realized only when it is used for something


Plant Hardiness Zones : Plant Hardiness Zones Knowledge for Canadians (climate + elevation)


Slide17: Knowledge for Practitioners Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modeling System


OUTLINE: OUTLINE Knowledge Value Knowledge Assets Knowledge Management KM adds value by linking creation and use


Knowledge Management Value Chain: Knowledge Management Value Chain Higher-level KM goals generally have decreasing ranges of applicability


Knowledge Management:Linking Past, Present, & Future: Knowledge Management: Linking Past, Present, & Future Capture Archive Share Integrate Learn Adapt


Knowledge Management:A Definition: Knowledge Management: A Definition Developing organizational capacity and processes to capture, preserve, share, and integrate data, information, and knowledge to support organizational goals, learning, and adaptation.


Knowledge Preservation Value Chain: Knowledge Preservation Value Chain Preservation is the foundation of knowledge management


Briefing Note Database: Briefing Note Database


Organizing Knowledge Assets: Organizing Knowledge Assets Epistemology Cognitive approaches Automated methods Classification systems Thesauri Interdisciplinary issues Linguistic issues Metadata Knowledge map Library of Alexandria – artist’s concept


Storing Knowledge Assets: Storing Knowledge Assets Information Technology infrastructure Systems for archiving and managing content Interface for entry and administration Data warehouse, distributed databases Information repository, records management Knowledge repository, knowledge map Digital libraries, traditional libraries


Retrieving Knowledge Assets: Retrieving Knowledge Assets Access to content Browser interface Search engine Extraction tools Manipulation tools Assembly tools Retrieval system Relativity - Escher


Knowledge Sharing Value Chain: Knowledge Sharing Value Chain The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users


Sharing Knowledge: Methods: Sharing Knowledge: Methods Conversations, discussions, dialogue Advice, briefings, recommendations Mentoring, teaching, examples Questions & answers, knowledge extraction Presentations, lectures, speeches, stories Documents, books, manuals, instructions Education, training, demonstration Meetings, workshops, conferences, forums Networks, communities of practice


Sharing Knowledge: Technology: Sharing Knowledge: Technology Talking (real, virtual) E-mail (individuals, list servers, distribution lists) Chat rooms, forums, discussion groups Communities of interest, informal networks Groupware (teams, working groups) Conferences, workshops, knowledge fairs Data bases, information bases, knowledge bases Digital libraries (repositories, search, retrieval) Information & knowledge markets


Knowledge Integration Value Chain: Knowledge Integration Value Chain The whole is more than the sum of it’s parts


Soils of Canada : Soils of Canada


Land Cover : Land Cover


Climate Change : Climate Change


Distribution of Black Spruce: Distribution of Black Spruce


“Products are physical manifestations of knowledge, and their worth largely, if not entirely, depends on the value of the knowledge they embody.” Dorothy Leonard Wellsprings of Knowledge (1995) : “Products are physical manifestations of knowledge, and their worth largely, if not entirely, depends on the value of the knowledge they embody.” Dorothy Leonard Wellsprings of Knowledge (1995) A final thought….