Question

What knowledge management (KM) activities are applied in each stage of KM Cycle?

Answer 1

Answer :

The various processes used to manage knowledge including processes for applying knowledge, processes for capturing knowledge, processes for sharing knowledge, and processes for creating knowledge will be discussed. KM processes refer to the ways that an organization handles knowledge at various stages of its life in an organization (KM cycle). There are four main knowledge management processes, and each process comprises two sub-processes:

Knowledge Discovery :

Knowledge discovery may be defined as the development of new tacit or explicit knowledge from data and information or from the synthesis of prior knowledge. The discovery of new explicit knowledge relies most directly on combination, whereas the discovery of new tacit knowledge relies most directly on socialization. New explicit knowledge is discovered through combination, wherein the multiple bodies of explicit knowledge (data and/or information) are synthesized to create new, more complex sets of explicit knowledge. This happens through communication, integration, and systemization of multiple streams of explicit knowledge. Existing explicit knowledge, data and information are reconfigured, recategorized, and recontextualized to produce new explicit knowledge. Example: Data mining techniques may be used to uncover new relationships among explicit data that may be lead to create predictive or categorization models that create new knowledge

In the case of tacit knowledge, the integration of multiple streams for the creation of new knowledge occurs through the mechanism of socialization (Nonaka 1994, as cited in Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal, 2010). Socialization is the synthesis of tacit knowledge across individuals, usually through joint activities rather than written or verbal instructions. Examples: By transferring ideas and images, apprenticeships help newcomers to see how other think.

Knowledge capture :

Knowledge capture is the process by which knowledge is converted from tacit to explicit form (residing within people, artifacts or organizational entities) and vice versa through the sub-processes of externalization and internalization. The knowledge being capured might reside outside the organizational boundaries including consultants, competitors, customers, suppliers, etc. Externalization is the sub-process through which an organization captures the tacit knowledge its workers possess so that it can be documented, verbalized and shared. This is a difficult process because tacit knowledge is often difficult to articulate. Internalization is the sub-process through which workers acquire tacit knowledge. It represents the traditional notion of learning. Knowledge capture can also be conducted outside an organization.

Knowledge sharing :

Knowledge sharing is the process through which explicit or tacit knowledge is communicated to other individuals. Typical Examples of Knowledge Sharing:

• Writing books or research papers
• Delivering a lecture or making a speech or presentation
• Participating in a dialogue over coffee or lunch
• Participating in Communities of Practice
• Mentoring a new staff; shadowing an expert

Depending on whether explicit or tacit knowledge is being shared, exchange or socialization processes are used. Exchange is used to communicate or transfer explicit knowledge among individuals, groups and organizations.

Knowledge application :

Knowledge application is when available knowledge is used to make decisions and perform tasks through direction and routines. Direction refers to the process through which the individual possessing the knowledge directs the action of another individual without transferring to that individual the knowledge underlying the direction. It is more that an individual who possesses knowledge advises another. For example, direction is the process used when a production worker calls an expert to ask her how to solve a particular problem with a machine and then proceeds to solve the problem based on the instructions given by the expert. Routines involve the utilization of knowledge embedded in procedures, rules, norms and processes that guide future behavior. Both direction and routines are applicable to either tacit or explicit knowledge. Application does not require the person applying the knowledge to understand it.