Cisb444 - Chapter10 - Strategies For Information Management - Towards Knowledge Management

Course Overview
• Strategic Planning for Information Systems explores the impact

that information systems (IS) and information technology (IT)
have on business performance and the contribution that they
make to the strategic options of organisations.
CISB444
• It describes tools, techniques and management frameworks to
both align strategies for IS and IT with business strategy
strategy, as
Strategic
g Information
well as seek out new opportunities through innovative
deployment of technology.
Systems Planning
Chapter 10: Strategies for Information Management: Chapter 10: Strategies for Information Management:
Towards Knowledge Management 1 Towards Knowledge Management 2
Course Overview Course Objectives
• This course demonstrates why strategic planning for • To provide an understanding that strategic planning for information
information systems is essential to organisational success, systems is both essential and feasible.
especially in times of increasingly rapid change. • To demonstrate that organisation must establish a way of
• Over the long term any organisation will get the information managing IS/IT strategically as part of the business development
systems it deserves, according to the approach adopted to the process in order to deliver the benefits available from IS/IT and to
use and management of IS/IT IS/IT. avoid the potential pitfalls in IS/IT implementation
implementation.
• To obtain the whole range of benefits available from IS/IT and • To assess alternative approaches to developing information
avoid the potential pitfalls, every organisation must establish systems (IS) strategies.
the means to manage IS/IT as an integral part of its approach • To highlight the importance of information as one of the
to strategic management. organisation’s strategic resources
Chapter 10: Overview
Chapter 10
• Chapter 10 focuses on information as a strategic asset
and the requirements and activities involved in the
Strategies
g for Information Management:
g p
development of an information management
g strategy.
gy
Towards Knowledge Management • It also explores the requirements, issues and options
g y important
associated with the increasingly p role IS/IT
needs to play in the management of organisational
knowledge.
Introduction
Chapter 10: Main Topics • The information management strategy aim to
ensure that the organisation obtains the greatest
• Information as an Asset possible value from its information resource and
• Implementing Business-wide Information to enable its cost-effective management and
Management protection.
protection
• The Practice of Managing the Information Asset
• Policies and Implementation Issues
• Managing Knowledge Resources
Information as an Asset Information as an Asset
• The importance of information as a key asset continues to • Many organisations are plagued by poor quality
grow, following a period where its production, complexity, information:
volume and demand have rocketed, but where – Many y managers
g are unaware of the q quality
y of information theyy use
satisfaction of the real information needs of the. – At an operational level, poor information leads directly to customer
organisation has been limited due to many obstacles. dissatisfaction and increased cost
• Often, this can be due to a lack of clarity in identifying – Poor
P iinformation
f ti quality
lit can result
lt iin subtle
btl and d iindirect
di t effects
ff t
business-driven requirements. – Inaccurate information makes just-in-time manufacturing and self-
managed g work teams infeasible
• The
Th challenge
h ll iis tto ensure th
thatt thi
this iinformation
f ti iis off th
the – Poor information in financial and other management systems
highest quality possible, particularly in terms of timeliness, mean that managers cannot effectively implement business
accuracy completeness
accuracy, completeness, confidence in source source, reliability strategies Decisions are no better than the information on which
strategies.
and appropriateness. they are based
Obstacles to Effective Information Management Obstacles to Effective Information Management

• Information resides in multiple electronic ‘libraries’
libraries and • Information is created for different purposes by different
proprietary databases and on multiple technical platforms, people at different times and based on differing
g
which are not well integrated or easily
y accessible. g in many
definitions, resulting y conflicts and inconsistencies
• Some information is computer-based and well structured, • There is both a backlog in meeting information
stored in centrally managed databases and applications requirements and legacy systems, requiring integration
• Some information is less structured, and stored in many with newly developed and packaged applications
independent and dispersed PCs or on corporate Intranets • Complex information exchanges exist across
• There is a huge volume of unstructured and non- organisational
i ti lb
boundaries,
d i comprising
i i a mixture
i t off
automated or unrecorded information electronic, paper-based, and verbal communication
An Information Culture An Information Culture
• An appropriate information culture is essential for • Marchand (1995) identified 4 common information cultures that exist
in organisations today:
the success of any information management – Functional culture
strategy.
strategy • Managers use information as a means of exercising influence or
power over others
• Definition: – Sharing
g culture
– The values, attitudes, and behaviours that • Managers and employees trust each other to use information to
influence the way employees at all levels in the improve their performance
– Enquiring culture
organisation
i ti sense, collect,
ll t organise,
i process,
• Managers and employees search for better information to understand
communicate and use information the future and ways of changing what they do to align themselves
with future trends/directions
– Discovery culture
• Managers and employees are open to new insights about crisis and
radical changes and seek ways to create competitive opportunities
An Information Culture Implementing Business-Wide Information Management

• Each type of culture influences the way employees use information – • A well
well-managed
managed information resource is arguably as essential as an
their information behaviour – and reflects the importance that senior effective IT infrastructure.
management attribute to the use of information in achieving success • A framework for implementing information management can be
or avoiding failure
failure. established
t bli h d bby answering
i a number
b off pertinent
ti t questions
ti ((see T
Table
bl
• However, establishing an effective information culture can be a 10.1)
challenge. • This framework will define:
• Davenport (1994), noted that: – A set of objectives and policies for effective information management
– Effective information management must begin by thinking about how – A program for introducing information management to meet the objectives
people use information
information, not with how people use machines.
machines – The creation and maintenance of the information architecture and
business or enterprise model
– What information services should be provided, and how to organise to
offer them in the most effective way
– What implementation issues exist, and how to tackle them
Establishing the Scope and Purpose of Information Management: Establishing the Scope and Purpose of Information Management:
Sample Set of Questions Sample Set of Questions
• What is the extent of information that the business is • How much of it is new or external information, currently
interested in? not collected?
• Wh does
Why d it need
d th
the iinformation,
f ti and
d what
h tbbeneficial
fi i l • Whi h information
Which i f ti is
i useddbby a b
broad d cross-section
ti off the
th
impact can be ensured? business, and needs consistent, coherent policies to
• How much of it resides in centrally managed computer avoid ambiguity and conflict?
systems, dispersed department or individual PCs, in • What information is strategic and linked to strategic
paper-based
pape based form,
o ,o or in peop
people’s
e s heads?
eads app cat o s
applications?
• What high potential information is likely to become
g
strategic?
Establishing the Scope and Purpose of Information Management: Objectives of Information Management
Sample Set of Questions
• When and how can it be delivered, or made accessible, • The main objective of information management is to
where it will be most useful? satisfy the demand for information, and thus deliver value
to the business.
• H
How can it b
be verified,
ifi d and
d what
h t other
th iinformation
f ti iis
• This demand is expressed in the information requirements
required to turn it into useful knowledge?
of applications, and the information access and delivery
• Which information needs to be integrated across services required by users.
applications, and what technical challenges does this
pose
pose?
Objectives of Information Management Delivering Value to the Business
• Value is delivered through: • The main objective of information management is to add
– Enabling the business to make the right decisions value by exploiting information as a core business
resource.
– Improving the effectiveness of processes and their
outcomes • In meeting this objective, the potential value of
information, especially in the primary competitive
– Providing timely and focused performance information
processes (the primary activities in the value chain) will be
– The preservation of organisational memory harnessed to its fullest extent.
– Improving the productivity and effectiveness of • Since
Si i f
information
ti needsd tot be
b managed d in
i line
li with
ith its
it
managers and staff value to the business, it is helpful to “weight” areas within
the total information set
set, according to their required
contribution.
Value of Information to the Business Value of Information to the Business

• The whole of the information environment throughout an
High STRATEGIC HIGH POTENTIAL organisation cannot be treated in the same way
Potential value to • It is useful to categorise it in an information portfolio,
Critical to business
business may be
and of greatest
high, but not
related to business needs and potential.
potential value
Value of confirmed • The aim is to bring g information into the managed
g
Information to Essential for primary environment according to needs and priorities, and the
Needed for
Future Strategy processes and
value enhanced
supporting business, risks associated with not managing it.
b t little
but littl strategic
t t i
by horizontal
value
integration
L
Low KEY OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
High Low
Value of Information to Current Strategy
Value of Information to the Business Benefits Delivered by a Stable Integrated Information Framework
• This entails: • Businesses better equipped with information to respond

– Focusing on strategic information which must be managed as necessary
– Evaluating
g the key
y operational
p information in the current p
portfolio – To change
g direction,, monitor market and customer needs,,
and determining how best to exploit its potential, at acceptable competitor activity, build relationships with business
cost and risk partners and so on.
– Maintaining a watchful eye on high potential information which
may become strategic, but where structures and relationships are
• Direct savings achieved in the long run
as yet hazy – Even though introducing information management is costly,
– Perhaps choosing to ignore low potential support information, fragmentation is even more costly when taking into account
which does not warrant a high priority for being managed. multiple duplication of information capture, confusion
caused by information inconsistencies, and the frustration
and chaos in reconciling differences.
Benefits Delivered by a Stable Integrated Information Framework Benefits Delivered by a Stable Integrated Information Framework
• Intraorganisational and interorganisational cooperation • Support for managing businesses in a more integrated
improved by making information available across way
boundaries to a broad communityy of authorised users – Traditionally, many business have been functionally orientated and IT has
supported individual business functions quite effectively.
– Some of these may be external users, having their own
– There is now a requirement toward integrating along business processes
requirements for accessing information; for example, in order to be more customer and market orientated, and thus more
customers
t placing
l i orders,
d suppliers
li enquiring
i i iinto
t th
the status
t t competitive.
of manufacturing schedules to meet just-in-time delivery – This demands taking a horizontal view across the business; for example,
requirements,
q , financial analysts
y collecting
gg global economics g all activities relating
linking g to a customer and reorganising
g g information in
figures. such a way that the whole of the customer’s relationship with a business
is logically brought together and presented at the point of contact with the
customer – face to face, on the telephone, in concurrent processing,
when a written order, query or complaint arrives, or when electronic
channels are used
Managing Knowledge Resources What is Knowledge?
• Knowledge is crucial for the competitive success of all • Information is data that has been given structure
commercial organisations, and, if they desire to harness it • Knowledge is information that has been given meaning
to create business value, theyy must develop p strategies
g to • In essence,
essence knowledge is information that has been
manage it effectively. interpreted by individuals and given a context.
• Managing knowledge embraces not just its exploitation • Thus,
Thus knowledge is the result of a dynamic human
but the acquisition, creating, storing and sharing of this process, in which humans justify personal information
resource and all with deep understanding of the business produced or sustain beliefs as part of an aspiration for the
and strategic context
context. ‘truth’ and can be portrayed as information combined with
experience, context, interpretation, and reflection.
What is Knowledge? What is Knowledge?

• English (1999) builds on his definition of information to
define knowledge as follows:
– ‘Knowledge
g is not jjust information known, it is information in
context.
– Knowledge means understanding the significance of the
information.
information
– Knowledge is the value added to information by people who
have the experience and acumen to understand its real potential.
– Knowledge has value only to the extent that people are
empowered to act based on that knowledge. In other words,
knowledge has value only when acted on.’ on.
The data-information-knowledge transformation process
The Concept of Knowledge Management The Concept of Knowledge Management
• Knowledge Management
Management, in its broadest interpretation
interpretation, is • The European Guide to Best Practice in Knowledge
about using employees’ experience and ideas to improve Management defines knowledge as:
p
performance. – ‘The
The combination of data and information to which is
• ‘The capabilities by which communities within an added expert opinion, skills and experience to result in
organisation capture the knowledge that is critical to them, a valuable asset which can be used to make decisions.
constantly improve it and make it available in the most It is the essential factor in adding meaning to
effective manner to those people who need it, so that they information. Knowledge may be explicit and/or tacit,
can exploit it creatively to add value as part of their work’
work i di id l and/or
individual d/ collective.’
ll ti ’
(Royal Dutch/Shell definition taken from the BSI Guide to Mekhilef et al., 2003
Good Practice)
Types of Knowledge and Associated KM Issues Barriers to Successful Knowledge Management

Knowledge as body of Knowledge as know
know-how:
how: Knowledge as know
know-how:
how: P
People
l M
Management
t St
Structure
t K
Knowledge
l d
information The Individual The Team
Nature of • Explicit • Tacit • Tacit 1. Inertia to change 1. The fear of giving 1. Inflexible 1. Extracting
knowledge • Codifiable • Personal • Fluid 2. Too busy, no time up power company knowledge
• IS/IT can pla
play a part • Diffuse
Diff se • Dependent on team d
dynamics
namics t learn
to l 2
2. Th diffi
The difficulties
lti off structure 2
2. C t
Categorising
i i
• Packaged • Diffuse passing on power 2. Fragmented knowledge
3. No discipline to
KM Issues • Finding it • establishing suitable processes • Formal management of essentially free- act 3. Challenging organisations 3. Rewarding
• Validation for extraction form activity
4. Lack of traditional 3. Functional silos knowledge
• Value
V l assessmentt • Tight ownership • Establishing suitable frameworks and
processes motivation company style 4. Failure to invest 4. Understanding
• Obtaining it at reasonable cost • Reluctant to impart
• Integration with own system • motivation and reward • Members’ own perception of their role 5. Constant staff 4. Imposed in past systems knowledge
• Making available to the right • experiential, thus hard to • Mutual trust – need 100% buy-in turnover constraints management
population
p p in the right
g form encode • Formal learning mechanisms 5. Lack of 5. Sharing between
6
6. Transferring
• Sensible use of technology • Trust • Dissemination understanding key knowledge
knowledge to
• Ensuring subsequent beneficial • finding suitable way of passing • Creating and using knowledge
new people about formal groups
use on learning repositories
•Limited role for technology • Technology has a background role 7. Teaching older approaches 6. Making
Common KM Issues: employees
l new knowledge widely
• knowledge about knowledge (knowing it exists and where: its context and hence its importance ideas available
• Understanding the relevant business context
• Owner ship and buy-in to KM processes
• updating
p g and reuse of knowledge
g
• demonstrating causal link between KM activity and business benefit
Chapter 10 Complete
Chapter 10: Strategies for Information Management:

Towards Knowledge Management 37

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Course Overview

• Strategic Planning for Information Systems explores the impact

Course Overview Course Objectives

Obstacles to Effective Information Management Obstacles to Effective Information Management

An Information Culture Implementing Business-Wide Information Management

Value of Information to the Business Value of Information to the Business

• This entails: • Businesses better equipped with information to respond

What is Knowledge? What is Knowledge?

The data-information-knowledge transformation process

Types of Knowledge and Associated KM Issues Barriers to Successful Knowledge Management

Chapter 10: Strategies for Information Management:

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