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Knowledge Management: An overview & its impact on software industry

Conference Paper · January 2008

DOI: 10.1049/ic:20070767 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 IET-UK International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Electrical Sciences (ICTES 2007),
Dr. M.G.R. University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Dec. 20-22, 2007. pp. 1063-1068.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW & ITS

IMPACT ON SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
Ms. Arti Chandani, Ms. B. Neeraja, Ms. Sreedevi
*29 A, II Floor , Jayachandndra Flats,
Adhikesh Perumal Koil Street, W. Mamblam, Chennai -33
arti_lalchandani@yahoo.com
Mobile - 9382129912

Keywords: Intellectual asset, tacit knowledge, community of knowledge for achieving the objectives of the organization
practice, learning organisation and thereby increasing the financial performance.

Abstract Intellectual capital resident in the brains of people,

Knowledge Management involves the identification and
analysis of available and required knowledge, and the
subsequent planning and control of actions to develop
knowledge assets so as to fulfil organizational objectives.
Knowledge Management helps management in taking
informed and better decision. It also helps in creating
intellectual capital for the organization. The importance of
knowledge management is software industry is incredible.
Knowledge management helps in improving execution and
coordination across the organization, which is a challenge for
software industry. Knowledge management also helps in
increasing speed to delivery and precision of execution for
software industry. A case of Patni computers system
highlights the importance of knowledge Management in
software industry.
1 Introduction
Knowledge management is a concept which has been in
vogue since long. It has taken momentum only in recent
times. This concept has taken a long time in establishing as
separate fields because of the obvious reasons of validation
and proof. Knowledge management is a concept which is not
an end; rather it is an ongoing, organic and ever evolving
process. The concept of knowledge management emerged in
mid 1980s from the need to derive the knowledge from
deluge of information
It starts with the birth of an organization and it keeps on
growing through the entire life of the organization. So we can
see that during the life of organization, knowledge
management is a continuous process which keeps on going.
The organization gets from rich to richer as they acquire
knowledge, which eventually becomes their asset.
Gartner defines Knowledge management as an integrated and
collaborative approach to the Creation, Capture,
Organization, Access and Use of Information Assets.
organizational processes, products, facilities, systems and
documents is what is termed knowledge. In its most available
form knowledge in any organization includes the ideas
processed by entities and used to achieve the goals in the
organization.
1.1 Essentials for knowledge creation: The
organization should have the following in order to
create knowledge as an intellectual asset :-
• Vision
• Strategy
• Structure
• System
• Staff
2 Importance:
For all the organization, the information is very important. It
is this basic foundation on which the entire building of
knowledge management is being build. Most of the
organization can be benefited from the knowledge
management only when they develop knowledge assets. In
order to develop as knowledge assets, organization must
identify what is the available and required knowledge. Once
this identification is done, with the help of planning and
control this knowledge can be turned into knowledge
management.

Knowledge management can be described as a process of

capturing knowledge, communicating and using that

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 IET-UK International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Electrical Sciences
2.2
.
The linkage between data, information and knowledge can be
seen in the form of a pyramid. Data is the collection of facts.
Once that data is processed and organized to meet some goal,
it becomes the information. Based upon the information
available, knowledge is created in an organization.
Knowledge is invisible. It is within the organization but the
most difficult task is to understand where the knowledge
resides in an organization.
2.1 Features of knowledge management
I. Knowledge is continuous: - It is well said
about knowledge management that “obsoletes what
you know before others obsolete it”. It is a never
ending process during the life of the organization. It
is continuously captured, retained, organized and
used. Since the changes and advancement in the
external environment are taking place at regular
interval, some of the knowledge has to be revised
and updated to keep it up to the mark.
II. Knowledge helps in achieving Goal: The ultimate
purpose of the knowledge management is to how the
knowledge can be used to achieve the organizational
goal and tune it to the strategies of the organization.
III. Knowledge is about human being: The knowledge
is with the people as to what is there in their heads;
the task for knowledge management is as how it is
being used for the organization. Here technology
plays an important role in transforming that
knowledge “what people know” to “organization
asset”
IV. KM is visionary:-This vision of knowledge
management is expressed in strategic business terms
rather than technical terms, and in a manner that
generates enthusiasm, buy-in, and motivates
managers to work together toward reaching common
goals
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The General Knowledge Management Model
Any organisation’s existing knowledge base is the
only sustainable competitive advantage that a
company has today and this unique resource must be
protected, cultivated and shared within the company.
This is where knowledge management comes in. It is
a systematic process of capturing this knowledge,
organizing it, filtering it and presenting it in a way
that improves understanding among employees in a
special interest area.
Knowledge management covers the following:
• Creation: - Knowledge is created. This happens in
the heads of people. This is not a process which can
be done by organisation, what an organisation can do
is to hire those people who have the knowledge. So
that the knowledge is created for the organisation.
This is achieved by entering data, scanning the
documents and getting data from others sources.
Here organization tries to answers the following
questions:

Where is the knowledge asset?

What does it contain?

What is its use?

What form is it in?

How accessible is it?
• Retention: - Knowledge is captured. It is put on
paper in a report, entered into a computer system of
some kind, or simply remembered. This is the formal
way in which the knowledge is captured by an
organisation and it eventually becomes the asset of
the organisation. Here the knowledge is preserved
for all future references and it will be there with the
organization, once it has been introduced in the
system. It includes all those activities which
maintain the viability of knowledge within the
system.

What are the opportunities for using the
knowledge asset?

What would be the effect of its use?

What are the current obstacles to its use?

What would be its increased value to the
company
• Organisation: - Knowledge is organized, where it is
classified and modified. The classification can be the
addition of keywords which could be indexed.
 Knowledge Management: An Overview & its Impact on Software Industry
Modification can add context, background or other
things that make it easier to reuse later. The test of
this step's success is to determine how easily people
in the organization will be able to access and use the
knowledge when they need it. This involves transfer
also within the organisation through
communications, translation, conversion, filtering
and rendering. Here the information is catalogued,
indexed, filtered and linked for the future reference.

How to plan the actions to use the
knowledge asset?

How to enact actions?

How to monitor actions?
• Access: - Knowledge is shared and used. When
knowledge is shared and used, it's modified by the
resources that use it. This takes us back to
knowledge creation. This includes the activities and
events connected with the application of knowledge
to business processes.

Did the use of it produce the desired added
value?

How can the knowledge asset be
maintained for this use?

Did the use create new opportunities?
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3 Types of knowledge
Types of Knowledge
Explicit Tacit
3.1 Explicit Knowledge:- The knowledge which can be
expressed in verbal form, is explicit knowledge. It can take
any form right from simply written note to a very lengthy
report. This knowledge can be easily accessed and transmitted
and shared among the individual in the organization. It can
either be structured or unstructured. Some of the examples are
Internet, best practices, emails, newsletters, manuals, reports
etc.
3.2 Tacit Knowledge: - Tacit knowledge refers to the
knowledge that resides in an individual's mind. It is the
"know-how" and experience of the staff member that is vital
to the organization. This is highly personal and at times it
becomes very difficult to formalize it. Emotions, ideas,
intuition comes here. Manager at times takes decision just out
of intuition, how to put that on paper or quantify. It becomes a
difficult task as to how to capture the tacit knowledge.
Some of the examples are formal/informal face-to-face or
telephonic conversations, videoconferences and presentations,
individual knowledge and expertise, mentoring and coaching.
3.3 Dimensions of tacit knowledge
1. Technical: - It includes the informal and hard to pin
down skills. People have difficulty in sharing this
knowledge just because the fact as they keep on
doing the same thing over the years and it is on their
tips. If they are asked why it is being in a particular
way, it becomes difficult to measure that one. Highly
subjective and personal insights, intuitions and
hunches and inspiration derived from bodily
experience are just to name.
2. Cognitive: - It consists of belief, perception, ideals,
values and emotions and mental model. At times,
this knowledge is ignored but this is very important.
 IET-UK International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Electrical Sciences
4 Knowledge Management: Benefits and
advantages
Whether to minimize loss and risk improve organizational
efficiency, or embrace innovation, knowledge management
efforts and initiatives add great value to an organization.
Some of the benefits of KM include:
• KM helps management in taking the better and more
informed decisions;
• It helps in building the to the intellectual capital of
an organization;
• It encourages the free and smooth flow of ideas
within the organisations which leads to insight and
innovation;
• It eliminates redundant processes, streamlines
operations, and enhances employee retention rates;
• It also improves customer service and efficiency;
• It leads to greater productivity.
• It focuses on the internal operations of the
organisation, thereby leading to greater efficiency.
5 Software Industry and Knowledge
Management
The Software industry is knowledge intensive and requires
extensive management of this knowledge. Knowledge
Management (KM) ensures that there is an effective sharing
and exploitation of accumulated, collective knowledge.
The software industry is resource-oriented and it becomes
quite important to ensure that knowledge within the hold of
resources is safeguarded. In software service companies,
knowledge management can be a highly effective practice as
it helps capture knowledge across different skill sets. For
instance, information regarding common queries about
specific technologies (if captured on the Intranet) can help
solve common problems. This, in turn, boosts productivity.
As Indian software service organisations employ software
professionals in thousands, employee inputs can be extremely
useful and beneficial for the growth and progress of any
organisation.
1066
Storage of Knowledge
4%
20%
Paper
Digital
Employee's Heads
Others
42%
24%
It is found that, while 26 per cent of knowledge in the average
organization is stored on paper and 20 per cent digitally, an
astonishing 42 per cent is stored in employees' heads.
This chart clearly shows as to how organizations are keeping
the knowledge in their organisation. There is a big threat, as
about 42% of the knowledge is stored in employees’ minds.
The organisation risks loosing that 42%, the moment the
employee makes a move to quit the organization.
Software Companies need to recognize that knowledge is an
important asset. Knowledge is gathering over time and will
assist the organisation to be successful. A survey by Reuters
found that 90 per cent of companies that deploy a Knowledge
Management (KM) solution benefit from better decision-
making, while 81 per cent say they notice increased
productivity
Up to now software companies have seen knowledge
management more as a market for them than an area to
exploit internally. It is only recently that major software
companies have started deploying internal KM initiatives that
are more than technology implementations and address
organisational and cultural aspects.
5.1 Challenges faced by software industry
Software companies are challenged to develop, sell, deliver
and support increasingly complex solutions and products.
Even as customers’ technology purse strings loosen and
capital budgets increase, prospects are savvier, more
conservative and better buyers than ever before. And
providing “return on investment” has become cliché and
represents the minimum hurdle software companies must
meet in order to ask for the business. The new paradigm for
selling software is made increasingly complex by internal
challenges including better management of product
development resources, significant churn in the software
workforce, evolving financial reporting requirements, and
being able to better market your products and services.
 Knowledge Management: An Overview & its Impact on Software Industry
Challenges
• Improving execution and coordination across the
organization
• Balancing the investment between customer
acquisition and retention
• Increasing speed to delivery and precision of
execution
• Continued differentiation against a surging number
of competitors by providing an increasingly higher
level of customer service while reducing costs
• Retaining talent including employee growth,
knowledge retention and on-boarding of new
employees
• Employee turnover is perhaps the most persistent
and difficult challenge that software development
companies have to face today. Its often a matter of
great pressure when employees leave in middle of
projects and worse, in numbers more than one. The
company often has a tough time replacing the void at
a short notice and often has to source talent from
another project ongoing in the company or hire fresh
talent and train him over the project.
5.2 Types of Knowledge in Software
In software development one can identify two types of
knowledge:

Knowledge embedded in the products
(artefacts), since they are the result of
highly Intellectual, creative activities

meta-knowledge that is knowledge about
the products and processes
5.3 Effectiveness of Knowledge Management
For knowledge management to be effective and efficient
in any software industry, following should be ensured for
the desired results:-
• Knowledge should be just that not just Information
and not just Data
• It should be available from wherever it is needed,
to all those authorized to receive it
• Both Input and Output must be simple.
• It should only be entered once - and then kept up
to date *and* relevant to the organisation.
• The language should be simple and appropriate.
• The Information should always support the
Learning Organization.
1067
5.4 Case of Patni Computers Systems
Patni Computer Systems, India's sixth largest software
services exporter is one of the few organisations that make
extensive use of KM. The company has created a knowledge
centre, which allows its employees to learn about new
technologies, have discussions, get technical queries
answered and even draft quick sales proposals.
For Patni, this system has led to a reduction in training time
and a boost in productivity due to better sharing of knowledge
among its employees.
Here are some of the features of the knowledge centre of
Patni computer systems:
 The knowledge centre contains information about
the quality management system, information related
to different projects, related best practices and
lessons learned, technology related white papers and
tutorials.
 A searchable repository of reusable software
components
 As it is based upon a Web based model, information
is accessible from all Patni offices
 Classification of content according to industry
verticals and technologies
 A discussion forum for exchange of ideas and
solutions
 A helpdesk for facilitating process consulting to
projects
 A marketing centre which holds frequently asked
questions by customers (the same is used by
employees in sales and marketing). Additionally,
case studies and templates for proposals and
newsletters are also captured in the knowledge
centre.
 A role based access privilege model that ensures that
every user has access only to information pertaining
to his department.
Conclusion
KM requires lot of collaboration. Collaboration is sharing and
using the information regularly. An organization needs to
ensure that tacit knowledge is harnessed and is available to
all. Community of Practice (CoP) facilitates in capturing tacit
knowledge. All the employees in any company need to access
information instantaneously in order to enhance their
functionality and efficacy. The sales department may require
information that may have been the sole domain of the
technical department so far.
 IET-UK International Conference on Information and Communication Technology in Electrical Sciences

Knowledge management enables organizations to find new References

ways to readily share both their explicit knowledge (that
which is easily codified and stored on-line) and their tacit
knowledge (that which is elusive and collectively held in the [1] Thomas H. Devenport, Gilbert J.B. “Knowledge
brains and experiences of employees). The knowledge-aware management case book”, second edition.
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leverage internal resources intelligently and anticipate knowledge”
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fundamental shifts in corporate direction and leadership, but [3] http://www.contextware.com
[4] http://www.km-forum.org
the potential rewards are significant.
[5] Knowledge and Process Management: The Journal of
Knowledge management is very important for the software Corporate Transformation
industry as this is the industry which uses maximum tacit [6]http://www.1000ventures.com
knowledge. Software industry can be benefit from knowledge
management if that is incorporated in the entire organization.
This is the industry where the employee turnover is also very
high, so it is always a threat to the organization. Knowledge
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decision-making, Retention of corporate memory and
increased innovation.

Acknowledgements

A paper to be presented in a conference calls for intellectual

nourishment, professional help and encouragement from
many quarters. I would like to express my gratitude to:-

• The Head of the Department, M.B.A, Dr. S.

Ramalingam for giving me this opportunity to
present the paper and having the belief in me that I
can do this.
• My co-author Ms. Neeraja for standing always
behind me and for being ready to provide all type of
help.
• My Co-author Ms. Sridevi for getting associated
with me.
• My husband, Mr. Om Prakash, IT Engineer, for
providing valuable inputs and sharing his insight and
experience with me.
• All other persons who are associated with this paper,
directly or indirectly.

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