Agenda

Developing knowledge management in organizations:

• Type of knowledge and type of organization
• Methods and ways to develop knowledge management
– Communities of practice
– Knowledge networks
– IT tools
• Enablers and barriers of knowledge sharing
A framework of (organizational)
knowledge processes (Mäki 2008)

How can input information Does it involve knowledge

What are the
and knowledge be creation or reuse of
intended outcomes?
acquired? existing knowledge?

Acquiring information
Exploiting and
and knowledge
exploring information
-defining information and
and knowledge
knowledge needs
-reusing and creating
-locating information Knowledge to the
knowledge Knowledge outcomes
and knowledge internal and
-skills and competencies
-accessing information external customers
to interpret and absorb
and knowledge
acquired information and
-transferring information
knowledge, and utilize
and knowledge from
knowledge
available sources

Storing information
and knowledge
-people
-databases and documents
-organizational routines
 Organizations and knowledge
Knowledge agent:
emphasis on individual
Knowledge agent
knowledge or collective (autonomy and control)
knowledge
Individual Organization

Professional Machine
High bureaucracy bureaucracy

Standardization of
knowledge and work

Operating J-form
Low adhocracy organization

(modified from Lam, 2000)

5
Professional bureaucracy

– Embrained knowledge
– Formal education and training
– Individuals are key knowledge agents
– Individual and functional specialization
– Autonomy within specialist areas
Knowledge agent
– Boundaries between jobs (autonomy and control)
– Tacit knowledge can be applied by an Individual Organization
individual, in his own area of expertise Professional
Machine
– Interaction and sharing of tacit High
bureaucracy
bureaucracy
knowledge between different
Standardization of
occupational groups is limited knowledge and work
J-form
– E.g. hospital, university (?) Operating
organization
Low adhocracy

6
Machine bureaucracy
– Encoded knowledge
– Use of information systems is crucial
– Specialization, standardization, control
– Efficiency, formal operations, explicit rules
and procedures
– Managerial hierarchy
– A clear dichotomy between generation
and application of knowledge Knowledge agent
(autonomy and control)
– Knowledge is fragmented Individual Organization
– Dependency on individuals is minimized
– Role of tacit knowledge minimal Professional Machine
– Knowledge creation is slow and High bureaucracy bureaucracy
incremental Standardization of
– Poor at novel situations knowledge and work
Operating J-form
– E.g. some consulting companies, public adhocracy organization
Low
administration (?)

7
Operating adhocracy
– Embodied knowledge
– Little standardization
– Diverse know-how and skills of
individuals, inter-dependent
professionalism
– Speed of learning and unlearning is
important
– Autonomy over work
– Generation of tacit knowledge through
experimentation and interactive
problem solving Knowledge agent
(autonomy and control)
– Tacit knowledge embodied to
individuals Individual Organization
– Non-standard and creative problem
solving, learning by doing Professional Machine
– Operates directly with customers High bureaucracy bureaucracy
– Vulnerable of losing knowledgeStandardization of
– with people knowledge and work
– E.g. some consulting companies, Operating J-form
university (?) Low adhocracy organization

8
J-form (Japanese type) organization
– Embedded knowledge
– Knowledge resides within operating routines
and culture
– Flexibility
– Organic, non-hierarchical, and cross-
functional semi-autonomous team structures
– Vertical and horizontal knowledge flows
Knowledge agent
– Generated knowledge and learning is (autonomy and control)
disseminated widely to organization Individual Organization
– Job rotation and cross-functional collaboration
allows knowledge diffusion throughout the
whole organization Professional Machine
High bureaucracy bureaucracy
– Generated tacit knowledge is
captured in organizational level Standardization of
(embedded to organization) knowledge and work
Operating J-form
– Adaptive and innovative, learning
Low adhocracy organization
by doing
– Incremental (but not radical) innovations

9
 Organizations and types of knowledge (1)

Emphasis on Emphasis on
contributions of key collective endeavour
individuals

Communication-Intensive
Symbolic-Analyst-
Organizations
Focus on novel Dependent-Organizations
(Emphasis on encultured Arrows show trends suggested
problems (Emphasis on embrained
knowledge and by the literature (in 1995)
skills of key members)
collective understanding)

Expert-Dependent Knowledge-Routinized
Organizations Organizations
Focus on familiar
(Emphasis on the (Emphasis on knowledge
problems
embodied competences of embedded in technologies,
key members) routines and procedures)

(Blackler, 1995)
Organizations and types of knowledge (2)

• Symbolic-Analyst-Dependent Organizations
– e.g. entrepreurial problem solving, software consultancy
• Expert-Dependent Organizations
– Performance of specialist experts crucial, e.g. hospitals
• Communication-Intensive Organizations
– e.g. innovation mediated production
• Knowledge-Routinized Organizations
– e.g. “machine bureaucracy”, traditional factory

(Blackler, 1995)
 Approaches to knowledge management

Human-centered ICT-centered
approach approach

Knowledge networks/ Use of ICT-tools

Social networks Online communities
Communities
of practice (KM 2.0) Social media
(Background theories, e.g.
Media richness theory
Big data Social presence theory
(KM X.X?) Data Compensatory adaptation
analytics theory)
KM approaches, level of analysis and
type of knowledge
Organizational/
Individual level
Collective level

Communities of practice Communities of practice

Human-centred
approach Knowledge/Social Knowledge/Social
networks networks

(Tacit knowledge) (Tacit knowledge)

Social media Information repositories
ICT-centred Intranet
approach Knowledge networks Communication support
using ICT systems etc.

(Explicit knowledge) (Explicit knowledge)

Big data, data analytics ?

Human-centred approach in KM

Communities of practice
Social networks/Knowledge networks
 Communities of practice
• A group of people who
– are informally bound together by shared expertise and passion
for a joint enterprise
– share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic
– deepens its understanding and knowledge of the topic area by
interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger et al. 2002)
– share experiences and knowledge in free-flowing, creative ways
---> new approaches to problems

• Emerge spontaneously from networking among a group of

individuals who have similar (work-related) activities and interests
and share common objectives, interests, context and/or solutions
Basic elements of communities of practice

Domain of
Community
knowledge

Joint Mutual
•Shared •Continuous
enterprise engagement
understanding interaction and
of the domain Sources of coherence relationships
•Passion for the domain •Sense of belonging
•Sense of accountability Shared •Mutual commitment
•Brings people together repertoire •Shared identity
•Learning together
Shared •Ideas, tools,
practice, frameworks,
created by routines, stories
people
(Wenger, 1998)
Knowledge networks

• Knowledge management as a social communication process

• How knowledge is shared and transferred in a social network

– Between individuals, groups, within and between organizations
• Learning and co-operation
• Creation of new knowledge and innovation

• Network: the structure of ties among the actors in a social system

– Individual level: among people
– Within organizations, between units, departments, etc.
– Interorganizational level: between organizations
– Regional networks, networks within industries, between industries
 Social network/knowledge network
Kalle, Paul,
Department 1, Department 1,
Liisa, Finland France
Ulla,
Department Customer
1, Finland Sweden

Pekka,
Johan Department 3,
Department 2, Finland
Sweden Anna,
Department 2,
Finland Kim,
Supplier, Pekka
UK Department 3,
Beijing
Social network
• Structure
• Network ties
• strong ties, weak ties
A B • Roles of members
G Actor
Liaison

C D F I

Bridge link
Isolate H
E
M
J
K L Reciprocical relationship
Tie strength and knowledge sharing (1)

The "strength" of an interpersonal tie is a combination of the amount of

time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy (or mutual confiding), and the
reciprocal services which characterize each tie

• Strong ties
– Efficient knowledge sharing is characterized by tight coupling between
people from different units but
– Strong ties may lead to redundant information/ knowledge: everyone knows
what the others know

• Weak ties
– Distant and infrequent relationships (weak ties) are efficient for knowledge
sharing when knowledge is not complex
– Provide access to novel information: bridge people of otherwise
disconnected groups and individuals

(Granovetter, 1973, Hansen 1999)

 ICT tools for different knowledge processes

Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge

creation storage and transfer application
retrieval
ICT E-learning Repositories Communication Expert
tools (e.g. customer systems systems
Collaboration records)
support system Enterprise Decision
Data mining information support
Social media systems systems

Social media

Modified from Alavi and Tiwana (2003)

ICT in knowledge management

• helps to create, transfer, capture, store and manipulate information

• allows people to distribute, share, and acquire information with

greater freedom and through informal channels

• promotes geographically dispersed team work

– opportunity to modify, revise, and comment each other’s knowledge premises and
assumptions, for the coordination of the organizational task

• May cause information overload

• Users may have challenges in finding, locating relevant information and
knowledge