What is knowledge?

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 What is knowledge?
 Data
 Information
 Knowledge
 Why knowledge is important?

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 Data are numbers.
 They are numerical quantities or other
attributes derived from observation,
experiment, or calculation.

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 Information is data in context.
 Information is a collection of data and
associated explanations, interpretations, and
other textual material concerning a
particular object, event, or process.
 Information involves manipulation of raw
data

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 Knowledge is information that is organized,
synthesized, or summarized to enhance
comprehension, awareness, or
understanding.
 Knowledge is at the highest level in a
hierarchy with information at the middle
level, and data to be at the lowest level.
 Knowledge is what we know.

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KNOWLEDGE The patient probably has a serious case of the flu.

INFORMATION “Fever” is a temperature greater than 37.7° C

“tachycardia” is a pulse greater than 100 beats per
minute
“elderly” is someone with an age greater than 75.

DATA Patient Temperature: 38.9° C

Pulse: 109 beats per minute
Age: 75.

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 Tacit Knowledge
 Tacit knowledge is that stored in the brain of a
person.
 Explicit Knowledge
 Explicit knowledge is that contained in documents or
other forms of storage other than the human brain.
 Stored or imbedded in facilities, products, processes,
services and systems.
 Both types of knowledge can be produced as a
result of interactions or innovations.
 They can be the outcome of relationships or
alliances.

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 Tacit knowledge is personal. It is stored in the heads
of people. It is accumulated through study and
experience. It is developed through the process of
interaction with other people. Tacit knowledge grows
through the practice of trial and error and the
experience of success and failure.
 Tacit knowledge, therefore, is context-specific. It is
difficult to formalize, record, or articulate. It
includes subjective insights, intuitions and
conjectures. As intuitive knowledge, it is difficult to
communicate and articulate. Since tacit knowledge is
highly individualized, the degree and facility by
which it can be shared depends to a great extent on
the ability and willingness of the person possessing it
to convey it to others.

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 Tacitknowledge can be shared and
communicated through various activities and
mechanisms.
 Activities include conversations, workshops, on-
the-job training and the like. Mechanisms
include, among others, the use of information
technology tools such as email, groupware,
instant messaging and related technologies.

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 Explicit knowledge is codified. It is stored in
documents, databases, websites, emails and the like.
It is knowledge that can be readily made available to
others and transmitted or shared in the form of
systematic and formal languages.
 Explicit knowledge is more context independent. It
comprises anything that can be codified, documented
and archived. These include knowledge assets such as
reports, memos, business plans, drawings, patents,
trademarks, customer lists, methodologies, and the
like. They represent an accumulation of the
organization’s experience kept in a form that can
readily be accessed by interested parties and
replicated if desired. In many organizations these
knowledge assets are stored with the help of
computers and information technology.

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 Tacit Knowledge Explicit Knowledge
Inexpressible in a codifiable form Codifiable
Subjective Objective
Personal Impersonal (not personal)
Context-specific Context independent
Difficult to share Easy to share
Example: Example:
How to ride a bicycle Steps involved in using an electrical
appliance, contained in its instruction
manual.
Transfer using: Transfer using:
Internal consultants, personnel transfer, • Rules, procedure and directions
on job training, conferencing, • Seminars, workshop and
brainstorming, demonstration presentations
• Manual templates
• Model, diagrams, drawing, images,
mind map
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 Most knowledge management strategies
generally have one (or sometimes both) of two
thrusts.
 The first is to make better use of the knowledge
that already exists within the organisation, and the
second is to create new knowledge.
 Making better use of the knowledge that already
exists within an organisation (”old” knowledge)
often begins with “knowing what you know”.
 Specific approaches might include conducting a
knowledge audit, mapping the organisation’s
knowledge resources and flows, making tacit
knowledge more explicit and putting in place
mechanisms to move it more rapidly to where it
is needed.

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 Creating new knowledge can be approached
such as through training, hiring external
resources, bringing different people and
their knowledge together to create fresh
knowledge and insights, etc. It is also about
innovation – making the transition from ideas
to action more effective.
 In reality, the distinction between “old” and
“new” knowledge is not always that clear.
The application of (old) knowledge almost
always involves some adaptation, and so in
the process of adaptation, new knowledge is
created.
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 Expandable
 Knowledge on use expands and becomes more rich.
 Compressible
 It can be compressed by codes, symbols and diagrams
 Example: knowledge of product usage - manuals
 Transportable
 On compression or otherwise, it can be moved from one location
to other through network.
 Sharable
 It can be shared and does not reduces in any manner on sharing
 Diffusive
 It is easy to diffuse (stolen) if not protected wisely because of its
high economic value
 Substitutable
 It substitutes or replaces the need for other resources

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 Top Level Management

Knowledge Assets, IPs; Strategic

Decision Oriented

Business Management Knowledge; Middle Level Management

Business Decision Oriented

Work Place Knowledge; Task Decision Lower Level Management

Oriented

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 Workplace knowledge is the ability of the
people to understand the work situation and
to act effectively.
 This knowledge is explicit and hence
available in coded form, and is easily
accessible from portal and intranet.
 It is represented through check lists,
diagrams, drawings, images and manuals.
 An individual or a group supported by
workplace knowledge is able to complete the
task efficiently and effectively.
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 Knowledge is required at this level to manage
the business and processes efficiently and
effectively.
 It is largely business decisions oriented.
 These decisions affect the performance business
– targets, budgets and functional goals
 The decision areas revolve around the tasks of
maintaining competitive necessities and sustain
competitive advantages.
 It is a body of knowledge which identifies the
problem proactively, suggest solution ideas,
enables modelling of the problem and helps to
solve it through various approaches
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 Top management has the difficult task to
take business to new heights, establish
leadership in the market and transform or
expand the business for growth.
 Their job is “outside-in”.
 Top management needs, over and above
business management knowledge, a set of
body knowledge which is unique to the
organization. It is perceived as differentiator.
 This knowledge is predominantly used for
strategic management of the business.
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 Knowledge exists in people, not technology,
and as such will require a massive human
effort.
 Technology can help to capture information,
but it can not create knowledge.
 Useful technologies include search engines,
scanning technology, optical character and
voice recognition software, intelligent
agents, database management systems,
document management systems, and
repositories.

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 Once the information is identified, collected, and
managed, it must be transformed into knowledge.
 This requires classification, analysis, and synthesis.
 This step, too, requires human intervention.
 Knowledge can not be created by technology. Only a
human being can render information into a format
that causes it to be easily transformed into
knowledge by another human being upon retrieval.
 Useful technologies for this phase of the knowledge
management process include statistical analysis
software, data mining tools, OLAP and decision
support systems, AI, and data visualization tools.

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 All businesses have access to an extensive
pool of knowledge whether this is their
understanding of customers' needs and the
business environment or the skills and
experience of staff.
 The way a business gathers, shares and
exploits this knowledge can be central to its
ability to develop successfully.
 This doesn't just apply to huge multinational
companies. Knowledge management can
benefit everyone from a local newsstand to a
manufacturing firm.

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 Useful and important knowledge already
exists in your business. It can be found in:
 the experience of your employees
 the designs and processes for your goods and
services
 files of documents (whether held digitally, on
paper or both)
 plans for future activities, such as ideas for new
products or services
 customer data or information on
suppliers/stakeholders

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 Market research done into the need for business to
exist in the first place. Used to tailor the market to
target particular customers with specific types of
product or service.
 Files of documents from and about customers and
suppliers hold a wealth of information which can be
invaluable both in developing new products or services
and improving existing ones.
 Employees are likely to have skills and experience that
can be used as an asset. Having knowledgeable staff
important to be apart from competitors. Provide a
brainstorming sessions, training courses and
documentation- sharing knowledge.

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 Information technology offers powerful tools to help business
gain and make the best use of knowledge. Some of the systems
can be complex to set up and time-consuming to maintain.
 Types of information technology (IT):
 Databases organise information so it can be easily accessed,
managed and updated. For instance, database of customers
containing their contact information, their orders and
preferences.
 A data warehouse is a central storage area use for a variety of
business systems, or a range of information in different digital
formats. Many businesses now use digital asset management to
store, manage and retrieve information, and this can be
particularly helpful if you sell online. It is, however, a complex
area technically and in task management, and need to seek
specialist advice from an IT consultant.
 Data mining is a process in which all the data collected is
sorted to determine patterns. As an example, which products
are most popular and whether one type of customer is likely to
buy a particular item.

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 Reporting and querying tools help to create reports
interpreting data in a particular way. Example, how many of
sales have been handled by one particular employee.
 Business intelligence portals are websites that bring together
all sorts of potentially useful information, such as legal issues or
details of new research.
 The Internet and search engines - these can be a powerful
source of knowledge, although be certain to check the
credibility of information source. Internet newsgroups can be
specific sources of business information, but check the authors'
other postings before deciding how to view their opinions and
claimed facts.
 An intranet is a secure internal network for the sole use of
business.
 An extranet is similar to an intranet but can be extended to
customers and suppliers.

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 Customer relationship management software helps to
build up a profile of customer database and enables to
target them through e-mail, telephone or postal
marketing campaigns.
 Call-centre systems enable to serve large numbers of
customers by telephone.
 Website log-file analysis helps to analyse how customers
use the website so it can improve its effectiveness.
 Systems to analyse and file customer letters,
suggestions, emails, and call centre responses, which
will enable to spot trends, improve customer service and
develop new products, services and systems.

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 Prepare a mind map for Chapter 2
 Submit during lecture session next week.
 Thank you

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