MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS:Knowledge Management

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

1. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
Cape Coast, Ghana
Dr Prince Y. Asare
Department of Business and Social Sciences Education
[email protected]
EMG302: Management Information Systems

2. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
➢Allcorporateorganizationsaccumulateknowledgeoverthecourse
oftheirexistence.
➢Someofthisknowledgeiswrittendownorsaved,butnotinan
organizedfashion.
➢Muchofthisknowledgeisnotwrittendown;instead,itisstored
insidetheheadsofitsemployees.

3. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
➢Knowledgemanagementistheprocessof
❖creating,
❖formalizingthecapture,
❖indexing,storing,and
❖sharingofthecompany’sknowledgeinordertobenefitfrom
theexperiencesandinsightsthatthecompanyhascaptured
duringitsexistence.
➢Knowledgemanagementisconcernedwithstoringandsharingthe
wisdom,understandingandexpertiseaccumulatedinan
organizationaboutitsprocesses,techniquesandoperations.

4. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
➢Knowledgemanagementis‘anyprocessorpracticeofcreating,
acquiring,capturing,sharingandusingknowledge,whereverit
resides,toenhancelearningandperformanceinorganizations’
(Scarboroughetal,1999).
➢Knowledgemanagementisconcernedwithbothstocksandflows
ofknowledge.
❖Stocks:expertiseandencodedknowledgeincomputersystems.
❖Flows:waysinwhichknowledgeistransferredfrompeopleto
peopleorfrompeopletoaknowledgedatabase.

5. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
PurposeofknowledgeManagement
➢Istocaptureacompany’scollectiveexpertiseanddistributeitto
‘whereveritcanachievethebiggestpayoff’.

6. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
Knowledge
➢Knowledgeisdefinedaswhatpeopleunderstandaboutthings,
concepts,ideas,theories,proceduresandthewaywedothings
around.
➢Itcanbedescribedas‘know-how’or,whenitisspecific,expertise.
➢Adistinctionismadebetween‘knowinghow’and‘knowingthat’.
❖‘Knowinghow’istheabilityofapersontoperformtasks,and
❖knowingthatisholdingpiecesofknowledgeinone’smind.

7. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
ExplicitandTacitKnowledge
➢Explicitknowledgecanbecodified–itisrecordedandavailable
andisheldindatabases,incorporateintranetsandintellectual
propertyportfolios.
➢Tacitknowledge(TK)existsinpeople’sminds.Itisdifficultto
articulateinwritinganditisacquiredthroughpersonal
experience.
➢TKincludesscientificortechnologicalexpertise,operationalknow-
how,insightsaboutanindustryandbusinessjudgement.

8. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
ExplicitandTacitKnowledge
➢Themainchallengeinknowledgemanagementishowtoturntacit
knowledgeintoexplicitknowledge.

9. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
Data,InformationandKnowledge
Data
➢dataconsistsofthebasicfacts–thebuildingblocks–for
informationandknowledge;

10. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
Data,InformationandKnowledge
Information
➢Informationisdatathathavebeenprocessedinawaythatis
meaningfultoindividuals;
➢Itisavailabletoanyoneentitledtogainaccesstoit.AsDrucker
(1988)wrote,‘informationisdataendowedwithmeaningand
purpose’;

11. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
Data,InformationandKnowledge
Knowledge
➢knowledgeisinformationputtoproductiveuse;
➢itispersonalandoftenintangibleanditcanbeelusive

12. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
KnowledgeManagementStrategiesbyHansenetal(1999)
➢CodificationStrategy:Peopletodocumentapproach.Relies
largelyoninformationtechnologytomanagedatabasesandalso
theuseoftheintranet.
➢Personalizationstrategy:Persontopersonapproach.
❖Exchangeisachievedbycreatingnetworksandencouraging
face-to-facecommunication.
❖Meansofinformalconferences,workshops,communitiesof
practice,brainstormingandone-to-onesessions.

13. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
KnowledgeManagementIssues
➢Thepaceofchange:Whatknowledgeneedstobecapturedand
shared.
➢Relatingknowledgemanagementtobusinessstrategy:Whatis
thebusinessvalueofwhatwegather?
➢Significanceofprocessandsocialcapitalandculture.
❖Processaretheinteractionsbetweenpeople,
❖socialcapitalequatedtonetworkofrelationships
❖Culture:thenormofagroup

14. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
KnowledgeManagementIssues
➢Technologyandpeople
Inthecodificationmodel,managersneedtoimplementasystemthatis
muchlikeatraditionallibrary–itmustcontainalargecacheof
documentsandincludesearchenginesthatallowpeopletofindand
usethedocumentstheyneed.Inthepersonalizationmodel,it’smore
importanttohaveasystemthatallowspeopletofindotherpeople.
➢Knowledgeworkers:Knowledgemanagementisaboutthe
managementandmotivationofknowledgeworkerswhocreate
knowledgeandwillbethekeyplayersinsharingit.

15. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
Questions
What are the contributions of HR to
knowledge Management?

16. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST
CAPE COAST -GHANA Knowledge Management
KnowledgeManagementSystems
➢Creatinganintranet
➢Creating‘datawarehouses’
➢UsingDecisionsupportsystems
➢Using‘groupware’,i.e.informationcommunicationtechnologies
suchase-mailorLotusNotesdiscussionbases
➢Creatingnetworksorcommunitiesofpracticeorinterestof
knowledgeworkers.