Knowledge Management Essay Sample

A mentor or a supervisor takes on the role of a teacher to pass on the knowledge on how to perform certain tasks. Or it can be a weekly departmental meeting where information about something new is shared. The mentor or team leader would share a new information, r the members would share something that they have learnt the past week, that they would like to share it with others. In such way, yes knowledge is introduced and shared. But let's get back to the example of the teacher-student role.

Usually information flow - is about sharing something and learning something new. So when the teacher is sharing something new to his or her students, its assumed that the information is new. When the students ask questions and when the whole class is engaged with discussions about the new information, the teacher learns as well. But this flow of information is extremely active in the West. In India, the flow of information in Primary schools till the Secondary school is all one way - only the teacher comes out with the knowledge flow.

Use of Internet for sourcing knowledge is still not a widespread practice, though at the moment, the Net is use for social networking among the young working adults from the IT industry. In Singapore, at least till a couple of years ago- the flow of information was Just one way - only the teacher dispenses the knowledge from the textbook or curriculum, the students receive it. No questions to be asked. Period. The students are not to discuss about it, or raise questions about the information they Just received.

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The textbooks are to be memorized for exams, and when exams are done, what the students studies evaporates in the air. This process was till a few years ago. Now, two way learning is very much encouraged since the source of information is no longer through the teacher, textbook and or the books the students read, the internet is one ultimate source of information for anyone seeking knowledge.

Definition 2:

[KM is] the capability of an organization to create new knowledge, disseminate it wrought the organization and embody it in products, services and systems. (Monika ; Attacked, 1995, p. 8) From what I understand from the above definition is that not only KM means sharing the knowledge, but it is about the capability of an organization to create new knowledge, share it everyone within the organization, and ensure that the knowledge is in the products and services it has. I think, this context would suit the IT industry the best. Google is one such example. Manages the torrent of information available on the World Wide Web. Google (Pythagorean, 2011) bought over Youth making Google a powerful contaminators of video content. It also hosts email for millions of users.

It also purchased Flogger and runs a social networking site called Rework and offers POI that competes with Keep and facilitates payment for web based commerce through Google Checkout. Google also offers online software such as a word processor, spread sheets, presentation software and a calendar service- all operating in the cloud, thus enabling its users to have easy collaboration with other services.

Definition 3:

Knowledge management is the behaviors and processes by which a group of people maintains and increases their personal and collective actionable knowledge to compete, to increase performance and innovation, and to decrease risk. Parsons, 2004, p. 26) What I understand from the above definition is that knowledge management is a process in which knowledge is maintained by groups of people for their own personal knowledge and to reduce risk. I would term it as something everyone new in an organization does. A new staff, would Join a new organization, and would learn something new about his or her work scope. Every time a new event occurs that is not indicated in the current work annual, the staff actually has it recorded in his or her own notes for future reference.

Hence when the same event occurs somewhere in the near future, the staff would have expert knowledge on how to get over this issue and find a solution. This knowledge somehow if shared, will be updated in the current manual. This also can be applied to a group of people who share the same interest, share information about something so that everyone benefits from it. A good example would be a forum. In a forum for example, the object of interest can be from a mobile phone to an operating system of a computer. Information is shared when questions are asked.

If anyone member has an issue, for example, a user has no idea how to get the wife up and running on their latest mobile phone that they Just purchased - goes online, Google it for help and find forums that has the solutions. Here, the knowledge is not kept as secret, or charged for money- It's been dispensed for free, so that everyone gains from it. If the first workaround did not work, there will be others who found ways to come around with a solution. This enables the user to find help. As such the user will also 'help" other users in issues he or she is familiar with and will

Sometimes, this knowledge is not contained to Just forums. It's also available in websites, or in blobs. For example a cook, who specializes in cookies and cakes, would have in her blob on her 'sure-win' methods of getting her chiffon cake come out of the oven looking soft and spongy - she would even have her own video tutorial on how to bake. These tutorials are not contained only to blobs, they are also available in the form of Applications (APS). For example, famous chef Jamie Oliver from I-J has his '15 Minute Meal' as an app (but of course he charges a minimum sum for additional recipes).

His APS has video tutorials on how to go on about doing stuffs such as slicing an onion without injuring yourself and cleaning a chopping board - extremely simple and easy. That's sharing knowledge. That knowledge ensures that I don't slice my fingers instead of onions and it also ensures that I whip up a good meal with the little cooking knowledge that I have. That said, video tutorials from cooking, to home organizing to putting on makeup without looking like Amy Whininess - all these knowledge are shared ( via Youth) to groups of people with similar interest.

Definition 4:

Knowledge Management is about creating an environment that encourages people to learn and share knowledge by aligning goals, integrating bits and pieces of information within and across organizational boundaries, and producing new knowledge that is usable and useful to the organization. (Coors et al, 2006, p. 210) From the definitions above, I understand that knowledge management is about having an environment where people are to learn and share knowledge - not only within themselves or within their boundaries, but out from their boundaries as well.

Again - I think this would suit a classroom scenario, but this time, not a typical rotational one, but one with active knowledge share where everyone contributes. I think this would typically take place in a class, where there are many students with different backgrounds, where a teacher would discuss about a question and would have active answers and counter questions from students. In the definition - creating an environment that encourages people to learn and share knowledge - that as far as I know takes place in an educational environment.

There are some organizations that encourage its staff to learn and share knowledge. For example, the organization would send one of their staff to attend a course on time management, ND that staff after attending that course would have to schedule a date and time to share whatever that was taught to him or her to the entire organization. This is cost effective and will also ensure that the person sharing the knowledge will also remember what was taught to him or her when they share the knowledge. Definition 3 actually fits the way I see the world.

Knowledge is something sacred and important. The textbooks or books that I have read, does not actually share any knowledge. It does for a certain aspect tells something about an object or an event and the pros and cons of it. But to me knowledge is wide quality and quantity wise when its from a group. When I want to learn about something new, I turn to video tutorials from experts to have a visual idea on what they are talking about. That actually helps me to understand a lot better than reading.

I'm pretty sure in every field , there are experts in that field. They didn't become experts overnight. They had been through every possible scenario and events and are prepared for more unexpected and unrecorded events and were experienced enough to become expert. Some become certified expert, some UN official experts in their own field. For example, an bob/gym becomes a doctor specialized in campanology not only after reading textbooks about it, but having seen and delivered babies and understanding the complications of human reproduction system.

These doctors with all their experience would have a personal note written down somewhere against the textbooks they read and memorized in their resident-ship, and eventually they write a book. These books of knowledge then become sources of references for students. The "unofficial" experts are those who have experience in certain aspects such as - Ewing good in Excel, or good in Database (they are also called DB gurus in our very own class). These individuals have the knowledge that cannot be found in the official work manual.

At times, these individual know that they are good in what they do and they know the little tricks of it, but they rather not part the knowledge lest they fall from their status as experts. This phenomenon is very normal in Asian culture, even in Singapore. There are people who are direct and inform you that they have no interest in teaching any new comers because they might fall from their status of being experts. People Just fail to understand that knowledge grows when shared. When I approach a KM investigation, after understanding the work process, I would sit and talk with the people involved.

They would in their possession and worn out notebook where they would keep all their notes and tricks to overcome issues and details. These knowledge - as mentioned before is never recorded in the company's manual. By sitting with them and seeing how they work against the recorded work process - the missing piece- I assume would normally be found and updated. The organization structure is as follows Director/President Vice President Treasurer Club Sectary Committee Secretary Auditor Purchaser Company Culture: The first few people who formed the club, filled the main roles as mentioned above.

Each member would play out more than one role. The very first director was the treasurer and club secretary, and so were many early members. But as the membership grew, new roles were introduced to bring out structure in the club. Members who were professionals such as accountants or lawyers stepped on board as committee members to work on the legal and money related issues as treasurer and committee secretary. Since the club is made up of people with similar interest, the organizational culture is not rigid or enforced as in many places, but simply relaxed and casual.

Initially formed by enthusiasts who were in their late thirties and working professional, the club was maintained as somewhat of a 'hobby club the users could return to meet and mingle with car owners. There many ideas and discussions would take place for the benefits of the users. The early members were very hands on with their car and were very much involved in the mechanical aspects of their cars. External Partnership: The very first partnership they formed was through the shed they leased. Initially an informal tie up between the shed owner and the club was setup.

Later on, as the company started to make profits, the shed company was legally made into external partners. The shed owner employed a mechanic to check, fix and work on the cars that arrive for spare parts since they are difficult to source. As more cars and members start to fill up, they employed another two more full time mechanic to work. The knowledge was transferred from the first mechanic to the newer ones in the form of words. Later a purchaser was employed to source and purchase the spare parts and as such documentation started on its inventory list first.

Revenue: The club initially gathered its members from word of mouth. The members would visit the club office, fill in the membership form, pay a certain amount of fees and they would be admitted in to the club. Once they started their own website which was created by a part time employee who was a student, many more members were enrolled by simply filling in the online form and making payment online. Though members did pay to be enrolled, they are charged a separate fee if they require pare parts that is in limited supply or not in the inventory list. 5 To generate and bring in more revenue for the club since the shed and the people who were working club premise where caps, t-shirts, and other auto related quality products are sold. Events such as friendly race, auctions, fund raisers also brings in the revenue. Partnerships were later formed with other Tara clubs around the country so that local users who source for spares and parts can find it easily. 2. Selection of tools. The first process of Knowledge management is to identify the needs of the organization. It is basic.

In simple layman terms, you have to know what the organization is there for, understand what they have, identify what they don't and see ways to get it done. In our case of Tara Spares, they have the club, with its different array of members, the employees and their products. They have all of everything, but like a clutter, the information are everywhere and it takes time and resource to look for the information. What they have: Club/Organization Pictures of spares and parts Schematics from manufacturers Spare parts Video tutorials Records ( in documents or in Spread sheet) What they need:

Inventory system should be online and should have the following: A separate module to search, query and retrieve spare parts based on or either name, serial number or version. Documents relating to the spare parts to be retrieved along with the information required. Video Tutorials and pictures to give the users an idea of how the spares look like They also need networking with other clubs of the same brand Tools I select: Mind Mapping A very basic but useful ways of identifying what the club has, and its lack and what can be done to overcome the lack.

Mind mapping falls in the Creating and Discovering category Database Management System It's a set of program in which information can be stored, modified and take out. It also enables the users to work on the system with the necessary tools to add, delete or modify data. Database Management System falls in the Explicating and Externalities category Social Network and Blobs This will include commonly used networking sites such as Backbone, Twitter and Instating. Social Network falls in the Communicating and sharing category 3.

Actual product/technique/standard Mind mapping has been traditionally been used on pen and paper to draw out the ideas as they come out. But when too many details fill the mind mapping paper, For ideas to forms and take on a new shape, it must be listed out and categorized in a mind map - but it should be clean and organized. One such product where mind mapping is done online is "INTERESTED". As seen above, it's an online drawing tool - where you can type in the headings and sub headings and add icons and colors that will lo visually neat and easy to understand as well.

The details can be found on the website, but the most important and creative highlight of the product is that it encourages knowledge sharing. This online drawing tool enables sharing of ideas and creation by inviting users by email or sending them a link. With that link, they can start a thinking session, and start on discussing the needs of the Clubs live. The members do not have to meet face to face to identify the issue, they can work on the mind map together from where ever they are and from the comfort of their own space. Database Management System: A knowledge base is a special kind of database for knowledge management.

A knowledge base is an information repository that provides a means for information to e collected, organized, shared, searched and utilized. It can be either machine- readable or intended for human use. Assess (http://www. Extremes. Com/ knowledgeable_template. HTML) is such a product. This product enables the users to find solutions to issues, thus reducing the time needed to look for documents. This can be updated anytime, anywhere and its secure. Please see the sample below: Screenings 1: Main page of demo As seen above, this is the demo page of an existing database.

When the icons are clicked, the USSR is directed to the respective pages. For example, the videos that the lube members wanted to be part of the system can be added in to the Video section - which will lead the user to the relevant videos. Another example when the System Installation is clicked the following can appear Screenings 2: Detailed view Social Network: Social network enables people with similar interests to be connected and this can be done via the popular social networking sites such as Backbone, Instating and Twitter. For example, the screenings here was taken off the website off Renault Classic Car Club.

There, the many small icons of Social Networking Sites are indicated ere. When clicked, the user has an existing account, all they have to do is to "Like" the club and they will be connected instantly to view pictures, news and comments from everywhere around the globe. This icon can be added to the club's web site along with its blob. The screenings below displays a blob about luxury car as a website of its own (www. Luxuriance's. Com). This can be created by adding a blob in the club's website, or having a blob separately on its own like the screenings below. Blobs are Journals where one or more author can write about their passion.

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