Knowledge Management in Practice

Knowledge Management in Practice

Anthony J. Rhem
CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Rhem, Anthony J., author.
Title: Knowledge management in practice / Anthony J. Rhem.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : Auerbach Publications, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016002475 | ISBN 9781466562523 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Knowledge management.
Classification: LCC HD30.2 .R5195 2016 | DDC 658.4/038--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016002475

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 I dedicate this book to my mother, my angel, and to whom I owe all that I am
and all that I will ever be; Marine McCloud Rhem is my angel in heaven
constantly looking over me.

Also, I dedicate this book to my wife Tanya and to my son Jaren and daughter
Jasmine, who remain my inspiration to continuously strive to be the best I can be
every single day!

And … for all of those who have a dream and the will to pursue it!
Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Author

1 Introduction
Overview
The Case for Implementing Knowledge Management (Chapter 2)
Being Social: Knowledge Management and Social Media (Chapter 3)
Dude, “Where’s My Car?”: Utilizing Search in Knowledge Management
(Chapter 4)
The Age of Discovery: Knowledge Management in Research Institutions
(Chapter 5)
“Where Have All My Experts Gone?”: Knowledge Management in Human
Resources and Talent Management (Chapter 6)
“Sound the Alarm!”: Knowledge Management in Emergency and Disaster
Preparedness (Chapter 7)
Happily Ever After: Knowledge Management in Mergers and Acquisitions
(Chapter 8)
“Is There a Doctor in the House?”: Knowledge Management in Healthcare
(Chapter 9)
“Show Me the Money!”: Knowledge Management for Financial Services
(Chapter 10)
“Are You in Good Hands?”: Knowledge Management in Insurance
(Chapter 11)
“Sign Right Here!”: Knowledge Management in the Legal Profession
(Chapter 12)
“A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”: Knowledge Management
Education (Chapter 13)
“Big Knowledge!”: Knowledge Management and Big Data (Chapter 14)
 “What Have You Done for the War Fighter Today?”: Knowledge
Management in the Military (Chapter 15)
Drinking the Knowledge Management Kool-Aid: Knowledge Management
Adoption (Chapter 16)
Failure Is Not an Option: Why Do Knowledge Management Programs and
Projects Fail? (Chapter 17)
Summary (Chapter 18)
Outline of the Book
Structure of Each Chapter

2 The Case for Implementing Knowledge Management

KM Business Case Structure
KM Solution Analysis
Needs Analysis
KM Solution Implementation Approach
Software Methodologies
Iterative Software Development Methodology
Agile/Scrum
OpenUP Methodology
Knowledge Acquisition Unified Framework
Risk Assessment
Value Analysis
ROI for KM
KM Metrics and Key Performance Indicators
Information Currency
User Feedback
Distributed Authoring
Transaction Costs
Strategic Look at the KM Business Case
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

3 Being Social: Knowledge Management and Social Media

Participatory Communication Cycle
KM and the Participatory Communication Cycle
Social Media, KM, and the Enterprise
Social Media Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines
 Social Media Strategy
Sample Social Media Strategy—Roles and Responsibilities
Develop a Content Strategy
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

4 Dude, “Where’s My Car?”: Utilizing Search in Knowledge Management

Information Architecture
Content Model
Steps Involved in Constructing the Content Model
Taxonomy
Metadata
Metadata Fields
Metadata Attributes
Metadata Schema
The Role of the Information Architect
Search Intent
Tools
Wordmap Taxonomy Management Software
Data Harmony: Expert Knowledge Management with Powerful
Semantic Tools and Intelligent Design
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

5 The Age of Discovery: Knowledge Management in Research Institutions

Five Challenges Faced When Implementing KM in Research Institutions
The Case for Implementing a KM Strategy
Developing Your KM Strategy
Components of a Research Organization’s KM Strategy
Knowledge Sharing Techniques
After Action Reviews
Working in Collaborative Settings
Innovation Techniques
Creating Diversified Teams
The Medici Effect
Conducting the Knowledge Café
Creating Root Cause Analysis Sessions
 Creating Opportunities for Brainstorming
Methods/Tools for Capturing, Cataloging, Reusing, and Locating Research
Knowledge/Expertise
Location of Knowledge Domains
Construction of the Representation of the Knowledge Capital by a
Knowledge Map
Knowledge Portal/Repository/Knowledge Base
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

6 “Where Have All My Experts Gone?”: Knowledge Management in

Human Resources and Talent Management
Role-Based Knowledge
Role Knowledge Base
Knowledge Map to Identify Experts
Human Capital Management
Talent Management
KM Influence on Talent Management
High-Impact Talent Management Framework
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

7 “Sound the Alarm!”: Knowledge Management in Emergency and

Disaster Preparedness
Introduction
First-Responder KM Strategy
Knowledge Shared, Captured, and Reused
Quick and Decisive Decision Making
Acquiring EMS Knowledge
Knowledge Recognition, Needs Assessment and Allocation Feedback, and
Evaluation
Expertise Coordination Practices
Command and Control Structure
Learning and Knowledge Transfer
Types of KM Strategies
Codification (Technological) KM Strategy
Personalization KM Strategy
 Socialization KM Strategy
Factors Influencing the Selection of a KM Strategy
Aligning the KM Strategy with the Business Strategy
Firefighter First-Responder KM Strategy
Knowledge Transfer Planning
Knowledge Audit
Action Plan—After Action Reviews
Additional KM Strategy Template Elements
Conclusion
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

8 Happily Ever After: Knowledge Management in Mergers and

Acquisitions
M&A: The Basics
Acquisitions
Distinction between M&A
Determining Synergies
The People Side of the M&A
Employees
Boards
Customers and Other Stakeholders
Operations
Communication
Productivity
Leveraging KM in Company Valuation
Knowledge and Economic Value
Knowledge and Organizational Culture
Contextual Intelligence
Knowledge Mapping
Knowledge Profile
Why M&A Can Fail?
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

9 “Is There a Doctor in the House?”: Knowledge Management in

Healthcare
 Healthcare Delivery Process
KM Model for Healthcare
Patient-Centered Approach
Applying KM to Healthcare
Constructing Healthcare Knowledge
WebMD
Yahoo Health
MedicineNet.com
Patient-Centered Healthcare Knowledge Constructs
KM and Healthcare Informatics
Knowledge Tools and Techniques for Healthcare
Expert Systems
Data Mining
Data Mining Tools and Techniques—Dashboards
Text Mining
Business Intelligence and Analytics
Communities of Practice
Social Networks
Top Five Trends in KM for Healthcare 2016 and Beyond
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

10 “Show Me the Money!”: Knowledge Management for Financial Services

Empowering Employees to Satisfy Customers
KM Leveraged by Brokerage Companies
Brokerage Institution KM Model
KM Leveraged by Banking Institutions
Banking Institution KM Model
Increased Sales through Customer Satisfaction
Arguments for Knowledge Management
Technology
Banking KM Framework
Knowledge-Intensive Processes
Scarce Talent
Cost-Cutting Environments
Virtual Communities
Benefits of Virtual Communities
 Tool Selection
Cultural Dimension
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

11 “Are You in Good Hands?”: Knowledge Management in Insurance

Insurance Business Challenges
Focusing on Customers
Managing the Business Effectively
Insurance Call Center
Benefits of KM to Call Centers
Applying KM to Call Centers
Structure Your Knowledge
Ensure Knowledge Is Accurate and Up-to-Date
Knowledge Repository
Integrate Customer Relationship Management and KM Systems
Integrate Help Desk and KM Systems
Integrate Interactive Voice Response and KM Systems
Customer-Facing Resources
Insurance KM Model
Underwriting
Claims
Developing Your Knowledge Workers
Talent Management
Role of Technology
Insurance Knowledge Management Systems Framework
Underwriting KM Systems
Claims KM Systems
Sales and Marketing
CRM System
Collaboration
E-Learning
Content Management/IA
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

12 “Sign Right Here!”: Knowledge Management in the Legal Profession

 KM Drivers for Legal Professionals and Firms
Talent Management in Law Firms
Lawyer/Legal Staff Training
Legal Secretaries/Legal Assistants/Paralegals
Legal Technology Specialist
Expertise Locators
Legal Project Management
KM in LPM
Legal Research
WestLawNext
LexisNexis
VersusLaw
Precedent/Case Law Knowledge
Legal KM and Client Support
Competitive Intelligence
KM Architecture in Law Firms
Information Architecture
Creating/Modifying Taxonomy
Creating/Modifying/Managing Metadata
Governance of Law Firm Knowledge
Benefits of Governance
Policies and Standards
Governing Information Architecture
Enforcing Metadata Quality
Archiving—Record Retention Governance
Governing Content
Governing KM Effectiveness
Search—Tuning and Optimization
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

13 “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”: Knowledge Management

Education
Roles and Responsibilities of Knowledge Professionals
Core KM Competencies
The KM Competency Model
KM Curriculum Development and Delivery
 Teaching Philosophy/Methodology
Objectives of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning
Bloom’s Six Cognitive Taxonomy Categories
KM Education Programs
KM at Institutions of Higher Education
Knowledge Systems Institute
George Mason University
The George Washington University
Kent State University
Notre Dame of Maryland University
Columbia University
Drexel University
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
KM Certification Programs
Knowledge Management Institute
RightAnswers
Association for Talent Development
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

14 “Big Knowledge!”: Knowledge Management and Big Data

Data, Information, and Knowledge
User-Generated Data
Public Data
Competitor Data
Partner Data
Applying KM to Big Data
Social Network Analysis
Degree Centrality
Betweenness Centrality
Closeness Centrality
Network Centralization
Network Reach
Network Integration
Boundary Spanners
Peripheral Players
SNA Graph/Knowledge Map
 Social Media Networks
Big Data Sources and KM
Knowledge Classifications
Information Architecture and Big Data
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

15 “What Have You Done for the War Fighter Today?”: Knowledge
Management in the Military
Continuing KM Challenge of BRAC
Department of Defense Knowledge Management Structure
KM Principles
KM Strategies in the US Army
Army KM Principles
Army Knowledge Online
Current Army KM Direction
KM Strategies in the US Air Force
Air Force KM Goals and Objectives
Air Force Knowledge Now
KM Strategies in the US Navy
Navy Knowledge Online
KM and BRAC
Summary of Contributing Factors
Addressing the BRAC Problem
Missed KM Opportunity of BRAC
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

16 Drinking the Knowledge Management Kool-Aid: Knowledge

Management Adoption
Communication Channels
Adoption Activities
Key Adoption Challenges
Communications and the Adoption Approach
The Communications Plan
Town Halls and Communication Messaging
Town Hall Content
 Goals of a KM Town Hall Session Are as Follows
Communication Messaging
Sample Messaging
Adoption and the KM Implementation Strategy
Adopting KM Systems
Implementing Information Architecture
TTF Model
Applying the TTF Model
Organizational Culture
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

17 Failure Is Not an Option: Why Do Knowledge Management Programs

and Projects Fail?
Lack of Executive Leadership/Sponsorship
Inadequate Budgeting and Cost Expectations
Need for Organizational Participation
Inadequate Processes and Technology
Lack of Knowledge and Resources
Need for Education and Understanding of KM
KM and the Corporate Culture
Creating an Environment for Knowledge Exchange
Poorly Measuring the Impact of KM
Lack of Monitoring and Controls
Key Learnings
Tips and Techniques

18 Summary
Social Media
Education Programs
Emergency and Disaster Preparedness
Customer Service
M&A Transactions
Big Data
The Future of KM
Technology Services Industry Association Research
State of KM Survey
 Global View of KM
Future Edition of Knowledge Management in Practice
KM Impact on Customer Service
More on KM and Big Data
Internal KM
KM in Politics
KM and CRM
Personal KM and Wearable Technology
Closing Statement

Appendix A
Appendix B
References
Index
Foreword

People and civilizations desire and cherish wisdom—inspired wisdom or the

kind from experience that leads to deep expertise. In knowledge professions, the
pathway to wisdom is data → information → knowledge. As the penultimate
step, knowledge involves notions of the nature of an expert versus a novice,
heuristics based on experience, and depth versus narrow intelligence. The
pathway starts with the imperative for clean, relevant, error-free data in a form
suitable for analytics and scientific analysis. Information should be relevant to
the needs of the users, in an appropriate format for interpreting and archiving,
and should be presented for convenient visualization.
People in small communities and large organizations collaborate and share
their experiences, so capturing and reusing their knowledge are important for
increasing group effectiveness and efficiency as well as for fostering innovation.
For organizations, a key challenge is to identify needs for collaboration and to
share collective knowledge. This means understanding who holds knowledge
and what knowledge they have. Tools, techniques, and processes are thus needed
to capture, store, and reuse the many types and instances of knowledge in an
organization.
KM includes practices and procedures, as well as the people and systems, that
support societies’ information and knowledge needs. This includes ways to
encourage organizations and individuals to add value and share knowledge.
Managers and knowledge professionals then implement KM methods and
techniques, differentiating them for specific industries and subject areas. In
practice, KM must address the varying requirements in specific industries such
as healthcare, human resources, military, and finance. The different
environments and cultures require consistent procedures that identify and
analyze relevant content, organize knowledge, create effective access, and
promote a knowledge-sharing culture through education and training.
Organizations need detailed information on applying KM practices to solve
real-world problems. They need to establish organizational policies that lead to
successful KM adoption and to understand reasons why KM projects fail.
Organizations need to apply known lessons and tips to ensure successful
implementation of KM practices and to elevate the value of adopting KM
policies.
Dr. Anthony Rhem’s Knowledge Management in Practice is unique in the
degree to which his extensive experience informs his insights and writing. At a
time of such great attention to Big Data and data analytics, this book reminds us
that knowledge is after all the ultimate goal of careful work with data and the
creation of accurate information. Identifying, capturing, and managing
knowledge as a critically important asset are formidable tasks in our large
corporate and governmental organizations. This evidence-based book provides
the framework and guidelines that professionals need for working with the
contemporary explosion of data that is creating opportunities and challenges to
all phases of our society and commerce. To our benefit, this book captures the
considerable wisdom Dr. Rhem has acquired over his career as a KM
professional.

Larry R. Medsker
Research Professor in Physics and Data Science
The George Washington University
Washington, DC
Preface

Knowledge is recognized as a valuable asset in organizations across many

industries. How knowledge is shared, leveraged, obtained, and managed will be
the difference in how successful and sustainable an organization will become.
This book is a culmination of my years of experience in the knowledge
management (KM) discipline. Since 1998, I have been involved in various KM
activities such as researching, developing processes for capturing and codifying
knowledge, developing KM systems, developing and operationalizing KM
strategies across several industries, writing articles and books, developing and
teaching KM curriculum, and speaking at numerous KM conferences.

Why I Wrote This Book

The use of KM principles, practices, and procedures has expanded enormously
since 2010. This expansion has also brought about the proliferation of KM
systems in its many forms such as contact center knowledge repositories,
expertise locators, content management, document management, knowledge
repositories/libraries, social media applications, and decision support systems.
The inclusion of KM from a strategic point of view to streamline revenue,
increase revenue, improve performance, attract/retain customers, and manage
human capital has enabled organizations to maintain and/or improve their
competitive edge. To compete in a local, national, and/or global market,
organizations, including educational, government, and military, are looking for
that differentiator, and KM has proved to be just that. I wrote this book to
capture and make available my experience in implementing and practicing KM
across many organizations to scholars and practitioners of KM. This book is a
resource that presents how KM is being implemented along with specific KM
methods, tips, techniques, and best practices to get the most out of a KM
investment.

What This Book Is About

This book covers how knowledge management is leveraged in several industries.
The various uses of KM practices, policies, procedures, and methods, including
tips and techniques, to create a competitive advantage are examined. Industries
such as first responders, military, healthcare, insurance, financial services, legal,
human resources, merger and acquisition (M&A) firms, and research institutions
are covered in this book.
Essential KM concepts are also explored not only from a foundational
perspective but also from a practical application. These KM concepts include
capturing and codifying tacit and explicit knowledge, KM methods, information
architecture, search, KM and social media, KM and Big Data, adoption of KM,
and why KM initiatives fail.
The following are the subjects that are covered, and what you can expect from
the various chapters:

Chapter 2: The Case for Implementing Knowledge Management

This chapter details the factors you must consider before implementing KM
in your organization and details the various practices and policies of KM.
Moreover, the needs for your organization to launch a KM
initiative/project and/or establish a KM program are addressed.
Chapter 3: Being Social: Knowledge Management and Social Media
This chapter examines how social media tools and techniques are becoming
facilitators of knowledge for the organization. Specific guidance and
insights are given to develop your organization’s social media strategy
and to determine the social media tools, techniques, and platforms that
can be used to take advantage of what social media can bring to KM.
Chapter 4: Dude, “Where’s My Car?”: Utilizing Search in Knowledge
Management
This chapter details the importance of search in KM, in particular a KM
system. Several aspects of implementing search are examined, including
the importance of having user-centric information architecture.
Chapter 5: The Age of Discovery: Knowledge Management in Research
Institutions
Research institutions play a key role in product innovation. KM is a catalyst
for stimulating and sustaining a high level of innovation. This chapter
examines how KM is used, focusing on various KM methods that can and
in some cases are being incorporated at research institutions.
Chapter 6: “Where Have All My Experts Gone?”: Knowledge Management
in Human Resources and Talent Management
When it comes to talent management, KM can play a critical role in
ensuring that the knowledge assets are captured and made available to the
enterprise. KM in talent management when applied holistically involves
capturing and sharing employee knowledge from onboarding to exit
interview.
Chapter 7: “Sound the Alarm!”: Knowledge Management in Emergency and
Disaster Preparedness
Emergency and disaster preparedness is enhanced through the incorporation
of KM. Putting the right knowledge in the right context at the right time
in the hands of first responders could be the difference in saving lives and
preventing casualties. It is important to begin with a comprehensive KM
strategy to establishing a plan to deliver the knowledge in a timely
manner.
Chapter 8: Happily Ever After: Knowledge Management in Mergers and
Acquisitions
When organizations merge or are acquired, there is a level of uncertainty
both from a macro (organization) level and from a micro (employee)
level. Applying KM to M&A will enable the organization to know what
knowledge is important to retain, who those knowledge holders are, what
are the knowledge gaps, and how to quantify the knowledge of the
organization. From an employee standpoint, having the organization
share knowledge about the pending transaction as well as incentify
employees to share what they know and to assist employees in
transitioning (within the new organization or to a new organization) will
go a long way to ensure a smooth M&A transaction.
Chapter 9: “Is There a Doctor in the House?”: Knowledge Management in
Healthcare
The healthcare industry has become individual centric. As the healthcare
community moves to electronic record keeping and capturing patient
information at the point of initial interaction, having accurate knowledge
about that patient as well as having the patient knowledgeable about his
or her own health is essential to the success of caring for that patient. KM
is an essential ingredient for healthcare success, especially in the areas of
drug interaction analysis, sharing of patient diagnosis between hospitals
and doctors, and furthering the development of healthcare informatics.
Chapter 10: “Show Me the Money!”: Knowledge Management in Financial
Services
KM in the financial services sector centers on being able to attract, serve,
and retain customers. Delivering the tools to customers that provide
knowledge to make sound financial decisions is at the heart of what KM
will provide. To bring innovative financial services and products to the
marketplace and to have an understanding of their potential benefits to
customers, imparting training to customer service representatives on
specific knowledge will also be a critical component of KM.
Chapter 11: “Are You in Good Hands?”: Knowledge Management in
Insurance
In this chapter, you will learn how KM is used in the insurance industry to
communicate knowledge to customers, agents, and customer contact
centers while providing mechanisms for employees to share, capture, and
catalog knowledge. KM in the insurance industry will provide the
knowledge to (among other things) complete applications, bind
insurance, and service a claim.
Chapter 12: “Sign Right Here!”: Knowledge Management in the Legal
Profession
In this chapter, use of KM to enhance the management of a law firm and to
execute client engagements will be presented. KM in law firms is
primarily executed through the building and fostering communities of
practice around practice specialties. This enables legal representatives to
respond to a situation with the right expertise, equipped with the right
knowledge to resolve a legal matter.
Chapter 13: “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”: Knowledge
Management Education
This chapter examines the state of KM education. This examination
includes KM certification programs, KM curriculum at institutions of
higher learning, as well as KM education policies, procedures, and future
direction of KM education. In addition, specific criteria to be considered
while selecting a KM education option are presented.
Chapter 14: “Big Knowledge!”: Knowledge Management and Big Data
In this chapter, use of KM to gain knowledge from your Big Data resources
will be examined. The use of KM on Big Data to provide a rich structure
to enable decisions to be made on a multitude and a variety of data is the
essence of this examination. Along with specific analysis of the various
types of data and KM methods for examining this data, a detailed
 understanding of KM’s impact on Big Data can be realized.
Chapter 15: “What Have You Done for the War Fighter Today?”:
Knowledge Management in the Military
KM in military has a rich history. Use of KM in the military, with special
attention to events such as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), will
be examined. In addition, a look at the various branches of the military
(army, air force, and navy) and their KM strategies, KM systems, and
KM methods are presented.
Chapter 16: Drinking the Knowledge Management Kool-Aid: Knowledge
Management Adoption
Adoption of KM programs, policies, methods, and systems is a challenge
for all organizations. This chapter is all about adoption! If your
organization does not adopt its KM principles, practices, processes,
procedures, or systems, it may be recognized as a failure. Specific
guidance on improving KM adoption and positioning your KM initiatives
for success is also presented.
Chapter 17: Failure Is Not an Option: Why Do Knowledge Management
Programs and Projects Fail?
With lofty promises come unrealized results. KM gained widespread
popularity in the 1990s; however, many KM initiatives failed and this
popularity has tapered quite a bit. Since the mid-2000s, KM started to
experience a renaissance; some disparate KM achievements were
witnessed (call centers, research, human resources, and military), and
KM is now considered as a discipline to gain a competitive advantage
over competitors. Although KM is being used with some level of success
in this new knowledge economy, many KM initiatives still fail. This
chapter details the factors that contribute to the failure of KM initiatives
as well as measures to adhere to in order to achieve successful KM.

An in-depth synopsis of each chapter and an overall introduction to the book are
included in Chapter 1. The concluding chapter (Chapter 18) provides a summary
of the book and an insight into what’s next for KM.

Who Should Read This Book

This book will provide KM educators, practitioners, and those who are new to
KM an insight into how KM is being implemented by providing tips and
techniques that will enable the reader to be more productive in their application
of KM and those who are being educated in KM an understanding of how KM is
used in a variety of industries to solve pertinent issues. In summary, Knowledge
Management in Practice will be a definitive KM reference for anyone entering
into the field and/or currently practicing KM.

What You Will Learn

This book is intended to provide comprehensive guidance on how KM is
implemented in several industries. The following points identify what the reader
will learn:

Key learnings identified based on the specific industry

Tips and techniques for the KM practitioner and novice to be productive
Major concepts and solutions to problems addressed by KM
A KM reference for practitioners to aid in solving actual problems
Practical approach to presenting KM concepts and their application
Identifying the benefits of implementing a KM solution
Specific guidance on delivering and executing KM strategies
Guidance on selecting the “right” educational option for KM education
Foundational and practical application of KM methods
Real-world application of KM

How to Leverage This Book

There are several ways to leverage this book. An immediate way is to read the
book cover to cover and understand how KM is being used in several industries,
as well as understand the various concepts that are being presented. However, a
more pragmatic approach would be to focus on a specific industry presented in
the book and refer to the related chapters that delve deep into the KM methods,
procedures, and best practices that were indicated in the industry-specific
chapter. Either way, you are sure to gain the insights you need to make KM
successful and to increase your KM acumen.

Anthony J. Rhem
A.J. Rhem & Associates, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
Acknowledgments

I thank the many people who have influenced my career in KM, particularly Dr.
Larry Medsker and Dr. Jay Liebowitz. I have had the pleasure of knowing both
these distinguished men for nearly 20 years. They have been my mentors,
friends, colleagues, and advisors.
I also thank the many corporations and brilliant people I have had the pleasure
to work with since 1998, implementing KM strategies, programs, projects and
systems, and without this valuable experience, this book would not be possible.
Special thanks go to Sydney Torain who served as my research assistant
throughout the completion of this book.
Author

Dr. Anthony J. Rhem serves as the president and principal consultant of A.J.
Rhem & Associates, Inc., a privately held knowledge management (KM)
consulting, training, and research firm located in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Rhem is
an information systems professional, with over 30 years of experience, a
published author, and an educator. He has presented papers on the application
and theory of software engineering methodologies, knowledge management, and
artificial intelligence.
As a KM consultant, Dr. Rhem consistently serves as a KM advisor, KM
strategist, information architect, and KM governance strategist. He has played an
integral role in the successful implementation of KM systems, KM methods, and
KM strategies in several industries, including financial services, insurance, retail,
telecommunications, and military.
Dr. Rhem has conducted research in the knowledge engineering domain since
2004. His research experience includes conducting webinars through the
Principal Investigators Association addressing various research problems and
issues; Dr. Rhem received an Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) phase
I grant award for his work on a process to capture and codify tacit knowledge in
which he holds a patent. He has also participated in several research projects,
playing an integral role in successfully commercializing software methodologies
and software products.
In his advisory work, as a member of the Gerson Lehrman Group Technology
Council of Advisors, Dr. Rhem consults with venture capitalists and investment
firms specifically as they pertain to technology innovations, best practices, and
trends. Dr. Rhem’s current advisory work also includes Board of Trustees at the
Knowledge Systems Institute, Industry Advisory Board—International
Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE),
International Bar Association (IBA) Law Firm Management Sub-Committee on
Knowledge Management and IT, Advisory Board for American University
Professional Science Master’s Degree Program, Member of the National Science
Foundation Research Review Panel, and Corporate Advisory Board of the ASCII
Group Inc.
Chapter 1

Introduction

Have you ever wondered about all the fuss concerning knowledge management
(KM)? What is KM anyway? At its core, KM is about sharing and collaborating
what you know, capturing what you know, and reusing that knowledge so as to
not reinvent the wheel and/or to combine with other ideas to foster innovation. A
KM meeting that I attended, conducted by the American Productivity and
Quality Center (APQC) (APQC’s January 2011 KM Community Call), included
representatives from Conoco Phillips, Fluor, IBM, GE, and Schlumberger; I
returned from this meeting understanding that it is necessary to have KM part of
an organization’s culture. I believe that this is important because we do not want
KM to be “another task to complete on the checklist,” but the way we conduct
business. This includes the business between the various individuals and entities
within our corporations as well as with our customers. Talking, listening,
capturing, and applying what we learn from each other is a constant, never
ending, and always evolving process.
Knowledge Management in Practice provides KM professionals and those
undergoing training in KM a practical examination on how KM is being applied.
Specifically, this book leverages the experience gained while practicing KM to
solve some of the more pressing KM problems faced in organizations today.
This book addresses challenges such as search engine optimization, content
categorization and searching, building taxonomies and ontologies, capturing and
managing tacit and explicit knowledge, KM adoption, and failure of KM
projects. In addition, this book examines how KM is being applied to specific
industries, including insurance, healthcare, legal, human resources and talent
management, military, research institutions, and finance.

Overview
This book will provide detailed information on applying KM practices,
procedures, and techniques to solve real-world problems. The applications of
KM that will be examined include social media; content management; search
engine optimization; capturing and codifying tacit and explicit knowledge; KM
in disaster preparedness, action, and reaction; KM adoption process in an
organization; the reason for failure of KM projects, and specific industry KM
applications. This book will contribute to the advancement in application of KM
principles, practices, and procedures, as well as the systems that support KM.
Each chapter will include key learnings as well as tips and techniques for
those who are currently instituting KM in projects and/or programs. The
following sections contain a synopsis of each chapter in this book:

The Case for Implementing Knowledge Management (Chapter 2)

This chapter examines why your organization may need a KM program. What
factors determine that it is time to consider implementing policies, procedures,
practices, and processes that will not only be the catalyst for specific KM
initiatives, but also the development of a KM program, including KM Center of
Excellence? This chapter will answer this question as well as examine the need
to collaborate and share knowledge; understand who the key knowledge holders
are and what knowledge they know; and the need to respond to internal
employees and/or customers by identifying, capturing, storing, reusing, and
learning from the myriad of explicit knowledge in your organization. All of this
and more will be examined, because it contributes to your organization’s need
for KM.
Implementation of KM must consider the necessary resources to address the
problem(s) being identified that call for KM. In our case for KM, we must
communicate a payoff (Rhem, 2005). Why should our organization invest in KM
without knowing the payoff and when it will occur? Another aspect of our case
for KM is actually selling KM as an organizational effort and benefit and not just
limited to a department or business unit.
The case for KM represents a well-argued and logically structured document
that puts forward the business rationale for investing in a KM initiative. The case
for KM as with any business case must clearly establish the following:

The driving forces for the initiative

The costs and risks of doing nothing
A description of the proposed action(s)
Comparison of the proposed action to other alternatives
 Accommodation of the proposed actions with the current and future goals of
the organization
The cost–benefit, risk, and financial assessments of the proposed action(s)
A tentative, high-level strategy and a project plan outlining the key
initiatives
A statement on how the proposed action(s), if implemented, would improve
the organization

This chapter will include a template for presenting your organization’s business
case for KM as well as some proven tips and techniques to enable your business
to be approved!

Being Social: Knowledge Management and Social Media (Chapter

3)
KM at its core is people centric. Social media is driven by people and the
interactions they have with each other. Many employees and customers of
organizations are now engaged in social media. It is now engrained in our
society, and new generations of current and future workers are shaping the way
it is used and the impact it is been having. Through the implementation of KM,
organizations are aligning social media principles, practices and tools to among
other things expedite the sharing and the dissemination of knowledge and
information real time. KM that utilizes social media will facilitate in building an
environment that will facilitate how people interact outside the organization to
within the organization. However, this must be accomplished by implementing
much more stringent policies and guidelines concerning social media and related
technologies. In this chapter, a look at constructing a social media strategy will
bring to light how these capabilities must be managed by the organization.
Organizations have also committed resources to contribute to the social media
voice. By employing social media specialist (among other titles), organizations
tweet about their latest company products, news, specials, and so on, while also
responding to others in the “twitter space.” You will often find organizations
with a Facebook presence, knowing that a great percentage of their customers
are also on Facebook. Organizations are benefiting from social media, knowing
that the virtual world is filled with knowledge, and they monitor that knowledge
within the various social channels.
Social tools and mediums such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, Facebook, and
LinkedIn represent the mechanisms to enable people to engage and share openly.
These social tools put knowledge-sharing power in the hands of the users
themselves, and this power has business and government taking notice. In this
chapter, social media as it pertains to the key principles of KM will be examined.
These key principles include knowledge sharing, knowledge capture, and
knowledge reuse. As it pertains to social media, Twitter, Facebook, and
LinkedIn will be the mechanisms that are included in this analysis. This chapter
will also include input from my own experience, and the experiences that have
been documented by others as contributors to the analysis will be conveyed in
this chapter. In addition, this chapter will include a template for developing your
organization’s social media strategy as well as some proven tips and techniques
to successfully execute this strategy.

Dude, “Where’s My Car?”: Utilizing Search in Knowledge

Management (Chapter 4)
This chapter is all about search and “findability” of knowledge within the
enterprise and/or customer-facing websites. In this chapter, concepts such as
search engine optimization, ontology, taxonomy, information architecture, and
information modeling are covered. To increase the chances, content and
knowledge are properly located within the knowledge repository; having
properly categorized content and knowledge is essential. Knowledge base
concepts such as “tagging,” metadata, keywords, and synonyms will also be
covered. When we understand these concepts along with our specific
requirements, we will be better equipped to select the right tool to satisfy our
searching needs.
When it comes to selecting a software tool to facilitate the management of our
knowledge, whether it’s replacing a current tool or if it’s the first time
implementing a KM tool, we must have a plan on how we are going to get the
content on to the knowledge repository. Having a clear, concise, and workable
plan for content migration is a critical ingredient in our ability to later find all
content and especially those “knowledge nuggets” that will help us in
performing our tasks. This chapter will cover the steps that should be considered
when developing your content migration strategy. These steps and concepts
include the following:

Content identification
 Content analysis
Stakeholder/management engagement
Knowledge repository design
Taxonomy, content types, and metadata mapping
Training
Content migration

Finally, to conclude this chapter, a discussion on where search is heading toward

and the tools enabling findability of knowledge will be examined. This chapter
will include the examination of Web 2.x through Web 4.x paradigms. Search
paradigms such as PIK-Map, Syntactic/Semantic Frames, intelligence/rules-
based content retrieval, Natural Language parsers, and Spiders will all be
included. A distention between the search needs of the enterprise and the search
needs of the customer facing websites will be examined. The discussion on
software tools could not be complete without examining some of the most
widely used tools and the criteria established to use when selecting an enterprise
search solution.

The Age of Discovery: Knowledge Management in Research

Institutions (Chapter 5)
Research institutions are critical to innovation and new product creation. The
speed to market for new products are essential to stay ahead of your competitors.
KM plays a central role in innovation through the use of collaboration and
knowledge sharing.
At its core, the nature of research is to nurture open access to extensive
amounts of tacit knowledge (knowledge within the minds of people) and explicit
knowledge (knowledge that is written down) by applying a model that reflects
the natural of flow of knowledge. The model of Connect → Collect → Reuse
and Learn depicts a knowledge flow model that supports KM within research
institutions and R&D functions within organizations. For KM to work within a
research environment (as with other environments) a culture and structure that
supports, rewards, and proves the value KM will encourage the continued use
and adoption of the KM practice.
In addition, the choice of IT tools (which is of secondary importance) should
be brought into the organization to automate the knowledge flow and its
associated process. The KM tool(s) must support KM goals/strategies, and
provide a means to connect, collect, catalog, access, and reuse tacit and explicit
knowledge. In addition, the KM tool(s) must capture new learning to share
across the organization and provide search and retrieval mechanisms to bring
pertinent knowledge to the user. Research institutions and departments utilizing
KM effectively will have an advantage over their competitors who are not
utilizing KM by getting better products to market quicker, increasing the level of
innovation at their organizations, and establishing an environment of
empowerment for research professionals.
This chapter will cover the KM strategy (including a strategy template),
techniques, best practices, and application of KM necessary for research
institutions to innovate more effectively and shorten the time to bring new
products to market. Topics such as knowledge sharing techniques (communities
of practice [CoP], collaborative workspaces, and after action reviews);
techniques for innovation (knowledge café, root cause analysis, and problem
finding); tools to facilitate KM within the research organization; ways to quickly
institute the KM procedures, practices, and principles into the organization; and
the key benefits of KM will also be covered.

“Where Have All My Experts Gone?”: Knowledge Management in

Human Resources and Talent Management (Chapter 6)
Talent management is often referred to as human capital management. Many
organizations are faced with the problem of retaining talent as well as capturing
the knowledge of the talent as it moves in and out of the organization. KM plays
an important role in converting individual knowledge into corporate knowledge,
thereby making it available to be cataloged and shared throughout the
organization.
As part of a comprehensive KM strategy applied to human capital
management, it is vital to establish a program that is executed when your staff
enters the organization and continues until the time that staff member leaves the
organization. How is this accomplished? Initially, through employee orientation;
establishing a mentor–protégé relationship; mapping their roles, responsibilities,
and their work products to the specific duties that are being performed; and
executing a comprehensive exit interview. All these are aspects of a KM strategy
aimed at moving your human capital to corporate capital.
This strategy does not begin and end here! As staff members evolve in their
roles, the sharing and cataloging of knowledge continues through the use of CoP,
the creation of knowledge repositories, capturing lesson learned, and instituting a
culture that values lifelong learning and sharing of knowledge. Getting started
with a KM strategy entails a collective vision as to how sharing of knowledge
can enhance organizational performance, and that the knowledge of the
organization is a valuable commodity that must be collected, cataloged and
reused.
In this chapter, the following concepts and topics will be examined:

Human capital management critical success factors

Human capital challenges facing organizations
Capturing employee tacit and explicit knowledge
Knowledge mapping for identifying key knowledge holders and what they
know
High impact talent management framework

“Sound the Alarm!”: Knowledge Management in Emergency and

Disaster Preparedness (Chapter 7)
First responders (i.e., police, fire, and emergency medical teams) many times are
not able to respond quickly and effectively, causing the increase probability of
seriously injured people not receiving care in a timely fashion. This has led to
loss of life in situations where one’s life could have been saved. Nationally (as
seen by the response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and 9/11 attacks), there is a
problem in effectively and efficiently enabling first responders in their effort to
prepare, respond, and provide recovery during an emergency and/or crisis
situation.
KM applied to the preparedness, response, and recovery mission of first
responders will enable them to arrive at the scene in a timely manner, be
equipped with the right knowledge of the situation, and have the right tools and
technology to execute their job, resulting in saving lives. In many urban areas of
the United States, when a first responder team is dispatched, they often do not
arrive in a timely manner, are not fully aware of the situation, and are not fully
equipped to handle the situation. Applying KM to disaster preparedness,
response, and recovery will save lives not only in the communities’ first
responder serve but also within the first responder teams themselves, resulting in
a safer, fully knowledgeable team responding to a crises event.
This indicates a need to apply a comprehensive KM strategy that will
incorporate the necessary KM policies, principles, practices, and technology to
enable knowledge sharing, knowledge harvesting, and knowledge delivery,
including alerts to the right people, at the right time, in the right manner.
In this chapter, a KM strategy focused on emergency preparedness and
response by first responders will be examined as well as aspects of that plan will
be presented. A details analysis of a comprehensive emergency alert system will
be presented. This chapter will examine the following areas of a comprehensive
emergency alert system: emergency alert interaction (two-way interaction),
geographical information system-based real-time alert delivery, leveraging a
cloud-based architecture, scalability, and interoperability.

Happily Ever After: Knowledge Management in Mergers and

Acquisitions (Chapter 8)
Mergers and acquisitions are a way of life in corporate America and around the
world. The results in most cases are mixed. The basic premise is that the
acquiring company and/or the merging companies are looking for synergies,
increase market share, and overall a stronger and a more viable entity.
Synergy allows for enhanced cost efficiencies of the new business entity.
When companies decide to go through a merger/acquisition, the organizations
involved anticipate benefiting from the following:

Staff reductions: More often than not, it means job losses. Cost savings are
realized from reducing the number of staff members from departments
across the organization(s).
Economies of scale: As we all know size matters, it is no surprise that a
larger company placing the orders can save more on costs. Mergers often
translate into improved purchasing power to buy equipment or office
supplies. When placing larger orders, larger companies (i.e., Wal-Mart,
Microsoft, and Boeing) have a greater ability to negotiate prices with their
suppliers.
Acquiring new technology: To stay competitive, companies need to stay on
top of technological developments and their business applications. By
buying a smaller company with unique technologies, a large company can
maintain or develop a competitive edge.
Improved market reach and industry visibility: Companies buy companies
to reach new markets and grow revenues and earnings. A merge may
 expand two companies’ marketing and distribution, giving them new sales
opportunities. A merger can also improve a company’s standing in the
investment community: bigger firms often have an easier time raising
capital than smaller ones.

More often than not, understanding the synergies or the lack thereof when it
comes to personnel is absent. Understanding the personnel challenges of a
merger/acquisition will be the key to the success of the transaction and the
ongoing operation of the new entity.
This understanding will be enhanced by applying the KM principles leveraged
within human capital management (see Chapter 6). In this chapter, the specifics
of mergers and acquisitions and the application of KM (more precisely human
capital management) to improve the process and outcomes as it pertains to
retaining staff, conducting staff reductions, identifying key knowledge holders,
and understanding knowledge gaps are examined.

“Is There a Doctor in the House?”: Knowledge Management in

Healthcare (Chapter 9)
With the advent of healthcare reform and the move to digitize health records,
streamline medical costs, and to enable better medical decisions, many
organizations in the healthcare industry are turning to KM. A prime method in
utilizing KM in healthcare is through healthcare informatics. Healthcare
informatics incorporates information technology and healthcare to support
clinical workflow, collect, organize, and secure health related data, information,
and knowledge. It also supports the growing knowledge base of physicians in
order for them to make better decisions, reduce the costs of treatments, eliminate
(severely cut) mistakes, and improve overall patient care.
Healthcare informatics combines the fields of information technology and
health to develop the systems required to administer the expansion of
information, advance clinical work flow, and improve the security of the
healthcare system. It involves the integration of information science, computer
technology, and medicines to collect, organize, and secure information systems
and health-related data. As a result, the extraordinary explosion of medical
knowledge, technologies, and ground-breaking drugs may vastly improve
healthcare delivery to consumers, and keeping the information and knowledge
related to these advancements organized and accessible is the key.
 Some of the keys to patient care are the ability to evaluate large amounts of
data and information, which includes the use of medical informatics. These are
the keys to deliver medical knowledge to the right people, at the right time, in
the right context. Electronic health records, data warehouses, laptops, and other
mobile devices now provide access to information at the point of care. This
access facilitates a continuous learning environment in which lessons learned
can provide updates to clinical, administrative, and financial processes. Given
these advancements, it is imperative that data, information, and knowledge are
managed for effective healthcare. Applying principles of KM has become the
catalyst for quality healthcare delivery and management.
This chapter provides a detailed understanding of the practice of KM within
the healthcare industry. The content includes critical aspects of healthcare
operations, knowledge strategies for healthcare operations, knowledge essential
elements for healthcare, knowledge mapping and medical informatics,
knowledge creation and discovery in medical informatics, applying KM to
healthcare, and knowledge tools and techniques for healthcare.

“Show Me the Money!”: Knowledge Management for Financial

Services (Chapter 10)
The financial services industry is a highly dynamic and competitive marketplace.
As the fight for customers intensifies, it is increasingly important to attend to
customer needs while ensuring customer information is shared with the right
people at the right time across the institution. To this end, the technology
supporting the institution is vital to facilitating the movement of information and
knowledge to the customer. KM systems will have an increased importance as
trends in personal investing move toward broader services and integrated
product offerings.
By utilizing a KM system, all employees interacting with a customer will have
up-to-date knowledge of that customer’s breadth of relationship and experience
with the institution. This helps the institution with cross selling, up selling, and
reporting on the effectiveness of any new customer initiatives.
Today, organizations are integrating KM into their business philosophies,
making it more common practice and therefore less differentiating factor of
success, thus creating the need for KM practice to become more and more
superior. This is especially true in the light that more and more knowledge is
becoming available, while at the same time also being becoming more
sophisticated, making KM more complex. This results in the fact that businesses
that manage knowledge better within their organization and outside of it
addressing the evolving customer needs will improve their overall performance
and become the leaders within the industry.
It is well recognized that the financial services business environment is ever
changing and is doing so at an ever-increasing rate. The stock market (DOW,
NASDAQ, and S&P) swings on the earnings of large corporations, the ever-
evolving political climate, the volatility of European and Asian markets, and the
price of oil, just to name a few. This presents financial organizations with the
challenge of acting and reacting to this volatility and communicating an
appropriate value proposition to the market. In addition, having an increasingly
sophisticated consumer who is armed with the latest trading technology has
added further stress to these companies to deliver the right knowledge, at the
right time, in the right way to their customers.
This chapter focuses on the use of KM within the financial industry. Specific
attention will be on how KM is being leveraged in the commodity (futures and
options) and the stock market, including the mutual funds sector within the
United States. Online trading financial companies, the electronic trading
applications in the commodities and stock market, and the sophisticated trading
tools leveraged by today’s financial consumer are the catalyst for the
implementation of KM practices, policies, procedures, and applications, all
aimed at creating a differential between companies that deliver financial services
and the people who are working to build financial stability with them.

“Are You in Good Hands?”: Knowledge Management in Insurance

(Chapter 11)
In the insurance industry, trade secrets, confidential information, and valuable
ideas are part of the workforce knowledge. Recruiting, selecting, training, and
managing contact center employees, agents, and other corporate and field office
employees present a real challenge for insurance companies. In addition,
government and industry laws and regulations as well as ethics present their own
unique challenges of understanding, application, and enforcement. These
challenges are being addressed through the implementation and execution of KM
policies, practices, procedures, and software applications.
In the insurance industry, there are an ample number of factors as stated above
to be considered for KM to facilitate decisions within a problem situation. These
factors include the sharing and transfer of experiences (tacit knowledge) as well
as the sharing and transfer of practices, how-tos, and lessons learned (explicit
knowledge). This knowledge can be transferred through sharing, and in some
instances, it can be codified (Rhem, 2005). It is very difficult to retain the
intellectual capital when a person leaves an organization; moreover, it is difficult
to value these intangible assets and is essential to retain them inside the
organization in order to take competitive advantage of these assets (Rhem,
2005).
Applying KM will facilitate the insurers’ ability to meet these challenges and
achieve efficiencies by leveraging the combined knowledge of its workforce and
effectively turning it into a competitive advantage. Insurance companies (as well
as others) are focusing on providing for their customers and in doing so
generating profitable growth. In the face of a demanding economic environment,
tight margins, regulations, availability, and quality of people, as well as data,
information, and knowledge, all insurance organizations are facing challenges on
several fronts. These include talent management (see Chapter 6), organizational
responsiveness to the customer, cost control, and compliance.
KM in the insurance industry centers on meeting the customer needs,
balancing growth with profit, protecting financial strength, and creating high-
performing teams. In this chapter, the focus will be on how insurance companies
are leveraging KM to address the needs of the customer through examining
customer call centers, agents, decisions supporting underwriting and claims, and
use of knowledge of the internal employees.

“Sign Right Here!”: Knowledge Management in the Legal

Profession (Chapter 12)
KM in law firms has taken off in recent years. Here it’s not only a requirement to
have KM experience, a KM certification (or formal degree), but most law firms
are requiring that future employees also have a Juris Doctor (JD). The
requirement for a JD may not be as stringent at corporations that are looking for
KM resources within their legal departments; they usually look for candidates
with KM and/or a library sciences background. All of this is fueled by the fact
that KM enables legal organizations to respond quickly, efficiently, and
effectively when it comes to servicing its employees and at the end of the day,
their clients as well.
KM in law firms is often executed through the following elements: building
and fostering CoP around practice specialties and/or areas of responsibility;
development and use/reuse of knowledge assets; enabling collaboration beyond
the CoP and into extended communities; capturing and validating knowledge
produced as a result of collaboration; systematically hosting tacit knowledge;
arranging and efficiently presenting knowledge assets to users; and
creating/nurturing a culture of knowledge sharing, collaboration, and lifelong
learning.
According to Ted Tjaden,

In a law firm setting, explicit knowledge tends to be precedent

agreements, checklists, research memos, opinion letters, and “how to”
guides. Equally—if not more important—is the tacit knowledge, being
what lawyers know, their experience and their professional judgment.
Capturing and organizing explicit legal knowledge can be relatively
straightforward and involves a combination of technologies (internal
document management systems, search and tagging technology, and
intranets). Capturing and organizing tacit legal knowledge can be more
challenging. In most firms, tacit knowledge is transferred through
mentoring, training and allowing a knowledge-sharing culture to
flourish. (Tjaden, 2010; [my emphasis])

In this chapter, the focus will be on how law firms manage their vast array of
explicit and tacit knowledge. In addition this chapter presents an understanding
of how explicit and tacit knowledge when used together can provide the law firm
with a distinct advantage over its competition. This chapter will specifically
examine how law firms are leveraging precedent development, legal research,
competitive intelligence, training lawyers (talent management), intranet
deployment, project management, and client support, all in relation to instituting
KM within their legal institutions.

“A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”: Knowledge Management

Education (Chapter 13)
The increased focus on the knowledge economy has heightened interest in KM
as a profession, an occupation, and its essential competencies. Many believe that
it is time to acknowledge KM as a professional area of practice and it is
necessary to begin a formal discussion of the educational foundation needed to
support this area of professional practice. Although there is a wealth of published
and informal literature, thoughts derived from practice, and dialogs on these
topics, a consensus on what constitutes the core elements of KM competencies
and KM education is lacking.
A consensus is needed among those who are currently providing KM training,
teaching KM via traditional course work, and supporting KM programs and
departments within organizations. This consensus needs to be informed and
supported by knowledge professionals who are currently working in knowledge
roles today. In addition, as with all professional domains, the KM domain needs
to be continuously reviewed and refreshed by professional educators and
working professionals.
KM education must connect education and strategic learning competencies
with skill and ability in knowledge strategy development, implementation,
collaboration, and leadership and management skills, in addition to technical
competencies. KM continues to be a growing discipline in which organizations
are seeking qualified individuals. This is reflected in many institutions of higher
education offering an MSc degree in KM. This degree offers students an
opportunity to enter the knowledge economy and become an important asset to
organizations working to get the right knowledge, to the right people, at the right
time.
This chapter will focus on KM education delivery and options within
universities and colleges as well as in KM certification organizations. This
chapter will cover topics such as strategic roles and responsibilities of KM
professionals in organizations today and the educational needs of these
professionals, standard KM competencies, KM curriculum development and
delivery, and teaching methodologies.

“Big Knowledge!”: Knowledge Management and Big Data (Chapter

14)
The proliferation of data, information, and knowledge has created a phenomenon
called “Big Data.” KM when applied to Big Data will enable the type of analysis
that will uncover the complete picture of the organization and be a catalyst for
driving decisions. The connection between Big Data and KM brings together the
entirety of your organization’s structured and unstructured data sources that are
spread across a wide variety of repositories, databases, data warehouses, and
content sources, in order for your organization to tap into its vast know-how to
make better decisions on a multitude of issues and directions on an ongoing
basis.
Currently, the ability for an organization to tap into its Big Data sources to
gain a competitive edge places a heavy reliance on analytics. Organizations are
investigating ways to efficiently and effectively collect and manage the data,
information, and knowledge they are exposed to via various internal and external
sources (which are typically networked together). KM will bring opportunities—
both technical and organizational—when working with Big Data.
Organizationally, KM delivers strategy, governance, process-centric approaches,
and inter-organizational aspects of decision support as well as technical
considerations when incorporating new data sources and new frameworks for
Big Data analytics, including KM.
This chapter takes a look into where KM and Big Data are heading toward
within the organization. The advancement of search technologies (which play a
key role in delivering knowledge within a KM system) impact our ability to
access Big Data will be examined here. In addition to search technologies,
several other KM technologies are addressing Big Data. These technologies
include solutions that mine unstructured data and manage and use/reuse the
knowledge found in Big Data. This chapter will examine knowledge
classifications, social network analysis, Big Data sources, and information
architecture, all aimed at providing details on how KM is and will work with Big
Data.

“What Have You Done for the War Fighter Today?”: Knowledge
Management in the Military (Chapter 15)
KM in the US military has been implemented using a top-down approach that is
resonated through each branch, command, directorate, division, group, battalion,
and so on. The US military has established a culture of KM that leverages its
personnel, processes, and systems to facilitate a consistent flow of knowledge
and the mechanisms to execute and make decisions from this knowledge.
It is widely acknowledged that KM strategy is a desired precursor to
developing specific KM initiatives. The US military has established KM
strategies from the top down in every branch. As this strategy is propagated and
aligned through the organization, it is often a difficult process due to a variety of
influences and constraints. These KM influences and constraints include
understanding, conflicts with IT organizations, funding, technology usage and
configuration, and outsourcing.
Any discussion of KM in the military should include a discussion of the Army
Knowledge Management (AKM) principles, which were signed out by the army
chief of staff (General Casey) and the secretary of the army in 2008. The AKM
principles still are in effect and have served as a basis for KM efforts in the army
and the federal KM arena at large.
Each US military branch works to overcome barriers in KM adoption. To this
effort, an establishment of processes and tools, which involves providing
approaches and solutions for knowledge sharing, has influenced a change in
people’s habits. This change will drive values to move US military organization
culture to father overall KM adoption. In support of the US military in its
knowledge sharing efforts, CoP have become an integral method of sharing and
distributing knowledge across all branches of the military. In addition, enterprise
web search capabilities have been implemented to increase “findability” of key
content, which is the leverage for decision making at all levels of command.
In my examination of KM in the military, I will take a holistic approach. This
approach will not only begin with an examination of the AKM but also look at
what each branch is doing from strategy through tactical implementation of KM
programs, systems, and initiatives down to the command level. I will look at the
synergies between the branches and identify tips, techniques, and best practices.
In addition, I will leverage my own experiences as well as the experiences of
others whom I have interviewed in the process of understanding the practice and
execution of KM within the various military branches.

Drinking the Knowledge Management Kool-Aid: Knowledge

Management Adoption (Chapter 16)
Many organizations have begun to understand the value and promise KM can
bring to their workforce. Delivering innovation through collaboration and
sharing remain the cornerstones of KM. However, once your organization has
established its KM strategy and/or rolled out its initial KM offering (i.e., KM
system, KM process, and tools) what happens next? What happens next is the
adoption process. Whether it’s a new process, procedure, or system, getting your
workforce to leverage and use it in the course of executing activities and
delivering on their task will be essential to your KM program’s success. In order
to achieve this, there must be processes and vehicles in place to allow,
encourage, and reward staff members as they work within this new paradigm. It
will not be easy. As with anything new, it will take some time for the adoption to
occur. To move this along, there must be KM supporters, mentors, and/or
evangelists at all levels of the corporate infrastructure to encourage the
workforce to “drink the KM Kool-Aid.” In other words, buy in and practice KM
in all aspects of performing tasks and activities.
Developing an organizational culture of knowledge sharing, collaboration, and
lifelong learning should be the goals of any KM program. Organizations such as
the Fluor Corporation, Irving, Texas, have been successful in infusing KM
within its culture. From human resource activities to leveraging knowledge for
strategic purposes, to engaging with clients, Fluor sets an example of how KM
can be leveraged effectively in an organization. Drinking the “KM Kool-Aid” is
a slow and deliberate activity grounded in a basic KM process of Connect →
Collect → Catalog → Reuse → Learn and Innovate. When practiced effectively,
this process will be a cornerstone to enabling the adoption of KM throughout
your organization.

Failure Is Not an Option: Why Do Knowledge Management

Programs and Projects Fail? (Chapter 17)
Although the lack of or absence of adoption will set your KM efforts on a path
for failure, there are many other contributing factors that will also lead you down
this road.
The fact is that few KM initiatives are successful. But, why is this the result?
What is the cause and effect? Is it because there is a lack of qualified
professional? Or is there more to it than these? What about a magic “silver
bullet”? Is it a cultural issue?
I believe the reason why KM initiatives fail are varied and can be attributable
to many factors. Moreover, I believe one of the main reasons why KM initiatives
fail is based on how the organization views KM. KM is viewed just as a function
of the call center. It is more than a function of a call center and its benefits are
farreaching as any Lean process or any other initiatives that a corporation may
put into practice. KM is mainly viewed by most corporations that have a KM
effort as a cost of doing business. This is an error in philosophy. KM is a method
of reducing expenses, improving productivity, and enhancing value.
KM will improve efficiencies that will increase a corporation’s profitability,
and enhance the quality of work, performance, and overall value of the
corporation. KM allows tacit knowledge to be leveraged, transferred to increase
the quality of work performed across the corporation. This tacit knowledge
allows KM to eliminate the “reinvent the wheel” syndrome. This transfer of
knowledge is the essence of KM.
Outside of a corporation’s philosophy error, there are several reasons for the
failure of KM initiatives. Some of those reasons are as follows:

Expecting KM technologies to replace KM processes or create processes

where none exists
Lack of participation from all levels of a corporation
Forcing inadequate processes into new technology
Lack of maintenance and resources after initial standup
Lack of education and understanding of what KM means to the individual
KM does not become ingrained into the corporation’s work culture
Lack of involvement in creating and evolving KM content
Lack of metrics to measure the impact of KM on the corporation or
insufficient/incorrect metrics being captured
Lack of monitoring and controls in place to ensure the knowledge is
relevant, and is current and accurate

KM initiatives are essential to a corporation’s growth and are more than just the
cost of doing business. Successful KM initiatives once completed and funded
correctly will increase a corporation’s profitability, and enhance the quality of
work and overall value of the corporation.

Summary (Chapter 18)

In this book, I have presented details about KM in various industries, where I
have had the opportunity to help clients implement KM solutions as well as
specific KM topics that are critical in today’s KM landscape. These solutions
and topics ranged from KM strategies, knowledge transfer planning/execution,
implementing KM systems, Big Data search, KM adoption, deploying methods
to capture knowledge, and planning and executing on KM governance.
Each chapter includes key learnings as well as tips and techniques for those
currently instituting KM in that particular industry and/or topic. Each chapter
examines and analyzes the subject matter, and the keys for successfully applying
the subject matter in “real-world” situation(s).
Knowledge Management in Practice is intended as a reference for KM
practitioners, organizations implementing KM, and those who are studying KM
at the various academic and KM certification institutions. This chapter presents a
synopsis of what was presented in each chapter, the intended key takeaways, and
a peek into the future of individuals and organizations practicing KM.

Outline of the Book

This book will give detailed information on applying KM practices, procedures,
and techniques to solve real-world problems. The applications of KM that will
be examined include social media; knowledge and content management; search
engine optimization; capturing and codifying tacit and explicit knowledge; KM
in disaster preparedness, action, and reaction; KM adoption process in an
organization; failure of KM projects; and specific industry applications of
knowledge management. This publication will contribute to the advancement in
application of KM principles, practices, and procedures, as well as the systems
that support KM.
Each chapter will include key learnings as well as tips and techniques for
those who are currently instituting KM. The following section outlines the
structure each chapter.

Structure of Each Chapter

Each chapter will examine and analyze the relevant subject matter, key learnings
for successfully applying the subject matter, and tips and techniques for applying
the subject matter in “real-world” situation(s).
Lessons learned from each chapter will refer to the knowledge gained through
the experience of working within a specific domain(s), which can be negative or
positive and can have a significant impact on the organization. Identifying and
applying the lessons learned helps eliminate the occurrence of the similar
problems in future and/or replicate successes that will establish best practices in
future KM initiatives.
Tips and techniques listed in each chapter will refer to points to consider when
implementing KM within a particular subject examined in that chapter. It will
often take into consideration how to apply a significant lesson learned to
improve successful implementation of a particular KM concept(s).
Now we will begin our “real-world” examination of the practice of KM.
Chapter 2

The Case for Implementing Knowledge

Management

If your organization is losing valuable knowledge due to staff retirement, staff

moving to other departments, or staff dismissed for a variety of reasons, then
your organization has a strong case for the implementation of a knowledge
management (KM) strategy. Specifically, if your organization is experiencing
any of the following scenarios then it has a strong case to implement a KM
program or at the very least initiate a KM project to address these needs.

Scenario 1: Customer service representatives respond to customers and/or

potential customer inquiries with inconsistent and oftentimes incorrect
answers.
– For interacting with your customers, the information in your
organization can be transformed into useful and actionable knowledge to
address customer inquiries and provide them with what they need to
know at the right time and the right context.
– Customer-facing activities include
• Providing knowledge to customer support representatives in response
to customer inquiries.
• Providing FAQs to customers related to the products, services, and
other aspects about the organization via self-help
options/functionality.
• Knowledge is also provided through help modules accessed by the
customer usually through the organization’s website, and/or through
web-based chat or click-to-call capabilities.
Scenario 2: Your organization has a need to address employee/associate
knowledge needs:
– Knowledge provided here reflects the need for employees to access key
knowledge holders in the organization to answer questions, collaborate
 on problems/issues, and/or provide content.
– The knowledge in this space often resides in the minds of individual
workers (tacit knowledge). In addition, there exist a myriad of artifacts,
which include but are not limited to, lesson learned, standard operating
procedures, guidelines, templates, tips and techniques, spreadsheets,
presentation files, videos, and graphics (explicit knowledge) that must be
captured to address the individual worker’s knowledge needs.
Scenario 3: Your organization has a need to address corporate operations
knowledge needs:
– The corporate operations/technical support activities of the firm provide
technical solutions to inquiries not only to customers but also to internal
knowledge workers (employees) as it pertains to any hardware and/or
software being provided by the organization.
– The knowledge in this area is reflected by documenting software “bug”
solutions, known errors, software patches, issue resolutions, and other
specific data concerning the hardware and software configurations in the
organization.
Scenario 4: Your organization has a need to bring new product innovations to
the marketplace:
– The need for KM in this area addresses situations where duplication of
effort occurs, not having the right team in place to perform the research
to bring the product innovation to market successfully and in a timely
manner, always reinventing or starting from “square one,” difficulty
locating current and/or historical corporate information/knowledge on a
specific topic(s), and expertise leaving the organization creating a
knowledge gap (see Chapter 5).

The business case for KM represents a well-argued and logically structured

document that puts forward the business rationale for investing in a KM
initiative. The case for implementing KM as with any business case must clearly
establish the following:

The problem or business opportunity addressed by the KM initiative

Applying/leveraging KM to address the problem
Detail the options available to implement the KM solution
Analyze the risk of doing nothing
Analyze the cost–benefit, risk, and financial assessments (return on
 investment [ROI]) of the proposed KM solution

KM Business Case Structure

In order to construct a KM business case, understanding its structure is the first
step. The KM business case structure (see Appendix A) consists of the
following:

Problem statement
The problem statement is the identification of the problem or business
opportunity being addressed by the KM initiative. A problem statement is
clear, concise, and to the point and is often the compass to keep the team
focused on delivering an outcome that solves the intended
issue(s)/opportunity being addressed.

Understanding the five “Ws”

The five W’s consist of Who, What, Where, When, and Why.
Remembering the five Ws will enable you to construct the problem
statement in a way that will present pertinent details that are being
addressed. The following details the five Ws.
Who: Who does the problem affect? This pertains to specific stakeholders
(groups, departments, customers, etc.).
What: What are the boundaries of the problem, for example, organizational,
work flow, geographic, customer, and segments—What is the issue?—
What is the impact of the issue?—What impact is the issue causing?—What
will happen when it is fixed?—What would happen if we didn’t solve the
problem?
When: When does the issue occur?—When does it need to be resolved?
Where: Where is the issue occurring? Only in certain locations, processes,
products, and so on.
Why: Why is it important that we fix the problem?—What impact does it
have on the business, employees, or customers?—What impact does it have
on all stakeholders, for example, employees, suppliers, customers, and
shareholders? Each of the answers will help to zero in on the specific
issue(s) and properly articulate the problem statement. Remember that your
problem statement should be solvable (a solution should be able to be
deployed to resolve the issues presented by the problem statement) (Figure
 2.1).

KM Solution Analysis
The KM solution analysis involves analyzing how KM will be leveraged to
address the problem or business opportunity.

Needs Analysis
In the needs analysis (also called “requirements definition”) phase, one begins
documenting the business opportunity (or problem). Any issue can be looked
upon as a problem or an opportunity. In writing business cases, I have found that
you get a much warmer reception if you frame things in a positive light, that is,
as opportunities, rather than as problems. In defining the opportunity, one needs
to first be clear in identifying the objectives. Objectives are the measurable
outcomes that one wants to achieve upon the completion of the proposed KM
initiatives. Identifying the objectives and being clear on why they make business
sense is very important. Objectives should be tied to outcomes from the strategic
assessment phase, for example, the current and/or desired states of the business
and the current business needs. Objectives are normally classified as first-order
(critical), second-order (important), and third-order (nice to have).
Figure 2.1 KM business case structure.

KM Solution Implementation Approach

The KM solution implementation approach explores the options that are
available to implement the KM solution determined in the solution analysis. The
implementation has two possible components: (1) A program level component
providing the business case calls for implementing a KM program (2) and/or a
KM initiative approach.
The KM program must optimize the organization, exchange, currency, and
accessibility of knowledge, so that employees and other stakeholders spend less
time looking for what they need in order to make critical decisions and complete
specific tasks and activities. Effective workers do not just need to recognize their
own knowledge and skills, but they must also recognize and strategically use
those of others.
Program management is a method to manage related groups of KM initiatives.
Project Management Institute defines it as

A group of related KM initiatives managed in a coordinated way to

obtain benefits and control not available from managing them
individually. Programs may include elements of related work outside
scope of the discrete KM initiatives in the program. (PMBOK p. 368)

In summary, a program is a collection of initiatives and KM initiatives that are

designed to accomplish a strategic business objective. As stated above in
defining the problem statement, it is important to know the business drivers (five
Ws) concerned with the work being done. Because of the potential high cost and
complexity of some programs and/or KM initiatives, it is essential to sell the
benefits and gain support for program and/or KM initiative. To explain the
aspects of a program further, a program can include a single product or
deliverable, many deliverables, can be a combination of ongoing support activity
in addition to deliverables, and usually focuses on business objectives and
delivering value. Some characteristics of programs include deliverables with a
strategic intent; may initiate a business change; can be a significant change to the
organization; success criteria may include growth, productivity gains, and
improvement in the market; there could be significant risks; are longer in
duration than KM initiatives; and benefits are achieved throughout the duration
of program. KM program initiatives include KM strategy, KM governance, KM
taxonomy and information architecture development, change management, and
KM communications planning and execution.

Software Methodologies
When implementing a KM solution that is driven out by a specific KM initiative
within the overall program (or as part of a standalone initiative), a standard
software methodology (Iterative, Agile/Scrum, OpenUP, or Knowledge
Acquisition Unified Framework [KAUF]) (Rhem, 2011) should be utilized. The
following sections briefly describe these methodologies.

Iterative Software Development Methodology

The Iterative software development methodology moves forward in increments
called “iterations.” The goal of each iteration is to develop a portion of working
software that can be demonstrated to all the stakeholders, and that the
stakeholders will find meaningful. The software developed by iteration should
cut through all or most of the major subsystems of the KM initiative. It should
not be concentrated to a single subsystem. Each iteration represents an effort
made by each member of the team to build a small part on their behalf of the KM
initiative and integrate those parts together (see Figure 2.2). The length of
iteration depends upon the kind of KM initiative we are working with. However,
short iterations are to be desired over long ones. The shorter the iteration, the
less time passes before the team gets feedback. Iteration lengths of 1 or 2 weeks
are not too short for most KM initiatives (Wiley, 2012).
Figure 2.2 Iterative software development process: Project iteration flow
(ncicb.nci.nih.gov).

Agile/Scrum
Agile/Scrum KM initiative management is an agile software development
process. Scrum models allow KM initiatives to progress via a series of iterations
called “agile sprints” (see Figure 2.3). Each sprint is typically 2–4 weeks, and
sprint planning in the agile methodology and Scrum process are essential.
Although the agile/Scrum methodology can be used for managing any KM
initiative, the agile/Scrum process is ideally suited for KM initiatives with
rapidly changing or highly emergent requirements such as software (Cohn,
2013).
The agile sprint itself is the main activity of Scrum KM initiative
management. The agile methodology and Scrum process is iterative and
incremental, so the KM initiative is split into a series of consecutive sprints.
Each is timeboxed, usually to between 1 week and a calendar month. One survey
found that the most common sprint length of a Scrum agile process is 2 weeks.
During this time, the Scrum team does everything to take a small set of features
from idea to coded and tested functionality (Cohn, 2013).

OpenUP Methodology
OpenUP is a lean Unified Process that applies iterative and incremental
approaches within a structured life cycle (see Figure 2.4). OpenUP embraces a
pragmatic, agile philosophy that focuses on the collaborative nature of software
development. It is a tools-agnostic, low-ceremony process that can be extended
to address a broad variety of KM initiative types.

Figure 2.3 Scrum model overview

(http://consultingblogs.emc.com/Admin/ImageGallery/blogs.conchango.com/Colin.Bird/S
Figure 2.4 OpenUP (http://epf.eclipse.org/wikis/openup/).
OpenUP is based on four mutually supporting core principles:

1. Balance competing priorities to maximize stakeholder value

Promote practices that allow KM initiative participants and stakeholders
to develop a solution that maximizes stakeholder benefits and is compliant
with constraints placed on the KM initiative.
2. Collaborate to align interests and share understanding
Promote practices that foster a healthy team environment, enable
collaboration, and develop a shared understanding of the KM initiative.
3. Focus on the architecture early to minimize risks and organize
development
Promote practices that allow the team to focus on architecture to minimize
risks and organize development.
4. Evolve to continuously obtain feedback and improve
Promote practices that allow the team to get early and continuous
feedback from stakeholders, and demonstrate incremental value to them.

Knowledge Acquisition Unified Framework

When the KM initiative calls for capturing tacit and explicit knowledge of the
organization, the KAUF provides a repeatable process for identifying
understanding and cataloging knowledge. The following briefly describes the
seven steps that outline this framework.

Step 1—Define domain knowledge:

The first step in the KAUF is to identify what domain (business
unit/division/department, etc.) will be the focus of your knowledge
elicitation and what knowledge is pertinent to be captured in this domain. In
order to determine the knowledge to be captured, key knowledge holders
and subject matter experts (SMEs) in the specified domain must be
identified. This is typically done through a knowledge mapping exercise.
Once this occurs, the KM analyst must ascertain what knowledge is
essential to be captured. This can be accomplished through a series of
interviews/surveys and analysis working closely with the key knowledge
holders and SMEs.
Step 2—Decompose the domain knowledge:
When attempting to solve any large-scale problem, we would typically
break the activity into a number of smaller tasks; to help a domain experts
(SMEs, content managers, contributors, etc.) populate the knowledge
repository, we should similarly break the activity of knowledge acquisition
into a number of smaller tasks. Structuring the task of populating the
knowledge repository into a number of distinct sub-steps (typically based
on the taxonomy/ontology that has been established) will ease the process
of populating the knowledge repository gradually.
Step 3—Determine interdependency:
Interdependency is when two or more pieces of knowledge/information
depend on one another equally (one component depends on another).
Finding the interdependency’s between different pieces of knowledge
(documents/artifacts, and/or expertise) will guide the knowledge analyst
and domain expert(s) in completing the knowledge acquisition task.
Determining the interdependence between aspects of
knowledge/information will facilitate in identifying the missing pieces of
knowledge, determining related pieces of knowledge, and determining any
inconsistencies with the knowledge gathered for that domain.
Step 4—Recognize knowledge patterns:
When analyzing knowledge/information, the process of connect, collect,
 catalog, and reuse will uncover patterns of knowledge, and recognizing
these patterns will contribute to increase efficiencies in the
knowledge/information being captured.
Step 5—Determine judgments in knowledge:
If the knowledge being captured is determined to be judgmental (i.e.,
uncertain or “fuzzy”), then it must be analyzed to understand if conflicts
exist. In addition, consulting with expert resources to come to a consensus
as to what represents the “correct” knowledge may also be necessary.
Step 6—Perform conflict resolution:
There are situations in which sufficient expertise and/or documents are
unavailable to solve conflicts within the knowledge being gathered. If the
knowledge being captured has some uncertainty or is fuzzy, you must first
specify preconditions in the context of one or more of the conflicting
elements of the knowledge to prevent those conflicting elements from being
considered.
Step 7—Capture/catalog the knowledge:
Tacit knowledge is now sufficiently ready to be cataloged and transformed
into explicit knowledge to be prepared for inclusion into a KM solution
(Figure 2.5).

Risk Assessment
The risk assessment analyzes the risk involved in implementing the agreed upon
KM solution as well as the risk of doing nothing.

Value Analysis
The value analysis examines closely the value gained by the organization when
implementing the KM solution. An analysis on the achievable ROI, including a
timeline for when that would be realized, is also presented.
Figure 2.5 Knowledge acquisition unified framework (KAUF).

ROI for KM
From the outset, one must realize that making the case for a KM effort and
calculating an ROI is not easy when compared to making the business case for a
new piece of equipment, such as new computer color photocopier or office
furniture, in a more traditional situation. Investing in a piece of equipment can be
directly tied to increases in product quality and/or quantity through multiple
metrics (e.g., lower defect rates and finished products per hour). However,
calculating the ROI for investments in KM efforts is not that simple or direct.
It is my experience that ROI for KM is measured by how well it supports the
mission and/or objectives of the organization. Taking this into account, at the
end of the day, what matters is whether the KM initiative increased the
performance of its users or how well did it support the strategic mission of the
organization.
When we are looking at achieving a return on our KM initiatives historically,
it can take a considerable amount of time to show results or visible ROI for an
organization. However, there is an approach by Mark Clare to estimate the value
of the intangible benefits of KM (Clare, 2002). This approach, the knowledge
value equation (KVE), simply states that the value created from managing
knowledge is a function of the costs, benefits, and risks of the KM initiative. It
can be mathematically stated as follows: KM value = F (cost, benefit, and risk),
which equals total discounted cash flow created over the life of the KM
investment (Clare, 2002). This formula attempts to quantify the intangible
impacts of KM relating it back to cash flow. This includes improved problem
solving, enhanced creativity, and improved relationships with customers and
other performance-related activities.
The following are the three common indicators of the viability of the KM
initiative: net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and the payback
period. NPV helps us normalize future cash flows (both the cash we intend to
spend and the cash we expect to receive) into their present value. As a general
rule, if the NPV of a KM initiative is greater than zero, then you invest in the
KM initiative. If the NPV is negative, you should not invest in the KM initiative.
The reason for this is simple, the future cash flows, do not justify the present
investment. The IRR is the discount rate (also called “investment yield rate”) for
the KM initiative. It is the rate at which the NPV for a KM initiative is equal to
zero. When comparing two KM initiatives, the one with the higher IRR is
preferred. Another option to the IRR is to present the ROI. This value represents,
as the name implies, the savings (benefit) one will derive out of the KM
initiative for the investment (cost) outlays.
The payback period helps one estimate how quickly the investment will be
recouped. Put in another way, it is the time required for the savings to equal the
cost. When comparing two nearly similar alternatives, a rational person will
choose the KM initiative with the shorter payback period. The important thing to
bear in mind is that no single financial metric will be adequate for evaluating a
KM initiative’s feasibility or its value proposition in comparison to other uses of
the funds. Metrics are best used in conjunction with each other, as each one
provides a slightly different value perspective.
Unlike traditional (e.g., manufacturing) KM initiatives, financial analysis for a
KM initiative has two more complications. First, much of the benefits derived
from a KM initiative will be based on soft facts; that is, KM lead to changes in
behaviors, approaches, and methods that, on their own, may not have direct
bottom-line impacts. However, when these are mapped and traced to
organizational processes, the impacts can be measured and articulated. Needless
to say, this is often a more time-consuming and creative effort than simply
measuring direct impacts, as in the case of outcomes from a new piece of
manufacturing equipment. Equally important is that there is a lag time between
when one invests in a KM effort and when one witnesses outcomes that result in
payoffs. Accounting for this lag time is not easy, yet it is essential to building an
adequate business case.
Investing in KM is akin to a group as a whole investing in a common effort.
Consider the case of investing in initiatives such as the prevention of global
warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions or the promotion of fair trade
practices. Most people agree that preventing global warming or increasing the
adoption of fair trade practices benefits society. The challenge arises when we
ask who wants to take responsibility for investing in these efforts. If taxes were
raised to support these efforts, would you be happy? Rational individuals often
want others to bear the cost of these common efforts and gladly enjoy the
benefits, yet hesitate to initiate responsibility. A similar predicament faces KM
efforts. Departments within an organization want their peers’ units to invest in a
common effort. Each department might see KM as an effort someone else should
put up resources for and hence defers spending its own resources. In some
organizations, KM efforts might be viewed as a “tax” levied.

KM Metrics and Key Performance Indicators

KM strategy will link the best practices to initiatives to expected benefits (Best
practice → KM initiative → Benefit). At every phase in KM tactical delivery of
initiatives, metrics should provide a valuable means for focusing attention on
desired behaviors and results. Each KM initiative and KM activity should have
its own set of metrics.

KM performance measures have several objectives:

– Help make a business case for implementation or sustainment and
expansion
– Provide targets or goals to drive desired behavior
– Guide and tune the implementation process by providing feedback
– Retrospectively measure the value of the initial investment decision and
the lessons learned
– Develop benchmarks for future comparisons and for others to use
– Aid learning from the effort and developing lessons learned
Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track for the KM strategy
 include the following:
Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction can be improved, specifically
in contact centers and agencies, where there is constant interaction with
the customer. Customer satisfaction is best measured using standard
market research techniques:
• Surveys
• Follow-up telephone calls
• Focus groups
Search engine usage: Search engine logs can be analyzed to produce a range
of simple reports, showing usage and a breakdown of search terms.
Knowledge use: A more direct measure of many KM initiatives is whether the
information is being “used in practice.” As usage normally happens outside
of the system, it must be reported by the staff. Provide simple mechanism
for notifying when information is used, and implement a rewards
mechanism to encourage timely reporting.
Number of users: Directly related to system usage is the total number of staff
accessing the system. This should clearly grow as the system is rolled out
across the organization. This can be tracked via security login in order to
determine accurate staff numbers.
User rankings: This involves asking the readers themselves to rate the
relevance and quality of the information being presented. SMEs or other
reviewers can directly assess the quality of material in the content
management system or KM platform.
Edits required: This can be done by utilizing workflow capability. Audit trails
generated by this can be analyzed to determine how many edits or reviews
are required for each piece of content. If the original material is of a high
quality, it should require little editing.
Links created: A Popular page with useful information will be more frequently
linked to from other parts of the system. By measuring the number of links,
the effectiveness of individual pages can be determined.

Information Currency
This is a measure of how up to date the information stored within the system is.
The importance of this measure will depend on the nature of the information
being published, and how it is used. The best way to track this is using the
metadata stored within the content management system, such as publishing and
review dates. By using this, automated reports showing a number of specific
measures can be generated:

Average age of pages

Number of pages older than a specific age
Number of pages past their review date
Lists of pages due to be reviewed
Pages to be reviewed, broken down by content owner or business group

The KM system will allow variable review periods (or dates) to be specified,
depending on the nature of the content. This metric is a tool for ongoing
knowledge article (KA) and FAQ management.

User Feedback
A feedback mechanism will be established for the KM system. Use of such a
feedback system is a clear indication that staff is using the knowledge in the
knowledge base. Although few feedback messages may indicate the published
KA/FAQ to be entirely accurate, it is more likely that the system is not being
accessed, or that the feedback mechanism is not recognized as useful.
Alternatively, although many feedback messages may indicate poor-quality
information, it does indicate strong staff use. It also shows they have sufficient
trust in the system to commit the time needed to send in feedback.

Distributed Authoring
The extent to which the business as a whole takes responsibility for keeping
content up to date is a metric in itself. At the most basic level, the number of KM
system authors can be tracked against a target. A more rigorous approach uses
statistics from the workflow capabilities to determine the level of activity of each
author.

Transaction Costs
A process analysis activity can also determine costs involved in completing
tasks. This allows direct cost savings made by implementing and leveraging the
KM system. Multiplied out by the number of times the activity is completed in a
year, the whole-of-business savings can be determined. This could be substantial
in a large organization such as state farm.

Strategic Look at the KM Business Case

A KM strategy entails a collective visioning as to how sharing knowledge can
enhance organizational performance, and the reaching of a consensus among the
senior management of the organization that the course of action involved in
sharing knowledge will in fact be pursued. It is implied in such a process a set of
decisions about the particular variety of KM activities that the organization
intends to pursue, including the leverage of the organization’s knowledge assets
(human capital being the number one asset), and the execution of the process and
tools that will enable sharing of knowledge and innovation to occur.
When developing a KM business case, it is important to identify, in terms of
the strategic assessment, the critical initiatives that the organization is currently
engaged in, and/or those it is planning to embark on. These initiatives need to be
thoroughly examined from a KM perspective. What will be the role of KM in
these efforts? KM efforts should support and facilitate ongoing strategic
initiatives, and it is very important that a proposed KM effort be tied to these
initiatives in as direct a manner as possible.
A KM effort that is disconnected from the strategic initiatives of the
organization has limited, if any, chance of being well received by the
organization. Normally, any strategic initiative will have a number of tactical
and operational objectives. These are good elements into which the KM efforts
should be tied.
As with any KM initiative, it is important to find an executive sponsor for the
KM effort. It is vital to communicate the value proposition of the KM effort to
the strategic initiative. You should present KM not for the sake of doing KM, but
as a means to further the strategic objectives in which the executives are
interested.
Examine your organization carefully and determine if any of the above
scenarios is something you are dealing with. Take necessary steps to keep your
organization viable by initially crafting a business case to present to the senior
management, and once it is approved, develop a KM strategy that will define the
roadmap for executing the various aspects of the KM business case.
The KM effort needs to be communicated from its strategic value proposition
rather than its technical intricacies. Getting executives to believe and visualize
the overall value of the KM perspective and expertise is the critical outcome of
getting approval of the KM business case and to start your KM initiative.

Key Learnings
The following are some key lessons learned from this chapter:

For any KM business case to be approved and successfully implemented,

there must be strong executive sponsorship and leadership.
KPIs and metrics to track the KM strategy must be measurable.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter:

To provide a roadmap and to communicate the direction, vision, and

mission of KM in your organization when completing a KM strategy as part
of any KM program is necessary.
When developing the KM business case, minimize the number of options
available by conducting a detailed feasibility study beforehand.
When the KM initiative calls for capturing tacit and explicit knowledge of
the organization, follow the KAUF.
Chapter 3

Being Social: Knowledge Management and

Social Media

Social media brings the power of sharing and collaboration to the masses.
Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube and leveraging any of the myriad of
mobile devices, knowledge sharing and collaboration have become a way of life.
At the core of knowledge management (KM) is knowledge sharing and
collaboration, and social media tools have business and government taking
notice.
Social media offers organizations the opportunity of connecting with potential
customers at virtually no cost. It is possible to set goals and get return on
investments (ROI); however, you have to know where you’re going and what
you want to achieve. Once you have this information, you can allocate your
resources wisely. Typically, a social media strategy will enable the organization
to know where to start and what social sites to concentrate. When you know the
lay of the land, it’s much easier to plot a path to your destination. A social media
strategy will be your organization’s roadmap to plot this destination.
To reach your public successfully, you need to start telling your stories
directly, and do it in a way that sparks conversations, interest, and action. The
value proposition of social media is sustained conversations that shape
perceptions and attract customers to purchase your products and services, and
participate in the activities (blog, Twitter, forums, surveys, etc.).
The use of social media does not represent a onetime application, but a
holistic environment to promote programs, events, communicate ideas, solicit
thought, and to connect the institution to its customers (and potential customers)
within the community. These customers represent our constituents and partners
to engage in communication and feedback. Including a participatory
communication cycle (see Figure 3.1) in your overall social media strategy will
give you a clear direction and knowledge of your communication capacity,
communication activities, which will be of most benefit, as well as the
communities, which should be monitored and evaluated.
Figure 3.1 Participatory communication cycle.

Participatory Communication Cycle

The participatory communication cycle is leveraged to enhance the capacity of
individuals and communities to sustain communication activities (Corbett 2010).
The participatory communication cycle consists of assessing your
communication capacity, developing a communication plan, implementing
communication activities, and monitoring and evaluating the results.
Assessment of communication capacity as it pertains to implementing social
media is to understand the potential constraints of the proposed medium being
utilized (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), and to ascertain the staff needed to
produce, send, and respond to communication within the perspective channel(s).
This assessment should include an analysis of your organization’s legal and
political constraints to social media, conventional sources, and types of
messages, as well as communication style and scope (Corbett 2010).
The development of the communication plan can occur once the assessment is
completed. This includes developing an overall strategy that provides a set of
objectives and an action plan to execute these objectives (Corbett 2010). This
communication plan will include the following components: key communication
objectives, key stakeholders and audience, messages to be crafted, identification
of activities and determination of timelines, identification of roles and
responsibilities for the planning and execution, budget, and key performance
indicators (KPIs) to monitor and evaluate the results (Corbett 2010).
Once the communication strategy and action plan have been identified,
implementation of communication activities can begin. When the
communication activities are clearly conveyed, associated resources and funding
are put in place and the objectives of the strategy and its associated action plan
are carried out, Corbett (2010).
As the participatory communication cycle moves into the monitor and
evaluation (M&E) stage, it is at this point when your organization can begin to
analyze and assess the impact of its communication cycle, as it pertains to the
use of social media. However, this is a continuing cycle and as the organization
moves back into assessing communication capacity, M&E should not only occur
toward the end of the project but also at the beginning, and should be directly
linked to each of the communication activities identified in the action plan
(Corbett 2010).

KM and the Participatory Communication Cycle

KM within the participatory communication cycle occurs as the organization
assesses and learns from the impacts of communication within the various social
media outlets as dictated by the action plan. Through interaction with customers,
suppliers, and partners your organization will gain valuable knowledge regarding
issues, opinions, and perception of your product and services as well as the
company as a whole. In responding to the various comments within social media
concerning your organization, with an attempt to answer/respond in the correct
way, company representatives must have access to the right knowledge. This
knowledge will facilitate representatives respond in a consistent manner and take
control of your company’s voice within social media.

Social Media, KM, and the Enterprise

Social media takes knowledge and makes it highly iterative. It creates content as
a social object. That is, content is no longer a point in time, but something that is
part of a social interaction, such as a discussion. It easily disassembles the pillars
of structure as it evolves. For example, content in a microblogging service can
shift meaning as a discussion unfolds; conversations in enterprise social
networks that link people and customer data can defy categorization; and internal
blogs and their comments don’t lend themselves to obvious taxonomy.
 Social media in the enterprise has gotten the attention of KM scholars and
practitioners. It should mean that many of the benefits we experience in the
consumer web space, which include effective searching, grouping of associated
unstructured data sources, and ranking of relevance, will become basic features
of enterprise solutions. In the enterprise, for example, when looking to staff a
project with a certain skill set, the social capabilities that will be leveraged
would include role, primary skill sets, secondary skill sets, number of years of
experience, and rating on efficiency of each skill. Social media’s impact on KM
will bring about more time by analyzing the knowledge that is being created
through social interactions.
The objective of social media in a company is always to streamline the
processes and leverage technology as an enabler. April Allen states in her blog
(November 28, 2012) that “Rather than killing off KM, I think social media has
brought it to life. It’s less about dusty tomes on bookshelves not being updated
and more about connecting the dots in real time. It’s nimble and adaptable”
(Allen, 2012). Christopher Palmert presents a perspective from the systems/tool
side of social media and KM. Palmert states

It is not a problem to find social media applications that can be used

for knowledge management. The basic version of applications like
“Yammer” are even available for free. However, the axe cannot
replace the carpenter, if one does not know how to use it. In addition to
technical know-how, a strategy is required for successful knowledge
management. The technology plays only a secondary role and there are
enough systems. The success or failure depends on the organizational
structure, which is challenged by implementing the social media tools.
(Palmert, 2012, p. 1)

As the evolution of social media and KM expands to a global perspective within

the enterprise, it presents challenges that are currently not fully understood.
Global social KM as depicted in Figure 3.2 describes the cross-cultural
knowledge exchange and collaboration that exist among individuals and
organizations (Pirkkalainen and Pawlowski, 2013). Pirkkalainen and Pawlowski
(2013) state that the KM component identifies a more specific view on the
organizational and individual challenges coming from a collaborative distributed
setting, which include where knowledge is being created, shared, and adopted by
organizations and individuals.
 As social software is being deployed for KM and collaboration, adoption
toward this functionality in the enterprise has been limited. Furthermore, it has
been indicated that it is not yet clear that social software tools will be able to
globally support distributed KM. Figure 3.2 depicts the key components of
global KM and social software that must be considered for adoption
(Pirkkalainen and Pawlowski, 2013).

Social Media Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines

Social media policies, procedures, and guidelines ensure a consistent and
uniform way in which we can leverage social media platforms. Expanding social
media beyond the corporate walls and including sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Facebook to be accessed, monitored, and leveraged will play a key role in
executing your social media strategy.
Figure 3.2 Focus points for global social knowledge management.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the premier business-oriented social networking site. The LinkedIn
Group is the organization’s environment where we can collaborate to exchange
ideas and points of interest with our current students, faculty, alumni, employees,
and other interested parties. LinkedIn has more than 75 million registered users
in 200 countries and territories worldwide and provides an excellent platform to
educate the business community about the value that the institution brings to the
communities it serves. The following are the guidelines for posting and
interacting in the LinkedIn Group.

1. Group members are personally responsible for the content they publish in
the LinkedIn Group.
2. Be mindful that whatever you publish will be public for a long time—
protect your privacy and take care to understand the terms of service of a
site.
3. Identify yourself—your name and, when relevant, role at your
organization—when you discuss your organization-related matters, such
as products or services.
4. You must make it clear that you are speaking for yourself and not on
behalf of your organization.
5. If you publish content online relevant to your organization in your
personal capacity, use a disclaimer such as this: “The postings on this site
are my own and don’t necessarily represent the organization’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”
6. Respect copyright, fair use, and financial disclosure laws. Don’t provide
your organization’s or another’s confidential or other proprietary
information and never discuss business or other sensitive matters publicly.
7. Don’t cite or reference clients, partners, or suppliers without their
approval.
8. When you do make a reference, link back to the source.
9. Don’t publish anything that might allow inferences to be drawn, which
could embarrass or damage you or anyone.
10. Respect your audience. Don’t use ethnic slurs, personal insults, obscenity,
or engage in any conduct that would not be acceptable in any situation.
 11. You should also show proper consideration for others’ privacy and for
topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory—such as
politics and religion.
12. Be aware of your association with online social networks. If you identify
yourself as a student, employee, or alumni, then ensure that your profile
and related content is consistent with how you wish to present yourself
with colleagues.
13. Don’t pick fights, be the first to correct your own mistakes.
14. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. Your
organization’s brand is best represented by its people and what you
publish may reflect on your organization’s brand.
15. Don’t use logos or trademarks unless you are approved to do so.

Twitter
Twitter is the premier microblogging service enabling its users to send and read
other users’ messages called “tweets.” Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140
characters displayed on the user’s profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by
default; however, senders can restrict message delivery to their friends’ list.
Users may subscribe to other author tweets, this is known as “following,” and
such subscribers are known as “followers.” As of late 2009, users can follow
lists of authors instead of just following individual authors. Twitter has gained
popularity worldwide and currently has more than 100 million users.
Twitter has the ability to call into action a massive amount of people in a
limited amount of time for any cause or purpose. It can also be harmful by
propagating negative and erroneous information that is difficult to recover from.
Information dissemination on this platform must be used wisely. This power to
share must be handled with a sense of privilege and responsibility. From a
negative perspective, we have seen more and more often that our tweets have
caused loss of jobs, lawsuits, and some cases public outrage. However, the
positive aspects such as increased awareness, promoting ideas, launching
careers, entertaining, and bringing people together for a cause have outweighed
the negative impacts of Twitter, and it has become a major part of many
organizations social media strategy.
Twitter is and always shall be a means to listen to your customers, clients,
colleagues, industry leaders, and anyone else who might comment on your
product or business. It is about networking and knowledge sharing. The uses for
Twitter are limitless. You just have to find your niche. You have to ask, “What
are the benefits of being on Twitter?” Some will share knowledge, whereas
others will just use Twitter as a way of being available to customers. Either way,
as long as you are actually listening and staying engaged, you will benefit.
One of the best things Twitter can do for a company is simply to humanize it.
Allowing a real person to put a voice to an otherwise impersonal entity can give
a new dimension to your organization’s relationships with clients, which is
otherwise not possible. Some of the more successful brands on Twitter allow and
encourage a multitude of voices from within the corporate walls to twitter, not
only engaging clients but also each other.
Before you actively try to build an audience, post a few tweets to familiarize
yourself with the process, and spend some time reading what others in your
industry are talking about on Twitter. Use the “Find People” search function at
the top of your Twitter page to look for people you know will want to follow you
back: people within your company, current clients, and colleagues. Send a few
@ replies out to people who are following you. Respond to things they are
talking about. When they in turn respond to you with and @ reply, the people
following them will take notice of you and may choose to follow as well.
It’s also a good idea to look at whom the people you know are following. That
can give you ideas about whom you want to search for. Use the Twitter search
function to find subjects relative to your industry and see who’s talking about
them. Remember that conversation is very important. If all you do is post your
thoughts and ideas without engaging anyone in conversation, you’re just a
broadcaster. Eventually, if you are a well-known brand, and if you do things
right on Twitter, new people will start following you every day.

Be personable: Too many companies represent themselves on Twitter by

spewing automated and static information, or authorized quotes from the
public relations department. These only serve to keep the brand parked
neatly in a dry dock, gathering dust. Most people who twitter do it for the
human connection.
Stay away from discussing politics and religion: Your mother told you this a
long time ago, and it’s still good advice, unless, of course, your business is
politics or religion. In that case, go for it. Otherwise, you are just going to
alienate half your followers, maybe more. People are passionate about their
political and religious beliefs; if you are representing a brand, you will do it
a great disservice by taking a position on either subject.
 Be aware of your voice: Think of Twitter as a ship we are all traveling on.
You have to play nice with others or you’ll be shoved aside and ignored—
or, worse, made to walk the plank. Besides, you never know when you
might end up doing business with someone you now consider a competitor.
Don’t be a complainer: No one wants to listen to someone who keeps whining
or pointing out all the things that are going wrong in the industry or the
world. If you want people to follow you and listen, look for the positive.
Sure, there will be times when you have to talk about things that aren’t
encouraging or upbeat; some situations demand a solemn tone. But don’t
make this a theme. Don’t make it what you are about. Remember, anyone
can whine and complain, but a leader offers solutions.

Facebook
Facebook has become the world’s leading social media site for individuals,
groups, and families (businesses are beginning to see its value) to share their
world with their friends and followers and to keep in touch with extended family
members. Now, more than ever, organizations are creating a presence on
Facebook to extend their reach to the growing number of potential (and younger)
customers. Facebook users can share news stories, videos, and other files with
friends. Personal notes can also be written and shared with friends. When
sharing an item, users can attach the item to their Wall for all to see, or can tag
individual people that they think would be most interested in seeing the item.
When a user is tagged, they receive an e-mail notification.
These options for sharing and collaborating are what makes Facebook a
powerful tool for your organization. Here are some numbers to support this: 1.15
billion users, 700 million daily users, average time per Facebook visit is 20 min
and 8.3 h is the average amount of time each user spends per month, 70% of
monthly active Facebook users in the United States are engaged and connected
to a local business (Wallace, 2013).
Although many businesses are yet to experience the full potential of
Facebook, the capabilities are finding their way into many organizations.

Social Media Strategy

A social media strategy is your organization’s roadmap to guide you through the
social media maze. To reach your customers and potential customers
successfully, you need to start telling your stories directly, and do it in a way that
sparks conversations, interest, and action. The value proposition of social media
is for sustained conversations that shape perceptions and attract students to enroll
in programs and participate in its activities.
The following sections describe more specifically the aspects of a social
media strategy. This strategy will identify specific activities and initiatives that
must be executed to ensure that the components of the strategy are made
actionable and contribute to the success of meeting the goals, objectives, and
mission of the Knowledge Systems Institute.

Listen to Conversations
Social media will allow tapping into various synergistic communities to get an
understanding of what their educational needs are, how programs align with
those needs, and how to position programs to meet those needs. Specifically, to
execute this, part of the strategy must focus on:

Where do the conversations take place that are synergistic to your

organization’s objectives and mission, and does it make sense for to have a
presence?
What are these communities talking about, and should they have a voice?
What are your organization’s competitors doing in social media, and can
they present a competitive advantage?
What’s the buzz about our competitors?
What content resonates with this audience?
Are there subjects of interest that could provide content for?
What social sites have the most conversation?
Whom the “fire-starters” need to connect with?
Who are the influencers in these blogs or communities?
Where are the opportunities and threats?

Establish a Share of the Voice

There are millions of conversations on social media sites every day. Every
organization needs to monitor for conversations about the programs and
activities that are synergistic to what it offers and becomes part of the
conversation. Share of voice is described as the percentage of mentions about
your brand/company/organization in the particular niche or market you’re active
in.
Some of the questions we must answer to achieve an active voice in our
selected social media sites are as follows:

Do people use a generic description of what we do, or do they talk about our
course offerings or activities specifically?
Are the comments positive or negative? What is the ratio of positive to
negative?
Are key messages appearing in these conversations? If not, what content is
trending?
How are our competitors faring in these conversations?

The context of your organization’s content in a competitive set shows how your
brand stacks up against your competitors online. Your organization’s share of
voice leads to an increase in the market share. This increased market share will
be supported by an increase in student enrollment. Establishing and tracking of
share of voice is becoming an important part of social media. A gain in share of
voice is an important measurement for social media programs.

Set Goals and Benchmarks

It is important to measure the progress and success of the social media strategy
against the goals and objectives identified by your organization. At every phase
of executing this strategy, metrics will provide a valuable means for focusing
attention on desired behaviors and results.
Listening to the online conversation allows you to tap into what people are
interested in right now, what they talk about, and what they like and dislike. This
information will give the insights that lead to achieving your strategic goals.
The aim is to achieve the following targets.

Find and Establish Communities Every day a blog, social network, or

social media site seems to pop up. Understand to participate in the places that
make sense. Part of your research should include listening to what’s being said
online, which includes “who” is talking about you, and “where” the
conversations are taking place. Once you know where the majority of the
conversations take place you can sensibly allocate resources for best ROI. Some
of the activities that have been identified are as follows:

Identify the bloggers who talk about our industry, courses, and/or activities.
Monitor blog posts (i.e., Google Blog Search) to see who is writing on a
certain key topic.
Track mentions of your brand and generic keywords that describe what your
organization does in social news sites such as Digg, Newsvine, Kirtsy, and
StumbleUpon.
Track content about your industry, courses, and/or activities in social
network sites (i.e., Facebook and Twitter).

Identify Influencers What is influence? It can be defined as implicit or

explicit effect of one thing (or person) on another. What influences people online
has changed dramatically in the past few years. The idea that the person with the
most followers or subscribers has the biggest influence is no longer valid. Today,
influence is about accuracy and trust. If you want to reach the bloggers and
social networkers who have influence, you will need to influence their
perception and/or their behavior. They’re the ones who send a flood of traffic to
our website, because when they link to or recommend our courses and/or
activities, their followers take action.
Some of the parameters we should use to determine which blogger and
networkers to focus on are as follows:

Traffic: Unique visitors, page views, and RSS subscribers

Inbound links: Primarily contextual links from well-ranked sites and blogs
Reader engagement: Time spent on site, comments
Recommendations: Retweets, bookmarking, tagging, and sharing of content
Connections: Number of followers/mutual connections across multiple
social sites
Track record: Age of domain, number of blog posts, and length of
engagement
Web traffic to your site or blog: Analytics tell which sites are sending users
to your site
Conversion rate of those visitors: What is the rate of conversion for each
referring site?
Identify and Select Tools There’s a wide array of social media tools to
choose from and the task can be confusing. However, our content strategy will
guide us in identifying where to start. If the majority of the conversation about
our industry, courses, and/or activities is on Twitter, then we will need a custom-
designed Twitter account.
Here’s the list of social media tools:

Search optimized press releases

Social media news release format—with multimedia and social bookmarks
Search optimized articles
News feeds (RSS) to syndicate all your content
Socializing your news content—“share this” buttons, tagging, and
bookmarking
Blogs
Microblogging (Twitter)
Podcasts
Images
Video
Social networks (i.e., Facebook and LinkedIn)
Social media news sites
Widgets
Social media news room—gather and present all your social media content
on your website

Create and Develop Content Once the content strategy, based on solid
research is developed, bright ideas will naturally flow about what to create and
how to deliver this content. Experimenting with a Facebook page and a Twitter
feed isn’t enough. You will need to create supporting content, for example, a
company blog, an interactive website, interesting articles, images, and videos.
Good content not only sparks conversations, but it also builds links. People
will share the content, and they’ll link to it from blog posts and tweets. This can
raise search visibility and drive a lot of traffic to our content.

Engage and Facilitate Conversations Content should be created with a

view to inspire and allow participants to engage in conversations. Social media is
about a two-way flow of conversation. People are no longer willing to be passive
bystanders—they want to take active part in the conversation. Customer
engagement can get you through the toughest of times—it’s both a customer
acquisition and retention strategy.

Engaging Your Audience Followers and traffic are good and well, but are
they engaging with you? Ninety-three percent of the Internet users active in
social media say that they expect a company to have a social media presence to
be able to actively engage with that company. The Forrester Research report
“Social Media Playtime Is Over” clearly shows that dabbling or experimenting is
not enough. You have to deliver genuinely interesting and valuable content that
meets the needs of your audience and actively engages them.

Facilitate the Conversations Word of mouth has long been the “holy grail”
of marketing. Peer reviews, opinions, and comments are now the number one
influencer prior to purchase or decision online. Not only do you want them to be
engaged with you, but you also want them to be talking positively about you to
each other. Facilitating these conversations should be our ultimate goal. An
organization must make things easy for visitors or users of your website by
providing excellent content, which they desire to share and discuss. And then
give them tools to make it easy to do this—send to a friend button, share this,
bookmark this, subscribe, discuss, and comment.

Measure Results

Why measure?
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. It’s that simple. You need to
know where you are when you start, what needs to be achieved, and as you
move along the path, you have to have tools to measure your progress. This
way you can see if you are on track and adapt fast if things go awry. Your
measurement has to be based on business objectives—and those objectives
have to be set as measurable goals. Just setting up attributes to track on a
dashboard is not enough.
What to measure?
What you are going to measure will depend on what goals you have set in
the initial part of your strategy. Based on listening and research, you should
have determined what actions you need to focus on in social media.
Measure what you did and what impact it had, and then you can see what
result it had.
 Return on engagement
There are many tools available today to track engagement—how many
people clicked a link in a blog post? How many times was the message
retweeted? How many followers does the person who retweeted you have?
Track the growth of your share of voice
Compare the number of articles, posts, tweets, videos, or images where a
brand and its competitors are mentioned. Calculate how many times brand
is mentioned the most, relative to its competitors, and by what margin.
Track your growth in the share of voice.
Track your share of conversation
Share of conversation is the degree to which a brand is associated with the
problem or need that it is setting out to help with.

Sample Social Media Strategy—Roles and Responsibilities

The following represents an organization’s social media roles and
responsibilities:

Social strategist:
– Responsibilities:
• Development of the overall strategy/program, including ROI
• Executing initial identified initiatives
• Developing social media roadmap and project plan
• Interacting with agreed upon social media sites (Twitter, LinkedIn,
and Digg)
Community manager:
– Responsibilities:
• Customer facing role—interacting with social media participants
• Manage content to be leveraged on social media sites
• Manage presence on social media sites (Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg)
Content manager:
– Responsibilities:
• Development of the overall content (look-n-feel) of social media sites
• Manage content to be leveraged on social media sites
• Interacting with agreed upon social media sites (Twitter, LinkedIn,
and Digg)
Develop a Content Strategy
Success in social media depends on the quality of your content. It’s about
engaging people, and the key to engagement is good content. In social media,
people are creating, reading, saving, tagging, and sharing content. Your
organization must produce the kind of content they value and desire to share.
Telling your story online in the right place to the right people will give you your
intended results, and establishing a well-thought-out content strategy, which
leverages existing content and builds new content when needed based on solid
research, will deliver these results.

Measuring Results
When measuring results, it is important to evaluate the data and conclude if you
need to tweak or expand your program. You need to tell your story to customers,
potential customers, employees, potential employees, business partners, and
specifically to all those whom you interact with and who you wish to interact
with.

Key Learnings
Establish your organization’s roles and responsibilities to handle your social
media presence and monitor and respond (if necessary) to the communication
about your organization. The following is a sample of the roles and
responsibilities you should consider for you social media strategy.

Tips and Techniques

Brand reputation: By communicating with your alumni, students, perspective
students, and friends through social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, and Digg),
you will begin to build a positive brand as the innovative, state-of-the-art,
and cost-effective leader in computer science graduate and certificate
programs.
Increased brand awareness: The social media sites being leveraged will
facilitate getting the word out about your organization’s curriculum, events,
and activities. By posting news articles in Digg, and interacting with our
constituents via Twitter and the professional community through LinkedIn,
 you will begin to build our brand and associate it with programs such as
healthcare informatics, KM, digital art, and software programming
education at the master’s level.
Increase share of voice: By getting the word out about your curriculum in the
degreed and certificate programs, communicating with other thought
leaders and constituents, and interlinking our Twitter, LinkedIn, and Digg
presence with our website, you will increase its share of communication
and interaction in the areas in which you specialize.
Thought leadership: Your organization’s specific use of social media through
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Digg will provide an outlet for your content
manager(s) to post information, respond to other participants, and make
cutting-edge research available. This will demonstrate your organization’s
thought leadership in the areas of healthcare informatics, KM, digital art,
and software programming education at the master’s level.
Chapter 4

Dude, “Where’s My Car?”: Utilizing Search

in Knowledge Management

Have you ever experienced a situation when you just could not find that
document on your content management system or a specific job aid, standard
operating procedure, or knowledge article in your knowledge repository? You
may have known part of the title or what some of the contents were, but you
couldn’t put your finger on it. You executed the latest search mechanisms on the
site, and you had to weed through several pages of content searching for that
elusive piece of information or knowledge. Then, finally after a period of time
(who knows how long) you either find it (OH Yea!) or give up in frustration
(Arrrg!!). A contributing cure for your dilemma, as well as mine and countless
others, is to implement an information architecture (IA) that will drive a user-
centric taxonomy, metadata, and associated keywords to enable the “findability”
of your content (information and knowledge).

Information Architecture
Has been described in many ways by many scholars and practitioners alike.
Usability. Gov states that “Information architecture (IA) focuses on organizing,
structuring, and labeling content in an effective and sustainable way.” Downey
and Banerjee offer another definition of IA which states “IA is the art and
science of organizing information so that it is findable, manageable and useful”
(Downey and Banerjee, 2011, p. 25). Finally, I offer my definition of IA: IA
connects people to their content (information and knowledge) that includes the
high-level rules that govern the manner in which information concepts are
defined, related, realized, and managed by the enterprise.
IA focuses on everything you can define about a solution without specifying
the underlying system (the raw plumbing) or specifying the particular user
interface that will be employed to deliver and manipulate the information. IA is
implementation and system independent. It is concerned about the architecture of
how information is used, how it flows, and how it fits within the user’s world (its
context). This leads to developing systems that will be intuitive to its users.
The outcome of a comprehensive IA implementation is a systematic
description of the content of a given product, service, or environment. This type
of detail contributes to the understanding and documenting of the complexities
of system design to enable intricate solutions to be functional, transparent, and
user-friendly. IA also forces clarity upward into the user interface and downward
into the system architecture, contributing to simplifying design, development,
and implementation. The IA in essence creates a common ground between
designers and developers by bridging the gap between the user interface and
underlying systems or technologies.
A well-defined IA not only helps you expand the function of your designs, but
it can also inform consistent experiences and paths for the evolution of future
designs across many variants within a family of products, services, or
environments.
IA consists of several elements. The elements of focus here include
information organization (information or content model, taxonomy, and
metadata schema), information access, governance, and user experience. These
items work hand-in-hand to deliver the following benefits of IA:

User-centric identification of categories of content

Single source of structure and meaning
Increases ability to find content
Intuitive navigation of systems
Increases the ability to keep content fresh and relevant
Enables a better search experience
Improves content quality (“one source of truth” or “authoritative source”)
Reduces data reconciliation efforts (“location of data”)
Improves sourcing options for content (identifies source of record)
Reduces storage volume (decreases the proliferation and duplication of
content)

IA has become an essential ingredient to ensure a competitive advantage for

organizations of all sizes. Organizations continue to search for practical ways to
create business value by getting their arms around the content of the enterprise to
enable its employees to take action not only to perform their day-to-day
activities but also to service the customer. Organizational benefits of IA include
unlocking content to let it flow rapidly and easily to people and processes that
need it; cost-effectively store, archive, and retrieve the right content, in the right
context, at the right time; protect and secure that content to meet compliance
requirements, and make it accessible for business insight where and when
necessary; and finally mitigating risks inherent in business decision making by
providing knowledge assets when and where necessary and in its proper context.
To prepare your organization to develop an IA, you must consider the
structure and composition of a repository (or website), the information collection
and individual document intelligence, accessing content (search and retrieval), as
well as being able to locate and/or navigate to the content. In developing the IA
structure, Downey and Banerjee (2011) describe a checklist in order to provide a
consistent method in constructing the IA. The IA checklist presented (see Figure
4.1) evolved over a few iterations before a final IA checklist was formed. The
checklist focuses on the essential areas of the IA such as the model, taxonomy,
and metadata. It also identifies significant supporting areas such as information
access, governance, and quality of service (security, availability, and reliability).
Downey and Banerjee indicate that
Figure 4.1 Information architecture checklist. (From Downey, L. and
Banerjee, S., J. Inform. Architect., 2(2), Available at
http://journalofia.org/volume2/issue2/03-downey/, 2011.)
These IA checklists either cover the process of performing IA
activities on a project or are specific to actually designing or reviewing
the design of IA. The identified checklists focus more on process,
design, and design review—and do not include issues of infrastructure,
platform, services, technology, policy, and standards. Our goal in
designing the IA checklist as part of the architectural review process
was to create a set of questions that gets people thinking about and
discussing IA in terms of infrastructure, existing technology, services,
and platform across the enterprise as well as information generation,
delivery, consumption and governance in order to lay the foundation
 that can then be fully exploited and realized at the user interface level.
This broad perspective encourages a collaborative approach to an IA
solution. (Downey and Banerjee, 2011, p. 27)

Content Model
A content model provides the framework for organizing your content, so that it
can be delivered and reused in a variety of innovative ways. Once you have
created the content model (sometimes referred to as an “ontology”) for your
content repository, you will be able to label information in ways that will
enhance search and retrieval, making it possible for authors and users to find the
information resources they need quickly and easily (see Figure 4.2). The content
model shows the content types (“Car in Service”), it’s metadata fields (Car ID,
Date Entered, and Service) as well as relationships to other content types (“is a”
→ Unpowered Car, “is a” → Powered Car).
Creating your content model requires analysis, careful planning, and a lot of
feedback from your user community. The analysis takes you into the world of
those who need and use information resources every day. The planning means
talking to a wide range of stakeholders, including both individuals and groups
who have information needs and who would profit from collaboration in the
development of information resources. Getting feedback requires that you test
your content model with members of your user community to ensure that you
have not missed any content types, domains, relationships, or other perspectives.
The content model is typically developed from working with your
business/content subject matter experts (SMEs). In working with your SMEs,
business rules about the information relationships are established, and this
greatly contributes to the construction of the content model. The content model
will support the search process through establishing relationships between the
content and describing how this information behaves (via metadata).
Figure 4.2 Example of a content model.

The information displayed represents a sharable, stable, and organized

structure of information requirements for your system (i.e., content management
system, knowledge management [KM] system, and/or website). The following
are the steps necessary in constructing the content model.

Steps Involved in Constructing the Content Model

1. Identify/document the domains of information within the organization.
2. Identify/document each of the content types within the domain.
3. Identify/document the relationships between the domains.
4. Identify/document the relationships between the content types within each
of the domains.
5. Identify/document the relationships between the content types located in
other domains.
6. Document the business rules that support all relationships (Note: Capture
business rules as you determine relationships).
7. Identify/document the metadata within each content type.
8. Define user roles/access within the content model (Note: This is done by
 analyzing and including user profiles within the model structure).
9. Describe (define) all domains and content types.
10. Describe (define) user roles within the information structure.

To determine if a system such as a website and/or content/knowledge repository

has no underlying content model, the following are some signs:

Difficult to determine how to get from the home page to the information
you’re looking for.
Links do not retrieve the intended page.
Navigating to what you need brings you further away rather than closer.
Scrolling through a long alphabetic list of all the articles ever written on a
particular subject with only the title to guide you.

A well-conceived content model has the following characteristics:

Links to pertinent information are readily available.

You are able to get what you need in three clicks or less.
The content retrieve is tailored for you and in a way you can quickly
consume it and use it.
Available cross-references (associated and related content) are in the right
places.
Categories right away look familiar to you and navigation seems more
intuitive.

When a content model is clearly defined and established, the users of the various
systems who implement the content model will be on track to finding, retrieving,
and using the content they need. A great method for flushing out and validating
your content model is to perform a card sort exercise (you more than likely will
have to conduct several card sorts). For more information, review the section on
card sorts as well as the box “How to Conduct a Card Sort.”

Taxonomy
Taxonomy is a hierarchical classification or framework for information retrieval.
Taxonomies represent an agreed vocabulary of topics arranged around a
particular theme. Taxonomies can have either a hierarchical or nonhierarchical
structure. However, typically taxonomies are presented in a hierarchical fashion
as illustrated with taxonomies such as in libraries, biology, or military
organizations (see Figure 4.3).
Hierarchical taxonomies are a tree-like structure with nodes branching into
sub-nodes, where each node represents a topic with a few descriptive words.
This way of classifying information becomes more important as the number of
items increases and people have more trouble remembering what they have and
where to find it. This is critical as we move into Big Data, which represents the
immense volume of information available to organization and the public through
the vast array of social media sites and throughout the Internet.
Content types and metadata along with a solid taxonomy will greatly enhance
your search to return what you are looking for. Taxonomies are the basis of
classification schemes and indexing systems in information management (see
Figure 4.4). Information professionals and librarians rely on classification and
controlled vocabularies to aid precision search; abstract and index publishers
make investments in indexing and thesauri to add value to their products. Many
organizations are experimenting with semantic technologies, hoping to
automatically extract the meaning inherent in documents and supplementing, or
even replacing, the human editorial process.
Taxonomies of entities for search engines are designed to improve relevance
in vertical search. Vertical search content area may be based on topicality, media
type, or genre of the content. Common verticals include shopping, the
automotive industry, legal information, medical information, scholarly literature,
and travel. Examples of vertical search engines include Trulia.com and Yelp.
However, general web search engines attempt to index large portions of the
web’s content by using a web crawler, whereas vertical search engines typically
use a focused crawler that attempts to index only web pages that are relevant to a
topic or set of topics. Vertical search can be viewed as similar to enterprise
search where the domain of focus is the enterprise, such as a company,
government, or other organization.

Figure 4.3 Example of Dewey decimal hierarchical structure.

Figure 4.4 Example of a taxonomy of policy information.

Taxonomies, thesauri, and concept hierarchies are crucial components for

many applications of content and KM systems as well as information retrieval
and natural language systems. Building, tuning, and managing taxonomies are
important factors in approving the search experience that should not be
overlooked.

Metadata
Metadata is an important aspect of the IA and in particular the content model.
Metadata is primarily used for labeling, tagging, or cataloging information or
structuring descriptive records. Metadata (fields and attributes) are assigned to a
content type to provide a means to describe it and provide the means in which to
find content once it becomes part of a system. The metadata attributes and values
that are embedded in each content type (sometimes referred to as an “object”)
within the content model make it possible for the person searching for a flight
reservation, a vehicle to purchase, and a multitude of other items within a system
to find what they are looking for.
 The creation of metadata has generally been approached in two ways:
professional creation and author creation. In libraries and other organizations,
creating metadata, primarily in the form of catalog records, has traditionally been
the domain of dedicated professionals working with complex, detailed set of
rules and vocabularies. The primary problem with this approach is scalability
and its impracticality for the vast amounts of content being produced and used,
especially on the World Wide Web. The apparatus and tools built around
professional cataloging systems are generally too complicated for anyone
without specialized training and knowledge. A second approach is for metadata
to be created by authors.

Metadata Fields
The metadata fields describe the primary dimensions of a content type. Metadata
fields are the individual items of metadata stored within a content type. There are
two types of metadata fields:

Required metadata: This includes fields that are required to describe the
content type.
Custom metadata: This can be configured by an administrator to any values
required by the site or installation.

It is important to note that the same metadata fields can be used in multiple
metadata groups and each metadata field has a setting associated with it. The
following settings are common to most metadata fields:

Name: Enter the name of the metadata field

Data type:
– Boolean: A true or false value
– Date: A date/time field
– Floating point number: A floating point number
– Integer: An integer field that supports up to 32-bit numbers
– Large integer: An integer field that supports up to 64-bit numbers (not
normally required for custom metadata)
– Text
– Unicode string: An alphanumeric Unicode string
Specialized Settings
The following settings apply only to certain data types:

Default value: Enter an optional default value for the field. Depending on
the data type, this can be a checkbox or a specialized value entry such as a
date, a time code value, or even two values.
Lookup values: Choose a lookup from this list to display the metadata field
as a pop-up menu with a set of values. Only the lookups with the same data
type are displayed. See for details on creating lookups.
Date only: This is a checkbox that forces only dates to be entered.
Scale numbers: This is a checkbox that scales numbers to three digits (999
maximum) with the appropriate suffix. For example, 1000 becomes 1K.
Don’t format numbers: This is a checkbox that forces the metadata field to
use raw numbers without formatting, such as commas separating groups of
thousands.
Multiline: This is a checkbox that allows multiple lines of text to be entered
in the metadata field.

Metadata Attributes
The metadata attributes describe the individual instances of a content type.
Metadata attributes further define the behavior of content by describing their
accessibility to other content. Since search engines are explicitly designed to
recognize predefined keywords, metadata values are extremely important. Once
you determine the information a user will want to look for within a document
and what data should be extracted, you will need to assign those values as
metadata attributes. Whenever possible, standard metadata attributes should be
used. These attributes provide a wide range of options for storing your
document’s metadata. Users can restrict searching to specific attributes, and so it
is important that you use standard metadata attributes whenever possible.

Simple attributes: Simple attributes are those whose values can be stored in a
single database column.
List attributes: A list attribute is one that can have a set of values, where each
value is a simple one and all the values are of the same type.
Metadata Schema
A metadata schema establishes and defines data elements and the rules
governing the use of data elements to describe a resource. A metadata schema is
used to define the metadata fields that need to be filled out on particular content
type. Each schema defines the fields and their type, whether it is required, the
default value of the field, whether it can be edited (see Figure 4.5). You can
create as many metadata schemas as you may need for the system. Metadata will
not only enable designers to gather and rearrange the information to suit their
requirements, but the information developers would also have many ways to
organize the information.
Figure 4.5 Example of a metadata schema.

Card Sort
Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the IA. In a card sorting
session, participants organize topics into categories that are sensible to them and
reflect the categorizations of content that they work and communicate with. To
conduct a card sort, you can use actual cards, pieces of paper, or one of several
online card-sorting software tools (see box “How to Conduct a Card Sort”).
Card sorting will help you understand your users’ expectations and
understanding of your topics. It is often most useful once you have done some
homework to find out about your users and understand your content. Knowing
how your users group information can help you:

Build the structure for your systems that handle content.

Decide what to put on the main page and landing pages of the system.
Label categories and navigation.

Depending on your needs, you may choose to do an open or closed card sort:

Open card sort: Participants are asked to organize topics from content within
your website/repository into groups that make sense to them and then name
each group they created in a way that they feel accurately describes the
content. Use an open card sort to learn how users group content and the
terms or labels they give each category.
Closed card sort: Participants are asked to sort topics from content within
your website/repository into predefined categories. A closed card sort
works best when you are working with a predefined set of categories, and
you want to learn how users sort content items into each category.

Card sorting will not provide you with all of the answers to develop the final
structure of your IA and user-experience design, it can help you answer many
questions you will need to tackle throughout the information design phase. In
many cases, there will likely be some areas that users disagree on regarding
groupings or labels. In these cases, card sorting can help identify the following
trends:
 Do the users want to see the information grouped by subject, process,
business group, or information type?
How similar are the needs of the different user groups?
How different are their needs?
How many potential main categories within a certain navigation are there?
What should those groups be called?

You may find yourself conducting several card sorts with a varying degree of
scope. This will better equip you to come to an agreement to the questions stated
above as well as enable you to better address the information design phase.

Search Facets
Faceted search offers remarkable potential for putting the search experience in
the hands of the user. It provides a flexible framework by which users can satisfy
a wide variety of information needs, ranging from simple lookup and fact
retrieval to complex exploratory search and discovery scenarios.
With faceting, search results are grouped under useful headings, using tags
you apply ahead of time to the documents in your index. For example, the results
of a shopping query for books might be grouped according to the type of book
and the price.

HOW TO CONDUCT A CARD SORT

Prepare the Cards
1. Create your list of content topics. Topics can be phrases or words,
very specific or more general. As a suggestion, limit yourself to 50–
60 topics or less. This means there might not be a card to sort for
every page on the site.
For a new site, list the content topics for the categories of
information that you are likely to have on the site.
For an existing site, list the most important/popular types of content.
To create this list:
Review the content listed in your content inventory.
Identify the most important or most frequently used content.
2. Decide whether you will be doing a physical card sort or using
online card-sorting software.
 If you are using online card-sorting software, consult the software
instructions.
If you will be conducting a card sort using physical cards, write each
topic on a separate index card.
Use self-adhesive labels and a word processor. The cards will be
neat, legible, and consistent. You’ll have the list of topics in the
computer for later analysis.
Number the cards in the bottom corner or on the back. This helps
you when you begin to analyze the cards.
Have blank cards available for participants to add topics and to
name the groups they make when they sort the cards.
Consider using a different colored card for having participants
name the groups.

Set-Up the Session

1. Plan about 1 h for each session, or longer if you have many cards.
2. Arrange the space.
For paper card sorts, ensure the participant has enough room to
spread the cards out on a table or tack/tape them up on a wall. A
conference room works well.
For online card sorts, ensure there is a computer with an Internet
connection available as well as room for both the participant(s)
and facilitator to sit comfortably.
3. Plan to have the facilitator or another usability team member take
notes as the participant works and thinks aloud.
4. As with other techniques, arrange for payment or other incentives to
thank the participant for spending the time and effort helping you.

Lead the Session

1. Show the participant the set of cards. Explain that you are asking for
help to find what categories of information should be on the site’s
home page and what those categories should be called.
In an open card sort, explain that you want to see what groupings of
cards make sense to the participant, and that you will ask for a
name for each group of cards once the participant has grouped
them.
If you are conducting a closed card sort, explain that you want to see
 how the participant thinks the cards fit within the defined groups.
2. Ask the participant to talk out loud while working. You want to
understand the participant’s thoughts, rationale, and frustrations.
3. Let the participant work. Minimize interruptions but encourage the
participant to think aloud. Allow the participant to:
Add cards—for example, to indicate lateral hyperlinks or additional
topics.
Put cards aside to indicate topics the participant would not want on
the site.
4. If, at the end, the participant has too many groups for the home
page, ask if some of the groups could be combined.
5. Ask the participant to name each category.
In an open card sort, give the participant a stack of different colored
cards. Ask the participant to use the colored card to name each
group. Ask what words the participant would expect to see on the
home page or second-level page that would lead the participant to
that particular group of content items.
In a closed card sort, asking about word expectations, their final card
organization, and other follow-up questions can provide valuable
insight and observations for your research.
6. At the end, thank the participant and give the payment or gift if
promised.

Remote Sorting Sessions

1. Create your list of content topics. Topics can be phrases or words,
and can be very specific or more general. It might be tempting to
have a card for every topic on your site, but in this case, more might
not be better. Consider the cognitive load on the participant. You
want them to be as on task for your first card as your last. As a
suggestion, limit yourself to 50–60 topics or less.
2. Prepare the cards according to the software instructions.
3. Email your participants a link to the study. Provide instructions for
the sort (whether open or closed) and let them know approximately
how long the session should take to complete.
4. If a comment box is available, urge participants to use the field to
record any observations or questions. Although you will not be able
to answer them in real time for the participant, these comments can
 be useful for your analysis.
5. Thank the participant for his or her time and provide instructions for
receiving payment or gift (if promised).

Analyze Your Data

1. Prepare your data for analysis.
If you used online card-sorting software, consult the software
instructions.
The software will analyze participant data in a variety of ways. If
you used physical cards for the test, either photograph the sort or
use the numbers on the cards to quickly record what the
participant did. Photograph or write down the names the
participant gave to each grouping and the numbers of the cards
the participant included under that name. Then you can reshuffle
the cards for the next session.
Create a computer file for each session to gather a complete
picture of the detailed site map each user creates.
Work from your original list of topics and move topics around to
recreate each participant’s groupings and enter that
participant’s name for the groupings.
If you used a physical card sort, you can also take a photograph of
the finished card sort for reference later.
2. Analyze qualitative information based on user comments.
3. Analyze quantitative information based on:
Which cards appeared together most often
How often cards appeared in specific categories
4. For a less detailed analysis of the results, use your notes and
recordings of the participants’ names and card numbers under each
person’s name to find commonalities from different sessions.
5. For a more detailed analysis, consider using an Excel spreadsheet to
show the relationship between the cards or use one of the available
software programs to analyze your data.
6. Pull together your findings in a report to share with your team and
stakeholders.

After you analyze the data from card sorting, you should have useful
information for structuring the information architecture of the site. You
 should use the results of your card sort to help you define the navigation of
your site.

Source: http://www.usability.gov/

Each time the user clicks a facet value, the set of results is reduced to only the
items that have that value. Additional clicks continue to narrow down the search
—the previous facet values are remembered and applied again.
Faceted search results provide an easy-to-scan, browsable display that helps
users quickly narrow down each search. The faceting tags that you store with
your documents provide a way to add your own taxonomy to directly control the
presentation of search results. In the end, it’s about helping the user find the right
information. Faceted search gives a user the power to create an individualized
navigation path, drilling down through successive refinements to reach the right
document. This more effectively mirrors the intuitive thought patterns of most
users. Faceted search has become an expected feature, particularly for commerce
sites.
Faceted search is performed in several parts:

Index: To each document in the index, add tags to specify a value for each
facet. For example, for each book in the index, tag it with the type of
material and the price range.
Search results: For every search, the server returns a count of how many
matching documents were tagged with each value within each facet. For
example, if the query was for “books,” you might find out that in the facet
“type of material,” your index contains 13 science fiction books, 15
romance novels, and 10 cookbooks; and in the price facet, there are 5 books
under $10,200 books from $10–$19.99, and so on.
Query: You can include facet values as query criteria. For example, you can
write a query that returns only the romance novels under $10.
Web page: Use the facets and document counts returned by the server to
create a set of facet links on your web page. Then construct queries to be
activated by each facet link, passing in the appropriate values.

Store the facets and facet values as metadata by adding tags to documents in
your system.
 After you have tagged documents, the server will start to show faceting data in
the results it returns for search requests. For example, if you search for books
about France, you might get results like the following:

French History
France Travel
French Art

You can filter a search by using facet values. This is similar to using document
variables. Before you start implementing faceting, take some time to decide on
the facets and values that make sense for your index. When you consider how to
categorize information, all sorts of interesting questions can arise. Depending on
the size of your index and whether you are working in a large enterprise, you
might need to hold a few meetings involving key people such as website
designers, product managers, information architects, and others. The goal of
your design phase is to arrive at a scheme, which will define the facets and their
values.

The Role of the Information Architect

The information architect is the essential person(s) who will ensure user input is
incorporated into the design and construction of your content and KM systems.
The information architect ensures that the categorizations of content
(information and knowledge) correctly reflect how the user views and works
with their content as well as ensure application configuration that will facilitate a
search experience, which in turn will yield the right results to users. These
individuals incorporate techniques such as developing the content model(s),
taxonomy, and metadata schema. Specifically, the information architect assumes
the responsibility for the following (see Figure 4.6):
Figure 4.6 The role of the information architect.
Investigating the requirements of the customers for the content and structure
of information deliverables.
Understanding the underlying content structure of the information
categories that authors must produce and developing standards based on
these structures.
Instantiating business rules into the structures to support authors and
encourage compliance.
Creating structures that promote finding and reusing content in multiple
contexts, including metadata schemes, to label content appropriately for
delivery to customers.
Creating an authoring environment that accommodates both the preferences
of authors and the needs of the business for compliance with standards.
Developing standards for content assembly in multiple media that meet
customer and business requirements.
Building style sheets that apply appropriate formatting to content for each
type of deliverable.

Instead of focusing on typical IT problems, the information architect approaches

the project with a threefold focus: user of the information, the information itself,
and the business/organization.
The information architect typically begins to organize information according
to three interrelated primary dimensions: workflow, product model, and
information type.
He or she begins by analyzing the types of work done by the end users of their
products or services and begin to construct the content model. The developed
content model begins with a dimension that enables the information architect to
label information topics among their content types with relationships that
represents the end user’s workflow. This is typically followed by understanding
the metadata that will describe each of the content types. The information
architect represents a key individual (or team) who will incorporate the users’
content representation and navigation requirements into the final application as
well as provide the design to ensure accurate search and retrieval of the content.

Search Intent
The search intent is another aspect of search where the IA is very valuable.
Using the IA’s user-provided metadata and keywords, the intent of the search
being performed by the user can be determined. Search queries are
informational, navigational, or transactional. As part of this process,
characteristics are defined for the different types of queries. For example, use of
question words (i.e., “ways to,” “how to,” and “what is”), queries containing
informational terms (e.g., list and playlist), and queries where the searcher
viewed multiple results pages. Some of the steps to determine search intent
include: the selection of keywords, capturing a list of the top site URLs that
return from each search, identifying the best search terms and keywords,
leveraging the meta keywords identified in the keywords metadata field, and
sorting the keywords and phrases in descending order of their perceived
importance.
Your environment should be modeled based on the taxonomy to provide
functionalities to the end users in form of site navigation, branding, and search.
Taxonomy planning is important for the long-term adoption of any system
because it provides the framework by which users find the content (information
and knowledge).
Tools
There are many tools and possible solutions available to solve our search
dilemma. The following are a few tools to consider if we ever hope to not only
find information on our knowledge repositories but also to provide solutions to
our inquiries.
Knowledge Management Suite for SharePoint 2010 from Layer2 is focused on
improved content tagging and discovery. Although this product has not been
rated with any reviews, it promises to deliver many features that a taxonomy
structure will be able to take advantage of. These features include the following:

Tag Suggester: While tagging an item or document, display a suggestion list

based on term store taxonomies, tagging rules, item properties, context, and
document content.
Auto Tagger: Tag items and documents in background without any user
interaction, based on Term Store taxonomies, tagging rules, item properties,
context and document content. Auto Tagger could be helpful for initial
tagging, for example, after content migration from any system to SharePoint
2010, as well as for daily background operation.
Taxonomy Manager: Manage the Term Store with additional metadata
properties (e.g., tagging rules and related tags), export and import, change
management, workflows.
Tag Navigation Web Part: It provides collaborative tagging by using the
SharePoint 2010 managed metadata taxonomy tree directly for content
discovery and navigation.
Tag Directory Web Part: Render the SharePoint 2010 managed metadata
taxonomy tree as flat A–Z directory category index directly for content
discovery and navigation.
Tag Cloud Web Part: Navigate the content by its importance using a
familiar taxonomy-based tag cloud.
Related Content Web Part: Automatically display related content in a given
context using managed metadata.

By the way, Layer2 provides shareware (free) version of their Knowledge

Management Suite.
Wordmap Taxonomy Management Software
Wordmap’s software enables organizations to develop classification schemes or
taxonomies, upload and store documents by reference to them, and then to
publish rich information resources for their users to search and navigate. Using
taxonomies and classification schemes enables the Taxonomy Management
Software to provide structure to content, enabling precise and relevant answers
to searches quickly. Some Wordmap Taxonomy Management Software clients
include AstraZeneca and the Harvard Business School. The complete product set
can be deployed standalone—or easily integrated to improve the performance
and consistency of existing systems. Learn more about the Wordmap Search
Integration Framework, and how it connects enterprise applications such as
SharePoint and Endeca to centralized taxonomy management.

Data Harmony: Expert Knowledge Management with Powerful

Semantic Tools and Intelligent Design
Data Harmony software indicates that it provides KM solutions to organize your
information resources by applying a taxonomy/thesaurus structure. Data
Harmony’s software tools enable you to construct a logical framework of topics,
reflecting the vocabulary of your business or subject area—and then apply these
topic terms to your resources precisely and consistently. Data Harmony tools
include the following:

Thesaurus Master—Taxonomy and thesaurus construction and

management.
Machine Aided Indexer (M.A.I)—Automatic indexing or editorial aid in
indexing.
Maistro™—Combine Thesaurus Master and M.A.I. for maximum
efficiency in both automatic indexing and taxonomy construction.
Additional KM tools—supplement the abilities of these primary products
for even greater power in KM.
Integrates with numerous content management systems, including Microsoft
SharePoint.
Exports taxonomy files in XML, OWL, SKOS, and 11 other formats.
Handles taxonomies in virtually all languages.
Uses concept categorization for precise tagging and smarter search.
Smart Logic provides an ontology software tool to build and manage complex
ontologies. This software package is their Ontology Manager: The tool is
designed for anyone with a basic knowledge of taxonomies and information
science to develop “models.” A business analyst can use the tool to assist in the
process of building a model. For information scientists and information
architects, the tool conforms to industry standards and has the flexibility and
functionality they need to develop complex models. Some of the features are as
follows:

Creates the model of links and structure between language elements that can
drive a new user experience.
Holds any term “metadata” to drive or enhance connected applications.
Ontology Manager is designed to allow multiple users to create, enhance,
and browse several types of semantic model, which include Lists,
Controlled vocabularies, Taxonomies, Thesauri, and Ontologies.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings gathered from this chapter:

It is not just the search tool that will enable users to find content, but a well-
formed IA along with the search tool will also render the best search results.
When developing an IA, it is best to leverage a checklist (see Figure 4.1;
Downey and Banerjee, 2011). This checklist ensures all aspects of the IA
are covered.
When constructing a content model follow the steps in order to provide a
consistent structure and approach.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter.
Best practices for card sorts.

Limit the number of cards. Do not attempt to sort “ALL” of your content,
and be mindful of participant fatigue. It’s recommend that 30–40 cards at
the absolute outside be used, especially for an open sort.
 Randomize the order of presentation, so that each piece of content has a
chance to be sorted earlier in the session.
Provide the participants with a time box of how long the card sort will take
before beginning the session to help them better gauge the required time and
effort.
For an open sort, consider requiring users to sort the cards, and not to label
them, since that might be the more challenging part of the task, provided
that you have limited your items as suggested in point 1.
Consider an open sort as part 1 and a closed sort as part 2 of your process.
Part 1 allows you to learn what goes together, whereas part 2 allows you to
really test out your labels to see if they are intuitive to your participants.
Chapter 5

The Age of Discovery: Knowledge

Management in Research Institutions

Research institutions are critical to innovation and new product creation. The
speed to market for new products is essential to stay ahead of the competition.
Knowledge Management (KM) plays a central role not only from the perspective
of knowing what has been done and/or what is being done in other areas of
research, but also from the collaboration and knowledge sharing among
researchers contributing to new ideas that produce innovative products for the
marketplace.
Research institutions and research departments that use KM effectively have
an advantage over their peers who do not use KM by developing better products,
having improved processes to deliver products to market more efficiently,
increasing the level of innovation at their organizations, and establishing an
environment of empowerment through collaboration for research professionals.
KM adoption and effectively using KM are challenging, and this chapter
addresses the challenge of equipping research professionals with the necessary
tips, tools, and techniques that will accelerate the use of KM. This accelerated
use of KM will enable research institutions to realize the benefits KM offers to
compete effectively in their respective industries.

Five Challenges Faced When Implementing KM in Research

Institutions
There are challenges (I would like to call “opportunities”) in implementing KM
in all organizations. However, research institutions present a unique challenge of
what knowledge should be shared and at what time. On account of the nature of
clinical trials for pharmaceutical researchers, the technology and engineering
studies and proof of concepts for software, and engineering and manufacturing
companies, sharing tacit and explicit knowledge in a timely manner could be the
difference between success and failure, producing groundbreaking innovation, or
delivering just another product. The following are five challenges/opportunities
in implementing KM within a research organization:

1. Integrating KM into the everyday operations

2. Building effective communication strategies
3. The need to create a conducive environment for the adoption of KM
practices
4. Understanding the required knowledge to be shared
5. Determining the necessary tools to be used to facilitate KM

As identified from the above challenges, KM adoption (see Chapter 16 for more
details concerning KM adoption) and effectively using KM are the primary
challenges. This chapter addresses the challenge of equipping research
professionals with the necessary tips, tools, and techniques that will help
accelerate innovation through the use of KM. Specifically, there will be five key
take-away items that the research professional will be able to gleam from this
chapter, and they are as follows:

1. Establish the case for implementing a KM strategy

2. KM strategy (specifically for research organizations)
3. Techniques for knowledge sharing
4. Techniques to stimulate innovation
5. Methods/tools for capturing, cataloging, and reusing research, and
locating research knowledge/expertise

The Case for Implementing a KM Strategy

Chapter 2 addressed the case for implementing KM. This chapter specifically
identifies scenario 4. This scenario specifically addresses to those organizations
that have a need to bring new product innovations to the marketplace. It states

The case for KM in this area addresses situations where duplication of effort
occurs, not having the right team in place to perform the research to bring
the product innovation to market successfully and in a timely manner,
always reinventing or starting from “square one,” difficulty in locating
current and/or historical corporate information/knowledge on a specific
topic(s), and expertise leaving the organization, thereby creating a
 knowledge gap.

The major purpose of research organizations is to bring innovative ideas to the

marketplace. If your research organization is experiencing what is being
described in scenario 4 in Chapter 2, then your organization has a case for
implementing KM.
To articulate the case for implementing KM at your research institution, the
following questions must be answered:

1. What incentive do I present to my research professionals to encourage

them to share their knowledge?
2. What is the return on investments (ROI) for research
institutions/departments using KM?
3. How important is it to receive executive leadership buy-in on leveraging
KM?
4. What is the key challenge facing research professionals using KM?

In order to implement KM into your research department or institution, you must

present a case by identifying problem(s) that need to be addressed, which can be
as follows:

Duplication of effort
Nonavailability of an appropriate team to perform the research
Always reinventing or starting from “square one”
Difficulty in locating current and/or historical corporate
information/knowledge on a specific topic
Expertise leaving the organization, thereby creating a knowledge gap

Developing Your KM Strategy

The KM strategy presented here specifically applies to research institutions and
the unique challenges they face. The vision, mission, and subsequent initiatives
that address specific problems of your research organization should be identified
and detailed within this strategy. Aligning KM initiatives to address a specific
research problem is identified in Table 5.1. This table, although not an
exhaustive list, will give you some perspective on where to start.
Components of a Research Organization’s KM Strategy
The following represents the categories and details that must be included in your
KM strategy, which will be leveraged to address research problems that KM can
effectively solve.

Table 5.1 Research Problems Aligned to KM Initiatives

Research Problem KM Initiative
Duplication of effort Creating a knowledge map of key knowledge holders and
their research
Research team expertise Expertise locator to align the experts and their experience
alignment to the right research effort
Always reinventing or KM system (knowledge base, knowledge map,
starting over from collaboration, and knowledge sharing environment) to
“square one” whenever a locate content, expertise, and share knowledge on
new research initiative is similar previous or current research being conducted
started
Difficulty locating current Knowledge repository containing research specific content
and/or historical content (information and knowledge)
on specific research
topics
Difficulty finding expertise Incorporating an expertise locator as part of KM
within the organization
Capturing the expertise of Knowledge capture process for both tacit and explicit
experts before they leave knowledge and a knowledge base to capture and catalog
the organization the knowledge

Executive Summary
This section briefly reveals to your reader the present situation of your company,
the likely future of the organization, and the need to implement a KM strategy.
The executive summary should highlight the strengths of your overall plan and
therefore be the final section you write.
KM Vision Statement
The KM vision statement takes into account the current status of the
organization and serves to point the direction of where KM in the organization is
heading toward. As a means of setting a central goal that the organization will
aspire to reach, the vision statement helps to provide a focus for the mission.

KM Mission Statement
The KM mission statement serves as a guide to the actions of the organization as
it pertains to KM, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-
making. It provides the framework or context within which the company’s KM
Strategy is formulated and aligns with the KM vision (Note: the KM Vision and
Mission are often combined).

Current KM Environment (Include If One Exist)

This section details the current knowledge environment. Any KM activities and
experience will be detailed here. This section will also outline any benefits that
have been gained, and how they can be built upon or leverage in future
initiatives.

Challenges and Knowledge Needs

The key issues and knowledge needs of the organization will be summarized
here and will include any knowledge resources, processes, and tools that will be
needed to effectively execute the KM strategy.

Strategy Details and Key Initiatives

The key activities to implement the KM strategy (knowledge capture, knowledge
transfer, knowledge sharing, innovation strategies/initiatives)

Key Performance Indicators and ROI

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a selected indicator that is considered key
for monitoring the performance of a strategic objective, outcome, or key result
area important to the success of an activity and growth of the organization
overall.
R&D sums up the activities centered around research and development, with
the purpose of improving current situations and performance within the
organization. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development, R&D refers to creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in
order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture
and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.
There are 82 KPIs for R&D published within knowledge and innovation as part
of the KPI Compendium.
Some of the KPIs related to KM within R&D include the following:

Cost savings due to R&D

Cost per R&D laboratory surface
Percentage of staff with PhD degrees
Number of new products per researcher
Cost per researcher
Number of first to market products
Number of products/services co-developed in partnership with customers
Percentage of product development projects completed
Number of patents per million dollars of R&D investment
Number of payback period of new products

Presented in more detail in Chapter 8, the knowledge value equation, by Mark

Clare (2002) presents a way to measure the value that KM will bring to your
research organization. This equation examines the use of discounted cash flow
(DCF) and presents an equation: KM value = F (cost, benefit, and risk) = Total
DCF created over life of KM investment. The equation states that the value
created from managing knowledge is a function of the costs, benefits, and risks
of the KM investment (project or strategy) in leveraging and protecting the
knowledge (Clare, 2002). This equation can be applied to the cost/benefit of the
innovation that leads to new products being introduced to the marketplace.
An important concept identified in determining the knowledge value equation
is to build a knowledge value tree (see Figure 5.1). A knowledge value tree
makes the connection between knowledge and value in an organization, which is
more visible by understanding the relationship and connection of KM
functionality, business impact, and financial impact (Clare, 2002). When applied
to research, the business and financial impact of the innovation have to be
analyzed. One could also take into account the societal impacts/benefits as
another dimension/extension of the equation.

Dependencies
This section will detail critical dependencies such as the availability of key
personnel, approval of budgets, and available technologies to initiate the KM
strategy. This section will also analyze the effect of not executing the KM
strategy at all.

Figure 5.1 Knowledge value tree.

On-Going KM
On-going support, which describes the on-going execution of the KM strategy,
includes:

Identifying the key knowledge holders within the organization

Creating an environment that motivates researchers to share
 Creating opportunities and utilizing tools to harvest knowledge
Creating opportunities to foster innovation
Designing mechanisms for governance and maintainability of knowledge
Measuring the effects of executing the research knowledge strategy

Establish a Research KM Office

The Research Knowledge Management Office (RKMO) is comprised of senior
management and core team members and is the vehicle for implementing and
keeping under review the KM program and the on-going KM initiatives that will
be championed by the organization. This office will serve as the organizational
component that will operationalize the KM program, executing the initiatives
that align with the vision and mission of the KM strategy.

Tools
This section details the necessary tools and how they will be used to deliver the
KM research strategy.

Knowledge Sharing Techniques

Knowledge sharing is an essential part of the KM research strategy. The
following represents techniques for knowledge sharing:

Conducting after action reviews (AARs) (capturing lessons learned)

Identifying/participating in communities of practice (CoPs)
Working in collaborative settings

After Action Reviews

An AAR is a facilitated session that is conducted with a team or a group after
completion of a piece of work or project. The objective of an AAR is to capture
the knowledge gained by the team as a result of the performing/executing the
work.

An AAR
Makes learning conscious and explicit.
 Identifies valuable lessons that may be helpful to future teams.
Enhances team openness and cooperation.
Allows closure at the end of the project.
Some AAR facts include the following:
Participants: An AAR is conducted by the persons who participated in the
activity being reviewed. Formal AARs may be conducted by a
facilitator, but the participants should be those persons who were
actually involved, not their representatives or off-site supervisors
The AAR is conducted
• At the end of a project.
• At the end of a particular phase in a project.
• At the end of a conference.
• At the end of a procurement action.
• Immediately following a significant event or action.
The types of AARs include the following:
Formal: Formal AARs are generally conducted at a more extended break
in the activity being reviewed; they may take a full day and result in a
detailed report.
Informal: While an activity is in progress, or for an activity of short
duration, most of the AARs in which our associates are likely to
participate will be informal, consisting perhaps of an hour-long
discussion at the end of a day. More likely to result in a mid-course
correction than a policy shift, informal AARs enable teams to identify
what is working—and what needs work.
AAR steps: These describe the general steps in conducting an AAR and their
significance. The specific steps taken in conducting an AAR will depend on
how much time you have allotted, outside resources needed and/or
available, the complexity of your operation, and what is expected to be
accomplished (Table 5.2).
Communities of practice: CoPs are groups of people who share a common
interest in a particular domain area, and who interact regularly to learn how
perform aspects of the discipline better. CoPs are formed by people who are
engaged in a collective learning experience, who usually interact often to
learn, share, and to better perform their craft.
A CoP
• Can exist online via discussion boards, wiki’s, news groups or in real
 life via meet-ups or other group settings.
• CoPs consist first and foremost of practitioners; specialists who
perform the same job or collaborate on a shared task.
• CoPs often form spontaneously, driven by the need of the members for
operational knowledge.
• CoPs are also deliberately encouraged where knowledge transfer is
necessary.

Table 5.2 After Action Review Steps

After Action Review Steps Comments
1. Assemble participants as
soon after the event(s) as
practicable.
2. Establish rules and
explain objectives.
3. Summarize events as
they were planned to
occur, with work and
time estimates, as
appropriate.
4. Elicit discussion on how
the events actually took
place. Strategies to make
this happen include:
• Identify mistakes, but The AAR discussion is a process of discovery, as all
don’t assign blame. The team members share their perspectives on what
focus should be on the happened and why. The shared observations of the
actions, not on the newest interns through the senior-most associates are
actors essential to piece together how and why some
objectives were met and others were not.
• Articulate assumptions The explicit statement of previously overlooked
assumptions often leads to better solutions.
• Address objective and Discussion subjects, including attitudes, expectations,
subjective dimensions fatigue, and stress, may help to explain outcomes in
of the events addition to more objective information.
 • Ask open-ended Open-ended questions encourage discussion and
questions, not questions exploration of a topic. They are also less likely to
that have one-word make participants defensive. Compare, “Describe your
answers trip to the court house,” with “Why did it take you so
long to get to the court house?”

Big picture questions To follow up on what went well/what could have gone
include: better, ask participants to assign a numerical rating to
• What went well, and by an action. Subsequent discussion on how to improve
what standard? the rating may lead to the kinds of details that will
• What could have gone enable the team to improve overall performance.
better?
• More detailed questions
may address:
• Why actions were
taken?
• How associates
responded to situations?
• When actions were
taken relative to other
events?
• What alternative actions
might have achieved
better results?
• What is required to
replicate good
performance?

5. Record results: List the Some of the observations of the AAR will need to be
associates who shared with higher and lower levels of the
participated, what organization.
learning was achieved,
what changes are
planned, and what
practices will be
strengthened.
6. Establish the As a group activity, the AAR can promote group
expectation of AARs as cohesiveness and identity. Through repetition, it
a regular, re-occurring makes individuals more reflective practitioners.
 feature of your
organization’s
operations. They should
not be considered a sign
of failure.
7. AAR pitfalls that must
be avoided:
• Allowing performance
critiques
• Lecturing
• Over-analyzing
minutiae
• Griping, complaining,
and general negativity
• Allowing stronger
personalities to
dominate the review,
keeping others from
participating

In cultivating CoPs, Etienne Wenger points out three characteristics that make
a CoP:
Domain: The domain represents a shared membership of interest.
“Membership therefore implies a commitment to the domain and
therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other
people.”
Community: The community is represented by members engaging in joint
activities and discussions, helping each other, and sharing information.
They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other.
Practice: A CoP is not merely a community of interest, for example,
people who like certain kind of dog. Members of a community of
practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources:
experiences, stories, tools, and ways of addressing problems. A Practice
takes time and sustained interaction.
For CoPs, see Figure 5.2.

Working in Collaborative Settings

Working in collaborative settings encourages the sharing and exchanging of
ideas. Having spent many years as a KM consultant, working in this type of
environment, I can attest first hand to the effectiveness this type of workspace
provides when it comes to collaborating. According to my experience,
collaborative workspaces are ideal for a maximum of 12 people. Too many
people and there will be an abundance of “side bar” conversations going on that
the whole group could, but will not benefit from.
On the “Office Snapshots Blog—Pixar Headquarters and the Legacy of Steve
Jobs,” It is indicated that Steve Jobs redesigned the offices of Pixar to suit a
more collaborative and diverse thinking environment. At Pixar, these offices
originally housed computer scientists in one building, animators in a second
building, and executives and editors in a third. Jobs recognized that separating
these groups, each with its own culture and approach to problem-solving,
discouraged them from sharing ideas and solutions. This environment
encouraged animators to introduce fresh perspectives when perhaps the
computer scientists became stagnant; and maybe the executives would learn
more about what animators and scientist are doing. Jobs ultimately succeeded in
creating a single cavernous office that housed the entire Pixar team, and John
Lasseter (2012), Pixar’s chief creative officer, indicated that he’d “never seen a
building that promoted collaboration and creativity as well as this one.”
The key features that make for a collaborative office space:

An open plan and other design features (e.g., high-traffic staircases) that
encourage accidental interactions.
More common areas than are strictly necessary—multiple cafeterias and
other places to read and work that encourage workers to leave confined
offices.
Emphasis should be laid on areas that hold two or more people, rather than
single-occupancy offices.
Creation of purpose-free generic “thinking” areas in open-plan spaces,
which will encourage workers think in the presence of other people, rather
than thinking alone.
Figure 5.2 Cultivating communities of practice: A quick reference guide.
(Courtesy of Etienne Wenger.)

Innovation Techniques
Having initiatives that stimulate innovation is another key ingredient of the KM
research strategy. The following represents techniques to stimulate innovation:

Creating diversified teams

Conducting the knowledge café
Conducting root cause analysis sessions
Creating opportunities for brainstorming

Creating Diversified Teams

In my blog post in 2010, I wrote about the need for diversity in order to stimulate
innovation.
 The power that Knowledge Management (KM) brings to an
organization is its ability to leverage the power of diversity. I am not
speaking of just diversity of race, gender and/or religion, but diversity
of thought. Through collaboration, knowledge sharing and knowledge
reuse it is important to leverage different points of view, different
experiences and different cultural backgrounds to stimulate diversity
of thought. This diversity of thought leads to innovation. This
innovation will enable organizations to deliver unique and or improved
products and services to its customers as well as improve the way the
organization does business.

Diversity of thought has to be encouraged and used in our organizations today.

From a research perspective, by bringing a diverse mindset and experiences to
the table, we can begin to understand that diversity of thought will stimulate
innovation; we must realize that diversity in our collective thought is a must if an
organization wants to stay ahead of its competitors.

The Medici Effect

The Medici effect (see Figure 5.3) is the ultimate environment to stimulate
innovation. According to Frans Johansson, the author of The Medici Effect, the
Medici effect is

The place where different cultures, domains, and disciplines stream

together toward a single point. They connect, allowing for establish
concepts to clash and combine, ultimately forming a multitude of new
groundbreaking ideas. This intersection where all of these fields meet
and the explosion of remarkable innovations that are found there is
called…. (Johansson, 2014)
Figure 5.3 Medici effect components. (Data from Luciano Passuello, 2008.
The Medici Effect Mind Map,
http://www.biggerplate.com/mindmaps/d182919/the-medici-effect.)
The Medici effect utilizes the diversity of thought and brings those different
cultural, intellectual, and life experiences together to increase the level and
opportunity for innovation.

Creating the Medici Effect

To utilize the diversity of thought our organizations bring to research and to
innovations that occur, an environment to stimulate this innovation must be
created. The innovation techniques mentioned earlier are those activities that
build an environment to create innovation and your own Medici effect. To create
the Medici effect, Frans Johansson states

We can ignite this explosion of extraordinary ideas and take advantage

of it as individuals, as teams, and as organizations. We can do it by
bringing together different disciplines, cultures and searching for the
places where they connect.

Applying the Medici effect will enable intersectional ideas to flourish once you
step into that intersection of different disciplines and cultures.

Conducting the Knowledge Café

“Knowledge cafés” is a term used for group sessions where a number of people
(from a small number to several hundred) are assembled to discuss implications
of some topic that affects them and their organization.
Typically, the knowledge café is conducted by presenting the topic and its
background to the group. This presentation is followed by brief (5–15 min)
discussions small groups (five or fewer persons) of the implications and what
they may mean for the participants.
The groups are then scrambled and discussions are repeated—often for four or
five cycles before summaries are collected. Knowledge café’s solicit input and
obtain buy-in for a new product, project, or initiative, as a stimulus to
innovation: Knowledge cafés connect people to people, people to ideas, and
ideas to ideas; they challenge people to reflect on their thinking, surface new
ideas, and make new connections. It also breaks down organizational silos and
encourage knowledge sharing and creation of a knowledge sharing culture.

Creating Root Cause Analysis Sessions

Root cause analysis is typically a result of a brainstorming session. In Surviving
Root Cause Analysis (Robitaille 2014), the Chartered Quality Institute indicates
that root cause analysis creates the input to corrective action planning by
establishing requirements. Without thorough and well-controlled investigation of
the root cause of a given problem, any attempt at corrective action is doomed. It
would be like manufacturing a product without fully developing the
specifications needed to fulfill the design requirements.
The first step in this process is to evaluate the situation—the inputs—and
arrive at a conclusion in order to initiate root cause analysis. The second is to
select the members of the team who will conduct the root cause analysis. Giving
thoughtful deliberation to the assignment of team members is as important as it
is for any other process. It’s important to assign tasks to competent individuals,
to communicate expectations, and to ensure their availability for the project.
As you begin to select participants, it’s important to communicate the
distinction between evaluation and root cause analysis. Otherwise, there will be
the predictable confusion, with individuals assuming that once they’ve told you
that the bore is undersized, or the battery needed to be replaced, or a test wasn’t
correctly scheduled, their job is done. What they need to understand is that root
cause analysis has just begun.
There are two simple tools that help to generate ideas about what could have
happened. They are brainstorming and the “five whys.” The overwhelming
benefit of both of these is that they stimulate our creativity; they get us out of our
habitual narrow focus, so that we can explore other possibilities.

Creating Opportunities for Brainstorming

In a 2010 Fast Company article by Gina Trapani she indicated that, “Coming up
with good ideas is a major part of your job, so you want to have the right tools
on hand to generate as many ideas as possible during a brainstorming session.”
Here are some tools and techniques for doing just that.
When you want to perform free-form thinking and gather ideas and tasks
around a central concept, try a mind map. In the middle of the page, write down
your topic. Then, all around the topic, jot down tasks, words, ideas, and connect
them by drawing lines between them and branching similar ideas off of them.
The most effective offline tool for mind mapping is probably a classic
whiteboard, wet marker, and eraser. To mind map online, check out
www.mindmeister.com, a free Web app where you can create, share, and publish
your maps. The advantage of mind mapping is that it’s not linear bullet points,
and because it’s unstructured, it can encourage more free thinking.
When you’re brainstorming, create the environment your brain needs to get
creative. Give yourself plenty of writing space and utensils; get everything out of
your head and onto paper to make room for new insights. When you can, get
yourself out of your normal workspace—go outside, or to the conference room
with the great view, or to the coffee shop—to get the creative juices flowing.
When you can, choose an open space with high ceilings. A 2007 study showed
that people in rooms with high or vaulted ceilings tended to think more freely
and abstractly.
If generating ideas is a regular part of your job, make sure you have tools you
love to use on hand all the time. Splurge on a fancy pen or notebook, something
that you love to write with, and take it with you on the train or to the dentist, and
write whenever you have a chance, capturing any thought that might be useful.

Methods/Tools for Capturing, Cataloging, Reusing, and Locating

Research Knowledge/Expertise
The proposed model is based on the principle that a research center has a
“knowledge reservoir” of its own. This knowledge base is much more than the
sum of individual knowledge of employees, and it is capitalized, more or less
over time, through information products (documents, databases, software, etc.)
or by knowledge exchanges/transfers, individual or collective. The knowledge is
created by the research actors (which are the principal “knowledge workers” of a
research centers), most of time by interaction with the various information
systems available in the center (databases, search engines, document
management systems, software, etc.). Some knowledge is exchanged in an
informal or semi-formal way (discussions, communities, seminars, etc.); it
produces tacit knowledge. Some knowledge is codified in new records
(publications, reports, documents, etc.); it is explicit knowledge. It accumulates
in the firm during its history, and forms what is called a “knowledge capital.”
The research center has the vocation to produce knowledge, an immaterial
product. The development of the knowledge map started from a conceptual
classification of domains, which organizes the information around subjects,
objects, or finalities. The process has several steps.

Location of Knowledge Domains

This step consists (from reference documentation and eventually from
interviews) in highlighting knowledge domains by the successive analysis of
research departments, their activities, projects, and products. The necessary
reference documentation consists of the following:

Documents of an organization (missions, organizational charts, descriptions

of activity, portfolio of activities, etc.)
Documents concerning production (publications, studies, activity
statements, etc.)
Strategic documents (mid-term plans and summaries of previous mid-term
plans)
Quality documents

Construction of the Representation of the Knowledge Capital by a

Knowledge Map
The former step is a deep analysis of the activities of the firm. The next step
aims at making it accessible and more usable. The representation must be
adapted to the operational vision of the people concerned. The main idea of the
cartography is to distribute the different knowledge domains on strategic axes.
The definition of strategic axes is conditioned by the strategic orientation given
to the business process. One may use the missions of the firm as they are defined
in the basic strategy, but it may also integrate new axes concerning strategic
development. The map was built following a considerable number of discussions
with different actors and numerous cross-validations. First, the cartography was
carried out on the research domains of the institute. It was then extended to the
whole portfolio of activities, including the support activities. The map is now
available on the intranet with an online form, which allows employees of the
institute to “self-declare” regarding a certain number of their skills.

Knowledge Map
A knowledge map is a graphic representation of interconnected knowledge
sources. This organized knowledge involves large bodies of interconnected facts.
It is useful for organizing related knowledge/knowledge holders in a structured
manner that facilitates comprehension by showing the connections between the
various pieces.
A knowledge map is usually the results of a knowledge audit. The knowledge
audit is an investigation into the organizations knowledge assets, where they are,
who interacts with them, and how to access them. A typical knowledge audit
looks at the following:

The organization’s knowledge needs

The knowledge assets or resources it currently has and where they are
The knowledge gaps
The knowledge flow within the organization
The existing knowledge blockages

The knowledge map example shown here is the result of a knowledge audit for
A.J. Rhem & Associates, Inc., a small management and software development
consulting firm (see Figure 5.4). The A.J. Rhem & Associates’ Corporate
Knowledge Map is a visualization representing the flow of knowledge within the
organization. An analysis of the knowledge map indicates the following:

All of the corporate knowledge flows in and out of the president.

There is no interaction with others in the senior management team but
through the president.
 The president, managing director, and training director are all interacting
with the marketing/sales staff and training staff.
The president and training director are both interacting with the consulting
staff.
There is some cross-training/interaction between the consulting staff and
training staff.
The president is the only one interfacing with the finance/accounting
department.

The following indicates the initial knowledge needs of the organization as

specified by the knowledge audit:

Figure 5.4 A.J. Rhem & Associates’ corporate knowledge map.

Knowledge sharing program is necessary between the president and the
senior management staff, in order to distribute the corporate knowledge
from the president to other senior management staff members.
Foster an atmosphere of knowledge sharing among all members of the
senior management staff through weekly stand-up meetings.
Realign senior management team and the communication between the
consulting staff, marketing/sales staff, training staff, and human resource
agency to have communication and receive direction from one senior
 management and have all senior management report to the president.
Formalize program to provide cross-training between the consulting staff
and the training staff. This will facilitate increasing the skill and knowledge
level of consultants and trainers in order for each to fill the other’s role
when necessary.
Formulate knowledge transfer plan to share and cultivate knowledge
between management staff as well as consultant and training staff members.

This presents a typical example of using a knowledge audit/knowledge map as a

tool for understanding knowledge and expertise within your organization.

Knowledge Portal/Repository/Knowledge Base

A knowledge portal/repository is a technology used to capture, catalog, store,
and retrieve content and knowledge. The knowledge portal/repository also
provides organizations with a rich and complex shared information workspace
for the generation, exchange, and use/reuse of knowledge.
Similar to a knowledge repository, a knowledge base is a collection of role-
specific knowledge. This knowledge includes tips, techniques, procedures,
guidelines, and work products related to performing activities and tasks for a
specific role (i.e., research administrator, research analyst, data analyst, and
principle investigator).
A knowledge base typically contains a representation of explicit knowledge to
solve some of the most common problems facing the organization. The intent of
the knowledge base is to accumulate this knowledge and make it available to its
users.
In order to make a knowledge base more effective, there are many points to be
considered. In my experience in developing a knowledge base, I have
determined the following five aspects of a proficient knowledge base:

1. Quickly search, retrieve, add, and update content (information and

knowledge) to the knowledge base. This allows for users to contribute to
the knowledge base more effectively.
2. Designed for collaborative use. A real-time collaborative environment and
knowledge capture facility creates a lively free exchange of ideas.
3. Provide guided participation (via a blogging structure as an example) that
will lead to new learning. In this environment, someone acts as a
 “moderator,” creating structure and topics to stimulate conversations and
to capture the knowledge/solutions being addressed.
4. Integrate a variety of media (i.e., video, voice, and text). Incorporating
video and voice will add richness to the interaction and to the
knowledge/solutions being captured.
5. Help in the decision-making process. Enable the knowledge base to
recognize where key knowledge holders exist, their core competencies,
and the content that they author, access, and share.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

Some key points to consider implementation KM in your research

organization:
– Get executive buy in
– Align KM research strategy with the enterprise’s KM strategy and the
organizational strategy
– To begin the adoption process execute no or low budget KM
– Conduct the knowledge audit (first major initiative)
– Construct an (interactive) knowledge map (outcome of the knowledge
audit)
Facts about—no or low budget KM consists of executing the following
activities:
– Bringing back notes and other materials from KM classes and/or KM
conferences
– Meetings—make decisions and be intentional about transferring/sharing
knowledge and documenting outcomes and next steps
– Performing knowledge cafés where appropriate (see section on
“Innovation Techniques”)
– Informational brown bags—lunch and learn
– After action reviews and lessons learned
– Training—mentoring and cross-training, e-learning
– Knowledge sharing—alerts, organizational awareness, and quick tips

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter:
Tip regarding conducting a knowledge audit

The knowledge audit is usually the first major step of a KM initiative. It’s
used to provide a sound investigation into the company or organization’s
knowledge “health.”
A knowledge audit looks at problems and puts the information in the
context of the problem. The reason a knowledge audit is so vital is because
it gives an organization a comprehensive picture of its strengths and
weakness, allowing it to focus its efforts in the right direction.

To get quickly started using KM in your research efforts follow these quick tips:

1. Start with a list of the roles in your organization.

You must have a clear understanding of how your organization creates
value for your users (both internally and externally). Make sure you can
answer these questions:
• What are the major activities and processes that take place?
• Who carries out each of these activities?
• Where are the decisions made?
This information is probably already available to you, as part of your
organizational governance. If it isn’t, then have a think about governance
before you get started on KM.
2. Identify activities that would benefit from improved knowledge (Note:
Expansion of the scope of your KM program should take place after your
high-priority activities have been started and/or completed):
– Prioritize these activities that
• Use a lot of resources.
• Have a major impact on internal and external knowledge users.
• Are not currently performed well due to a lack of knowledge.
Look in some detail at how these activities are performed. Talk to the
people actually doing the work and making the decisions and identify
how knowledge supports them:
– What knowledge is available now?
– What knowledge could improve the activity?
– Does someone else in the organization have the knowledge that is
needed?
 This should result in a list of activities that could benefit from improved
knowledge, and some idea of where that knowledge could be found.
3. Identify tools and techniques to help with knowledge transfer.
There are many different tools and techniques that can be used to help
acquire knowledge in the right place. Consider creation, storage, and
management of content identifying all the different approaches you
might use based on your organization’s culture and preferences, as well
as on the type of knowledge you need to manage.
The following is an initial list of things that you might want to include:
• Searchable document repository
• Knowledge base integrated into your internal and external knowledge
customers (including service management and customer facing
toolsets)
• Mentoring and coaching
• Webinars and podcasts
• Discussion forums and social media platforms
• Instant messaging, click-to-e-mail, and click-to-call features
When you have a comprehensive list of possible techniques, you can
consider which of them might be suitable for each of the activities and
types of knowledge that you identified in the previous step.
4. Motivate people to share the knowledge that is needed.
Most of the knowledge you need probably already exists within your
organization, but you will need to motivate the people who have this
knowledge to share with those who need to use it. This will depend on
your organizational culture, and on the tools and techniques that you
have selected.
You will probably want to identify a small number of KM champions to
model the behavior you want, and to encourage other people. It can also
be very effective to publish the names of people who make useful
knowledge contributions, and to provide reward and encouragement for
the desired behaviors.
5. Motivate people to use the knowledge that has been shared.
Remember that knowledge can only create value when it is used by
someone to make decisions or deliver services. You need to think about
incorporating the knowledge that is being created into the activities that
you identified earlier.
Use techniques to identify and acknowledge the authors of the most reused
 pieces of knowledge, and the people who make the most use of shared
knowledge. When you know what knowledge is being reused, you can
also use this to justify further investment in KM and to plan future
improvements.
6. Manage your knowledge to ensure it remains relevant and helpful.
Don’t forget that KM isn’t a one-off project; it has to include a change in
the culture of your organization. This means applying all the
management of change techniques that you would use for any other
organizational change.
Leverage a comprehensive governance plan for your knowledge assets.
You will need to constantly review the sources of knowledge, to ensure
that they remain relevant and helpful, and purge anything that is out of
date.
Chapter 6

“Where Have All My Experts Gone?”:

Knowledge Management in Human
Resources and Talent Management

If your organization is losing valuable knowledge due to staff retirement, staff

moving to other departments, or staff dismissed for a variety of reasons, then
your organization has a strong case for the implementation of a human
capital/talent management strategy. Managing your human capital when your
staff enters the organization through employee orientation; mapping their roles,
responsibilities, and their work products as they perform their duties; and
executing a comprehensive exit interview are all aspects of a knowledge
management (KM) strategy aimed at moving your human capital to corporate
capital. Specifically, I want to address leveraging KM to manage your human
capital.
Infusing a human capital management (HCM) strategy with KM such as
knowledge capture, knowledge cataloging and reuse, knowledge sharing, and
connecting expertise throughout your organization will improve the talents of
your people and increase the organizational competency.
Some time ago, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues regarding his
organization’s loss of critical expertise. As people started to move in and out of
the company valuable knowledge gaps appeared. In a statement of exasperation
he asked, “Where have my experts gone?” To address these gaps, the
organization began to seek short-term (6 months or less) expertise to perform
specific duties. When these resources moved on the organization was back to
square one. This led him to ask the following questions: “How can we address
this in the long term?” “Where can we find experts to fill these positions long
term?” “How would you address this issue?”
These are indeed, given the situation, the questions that we must seek to
address. I informed him that the first task would be to prioritize the areas that
have experienced knowledge loss, and based on that perform a knowledge audit
of the area that has been identified as the higher priority. In addition, further
knowledge audits should be scheduled for the remaining areas as his
organization became more comfortable with executing knowledge audits. I also
informed him that the knowledge audit will reveal to him what specific
knowledge gaps exist, who are the current knowledge holders, and what
percentage of knowledge is tacit, explicit, or both.
If the knowledge gap is tacit, then understanding the specifics of this tacit
knowledge would help you determine the type of expertise you need to hire and
the duration for the same. If the knowledge is explicit, then your key knowledge
holders may have access to this knowledge somewhere in the organization
(knowledge repository/portal, network folders, on the shelf, etc.). You may also
have the ability to purchase this knowledge or perform research to document this
knowledge. I also believe that engaging the key knowledge holders when it
comes to identifying the “right” personnel to bring in to fill key positions will
start to address his concerns about where to find the experts he needs.
A KM strategy entails a collective visioning as to how sharing knowledge can
enhance organizational performance, and the reaching of a consensus among the
senior management of the organization that the course of action involved in
sharing knowledge will in fact be pursued. Implicit in such a process is a set of
decisions about the particular variety of KM activities that the organization
intends to pursue, including how the knowledge assets of the organization will
be leveraged (with human capital being the primary asset), and the execution of
the process and tools that will enable sharing of knowledge and innovation to
occur.
As part of applying KM to a comprehensive human capital/talent management
strategy, an understanding of the roles, work products (artifacts), and tasks
(activities) are key for a person’s onboarding and/or gaining understanding of
what is required for a particular job (see Figure 6.1). It is important for any
organization to not only identify the corporate roles, tasks, and work products
but also to provide the necessary guidance around this aspect of the corporate
structure. In doing so, creating an environment in which all employees can seek
to achieve knowledge in specific roles is essential to infusing corporate
knowledge and managing human talent within the organization.
Figure 6.1 Example of knowledge captured for the knowledge engineer role.
One way to accomplish this is to build a knowledge base of corporate roles,
the tasks that each role performs, and the work products that are produced along
with the guidance (i.e., whitepapers, templates, FAQs, key contacts, PowerPoint
presentations, video, and audio).

Role-Based Knowledge
Role-based knowledge focuses on the specific knowledge needed to perform in a
given role. It identifies the activities that are needed to be performed as well as
the work products that are needed to be produced.

Role Knowledge Base

A role knowledge base is a repository of worker knowledge, which is aligned
directly to roles that are leveraged by the organization. This knowledge is
specifically captured for a role (analyst, staff assistant, project manager,
marketing specialist, etc.) and is aimed at performing tasks related to activities
that produce work products.
The Knowledge Acquisition Unified Framework (KAUF)™ is an example of
a role knowledge base geared toward capturing and cataloging role-based worker
knowledge. The KAUF is utilized to capture explicit as well as tacit knowledge
and transition this knowledge into an environment in which it can be harvested
into a KM repository, knowledge-based system, knowledge map, or other KM
tool. The KAUF provides a repeatable process for identifying, understanding,
and cataloging the tacit and explicit knowledge of the organization during the
knowledge elicitation process.

Knowledge Map to Identify Experts

To assist in establishing the knowledge repository (or “library,” as it is
sometimes called), producing a knowledge map of your organization will be
greatly beneficial. A knowledge map is an excellent tool to facilitate the
identification of the key knowledge holders and knowledge gaps; it identifies
areas to leverage existing knowledge and where knowledge is eroding. However,
performing a knowledge mapping exercise should focus on a particular
department, functional area, or specific organizational domain and gradually
built upon until an entire knowledge map of your organization exists.
Knowledge mapping is an essential component of conducting a knowledge
audit and overall KM strategy. The knowledge map serves as a navigation aid to
identify and locate explicit and tacit knowledge. This mapping directly leads to
identifying candidates for tacit knowledge capture within the organization. The
knowledge map should be an interactive knowledge map with accessibility
through the organization’s information system infrastructure (intranet,
SharePoint, etc.).
In order to properly manage your organization’s human capital assets, it is
important to identify knowledge and content managers and knowledge architects
who can facilitate in capturing, codifying, organizing, and maintaining your
corporate knowledge assets. Furthermore, these resources will be the principle
staff involved in the creation of your knowledge repositories, knowledge
mapping, and strategy and audit activities.
For a moment, consider the value of having such an environment and its many
uses. Some of them that immediately come to mind include being able to quickly
have a new person filling a role to come up to speed and create assigned
deliverables. Or, perhaps having a repository of “knowledge nuggets” supplied
by experienced people in that role, which can serve as the repository of worker
knowledge that can be accessed by anyone in the organization, which will lead
to performing that role more effectively and efficiently. This will lead to
increased performance within the workforce and will transition your
organization to compete in these challenging economic times and well into the
future.

Human Capital Management

Human capital is the stock of competencies, knowledge, habits, and social and
personality attributes (including creativity and cognitive abilities) embodied in
the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. HCM is an
approach to employee staffing that perceives people as assets (human capital)
whose current value can be measured and whose future value can be enhanced
through investment.
HCM contains a set of practices that are focused on the organizational need to
provide specific competencies and are implemented in the following three
categories: talent acquisition and planning, workforce management (WFM), and
workforce optimization.

Talent acquisition and planning: Today’s knowledge-driven economy requires

workforce planning to attain and retain talent, regardless of the size of your
organization and industry. Your strategy must deliver high-quality talent at
the right time to address the right knowledge gaps to improve/continue
operational efficiency.
Talent acquisition and workforce planning must be linked to gain
perspective on opportunities for collaboration. The merging of the two
groups is identified as a way to link the talent planning (strategic) and
execution (tactical) aspects of talent management. This enables better line
of sight into the current and future talent requirements for their areas of
responsibilities.
In order to source, identify, recruit, and select talent that meet the long-
term workforce, the plan is to use multiple strategies for attraction and
recruitment of talent. The amount of resources deployed to a vacancy is
dependent on both the quantity and the difficulty.
The majority of vacancies require a multi-pronged approach using
internal and external resources. This will include using the services of some
search firms for strategic recruiting services to assist in the identification of
the passive candidate.
A process for designing effective advertising campaigns that enhance the
initial buy-in with key potential talent is a key component to attract new
talent into the organization. There is a direct linkage to align talent to
corporate objectives. A focus on key occupations and geographic locations
with a tailor message will enhance the ability to attract the “right” talent.
Workforce management: WFM is all about assigning the right employees with
the right skills to the right job at the right time. WFM is basically all the
activities needed to maintain a productive workforce, including payments
and benefits, human resources (HR) planning, training and development,
time-keeping and attendance, recruitment, performance management, and
forecasting and scheduling. Our focus for WFM includes career and
 succession planning/talent acquisition, talent management and/or applicant
tracking, learning management and/or training management, and
performance management.
Workforce optimization: Workforce optimization is concerned with enabling
businesses to take control of all aspects of their staffing, and helps staff
understand how they affect the business’s performance, with an emphasis
on improving this incrementally over time.
Workforce optimization, in addition, takes this one step further by using
analytics to tie WFM to key business concepts such as growth, profit, and
customer experience. Workforce optimization is best viewed as the next
logical step in the move to optimize the performance of staff and to
understand and manage the overarching impacts of staff based on both
operational efficiency and the customer experience.
Workforce optimization is closely related to and an evolution of WFM by
encompassing all aspects of managing the complete workforce life cycle
(see Figure 6.2). KM infused within workforce life cycle management will
include knowledge transfer activities during the onboarding process
facilitated by HR; access to specific role-based knowledge geared to
quickly get the new employee up to speed and to provide key knowledge
throughout the employee’s evolution in the organization will be facilitated
through talent management; to incentify the employee to share knowledge
to increase performance will be initiated through specific incentive
programs facilitated by incentive management; and learning management
will facilitate filling gaps in knowledge and/or needed expertise to perform
current and future organizational functions.
Figure 6.2 Workforce life cycle management.
HCM within an organization provides employees with clearly defined and
consistently communicated performance expectations. Managers are responsible
for rating, rewarding, and holding employees accountable for achieving specific
business goals, and as identified earlier, KM will play a key role in creating
innovation and supporting continuous employee growth and performance.

Talent Management
Talent management is a set of integrated organizational HR processes designed
to attract, develop, motivate, and retain productive, high-performing employees.
As opposed to HCM where there is an emphasis on the management of
employees. Susan Heathfield (2016) in her article “What Is Talent Management
—Really?” states “Talent management is an organization’s commitment to
recruit, retain, and develop the most talented and superior employees available in
the job market.”
Talent management (from John Hopkins University, Office of Talent
Management and Organization Development)—includes the following:

Workforce planning: The intentional and strategic projection and planning of

access to talent (either internal or external) with the skills, knowledge, and
behaviors essential for the achievement of the organization’s strategic
objectives and/or demands.
Recruiting: The ability to successfully attract and hire key talent for current
and future organizational needs through competency-based advertising and
interviewing efforts.
Onboarding: The process of acclimating new hires and ensuring that they
quickly feel welcomed, and valued by the organization. This process
enables new employees to become productive members of the organization,
who understand expectations for their job roles. Onboarding goes beyond
traditional “orientation” programs, which focus mainly on managing
policies, forms, and procedures.
Strategic plan/goal alignment: The process of developing and implementing
plans to reach an organization’s long-term goals and objectives. It is the
roadmap to lead an organization from where it is now to where it would like
 to be in 3–5 years.
Performance management: An ongoing process of communicating and
clarifying job responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations, and
development planning that optimize an individual’s performance and aligns
with organizational strategic goals.
360-degree assessments: 360-degree feedback is an assessment tool that
provides faculty and staff leaders with feedback on their performance.
Supervisors, peers, and direct reports answer questions based on their
perceptions and observations of the leader’s skills and attributes.
Executive coaching: “A helping relationship between a client and a consultant,
who uses a wide variety of behavioral techniques and methods, to assist the
client to achieve mutually identified goals to improve professional
performance and personal satisfaction in an effort to improve the
effectiveness of the client’s organization Kilburg, 2000.
Leadership development: Intentional goal-driven activities that enhance the
quality of leadership abilities or attitudes within an individual or an
organization.
Professional development: Process of establishing training goals and plans
that link to individual goal attainment, career planning, and possible
succession planning.
Career path/Career development: This includes structuring the career
progression of the organization’s employees and an individual’s process for
identifying job opportunities within an organization’s structure, and the
sequential steps in education, skills, and experience-building needed to
attain specific career goals.
Recognition programs: A method of acknowledging, honoring, encouraging,
and supporting individuals and teams who contribute, through behaviors
and actions, to the success of the organization.
Compensation: A way to reward individuals for important work
accomplishments, contributions to the goals of the organization, and
increased skills and competencies in their jobs.
Succession management: Succession management is a process for identifying
and developing internal personnel with the potential to fill key or critical
organizational positions. Succession management ensures the availability of
experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles
as they become available.
 Diversity/inclusion: Diversity represents a group consisting of individuals
with similar and different experiences and backgrounds. Some of these
differences include race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual
orientation, age, disability, veteran status, and ethnicity, but there are many
other dimensions of diversity. “Diversity” does not address how people
with different backgrounds and experiences function or work together.
Engagement: The extent to which employees are committed to their
organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational
success, and at the same time are able to enhance their own sense of well-
being.
Competencies: Those measurable behaviors, characteristics, abilities, and
personality traits that identify successful employees against defined roles
within an organization.
Retention: A systematic effort focused not only on retaining an organization’s
talented performers but also on creating and fostering a welcoming work
environment and high-retention culture. The end result is an organization
that operates more effectively and efficiently, while becoming a great place
to work.

KM Influence on Talent Management

KM will directly influence the following aspects of talent management by

Workforce planning: Providing guidance on knowledge gaps (either internal

or external) and the long- and short-term needs of the organization to
address it.
Recruiting: Providing an understanding of the competencies needed for talent
to be successful in the position/role you are recruiting for.
Onboarding: Providing and ensuring that new hires have access to knowledge
of the company, their specific department, and role(s) they will be filling
for the organization. This enables new employees to become productive
members of the organization, who understand expectations for their job
roles.
Strategic plan/goal alignment: Influencing the process of developing and
implementing plans (with specific projections of knowledge needs and the
alignment of that knowledge) to reach an organization’s long-term goals
 and objectives. It is the roadmap to lead an organization from where it is at
present to where it would likely be in 3–5 years.
Performance management: Ensuring that employees have access to critical
knowledge and expertise to perform well in their designated role(s). It is an
ongoing process of communicating and clarifying knowledge that optimizes
an individual’s performance and aligns with the organization’s strategic
goals.
Leadership development: Providing the right knowledge and expertise that
will enhance the quality of leadership abilities or attitudes within an
individual or organization.
Professional development: Providing access to knowledge and expertise (both
internal and external), and plans that link to individual’s goal attainment,
career planning, and possible succession planning.
Career path/career development: Providing individual’s knowledge of the
competencies, role-based knowledge (tasks, activities, and work products
being produced), and access to fill knowledge gaps will give an
understanding of what is needed to attain specific career goals.
Recognition programs: Enhancing the method of acknowledging, honoring,
encouraging, and supporting individuals and teams who contribute to
include knowledge sharing activities, which contribute to the success of the
organization.
Compensation: A way to reward individuals for important work
accomplishments, contributions (including knowledge contributions) to the
organizational goals, and increased skills and competencies in their jobs.
Succession management: Providing access to knowledge and expertise (both
internal and external) to ensure the availability of experienced and capable
employees who are prepared to assume roles as they become available.

Talent management focuses on all of the employees from planning, recruitment,

onboarding to exit interview. In this chapter both HCM and talent management
have been combined because KM will have an influence on the entire workforce
life cycle and many aspects of talent management. The goal of both HCM and
talent management is to create a high-performance, sustainable organization that
meets its strategic and operational goals and objectives, and having the right
knowledge at the right time in the right context is key in achieving this goal.
High-Impact Talent Management Framework
One final word on talent management! To begin infusing KM within talent
management, your organization must start with a talent management model.
Building a talent management model to suit an often volatile and
transformational business landscape requires taking a detailed look at talent
management. Bersin & Associates’ Talent Management Framework® takes this
detailed approach. In developing this framework, they examined hundreds of
organizations and intended to show a graphical depiction of how the various
talent management processes come together (see Figure 6.3) (Bersin et al.,
2010).
The framework begins by defining a talent strategy in the context of the
business strategy. In this case, Bersin indicates that the talent strategy should
help the company to achieve its business goals. Alignment to the business
strategy is critical for the next area, workforce planning. In workforce planning,
the organizations will define their talent segments, identify critical roles, and
analyze organizational skills gaps. This information will be leveraged to drive
succession plans, recruitment strategies, and learning agendas. It is then that the
company enters into the solution phase of talent management (Bersin et al.,
2010).
“Capability and competency management” is next; it is this information
(skills, competencies, and experiences) that will enable organizations to answer
the following questions: For what do we hire? Against what do we assess?
Toward what do we develop? (Bersin et al., 2010).
Job profiles capture this critical information, and should be developed and
managed for all critical roles, which should have been defined in the previous
area of workforce planning. The largest section of the framework, in the center,
includes those processes that directly touch the employees at different stages of
the employment cycle (recruiting, assessing, developing, and rewarding) (Bersin
et al., 2010). One role of talent acquisition is to fulfill the workforce plan.
Whether filling positions with internal or external candidates, it is at this stage
that a new ‘cycle’ begins. The next four areas are integral to developing and
mobilizing talent to where it is needed (Bersin et al., 2010).

Leadership development: Ensures that companies have high-performing

leaders to run the company.
Succession management: Defines the kind of bench strength that is necessary
 for succession (top down—position-driven).
Career management: Creates awareness of employees’ career goals (bottom
up—employee-driven).
Performance management: Provides a vehicle for assessing talent.

“Total rewards” is capped on the end of this center section. Throughout the
employee life cycle, it is critical that employees are rewarded appropriately.

Figure 6.3 New high-impact talent management framework. (From Bersin,

J., A new talent management framework,
http://www.bersin.com/blog/post/2010/05/A-New-Talent-Management-
Framework.aspx. With permission.)
“Learning and capability development” was placed toward the bottom of our
framework, across the entire employee life cycle, because it is truly an enabler
for talent management strategies to be realized. Without learning, a company and
its talent become stagnant. It is essential that talent continues to learn and
develop as the business evolves and grows, and the workforce needs change. The
learning and capability development function is, in turn, driven by gaps defined:

Once an employee is hired or moved into a new role (the learning curve)
 By the data from performance management reviews (strengths and
weaknesses)
As a result of an employee’s career aspirations (progression)
As necessary to fulfill a succession plan in some period (readiness)

The pillars or bookends of the framework are essential for keeping all of the
moving parts connected. “Organization and governance” ensure alignment,
oversight, accountability, and follow-through, whereas “business metrics and
analytics” are defined to determine how effective the talent programs are,
collectively. As an essential piece of the framework, the “talent infrastructure”
ensures that data and processes are aligned, integrated, and accessible. The
infrastructure “maps” the processes, so that integration points are clear and
provide the systems for enhancing the processes (Bersin et al., 2010).

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

Workforce optimization solutions: When selecting a workforce automation

solution look for solutions that:
– Tie together vertical WFM systems and provide bridges HR, operations,
and IT.
– This should be a business-driven approach that automates the entire
workforce life cycle (see Figure 6.2).
– Make key data more visible at more levels in order to support better
decision making. This will ensure compliance with a wide range of
relevant legislation, and solving business problems related to staff.
When incorporating KM within the HCM/TM strategy:
– Link KM activities along with learning activities to the employees’
developmental goals identified in the performance management process.
Organizations depend on learning to skill-up not only their employees
but also their customers and channel partners.
Role-specific knowledge:
– Be intentional on describing each role within your organization with the
appropriate corresponding set of competencies and a roadmap on the
skills and demonstrated knowledge to achieve them.
– Understand that someone’s title can be different from the role they are
 performing at that time (i.e., a financial analyst could have a role of a
manager when they have junior analyst reporting to them).
– Distinguishing between roles are important for system access (role-based
security).

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter:

Differences between learning, training, and KM

– It is important to understand the difference between learning, training,
and KM. These differences are identified here:
• Training is a systematic approach to improving employees’
knowledge, skills, and attitudes in order to hone their ability to
perform today’s job responsibilities. Training is an intervention that is
delivered by an instructor or facilitator.
• Learning, on the other hand, is the systematic process of preparing
employees and leaders for future responsibilities. Learning is the
process of acquiring knowledge or skill in the context of
organizational goals by discovering information via tools and
mechanisms the organization has made available to learners.
• KM is distinguished between learning and training in that it provides
guidance and ac cess to expertise to address immediate situations
where decisions need to be made. Explicit knowledge can take the
form of (among other things) job aids, knowledge articles, guidelines,
operating procedures, and lessons learned. Tacit knowledge access can
be facilitated through (among other things) communities of practice,
collaboration environments, and expertise locators. KM methods and
knowledge repositories/knowledge bases can supplement and support
learning and training events when it comes to applying what someone
has recently learned or been trained in.
KM needs analysis: A knowledge needs analysis should be conducted to
understand what skills, knowledge, gaps, and attitudes need to be changed
or improved to produce better business results more quickly. A quick
assessment can be done in four steps:
– Collect existing performance data on the behaviors to be improved.
– Analyze the data isolating knowledge gap areas.
– Identify the causes for the gaps.
– Recommend and implement knowledge solutions to close the gaps.
Chapter 7

“Sound the Alarm!”: Knowledge

Management in Emergency and Disaster
Preparedness

Introduction
During a time of crisis (such as national disasters, pandemics, and acts of
terrorism), relevant information is usually not received by the individuals or
group of individuals that need it the most. For instance, many times first
responders are not able to respond quickly and effectively without the right
information during a crisis situation. The lack of timely and correct information
increases level of confusion, resulting in their ineffectiveness that may cause a
loss of life.
Our current emergency broadcast systems are ineffective. This ineffectiveness
is due to the lack of timely accurate and meaningful information delivered to the
correct recipient during emergencies. This prevents first responders, key
leadership, and the public from preparing for imminent danger, compromises the
ability to make informed decisions, and enacts the proper emergency
preparedness operations.
There is a problem delivering first responders the appropriate data,
information, and knowledge in a timely manner to effectively execute during an
emergency/crisis event. So what are the contributing factors? The following
table outlines the contributing factors related to the lack of available knowledge
and the effect on what knowledge management (KM) would bring to first
responders.
A summary of contributing factors
# Contributing Factors Effect on Users
1 Current alert systems do Lack of planning and execution around preparedness,
not align with a response, and recovery activities will lead to a lack of
 cohesive strategy for injured being treated in a timely manner and prolong
preparedness, response, timeline and cost associated with response and
and recovery activities recovery
during an
emergency/crisis event
2 Many alert systems do Collaborative alert systems will enable pertinent and
not integrate with comprehensive alert information to be received down
national, state, and to the local level and enable local authorities to
local alert systems respond quickly to a crisis event preventing additional
injuries and lose of life
3 Current alert systems do Alert systems that leverage services such as weather,
not leverage geospatial, and intelligence services will potentially be
information services able to provide information on impending
such as weather, emergency/crisis events that will lead to improved
geospatial, and preparedness, response, and recover activities,
intelligence services contributing to saving lives and decreasing the amount
of injured people
4 Many alerting systems do Emergency officials and first responders are unable to
not enable two-way make informed decisions concerning emergency
communication preparations and responses
between all relevant
emergency officials
and first responders
5 Current alerting systems During emergencies affected individuals are unable to
do not enable two-way request and obtain immediate assistance
communication
between emergency
officials and the public
6 Current alerting systems Alert volume and speeds are limited to the capacity of
require dedicated dedicated resources provided
hardware, software,
and interfaces to the
telecommunication
providers in order to
send emergency
messages
7 Ineffective information The public does not receive effective warnings during
 feeds to broadcast emergencies
alerting systems
(television and radio)
delays the
dissemination of
critical information to
the public

8 Current alerting systems Segments of the public in a geographical area affected by

do not have the ability a crisis do not receive critical warnings.
to provide targeted
alerts by identifying an
ad hoc geographical
area

This chapter will focus on a first-responder KM strategy that will provide a

holistic approach to leveraging knowledge and implementing technology in
order to increase the effectiveness of first responders.

First-Responder KM Strategy
Creating a KM strategy presents a holistic approach to leveraging knowledge
and implementing technology to increase the effectiveness of first responders
(see Figure 7.1). The KM strategy reflects several key aspects in delivering
knowledge throughout an organization. The KM strategy suitable for execution
by first responders should align with the National Incident Management System
(NIMS), which according to NIMS (2008, p. 3)) “provides a consistent
nationwide template to enable federal, state, tribal, local governments,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to work together
to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of
incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.” The KM strategy
for first responders will specifically address disaster preparedness, response, and
recovery including the technology that must be leveraged to support this
strategy.
Figure 7.1 First-responder knowledge management strategy process.

In order for any technology initiative to be successful, it must address a need

for the organization. The KM strategy will identify the knowledge needs of first
responders and determine the communication needs between national, state, and
local entities and their corresponding first-responder organizations (such as Fire,
police, Emergency Medical Service [EMS], National Guard, and Coast Guard).
Our preliminary research has determined that establishing a national alert system
is a high-priority initiative for the Department of Homeland Security. This initial
system will incorporate the knowledge needs identified in the KM strategy as
well as technologies that will enable federal, state, and local governments to
support first responders more effectively and efficiently.

Knowledge Shared, Captured, and Reused

In examining the types of knowledge that must be shared, captured, and
available for reuse, Nonaka and Takeuchi (as cited by Haggie and Kingston,
2003) have classified knowledge as either tacit or explicit, individual or
collective, and have identified knowledge processes that transform knowledge
from one form to another (i.e., socialization: tacit to tacit, externalization: tacit to
explicit, combination: explicit to explicit, and internalization: explicit to tacit)
see Figure 7.2.
 In Figure 7.2, socialization refers to the sharing of individual tacit knowledge,
and this can happen through collaborative methods such as meetings individuals
and/or groups, in person and/or online. Externalization refers to the exchange of
tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, which consists of codifying the tacit
knowledge into stories (best practices, SOPs, and tips and techniques),
graphically through designs, and/or through the implementation of software (i.e.,
expert systems or knowledge base systems). Internalization refers to learning by
doing, taking in explicit knowledge and creating new tacit knowledge.
Combination refers to extracting explicit knowledge, combining it, and
presenting it in a form to incorporate it into the organization. This can be in the
form of a knowledge base, electronic library, and/or knowledge repository.
Combination or explicit to explicit is used for transferring best practice
knowledge (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).

Figure 7.2 Nonaka and Takeuchi’s knowledge matrix.

The Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization (SECI)

model, as it is commonly referred to, provides the conversion process that
transitions individual knowledge into corporate or organizational knowledge.
This knowledge is then leveraged to achieve organizational vision, strategic
objectives, and performance expectations (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). This
model will serve as the basis to perform knowledge sharing within the first
responders when they are deployed to a crisis/emergency event.
 In determining the components of a suitable KM strategy for first responders,
a determination must be made on the way they serve their clients; the types of
knowledge that must be shared, captured, and available for reuse; and should
align with the strategic direction of the organization.
The analysis documented in this chapter indicates the way in which first
responders serve their clients. Besides the factors influencing the selection of a
KM strategy, as indicated by Haggie and Kingston, this information will also
drive the formation of a KM strategy for first responders. First responders must
have a KM strategy that supports the following:

Quick and decisive decision making, collaborative communication, and

situational analysis (Balogun et al., 2006)
Acquiring EMS-specific knowledge (Coleman, 2007)
Knowledge recognition, needs assessment and allocation, and feedback and
evaluation (Lesson and Sobel, 2007)
Expertise coordination practices (Faraj and Xiao, 2006)
Command and control structure (Balogun et al., 2006)
Learning and knowledge transfer (Balogun et al., 2006)

Quick and Decisive Decision Making

To support quick and decisive decision making, collaborative communication,
and situational analysis, there has to be an incident command structure that
disseminates integrated information and knowledge by using real-time
communications (National Incident Management System, 2008). During an
emergency, firefighters are operating in an atmosphere of panic fear and
confusion (Balogun et al., 2006) as well as being under pressure to absorb
information rapidly, and judge its meaning, relevance, and reliability (Carver and
Turoff, 2007). This information and knowledge of the crisis event is being
passed along from individual to individual, team to team, and agency to agency.
As this communication escalates, there is a need to incorporate technology to
facilitate the rapid flow of information and knowledge that will enable quick and
decisive decision making and situational analysis.
The KM strategy for first responders will facilitate quick and decisive decision
making through the implementation of an incident command structure and will
be further supported by integrating the NIMS protocols, procedures, and policies
as indicated by the communications and information management, and the
command and management components of NIMS. The communications and
information management component will provide common communications
planning and process standardization, whereas the command and management
component will provide incident command; multiagency coordination; and
public information protocols, procedures, and policies in support of the KM
strategy.

Acquiring EMS Knowledge

EMSs has emerged as an important part of what services Fire Departments and
first responders provide to the public. As Fire Departments evolve to include
EMS. EMS personnel are being hired within Fire Departments, and these
personnel have to be trained on how to deliver firefighting tasks, which include
confining and extinguishing fires, forcible entry, search and rescue, ventilation,
salvage and overhaul, and aerial ladder execution (Baker, 2008). This emergence
has also increased the need for traditional first responders to acquire EMS
knowledge, which includes basic to advance life support. In order to facilitate
the acquisition of the appropriate knowledge for all firefighter personnel, a plan
for cross-training within the Fire Department to efficiently and effectively
deliver its services should be included within the KM strategy. The
establishment of knowledge transfer activities is supported by the NIMS
preparedness component, which includes protocols for planning, training and
exercises, personnel qualifications, and licensure and certification, including
equipment certification (National Incident Management System, 2008).

Knowledge Recognition, Needs Assessment and Allocation

Feedback, and Evaluation
First responders are operating under pressure as well as in an atmosphere of
panic fear and confusion. During an emergency event, the firefighter first
responder has to know details about the event as it is happening, what is needed
to address the event, who needs specific information and knowledge, and what
action(s) have to be taken. This course of action happens in a continuous cycle
and is supported by the details within the human computer interface section of
the emergency management process. In addition, the NIMS protocols,
procedures, and policies as indicated by the communications and information
management, and the command and management components support the
knowledge recognition, needs assessment and allocation feedback, and
evaluation mechanisms needed in a KM strategy for first responders.

Expertise Coordination Practices

During an emergency event, knowledge is being exchanged in a rapid nature.
Expertise coordination will establish the process to enable the management of
this knowledge and skill interdependencies. Expertise coordination practices
(ECP) as part of the Fire Department KM strategy for its first responders will
support knowledge sharing and expertise vetting during emergency events (Faraj
and Xiao, 2006).
The ECP protocols supported by the KM strategy as identified by Faraj and
Xiao will be as follows:

Protocols to streamline work and reduce process uncertainty

Plug-n-play teaming arrangements, which allow for flexibility of personnel
Communities of Practice (CoP) for operational responsibility and training
Knowledge externalization to increase knowledge sharing

Expertise coordination activities are supported by the NIMS’s resource

management component, which includes protocols, procedures, and policies to
support the facilitation and coordination of resources throughout every phase of
the emergency event (National Incident Management System, 2008). It also
addresses the coordination of knowledge among individuals, teams, and
agencies.

Command and Control Structure

Command and control address the management of information and knowledge at
the tactical level (Balogun et al., 2006). At the tactical level, the KM strategy
will address functional (tacit) knowledge at the operation level, which includes
task planning (what tasks to do, when to do, and how to execute the task)
(Coleman, 2007), event monitoring (monitoring the actions taken and executed
during an emergency event) (Coleman, 2007), understanding the time and place
of emergency events, location and nature of the emergency event, reasoning
about the cause and effect of the incident, and lessons learned (Balogun et al.,
2006). Command and control has been identified as an integral part of any KM
system (Balogun et al., 2006), and the Fire Department KM strategy for first
responders should establish the protocols, processes, and procedures to address
command and control. The KM strategy should specifically establish protocols,
processes, and procedures for planning, monitoring, and learning; distributed
knowledge framework to support teams; and support critical decision making
(Balogun et al., 2006). The establishment command and control activities are
supported by the NIMS’s command and management component, which
includes protocols to support incident command, multiagency coordination, and
public information (National Incident Management System, 2008).

Learning and Knowledge Transfer

Because information and knowledge of the crisis event is being passed along
from individual to individual, team to team, and agency to agency, there is a
need to incorporate policies, procedures, and protocols to facilitate an
atmosphere of learning and knowledge transfer. The learning and knowledge
transfer must not only take place between the various factions during an
emergency but also between the firefighter personnel, traditional firefighters, and
EMS personnel. The management and transfer of knowledge as identified by
Burstein et al. facilitates organizational learning, instills a culture of learning that
contribute to creativity, and the transfer and reuse of knowledge contributes to
increasing overall organizational knowledge (Burstein et al., 2004). They state
that organizational learning is the “capacity or process within an organization to
maintain or improve performance based on experience” (Burstein et al., 2004, p.
318). Learning and knowledge transfer will be a key ingredient in the KM
strategy for Fire Departments and for the first responders they deploy on
emergency events.

Types of KM Strategies
Three types of KM strategies, namely Codification (Technological) (Haggie and
Kingston, 2003; Nicolas, 2004; Smith, 2004), Personalization (Nicolas, 2004;
Smith, 2004), and Socialization (Nicolas, 2004), as identified in the literature,
will be examined further to ascertain the best-suited KM strategy for first
responders.
Codification (Technological) KM Strategy
A Codification or Technological KM strategy focuses on collecting tacit and
explicit knowledge, storing it in a knowledge repository, knowledge base, and/or
electronic library, and providing it in an explicit codified form (Haggie and
Kingston, 2003; Nicolas, 2004; Smith, 2004). This strategy is designed to
transition individual knowledge to organizational knowledge. This type of KM
strategy is supported by individuals making their tacit knowledge explicit in
order for it to be transferred and codified. Furthermore, this strategy is associated
with the externalization aspects of Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model to
transition knowledge from tacit to explicit and also includes Nonaka and
Takeuchi’s combination aspects of the SECI model to transition the explicit
knowledge into an electronic format (as mentioned earlier), which can be
accessed and reused by anyone in the organization.

Personalization KM Strategy
A Personalization KM strategy uses technology to assist in the process of people
communicating sharing their knowledge (Nicolas, 2004; Smith, 2004). This type
of KM strategy manages knowledge that is tied to or associated with a person
and is commonly shared directly via person-to-person contact (Smith, 2004). In
addition, this KM strategy facilitates and manages knowledge that is centered on
learning through shared experience (Nicolas, 2004). The technology leveraged in
this strategy consist of CoP, Web 2.0 technologies (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, and
LinkedIn), and other knowledge networks and discussion boards, with the
objective to transfer, communicate, and exchange knowledge (Nicolas, 2004;
Smith, 2004). This strategy is associated with the socialization aspects of
Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model, which details tacit-to-tacit knowledge
exchange.

Socialization KM Strategy
A Socialization KM strategy combines both the Codification or Technological
KM strategy and the Personalization KM strategy (Nicolas, 2004). This strategy
manages knowledge generated by individuals and groups. Nicolas states that
these groups inhabit the same knowledge space and interact through
relationships both individual and within and between groups (Nicolas, 2004).
This strategy is designed to exchange and pool knowledge (Nicolas, 2004). In
combining both the Codification and the Personalization KM strategies, the
Socialization KM strategy combines the externalization aspects of Nonaka and
Takeuchi’s SECI model to transition knowledge from tacit to explicit; the
combination aspects of the SECI model to transition explicit to explicit forms of
knowledge for electronic storage and reuse; and the socialization aspects of
Nonaka and Takeuchi’s SECI model, to facilitate individual and group tacit to
tacit knowledge exchange.

Factors Influencing the Selection of a KM Strategy

Having an understanding of the essential aspects of an effective KM strategy for
first responders will serve as the building blocks in creating a KM strategy
template. However, an examination of the factors that may influence these
aspects is warranted. These factors could determine what will and will not be
included in the final KM strategy.
A KM strategy for firefighter first-responder organizations as indicated by
Haggie and Kingston can be influenced by several factors, such as
current/planned KM strategy, business sector characteristics, strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), value focus, organizational
structure, organizational culture, and nature of knowledge (see Table 7.1)
(Haggie and Kingston, 2003).
Based on the factors influencing the selection of a KM strategy, Haggie and
Kingston recommend performing the following activities to identify the
appropriate KM strategy and initiatives

identifying the business drivers for your organization, performing an

organizational Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
(SWOT) analysis to clearly identify the product and/or service,
identify the primary organizational value to its market, use findings to
identify primary KM area(s) to consider, identify knowledge intensive
activities, prioritize and make an assessment of the high priority
activities to be addressed by the KM strategy, and perform feasibility
checks on the proposed KM approach. (Haggie and Kingston, 2003, p.
18)

These influencers will be examined when developing a KM strategy template to

be adopted by the Fire Department for first responders.

Table 7.1 Factors Influencing the Selection of a KM Strategy

Factor Examples
Current/planned knowledge Goals, desired applications, technology capabilities,
management strategy and analytic/synthetic approach
Business sector characteristics Highly regulated, innovative, risk factors,
competitiveness, globalization, etc.
Strengths, weaknesses, Reputation, leading product, changing regulations,
opportunities, and threats acquisitions and mergers, globalization, etc.
(SWOT)
Value focus Operational excellence, product leadership, or
customer intimacy
Organizational structure Hierarchical and loose
Organizational culture Team spirit, individualistic, sharing, and learning
Nature of knowledge Explicit, implicit, or tacit; task type:
symbolic/numeric/geometric/perceptual
Source: Adapted from Haggie and Kingston (2003).

Aligning the KM Strategy with the Business Strategy

Knowledge is viewed as the most valuable resource by an organization. Because
of the importance of knowledge to the organization, it is viewed as making a
difference in organizational performance. It is my experience more often than
not knowledge is poorly managed and that in order to capture the benefits of
managing knowledge, an organizational KM strategy is necessary. It is also my
experience that a KM strategy must align with the organization’s business
strategy to be effective. In order to align the firefighter first-responder KM
strategy with the overall Fire Department business strategy and examination of
how to align both strategies must take place.
To understand how to align the KM strategy with the business strategy,
Ekionea and Swain have identified three types of business strategies: defender,
prospector, and analyzer (Ekionea and Swain, 2008). The defender business
strategy does not seek new opportunities beyond its competence, seldom carries
out major adjustments in business structure or technology, is the most stable of
the three business strategies, offers high quality products, provides service at an
low price, and retains customers by improving business processes (Ekionea and
Swain, 2008). The prospector business strategy prefers to research without
interruption looking for new products or market opportunities, serves as change
agents, invests in innovation through R&D, and seeks flexible technology
options (Ekionea and Swain, 2008). The analyzer business strategy shares
characteristics of the both the defender and prospector business strategies as well
as seeks to reduce risks, maximize opportunities for growth and change while
improving business performance (Ekionea and Swain, 2008).
In addition, Ekionea and Swain (2008) have identified three types of KM
strategy focus areas of efficiency (improving business efficiency), flexibility
(supporting flexibility in business opportunities), and comprehensive (supporting
both efficiency and flexibility). The characteristics of their KM strategy focus
areas align with Haggie and Kingston, Nicolas, and Smith’s KM strategies of
Codification, Personalization, and Socialization. Codification aligns with the
efficiency focus area through the influence of technology to capture knowledge
and improve the efficiency of decision making. Personalization aligns with the
flexibility focus area supporting inter-organizational capabilities and processes.
Socialization aligns with the comprehensive focus area through its combination
of both KM strategies and focus areas. Given this alignment, we can extrapolate
the KM strategy and business strategy alignment based on Ekionea and Swain’s
analysis to be Codification/Efficiency KM strategy aligning knowledge activities
with the defender business strategy to improve business processes;
Personalization/Flexibility KM strategy aligning knowledge activities with the
prospector business strategy to achieve new business opportunities; and
Socialization/Comprehensive KM strategy aligning knowledge activities with
the analyzer business strategy to reduce business risk and maximize business
growth.

Firefighter First-Responder KM Strategy

The key areas stated earlier that an effective firefighter first-responder KM
strategy must include quick and decisive decision making, collaborative
communication, and situational analysis, acquiring EMS-specific knowledge,
being able to quickly act to change, perform task planning, event monitoring,
distribute knowledge, perform knowledge recognition, needs assessment and
allocation, feedback and evaluation, ECP, command and control, and learning
and knowledge transfer. The adoption of NIMS policies, procedures, and
protocols can be adopted to support and guide the execution of the KM strategy.
Leveraging the NIMS protocols within the KM strategy would provide the basis
for all firefighter first-responder organizations to adopt a common KM strategy
template.
The KM strategy components that correspond to the key areas of an effective
firefighter first-responder KM strategy include incident command structure,
knowledge acquisition, knowledge transfer, knowledge recognition, needs
assessment and Allocation, KM feedback and evaluation, ECP, and command
and control structure. The incident command structure will leverage the policies,
procedures, and protocols established by the NIMS’s communications and
information management as well as the command and management components.
These protocols will facilitate quick and decisive decision making, collaborative
communication, and situational analysis identified as key areas for the firefighter
first-responder KM strategy. The knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer
(see section on Knowledge Transfer Planning for further details) areas of the
KM strategy will address the need to acquire EMS-specific knowledge and
provide cross-training between EMS and standard firefighting personnel. This
area of the KM strategy will leverage the NIMS policy, procedures, and
protocols identified in the preparedness component. Knowledge recognition,
needs assessment, and allocation will incorporate the design and execution of a
knowledge audit (KA) (see section on Knowledge Audit for further details). This
area of the KM strategy will leverage the NIMS policy, procedures, and
protocols identified in the communication and information management
component.
The KM feedback and evaluation area of the KM strategy will incorporate the
delivery and execution of an after action review (AAR); see Appendix B, and the
section on AARs for further details. This area of the KM strategy will leverage
the NIMS policy, procedures, and protocols identified in the command and
management component. The ECP area of the KM strategy will address the need
to manage knowledge and skill interdependencies and support knowledge
sharing of personnel that are deployed to an emergency/crisis event. This area of
the KM strategy will leverage the NIMS policy, procedures, and protocols
identified in the resource management component. The command and control
structure area of the KM strategy is addressing the management of information
and knowledge at the tactical level. This includes task planning, event
monitoring, time/place of emergency events, nature of the event, cause and
effect of the incident, and lessons learned. This area of the KM strategy is also
supported by the NIMS policy, procedures, and protocols identified in the
command and management component, in addition to the execution of AARs to
capture lessons learned.

Knowledge Transfer Planning

Knowledge transfer planning facilitates an organization’s capability to
encourage and allow learning to occur. Essentially, knowledge transfer is a
culture-based process by which adaptive organizational knowledge that lies in
people’s heads is exchanged with others. Formal knowledge transfer is another
basic process by which documents, data, or other types of resources is captured
and stored in formats and media that allows for retrieval by others when needed.
The objective of a knowledge transfer is to detail the methods, tools, and
activities involved in successfully imparting knowledge to the workers of the
enterprise.
To foster an atmosphere of knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer within
an organization, the process of knowledge transfer should include the following:

Identifying the key knowledge holders within the organization

Creating an environment that motivates people to share
Designing a sharing mechanism to facilitate the transfer
Executing the knowledge transfer plan
Measuring to ensure the transfer of knowledge
Applying the knowledge transferred

Knowledge Audit
A is usually conducted as a precursor to introducing a KM strategy (Crilly et al.,
2005). The KA typically has three components: an examination of the sources of
data, information, and knowledge that are available, how they are used, and what
are the gaps that exist, if any (Crilly et al., 2005). A complete KA will examine
the key knowledge holders and existing knowledge systems, and determine how
they support the functions and needs of the organization. The KA will examine
the knowledge gaps and determine whether the intellectual capital exist currently
in the organization to fill the gap or if new knowledge has to be acquired (Crilly
et al., 2005).

Action Plan—After Action Reviews

In order to determine the success of initial KM initiatives, it is important to
conduct reviews after the completion of each initiative. The use of AAR is an
excellent tool to accomplish this. An AAR is a facilitated session conducted with
a team or group after completion of a KM initiative (United States Agency
International Development [USAID], 2006). The objective of an AAR is to
capture the new knowledge gained from the execution of the initiative and to
have it become part of the corporate knowledge culture. Specifically, AARs

Make learning conscious and explicit.

Identify valuable lessons that may be helpful to future teams.
Enhance team openness and cooperation.
Allow closure at the end of an initiative.

The steps involved in completing/conducting an AAR are described below. This

information is summarized from the USAID After-Action Review Technical
Guide.

1. Assemble participants as soon as practicable after the event(s).

2. Establish rules and explain objectives.
3. Summarize events as they were planned to occur, with work and time
estimates, as appropriate.
4. Elicit discussion on how the events actually took place. Strategies to make
this happen include the following:
– Identify mistakes, but don’t assign blame. The focus should be on the
actions, not on the actors.
– Articulate assumptions (the explicit statement of previously overlooked
assumptions often leads to better solutions).
– Address objective and subjective dimensions of the events (discussion
subjects, including attitudes, expectations, fatigue, and stress, may help
to explain outcomes in addition to more objective information).
5. Record results. List the associates who participated, what learning was
achieved, what changes are planned, and what practices will be
strengthened (some of the observations of the AAR will need to be shared
 with higher and lower levels of the organization).
6. Establish the expectation of AARs as a regular, reoccurring feature of your
organization’s operations. They should not be considered a sign of failure
(as a group activity, the AAR can promote group cohesiveness and
identity. Through repetition, it makes individuals more reflective
practitioners).
7. The following AAR pitfalls must be avoided:
– Allowing performance critiques
– Lecturing
– Overanalyzing minutiae
– Griping, complaining, and general negativity
– Allowing stronger personalities to dominate the review, keeping others
from participating

The AAR discussion is a process of discovery, as all team members share their
perspectives on what happened and why. The shared observations of the newest
interns through the senior-most associates are essential to piece together how and
why some objectives were met and others were not (United States Agency
International Development [USAID], 2006).

Additional KM Strategy Template Elements

In addition, the KM strategy will include an executive summary, KM mission
statement, KM vision, KM roles and responsibilities, initial KM initiatives,
dependencies, and ongoing KM support. The KM mission statement
encapsulates the KM mission of the organization and sets the definition of
knowledge and KM for the organization to follow. The KM vision is specific to
the organization choosing to implement a KM strategy. The KM vision will
provide a roadmap for integrating the KM strategy with the strategy of the
organization (Bohmann et al., 2007). The firefighter first-responder KM strategy
template (see Appendix B) is one that can be leveraged by firefighter first-
responder organizations to develop a KM strategy. This template represents the
results of the research completed in this section.

Conclusion
Knowledge is an organization’s most valuable resource. Although people,
process, and technology can give an organization a competitive edge, the
improper management of that knowledge to build, organize, and leverage its
people, process, and technology will be to the detriment of that organization
(Smith, 2004).
Constructing a KM strategy for the Fire Department and the first responders
they deploy must be consistent from station to station, whether the station serves
urban or rural areas, and the demographics of the community in which it serves.
The KM strategy must contain elements of, codification, personalization and
socialization. Based on this research and understanding the complexities of the
KM strategy for Fire Department first responders, a KM strategy that
incorporates the key areas of quick and decisive decision making, collaborative
communication, and situational analysis, acquiring EMS-specific knowledge,
being able to quickly act to change, perform task planning, event monitoring,
distribute knowledge, perform knowledge recognition, needs assessment and
allocation, feedback and evaluation, ECP, command and control, and learning
and knowledge transfer; understanding the types of knowledge that must be
captured; and the associated NIMS policies, procedures, and protocols will be
successful.
In addition, the research that contributed to this chapter has uncovered that the
KM strategy must align with the business strategy of the organization. Although
the focus of this research is on developing and delivering a KM strategy for Fire
Departments and the first responders they deploy, an in-depth study of the
business strategies deployed by Fire Departments are warranted.
Furthermore, the alignment of those business strategies with Fire Department
KM strategies will facilitate the process of institutionalizing KM, thereby
making it a part of the culture of the Fire Department and the first responders
they deploy. This alignment will also provide insight on the methods,
technologies, policies, procedures, and protocols that should be used to provide a
holistic strategic approach that will bring for the people who deliver services to
the various communities, the Fire Department as a business to improve its
overall operations and increase business value to its communities, and the people
of the communities who depend on a timely, efficient, and effective service to be
delivered by the Fire Department no matter where they live or the situation that
may arise.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

A way to mitigate the contributing factors related to the lack of available

knowledge during an emergency or crisis situation must be taken into
consideration when developing a KM strategy for first responders.
All first-responder agencies must implement and operationalize a
comprehensive KM strategy in order to deliver the right knowledge to the
right people and in the right way.
Leveraging the SECI model will provide the basis for sharing knowledge
during an emergency/crisis situation.
When developing a KM strategy for first responders, consider the factors
that influence the selection of a KM strategy as depicted in Table 7.1
(Haggie and Kingston, 2003).

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter:

As communication escalates during an emergency/crisis, technology must

be incorporated to facilitate the rapid flow of information and knowledge
that will enable quick and decisive decision making and situational analysis.
It is extremely important to conduct AARs upon the conclusion (or periods
during) and during the execution of KM initiatives. The learning gained
from these AARs must be reviewed and taken into consideration when other
KM initiatives are launched to ensure success.
In order to increase the adoption rate and socialize the KM strategy for first-
responder organizations and the systems that are deployed, examine the
information presented in Chapter 17.
Chapter 8

Happily Ever After: Knowledge Management

in Mergers and Acquisitions

During these challenging economic times, many corporations are facing the
prospect of merging with other firms to not only survive but also to have a
sustainable and viable business in the future.
According to a November 2015 CNBC article by Catherine Boyle, mergers
and acquisitions (M&A) have hit the US$4 trillion mark and could reach record
highs. Recent mergers include leading microchip maker Intel agreeing to buy
Altera in a deal worth US$16.7 billion; pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreeing to
buy Hospira in a deal worth approximately US$ 17 billion; and
telecommunications giant Charter Communications agreeing to merge with Time
Warner Cable for US$78.7 billion, creating one of the largest cable television
and broadband Internet providers in existence. In these cases and in all M&A,
there is a need to identify the key knowledge holders in order to ensure the
success of the merger and/or acquisition.
The effect of these mergers will and often leads to a loss of valuable
knowledge from both sides of the merger/acquisition equation. This loss of
knowledge is due to positions being consolidated and/or eliminated, other
personnel taking early retirement package or other financial incentives. The
question is how do we identify who the key knowledge holders are and what
knowledge do they hold? Also, has it been determined that this is viable
knowledge to the “new” organization going forward and what is our plan to
retain, capture, or acquire this knowledge?
All of these questions can be answered with a comprehensive knowledge
management (KM) strategy that includes a human capital management
component, geared to identify viable initiatives that will address these questions.
One such initiative will be to develop a knowledge map of the organization to be
acquired. A knowledge map is a mechanism used to identify key knowledge and
the knowledge holders of the organization. Once these maps are completed,
further analysis is needed to determine the process, procedures, and initiatives
necessary to prioritize, retain, and/or acquire knowledge that may leave. Often,
organizational knowledge is the reason certain mergers happen. KM is the
mechanism to transit individual knowledge to corporate knowledge and
facilitates its availability for all employees.
People are at the core of any merger and acquisition, and these transactions
thrive and survive on the strength of how corporate cultures and its people can
be meshed together. Understanding who the critical knowledge holders are and
their relationships as well as their roles, responsibilities, and work products are
all components of sound human capital management.
This understanding will lead to determining which positions and personnel
perform duplicate functions, which will lead to an understanding of the
employees that should be terminated (better yet receive a package and convinced
to leave!). Not only do you have to determine which personnel perform duplicate
functions, but also who is more valuable through his/her experience, education,
and importance to the organization going forward. The human capital
management component of the overall KM strategy (see Chapter 6) is also an
investment in employee selection and development. This contributes to the
organization meeting its goals and objectives of not only the merger but also for
the new organization on an ongoing basis. In addition, we must keep in mind
that executing a KM strategy with a human capital management component can
be the catalyst to increased adaptability, enhanced worker performance, and with
the current economic climate, having the ability to do more with your existing
personnel resources.

M&A: The Basics

The key principle behind buying a company is to create shareholder value over
and above that of the sum of the two companies. Two companies together are
more valuable than two separate companies—at least, that’s the reasoning
behind M&A. This rationale is particularly alluring to companies when times are
tough. Strong companies will act to buy other companies to create a more
competitive, cost-efficient company. The companies will come together hoping
to gain a greater market share or to achieve greater efficiency. Because of these
potential benefits, target companies will often agree to be purchased when they
know they cannot survive alone.

Horizontal merger: Two companies that are in direct competition and share
 the same product lines and markets.
Vertical merger: A customer and company or a supplier and company. Think
of a cone supplier merging with an ice cream maker.
Market-extension merger: Two companies that sell the same products in
different markets.
Product-extension merger: Two companies selling different but related
products in the same market.
Conglomeration: Two companies that have no common business areas. There
are two types of mergers that are distinguished by how the merger is
financed. Each has certain implications for the companies involved and for
investors:
Purchase merger: As the name suggests, this kind of merger occurs when one
company purchases another. The purchase is made with cash or through the
issue of some kind of debt instrument; the sale is taxable. Acquiring
companies often prefer this type of merger, because it can provide them
with a tax benefit. Acquired assets can be written-up to the actual purchase
price, and the difference between the book value and the purchase price of
the assets can depreciate annually, reducing taxes payable by the acquiring
company.
Consolidation mergers: With this merger, a brand new company is formed
and both companies are bought and combined under the new entity. The tax
terms are the same as those of a purchase merger.
Reverse merger: A reverse merger occurs when a private company that has
strong prospects and is eager to raise financing buys a publicly listed shell
company, usually one with no business and limited assets. The private
company reverse merges into the public company, and together they
become an entirely new public corporation with tradable shares. Regardless
of their category or structure, all M&A have one common goal: They are all
meant to create synergy that makes the value of the combined companies
greater than the sum of the two parts. The success of a merger or acquisition
depends on whether this synergy is achieved.

Acquisitions
An acquisition may be only slightly different from a merger. In fact, it may be
different in name only. Like mergers, acquisitions are actions through which
companies seek economies of scale, efficiencies, and enhanced market visibility.
Unlike all mergers, all acquisitions involve one firm purchasing another, and
there is no exchange of stock or consolidation as a new company. Acquisitions
are often amiable, and all parties feel satisfied with the deal. Other times,
acquisitions are more hostile. In an acquisition, as in some of the merger deals
we discussed above, a company can buy another company with cash, stock, or a
combination of the two. Another possibility, which is common in smaller deals,
is for one company to acquire all the assets of another company. Company X
buys all of Company Y’s assets for cash, which means that Company Y will
have only cash (and debt, if they had debt before). Of course, Company Y
becomes merely a shell and will eventually liquidate or enter another area of
business. Another type of acquisition is a reverse merger, a deal that enables a
private company to get publicly listed in a relatively short time period.

Distinction between M&A

Although they are often uttered in the same breath and used as though they were
synonymous, the terms “merger” and “acquisition” mean slightly different
things. When one company takes over another and clearly established itself as
the new owner, the purchase is called an “acquisition.” From a legal point of
view, the target company ceases to exist, the buyer “swallows” the business, and
the buyer’s stock continues to be traded. In the pure sense of the term, a
“merger” happens when two firms, often of about the same size, agree to go
forward as a single new company rather than remain separately owned and
operated.
This kind of action is more precisely referred to as a “merger of equals.” Both
companies’ stocks are surrendered and new company stock is issued in its place.
For example, both Daimler-Benz and Chrysler ceased to exist when the two
firms merged, and a new company, DaimlerChrysler, was created. In practice,
however, actual mergers of equals don’t happen very often. Usually, one
company will buy another and, as part of the deal’s terms, simply allow the
acquired firm to proclaim that the action is a merger of equals, even if it’s
technically an acquisition. Being bought out often carries negative connotations;
therefore, by describing the deal as a merger, deal makers and top managers try
to make the takeover more palatable.
A purchase deal will also be called a merger when both CEOs agree that
joining together is in the best interest of both of their companies. But when the
deal is unfriendly—that is, when the target company does not want to be
purchased—it is always regarded as an acquisition. Whether a purchase is
considered a merger or an acquisition really depends on whether the purchase is
friendly or hostile and how it is announced. In other words, the real difference
lies in how the purchase is communicated to and received by the target
company’s board of directors, employees, and shareholders.

Determining Synergies
Synergies are the magic force that allows for enhanced cost efficiencies of the
new business. Synergy takes the form of revenue enhancement and cost savings.
By merging, the companies hope to benefit from the following:

Staff reductions: As every employee knows, mergers tend to mean job losses.
Consider all the money saved from reducing the number of staff members
from accounting, marketing, and other departments. Job cuts will also
include the former CEO, who typically leaves with a compensation
package.
Economies of scale: Yes, size matters. Whether it’s purchasing stationary or a
new corporate IT system, a bigger company placing the orders can save
more on costs. Mergers also translate into improved purchasing power to
buy equipment or office supplies—when placing larger orders, companies
have a greater ability to negotiate prices with their suppliers.
Acquiring new technology: To stay competitive, companies need to stay on
top of technological developments and their business applications. By
buying a smaller company with unique technologies, a large company can
maintain or develop a competitive edge.
Improved market reach and industry visibility: Companies buy other
companies to reach new markets and grow revenues and earnings. A merger
may expand two companies’ marketing and distribution, giving them new
sales opportunities. A merger can also improve a company’s standing in the
investment community: bigger firms often have an easier time raising
capital than smaller ones.
That said, achieving synergy is easier said than done: It is not automatically
realized once two companies merge. Sure, there ought to be economies of
scale when two businesses are combined, but sometimes a merger does just
the opposite. In many cases, one and one add up to less than two. Sadly,
 synergy opportunities may exist only in the minds of the corporate leaders
and the deal makers. Where there is no value to be created, the CEO and
investment bankers—who have much to gain from a successful M&A deal
—will try to create an image of enhanced value. The market, however,
eventually sees through this and penalizes the company by assigning it a
discounted share price.

Synergies can also be uncovered among the knowledge held by the organizations
involved. Understanding who are the key knowledge holders, what they know,
and the importance of what they know as it pertains to the objectives of the
“new” organization is critical to the merger/acquisition being a success or not.

The People Side of the M&A

The people side of M&As as pointed out by Dr. Mark Braverman (2007) in his
research entitled “The Human Side of Due Diligence: Protecting the M&A
Investment,” which is centered around applying KM principles, practices, and
policies to produce high-performing, highly effective workforce.
Corporate mergers are about more than numbers and market opportunities,
which is why CEOs need to think about the long-term fit of two corporate
cultures as well as the financial and market aspects. Here are four bases to touch
on the “people side” of M&A due diligence that CEOs should never overlook.

Employees
Employees become naturally fearful when M&A are rumored. Will the
employees retain their jobs? Even if they do, will it be the kind of jobs that they
are used to? They are all too aware that the executives exiting from their
company, once it is acquired, will receive sweetened deals in the forms of
settlements, a responsible position in the new organization, or a combination of
both. But where are employees left?
In the not-for-profit credit union world, it is standard to retain employees for
at least 2 years after a credit union merger. In some cases, these employees are
“tried out” in the new organization—and if they do well, they are retained for a
long term. The key here for both the acquiring and the acquired organizations is
to know what exactly is going to happen to the employees on both sides of the
merger—and to be transparent and tell them. At least, one merger was so
incredibly “stealth” that it took a major lawsuit and several extra years of
employee and management maliciousness before the organization got through it.

Boards
Who is going to sit on the board after a merger or acquisition completes? Often,
the acquired organization gets at least one seat on the acquiring company’s
board. For the CEO, this can be easier said than done. Do you alter your board
organization to include more seats? How will the votes be distributed? Will all
board positions be voting positions? Are incumbent board members replaced?
Because of potential political fallout and a need to retain the highest caliber
talent on the board, this should be a major political line item in any merger or
acquisition evaluation.

Customers and Other Stakeholders

There are those outside of both companies who have been loyal customers and
stakeholders for years. What is going to happen to them once the two companies
merge? The CMO and CEO should be integrally involved in this area of strategy
—because you could very well lose customers as a consequence of ineffective
“advance messaging” to them on what is going to happen to services, products,
retail outlets, and so on.

Operations
Most organizations know how important it is to get IT in on early evaluations for
potential mergers or acquisitions, because different organizations invariably have
different systems, and at some point, these systems must come together.
However, it is equally important to pay the same amount of attention to daily
operations. How similar are both business and IT governance standards (and
work ethics) between the two organizations? Are operations in manufacturing,
sales, and the back office sufficiently similar, so that work processes do not have
to be redefined and employees retrained?

Communication
Communication can help employee to manage the merger syndrome, because it
informs them of the changes in their environment, thus reducing uncertainty and
ambiguity. Communication is the most valuable commodity for the successful
implementation of a merger or acquisition. The specific communication
objectives change for every phase of integration. As the deal moves through its
phases, information changes and the circle of knowledge grows. Nothing is a
secret for long, and leaders must be prepared, not only for what they know is
coming but also for the unexpected. Leaders should follow a phased approach to
communication, in which planning is sensitive to continuing information flowing
from multiple organizational levels about the progress of integration. Again, if
resources or expertise is lacking, leadership can seek out help.
Information flow in a company is one of the most important aspects of a
merger that must be understood and consistently adhered to. The trust level in
the organization must not deteriorate. An environment must be maintained where
people feel they can be straightforward and share information/knowledge with
other colleagues. When this environment is compromised, people will often feel
that they are afraid to disagree with higher management, let alone new
management.
Communication is a requirement for financial success, because low morale,
high turnover, direct costs in workers’ compensation and healthcare
expenditures, and lowered productivity will all have consequences for the level
of return on investment. Leaders cannot assume they can and will know
everything. But they do have a responsibility to put into place the structures that
will maximize their awareness as they go forward. Leaders who confront change
effectively are rewarded with superior business performance on the part of their
employees. When employees believe their employer is effectively managing
change, it is perceived as a gain for shareholders. Conversely, when employees
believe their employer is not effectively managing change, it is perceived as a
loss for shareholders. Avoiding the human issues in M&A is essential for
success. Proper planning for the management of people issues in a merger or
acquisition should be a top priority.

Productivity
The potential loss in productivity goes beyond mere wasting of time in worry
and water cooler talk. After a merger or acquisition, employees who feel
uncertain about their job security and mistrustful of leadership regarding the sale
may be unmotivated and averse to risk. They will not come forward with new
ideas, communicate with leadership, or be creative. The tendency is to try to
maintain a low profile and do the minimum, staying “under the radar.”
Planning for those employees who will continue on after the merger or
acquisition is a key ingredient for success. More often than not, however, this
planning is limited to a narrow fixation on payroll and percentages; a shrinking
in the employment rolls is often part of the plan, not only in a merger where
synergies are expected but also in an acquisition as part of the striving for
efficiencies. Formulating a retention plan, leveraging information uncovered as
the result in creating a knowledge map will change the typical focus of to a small
handful of top people, a few people at the middle and lower levels, creating a
climate where valuable staff are vulnerable to poaching by competitors.
An acquisition or merger can create conditions in which a company is at risk
for losing those people who may be critical to immediate and longer term
business success by virtue of their management skills, knowledge of business
systems and processes, and intellectual capital. This can have consequences, not
only downstream but also for the transaction itself. Organizations considering
mergers or acquisitions should have these “people centric” line items on their
M&A checklists—but many do not. The political fallout from a corporate move
such as this can be major, which is why organizations that perform their due
diligence with attention to people as well as to markets and numbers succeed
most often.

Leveraging KM in Company Valuation

Investors in a company who aim to take over another one must determine
whether the purchase will be beneficial to them. In order to do so, they must ask
themselves how much the company being acquired is really worth.
Naturally, both sides of an M&A deal will have different ideas about the
worth of a target company: Its seller will tend to value the company at as high of
a price as possible, while the buyer will try to get the lowest price that he or she
can. There are, however, many legitimate ways to value companies. The most
common method is to look at comparable companies in an industry, but deal
makers employ a variety of other methods and tools when assessing a target
company. Here are just a few of them:

1. Comparative ratios: The following are two examples of the many

comparative metrics on which acquiring companies may base their offers:
 a. Price earnings ratio (P/E ratio): With the use of this ratio, an acquiring
company makes an offer that is a multiple of the earnings of the target
company. Looking at the P/E for all the stocks within the same industry
group will give the acquiring company good guidance for what the
target’s P/E multiple should be.
b. Enterprise-value-to-sales ratio (EV/sales): With this ratio, the acquiring
company makes an offer as a multiple of the revenues, again, while
being aware of the price-to-sales ratio of other companies in the
industry.
2. Replacement cost: In a few cases, acquisitions are based on the cost of
replacing the target company. For simplicity’s sake, suppose the value of a
company is simply the sum of all its equipment and staffing costs. The
acquiring company can literally order the target to sell at that price, or it
will create a competitor for the same cost. Naturally, it takes a long time to
assemble good management, acquire property, and get the right equipment.
This method of establishing a price certainly wouldn’t make much sense in
a service industry where the key assets—people and ideas—are hard to
value and develop.
3. Discounted cash flow (DCF): A key valuation tool in M&A, DCF analysis
determines a company’s current value according to its estimated future
cash flows. Forecasted free cash flows (operating profit + depreciation +
amortization of goodwill - capital expenditures - cash taxes - change in
working capital) are discounted to a present value using the company’s
weighted average costs of capital (WACC). Admittedly, DCF is tricky to
get right, but few tools can rival this valuation method.

The need to make the most of organizational knowledge—to get as much value
from it as possible—is greater now than in the past. Companies are finding
themselves with piles of information within multiple channels, locked away in
silos—different systems, different departments, different geographies, and
different data types, making it impossible to connect the dots and make sense of
critical business information. New computing models such as cloud and social
business are exacerbating organizations’ ability to collect, analyze, and process
data. The data is there, but it isn’t being harnessed in the right way to increase
our collective knowledge. And it is our collective organizational knowledge that
gives us the edge over our competition.
For a potential merger, understanding the value of the organization to be
acquired is critical to positioning a price that is both equitable and acceptable to
the acquired company. If your organization is positioning itself to be sold,
understanding how KM can increase the overall value of the company is
essential to obtaining a fair price. So, how do we leverage KM to understand the
value of the organization? One such way is to apply the concepts presented in
the knowledge value equation (see Figure 8.1) by Mark Clare (2002). This
equation aligns with the third method/tool used when assessing a company
(stated above), which examines the use of DCF and presents an equation: KM
value = F (cost, benefit, and risk) = Total DCF created over life of KM
investment. The equation states that the value created from managing knowledge
is a function of the costs, benefits, and risks of the KM investment (project or
strategy) in leveraging and protecting the knowledge (Clare, 2002).

Figure 8.1 Knowledge value equation.

An important concept identified in determining the knowledge value equation

is to build a knowledge value tree (see Figure 8.2). A knowledge value tree
makes the connection between knowledge and value in an organization more
visible by understanding the relationship and connection of KM functionality,
business impact, and financial impact (Clare, 2002). This viability of the value of
knowledge in the organization can be directly tied back to understanding what
competitive advantage your organization has in its marketplace, its percentage of
that market, and the potential to capture additional market share. An examination
of corporate valuation can be found in the book Valuation: Measuring and
Managing the Value of Companies by McKinsey & Company Inc. This is an
important factor when considering buying an organization as well as if you are
positioning your organization to be sold.
Figure 8.2 Knowledge value tree.

Knowledge and Economic Value

In a 2013 eBook from the Coveo Corporation entitled “Measuring Return on
Knowledge in a Big Data World,” it is stated that calculating the return on
knowledge is not a simple task, and yet it is important that organizational leaders
think about increasing return on this critical asset. Better knowledge can lead to
measurable efficiencies in product development and production. Employees use
it to make more informed decisions about strategy, competitors, customers,
distribution channels, and product and service life cycles. However, generally
accepted accounting principles do not record these assets.
Accounting research is coming up with ways to calculate the total value of a
company’s intangible assets, and, fortunately, techniques are improving. The
Coveo Corporation eBook outlined a method to calculate intangible value (CIV).
This method overcomes the drawbacks of the market-to-book method of valuing
intangibles, which simply subtracts a company’s book value from its market
value and labels the difference. Because it rises and falls with market sentiment,
the market-to-book figure cannot give a fixed value of intellectual capital. CIV,
on the other hand, examines earnings performance and identifies the assets that
produced those earnings.
Through the review of the Coveo Corps research, it can be seen that in the
past quarter century, the market value of companies in the S&P 500 has deviated
greatly from their book value. This value gap indicates that physical and
financial accountable assets reflected on a company’s balance sheet comprise
less than 20% of the true value of the average organization. Intangible book
value, or “goodwill,” is calculated by subtracting the tangible book value from
the market capitalization of a given company. Companies report tangible book
value per share, number of shares outstanding, and market capitalization.
Therefore, intangible book value can also be calculated by subtracting the
tangible book value per share multiplied by the number of shares outstanding
from the market capitalization. For example, as of February 14, 2013, Apple was
worth US$438.2 billion (otherwise known as its market capitalization). Its book
value (tangible assets) was valued at US$127.3 billion. Consequently, Apple’s
intangible assets were worth US$310.9 billion—or 70% of its total value. Using
these formulas, once return on knowledge is measured, calculated, and managed,
a company is ready to reap the competitive benefits that knowledge brings.
Search and relevance technology is an important component of this strategy.

Knowledge and Organizational Culture

An organization’s culture evolves from many sources. Culture is manifested in
policy and procedures, organizational structure, and everyday behaviors, both
formal and informal. These sources are the originators of knowledge within the
organization. Knowledge is the differentiator when it comes to increasing
competitive intelligence and creating a competitive advantage. Knowledge can
be interpreted within and outside of the organization in many ways. Included in
this interpretation is how knowledge is exchanged between geographically
dispersed employees, suppliers, and partners. The ability to blend (or align) the
culture of the companies involved in an M&A transaction is critical to its
success. Also critical to the success of an M&A transaction is understanding how
the knowledge assets of different organizations culture will fit together.
Contextual intelligence becomes an underlying ingredient in combining diverse
sources of knowledge during a merger and/or acquisition.
Contextual Intelligence
Contextual Intelligence is, according to Matthew Kutz, “a leadership
competency based on empirical research that integrates concepts of diagnosing
context and exercising knowledge”; Tarun Khanna (2014) states that
“understanding the limits of our knowledge is at the heart of contextual
intelligence” and Dr. Charles Brown (2002) states that “Contextual intelligence
is the practical application of knowledge and information to real-world
situations. This is an external, interactive process that involves both adapting to
and modifying an environment to accomplish a desired goal; as well as
recognizing when adaptation is not a viable option. This is the ability that is most
closely associated with wisdom and practical knowledge.”
Although there are several positions on what contextual intelligence is, Dr.
Brown’s assertion of contextual intelligence is considered to be precise. When it
comes to KM and contextual intelligence, context matters! Understanding that
contextual intelligence is link to our tacit knowledge, I immediately thought
about the connection between KM and contextual intelligence. KM among other
aspects is concerned with the ability to understand knowledge and adapt that
knowledge across a variety of environments (cultures) different from the origin
of that knowledge.
To enable the flow of knowledge to the right person in the right time and in
the right context, it is essential to understand the context of that knowledge.
Delivering knowledge in the right context to users; organizing, structuring, and
associating relevant content in the right context; understanding how content fits
together; and connecting questions to answers and people to experts are at the
heart of KM.
Understanding the context of knowledge consists of the following:

Understanding the intent of the knowledge

Understanding the cultural and environmental influences on the knowledge
Understanding the role (or who) the knowledge is intended to be used by
Understanding the relevancy of the knowledge (the knowledge could only
be valid for a specific period of time)
Understanding the origin (lineage) of the knowledge

Knowledge Mapping
At a time when organizations need to “know what they know” and use that
knowledge effectively, the size and geographic reach of many of them, along
with the proliferation of data, make it especially difficult to locate existing
knowledge and get it to where it is needed. Knowledge mapping first detailed in
Chapter 5 serves as the basis for locating knowledge and knowledge holders
anywhere it exist in the organization. Understanding the key knowledge holders
within the organizations is essential to knowing who should be terminated and
who should continue with the “new” organization. In addition, a knowledge map
will serve as a tool to unlock the knowledge in your organization to enable the
proper valuation and importance to the organization.
Once you let employees leave, you run the risk of pertinent knowledge leaving
with them. The focus of the knowledge mapping effort should center on the
employees of the organizations involved. The knowledge mapping deliverable
will be an extension of the people side analysis of the M&A transaction.
Before starting to develop the knowledge map (see Figure 8.3), ensure the
intentions are clear. This includes understanding the purpose and scope of the
knowledge map. The thing to keep in mind is that there is never a single map for
every purpose. Knowledge mapping is about relationships (people-to-people and
people-to-content), and how these relationships interact within the organization.

Figure 8.3 Knowledge map example.

To construct the knowledge map, you will go through a process that includes
interviewing employees to understand how they work, the processes they use,
the content they access, and the people they interact with. This is done because
knowledge is found in processes, relationships, policies, people, documents,
conversations, and through links to suppliers, competitors, and customers. This
information is used to graphically represent these relationships into a map.
However, instead of creating a static map, in which several views of the
knowledge would need to be created, using of software to create an interactive
map is ideal. An interactive knowledge map will provide different perspectives
of the relationships and the knowledge each employee has.

Knowledge Profile
A knowledge profile (KP) (see Figure 8.4) records skills, tools, practices, and
social networks; it highlights competencies, identifies gaps, helps with learning
programs to address deficits, realizes opportunities, and heightens awareness for
the owner and colleagues. A KP will provide detailed information about each
knowledge holder associated in a knowledge map.
KPs may focus on the individual where they form a key part of your personal
KM system or aimed at a “collective” view of a team, group, community, or
firm. Profiles may be constructed via manual or automatic means, highly
structured, or very informal, maintained by the end user or compiled from test
batteries and questionnaires by expert profilers and competency specialists.
A KP goes beyond determining information needs, guiding information
seeking behavior, and considers the adoption and use of tools, the condition and
functioning of (personal) social networks, and learning desires. Successful KPs
focus on the future; they reflect current skills and activities above past positions,
awards, and educational achievements, providing some indication of where and
how the person can best contribute to organizational and team goals.
KPs are often a key element in knowledge mapping, knowledge audits, and
customer relationship management, and play an increasing role in advanced
search, expertise location, agent-based work assignments, customer selling
strategies, and portal user-interfaces. Related information is found in yellow
pages, expertise directories, and academic resumes, but the KP is distinguished
by a list and evaluation of relationships (promotes flow), preferences and
proficiencies with communication systems/tools, and applicable tacit knowledge
strengths.
Figure 8.4 Knowledge profile example.

Why M&A Can Fail?

It’s no secret that plenty of mergers don’t work. Those who advocate mergers
will indicate that the merger will cut costs or boost revenues by more than
enough to justify the price being paid. It’s not as simple as just combining
computer systems, merging a few departments, eliminating redundant suppliers,
and the merged company will be more profitable than ever! Historical trends
show that roughly two-thirds of large mergers will lose value on the stock
market. The motivations that drive mergers can be flawed and efficiencies from
economies of scale may prove elusive.
Most research indicates that M&A activity has an overall success rate of about
50%. Chief executives of mid-market companies (generally speaking, businesses
with between US$20 and US$300 million in revenue) should keep those odds in
mind as deals are offered to them. The consequences of a failed merger or
acquisition are far greater for a mid-market company than for large corporations.
Large companies usually have enough resources to move on and maintain their
business. Most mid-market companies lack the finances or bandwidth to absorb
a bad deal.
Most transactions look great on paper, but few organizations pay attention to
the details; that is, how the deal will actually work once all the paperwork is
signed. This includes thoroughly assessing the culture of your target acquisition,
and determining if it is compatible with your company’s culture; understanding
if the deal in line with your corporate strategy in order to determine what
knowledge is necessary for the new company to successfully execute its strategy
and identify who the key knowledge holders are that support the strategy moving
forward.
Meticulously and diligently screening possible M&A deals may increase your
odds of success. However, consider the odds and remember to pay attention to
details: Is the deal priced, so that you can afford to put the necessary resources
into the integration while still having a return on investment? Is the acquisition,
along with all the costs and risks associated with it, a better choice than all other
alternatives? How does the organization retain the key knowledge holders? What
are the gaps in knowledge the organization needs to fill? How will the gaps in
knowledge be mitigated? Mid-market CEOs who can’t do the homework will be
better off reconsidering the transaction all together.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

Planning for those employees who will continue on after the merger or
acquisition is a key ingredient for success. Therefore, when planning
employee and/or business function consolidation (or elimination), an
understanding of what knowledge is needed and the key knowledge holders
is essential. Constructing a knowledge map is useful tool in this analysis.
Before conducting a knowledge mapping initiative, it is important that all
employees complete a KP. This will provide the necessary details of the
employees in order for the knowledge map to accurately reflect the “key”
knowledge holders of the organization.
Plenty of mergers don’t work; it’s not as simple as just combining computer
systems, merging a few departments, eliminating redundant suppliers, and
the merged company will be more profitable than ever! Yes, do your
homework!

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques that are deduced from this
chapter:

Understanding contextual intelligence is an important factor in determining

how to integrate knowledge between organizations in an M&A transaction.
If your organization is positioning itself to be sold, understanding how KM
can increase the overall value of the company is essential to obtain a fair
price. Leveraging the knowledge value equation will be an essential tool in
the valuation process.
When using the knowledge value equation, build a knowledge value tree. A
knowledge value tree makes the connection between knowledge and value
in an organization more visible by understanding the relationship and
connection of KM functionality, business impact, and financial impact.
Another point of emphasis is that when calculating the return on knowledge,
understand that it is not a simple task, and yet it is important that
organizational leaders think about increasing return on this critical asset.
Chapter 9

“Is There a Doctor in the House?”:

Knowledge Management in Healthcare

Healthcare is a knowledge intensive business. Making the best use of knowledge

within any healthcare provider organization (hospital, clinic, pharmacy,
physician private practice, etc.) is essential for optimal patient care as well as
cutting and/or streamlining costs. Knowledge management (KM) in healthcare is
about sharing know-how through collaboration and integration of systems to
enable access to knowledge. Applying knowledge sharing and collaboration to
healthcare would include sharing medical research, giving visibility to patient
decisions, and collaboration between physicians and healthcare provider
organizations. Collaborative work environments will bring more effective
communication and more physician responsiveness to patients.
Healthcare is also a massive industry, and every healthcare provider
organization faces challenges where incorporating KM would be beneficial. The
processes and systems that enable the delivery and management of healthcare
services to patients are faced with the prospect of failing to prevent (and can
indirectly or directly cause) suffering and in some cases death to the various
patients. It is for this reason that KM is attracting much attention from the
industry as a whole. However, the time has come for the healthcare industry to
start implementing KM and to begin realizing the benefits that it can provide.
KM is a particularly complex issue for health organizations. The potential
benefits KM implementation could bring are enormous. Some of these benefits
include better outcomes for patients, cost reduction, enhanced job flexibility, and
improved responsiveness to patients’ needs and changing lifestyles and
expectations and ensure more effective communication, leading to focused and
(hopefully) seamless care interventions and a better patient experience.
In realizing these benefits, it is understood that healthcare delivery is a
knowledge-driven process, and KM provides the opportunity to incorporate KM
practices to improve the various healthcare processes. Bordoloi and Islam (2012,
p. 110) have indicated that “knowledge management is systematically more
complex in healthcare and minimal research exist to guide academic and
organizational stakeholders.”
To leverage KM in the appropriate way to address the complex and process
nature of healthcare, healthcare organizations should adopt a broad strategy to
capture, communicate, and apply explicit and tacit knowledge throughout the
healthcare delivery process (see Figure 9.1). This strategy must include a focus
on knowledge sharing and organizational learning. This type of focus will
provide (codified) evidence-based solutions to the population as a whole, while
at the same time providing personalized care for individuals. Tringali and
Lusigan (2005) present a KM model for healthcare (see Figure 9.2) that
incorporates knowledge and learning as well as a focus on using explicit and
tacit knowledge. This model illustrates the elements of KM that should be
incorporated into a broader healthcare KM strategy.

Figure 9.1 Healthcare delivery process.

With that focus in mind, this chapter will cover the following areas: healthcare
delivery process, KM model for healthcare, applying KM to healthcare,
constructing healthcare knowledge, KM and healthcare informatics, and
knowledge tools and techniques for healthcare.

Healthcare Delivery Process

Delivery of healthcare is a complex endeavor. It includes primary organizations
for healthcare delivery such as healthcare providers having interorganizational
relationships with other players (i.e., Blue Cross/Blue Shield and its member
organizations, physician and hospital affiliations) to provide a foundation. The
increasing cost of healthcare is putting pressure on access and quality of
healthcare delivery, and this is calling for increased accountability because of
high rates of medical errors and globalization, which leads to demands of higher
standards of quality.
Furthermore, healthcare delivery is moving away from a physician–patient
relationship to a customer–company relationship, and at the same time the
traditional single physician–patient relationship is moving toward a situation
where healthcare is delivered by a team of healthcare professionals wherein each
specialize in a single aspect of healthcare; however, this is all focused on patient-
centered care.
The healthcare delivery process depicted in Figure 9.1 presents a simplistic
view of each of the major areas (i.e., patient intake, data collection, decision
support, diagnosis and treatment, and patient closeout) of healthcare delivery.
Each of these areas (depending on medical organization) has more complex
processes, procedures, and systems that enable them to integrate and function
together. The following provides more details of each of the areas that comprise
the healthcare delivery process:

Patient intake process: Because of the increase in patient demand partially

caused by health reform initiatives that focus on broadening patient access
to insurance, many medical practices are experiencing an increase in new
patient enrollment. Whenever new patients use the services of a hospital or
physician practice, they must complete forms that list their contact
information, medical history, insurance information, and acknowledgment
of various Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
regulations.
The patient intake process is the first opportunity to capture knowledge about
 the patient and his/her condition at the time of arrival at the healthcare
facility. At this point, the patient information is captured, along with
method of payment, medical history, and current vital condition. All of this
data is transitioned to the facilities database. This presents an opportunity
for the data to be shared, an opportunity for information to be processed
from the data, and knowledge to be acquired from the information.

Figure 9.2 Model for KM in healthcare.

Data collection: At this point of the process, all the data that was taken during
the intake process is collected and sent to the healthcare facilities’ database.
The collection of healthcare data involves a diverse set of public and private
data collection systems, including health surveys, administrative enrollment
and billing records, and medical records, used by various entities, including
hospitals, clinics, physicians, and health plans. This suggests the potential
of each entity to contribute data, information, and knowledge on patients or
enrollees. As it stands now, a fragmentation of data flow occurs because of
these silos of data collection. One way to increase the flow of data,
information, and knowledge is to integrate them with data from other
 sources. However, it should be noted that a substantial fraction of the U.S.
population does not have a regular relationship with a provider who
integrates their care (Beal et al., 2007).
Decision support system: This area of the healthcare delivery process involves
integrating the clinical decision support systems (CDSSs). The CDSS will
enable the standardization and sharing of clinical best practices and
protocols with staff, patients, and partners on demand, anywhere, and on
any device. Physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals use a
CDSS to prepare a diagnosis and to review the diagnosis as a means of
improving the final result. Data mining (which will be examined later in
this chapter) is conducted to examine the patient’s medical history in
conjunction with relevant clinical research. Such analysis will provide the
necessary knowledge to help predict potential events, which can range from
drug interactions to disease symptoms. Some physicians may use a
combination of a CDSS and their professional experience to determine the
best course of care for a patient.
There are two main types of CDSSs. One type of CDSS uses a knowledge
base (expert system), which applies rules to patient data using an inference
engine and displays the results to the end user. Systems without a
knowledge base, on the other hand, rely on machine learning to analyze
clinical data. The challenge here is that for a CDSS to be most effective, it
must be integrated with the healthcare organizations clinical workflow,
which is often very complex. If a CDSS is a standalone system, it will lack
the interoperability needed to provide the necessary knowledge for
healthcare professionals to determine the best course of care for a patient.
However, the sheer number of clinical research and medical trials being
published on an ongoing basis makes it difficult to incorporate the resulting
data (Big Data). Additionally, incorporating Big Data into existing systems
could cause a significant increase in infrastructure and maintenance.
Diagnosis and treatment: Making a diagnosis is a very complex process,
which includes cognitive tasks that involves both logical reasoning and
pattern recognition. Although the process happens largely at an unconscious
level, there are two essential steps where knowledge can be captured and
applied.
In the first step, the healthcare professional will enumerate the diagnostic
possibilities and estimate their relative likelihood. Experienced clinicians
often group the findings into meaningful clusters and summarize in brief
 phrases about the symptom, body location, or the organ system involved
(Richardson et al., 2002).
In the second step, the healthcare professional would incorporate new data,
information, and/or knowledge to change the relative probabilities, rule
out some of the possibilities, and ultimately, choose the most likely
diagnosis. For each diagnostic possibility, the additional knowledge
increases or decreases its likelihood (Richardson et al., 2002). At this
point, the diagnosis and treatment is rendered by the healthcare
professional and the patient records are updated.
Patient closeout/patient discharge: In the case of a simple patient closeout
from a routine/scheduled physician visit or simple visit to the local clinic,
the patient receives medication (if applicable), sets follow-up appointments,
if necessary, and finalizes payment arrangements and the patient records are
updated. However, if you have had a hospital stay, the discharge process
can be quite involving. In the case of a discharge, a set series of tasks must
occur prior to discharging a patient. These tasks include examination and
sign-off by appropriate providers and patient education. For each patient,
the time of discharge and the tasks that need to be performed will be
provided 1 day ahead of time. This allows for everyone involved in the
discharge to self-organize to get the work done within the window
necessary to meet the scheduled discharge time (Institute for Health
Improvement, 2015). At the conclusion of the discharge, patients receive
information and instructions for continued care and follow up; in addition,
all patient records should be updated.

KM Model for Healthcare

Before applying the KM model to primary healthcare practices, it is necessary to
indicate how the elements of the model will be described or measured. The KM
definitional dimensions are matched with commonly employed KM tools.
Processes associated with finding information or knowledge include
codification, identifying lessons learned and best practices,
dissemination/imitation, and loss, and utilizing technical and socially directed
tools to connect individuals with existing knowledge sources. “Losing”
knowledge arises from gaps or misuse of technical tools, and when people leave.
Processes associated with sharing knowledge or information include
teaching/training and transfer/diffusion. Social tools, such as apprenticeship
interactions, conversations, and cross-functional teams, prevail over more
technically oriented ones. Social tools may extend beyond the specific
organizational unit.
Processes and tools associated with developing information or knowledge
include recombining existing knowledge through categorizing and sorting, as in
database utilization (combination); internalizing individual’s experiences in the
form of shared mental models and technical know-how, as in manuals or oral
stories (internalization); acquiring new mental models and technical skills from
others, as in interactions with customers and on-the-job training (socialization);
and articulating tacit knowledge into more explicit forms of metaphors,
analogies, concepts, and hypotheses, as in collective reflection and evaluation
(externalization) (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). This process also implies
“unlearning” or relinquishing existing knowledge to develop new knowledge.

Patient-Centered Approach
Some of the keys to patient care are the ability to evaluate a large amount of data
and information, which includes the use of medical informatics. These are the
keys to deliver medical knowledge to the right people, at the right time, in the
right context. Electronic health records, data warehouses, laptops, and other
mobile devices now provide access to information and knowledge at the point of
care. This access facilitates a continuous learning environment in which lessons
learned can provide updates to clinical, administrative, and financial processes.
Given these advancements, it is imperative that data, information, and
knowledge are managed for effective healthcare.
An understanding of how patients fit into the evidence-based medical practice
is critical because patients, more than ever, are equipped with a wealth of tacit
knowledge about their health needs. Such tacit knowledge can have a dual
connotation on healthcare delivery by either promoting or obstructing the
acceptance of medical expertise based mainly on explicit knowledge and clinical
experience. Incorporating patients’ needs, values, and expectations rigorously in
medical practice has many benefits. It holds the potential to deal with
inappropriate tacit knowledge that patients may have on their health conditions,
while at the same time, reinforcing appropriate knowledge that can promote their
health. Marginalization of patients’ tacit knowledge in the evidence-based
equation can easily spell the doom for the healthcare industry. This is because
effective healthcare delivery is based not only on rigorous scientific knowledge
but also on clinically relevant experience as well as patients’ values. Patients’
values take into cognizance the unique preferences, concerns, and expectations
each patient brings to the clinical encounter. These are values that must be
integrated into clinical decisions if they are to serve the patient. In order to
ensure optimal clinical outcomes, therefore, there is the need for an effective
integration of the three elements espoused by the evidence-based medical
paradigm—scientific knowledge of doctors, clinical experience, and patients’
values.
Applying principles of KM will/has become the catalyst for quality healthcare
delivery and management, and these operational elements will provide the
mechanisms to execute a broader healthcare KM strategy. In this chapter, the
focus will be to provide a detailed understanding of the practice of KM within
the healthcare industry. The content includes critical aspects of healthcare
operations, knowledge strategies for healthcare operations, essential knowledge
elements for healthcare, knowledge mapping and medical informatics,
knowledge creation and discovery in medical informatics, applying KM to
healthcare, and knowledge tools and techniques for healthcare.

Applying KM to Healthcare
A critical function in healthcare organizations and more especially for healthcare
workers is decision making. In most healthcare organizations, decision making is
not structured in a way that follows a consistent healthcare model, as presented
in the healthcare delivery process depicted in Figure 9.1. Not only is it important
at all times, to ensure that germane knowledge is being extracted during the
course of delivering healthcare, but it is also essential that KM does provide a
sustained advantage. This necessitates a long-term rather than a single-focus silo
approach to capturing, cataloging, using/reusing, and enriching your healthcare
knowledge.
Integrated healthcare knowledge that flows between the various areas and
systems within the healthcare delivery process is at the confluence of physical,
informational, and cognitive domains. The backbone of integrated healthcare
operations is the continuous extraction and flow of germane knowledge and
pertinent information to all who require it anytime, anywhere throughout the
system, so that superior decision making can take place.
It is important that as the knowledge flows within and between the areas of the
healthcare delivery process, a proper conceptualization of knowledge occurs.
The conceptualization of knowledge within healthcare provides an integrated
view of various sources of knowledge that permeate through healthcare
organizations. It can also provide access to the latest medical research
knowledge as well as locate and identify key areas of knowledge and expertise
within the healthcare organization. This can mean the difference between life
and death, accurate and inaccurate diagnosis, and between early intervention and
prolonged and costly hospital stays, as well as contributing to enabling the
delivery and improved patient experience.

Constructing Healthcare Knowledge

Healthcare knowledge is primarily social constructs. For instance, are obesity,
binge drinking, and heavy smoking health or social issues? Should people with
the problems listed such as obesity, binge drinking, and heavy smoking receive
access to treatment as those without these problems? Are the problems listed in
question 1 really problems to be solved by healthcare or simply personal choices
of lifestyle that individuals must change?
To address this, the healthcare system must influence our institutional logic.
Institutional logic refers to organizing principles guiding social actions and
refers to a set of belief systems and associated practices. Through healthcare
knowledge-sharing campaigns such as forums; awareness campaigns at local,
regional, and national events; and by providing pamphlets to patients that detail
specific healthcare issues and challenges and their solutions, healthcare
organizations will begin to increase patient knowledge and influence the
population to improve lifestyle choices and improve overall healthcare.
Knowledge creation, consumption, and management are essentially social
processes, which views the construction of knowledge as accomplishing changes
that are not only technical but are also cognitive and social. This takes a holistic
and realistic approach to the knowledge construction process.
There is a knowledge discourse upon healthcare services. This discourse is the
basis on which healthcare services are organized, financed, designed, consumed,
and evaluated. Through the use of technology, patients are willing to enter into
dialogs with doctors about their healthcare.
Technology also plays a key role in the delivery of healthcare knowledge to
the general public. Websites such as WebMD (www.webmd.com), Yahoo
Health (https://www.yahoo.com/health), and MedicineNet.com
(http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) are excellent sources for the
medical community to share valuable healthcare knowledge to the public.

WebMD
As stated on their website, WebMD provides valuable health information, tools
for managing your health, and support to those who seek information. You can
trust that our content is timely and credible. In addition, WebMD provides
credible information, supportive communities, and in-depth reference material
about various health subjects that matter to consumers. WebMD is a source for
original and timely health information as well as material from well-known
content providers. The website also indicates that the WebMD content staff
blends expertise in journalism, content creation, community services, expert
commentary, and medical review to give consumers a variety of ways to find
what they are looking for. This includes the following: health news for the
public; creating and maintaining up-to-date medical reference content databases;
medical imagery, graphics, and animation; communities; live web events; and
interactive tools. Please note that WebMD does not provide medical advice,
diagnosis, or treatment.

Yahoo Health
As stated on their website, Yahoo Health is powered by Healthline.com. This
site provides consumers with some of the best and latest health-related content
and information available on the Internet. Yahoo Health indicates that it is your
ultimate source for healthy-living information and inspiration. This site contains
a litany of advertisements from various healthcare-related companies to support
and promote a healthy lifestyle. Please note that Yahoo Health does not provide
medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

MedicineNet.com
As stated on their website, MedicineNet.com was founded in 1996 and has had a
highly accomplished, uniquely experienced team of qualified executives in the
fields of medicine, healthcare, Internet technology, and business to bring to the
consumer the most comprehensive, sought-after healthcare information
anywhere. In addition, it is indicated that MedicineNet.com brings nationally
recognized, doctor-produced (a network of more than 70 U.S. board-certified
physicians) trusted sources to their online environment. Please note that
MedicineNet.com does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Patient-Centered Healthcare Knowledge Constructs

Because healthcare knowledge is no longer a doctor-centered process, and is
now a patient-centered process, the ideology, cultural, social, institutional, and
political circumstances have become major influencers on our healthcare, and as
patients, it influences how we view our healthcare services. Social structure
refers to the people who are involved in the knowledge construction process as
well as the relationship between these people. Understanding social structure is
critical to understanding knowledge construction.
Knowledge is created by social interactions based on values, beliefs,
experiences, expectations, and relationships. These social interactions happen
between consumers, providers, agencies, and sponsors. Consumers, which
include patients and perspective patients who consume healthcare services;
providers, which include doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals;
agencies, which include government and other independent bodies that are
granted authority and responsibility to evaluate, approve, regulate, and fund
healthcare provisions; and sponsors, which include general public, taxpayers,
and voters who select government officials to manage healthcare services on
their behalf.

KM and Healthcare Informatics

Healthcare informatics combines the fields of information technology and health
to develop the systems required to administer the expansion of information,
advancement in clinical work flow, and improvement in the security of the
healthcare system. It involves the integration of information science, computer
technology, and medicines to collect, organize, and secure information systems
and health-related data.
The design and implementation of an electronic medical record system also
pose significant epistemological and practical complexities. As we move to
integrate electronic capture of medical records into the contribution to the quality
of care, we know that their implementation and deployment into various clinical
settings has been a challenge. As a result, the extraordinary explosion of medical
knowledge, technologies, as well as ground-breaking drugs may vastly improve
healthcare delivery to consumers, and keeping the information related to these
advancements organized and accessible is the key.
Health informatics can also yield computational insight in assimilating
knowledge from large clinical datasets for both research and policy discussion.
The adoption of computerized patient records by healthcare organizations
promises to expand the sources potential research data to include clinical patient
data. Applications of health informatics can enhance health services and clinical
research, as well as improve healthcare quality.
A primary goal of health informatics is to gain expertise in the understanding
of clinical knowledge and the mapping of this knowledge to alternative
taxonomies and meta-languages. A computational approach to this clinical
knowledge will enable the creation of methodologies for aggregating clinical
data from disparate data storage systems for large analysis.

Knowledge Tools and Techniques for Healthcare

There are key tools and techniques closely related to contemporary KM. Some of
these techniques use information technology but all rely on an effective human
component to both enliven and enable them. These include taxonomies and
ontologies (see Chapter 4 section on Information Architecture), expert systems,
data mining, text mining, business intelligence and analytics, communities of
practices (CoPs), and social networks (with the growth social networking sites
being of contemporary relevance).
KM is centered on people, process, and technology. It leverages processes to
gather, analyze, organize, and discover knowledge. The following tools are
prevalent in the delivery of healthcare knowledge and assist in the decision
making process for improved patient care.

Expert Systems
Expert systems offer benefits in many areas of healthcare. They provide an
environment for experts to develop and test disease models, and this research can
provide valuable answers to complex health problems. To this end, expert
systems for healthcare services are widely used where accuracy of diagnosis and
efficiency for various services are needed. The cooperation of all parties in the
healthcare delivery process is crucial in analyzing and managing the data of
patients to detect abnormal patterns in order to provide an advance treatment;
expert systems are an essential tool in providing this analysis. Expert systems
often take the form of CDSSs. A CDSS is an application that analyzes data to
help healthcare providers make clinical decisions. It is an adaptation of a
decision support system commonly used to support business management.

Data Mining
Data mining is used during the knowledge discovery process and aims to analyze
a set of given data or information in order to identify patterns (i.e., decision
trees, artificial neural networks, and algorithms). Traditional data mining tools
help companies establish data patterns and trends by using a number of complex
algorithms and techniques. Some of these tools are installed on the desktop to
monitor the data and highlight trends, whereas others capture information
residing outside a database. Most data mining tools are able to handle any data
using online analytical processing or a similar technology.

Data Mining Tools and Techniques—Dashboards

Dashboards are used to monitor information in a database; dashboards reflect
data changes and updates onscreen often in the form of a chart or table, enabling
the user to see how the business is performing. Historical data can also be
referenced, enabling the user to see where things have changed (e.g., increase in
sales from the same period last year). This functionality makes dashboards easy
to use and particularly appealing to healthcare providers who wish to have an
overview of the patients’ history and changes over time.
The following are the typical steps taken in data mining:

1. Develop an understanding of the application

a. Relevant prior knowledge
b. Determine end user’s goals
2. Create target dataset to be used for discovery
3. Clean and preprocess the data
4. Reduce the number of variables
5. Choose the data mining tasks (classification, regression, clustering, etc.)
6. Choose the data mining algorithm
7. Search for patterns of interest
8. Interpret the patterns mined
 9. Consolidate the knowledge discovered, prepare reports, use/reuse the
newly created knowledge
a. Text gathering: Locating and identifying relevant documents in all
forms (word, PDF, etc.).
b. Text preprocessing: Text preprocessing classically means division of
text into words or terms and then part-of-speech tagging.
c. Data analysis: Many text mining and data mining techniques are
applicable here, as this is where the actual information extraction
happens. The data analysis is very dependent on the preprocessing and
the data representation model that was chosen in preprocessing.
d. Visualization: The simplest is just to make a table for the user to look up
the information he needs.
e. Evaluation: Use one or multiple text mining evaluation techniques.

Text Mining
Data mining and text mining techniques have been applied to different areas of
biomedicine, ranging from patient record management to clinical diagnosis. Text
mining aims to extract useful knowledge from textual data or documents. It is
called text mining because of its ability to mine data from different kinds of text.
This includes from Microsoft Word and Acrobat PDF documents to simple text
files. These text mining tools scan content and convert the selected data into a
format that is compatible with the tool’s database, thus providing users with an
easy and convenient way of accessing data without the need to open different
applications. Scanned content can be unstructured (i.e., information is scattered
almost randomly across the document, including e-mails, Internet pages, audio,
and video data) or structured (i.e., the data’s form and purpose is known, such as
content found in a database). Capturing these inputs can provide healthcare
organizations with a wealth of information that can be mined to discover trends,
patterns, and anomalies in the patient’s health history.

Business Intelligence and Analytics

Healthcare business intelligence can provide organizations the ability to use their
data to improve quality of care, increase financial efficiency and operational
effectiveness, conduct innovative research, and satisfy regulatory requirements.
Healthcare organizational data have a wide range of uses. From surgical
analytics, service line profitability, and quality analysis to claims management,
revenue cycle management, and utilization, analytics can provide the critical
insights in meeting the organizations goals and gain competitive advantage.
Business intelligence and analytics combined with decision support systems
can provide a holistic examination of all of the patients’ data from the combined
areas of the healthcare delivery process. As hospitals and other healthcare
organizations move toward a data-driven healthcare environment, business
intelligence and decision support systems will provide the catalyst hospitals are
looking for to improve healthcare delivery and make improvements on cost
reductions.

Communities of Practice
CoPs support collaborative networks of individuals and organizations working
together to improve their own operations and provide improved patient care. By
sharing knowledge, concerns, and passions, healthcare providers can use CoPs as
tools to facilitate the sharing of knowledge throughout the healthcare delivery
process. The knowledge base of a healthcare organization is the result of many
interactions with colleagues and mentors.
Some examples of CoPs in healthcare organizations include clubs,
committees, associations, academies, study groups, coalitions, social network
discussion threads, medical staffs of local hospitals, and community-oriented
primary care groups. CoPs can exist in many different forms and professions, but
all CoPs share three key dimensions: a domain of knowledge, a community, and
a shared interest or practice.

Domain of knowledge: In a CoP specific to family medicine, the common

domain of knowledge among all of its members may be the specialty of
family medicine, a focus on specific populations, and performance of
specific procedures or a particular need or interest, such as becoming more
competitive with other specialties or physicians.
Community: People in a CoP share a voluntary commitment to relationship
building.
Shared practice: In a shared practice, members develop and share
knowledge and build expertise by compiling resources, tools, and strategies
that support future learning for all involved.
Social Networks
Social networks are playing an increasingly prominent role in healthcare. More
and more physicians are becoming members of social networking sites such as
Sermo (http://www.sermo.com/). Sermo has been rated the number one social
networking site for doctors in the United States and globally. Because consumers
and clinicians are using social networks, healthcare organizations have an
opportunity to leverage their influence across multiple audiences.
Many social media tools are available for healthcare professionals, including
social networking platforms, blogs, microblogs, wikis, and media sharing sites.
They use these tools to improve or enhance professional networking and
education, organizational promotion, patient care, patient education, and public
health programs (Chauhan et al., 2012). However, these tools also present
potential risks to patients and healthcare professionals regarding the distribution
of poor quality information, damage to professional image, breaches of patient
privacy, violation of personal–professional boundaries, and licensing or legal
issues (Lambert et al., 2012). This has caused many healthcare institutions and
professional organizations have issued guidelines to prevent these risks.
As more consumers are going online for health information and knowledge
rather than going to see a physician, healthcare professionals have an obligation
to create educational content to be shared across social media that will help
accurately inform consumers about health-related issues. This is extremely
important because the opinions of others on social media are often trusted but
aren’t always accurate sources of insights, especially when it comes to a subject
as sensitive as health.

Top Five Trends in KM for Healthcare 2016 and Beyond

There will be a focus on empowering consumers, e-health adaptability, and a
shift to focus on prevention, not just cure! Here are the top five trends for KM as
it pertains to healthcare for 2016 and beyond!

1. Technological advancements
The proliferation of new technology is transforming the entire healthcare
industry. The two areas of opportunity and concern are wearable
technology (specifically wearable tracking devices) and data security.
• Wearable tracking devices: It is estimated that nearly 70 million
 people in the United States are using wearable tracking devices to
monitor their physical activity, sleep patterns, calorie consumption,
and much more. This new frontier presents a great deal of potential to
improve patient care. Only time will tell the impact this trend has on
improved patient care.
• Data security: Patient privacy issues (including concerns about data
breaches) will continue to be top-of-mind for providers, payers, and
consumers, especially with ongoing data breaches in the news.
Providers and payers will need to step up data security to avoid the
type of HIPAA violations that can negatively impact an organization.
2. Collaboration between healthcare providers
Owing to the changes in healthcare laws and the strain on healthcare
organizations due to difficult financial climate, it has put a premium on
the importance of partnerships and collaboration when it comes to
providing value-based healthcare. This will not be changing anytime
soon. This is evident by the following recent examples of healthcare
partnerships:
• Trinity Health System joined forces with Heritage Provider Network
to deliver population health management in select markets throughout
the country.
• Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin joined forces with
Aurora Healthcare and its Aurora Accountable Care Network. They
agreed upon a shared-risk program to support value-based
reimbursement payment models.
• Allina Health formed a dozen Citizen Health Action Teams (called
CHATs) to bring community members together to discuss
neighborhood health issues and come up with solutions.
• Henry Ford Health System is seeking ways to “hardwire the safety
net.” It is pursuing more seamless integration between itself and the
various navigators and volunteers it deploys to address community
engagement. The safety net program alone required the participation
of more than 30 community partners, including competing health
systems in the Detroit region.
3. Patient-centered care
A significant change in the healthcare industry’s approach to providing
care is underway—putting the patient at the center of care. The goal is to
improve patient satisfaction scores and engagement. The healthcare
 industry as a whole is starting to look into ways to engage with patients
outside of a traditional office visit. This includes tapping into social
media to build relationships with their customers. This will continue to
be essential in gaining new customers, as patients begin to shop for
healthcare online, including through social media interactions; this
includes searching for patient reviews and comparing prices.
4. Need for Big Data
Researchers, clinicians, and administrative leaders are leveraging for data
to develop new drugs, improve patient diagnosis, make decisions, and
guide their planning. Access to Big Data resources is becoming essential
to create this competitive advantage. Access to Big Data resources is key
to overcoming the current data challenges. As demands for access to
high-quality, accurate Big Data sources continue to grow, healthcare
organizations will want better analytics tools, so they can improve care
and reduce costs.
5. Population health management
Population health management is a proactive application of strategies and
interventions to defined cohorts of individuals across the continuum of
healthcare delivery in an effort to maintain and/or improve the health of
the individuals within the cohort at the lowest necessary cost. As the risk
for a population of patients shift based on demographics (age, due to
people living longer, and the baby boomer population increasing the
elderly population) health systems need to know more about the patients
they serve and how to continue to provide improved healthcare services.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

The patient intake process is the first opportunity to capture knowledge

about the patient and his/her condition at the time of arrival at the healthcare
facility.
The collection of healthcare data involves a diverse set of public and private
data collection systems, including health surveys, administrative enrollment
and billing records, and medical records, used by various entities, including
hospitals, clinics, physicians, and health plans. This suggests the potential of
each entity to contribute data, information, and knowledge on patients or
 enrollees.
It is important at all times to ensure that germane knowledge is being
extracted during the course of delivering healthcare. This necessitates a
long-term rather than a single-focus silo approach to capturing, cataloging,
using/reusing, and enriching your healthcare knowledge.
It is important that as the knowledge flows within and between the areas of
the healthcare delivery process that a proper conceptualization of
knowledge occurs. The conceptualization of knowledge within healthcare
provides an integrated view of various sources of knowledge that permeate
through healthcare organizations.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques deduced after reading this
chapter:

In order for a CDSS to be most effective, it must be integrated with the

healthcare organization’s clinical workflow, which is often very complex.
To avoid your CDSS missing the necessary interoperability, it must be
integrated into the other systems that support your healthcare delivery
process. Otherwise, it will lack the delivery of knowledge necessary for
healthcare professionals to determine the best course of care for a patient.
Be aware that incorporating Big Data into existing CDSS could cause a
significant increase in infrastructure and maintenance costs.
Chapter 10

“Show Me the Money!”: Knowledge

Management for Financial Services

Financial service enterprises operate in a highly challenged market where

consolidation, increasing regulation, and economic realities are negatively
impacting their ability to achieve key objectives. This has created a culture
where there is a constant need to find more predictable revenue streams and cost-
efficiency gains.
Regulatory bodies such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(FINRA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC), and the various international bodies’ present
challenges to financial service organizations to deliver fair and open products
and services while providing answers and direction to the various customers
interacting with their organizations. In order to address these challenges, KM is
needed to streamline processes and deliver content at the right time, in the right
way, and in the right context to meet the demand of customers.
In meeting the demand for customers, it is increasingly important for financial
service organizations to address customer needs. KM through the
implementation of processes and technology (including information architecture
—see Chapter 4) will ensure that customer information is shared with the right
people at the right time across the organization. By utilizing a customer-focused,
integrated knowledge management system (KMS), all employees interacting
with a customer will have up-to-date knowledge of that customer’s breadth of
relationship and experience with the organization. This will assist the
organization with cross-selling, up-selling, and reporting on the effectiveness of
any new customer initiatives.
In addition, the staff must start (if they are not already doing so) working
together using knowledge as a focal point to service the customer. With this
emphasis, as more financial products and services become available through
mobile devices, the ability for those financial companies to respond rapidly to
customer demands with the right answers, at the right time, and in the right
context will be met.

Empowering Employees to Satisfy Customers

The objective of KM is to capture knowledge of different stakeholders of the
organization and make it explicitly available to all employees. Sharing of
knowledge will enable improved and quicker decision making. Employees
empowered with improved decision making will increase the ability to address
customer needs and create more satisfied customers. Empowering your
employees through KM will assist your organization in addressing competition
driven by reduced barriers to switch companies, the proliferation of products and
product commoditization, mergers and acquisitions and the ever-changing
product portfolios, and shifts in customer behaviors.
Financial service organizations (including banks) value KM as a business
practice. From managing intellectual capital, to the vast array of customer data,
one of the goals of KM is to enhance customer satisfaction and increase revenue.
Whether the organization is regional or global, a key aspect of your business
and specifically your KM strategy must be to treat each client as an individual
with individual needs. By implementing a comprehensive KM program and
associated processes and systems, a determination as to which customers are
most likely to buy which products, who is at the risk of leaving, which
unprofitable clients are most likely to be profitable again, and who is most likely
to respond to which marketing campaigns based on their demographics, can start
to be addressed and the organization will have a sustainable model for success!
Firms within this industry are predominantly knowledge based, as are most of
the industry’s products, processes, and services. The application of KM
represents a clear opportunity for financial services firms to confront challenges.
A KM model for financial services (brokerage and banking being the focus here)
should contain a multilevel approach integrating a resource-based knowledge
view of the firm should be implemented. This model offers renewed
opportunities for financial firms to become more efficient and effective in their
use of KM.
This chapter focuses on the use of KM within the financial industry.
Specifically this chapter will present how KM is being leveraged by brokerage
companies, which include commodity (futures and options) organizations and
online trading financial companies, as well as banking institutions.
KM Leveraged by Brokerage Companies
Brokerage organizations are constantly evolving, offering new products and
services. At the same time, product specifications are becoming more stringent
and legislation is tightening around safer operational limits. Additionally, new
capabilities of information technology (IT) are enabling effective collaboration,
even across large global organizations. It is now realistic to gather real-time
knowledge from operating sites and provide meaningful analytics that help users
collaborate to make the best possible decisions.
In order to keep pace with the new commodity-trading environment,
businesses need to unlock their business information and intelligence. That
means breaking up existing data silos and deploying the tools necessary to
capture, access, and share data, information, and knowledge accurately,
efficiently, and in real-time, across the organization. A common set of
information must be accessible to everyone right from the execution of each
trade to the shipping, receipt, and delivery of commodities if applicable,
including those responsible for managing credit, market risk, and controlling the
finances.
Achieving this involves real-time processing and delivery of data,
information, and knowledge, all the way from the front to back office. That
means using highly integrated and scalable systems that are capable of
seamlessly managing physical operations, scheduling, financial trading, and
corporate compliance issues for multiple commodities that have the analytical,
business modeling, and reporting tools necessary to support delivering the
necessary knowledge to achieve intelligent decision making at every step of a
trade’s life cycle. To fulfill the promise of delivering knowledge throughout the
trading cycle and to achieve intelligent decision making, a holistic KM
framework must be developed. An example of this framework is illustrated in
Figure 10.1.
The brokerage organization KM framework offers a platform that can
facilitate the integration of operations, scheduling, and financial trading. This
framework integrates trading platforms with search capabilities to quickly access
trading knowledge and make it available on the KM platform. In addition, this
framework enables the managing and maintaining of data, information and
knowledge, access to corporate content and a brokerage operation, and retail
trading and institutional trading view through an integrated business taxonomy
structure.
Brokerage Institution KM Model
The brokerage KM model (see Figure 10.2) integrates various business units;
policies; products; trading content; client; and systems to gather, catalog, store,
and disseminate knowledge across the enterprise. Brokerage companies, which
include commodity (futures and options) organizations and online trading firms,
will leverage KM to capture knowledge to contribute to the products and
features offered by brokerage companies to its customers.

Figure 10.1 Brokerage organization knowledge management framework.

Figure 10.2 Brokerage knowledge management model.
This model supports collaboration, communication, improved employee skills,
better decision making, and increased innovation. In order to respond quickly
and effectively within the marketplace, brokerage institutions need to create and
capture corporate knowledge, rapidly disseminate it, and integrate it with new
products and services.
The following are the core principles that the brokerage institution KM model
must support:

The ability to analyze and synthesize knowledge in order to generate an

additional value.
The ability to connect, collect, catalog, store, use/reuse, learn, and create,
which contributes to growing intelligently reusable knowledge that supports
product and service innovation.
The ability to incorporate KM technology to support the brokerage KM
processes.
The ability to acquire desired knowledge, by induction of the desired quality
of talent through all business units (brokerage operations, retail trading, and
institutional trading).
The ability to develop, knowledge pool, knowledge repository within the
organization and manage/maintain the knowledge through governance
processes.
The ability to make available the appropriate updated knowledge to
employees (the users) anytime and anywhere.

KM Leveraged by Banking Institutions

Globalization of financial markets has forced bankers to be knowledge based and
be more efficient in managing knowledge in their banking operations. Through
the practices of KM, an organization focuses on the systematic exploitation and
reuse of knowledge. The firm should identify the organization’s competitive
knowledge position in order to define the strategic gaps in its organization’s
knowledge.
In accounting and finance, knowledge can be categorized as an intangible
asset, but organizations downplay the importance of their intangible assets.
Highly competitive business organizations have found out that many types of
sources (tangible and intangible) are needed to gain a competitive edge in order
to maintain competition and superiority in the marketplace. This is shown by an
increasing number of firms that give more emphasis to their intangible assets.
Managing this type of asset (knowledge) through organizing, creating, sharing,
and acquisition between employees, such an organization will enhance its
existence in the marketplace and probably maintain progress in its banking
operations.
The ongoing knowledge sharing and continuous discussions among
employees, management, and customers will enhance the convergence of a
perspective that is required for effective partnering. This will enhance such
mutual benefits working in the direction of creating value for all partners.
The practices of KM in the banking industry will enable these institutions to
implement appropriate strategies within their financial systems. Expertise in the
first level of management will leverage the available optimum capacity of their
organization, and enhance and reshape their policy in the long term. In service
industries like banking, the application of KM concepts is not an easy task.
Although the application of KM does not differ from other industries, the
complexity of the banking environment makes KM implementation difficult.
There are eight factors contributing to KM success: technology infrastructure;
organizational infrastructure; balance of flexibility; ease-of-accessibility to
knowledge; shared knowledge; knowledge-friendly culture; motivated workers
who develop, share, and use knowledge (means of knowledge transfer using
various IT infrastructure); and senior management support and commitment.
For many years, banks have been actively automating their manual processes.
This has resulted in the creation of many information systems. Although these
information systems were able to help banks to better manage their processes
and resources, they also have created a number of challenges.
One challenge is to take advantage of the proliferation of data, information,
and knowledge that has been created as a result of automating the various
manual processes. In today’s modern banking, data, information, and especially
knowledge are treasured assets. Banks have realized the crucial role of KM in
gaining an edge in this competitive field, but they have been slow adopters of
KM, usually due to wait-and-see attitude of what will be the true benefits and
pitfalls from the early adopters. With a greater awareness of the importance and
success of KM, industry experts from International Data Corporation (IDC)s
expect KM will become a priority for the banking sector. Apart from large
volumes of knowledge, the use of IT in managing knowledge has given KM a
new dimension. Employing the appropriate KM strategies, IT as an enabler and
facilitator will be able to carry out and maximize the benefits of KM.

Banking Institution KM Model

The banking KM model (see Figure 10.3) integrates customer relationship
management (CRM) with KM to capture customer-related knowledge to
contribute to the products and features offered by banks to its customers. This
model supports the notion that in order to ensure business excellence, a products
feature must meet the needs of specific customer groups in the market. This is
accomplished by a target market-oriented customer KM model supported by
implementing KM technology.
The following are the core principles (similar to brokerage institutions) that
the banking institution KM model must support:

Figure 10.3 Banking knowledge management model.

Improve the organization’s performance through increased efficiency,
productivity, quality, and innovation.
Connect, collect, catalog, store, use/reuse, learn, and create, which
 contributes to growing intelligently reusable knowledge that supports
product and service innovation.
Incorporate customer knowledge into the banking KM process.
Incorporate KM technology to support the banking KM processes.
Develop knowledge pool, knowledge repository within the organization and
manage/maintain the knowledge through governance processes.
Make available the appropriate updated knowledge to employees (the users)
anytime and anywhere.

Increased Sales through Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a prime target to make improvements through the
implementation of KM. Improved customer satisfaction will lead to increases in
revenue. This is accomplished through the process of knowledge creation,
cataloging, and dispersion. The most common areas of banking that the
application of KM will affect include risk management, marketing management,
and CRM and performance measurements. Investments in KMSs such as a
decision support systems and data mining are making the most impact.
KM in financial services covers the organizations’ intellectual capital to the
wealth of knowledge collected as a result of customer transactions. Banking
personnel are often required to have knowledge of not only their immediate job
but the jobs around them. This heightens the need for effective implementation
of KM (knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer).

Arguments for Knowledge Management

A recent study by the Institute of Financial Services and by JD Powers Financial
Services Industry Market Research has shown that companies in the financial
industry are failing to fully realize the benefits of KM. This survey, conducted
among the top 200 banks and insurance companies, showed that only one-third
of the companies questioned have KM initiatives in place; in 37% of the cases,
no individual is responsible for KM; and that only 36% of the companies with
KM programs have realized and implemented that program within a 2-year
timeframe.
However, 90% of employees in the financial industry endorse the need for
KM, and organizations are beginning to focus more and more on the
management of knowledge. This realization and interest is motivated by the
following:

Processes in the financial industry have become more knowledge intensive.

Professionals are scarce and lifetime employment does not exist anymore.
Economic trends necessitate that organizations cut costs dramatically.
Nontraditional financial industry companies have started to offer financial
products as well.

Technology
The increasing interest in KM was initially fostered by the IT industry.
Technically, it is now possible to extract information and knowledge from
employees in order to share it with others through the use, for example, of
knowledge bases/repositories, collaboration environments, business intelligence
tools, and decision support systems; tool vendors have positioned themselves as
KM solutions providers, offering a broad range of KM-supporting tools.

Banking KM Framework
A KM framework positioned to support banks and their various knowledge
needs must include the following: the ability to support knowledge intensive
processes across bank functions and departments; bank employee needs for
knowledge; the consumer needs for knowledge in order to execute self/help
capabilities; and business needs for bank knowledge as well as suppliers. Figure
10.4 depicts this framework on a broad level.
Figure 10.4 Banking knowledge management framework.

Knowledge-Intensive Processes
Processes have also become more knowledge intensive. Technology vendors
such as Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM have introduced a new technology to
automate/facilitate financial process management. In the financial industry, the
focus is now on attracting clients with new products and concepts. These
products need to be introduced faster than the competition can manage, and as
such time to market has decreased substantially.

Scarce Talent
Only 10 years ago, people had to apply at dozens of potential employers in the
hope that they would be invited for a job interview. Presently, when an employer
does not satisfy an employee’s career demands, the employee has more options
to move to another organization. It is vital that an employer keeps the knowledge
worker engaged, by providing an environment in which he or she can evolve and
is rewarded for the knowledge he or she provides in the organization. People
want to be rewarded for their added value, which stems from the contribution
they can make in sharing their knowledge with others.

Cost-Cutting Environments
Organizations in the financial sector have to deal with increasing pressure from
the outside environment. Financial results are very important; witness the
malaise in the financial markets and the disillusion affecting technology and
telecom businesses. This leads toward a stronger focus on short-term benefits
and often to large, company-wide cost-cutting programs. KM programs have to
respond to these trends. The focus should be on sharing best or better practices in
order to gain more efficiency in a company’s core processes.
Although KM is not new, the development of best practices is needed. The
success of KM ultimately depends on its users and their enthusiasm and
initiative. In practice, user indifference is the most common pitfall. Thus, users
need to experience an added value in their work and be (formally) rewarded for
knowledge usage and contributions. At the moment, most employees in the
financial industry are rewarded for attaining their (financial) targets, and not for
sharing valuable knowledge. In many cases, KM is viewed to be extra work.
Fear is also a common problem. Some people stick to the paradigm knowledge
is power and refuse to participate actively and share experiences, ideas, and
insights. But knowledge kept to oneself quickly becomes useless. Also, many
managers fear that by sharing their knowledge and encouraging their employees
to do so, they lose control of the flow of information and thereby their power.
Perhaps the rise of this type of manager depends heavily on their role in KM
activities (as laid out in their job description), reward structures, and strong
boardroom support. Only when you exchange knowledge with others can you be
of influence. There is a need to accept the fact that sharing of knowledge is
power.

Virtual Communities
Virtual communities can be thought of as a digital environment in which people
gather to exchange knowledge, experiences, and ideas relating to a common
interest. Virtual communities have radically changed the nature of traditional
ideas of communication within groups of people. They overcome time and place
barriers and synthesize the benefits of the codification (knowledge is made
explicit in documents, databases, etc.) and personalization (knowledge is shared
through a person-to-person interaction) approaches to managing knowledge.
Virtual communities are organic by nature; they are born, grown, and
eventually die. These processes are highly intertwined with and reflect the
development of the social networks that use the virtual communities. These
networks don’t necessarily have to follow organizational structures. In fact, they
tend to encompass people from different (functional) departments at different
echelons, and change in composition over time. A key characteristic of virtual
communities is that they mold themselves to the dynamics of these social
networks. Thus, unlike traditional meetings, they don’t impose a rigid structure
on the interaction in terms of subject (which topics are most important?),
participants (who may/can participate?), location (which place is convenient for
most people?), and time (what time is convenient for most people?).

Benefits of Virtual Communities

The fact that virtual communities tear down organizational time and place
barriers doesn’t mean that they will be immediately successful. It is equally
possible to lose money and work in an inefficient manner when these barriers
have been removed. When starting an initiative, it is important to consider the
achievements and goals the community needs to fulfill.
Exchanging best or better practices will make employees more aware of
processes performed in other parts of the organization. Large financial
conglomerates in particular can benefit from this. Internationally dispersed
managers in the same line of business are able to learn from each other, while
constant reinvention of the wheel is prevented. Incorporating this form of
knowledge exchange in their way of doing business will lead to more efficient
and effective processes and synergy.
An interesting aspect of communities is their ability to combine knowledge in
organizations across borders, or even with suppliers or customers. Through this
combination of knowledge, areas of the company can gain new insights into the
development of products and markets, and in securing new customers.
Depending on the strategy and position a company is in, it can choose to
implement virtual communities to cut costs or to develop a new business (or,
even better, both).
The benefit of virtual communities lies in their ability to ease the transition
associated with mergers and acquisitions (see Chapter 8). In the financial
industry, integration programs do not always result in a stronger organization,
and the effects of former mergers can still be felt a long way down the line. Old
cultures remain and people are often afraid to socialize and break down the
barriers between them. By bringing these people together, based on their field of
expertise and interest, these barriers can be overcome. At the same time,
knowledge gaps in the new organization will be quickly revealed, and the
necessary knowledge developed to plug these holes.
Although virtual communities are based on a technological platform, because
of their organic and social nature, critical success factors are also found in
broader organizational and cultural dimensions. These dimensions are intimately
related to each other, resulting in a complex web of interdependent issues. A
multidisciplinary team is therefore needed, with technical, managerial, and social
skills, to make successful implementation possible. Special attention should be
applied to the following sections.

Tool Selection
Implementing the right tool to do the job involves a deep analysis of the
expected size, usage, and growth of the community to prevent a mismatch
between the needed and actual tool properties. Also, the tool chosen should be
easy to implement on the existing IT platform of the organization (dedicated
servers, available bandwidth, integration with knowledge bases or CRM tools,
etc). Heavy involvement from the IT department is therefore necessary. In
addition, the selection of the desired functionalities of the community, such as e-
mail notification of new entries, anonymous access, and chat options are also
important. A clear understanding of management and user expectations and
needs is always necessary.

Cultural Dimension
The residing culture (the attitude and atmosphere) should support the transition
of social to virtual, informal networks. To respect the latent and sometimes
fragile structure of informal networks, there has to be an environment in which
KM initiatives are valued and encouraged. Clear management support and a
strong managerial vision are therefore keys. If these conditions are satisfied, and
the value of KM is clear, bottom-up community initiatives with a sufficient
social basis will emerge, or can be initiated in co-operation with enthusiastic
employees.

Key Learnings
The following are key learnings gained from this chapter:

To realize the full potential of KM at financial institutions, break up existing

data silos and deploy the tools necessary to capture; access; and share data,
information, and knowledge accurately, efficiently, and in real-time, across
the organization. Leveraging a KM framework as depicted in the brokerage
organization and banking KM frameworks (Figures 10.1 and 10.4) will
provide the basis for implementing the necessary systems.
In this era of knowledge intensification and global competition, we believe
virtual communities are excellent enablers of knowledge sharing and
creation, within and between organizations, to the point that they can
become a key source of competitive advantage in the financial industry.
However, organizations often fail in successfully implementing KM
programs, usually due to a failure to integrate them fully with business
activities, and the fact that KM is seen as an additional chore rather than a
core process. A cultural change is often necessary to facilitate the
implementation of KM and the use of virtual communities.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some tips and techniques that can be applied from this
chapter:

A key to successful implementation of KM is to incorporate the principle

supported by both the brokerage institution and banking KM models.
A key ingredient of delivering knowledge effectively is to establish the core
principle of connect, collect, catalog, store, use/reuse, learn, and create,
which contributes to growing intelligently reusable knowledge that supports
product and service innovation.
It is important to consider what a community will bring to its users and the
business as a whole before jumping right in. Try to facilitate bottom-up
thinking and create a knowledge-sharing atmosphere instead of forcing KM
solutions upon the organization.
 In your KM offerings, provide self-service options by establishing the
ability for consumers to access information, get answers, and complete
basic tasks without your assistance.
Chapter 11

“Are You in Good Hands?”: Knowledge

Management in Insurance

Conveying a consistent message to the customer base, which is supported by

consistent and up-to-date knowledge, is essential to servicing the needs of both
customer and customer service representatives (CSRs) (which is an extension of
your insurance organization). Knowledge management (KM) will play a key role
in servicing customers and CSRs in a consistent manner. Developing and
executing processes and communication aimed at capturing, cataloging, and
delivering content (information and knowledge) are keys to producing positive
results. However, we must understand that it is the human element of KM, and
the positive impact that KM has on the efficacy and attitudes of customers,
CSRs, and business executives that will deliver quantifiable business benefits to
insurance companies today.
Specifically, investments in facilitating a knowledge culture can directly
enhance an insurer’s business performance by improving the experiences of four
core constituencies: customers, agents, and executives. The primary goal of
sustaining business through attracting and retaining more customers has three
categories: focusing on customers, managing the business effectively, and
developing your knowledge workers. The following depicts how KM will align
with the insurance company’s corporate goals and objectives.

Insurance Business Challenges

Knowledge drain: One of the primary challenges being faced by insurance
companies today is the high turnover of employees, CSRs, brokers, and
other third-party assessors. When they leave, they take with them the wealth
of knowledge acquired as a result of their association with the organization.
This results in lower productivity as the onboarding time for new hires is
high.
 Lack of structured information: Most insurance companies collect a huge
amount of content (information and knowledge). Usually this content is
collected in silos as part of employees’ ongoing activities. This unstructured
information leads to loss of knowledge, as it is not shared with people who
need it.
Diverse markets: The Asian market is very complex, in the sense that each of
the markets has their own set of business processes. Some are mature
whereas some are emerging; some are well regulated whereas some are
open. A global insurance company will have to leverage their knowledge
framework to streamline processes across the market to achieve operational
efficiency.
Lack of a sound knowledge platform: Currently, the industry does not have a
robust knowledge platform, which can be used to promote a knowledge
culture within the organization. With the outburst of emerging technology
platforms, there is a huge opportunity for insurance organizations to apply
these and build an innovative knowledge framework.

This chapter centers on how insurance companies should be leveraging KM to

address the needs of customer, call center, underwriting claims, and the
knowledge workers employed by the insurance company (talent management).

Focusing on Customers
KM through its knowledge processes/architecture, governance, and technical
guidance will be the catalyst in delivering a consistent customer experience by
delivering knowledge and responding to the customer in a consistent voice and
message no matter where the insurance company engages with the customer
(contact centers, CSRs, mobile or Web) or with what media (online chat, e-mail,
postal service, help center, and/or frequently asked questions [FAQs]).

Managing the Business Effectively

KM will enable all key decisions and governance regarding knowledge. This
includes the capturing, cataloging, storing, availability, and maintenance of all
knowledge assets. In support of managing the business effectively, KM will
manage the knowledge assets of the insurance company to:
 Provide full visibility to knowledge in all areas.
Capture and disseminate key decisions.
Synchronize knowledge enterprise-wide.
Enable collaboration between all knowledge and key knowledge holders.
Enable common, enterprise-wide knowledge processes.
Establish holistic governance and taxonomy.
Form solid foundation to build continuing KM maturity.

Managing knowledge and achieving competitive advantages are the ingredients

of success for today’s insurance companies. Knowledge has been perceived to be
a key corporate asset in terms of increasing a firm’s competitiveness,
corresponding to the organization’s ability to act intelligently to sustain its long-
term competitive advantages via developing, building, and organizing its
knowledge assets. This is relevant within insurance companies because the key
business consideration of managing risk in this industry is through client
relationships. Insurance companies could achieve competitive advantage if they
manage knowledge pertaining to service quality and performance.
An organization’s employees are relatively proficient at interpreting
knowledge within a broader context, which includes combining knowledge with
other types of information and synthesizing various unstructured forms of
knowledge (Davenport and Prusak, 2002). The employees in the insurance
industry play an important role in the business performance, and their
cooperation, attitude, and empowerment could be important in determining
whether their companies are ready for KM initiatives or not.

Insurance Call Center

In a call center, customers are assigned to CSRs by routing policies that seek to
balance several objectives. Usually, these policies follow myopic rules in order
to minimize the waiting time or maximize the quality experienced by each
customer. However, there is a secondary effect of the routing assignment: by
learning-on-the-job, the development of the CSRs’ expertise depends on the calls
they take.
A major influence on a customer’s satisfaction at a call center is the
knowledge level of the CSR who takes their call. KM, in particular maintaining
or increasing the cumulative knowledge of the CSRs, is therefore a key issue for
ensuring service quality. This is especially true when the call center operates
within dynamic markets, and CSRs are required to keep pace with trends and
advances.
KM has a number of practical tools and strategies for meeting this challenge,
and call center managers have much to gain by implementing KM principles.
As indicated in Dimension Data’s 2015 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking
Report, a call center is confronted with a number of considerable challenges.
A call center is confronted with a number of considerable challenges:

Potentially wide range of customer enquiries

Legal accountability for information provided to customers
Customers expect “instant” answers to questions
High-stress work environment for call center operators
High staff turnover
Large and complex body of knowledge to be learned by new staff
Constant pressure to reduce call handling times
Continuous tracking and assessment of efficiency measures

Inbound centers have an average annual turnover of 26% for full-time

representatives and 33% for part-timers.

Benefits of KM to Call Centers

In meeting these challenges, KM has the potential to deliver some (or all) of
these benefits:

Reduced training time and costs for new staff

Improved call handling and response times
Increased staff satisfaction and morale
Greater consistency and accuracy of information provided to customers
Greater flexibility in handling changing business processes, products, and
information
Fewer calls to second-level support or the help desk

Applying KM to Call Centers

There are two aspects to KM that must be covered in a call center:

Efficient processes must be put in place to ensure that the right knowledge
 is captured, managed, and kept up-to-date.
KM systems must be established to support these processes. These IT
systems are the core of a KM-based call center.

Meeting both these areas will ensure that you have the resources in place to
support frontline staff, and the processes to maximize their value. However,
more important than any IT system you may implement is the knowledge itself.
Identify the knowledge your tier 1 staff and customers require, and accumulate
it. Once you have the raw information, shape this into a structured and usable
knowledge repository. Only then will you be in a position to deliver a complete
KM solution.
Spend the necessary time to identify the actual data, information, and
knowledge requirements of your customers and staff. This will ensure that you
get the maximum benefit out of building your center’s knowledge resources.
There are a number of practical ways of identifying information needs:

Talk to both experienced and novice staff, to find out their requirements
first-hand.
Conduct an information review of the resources currently available (both
online and on paper).
Survey both call center staff and customers (if possible).
Talk to business and product representatives, to identify the areas they
would like highlighted to customers.
Examine the daily activities of frontline staff to identify key information
needs.
Analyze call logs and other statistics to find out areas of customer interest or
confusion.
Identify the typical questions and problems addressed by the help desk or
second-level support.
Evaluate whether sufficient documentation exists for frontline IT systems.

The end product of these efforts should be a long list of comprehensive call
center KM requirements. This list must be prioritized and implemented as part of
delivering the KM system.

Structure Your Knowledge

It is surprising how often businesses spend considerable time and money
building online knowledge bases, only to discover that staff can’t work out how
to use them.
Effective structure and navigation leveraging sound information architecture
(IA) principles (see section “Information Architecture” in Chapter 4) is critical to
the success of a knowledge base. Without this, staff will not be able to find
required knowledge during the limited duration of a customer’s call.
Take these practical steps:

Involve staff throughout the design process, to ensure that their needs are
identified.
Develop prototypes for new KM systems, and test these with real users.
Apply IA principles and methods to all information repositories. This will
determine appropriate groupings, menu items, and navigation.
Use card sorting to determine structure, to identify any missed categories
(see section “Card Sorting” in Chapter 4).

Up to a third of any KM project should be spend designing and testing. Without

this, the risks of developing a solution that does not meet your center’s needs are
much higher.

Ensure Knowledge Is Accurate and Up-to-Date

Customer queries often relate to recent changes or product releases. The call
center must therefore be supported by up-to-date knowledge on these areas. This
is typically done by following a comprehensive knowledge governance process.
Call center operators must also be able to access the knowledge repositories
and be confident that the knowledge provided is both accurate and current. With
a customer on the line, there is no time for double-checking against other
information sources.
If your staff does not trust the KM systems, they will rapidly find other
sources, such as hand-written notes, or photocopied “cheat sheets.” There are a
number of practical steps you can take to ensure information accuracy:

Put in place a permanent team to create and update content.

Establish communication channels with the sources of new information
(policy groups, business units, etc.).
Ensure that updating the call center knowledge base is part of the “sign off”
requirements for business development.
 Provide a simple mechanism for frontline staff to report errors and
omissions

Ensure that your staff is fully trained to use KM systems and processes. Make
sure they are aware of the full range of information that is available to them.

Knowledge Repository
One such KM system focused on call centers is a knowledge repository. The
knowledge repositories in a call center are the primary (or sole) source of
information provided to your customers. As such, they warrant a substantial
amount of effort to ensure that they are both useful, and used.
Although this may be considered a large system effort, the payoff justifies the
benefits that can be realized. A knowledge repository will help to reduce call
handling times, and increase the consistency of knowledge provided to
customers. Call center staffs typically have only a minute to find the information
requested by their customer. Under this pressure, it is critical that staffs have
effective and efficient ways of locating answers.
A well-designed search engine is a necessary first step toward meeting this
goal. Spend time designing and configuring the search engine: It must be simple
to use, but still return a useful set of results. A search engine does not deliver the
complete solution. It is also important to provide staff with structured and
meaningful browsing and navigation methods. This ranges from ensuring the
correct items are on the main menu, to creating related links between pages. All
of this must be supported with comprehensive metadata, such as title,
description, and keywords. These combine to increase the effectiveness of both
searching and browsing.

Integrate Customer Relationship Management and KM systems

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are all about knowing your
customers, and their needs.
This ties in closely with the operation of your KM systems:

Demographic information about your customers will allow you to ensure

that the right information is in your knowledge repository.
Tracking customer queries is an excellent way of identifying FAQs.
 These FAQs should be easily available from within the CRM, to facilitate
rapid responses.
Information in KM systems should be broken down according to customer
groupings in the CRM software.
Escalation from the CRM system should be closely tied in with KM
processes.
Usage statistics gathered from the knowledge repository provide an
indication of the “hot topics” for customers. This is a valuable source of
information for CRM activities.

Integrate Help Desk and KM Systems

Most help desks and second-level support teams are equipped with “call
logging” systems, which track the status of the reported problems and issues. In
conjunction with this, a repository of common problems and resolutions should
be developed. (This may already be provided as part of the call logging
software.)
This reduces the amount of knowledge the help desk staffs have to “keep in
their heads” (tacit knowledge). It also helps to ensure that consistent responses
are provided to frontline staff. This repository is also an excellent source of
frontline information. Distil the most common problems, write these up as
procedures or workarounds, and provide them to frontline staff. Such
information will reduce the number of “simple” calls to the help desk, which
eases the workload, and allows help desk staff to concentrate on the more
difficult cases.

Integrate Interactive Voice Response and KM Systems

Most phone queues are now fronted with an interactive voice response (IVR)
system. These may simply direct incoming callers to an appropriate phone
queue, or provide sophisticated phone transaction systems.
Integrate the IVR with your center’s KM systems:

Ensure that information provided via the IVR is consistent with the details
in your information repository.
Gather detailed breakdowns on the usage of the IVR. This will tell you the
areas your customers are interested in.
 Document the exact script of the IVR for call center staff. This will assist
them to manage a clean handover when they answer calls.

IVR systems are normally only the first step in the customers’ interaction with a
call center, and they must be managed as such. There must be consistency across
all methods of information delivery.

Customer-Facing Resources
Many call centers now respond to online and e-mail queries, in addition to phone
calls. With this broadened responsibility, call centers must manage the additional
workload.
The call center knowledge repository can be used in a number of practical
ways:

Publish a selection of customer questions (FAQs) to the website.

Ensure online sales and product information are accurate and
comprehensive. This will reduce the number of calls in these areas.
Develop “standard responses” to a range of common e-mail or website
queries. Products even exist that will analyze incoming e-mails, and
automatically select appropriate responses.

It is important that the information provided to customers is drawn out of the

same repository used by call center staff (also known as “single sourcing”). In
this way, duplication is reduced and errors are avoided. Maintenance efforts are
similarly reduced.

Insurance KM Model
The insurance KM Model (see Figure 11.1) depicts the various stages of
knowledge and the areas within an insurance organization that must leverage
knowledge in order to effectively and efficiently execute their tasks. The
following describes each element of the insurance KM model:

Connect: This part of the model focuses on determining what knowledge

exists, where the knowledge is located, and who are the holders or
authoritative voice(s) for your organization’s knowledge. Executing a
content/knowledge audit is a method for determining this. This audit
 focuses on those activities that are concerned with understanding what
knowledge is needed to support all business areas within the insurance
organization.
Collect: Once the knowledge has been identified, it must be gathered in one
central location. If any gaps exist in the knowledge, new knowledge must
be captured or created. This will be accomplished through leveraging
consistent guidelines and templates for the specific knowledge being
created.
Catalog: This part of the model focuses on categorization and organization of
knowledge. Designing and constructing a taxonomy to determine the
structure in which the knowledge will be categorized and stored is the
major activity in this part of the model. Once this categorization is
designed, it will be implemented within the specified knowledge repository.
Use/reuse: This part of the model will focus on the ability to find and leverage
knowledge across the organization. Accessing the knowledge via the
identification, design, and implementation of filters based on keywords and
synonyms will be incorporated here.
Enrich: This part of the model focuses on maintainability and sustainability of
knowledge within the designated repository. The governance plan will be a
key input into the maintainability and sustainability of all knowledge
through the continuous review, update, and archiving of outdated
knowledge.
Share: This part of the model focuses on incorporating those mechanisms
necessary to exchange knowledge between all employees and business
areas within the insurance organization. This is accomplished by creating
environments and opportunities to exchange (transfer) knowledge. Once
new knowledge is gathered, it must then become part of the “corporate
knowledge base” and follow the continuous flow of the knowledge life
cycle as identified in the insurance KM model.

Underwriting
Emerging technologies such as discussion databases, document management,
Internet search capabilities, case-based reasoning, rule-based systems, data
mining, and neural networks are powerful tools that can improve organizational
communications and decision-making performance. To be effective however,
technology must be aligned with and support the human and selected
management practices of the organization.

Figure 11.1 Insurance knowledge management model.

KM utilizes these management practices and emerging technologies to support

the human art and management science of underwriting. Underwriters are
expected to analyze and price risks to meet customers’ needs for risk
management, while containing loss within acceptable levels to assure adequate
cash flow and return on premium.
Underwriters ask questions, gather information, analyze data, and leverage the
knowledge and experience of the organization to make decisions. The higher the
probability or potential size of loss, the more questions, information, data,
knowledge and experience involved in the underwriting decision-making
process.
Technology is used in varying degrees to support the risk assessment and
pricing processes within each segment of the insurance industry. The more
simple or straightforward the decision-making process, the more automated it
has become.
The initial underwriting of individual term life insurance, personal auto
insurance and other standardized commodity products has been largely
automated through the use of rule-based or risk-scoring technologies. In these
situations, underwriting is becoming increasingly more of a science that
automates the explicit knowledge of the frontline professional.
As the probability or size of loss increases, so does the complexity of the
decision-making process. The underwriting of group life and health, long-term
disability, and commercial property and casualty risks require more complex and
situational-based analysis best left to the judgment of the underwriter. KM
focuses on providing underwriters with the information, data, and tools they
need to accurately assess risk and make better and faster decisions. Frontline
professionals rely on two primary methods for making complex decisions.
First, they try to relate the current case to similar situations they have dealt
with in the past. For example, a commercial property underwriter evaluating the
submission of a hotel will rely on his or her previous experience with this class
of business to begin and conduct the underwriting process. The more experience
the underwriter has, the more sensitive he or she will be to the cues that help
evaluate the probability of risk.
With the second method, if the submission, in whole or in part, is unfamiliar
to anything the underwriter has previously handled, he or she begins to look for
components of the risk that present problems or issues that can be solved. These
components act as recognition footholds to support a deeper analysis of the
account.
In either case, experts tend to ask more questions, use more information, and
conduct more implicit and explicit analysis than their less experienced
counterparts—and they do it in less time as well. KM can help organizations
evaluate complex risks through the review of the decision-making processes
used by expert professionals.
What questions do experts ask? What information and data do they use? What
analyses do they conduct? What outcomes do they consider? When and how do
they access and use knowledge and expertise—both within and outside the
organization? These cognitive tasks determine context and timing for content
delivery to support the frontline professional.
Once completed, the analysis provides the key business requirements for the
design, development, and integration of information system capabilities to
support the frontline underwriter. Finally, KM system solutions need to be easy
to use. They must integrate relevant mainframe, client-server, and Web
technologies, and their disparate data types, through a common user interface
that supports the capture and use of the knowledge and experience of the
organization as a normal part of the decision-making process.
KM can deliver significant short-term cycle-time and productivity
improvements through “just-in-time” access and delivery of information, data,
analytical tools, and knowledge to frontline underwriters.

Claims
Insurance companies often have to validate claim information and enter it
manually before even starting the adjudication process. Delays are constant.
Multiple priorities must be balanced, including regulatory compliance,
fraudulent claim detection, invalid claim identification, and customer service. In
order to best serve all of these goals at once, processes must be optimized and
paired with technology designed to support a streamlined claims experience.
We can provide our wealth of domain expertise in insurance, process
management, and technology to provide your company with the following
benefits:

Reduced claims delays through streamlined processes

Fewer claims errors
Improved communication and access to information about claim status for
higher customer satisfaction
Reduced operational costs through process improvements and automated
decision making
Enhanced compliance with regulations such as Sarbanes–Oxley Act, Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and the PATRIOT Act
Better fraud detection through advanced identification and analysis of
abnormal patterns
Decreased erroneous claims payments
Reduced paper processes (and associated duplication and inefficient use of
labor)

Big Data. Big Data. Big Data. Yeah … so what? What does Big Data have to do
with insurers? Just think about it. You sift and search and sort an incredible
amount of data—adjusters’ hand-written notes, data from fraud lists and the
information from claims management systems, and the National Insurance
Crime Bureau (NICB) claims database. Are you getting the most from that data?
 With so many claims to handle, your adjusters don’t have time to sift through
all of that data to evaluate each claim. But they may not make the best decision if
they miss a valuable piece of information. That means many of their decisions
are based on experience, gut feeling and the limited information that is readily at
hand.
For this reason—and many others—Big Data analytics is playing an
increasingly important role in the insurance business. Working alongside
adjusters, analytics can flag claims for closer inspection, priority handling, and
more. Here are six areas where analytics can make a big difference:

Fraud: One out of 10 insurance claims is fraudulent. How do you spot those
before a hefty payout is made? Most fraud solutions on the market today are
rules-based. Unfortunately, it is too easy for fraudsters to manipulate and
get around the rules. Predictive analysis, on the other hand, uses a
combination of rules, modeling, text mining, database searches, and
exception reporting to identify fraud sooner and more effectively at each
stage of the claims cycle.
Subrogation: Opportunities for subrogation often get lost in the sheer volume
of data—most of it in the form of police records, adjuster notes, and
medical records. Text analytics searches through this unstructured data to
find phrases that typically indicate a subrogation case. By pinpointing
subrogation opportunities earlier, you can maximize loss recovery while
reducing loss expenses.
Settlement: To lower costs and ensure fairness, insurers often implement fast-
track processes that settle claims instantly. But settling a claim on-the-fly
can be costly if you overpay. Any insurer who has seen a rash of home
payments in an area hit by natural disaster knows how that works. By
analyzing claims and claim histories, you can optimize the limits for instant
payouts. Analytics can also shorten claims cycle times for higher customer
satisfaction and reduced labor costs. It also ensures significant savings on
things such as rental cars for auto repair claims.
Loss reserve: When a claim is first reported, it is nearly impossible to predict
its size and duration. But accurate loss reserving and claims forecasting is
essential, especially in long-tail claims such as liability and workers’
compensation. Analytics can more accurately calculate loss reserve by
comparing a loss with similar claims. Then, whenever the claims data is
updated, analytics can reassess the loss reserve, so you understand exactly
 how much money you need on hand to meet future claims.
Activity: It makes sense to put your more experienced adjusters on the most
complex claims. But claims are usually assigned based on limited data—
resulting in high reassignment rates that effect claim duration, settlement
amounts, and ultimately, the customer experience. Data mining techniques
cluster and group loss characteristics to score, prioritize, and assign claims
to the most appropriate adjuster based on experience and loss type. In some
cases, claims can even be automatically adjudicated and settled.
Litigation: A significant portion of a company’s loss adjustment expense ratio
goes to defending disputed claims. Insurers can use analytics to calculate a
litigation propensity score to determine which claims are more likely to
result in litigation. You can then assign those claims to more senior
adjusters who are more likely to be able to settle the claims sooner and for a
lower amount.

Why make analytics a part of your claims processing? As insurance becomes a

commodity, it becomes more important for carriers to differentiate themselves.
Adding analytics to the claims life cycle can deliver a measurable ROI with cost
savings. Just a 1% improvement in the loss ratio for a $1 billion insurer is worth
more than $7 million on the bottom line.

Developing Your Knowledge Workers

Both public and private sector organizations are struggling with knowledge loss
resulting from employee turnover. Moreover, costs of recruiting, of lost
productivity, and training to replace employees can reach huge values. Capturing
knowledge inside an organization seems to be one of the main purposes of a KM
professional. In the insurance industry, trade secrets, confidential information,
and valuable ideas are part of the workforce knowledge. Recruiting, selecting,
training, and managing insurance CSRs constitute a real challenge for insurance
companies all over the world, and a sensitive ethics-related issue is the case of
insurance CSRs leaving their employer, in order to transfer to a competitor
insurance company, while trying to take along as many clients as possible from
the old employer.
KM will provide the mechanisms, policies, procedures, and governance to
facilitate associate collaboration, knowledge sharing (lunch-n-learn, knowledge
café, and communities of practice), knowledge transfer, associate enrichment
through focus training and learning (instructor lead, workshops, web or
computer based). KM will provide the strategy and processes to capture and
disseminate tacit and explicit knowledge from employees to be shared across the
organization, which will support organizational learning and evolve the company
and its associates into a lifelong learning community and organization.

Talent Management
The focus here is about addressing the specific needs of the insurance company
employee. In Chapter 6, a broader perspective on talent management was
detailed. Talent management must address the business costs and the impact of
employee turnover. Employee turnover can be grouped in four main categories:

Costs due to a person leaving (other employees must fill in for the person
leaving; the lost productivity of the employee; the cost of training the
company has provided; the cost of lost knowledge, skills, and contacts; and
the cost of lost customers the departing employee is taking with him).
Hiring costs (costs associated with identifying, recruiting, selecting, and
hiring a replacement, such as advertising, Internet posting, costs in terms of
time spent arranging the interviews, or calling references). These costs also
translate into lost productivity.
Training costs (the replacement person’s orientation, product knowledge,
industry knowledge, and on the job training).
Lost productivity costs (the new employee will go through a few stages
before becoming fully productive; his supervisor will spend time guiding
him or her and correcting his or her potential mistakes).
Given that companies are increasingly gaining competitive advantages from
intellectual assets rather than physical assets, organizations that do not
implement effective knowledge capturing strategies will face difficulties.

Role of Technology
The role of technology as it pertains to KM is that of a facilitator and enabler.
Technology enables the capture, catalog, and dissemination of knowledge to
occur. Technology facilitates the use/reuse of knowledge assets across the
organization. This is true for all organizations, including insurance companies,
when leveraging KM. The following provides awareness into a few technology
platforms that help insurance organizations achieve knowledge creation, storage
distribution and most importantly, knowledge application.

Content management and IA: Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and

tools are used to capture, categorize, save, and supply relevant content
related to organizational processes. ECM/IA tools are also needed to
automate processes involving workflows, document management, along
with taxonomy and metadata management. The content and collaboration
strategies would remain ineffective in the absence of a good content
management system. Thus, ECM/IA should be seen as a foundation to KM
rather than an enabler. ECM/IA solutions will lead to higher process
efficiency in areas such as new business, underwriting, and claims.
Collaboration: Essentially, KM is a collaborative effort. An assortment of
collaboration technologies such as cloud and SharePoint can be used to
support KM practices in insurance organizations. They allow people to send
secure emails, share artifacts, participate in discussions, blog, web
conference, and perform secure instant messaging, thereby supporting
collective learning. A typical example would be a CSR collaboration
platform, which would allow CSRs to collaborate more easily with all the
stakeholders. Mobile technologies and social media have also seen
unprecedented reach, adoption, and impact. Social media can help insurers
promote collaboration among CSRs, brokers, and customers, while mobility
could empower CSRs with information anytime, anywhere, and on any
device.
E-learning: In national, global, and/or multicultural insurance organizations,
there is a huge amount of information present across multiple locations and
languages. There is a need for on-the-job training to enhance knowledge
and skill bases, thereby avoiding re-inventing the wheel. E-learning
platforms are proving to be a reliable solution to this. These platforms could
be used by insurance brokers to enhance their knowledge and skills.
Through such courses, insurance organizations can develop a cost-effective
way to onboard qualified/certified CSRs in their field force. E-learning
platforms are also being extensively used to render “application—
knowledge transfer applications” to business users using the IT application.

Insurance Knowledge Management Systems Framework

The insurance knowledge management systems (IKMS) framework (see Figure
11.2 depicts the majority of the areas in which knowledge has to be enabled
and/or facilitated within an insurance organization. The following describes each
element of the IKMS framework:

Figure 11.2 Insurance knowledge management systems framework.

Customer service self-help: Establish FAQs, knowledge articles, and other

self-help content in order for customers to solve issues without needing
customer service assistance. Providing answers to questions efficiently,
effectively, and in a consistent manner is the main purpose here. This is
accomplished by providing standardized internal processes and knowledge
results for faster resolution.
Contact center KM systems: Establish a contact center-centric KM system that
delivers consumable knowledge that can be communicated to customers
succinctly over the phone, chat, and/or e-mail. The type of knowledge will
consist of primarily knowledge articles, procedures, and job-aids. Specific
escalation from first-level support through third-level support should also
be established.
Agency KM systems: Provides CSRs and CSR office staffs with the necessary
knowledge to enable the ability to educate and consult with customers in
order to facilitate the transaction of purchasing insurance products. This
environment will also provide the ability to point out appropriate coverage
 and gaps therein as well.

Underwriting KM Systems
The underwriting KM functionality will provide the underwriter with the
following:

Risk selection: Enable the underwriter to decide whether to accept a

particular risk or not. It involves securing factual information from the
applicant, evaluating that information, and deciding on a course of action.
Classification and rating: Enable the underwriter to classify and rate the
policy. Several tentative classifications are usually assigned before a final
decision on classifying the risk is reached. Insurers may have their own
classification and rating system, or they may obtain a system from a rating
bureau.
Policy forms: The underwriter will leverage the necessary knowledge to
determine the acceptability of an applicant and assigning the proper
classification and rating; the underwriter is ready to issue an insurance
policy. The underwriter functionality of the KM system will assist in
identifying the different types of policies available as well as recommending
modifications to fit the needs of the applicant.
Retention and reinsurance: The underwriting function of the KM system
will enable the underwriter to protect the company from undue financial
strain by retaining only a certain portion of the risk and securing reinsurance
for the remainder of the risk.

Claims KM Systems
The claims KM functionality will provide the following:
Settling claims: Settling insurance claims is just one aspect of the claims
management process. The claims KM functionality will provide the necessary
knowledge to the claims processors to timely process a claim by

Detecting fraud: Claims KM functionality will provide underwriting

guidelines, examine payment history, and evaluate trends in claim payoffs
to help insurance companies detect fraud.
 Lowering costs: Claims KM functionality will provide improved efficiency
by decreasing the number of claim errors, detecting fraud early, and
reducing the time it takes to process and settle a claim.
Avoiding litigation: Claims KM functionality will provide knowledge to
quickly settle a claim and avoid the chances for litigation and provide
accurate liability assessment.

Sales and Marketing

KM for sales and marketing will provide improved operational efficiency by
reducing time to market for new product launching; more effectively enhance
insurance products by modifying and/or adding new features; target specific
customers/markets with campaigns that are effective and more likely to increase
revenue; make specific sales and marketing data, information and knowledge
available that includes historical data and processes to make accurate forecasts.

CRM System
Integration of your KM system with your organizations CRM system will enable
knowledge about customers to be directly tied to specific customer data. This
integration will improve services for customers; prioritize customers using their
purchase history, which allows a company to delineate which customers are
most important and target most of their efforts toward; and see and know the
customer’s complete history, which will enable employees to review customer
history and allow them to analyze customer activity that will aid in selling more
product or service to that customer.

Collaboration
Collaboration is a key benefit of any KM system. Integration with your
organization’s collaboration tools/environment with social media will empower
your organization to tap into the voice of the customer. This integration will
enable your organization to establish a better relationship with your customer by
responding quickly to issues, and to launch products and services that tie directly
to customer needs and being proactive about sharing pertinent news about your
organization.
E-Learning
Integration of your KM system with your organization’s e-learning platform will
address specific knowledge gaps your employees are experiencing and tie them
directly to training and learning opportunities that will fill those gaps. The e-
learning platform integrated with KM will improve training event management
(i.e., scheduling and tracking), skills and competencies management, skill gap
analysis, and delivering of an individual development plan.

Content Management/IA
Integration of your KM system with your organization’s content management
system powered by IA will provide all content (information and knowledge)
with a consistent organization structure, labeling, descriptive elements
(metadata), and consistent (improved) search experience.

Key Learnings
The following are key learnings from this chapter:

Experience has shown that the use of a KM system is maximized by

incorporating it into the initial training provided to the new staff. In this
way, it becomes the “default” way of resolving problems, and finding
answers. (For further information on KM adoption, refer to Chapter 17.)

Take these practical steps to ensure information accuracy:

Establish a permanent team to create and update content.

Establish communication channels with the sources of new information
(policy groups, business units, etc.).
Ensure that updating the call center knowledgebase is part of the “sign off”
requirements for business development.
Provide a simple mechanism for frontline staff to report errors and
omissions.
IVR systems are normally only the first step in the customers’ interaction
with a call center, and they must be managed as such. All call center
interaction with the customer must be consistent across all methods of
information delivery.
Tips and Techniques
The following are some of the tips and techniques that are deduced from this
chapter:

Up to a third of any KM project should be spent designing and testing.

Without this, the risks of developing a solution that does not meet your call
center’s needs are much higher.
Once you have the raw information, shape this into a structured and usable
knowledge repository. But remember that your organization is legally
accountable for every piece of information provided to customers.
It is important that the information provided to customers is drawn out of
the same repository used by call center staff (also known as “single
sourcing”). In this way, duplication is reduced, and errors avoided.
Maintenance efforts are similarly reduced.
Chapter 12

“Sign Right Here!”: Knowledge Management

in the Legal Profession

Knowledge management (KM) is becoming more prevalent within law firms as

well as legal departments, as the practice of KM has become more mature. KM
policies, procedures, techniques, and technologies have been proven in other
industries to the point where legal entities are taking notice. As with all
applications of KM in other industries, KM in law firms will vary from firm to
firm and from lawyer to lawyer. This chapter will focus on KM in the
management of law firms and legal practitioners, specifically in the following
areas: training lawyers (talent management), legal project management (LPM),
legal research, precedent/case law, client support, competitive intelligence (CI),
and governance of law firm knowledge assets.
In March 2012, I discussed in a blog post that KM in law firms centers on
client relationships and understanding the clients’ legal needs. These needs can
range from but are not limited to litigation, intellectual property, criminal,
divorce, and bankruptcy (Rhem, 2012). In understanding what a client needs, the
law firm partner has to determine who would be the best (lawyer/lawyers) to
address specific needs of the client and how they can effectively and efficiently
handle these needs. Therefore, knowledge around servicing the client would be a
good start for a legal KM strategy to focus. The legal KM strategy should
address the knowledge needs, processes, initiatives, and tools that will increase
the performance of the staff and provide outstanding services and increase
revenue of the firm (Rhem, 2012). The legal KM strategy should incorporate
specific KM drivers to insure that KM is adopted and sustained within the firm.

KM Drivers for Legal Professionals and Firms

In order for KM to take hold and be adopted across the firm, there are several
drivers that will lead to law firms incorporating KM into the organization. The
KM drivers for legal professionals and firms include the following:
 Cost pressures: KM can be used to work more efficiently to meet client
demands and become more cost-effective with the various services being
provided.
Efficiency and consistency: KM (through explicit knowledge capture) will
produce standard and consistent forms, templates, processes, and procedures
to become more efficient in delivering services to clients.
Flexibility and responsiveness: KM (through incorporating expertise
locators as an example) will facilitate flexibility and responsiveness to client
needs by assigning the “right resources (lawyers) at the right time in the
right way to address the particular need(s) of clients.”
Training and learning: KM (in particular, by implementing knowledge
transfer, sharing, collaboration processes, policies, and tools) will create an
atmosphere where lawyers can learn from each other, share best practices,
and provide practical training for inexperienced associates.
Retention (people and knowledge): Successful KM practices, policies, and
tools will create an environment where all staff will experience enrichment
through collaboration and sharing. In addition, expertise management will
foster lawyers being assigned to cases where their expertise can be best
leveraged, and this will foster an environment where the retention of staff is
high. Establishing a knowledge portal will enable individual knowledge to
be captured and included as part of the corporate knowledge base, where it
can be accessed across the firm, and this will facilitate the retention of the
firm’s knowledge.
Workplace satisfaction: Establishing KM to address retention of people and
the accessibility of knowledge contributes greatly toward workplace
satisfaction. Fostering an environment where you are rewarding employees
for sharing knowledge and open communication for collaboration will
continue to enrich the workplace.

Some of the benefits KM has for legal professionals and firms are as follows:

The ability through expertise locators to quickly build teams to address

cases and client situations
The ability through search engine optimization techniques (taxonomies,
ontology, and associated information architectures for legal information and
knowledge objects) to improve retrieval of case history, enable associations
of related cases and rulings, as well as locate knowledge resources (subject
 matter experts) based on knowledge objects that are retrieved
The ability to share, collaborate, and store communication around
intellectual capital
The ability to mentor and cross-train new, associate, and experienced
lawyers
The ability to manage and expand the talent and experiences of lawyers in
the firm
The ability to infuse KM in managing law firms
The ability to reuse internally developed knowledge assets such as
precedents, letters, research findings, and case history information

Knowledge capture and transfer to prepare the law firm for when partners and/or
associates leave the firm, infusing knowledge sharing to continue building the
expertise of the firm, and improving learning through lessons learned,
assessments, and continual process improvement for better client service are all
valuable assets that KM will impart to the firm.
This chapter focuses on how law firms manage their vast array of explicit and
tacit knowledge. It also examines how law firms are leveraging precedent
development, legal research, talent management, expertise locator, LPM, and
client support, all in relation to instituting KM within their legal institutions to
provide the law firm with a distinct advantage over its competitors.

Talent Management in Law Firms

As stated in Chapter 6, infusing a human capital/talent management strategy
with KM that includes knowledge capture, knowledge cataloging and reuse,
knowledge sharing, and connecting expertise throughout your organization will
improve the talents of your people and increase the organizational competency.
This section will explore lawyer training and expertise locators to improve
performance and align the right knowledge to the right task(s).

Lawyer/Legal Staff Training

KM will provide law firms with the mechanisms to manage the development of
and access to core practice content. In this capacity, KM will supplement lawyer
training by providing access to knowledge relating to internal memoranda on
practice legal issues and practice process checklists; identifying work product
precedents (exemplar documents); providing knowledge about internal and
external firm publications, presentations, and training; detailing results from
legal knowledge projects and systems in the assigned practice area(s); as well as
providing access to legal knowledge bases and repositories.
It is important that lawyers new to the firm are trained and mentored to use the
firm’s relevant knowledge tools (if they exist) and information resources. An
effort to coordinate with peers in other practice areas to exchange best practices
regarding knowledge resources, including monitoring and sharing practitioner’s
recent, relevant legal developments and current market practice developments
and trends, is another essential aspect of KM, providing a holistic approach to
speed up new lawyers and thereby taking less time to become productive.
Not only is the training for lawyers important, but the training for all legal
staff on the management of the law firm is also important. Essential to that
training is access to mentors and knowledge in order to become productive
quickly by supporting the needs of the lawyers. The following are details
concerning the evolution of the legal support staff due to technology and access
to knowledge tools and information resources.

Legal Secretaries/Legal Assistants/Paralegals

The increase in use of laptops, smartphones, and tablets in law firms allows
attorneys to work independently anywhere, anytime. These devices are just a few
of the technological advancements that have vastly affected legal secretaries’
duties. Younger tech-savvy attorneys type their own correspondence and use
smart devices to carry out their day-to-day duties. This decrease in traditional
clerical duties is causing a major change in the role and the necessary knowledge
needed to be a legal secretary.
Legal secretaries, who once supported one or two attorneys, are now often
supporting many more as well as performing many more duties, such that they
are now being retitled as “legal assistants.” These legal assistant positions
represent a new transitional opportunity that can be leveraged to entice a new
generation of entry-level college-degree workers into the legal profession.
The role of the paralegal is also evolving into that of the legal assistant due to
the mobility and access that technology has created. Technology has enabled the
ability to achieve more than normal, access legal knowledge repositories
whenever and wherever required, share knowledge, and support multiple
lawyers. Legal assistants in many firms are now performing legal research. This
requires that a legal assistant know precisely where to go for any necessary
information. Because of this, today most firms have discarded their books in
favor of online services such as Westlaw and Lexis for legal research as well as
utilizing other Internet resources. This allows a legal assistant to perform the
research in less than half the time, and with this faster technology, the answer is
often expected within minutes.
Another major change in the role of legal assistants involves the handling of
discovery. Paralegals play a critical role in assisting attorneys with discovery.
They help manage the discovery process, especially when large volumes of
documents are involved. These are no longer paper documents; instead, through
the use of document, content, and KM software, discovery documents and
associated knowledge are stored, providing easy access.
Therefore, the traditional role of a legal assistant has transformed into a more
tech-savvy one, and paralegals are now training and working with IT personnel
to assist in managing the discovery process. The knowledge necessary to
perform in this role requires familiarity with document, content, and KM
software and state and federal e-discovery rules, and they must be able to
coordinate with outside litigation support vendors. As a result, the evolution of
technology has created a new legal support staff member who merges the skills
of a paralegal and a computer specialist into a legal technology specialist.

Legal Technology Specialist

A legal technology specialist provides technical support for large e-discovery
projects, document production, and document reviews. He or she requires not
only advanced knowledge of document, content, and KM software but also a
thorough understanding of federal and state rules of civil procedure.
It is because of technology and the access provided to legal information
through document, content, and KM software that law firms need to begin to
reclassify and create new job descriptions, duties, and titles to better reflect the
support staff’s actual responsibilities. This will trickle down to providing not
only the necessary training but also the necessary reorganization to deliver the
best client services.
Law firm business model must produce increased profits through greater
efficiency from decreased revenues. This model demands a strong team of
knowledgeable, resourceful, and talented professionals. Having access to the
firm’s corporate knowledge will enable that to happen.
Expertise Locators
An expertise locator is a system that is intended to be used to connect people to
others whose expertise (capabilities) are needed. This system includes tools and
techniques that allow for identification of who has the expertise on a certain
topic(s). The seeker of an expert can expect to accrue the benefits of accessing
one or more experts from a pool of talent within the organization.
It is often said that “we don’t know what we know,” and at an organizational
level, this can be extended to mean “we don’t know who knows what.” If you
were to ask someone if they know who has expertise about a certain topic, they
will probably be able to name a few people. But ask them to name more than
five people in the organization who have this expertise and they will likely
struggle to list the names of these individuals. The expertise locator will look up
the available expertise within the organization, when solving a problem, rather
than rediscovering what someone has done already.
The expertise locator (see Figure 12.1) can be used not only for fields of
expertise but for any way of classifying and tagging (see section on “Metadata”
in Chapter 4) user profiles that are useful to your organization. Each different
type of expertise or attribute that you wish to use can be added as a custom field
to users’ profile pages. The unique type of custom field used for this purpose is
called a “tag custom field.” The benefit of these tag custom fields is that the tags
associated with them are used to identify only the people, not content. This
challenge of finding experts is an issue across all industries. Most companies
have systems that identify and classify experts using some sort of searchable
directory or database that includes a description of the person’s role and the team
he or she belongs to, but these systems have limited functionality.
Figure 12.1 Expertise locator example.
These kinds of tools are needed when we are considering assembling a team
with certain expertise that is needed to address a problem. This capability is
essential in putting a team of lawyers together in order to address a client’s legal
issue. Locating experts is often a time-consuming and tedious process. An
expertise locator will reduce the time needed to put the right team together and
contribute in facilitating reducing costs and gaining efficiencies for clients.
However, there are some disparagements around expertise locators. One is
that the method identifies the knowledge at the individual level and does not
capture the knowledge of groups or teams. Another is criticism about the notion
of “the expert” itself, as the level of “expert” is really limited to a very few
people. One solution to this issue is to identify in the expertise locator a person’s
capabilities and fields of experience and associate the person to actual content
within your knowledge base such as briefings authored or other project
documentation, as opposed to just identifying capabilities.
The benefit of these tag custom fields is that the tags associated with them are
used to identify only the people, not content. For example, a regular tag called
“Criminal Law” can be applied to pages, profiles, groups, or any other type of
content. So selecting this as a search facet would return results of all kinds. But
if “Criminal Law” is added to a tag custom field on users’ profiles, selecting it as
a search facet will narrow your search down to only the people with the expertise
that you are looking for!

Legal Project Management

LPM focuses on leveraging the application and concepts of project management
in order to control and manage the business of providing legal services. Law
firms working under fee arrangements such as fixed or flat fees, cost limits, and
success bonuses are commonly utilizing project management. Project
management (see section on “Software Methodologies” in Chapter 2) will
provide management of schedule, risk, and cost in a more rigorous and
structured manner. LPM is becoming standard practice for law departments and
firms using hourly billing as they are faced with the need to be more efficient in
the delivery of legal services.
LPM can be an effective tool for improving efficiency in the delivery of legal
services. LPM techniques can help identify best practices for scoping a matter,
effectively communicating across the team, managing a budget, and monitoring
progress. However, to realize these benefits, the lawyers will have to buy-in and
realize benefits from this right away. A best practice would be to start with a
pilot with a few lawyers in order to demonstrate the value of LPM and to achieve
a quick win. Once some level of buy-in has been accomplished, continue
implementing the LPM practice, capturing and applying lessons learned along
the way.
Palomaki and Wagner (2011; [emphasis added]) have indicated 10 aspects of
what they found instrumental in getting lawyers to buy into LPM inside a law
firm and they are listed below:

1. Embrace it, lawyers know everything: Many lawyers will rightfully

rebel against the notion that PM training is teaching them something
new. PM includes skills and techniques that most lawyers currently
know and use. Acknowledging that the attorneys already possess the
basic skills and that PM techniques merely provide more structure
around what they are already doing, is key to gaining attorneys’ buy-in.
And, if you talk to the lawyers about a time they have exceeded budget
and had to explain it to a client that can be a good starting point for
helping them identify what they can do better to avoid that
conversation in the future.
2. Consider a bottom-up approach: Many of the firms who are on the
path to PM have taken a top-down approach. It is no surprise that the
“Do it because I said so” method is ineffective. Rather than dictating a
one-size-fits-all tactic, consider starting with individual client or
project teams. In order to help improve efficiencies, first identify what
the inefficiencies are. All lawyers are not inefficient in the same way,
and neither is the solution to help them. Training on a team level and
helping individual teams analyze the way they work will be more
effective and more successful—one team at a time.
3. KISS (Keep it simple, stupid): Lawyers hate non-legal training, and if
you make them attend training that is longer than 90 minutes, they get
really cranky. Instead of trying to cram all that could be taught into 90
minutes or forcing our lawyers to submit to daylong sessions, we found
it more effective to develop training programs that are unique and
specific to the individual teams on just those areas in which that team
wants help. By approaching the training this way, our lawyers really
 hone in on the areas where they want to focus. They don’t learn
everything, but they learn what they want to know, they use it and they
get results. Then, they come back for more.
4. Encourage debate: We hired an outside consultant to jump-start
Sutherland’s PM initiative. Throughout the training course, the
consultant both anticipated and enjoyed the debates that occurred
during the session and was able to use those discussions to emphasize
key points on many concepts. We learned that our lawyers got the most
out of PM training when we opened up the discussion and encouraged
them to debate the concepts and best practices. Our lawyers fiercely
debated the appropriate time to talk to clients about a change in scope,
how much to involve associates in the overall project plan, what the
best practices are for team meetings and communication, and how to
share a post-project review with the team. And, as is usually the case in
the law, there is no right answer. The “right” answer is team, practice
and client specific. What works for one team may not work for the
other. The most critical piece is that the team and the client are on the
same page. Listen to the debate, and you will be better positioned to
help your lawyers where they need it most.
5. Do ONE thing better: Every lawyer, every practice, every client, and
every team has different strengths and weaknesses. Still, there is
always one thing the team can do better. Encourage everyone to be
involved in identifying inefficiencies, our team members have
ownership in the solution, and everyone works together to improve the
process.
6. Talk about task codes: Task codes can be a sticking point for project
management efforts in law firms. The codes are intended to
systematically categorize legal work by grouping relevant tasks for a
matter. Executed correctly, the codes can provide a platform for
tracking the scope and budget of a matter based on task (e.g., case
assessment, pre-trial pleadings, discovery, trial preparation). Task
codes can also provide historical data that allows for better budget
forecasting. There can be a few challenges with using task codes,
however. Using codes requires the lawyers to know and understand
how to segment their time without overlap and all team members must
use the codes consistently. Without consistent standards and
definitions, the data that results is “garbage in, garbage out.” Our
 approach is to let the client’s objectives dictate how task codes will be
used and then to implement them for the specific team.
7. Follow up and reward success: Once a team has identified an
inefficiency, how will you know if they have improved? Following up
with them at regular intervals—a couple of weeks, 30 days, and so on
—will ensure everyone stays motivated. Ask them how they are
progressing. Did the solution work the way they thought it would? Has
improving one area created a more inefficient process somewhere else?
Have they developed a best practice that can be shared with another
team doing similar work? In addition to following up, recognizing
success is essential. Make sure firm management is aware of the
progress the team is making. Helping the lawyers along the way and
promoting them internally when they succeed helps everyone achieve
their client goals.
8. Be resourceful: An area for improvement we identified was better
sharing of resources. In conjunction with our KM initiative, we are
working with teams and individual lawyers to pool the resources they
use repeatedly, making them easily accessible to anyone who may need
them. We are identifying various templates and tools considered to be
“best practices” and making them available in our KM system. Sharing
across the firm helps everyone do a better job for their clients.
9. Use technology: When we began the PM initiative, none of the
available software products had been fully tested. Since we had the
capabilities internally to create our own tool, we took the “build it
yourself” approach. We knew we wanted a platform that would help
our lawyers better track the progress on matter scope and budgets,
ensuring there were no surprises for the client at the end of the month.
We also knew we wanted the flexibility to customize the platform for
each client or individual matter.
10. Include your clients! By conducting client feedback interviews proved
by far the most effective tool we have to hear what clients really think
about our firm and its services. Clients want the best service possible,
and they want to help their favorite outside counsel be the best they can
be.

The practice of LPM varies from law-firm-specific practices to corporate law

entities when it comes to the approach to legal work. In recent years, clients have
begun demanding more alternative fee arrangements, greater predictability,
improved accountability, and, above all, cost containment from their law firms
(Palomaki and Wagner, 2011). Project management (specifically LPM) is a
disciplined, systematic, task-based approach to work process that can provide
law firms with some key tools to respond to client demands. The knowledge that
is gained and reused in the LPM paradigm is essential to gaining efficiencies and
the cost containment that law firms and legal entities are looking for.

KM in LPM
Knowledge is generated throughout the execution of a project. KM within
projects is intended to make relevant knowledge available to the project team
throughout the execution of the project. Project management methodologies
usually define standard project phases, processes, templates, or actions that are
repeated in the course of different projects.
The LPM execution addresses why the project idea exists, the problem(s) it is
addressing, the products or the deliverables of the project, who will take part in
the project, and how will people working on the project be organized, as well as
the project location and deadlines. KM as a part of the LPM process will
document and share decisions and assumptions regarding resources, timelines,
quality requirements, and costs. KM will also document and share domain
knowledge: knowledge about the industry, technology, processes, current
situation, business products, and services (i.e., the software development life
cycle); institutional knowledge: knowledge that a project team or member has
about the organization (i.e., organization structure and reporting structure); and
process knowledge: knowledge about the project tasks, methodologies,
timelines, structure, deliverables, and processes (i.e., project plan), as well as
sharing and transferring knowledge through mentoring and lessons learned
(which are documented after every phase and at the end of the project).
According to Lisa Kellar Gianakos, director of KM at Pillsbury Winthrop
Shaw Pittman and the author of The Intersection of Knowledge and Legal
Project Management (2013, p. 1), “KM professionals understand the process of
law practice, project management, finance, and technology. They also tend to be
analytical and logical thinkers. Furthermore, in many firms the KM professionals
have already built bridges to both lawyers and multiple staff departments. Since
LPM is a collaborative effort, those bridges turn out to be very important in the
difficult LPM change management process” (Gianakos, 2013).
 Gianakos also quotes Toby Brown. Brown is a well-known LPM evangelist
with a strong history in KM. “In his keynote on the Economics of Law and the
Future of KM, he discussed why, for KM to remain a vital function for firms, it
needs to be focused on solving the core challenges facing firms” (Gianakos,
2013, p. 1). KM applied to LPM is one of the vehicles for KM to remain in front
of law firms in the foreseeable future. The project development life cycle enables
many traditional KM goals to become closely aligned with those of LPM
(cultivating efficiencies, delivering better predictability, and improving
communications and processes). It is with this understanding that KM enables
project team members to reduce rework and squeezes the time that it takes to
plan project execution. Sharing lessons learned and advanced practices is key to
helping others excel in the LPM process and execution.

Legal Research
This section is not intended to provide an examination of legal research tools that
are available to legal professionals and law firms. It is intended, however, to
examine the role that legal research and the access to its resources plays in the
overall KM within law firms and for legal professionals.
In order to understand where to find the right content that is buried deep
within your firm’s thousands of research repositories and outside sources (such
as WestLawNext®, LexisNexis®, and VersusLaw®) and understand who in the
firm has a deep knowledge of specific content, in addition to wondering if what
you have in your repositories are up-to-date and relevant, you quickly realize
that KM is a challenge! Multiply that by the number of trial and appellate briefs,
memoranda, pleadings, depositions, e-mails, letters, and spreadsheets prepared
by inside and outside counsel alike and the challenge becomes even more
daunting. Without incorporating KM, your firm runs the risk of paying for
research over and over again.
During the early years of a lawyer’s career, research and document drafting
are the predominant professional activities that are being performed. Legal
research tools and sources are key resources to assist the early stage lawyers in
performing their tasks. The tools of legal research are considered KM tools that
help legal professionals locate the knowledge and analysis previously written by
judges, expert scholars, and lawyers for adaptation and use in the context
presented by a current client. LexisNexis research tools that include citation
tools, treatises by authors and competitive publishers, as well as integrated
search functionality are all delivered to the legal researchers via laptops, tablets,
and other mobile devices (Staudt, 2003).
Legal research tools benefit users by helping them improve their research
speed and accuracy and enable a precision of collaboration, which the
combination of research resources and tools makes possible. Realizing the
benefits that the various legal research tools bring to the law firm will depend in
large measure on the current structure of the firm’s internal data and on the past
and future ability of the firm’s data infrastructure to insure that the firm data is of
very high quality. A brief synopsis of three popular legal research platforms,
namely WestLawNext, LexisNexis, and VersusLaw, are presented subsequently.

WestLawNext
WestLawNext (see Figure 12.2) provides an authoritative content (primary law
and exclusive secondary law titles), attorney-editor expertise, with access to
primary law, analytical materials, practice area insights, litigation resources,
public records, and more. This platform enables users to build a legal research
page that’s ideal for the way you work, through organizing your favorite content
and legal research tools. It also provides access to legal encyclopedias, treatises,
legal periodicals, and law reviews that provide well-reasoned statements of the
law.

Figure 12.2 WestLawNext Legal Research Platform.

LexisNexis
LexisNexis (see Figure 12.3) is a global provider of content-enabled workflow
solutions, and is designed specifically for professionals in the legal, risk
management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting, and
academic markets. This platform originally pioneered online information with its
Lexis® and Nexis® services. It is part of RELX Group (London, UK) and serves
customers in more than 100 countries, with more than 15,000 employees
worldwide.

Figure 12.3 LexisNexis® Legal Research Platform.

LexisNexis provides an integration of information and technology. It unites

proprietary brands, advanced web technologies, and premium information
sources. Across the globe, LexisNexis provides customers with access to billions
of searchable documents and records from more than 45,000 legal, news, and
business sources. LexisNexis encompasses authoritative legal-publishing brands,
dating back to the nineteenth century, including Butterworths® in the United
Kingdom, Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region; Les Editions du Juris Classeur in
France; and Matthew Bender® worldwide.

VersusLaw
VersusLaw (see Figure 12.4) was founded in 1985 as Timeline Publishing
Company (Minneapolis, MN). The company’s focus was originally to provide
the legal community with accurate, current, and in-depth information,
exclusively on one topic: professional liability. The company created a monthly
journal on legal ethics titled Lawyers Liability Review (LLR) and published the
first issue in February 1986.
In the early 1990s, Timeline began the electronic collection and distribution of
court opinions and other primary research materials. Timeline was an early
adopter of the Internet, and in August 1995, it was among the first web-based
legal content providers, carrying opinions from the US Supreme Court, the
Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, and State appellate courts. Reflecting a new
direction and the company’s commitment to electronic distribution of legal
research materials, in 1996, Timeline Publishing changed its name to
VersusLaw, Inc. and launched a new website devoted exclusively to the
distribution of primary materials to the legal profession.
Today, VersusLaw continues to broaden its focus and mission: to provide all
legal practitioners access to current, in-depth, easy-to-use legal research,
regardless of the size of their firms, by using the power of technology.

Figure 12.4 VersusLaw® Legal Research Platform.

Precedent/Case Law Knowledge

An essential part of any law firm’s legal research knowledge base is having
access to precedent case law information. Having access to judicial
precedent/case law information and incorporating that knowledge within the
overall KM infrastructure are essential for law firm performance.
Enabling access to previous judicial decisions or proceedings must be relied
upon for future similar cases. This is an important part of any law firm’s
knowledge base because all courts are bound to follow decisions made by courts
higher than themselves in the hierarchy, and all appellate courts are usually
bound by their own previous decisions. This supports the idea of fairness and
certainty throughout the courts. However, precedent can only stand if the reason
for the decision is known, so at the end of a case a judgment is given. This is
what creates the precedent for judges to follow in future cases.
The value of a case law knowledge base is that the law can be adapted to
situations that were not contemplated by the legislature. With hundreds of cases
being decided every day, having a knowledge base with access to this knowledge
will enable the law firm to keep up with relevant decisions. It is not unusual for
several courts to be deciding cases on the same subject at the same time, with no
good way to coordinate their opinions. Frequently, the courts will reach different
conclusions about the law.
A companion knowledge base to include is the civil law system. In civil law,
the legislatures pass very specific statutes, and these are applied by the courts.
Each judge who decides a case looks to the statute, rather than the previous
cases, for guidance. The judges’ decisions (or interpretations, where they are free
to reinterpret the statute as necessary to fit the facts of the specific case) are an
excellent source of knowledge for any law firm involved in civil cases. Another
important note is that civil law judges do try to ensure some consistency in the
application of the law by taking into consideration previous court decisions,
further strengthening the reason for having both case law and civil law
knowledge sources.
In some instances, law firms can positively increase their visibility through
publishing their own case decisions that contribute to setting a precedence (legal
questions of first impression).

Legal KM and Client Support

The differentiators between law firms and legal practitioners are the intangibles,
and one such intangible is true client care and service. In a Forbes 2014 article,
Micah Solomon indicates that creating true client loyalty is one of the most
powerful and reliable ways to build a strategic, sustainable advantage for your
(law) practice and that truly loyal clients are less price sensitive, more willing to
forgive your small foibles, and largely immune to competitive entreaties from
the firm across the street or across the continent (Solomon, 2014).
Client support specifically focuses on dramatically improving the client
experience. It is the expectation of all clients that legal professionals and law
firms will provide high-quality legal services, and it’s the promise and
demonstration of high-quality legal services that are the intangibles that will set
the firm apart.
KM plays a key role in ensuring a high level of client support. KM staffs
operate smoothly between lawyers and a range of operational functions—ideally
situated to increase intra-firm collaboration, communication, and understanding.
Some KM programs have worked on operations for some time, but business
conditions are now ripe for more extensive applications of KM to firm
operations—arguably critical to keeping operational teams relevant and law
firms profitable.
KM in law firms provides the ability to identify and provide business process
and technology solutions to improve the business and increase profitability.
Establishing KM groups in firm operations to facilitate collaboration and
knowledge transfer within the operation functions of the firm is another area
where KM can be applied. LPM (detailed earlier in this chapter) focuses on what
the client needs and structures a cohesive plan to deliver client-specific services
in the most expeditious and cost-effective manner. In addition, KM can be
leverage to standardize the onboarding process across the firm delivering
consistent role-based knowledge (see section on “Role-Based Knowledge” in
Chapter 6) to legal professionals based on their role and job functions at the firm.
KM will also provide process mapping, help understanding workflow and
critical touch points, and enhance the handling of the flow of knowledge
throughout the firm.

Competitive Intelligence
As law firms mature in their use of knowledge and KM, incorporating the use of
CI to gain an advantage when serving clients is a logical next or synergistic next
step. KM and CI are about the process of gathering actionable knowledge on the
law firms’ competitive landscape. CI essentially means understanding and
learning what’s happening in the world outside your business, so you can be as
competitive as possible. It means learning as much as possible—as soon as
possible—about your industry in general and your competitors.
CI is the process of collecting and analyzing information about competitors’
strengths and weaknesses in a legal and ethical manner to enhance business
decision making. CI activities can be basically grouped into two main types: (1)
tactical, which is shorter term and seeks to provide input into issues such as
capturing market share or increasing revenues, and (2) strategic, which focuses
on longer term issues such as key risks and opportunities facing the enterprise.
CI is different from corporate or industrial espionage, which uses illegal and
unethical methods to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
KM infuses CI strategy through centering on a firm’s ability to expand
relationships with clients and make faster and more informed decisions that help
enhance the firm’s thought leadership position. CI initiatives leveraging KM will
aid in the intelligence-gathering process, empowering practice group initiatives,
while elevating the firm to the role of a trusted advisor providing knowledge of
industry trends, legislation, litigation, and other legal precedents.
Ann Lee Gibson states that although CI is indeed based on information, it is
created only when that information is analyzed, refined, and distilled into
something that has very clear implications for decision making. It offers the most
benefits to firms where important decisions and actions are being considered,
particularly the kinds with big upsides and downsides. In these settings, CI can
significantly reduce risk.

KM Architecture in Law Firms

To realize the potential that KM offers to law firms, a holistic KM architecture
should be implemented. A KM architecture that includes the aspects of legal
KM, presented in this chapter, provides the roadmap and consistent structure for
implementing KM in law firms (see Figure 12.5). The development of
communities of practice, blogs, and wikis’ knowledge repositories of work
products (i.e., forms, letters, and factums) needs a holistic KM system approach.
Just incorporating a document management and/or enterprise content
management system does not incorporate necessary key KM capabilities (i.e.,
collaboration and expertise locator). In addition, implementing workflow is
important for managing the flow of knowledge and to execute the governance of
digital assets to insure they are kept relevant, accessible, and up to date.

Information Architecture
Information architecture through the implementation of an understanding of
content relationships, taxonomies, and metadata (see Chapter 4) will improve
retrieval of case history and enable associations of related cases and rulings,
including locating knowledge resources (SMEs) needed for specific cases.
Creating/Modifying Taxonomy
The core benefit of KM is the ability to classify, retain, and find critical
knowledge. Navigation, taxonomy, and search are important for long-term
adoption and success of KM, because they are the framework by which users
find the information they are looking for when they do not know where it is
located. If users are unable to find the content they need, the value to the user is
almost entirely lost. The KM taxonomy can be changed based on
recommendation of the knowledge architect.

Figure 12.5 Law firm knowledge management architecture—(Sample).

Creating/Modifying/Managing Metadata
Requests for Metadata Changes
Any user may suggest metadata changes. The knowledge architect administrator
is solely authorized to raise a request for metadata changes. This request needs to
be vetted and approved before moving ahead. Metadata reuse is highly
recommended. This means that metadata values should be enforced during the
artifact creation/check-in processes within the KM. It also means that
determining metadata values should not be a “one system/silo” view of values.
Critical metadata values will reflect the overall information architecture.
Governance of Law Firm Knowledge
KM governance ensures policy adherence and successful capture, cataloging,
reuse, monitoring, managing, and maintaining of explicit knowledge of the firm
(see Figure 12.6). The KM governance plan describes the policies, procedures,
roles, and responsibilities as it pertains to explicit knowledge. Effective
governance planning and the application of the governance plan are critical for
the ongoing success of the managing and maintaining of explicit knowledge.

Figure 12.6 Information architecture view of areas for knowledge

management governance.

The KM governance plan will establish the processes and policies to

Avoid explicit knowledge proliferation.

Ensure explicit knowledge is maintained by implementing quality
management policies.
Establish clear decision-making authority and escalation procedures, so that
policy deviations are managed and conflicts are resolved quickly.
Ensure the solution strategy is aligned with business objectives so it
continuously delivers business value.
Ensure explicit knowledge is retained in compliance with KM guidelines.

Benefits of Governance
The following are some of the benefits of governance:

It provides an enterprise-wide common infrastructure for all explicit

knowledge.
It provides more reliable and relevant search.
It ensures that the explicit knowledge, taxonomy, and metadata schema
remain relevant to its users.
It employs best practices to improve usability.
It lowers total cost of information/content development and management
through increased efficiencies throughout the KM life cycle.

Policies and Standards

Policies define rules for use; standards describe best practices. From a
governance perspective, policies are usually driven by statutory, regulatory, or
organizational requirements. Users are expected to meet policies without
deviation. These standards are established to encourage consistent practices.

Governing Information Architecture

Information architecture must be governed in order to ensure that

It is implemented and maintained.

It meets the regulatory requirements, privacy needs, and security goals of
the enterprise.
It meets an organization’s business goals. A well-designed and governed
information architecture can multiply that organization’s effectiveness.

Enforcing Metadata Quality

Metadata quality in the repository is a direct reflection on the effectiveness of
knowledge that is attainable now and in the future. The governance plan will
indicate what should be measured to determine the effectiveness of metadata by
evaluating number of artifacts without metadata, metadata reuse, watching
search relevancy, seeking inputs from users, and proactive monitoring.

Archiving—Record Retention Governance

The various content (information and knowledge) repositories are locations for
valued artifacts. Often, the various sites used to contain the content must not
only contain the current content but also the content that has expired. A policy
should be put in place to remove the archived content from search results and to
retain based on the company retention policy. The KM governance policy should
align with the current record retention policy of the firm.

Governing Content
The governing of knowledge content must leverage the following best practices:

Use workflows and approval for content centers and site pages wherever
official content is stored.
Use version history and version control to maintain a history and the
authoritative source of the content.
Audit, manage, and maintain content repositories according to the content
life-cycle management.
Use site usage confirmation and deletion to manage site collection life
cycles.
Identify important corporate assets and sites that contain personally
identifiable information to be sure that they are properly secured and
audited.
Integrate the information architecture with the environment’s search
strategy. Take advantage of enterprise search features such as people search,
content sources, and connectors for external content.

Governing KM Effectiveness
Assessing Value with Metrics
Measuring effectiveness is a key component of governance and thus included
here. Metrics are a component to measuring overall adequacy and effectiveness
of the KM tool. Initial rollout of KM will take some time across the first
business area(s). Experience shows even then that adoption takes time.
Measurements at the beginning, middle (during adoption), and end (fully
matured) can be different.
Search—Tuning and Optimization
Site owners/administrators should constantly observe and evaluate effectiveness
of search results. Site administrators/owners oftentimes can get the “Search
Query and Search Result” reports from the search tools administrator
periodically (every two weeks). From these reports, they can analyze the type of
keywords users are searching for and the sites from which most of the search
queries are coming. Based on this, site administrators/owners can “tune” the
search for their sites. If any newly added metadata column needs to be available
in advanced search filters, then the search administrator will ensure this metadata
is configured.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

A support structure to adopt when considering restructuring the law firm

management office is to leverage collaborative teams consisting of partners,
associates, paralegals, legal assistants, and legal technology specialists, all
dedicated to performing the necessary tasks to provide quality services to
clients and to ensure that the firm is running in a highly efficient and cost-
effective manner.
Training programs must be established to assist all law firm management
team members to retool and shift their thinking and approach to work in a
more technologically advanced and collaborative law firm.
A best practice for instituting LPM is to start with a pilot with a few lawyers
in order to demonstrate the value of LPM and to achieve a quick win.
When considering implementing governance, institute a comprehensive KM
governance process to ensure the monitoring, managing, and maintenance
of your legal/law firm knowledge. This will contribute greatly to keeping
this knowledge relevant and up to date.
For LPM to be successful, understanding your law firm’s culture as well as
applying Palomaki and Wagner’s 10 aspects in getting lawyers to buy into
LPM will be a key ingredient to the success of implementing LPM.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some tips and techniques deduced after reading this chapter:
When considering incorporating KM with the law firm/law practice, begin
with the benefits that KM can bring.
Identify the key benefits and align them to the KM drivers to facilitate the
adoption of KM at the law firm.
The use of technology is changing the way law firms operate and the way
legal professionals work. Acquiring the right technical personnel to assist in
transitioning technology into the firm as well as providing the necessary
training to all legal staff will facilitate adoption and proper use of
technology (see section “TTF Model” in Chapter 16 for details on
facilitating technology adoption).
Expertise locators are a great tool for streamlining the process of assigning
the right legal resource to the right problem. Consider implementing an
expertise locator; this will contribute to retaining clients and attracting new
ones enabling the firm to resolve client issues and address client needs more
succinctly.
Chapter 13

“A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste!”:

Knowledge Management Education

As knowledge management (KM) challenges top the agenda of many CEOs

(Yunginger, 2013), an emphasis on getting more value from corporate
knowledge assets has heightened the interest in KM as a professional area of
practice. Providing education in KM, which can include specialized courses,
seminars, certifications, and formal undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral
programs, is leading the way in preparing future KM practitioners to meet this
challenge. On the other hand, it has also raised questions about the educational
foundation needed to support the profession.
Despite the wealth of published and informal literature, although derived from
practice, and dialog on the foundational learning needs of KM practitioners,
there is no consensus on what comprises professional education and training in
KM. In 2011, the Knowledge Management Education Forum (KMEF)—a
collaboration between Kent State University and George Washington University
—was formed.

The mission of KMEF in part is to provide an ongoing, annual dialog

to identify and grow consensus on the knowledge management body of
knowledge, competencies, roles and curriculum. The goal of the
KMEF is to create an environment in which a consensus can evolve. It
brings together the current and past thought leaders in the field of
knowledge management to discuss their work and to open the dialog
where others can contribute. (KMEF, 2011:
http://kmatkent.cim3.net/wiki/Welcome)

Besides the educational options mentioned in section “KM education programs”,

KM education opportunities are occurring in KM-focused departments, which
are delivering subject-specific education and strategic learning programs. All of
these KM educational products must operate under one cohesive and holistic set
of standards and policies in order to provide the KM practitioners with consistent
industry-recognized education. According to the KMEF, a special effort will be
needed to connect the various educational entities to the business community and
vice versa, while providing “the core and elective elements of a knowledge
management curriculum for the 21st century.” (KMEF, 2011:
http://kmatkent.cim3.net/wiki/Welcome)
While participating in the KMEF, it is generally recognized that

there is general agreement that KM, knowledge services, and

knowledge strategy require, an understanding of shared concepts, a
basic lexicon, and some level of mutual understanding about the
elements and framework of KM, there continues to be concern that too
much “standardization” might work against the success of KM in the
workplace. (KMEF, 2011: http://kmatkent.cim3.net/wiki/Welcome)

As a KM practitioner who has worked (and continues to work) across various

sectors and industries of the twenty-first-century “knowledge economy,” I
recognize that every organization is different and, therefore, the success of KM,
knowledge services, and knowledge strategy in each is going to depend on how
well the elements of KM align with the corporate objectives, unique
management methodologies, and leadership structures of the various
organizations implementing KM programs.
As KM education evolves for the twenty-first century and beyond, especially
as the delivery of education and the workforce becomes more mobile, there is a
need to establish a philosophy of teach-and-learn anywhere and anytime. This
will facilitate the need to incorporate the following:

Standards for KM course design

Need to provide students (class participants) a practical way to apply KM
The delivery of technology that will facilitate the ability to teach and learn
anywhere and anytime
Provide learning outcomes and assess them
An understanding of the various KM roles and responsibilities

This chapter will cover topics that include roles and responsibilities of
knowledge professionals, educational needs of these professionals, core KM
competencies, KM curriculum development and delivery, and KM education
programs and teaching methodologies.

Roles and Responsibilities of Knowledge Professionals

The roles of knowledge professionals cover areas from strategic, tactical,
program-related to executing specific projects and system development. The KM
roles and responsibilities vary according to the category in which the knowledge
professional works. The roles and responsibilities depicted here (see Table 13.1)
consist of but are not limited to chief knowledge officer (CKO), KM program
manager, KM project manager, KM director, operations KM director, KM
author, KM lead, KM liaison, KM specialist, KM system administrator,
knowledge engineer, knowledge architect, KM writer, knowledge manager, and
KM analyst.

Core KM Competencies
In determining core KM competencies (see Table 13.1), we must first understand
what it takes to perform in the various KM roles and execute their
responsibilities. The KM core competencies include connecting education and
strategic learning competencies with skill and ability in knowledge strategy
development and operationalization, collaboration, leadership and management
skills, in addition to technical competencies.
KM has both soft and hard competencies. The soft competencies include
ensuring that knowledge processing is aligned with the organization’s business
goals and objectives and is integrated into the organization’s everyday business
and work. It also includes software development, business and systems
architecture, and workflow management. The hard competencies include
elicitation and representation of knowledge (both tacit and explicit) and
structural knowledge in the form of business rules and business processes.

The KM Competency Model

KM focuses on people, process, and technology that enable and support
knowledge sharing, transfer, access, and identification. KM competencies
represent what KM practitioners must understand to facilitate KM methods
established by the organization. A KM competency model (see Figure 13.1)
reflects the strategies, goals, and objectives of an organization. Competency
alone is not sufficient; it must be accompanied by a cultural shift in the
organization toward knowledge sharing.

Table 13.1 KM Roles, Responsibilities, and Core Competencies

KM Role Role Description Responsibilities Core Competencies
Chief The CKO is the executive The CKO manages the CKOs must have skills acros
knowledge leader of the KM knowledge sharing wide variety of areas. They
officer discipline at the process at the must be good at
(CKO) organization and key organizational level; developing/understanding
figure for all KM leads efforts to move big picture, advocacy
activities initiated from the organization to (articulation, promotion, an
the KM program. knowledge centricity; justification of the knowle
requires dedication to agenda, sometimes against
KM principles, the cynicism or even open
ability to discuss the hostility), project and peop
benefits of knowledge management (oversight of
sharing, and the vision variety of activities, attenti
to ensure that KM to detail, ability to motivat
initiatives are adopted communications
by the organization; (communicating clearly th
ensures that the best, knowledge agenda, having
relevant knowledge for good listening skills, and
the area of practice is being sensitive to
accessible to all organizational opportunitie
personnel and and obstacles), leadership,
implements the team working, influencing
knowledge sharing and interpersonal skills. Th
strategy in alignment CKO who successfully
with corporate combines these skills is we
guidelines; champions equipped as an excellent
cross-organizational agent of change for his or h
CoP; forms organization.
relationship with HR,
IT/systems,
organizational
learning; establishes
incentive programs for
knowledge sharing and
re-use; fosters cultural
 change; defines roles,
skill sets, and
opportunities for
knowledge workers;
and facilitates training
and education of
knowledge workers.
KM program The KM program manager The KM program The KM program manager m
manager orchestrates the manager is responsible have capabilities in progra
activities of the KM for running KM management, strategy and
program and approves programs and specific planning, leading people a
the projects to be initiatives: building teams, collaborati
initiated. and partnerships, analysis
• Ensures that all the decision making, applying
KM projects follow program knowledge, contr
the established KM management and budgetin
Governance and personal management.
procedures Also, KM, risk manageme
• Undertakes strategy and project and process
creation for management competencies
contingency are needed.
planning and risk
mitigation
• Responsible for
planning and
scheduling project
goals, milestones,
and deliverables
• Defines
requirements and
plans the project
life-cycle
deployment
• Defines resources for
project and program
implementation
• Identifies and solves
program issues
effectively
• Exhibits leadership
 qualities to define
requirements and
identify risks
• Possesses
organization,
presentation, and
customer service
skills
• Reports the progress
as well as the
problems to assigned
KM director, CKO,
and/or other
designated
stakeholders
KM director The KM director oversees The KM director Communication
the KM efforts that manages the KM consensus and collaboratio
pertain to their specific strategy, governance, across many business units
area of the organization. and processes at their ability to explain complex
This includes efforts specific area of the concepts in layman’s
that are driven by the organization and leads language; ability to genera
CKO as well as the KM efforts to move the enthusiasm; ability to
program manager. organization to communicate with all leve
knowledge centricity of management and staff.
by aligning efforts of Establishing straightforwa
KM to the overall productive relationships;
enterprise KM treating all individuals wit
strategy. fairness and respect;
demonstrating sensitivity f
cultural and gender
differences; showing great
drive and commitment to t
organization’s mission;
inspiring others; maintaini
high standards of personal
integrity

Client orientation
clients’ needs and concern
responds promptly and
 effectively to client needs;
customizes services and
products as appropriate

Teamwork: Collaborates with

others in own unit and acro
boundaries; acknowledges
others’ contributions; work
effectively with individual
different culture and gende
willing to seek help as
needed. Influencing and
resolving differences acros
organizational boundaries;
gaining support and
commitment from others e
without formal authority;
resolving differences by
determining needs and
forging solutions that bene
all parties; promoting
collaboration and facilitati
teamwork across
organizational boundaries

Learning and knowledge

sharing: Open to new idea
shares own knowledge;
applies knowledge in daily
work; builds partnerships f
learning and knowledge
sharing

Analytical thinking and decis

judgment: Analyzing issue
and problems systematical
gathering broad and balanc
inputs; drawing sound
conclusions; and translatin
conclusions into timely
decisions and actions
Operations KM The operations KM The operations KM Business experience in KM a
director director oversees the director manages the IT and experience working
efforts that pertain to KM strategy, with the following:
operational KM area. governance, and
This will include efforts processes at the • Budget management;
that are driven by the operations KM leadership (experience in
KM program manager program level and building, leading,
as it pertains to leads efforts to move managing, and setting th
operations. the organization to strategic direction of a
knowledge centricity team)
by aligning efforts of • Strong understanding of
operations KM to the client needs and client
overall KM enterprise service
KM strategy. • Must be a responsible, se
motivated individual wit
strong
communication/relations
management skills
• Demonstrated track reco
of successful interaction
with all levels within an
organization, especially
senior leaders
• Demonstrated ability to
work autonomously and
a team environment
• Ability to build successf
relationships
• Team leadership and
motivational skills
• Organization and project
management skills
• Ability to multitask,
manage competing
priorities and conflicting
agendas
• Understanding of and
experience with intranet
and KM technologies
• Ability to use and adapt
new technologies and
 applications, as well as
guide the team and our
users in doing so as well
• Generally understand IT
development
methodologies
KM project The KM project manager The KM project manager The core competencies includ
manager oversees the overall is assigned to a KM, risk management,
direction, coordination, designated KM project and process
implementation, director and is management, financial
execution, control, and responsible for running management, planning and
completion of specific KM projects: organization,
KM and KM director- communications.
initiated projects • Leads the planning In addition, knowledge of
ensuring consistency and implementation utilizing professional, onli
with KM program of KM project communities for knowledg
strategy, commitments, • Facilitates the sharing and/or collaboratio
and goals. definition of project purposes is required. A
scope, goals, and proven record of excellent
deliverables management, leadership,
• Defines project tasks decision-making, and
and resource interpersonal skills is requ
requirements along with strong analytica
• Develops full-scale written, and oral
project plans communication skills.
• Assembles and
coordinates with
project staff
• Plans and schedules
project timelines
• Tracks project
deliverables using
appropriate tools
• Provides direction
and support to
project team
• Constantly monitors
and reports on the
progress of the
project to KM
 director and all
stakeholders
• Presents reports
defining project
progress, problems,
and solutions
• Implements and
manages project
changes and
interventions to
achieve project
outputs
• Facilitates project
evaluations and
assessment of results
Knowledge Knowledge manager The knowledge manager Knowledge managers should
manager works with the KM has the following also have a general
program and/or project responsibilities: understanding of knowledg
manager to implement architecture, but do not nee
KM initiatives. • Manages KM efforts an in-depth knowledge
(often serves as a Extensive experience and sen
KM project manager technical expertise in the f
or product owner) of KM or capacity
• Looks across KM development are required,
processes to capture preferably in an internation
tacit and explicit development organization,
knowledge with a proven track record
• Balances technology, successfully delivering KM
information, strategies.
processes, and The knowledge manager sho
individual and have worked in a developi
organizational country and have a good
learning within a knowledge of international
culture of shared development issues, trends
values and approaches.
• Creates ways to Proven experience in the desi
maintain a and delivery of capacity
sustainable development, coaching and
competitive mentoring activities,
advantage particularly adult learning
 techniques, and replication
best practices is required.
Strong knowledge and practi
of results-based manageme
(RBM), and experience in
performance measurement
and program evaluation ar
needed.
Strong communication skills,
both written and verbal, an
excellent report writing an
organizational skills are
needed. The core
competencies also include
following:

• Leadership
• Excellent communicatio
• Time management/abilit
to prioritize
• Development or
management of informat
systems to support comp
business processes
• Project management of I
projects
• Significant knowledge a
use of relational databas
systems
• Survey design
• Finding, assembling, and
analyzing verbal and
numerical data from
Internet, databases, and
paper-based sources
• Dissemination of
information in a way tha
accessible, manageable,
and which supports the
work of individuals in an
organization
 • Experience of working
effectively in a diverse
team, maintaining good
working relationships
• Experience of working
effectively in a diverse
team, maintaining good
working relationships
• Excellent information
technology skills, includ
relationship database
programming and/or
reporting skills
KM (systems) The KM administrator Responsibilities: The core competencies includ
administrator promotes, facilitates, understanding of KM
and supports the KM • Maintains the governance best practices, in
system within the knowledge configuration, system
organization, with repository administration, content
optimized outputs and • Can serve as a KM administration, and product-
process management. author specific knowledge of
The KM system • Subject matter expert implementing KM security
administrator is the (SME) for all policies.
person(s) with knowledge
administration rights repository upgrades,
and privileges within the capability issues,
specific knowledge and approved
repository. configuration
updates

The KM administrator
coordinates and
executes governance of
knowledge within the
knowledge repository.
Knowledge A knowledge engineer It is essential for a Knowledge engineers need in
engineer researches, designs, and knowledge engineer to depth competency as it
implements computer be highly detail- pertains to knowledge
software programs that oriented and organized. architectures as well as
can accomplish a wide When writing a new knowledge sharing,
variety of problem- program, he or she collaboration, and transfer
 solving tasks. must be sure that no techniques and methods.
Professionals work with mistakes are made. A person who is interested in
knowledge-based Even a tiny error in a becoming a knowledge
systems (KBSs) that code can disrupt an engineer can look into
incorporate artificial entire program and bachelor’s degree program
intelligence into data mangle data output. accredited colleges and
mining, data entry, In addition, a knowledge universities. Relatively few
calculation tasks, and engineer must have the schools offer degrees
decision-making foresight to include specifically in knowledge
applications. They try to special instructions for engineering, but a program
formulate codes and the program that may computer science or softw
programs that operate in be overlooked by a less engineering can provide th
a similar fashion to a experienced appropriate training. Many
human expert on a given programmer. For future engineers decide to
task, such as solving example, he or she pursue master’s degrees or
complicated physics might be able to higher before looking for j
equations. Most prevent common data in the specialty. A new
knowledge engineers entry errors in a knowledge engineer usuall
are employed by spreadsheet application has the chance to work
software development by programming the alongside experienced
companies, though computer to recognize professionals for several
some work for private when one piece of data weeks or months to master
corporations and is very different from or her skills.
consulting groups. previous entries. If the
application detects that
a 100 was entered
instead of a 10, for
example, it could ask
the user if he or she is
sure that the entry is
correct.
KM liaison The KM liaison is the KM Responsibilities: KM liaison must have a gene
resource assigned to understanding of KM,
various teams across the • Executes KM including knowledge shari
organization that initiatives on behalf collaboration, and transfer
executes KM-specific of the specific KM techniques and methods.
duties for their teams on director
behalf of the KM • Serves as a
director. champion for the
KM and specific
 KM director
• Serves as the
primary SME for the
specific KM director
area
KM specialist The KM specialist is KM specialist’s KM specialist need in depth
engaged in the support responsibilities include competency as it pertains t
of the KM policy, the following: knowledge architectures as
planning research, and well as knowledge sharing
metrics for KM. • Leads/contributes to collaboration and transfer
the development of a techniques and methods.
KM strategy and
associated
implementation plan
• Leads/contributes to
the development and
execution of the KM
governance plan
• Develops a
comprehensive
mapping of KM
information sources
and knowledge,
including processes
• Contributes to the
development and
ongoing
maintenance of the
KM system(s)
• Creates an approach
for guiding ongoing
analyses needed to
address observed
KM gaps and for
identifying
opportunities for
innovation, process,
procedure, and
policy
making/adjustments
 • Oversees capacity
building and support
for internal
knowledge
acquisition,
management, and
sharing; ensures
relevant CoPs are
developed and
strengthened;
supports
development of
staff, consultants,
and key partners and
of all aspects of KM
Knowledge The knowledge architect is This person is charged Knowledge architects provid
architect a cross-organizational with the design of the tools and skills to help
and interdisciplinary dynamic systems of them design knowledge in
role. This role has knowledge creation the organization’s business
knowledge of and transfer, and the processes.
taxonomies and design of semantic Their core competencies incl
ontology structures that range understanding of knowledg
analysis/design/creation, from taxonomies to structures (tacit and explic
and understanding and models of knowledge and understanding of data
creating knowledge flows (explicit and modeling (structured data)
flows to capture tacit tacit) within an and content modeling
and explicit knowledge. organization. This (unstructured data focus).
The individual who person also deals with
oversees the development of
implementation of the those semantic
enterprise’s knowledge structures and designs
architecture, who leads them for their use and
the “knowledge application. A critical
architecture team” in part of creating these
identifying, organizing, designs is research into
and providing access to an organization’s
scattered, heterogeneous knowledge, the
information in digital knowledge contained
and paper form, and in the people of the
who leads the organization, and, the
 knowledge audit to information/knowledge
determine and component of the
continually reevaluate activities of the
the specific knowledge organization.
needs of users and their
business processes. The
knowledge architect
defines knowledge
processes and identifies
the technology
requirements for
creating, capturing,
organizing, accessing,
and using knowledge
assets.
KM KM author/writer is the Responsibilities include KM author/writer must have
author/writer primary person(s) the following: experience in PLAID as w
involved in creating as linguistics. Also, the KM
knowledge within the • PLAID author must have a general
knowledge repository. • Collaboration with understanding of KM,
The KM author is a key SMEs including knowledge shari
member of the KM staff • Establish/maintain collaboration, and transfer
who applies plain adherence and techniques and methods.
language and governance of style
information design guide
(PLAID) to the
construction of
knowledge articles,
FAQs, and other content
being leveraged for KM.
KM analyst The KM analyst analyses KM analyst’s KM analyst’s core competen
and proposes responsibilities include include deep analysis
improvements to the the following: competency as it pertains t
overall effectiveness leveraging various KM
and efficiency of the • Implementing a methods. KM analysts
KM program at all range of methods provide means to
levels by applying and tools to capture communicate the business
advanced KM methods and document needs in a way that engine
and practices for all knowledge and architects can understa
users of KM at the • Contributing to the While this competency
organization. analysis and focuses on operations in
configuration of knowledge organizations,
knowledge also of value to business
maintenance professionals.
approaches and
practices
• Contributing to the
analysis and
configuration of
knowledge sharing
approaches and
practices
• Working closely
with other staff
members of the
specific KM director
and/or KM to ensure
that new elements of
KM using innovative
technology and
media are retained
and developed, and
advising on the
mechanisms for their
implementation
Figure 13.1 KM competency model.

To determine the KM competency model, a rigorous process was initiated to

provide consensus on core competency areas (see Table 13.2). This methodology
will apply to any modern organization, regardless of the establishment of a CKO
role. It can be used by any department or individual who has the vision,
leadership, and determination to infuse KM principles in the enterprise. A KM
competency model serves as the foundation for functions such as training,
education, development, and performance management, because it specifies
what essential knowledge, skills, and abilities are required.
The KM competency model will serve as the foundation for enterprise-wide
KM adoption and use, and it will create a culture of collaboration and knowledge
sharing in the army, where personalized and contextual information and
knowledge are “pushed and pulled” from across the enterprise to meet mission
objectives, where good ideas are valued regardless of the source, where
knowledge sharing is recognized and rewarded, and where the knowledge base is
accessible without technological or structural barriers.

Table 13.2 KM Competency Model Details

Competency Goal(s) Action to Achieve Suggested Learning
Area Goal(s) Methods
KM principles Understand KM Formal training is Standardized KM
and foundation principles, either developed courses are taught via
methods, and or accessed by an instructor lead and/or
their accredited online.
applications. (creditable)
institution.
KM strategy Develop and Develop an effective Focus on building a
socialize the KM strategy to holistic, enterprise-
vision and support your KM wide KM program.
mission of KM program through Your organization
by developing the establishment may want to pilot
and of a short-term (1– certain KM methods,
operationalizing 3 years) and a KM practices, and/or
a detailed KM long-term (3–5 tools in targeted areas
strategy. years) roadmap of the business, but do
that includes the this as part of a larger
identification of plan.
initiatives to
support the vision,
mission, and
objectives of your
organization.
KM leaders and Understand what Seek out KM KM champions act as
champions KM champions liaisons between the
professionals throughout the KM professionals and
do, their roles organization to practitioners.
and support KM Explore the need to
responsibilities, activities. create leadership and
and how they Develop specific KM lead technical
influence the expertise within positions such as
use of KM the organization. CKO, knowledge
practices within architect, and CoP
an organization. leaders and
facilitators.
KM culture Identify and Establish a “lifelong Develop KM executive
understand the learning culture” councils, along with
 cultural issues to ensure the the development and
that impact the capture and use of execution of KM
adoption and lessons learned policies, procedures,
use of KM throughout and standards.
practices, activities and
procedures, and initiatives at the
methods. organization.
Reward and
recognize
knowledge sharing
and collaboration
to ensure staff
remains motivated
to contribute.

CoPs Understand the Encourage the Provide the resources to

KM approaches establishment of allow CoP and CoI
to knowledge CoP around activities to emerge
sharing, professional and grow throughout
transfer, and activities and the organization and
collaboration. communities of encourage
interest (CoI) participation. CoPs
around provide a forum to
nonprofessional share expertise and
activities. build a body of
Establish policies knowledge. As people
and practices to interact and network,
best use your SME they build trust and
resources. relationships that
cross departmental
boundaries.
SME activities include
CoP facilitation,
mentoring and
coaching, internal
consulting, and
expertise transfer
techniques.

Content Understand Review current Assess how documents

 management content-life- content are created, stored,
(explicit cycle management accessed, and
knowledge) management, procedures to archived; audit
content library ensure compliance records to ensure
structures, with formal compliance with
content labeling policies and formal record-keeping
and tagging, guidance; ensure requirements; develop
and search as it all content is an IA plan/strategy
pertains to KM credible (has for addressing
practices (IA). authoritative discrepancies and
source, has poor practices.
contextual Create metadata
consistency, is elements that will
actively enhance the retrieval
managed); of content across the
develop a organization; look at
consistent both manual and
organizational automated methods of
approach to metadata creation;
metadata along explore methods to
with the structure provide social tagging
and guidelines to to content to
enforce metadata supplement controlled
tagging by terms (details should
utilizing IA. be included in the IA
plan/strategy).
Metrics Understand the Use metrics to assess Measurement against
reasons for the strategic goals and
monitoring and accomplishment objectives provides
evaluating of organizational insight on how KM
performance, strategic goals and efforts are closing the
considerations objectives. knowledge gap
of what to Use metrics to between what your
measure, and measure efficiency organization knows
using metrics to (output—activity and what it needs to
refine KM based) and know to be
strategies. effectiveness successful.
(outcome—results Use a combination of
based). both output and
Standardize outcome metrics to
 measures across track both hard
the organization to (factual) and soft
ensure they are (perceptual)
focused on measures.
strategic Focus organizational
outcomes. metrics on strategic
Measure only what is goals and accomplish
necessary to drive the mission; ensure
the intended alignment across all
results. departments.
When measuring for
outcomes, it is best to
manage no more than
five to seven
measurements; the
results should drive
decisions that refine
KM strategy.

Processes Understand the Use KM techniques Assess current processes

use of KM to simplify or that may be
techniques in increase the streamlined or
order to find efficiency or eliminated;
opportunities effectiveness of understand why the
for simplifying current business process steps must be
current processes. performed as is to
processes or Create process maps achieve the desired
making them and conduct result.
more efficient knowledge audits Process maps used in
or effective. to identify where conjunction with
critical knowledge maps can
information and drive process redesign
knowledge inputs projects that help
and outputs are. define the most
appropriate roles and
responsibilities for
information and
knowledge
management, tightly
integrated into the
 operational workflow.
KM technology Understand how Ensure the An IA will make sense
(systems/tools) technology organization IA of how the different
impacts KM fits the needs of its platforms relate to
and the tools primary user each other, how users
that are groups, whether will navigate between
available to it’s for a single them, and how
facilitate platform such as expectations for
knowledge an intranet or content discovery
sharing and knowledge portal, (search) can be met.
collaboration. or across several Develop a list of tools
platforms. that are used by the
Assess how the organization to
organization connect people to
currently uses explicit knowledge
technology to and tacit knowledge
accomplish tasks —these include
such as content everything from e-
creation, mail, phone books,
capturing, and meetings to
reviewing, technologies such as
sharing, blogs, wikis, and
collaborating, and podcasts; map how
archiving. these technologies
Stay abreast of work within the IA
current and and how they help the
emerging organization meet its
technologies and strategic goals and
how they can be objectives—use this
(or are being information to guide
unofficially) used KM strategy.
within your
organization.
KM governance Understand Accept that KM and Understand that secure
balancing the content assurance KM is much more
need to know must coexist and than protecting
with the need to that secure KM classified
share and how takes into account information; security
KM coexists the aspects of strategies, secure
 with confidentiality, operation processes,
information trust, and privacy and security metrics
management management. need to be
policy. Balance the need to incorporated into KM
know with the strategy and plans.
need to share. Organizational assets
Develop security such as intellectual
strategies, property, trade
policies, plans, secrets, and privacy
and procedures information need to
(comprehensive be protected from
content malicious or
governance plan) unintentional access
that not only and use; ensure
address content technology
management but incorporates access
also consider KM controls, credential
strategies and are mechanisms, and
tightly integrated encryption systems to
with business secure KM practices.
strategies. Review existing content
management policies;
consider supplemental
policies that
incorporate security
controls into the KM
life cycle while
maintaining
appropriate access to
knowledge. This
should be part of the
content governance
plan and the
subsequent
development of the
Content Governance
Board.

KM Curriculum Development and Delivery

KM curriculum development and delivery must support the twenty-first century
model of being able to learn anywhere, anytime, and on a varied number of
platforms, applications, and mobile devices.
To embark on the challenge of providing KM curriculum for the twenty-first
century, the four pillars of KM were leveraged as a foundation by the KMEF
(Green, 2011). These four pillars of KM are as follows:

1. Leadership: This deals with the environmental, strategic, and enterprise-

level decision-making processes.
2. Organization: This deals with the operational aspects of knowledge
assets.
3. Learning: This deals with behavioral aspects and social engineering of the
organization.
4. Technology: This deals with the various information technologies that
support and/or enable KM strategies and operations.

The curriculum must not only focus on concepts and theories but also on
practical aspects (based on real-world implementation of KM), and how it is
implemented and used. The curriculum must also include the various methods,
tools, applications, and systems that are developed and utilized to enable KM to
be an actionable event. Another essential ingredient of KM curriculum
development and delivery for the twenty-first century would be to incorporate
the use of case studies, storytelling, affinity diagrams, knowledge cafés, and
similar experience-sharing mechanisms.
This is the type of education that will lead to KM career enhancement,
enrichment, and planning. Other curriculum “basics” as pointed out by the
KMEF to be included in KM are courses in measures and metrics, collaboration
techniques, networking, and organizational development and effectiveness.

Teaching Philosophy/Methodology
The KM professional must be able to learn knowledge concepts and apply them
in a variety of ways. KM education comes in a variety of forms to enable the
KM professional to speed up on a particular concept and apply it to meet a
specific need. Knowledge transfer, communities of practice (CoPs), capturing
tacit and explicit knowledge, and KM governance are only a few of the concepts
that today’s KM education must focus on to assist the KM professional in
execution of their jobs.
My goal of instruction delivery has always been to improve student
comprehension, application, and performance. It’s further based on the premise
that learning should not occur in a haphazard way but should be developed in
accordance with orderly processes, be specifically tailored to the target audience,
and have measurable outcomes. To accomplish the goals set forth in the delivery
of KM education, I have incorporated the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Learning. As a KM professor, I recommend Bloom’s Taxonomy to be part of
any curriculum that teaches KM.

Objectives of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning

The revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy represents a taxonomy for learning,
teaching, and assessing. This version describes six revised categories that
include the following:

1. Remembering: Recall data or information. (for further details refer Table

13.3)
2. Understanding: Understand the meaning, translation, interpolation, and
interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one’s own
words.
3. Applying: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an
abstraction. Apply what was learned in the classroom into novel situations
in the work place.
4. Analyzing: Separate material or concepts into component parts, so that
their organizational structure may be understood. Distinguish between
facts and inferences
5. Evaluating: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
6. Creating: Build a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts
together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or
structure.

This version of Bloom’s Taxonomy from Iowa State University Center of

Excellence in Learning and Teaching (2012) includes an alignment of
knowledge (see Figure 13.2). This alignment of knowledge, called “knowledge
dimension,” identifies four types of knowledge that learners are expected to
acquire and/or construct. This knowledge includes (1) metacognitive—
knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for
problem solving; (2) procedural—knowledge exercised in the performance of
some task; (3) conceptual—knowledge rich in relationships and understanding; it
is a connected web of knowledge, a network in which the linking relationships
are as prominent as the discrete bits of information; and (4) factual—the basic
elements students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve
problems in it.

Bloom’s Six Cognitive Taxonomy Categories

Table 13.3 outlines each of the categories to include an example of the category
and how it is demonstrated. In applying Bloom’s six cognitive taxonomy
categories, we must consider the following sections.

Figure 13.2 Bloom’s taxonomy for learning objectives. (R. Heer, A Model of
Learning Objectives based on A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and
Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa.)

Table 13.3 Bloom’s Six Cognitive Taxonomy Categories

Category Examples Demonstration
Remembering: Conduct lecture Knowledge is demonstrated
Recall data or presentations on specific through students responding to
information. course topics; solicit questions during the lecture.
feedback during the
lecture.

Understanding: Work with students to Comprehension is demonstrated

Understand the understand concepts; put through assignment, quiz, and
meaning, the interpretation of midterm and final exams.
translation, concepts in their own
interpolation, and words; ask students to
interpretation of interpolate and extrapolate
instructions and the given concepts to
problems. State a specific circumstances.
problem in one’s
own words.

Applying: Use a Guidance is given to students Through the use of case studies,
concept in a new on approaches to analyze each student leverages the
situation or case studies that reflect knowledge gained through
unprompted use real-world problems. understanding of and the
of an abstraction. interpolation and extrapolation
Apply what was of concepts and apply them to
learned in the solve real-world problems.
classroom into
novel situations
in the work place.

Analyzing: Separate Students are instructed to use Demonstration of analysis takes

material or logical deduction as well place during assignments,
concepts into as interpolation and exams, and case studies.
component parts extrapolation of concepts Students are instructed to
so that its during their analysis of analyze, break down, compare,
organizational problems and situations contrast, diagram, deconstruct,
structure may be presented during the and often differentiate
 understood. course. situations that are presented.
Distinguish
between facts and
inferences.

Evaluating: Make Students as well as course Students are worked with to

judgments about materials are evaluated. sharpen values and ideas.
the value of ideas Students are evaluated and Course materials are constantly
or materials. feedback is given during supplemented with videos and
every class session, and other pertinent research
course materials are materials.
evaluated by students and
professors and any
necessary adjustments are
made.

Creating: Build a Students are instructed on Students demonstrate synthesis

structure or how to design artifacts to during the execution of case
pattern from address solutions and studies and often during exams
diverse elements. perform tasks, as well as and assignments. Students are
Put parts together integrate course often instructed to categorize;
to form a whole, instruction from several combine; compile; compose;
with emphasis on sources to solve problems. create; devise; design; and
creating a new explain their solutions,
meaning or approaches, and measurements.
structure.

KM Education Programs
Sometime ago, I had participated in a discussion and the associated comments on
KM education, which included university courses (master’s programs),
certification programs, and certificate programs. This discussion was hosted by
Art Schlussel in the CKO Forum at LinkedIn. This discussion inspired me to
elaborate on my thoughts concerning KM education. As I stated in my comments
to Art, for any education to be effective, it must be supported by practical
application, including having experienced mentors work with participants who
have recently completed any number of various KM training programs.
In this discussion, Art mentioned that a partnership between the US military
and a well-known accredited university to build a comprehensive KM training
program is in its preliminary stages. However, the major issue is what does or
will this training consist of and the fact that the US military wants it to follow
their KM competency model (see earlier).
I believe that the KM training should have a holistic approach, which will
cover the following:

The basics of and differences between data, information, and knowledge

Establishing “your” definition of KM
Developing/executing KM strategy (including knowledge audits, knowledge
mapping, and KM process)
Identifying and addressing knowledge gaps (result from knowledge audit)
Collaboration and knowledge sharing (CoPs)
Knowledge transfer planning (mentor–protégé relationship and knowledge
codification)
Collecting/applying KM metrics
Identifying, planning, and executing KM projects/initiatives
KM tools (wikis, blogs, search, and KM systems)

Although this is not an exhaustive list, the approach must include planning,
strategies, and processes applied for KM as well as the software that will enable
and suport the execution of the KM program initiatives. The US army’s KM
competency model serves as a foundation to how the army will approach KM
and forms the basis of what KM will address from the army’s perspective. The
army’s enterprise KM competency model represents a holistic approach to
institutionalizing KM. I believe that a holistic approach to KM is where we must
begin in our training as well as our execution of KM at our organizations.

KM at Institutions of Higher Education

You may not know that KM continues to be a growing discipline in which
organizations are seeking qualified individuals. A master of science (MS)
concentration in KM offers students an opportunity to enter the knowledge
economy and become an important asset to organizations working to get the
right knowledge to the right people at the right time. When considering a
master’s in KM, each student should consider a university program that presents
a holistic approach to the principles, practices, policies, and technologies that are
being deployed today at organizations in the field of KM.
An MS concentration in KM will provide the successful student with the
ability to assist organizations in making better decisions, understand where
knowledge exists, and uncover knowledge gaps that will lead to better
performance and communication between workers.
Here are some universities’ certification programs that offer master’s and
certifications in KM. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of schools or
programs. However, these institutions offer educational experiences that support
gaining the necessary knowledge to fill various KM roles, responsibilities, and
core competencies previously indicated.

Knowledge Systems Institute

KM at Knowledge Systems Institute (KSI)’s (http://www.ksi.edu/) Master of
Science Graduate School is an area of concentration most suitable for people
who already have a career in a field other than information technology, but now
find the need to acquire new IT skills in order to remain technologically
competent. Because knowledge industry is the wave of the future, acquiring the
necessary data management and KM skills enables an individual to compete
successfully in a demanding job market. KSI offers coursework and research in
the field of KM. The program is designed as concentration for individuals who
need to acquire actionable insights into KM methodologies and strategies to
enhance knowledge transfer and collaboration as a driving principle of
organizational success. Business processes naturally involve generating
knowledge and sharing of knowledge to ensure that an organization maximizes
the value it achieves through its knowledge base. Contact KSI for specific up-to-
date information regarding this program.

George Mason University

At George Mason University, KM is taught within the School of Policy,
Government, and International Affairs (http://spgia.gmu.edu/programs/graduate-
degrees/organization-development-knowledge-management-odkm/). The
curriculum combines organizational development and KM. In the George Mason
University Organization Development & Knowledge Management Development
(ODKM) cohort master’s program, you will explore organizational leadership
theory and practice, the shift from hierarchical structures to group-based
learning, and best practices to promote the creation of adaptive, collaborative
work environments. You will graduate with the capacity to manage, evaluate,
and affect rapid change in government, corporate, and nonprofit organizations.
The ODKM program is designed to meet the needs of contemporary society
and of organizations undergoing rapid changes and shifting from hierarchical
structures to more group-based learning environments. While focusing on the
human and social aspects of organizing, the program also emphasizes the use of
collaborative groupware technologies to support interactive learning, knowledge
sharing, and knowledge creation.
This unique cohort program is offered in a part-time executive format with
classes offered primarily on Friday evenings and Saturdays on alternating
weekends. Contact George Mason University for specific up-to-date information
regarding this program.

The George Washington University

The Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE),
The George Washington University (http://www.emse.seas.gwu.edu/knowledge-
and-information-management-research), offers research areas in knowledge and
information management. The Department of EMSE faculty, as stated on their
website, is an active research faculty whose members balance both research and
teaching responsibilities. A large research component is the joint research
between faculty members and their doctoral students. Prior to completion of
their program, doctoral students are required to submit a journal article
describing their research contribution. Faculty and students conduct research in
eight subfields of the EMSE disciplines. The specific research topics include
knowledge-based economy, knowledge-intensive enterprises, knowledge
security/assurance, and strategic assets management. Contact The George
Washington University for specific up-to-date information regarding this
program.

Kent State University

Kent State University offers an MS in KM within the School of Library and
Information Science (SLIS; http://www.kent.edu/slis). The SLIS at Kent State
University offers several learning opportunities to students, scholars, and
professionals interested in KM careers. The MS concentration in KM prepares
you to take a leadership role in this engaging profession. Dual degree options—
Kent State University allows students to work on two degrees concurrently and
to double-count up to 12 credit hours between any two programs. This dual
degree designation requires admission to each program (separately) and approval
from each program to share the credits.
In addition, Kent State University offers a master’s degree in information
architecture and knowledge management (IAKM). Within the IAKM degree
program, Kent State University offers concentrations in health informatics, KM,
and user experience design; these programs are dynamic and continually respond
to changes in marketplace helping information and knowledge professionals and
their evolving skill sets. Contact Kent State University for specific up-to-date
information regarding these programs.
Here are some additional universities that offer an MS in KM programs

Notre Dame of Maryland University

Notre Dame of Maryland (NDM) offers an MS in analytics in knowledge
management (AKM; http://www.ndm.edu/academics/school-of-arts-and-
sciences/programs/ms-in-knowledge-management/). NDM states that this
program will “Transform Big Data into powerful knowledge for your company
or clients.” NDM indicates that AKM is the systematic process of developing,
organizing, retaining, and using knowledge resources that contribute to an
organization’s sustained success. To adapt to the fast-changing and competitive
economy, public and private organizations have hired KM professionals to
enhance their ability to serve clients and realize strategic priorities. Contact
NDM for specific up-to-date information regarding this program.

Columbia University
Columbia University’s MS in information and knowledge strategy (IKNS)
program (http://ce.columbia.edu/information-and-knowledge-strategy) prepares
individuals who are invested in the strategic potential of business-knowledge
strategy alignment, collaboration, and business analytics to expand or branch out
from their current roles, or become entrepreneurs of ventures in the knowledge
domain. Contact Columbia University for specific up-to-date information
regarding this program.

Drexel University
Drexel University’s online accredited master of science in library and
information science (MSLIS) program (http://online.drexel.edu/online-
degrees/information-sciences-degrees/ms-di/index.aspx) is an industry leader in
digital information management and is ranked top 10 among library science
programs nationally. Drexel’s College of Computing and Informatics, with the
MSLIS program in 2014, was named one of “America’s Best Graduate Schools”
by U.S. News & World Report. The College of Computing and Informatics offers
a concentration in competitive intelligence and knowledge management. In this
program, students will learn to apply commonly used techniques to identify and
evaluate an organization’s knowledge-based assets, design knowledge sharing
opportunities within organizations, design information services to meet
organizational information needs, relate business resources to real-world
situations and needs of individuals and institutions, and utilize competitive
intelligence activities to support strategic decision making in the organization.
Contact Drexel University for specific up-to-date information regarding this
program.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University promotes a flexible program that allows
students to develop their own learning plan with a combination of on-site and
online classes
(http://www.ise.polyu.edu.hk/app/webroot/html/academic_program/km//). The
curriculum is codeveloped by an international team of leading experts and
scholars in KM. Delivery of the program is via a balanced mix of in-person
seminars and workshops, online tutorials, and web-based study with enhanced
pedagogy. The in-person workshops are conducted in weekday evenings or
during weekends. Some subjects have open book examination; some operate
with continuous assessments. Contact the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for
specific up-to-date information regarding this program.

KM Certification Programs
KM certification programs are often designed for working professionals. These
programs are leveraged to provide the tools and methods for understanding and
implementing KM relatively quickly. More often than not, the participants have
specific issues in KM that they need to address and/or they are moved into a KM
role not fully understanding what KM is really about, or how to be effective in
their KM position. A good KM certification should be based on standards
disseminated by the industry and professional KM organizations. Once the
participant completes an in-class project and examination, it signifies that the
individual is certified to meet certain standards or competencies related to
successful implementation of KM, as prescribed by the profession. The
following are three such programs, but this does not represent an exhaustive list
of KM certification programs that are available:

Knowledge Management Institute

The Knowledge Management Institute (KMI; http://www.kminstitute.org/)
supports the paradigm of “learn anywhere and anytime.” The KMI is dedicated
to researching, defining, publishing, and sharing knowledge in a variety of
formats, truly suited to learner needs. KMI programs provide what expert KM
practitioners need to know to carry out successful enterprise KM and what all
KM professionals need to know for greater career success in the knowledge age.
KMI provides the following:

Proven methodology implemented by public/private sector

Curriculum licensed and actually taught by acclaimed institutions of higher
learning
Preferred training vendor for many US Department of Defense Agencies
and Commands
Preferred training vendor for all US Combatant Commands (“COCOMS”)
Trusted enterprise-wide training solutions for Fortune 500 companies
Training solutions endorsed by leading government agencies and
universities worldwide
Both certification-level and modular training options, supporting the “learn
anywhere and anytime” philosophy

In addition, KMI offers several KM programs to specifically address what the

KM professionals will need in order to execute their job. These programs include
certified knowledge manager (CKM); certified knowledge specialist (CKS);
certified knowledge practitioner (CKP™); master classes—Special topics in
taxonomy, information architecture (IA), innovation, knowledge capture, social
KM, and community management; and a basic awareness series entitled KM101.
 Contact the KMI for specific up-to-date information regarding their programs.

RightAnswers
Although RightAnswers is a KM software vendor (I try and stay away from
endorsing any specific vendor and/or their products), they offer a unique KM
certification program (http://www.rightanswers.com/training/rightanswers-
knowledge-management-certification/) that focuses on knowledge-centered
support (KCS) and information technology infrastructure library (ITIL). The
program focuses on KCS principles and knowledge best practices, and how they
are applied within the RightAnswers platform.
RightAnswers has indicated that the participant will learn the following:

Industry best practices (ITIL and KCS)

Knowledge architecture
Knowledge segmentation
User management and workflow
Content development
Taxonomy and attribute management
Knowledge style guides
Improving searching capability
Knowledge analytics and measuring success

In addition, you will become certified in the use of the RightAnswers KM

system tools. Contact RightAnswers for specific up-to-date information
regarding their program.

Association for Talent Development

The Association of Talent Management (ATD;
https://www.td.org/Education/Programs/Knowledge-Management-Certificate),
which was formerly ASTD, states that they offer the following:

Develop a vision and strategy for a knowledge-centric workplace, ensuring

that it integrates with the organization’s business strategy
Evaluate and determine appropriate uses for current and emerging KM tools
and technologies, including Web 2.0 approaches, to support work-centered
learning and development
 Manage the information life cycle, from identifying, defining, and creating
knowledge assets to assessing the value that KM brings to the organization
Examine the design of workplace and social environments that encourage
and facilitate knowledge creation, sharing, and innovation
Analyze organizational readiness for KM and implement appropriate
strategies to assure successful organizational implementation
Articulate the benefits of KM as an important component of an
organization’s overall learning and performance strategy
Develop strategies for creating requests for proposals and selecting a vendor
for KM work
Identify strategies that incorporate KM approaches in support of
organizational learning programs and how the training and development
function can incorporate KM into its repertoire

The content for this program is based, in part, on the ATD Competency Study
and helps in preparation for obtaining the Certified Professional in Learning and
Performance (CPLP) credential. Contact the ATD for specific up-to-date
information regarding this program.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

Ensure that your human resources department plays an integral role in

approving all KM roles along with their subsequent responsibilities and core
competencies.
Ensure that the KM curriculum development and delivery supports the
paradigm of “learn anywhere and anytime.”
When implementing KM at your organization, incorporate KM
competencies based on the details as described in the KM competency
model.
When determining a KM education program to enroll in, ensure that the
program incorporates case studies of actual application of KM.

Tips and Techniques

The following are several tips and techniques that can be applied to
understanding KM education and educational programs:

When determining KM roles, responsibilities, and core competencies,

leverage Table 13.1 as a guide.
For KM education to be successful, knowledge services and knowledge
strategy require an understanding of shared concepts and a mutual
understanding about the elements and framework of KM.
When developing a KM educational program or looking for one, make sure
that the KM program allows for some flexibility in its curriculum choices.
The curriculum must not only focus on concepts and theories but also on the
practical aspects (based on real-world implementation of KM) as well as its
implementation and use.
Chapter 14

“Big Knowledge!”: Knowledge Management

and Big Data

A goal of knowledge management (KM) is to capture and share knowledge

wherever it resides in the organization. Leveraging the corporate collective
know-how will improve decision making and innovation where it is needed. The
proliferation of data, information, and knowledge has created a phenomenon
called Big Data. KM when applied to Big Data will enable a type of analysis that
will uncover the complete picture of the organization and be a catalyst for
driving decisions. In order to leverage an organization’s Big Data, must be
broken down into smaller more manageable parts. This will facilitate a succinct
analysis, which can then be regrouped with other smaller subsets to produce big
picture results. Volume, velocity, and variety are all aspects that define Big
Data.

Volume: It is the proliferation of all types of data expanding to many terabytes

of information.
Velocity: It is the ability to process data quickly.
Variety: It refers to the different types of data (structured and unstructured
data such as data in databases, content in content management and KM
systems/repositories, collaborative environments, blogs, wikis, sensor data,
audio, video, click streams, and log files). Variety is the component of Big
Data in which KM will play a major role in driving decisions. Enterprises
need to be able to combine their analyses to include information from both
structured databases and unstructured content.

Data, Information, and Knowledge

Because the focus here is about leveraging KM techniques to extract knowledge
from Big Data, it is important to understand the difference between data,
information, and knowledge (see Figure 14.1). Data refers to a discrete set of
facts that are represented by numbers and words. Information is an organized set
of data (puts context around data). This can result in an artifact such as a stock
report and news article. Knowledge, on the other hand, emerges from the
receiver of information applying his/her analysis (aided by their experience and
training) to form judgments in order to make decisions. Erickson and Rothberg
indicate that information and data only reveal their full value when insights are
drawn from them (knowledge). Big Data becomes useful when it enhances
decision making, which in turn is only enhanced when analytical techniques and
an element of human interaction is applied (Erickson and Rothberg, 2014).
In a February 26, 2014, KM World article titled “Big Data Delivering Big
Knowledge,” Stefan Andreasen, chief technology officer at Kapow Software,
Palo Alto, CA, indicates that “To gain a 360° view of their ecosystem,
organizations should also monitor user-generated data, public data, competitor
data and partner data to discover critical information about their business,
customers and competitive landscape” (Andreasen, 2014, p. 1). The user-
generated data, public data, competitor data, and partner data provide the variety
of data needed to be analyzed by KM, and it’s this type of data that will be
examined more closely.

User-Generated Data
Customers are sharing information about their experience with products and
services, what they like and don’t like, how it compares to the competition, and
many other insights that can be used for identifying new sales opportunities,
planning campaigns, designing targeted promotions, or guiding product and
service development. This information is available in social media, blogs,
customer reviews, or discussions on user forums. Combining all these data
contained in call center records and information from other back-office systems
can help identify trends, have better predictions, and improve the way
organizations engage with customers (Andreasen, 2014).
Figure 14.1 Knowledge management pyramid.

Public Data
Public information made available by federal, state, and local agencies can be
used to support business operations in human resources, compliance, financial
planning, and so on. Information from courthouse websites and other state
portals can be used for background checks and professional license verifications.
Other uses include monitoring compliance regulation requirements, bill and
legislation tracking, or in healthcare obtaining data on Medicare laws and, which
drugs are allowed per state (Andreasen, 2014).

Competitor Data
Information about competitors is now widely available by monitoring their
websites, online prices, press releases, events they participate in, open positions,
or new hires. This data allows better evaluation of the competition, monitor their
strategic moves, identify unique market opportunities, and take action
accordingly. As a retailer, for example, correlate this data with order transaction
history and inventory levels to design and implement a more dynamic pricing
strategy to win over your competition and grow the business (Andreasen, 2014).

Partner Data
Across your ecosystem, there are daily interactions with partners, suppliers,
vendors, and distributors. As part of these interactions, organizations exchange
data about products, prices, payments, commissions, shipments, and other
datasets that are critical for business. Beyond the data exchange, intelligence can
be gleaned by identifying inefficiencies, delays, gaps, and other insights that can
help improve and streamline partner interactions (Andreasen, 2014).
To comb through the various sources of user-generated data, public data,
competitor data and partner data leveraging KM analytics (data analysis,
statistics, and trend analysis), and content synthesis technology (technology that
categorizes, analyze, combines, extracts details, and reassess content aimed at
developing new meanings and solutions) will be necessary.

Applying KM to Big Data

The emerging challenge for organizations is to derive meaningful insights from
available data and reapply it intelligently. KM plays a crucial role in efficiently
managing this data and delivering it to the end users to aid in the decision-
making process. This involves the collection of data from direct, indirect,
structured, and unstructured sources, and analyzing and synthesizing them to
derive meaningful information and intelligence. Once achieved, the data must be
converted into a useful knowledge base, storing it and finally delivering it to end
users.
KM has the ability to integrate and leverage information from multiple
perspectives. Big Data is uniquely positioned to take advantage of KM processes
and procedures.
These processes and procedures enable KM to provide a rich structure, to
enable decisions to be made on a multitude and variety of data. In the KM World
March 2012 issue, it was pointed out that “organizations do not make decisions
just based on one factor, such as revenue, employee salaries, or interest rates for
commercial loans. The total picture is what should drive decisions.” (p. 2) KM
enables organizations to take the total picture Big Data provides, along with
leveraging tools that provide processing speed to break up the data into subsets
for analysis. This will empower organizations to make decisions on the vast
amount and variety of data and information being provided.
As it pertains to KM and Big Data within organizations, the advancement of
search technologies (see Chapter 4) on Big Data is making an impact. In KM
World’s “100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management,” they point
out that search technologies’ ability to implement, service, and manage Big Data
environments is the key reason for their inclusion. The “findability” of
information and knowledge within a large amount of unstructured data
contribute to the ability to disseminate and reuse the knowledge of the enterprise.
Besides search technologies, there are several companies offering KM
solutions to address Big Data. Some of these companies include CACI, which
offers solutions and services to go from data to decisions; Autonomy (an HP
Company) offers KM solutions that mine unstructured data, tag this data, and
where appropriate make it available to the knowledge base; and IBM offers a
Big Data platform that includes KM to address Big Data’s vast amount of
unstructured data. As organizations come to know more about Big Data and their
management, and the use/reuse of the vast amounts of information and
knowledge it provides, more software and consulting companies will provide the
products and solutions organizations are looking for. Where is Big Data going?
A 2013 Gartner Report stated that “Many global organizations have failed to
implement a data management strategy but will have to as IT leaders need to
support big data volumes, velocity, and variety,” as well as “decisions from big
data projects for decision support, and insights in the context of their role and job
function, will expand from 28% of users in 2011 to 50% in 2014.”
An emerging opportunity to apply KM to Big Data will be realized within
research institutions (see Chapter 5). During the innovation activities where
product/service development and R&D activities occur, several types of data are
generated. Over a period, this proliferation of data, information, and knowledge
is created in large volumes, which may be processed and then used/reused within
a knowledge repository. This knowledge can be accessed to provide, for
example, real-time intelligence to the research and product development teams,
and provide knowledge for customer insights as well as competitive intelligence.
Having this access brings about efficiencies in developing new products and
services as well as improving existing ones. In order to realize these benefits,
organizations must start with a well-defined strategy to collect, store, synthesize,
and disseminate knowledge in the form of product ideas, customer behavior
patterns, voice of the customer (VotC), product trends from social networks, and
listening platforms (among others).
Knowledge, when managed effectively, can help reduce project time, improve
product quality, and increase customer satisfaction. In a knowledge-based
organization, knowledge plays a crucial role in guiding the organization’s
actions and establishing a sustainable competitive advantage. The data and
information that reside in the organization’s systems, if integrated, can create a
significant Big Data opportunity that the organization can leverage to create
value. This is accomplished through establishing platforms for collaboration
between a variety of groups (employees, suppliers, customers, and other
stakeholders). This collaboration links useful knowledge obtained through Big
Data analysis with rules and logic that will help deliver knowledge faster at the
right time and in the right content. Leveraging KM with Big Data analysis will
also lead to a “correct-the-first time” decision making, contain cost, and improve
performance within and between your collaborative groups.

Social Network Analysis

Making sense of a large amount of disorganized information that is spread across
the organization has always been the defining challenge of KM. The ability for
organizations to capture, analyze, and understand information about themselves,
their customers, and every facet of their business from the various Big Data
sources is an ongoing challenge! An important KM tool in aiding organizations
to extract knowledge from Big Data sources is to perform social network
analysis (SNA).
Social networks are evolving and growing stronger as forms of organization of
human activity. SNA is the mapping and measuring of relationships and flows
between people, groups, organizations, computers, URLs, and other connected
information/knowledge entities. The nodes in the network are the people and
groups, whereas the links show relationships or flows between the nodes. SNA
provides both a visual and a mathematical analysis of human relationships. This
mapping present nodes of individuals, groups, organizations, and related systems
that tie in one or more types of interdependencies; these include shared values,
visions, and ideas; social contacts; kinship; conflict; financial exchanges; trade;
joint membership in organizations; and group participation in events, among
numerous other aspects of human relationships. To understand networks and
their participants, we evaluate the location of actors in the network. Measuring
the network location is finding the centrality of a node. These measures give us
insight into the various roles and groupings in a network. This includes who are
the connectors, mavens, leaders, bridges, isolates, as well as where the clusters
are and who is in them.
In examining a social network, let’s look at two nodes that are connected as if
they regularly talk to each other, or interact in some way. For example, Tony
regularly interacts with Tanya, but not with Sandy. Therefore, Tony and Tanya
are connected, but there is no link drawn between Tony and Sandy. This network
effectively indicates the distinction between the three most popular individual
centrality measures: degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness
centrality.

Degree Centrality
Social network researchers measure network activity for a node by using the
concept of degrees (the number of direct connections a node has). In the
following example, Chris has the most direct connections in the network, making
his node the most active in the network. He is a “connector” or “hub” in this
network. Are more connections better? This is not always true. What really
matters is where those connections lead to and how they connect the otherwise
unconnected. Here, Donald has connections only to others in his immediate
cluster—her clique. She connects with only those who are already connected to
each other (Figure 14.2).

Figure 14.2 Degree centrality.

Betweenness Centrality
Although Chris has many direct ties, Jason has few direct connections, yet he has
one of the best locations in the network. He is between two important
constituencies. He plays a broker role in the network. The good news is that he
plays a powerful role in the network; the bad news is that he is a single point of
failure. Without him, Chris, Elissa, Davis, and Mark would be cut off from
information and knowledge in Austin’s cluster. A node with high betweenness
has a great influence over what flows and does not flow in the network (Figure
14.3).

Closeness Centrality
Jason has fewer connections than Chris, yet the pattern of his direct and indirect
ties allows him to access all the nodes in the network more quickly than anyone
else. He has the shortest paths to all others, and closer to everyone else. He is in
an excellent position to monitor the information flow in the network and
therefore has the best visibility into what is happening in the network.
Let’s take a look at other social network measures that contribute to gaining
knowledge from the relationships in your networks. These include network
centralization, network reach, network integration, boundary spanners, and
peripheral players.

Network Centralization
Individual network centralities provide insight into the individual’s location in
the network. The relationship between the centralities of all nodes can reveal
much about the overall network structure.
A very centralized network is dominated by one or a very few central nodes. If
these nodes are removed or damaged, the network quickly fragments into
unconnected subnetworks. A highly central node can become a single point of
failure. A network centralized around a well connected hub can fail abruptly if
that hub is disabled or removed. Hubs are nodes with high degree and
betweenness centrality.

Figure 14.3 Betweenness centrality.

 A less centralized network has no single points of failure. It is resilient in the
face of many random failures—many nodes or links can fail while allowing the
remaining nodes to still reach each other over other network paths. Networks of
low centralization seldom fail.

Network Reach
Not all network paths are created equal. In many instances, the shorter paths in
the network are more important (see Figure 14.4). It is also to be noted that
networks have horizons over which we cannot see, nor influence. In these cases,
the key paths in the network are 1 and 2 steps and on occasions, three steps to all
connections (direct and indirect). Therefore, it is important to know who is in
your network neighborhood, who you are aware of, and who can you reach
(network reach).

Network Integration
Network metrics are often measured using shortest paths. This measurement
makes the (often incorrect) assumption that all information and/or influence
flows along the network’s shortest paths only. However, networks operate via
direct and indirect, shortest, and near-shortest paths.

Boundary Spanners
Nodes that connect their group to others usually end up with high network
metrics. Boundary spanners such as Austin and Jason are more central in the
overall network than their immediate neighbors whose connections are only
local, within their immediate cluster. A boundary spanner occurs via your
bridging connections to other clusters or via your concurrent membership in
overlapping groups. Boundary spanners are well positioned to be innovators,
because they have access to ideas and information flowing in other clusters.
They are in a position to combine different ideas and knowledge, found in
various places, into new products and services.
Figure 14.4 Closeness centrality.

Peripheral Players
Most people would view the nodes on the periphery of a network as not being
very important. In fact, nodes such as Mark and David receive very low
centrality scores for this network. Because individuals’ networks overlap,
peripheral nodes are connected to networks that are not currently mapped. Mark
and David may be contractors or vendors that have their own network outside of
the company, making them very important resources for fresh information not
available inside the company.

SNA Graph/Knowledge Map

The SNA graph presents similar information as a knowledge map. A SNA graph
is a tool used in SNA to represent information about patterns of ties among
social actors, while a knowledge map is a graphical representation of people in
an organization or within a network, indicating their expertise and understanding
and the key knowledge holders, indicating what knowledge is essential or at risk
to be lost if someone is removed from the network/organization.
Social scientists use graphs as a tool for describing and analyzing patterns of
social relations. Instead of taking a deep dive into the specific terminology,
presented here will represent some important ideas about social structure in a
simpler more consumable manner. Once the basics have been mastered a deeper
dive may be in order.
Graph theory provides a set of abstract concepts and methods for the analysis
of graphs. This provides a visualization of social (as well as other) networks. As
with knowledge maps, SNA graphs centers on relations between individuals,
groups, and institutions. In studying a network in this manner, we are examining
individuals as embedded in a network of relations rather than from an individual
basis. Owing to the widespread availability of data, it is from this basis that SNA
can be applied to a range of problems, including analyzing Big Data.

Social Media Networks

With the popularity of social media, many more people and groups are
interacting. Through these interactions a proliferation of knowledge is created
and shared. Social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook facilitate a
key component of KM: knowledge sharing. Through these networks a multitude
of data can be analyzed, leading to enhanced decision making in many areas
such as product marketing, and identifying key thought leaders and decision
makers.
SNA is based on an assumption of the importance of relationships among
interacting units. The social network perspective encompasses theories, models,
and applications that are expressed in terms of relational concepts or processes.
Along with growing interest and increased use of network analysis, there has
been a consensus about the central principles underlying the network
perspective. In addition to the use of relational concepts, we note the following
as being important:

Actors and their actions are viewed as interdependent rather than

independent, autonomous units.
Relational ties (linkages) between actors are channels for transfer or “flow”
of resources (either material or nonmaterial).
Network models focusing on individuals view the network structural
environment as providing opportunities for or constraints on individual
action.
Network models conceptualize structure (social, economic, political, etc.) as
lasting patterns of relations among actors.

The unit of analysis in network analysis is not the individual, but an entity
consisting of a collection of individuals and the linkages among them. Network
methods focus on dyads (two actors and their ties), triads (three actors and their
ties), or larger systems (subgroups of individuals, or entire networks), which
social media networks provide.
Big Data Sources and KM
The use of Big Data and its analysis is very closely driven by the available
technologies in the organization, and the tight integration between hardware and
software and other data generation mechanisms. A Big Data strategy requires the
ability to sense, acquire, transmit, process, store, and analyze the data to generate
knowledge that can be stored in a repository for later use.
Analyzing Big Data and understanding where KM can play a role start with
analyzing the data, information, and knowledge within enterprise-wide systems.
These systems include but are not limited to knowledge repositories/portals,
content management (CM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer
relationship management (CRM), material requirements planning (MRP),
product life cycle management (PLM), and product data management (PDM)
systems (see Figure 14.5).
The knowledge that can be gained from these systems include tacit (by
identifying the key knowledge holders of the content, which in this reference
includes information and knowledge) and explicit (through accessing the various
types of market, technology, procedural, customer, and competitor knowledge
that is captured and unstructured (see Table 14.1). Information and data are
exchanged on a continuous basis with these systems as the product and services
are being realized. The unconventional, unstructured information comes from
several sources such as simulation, sensors, blogs, employee experience, wikis,
and customer experience and it should be harnessed.
Figure 14.5 Enterprise view of Big Data sources and knowledge
management. (Based on Rajpathak, T. and Narsingpurkar, A.,
Manufacturing Innovation and Transformation Group (ITG), TCS,
Managing Knowledge from Big Data Analytics in Product Development.
http://www.tcs.com/resources/white_papers/Pages/Knowledge-Big-Data-
Analytics-Product-Development.aspx.)

Knowledge Classifications
Knowledge, in particular organizational knowledge, typically exists in large
volumes dispersed across the enterprise. This lends itself to the fact that
organizations need to find a way to discover, classify, capture, disseminate, and
reuse this knowledge. Once the knowledge sources are discovered, an essential
element to leverage KM in Big Data is to classify that knowledge.
Table 14.1 Mapping Knowledge Areas to Big Data Elements
Knowledge Volume Velocity Variety Value
Type
Market Customer data Direct interactions Market analysis High value
knowledge Competitor Social media Demographic Customer
data Surveys data data User-
User-generated Benchmarking generated
data data data
Public data Trends Competitor
Competitor data
data Partner data
Partner data
Human (tacit) Experience- Real-time decision Skill-based Heuristics
knowledge based making Experience-
collaborative based
Tacit knowledge
Technology Standards Real-time data Cost Patents
knowledge Usage Acquisition Reliability
Materials Packaging
Field data Ergonomics
Procedural Design Design knowledge Procedures Best
knowledge knowledge Knowledge Job-aids practices
Analysis repository/knowledge Workflows Process data
Verification, base Validation
testing, and data
validation
Knowledge
Source: Yuan, Q.F., Yoon, P.C., and Helendar, M.G., J. Knowl. Manag., 10, 6, 50–63, 2006.

According to Yuan, Yoon, and Helendar, knowledge areas are classified into
four types, collectively referred to as M-H-T-P: market knowledge, human
(tacit) knowledge, technology knowledge, and procedural (explicit) knowledge.
Based on these four knowledge areas, Table 14.1 depicts the mapping of
knowledge areas with elements of Big Data (Yuan et al., 2006).
Although a small part of this information flows back into the enterprise
systems, attempts should be made to capture this in a central repository, typically
a single data warehouse. A deliberate attempt must be made to keep the data
together, so that the data can be combined to create information, which can be
analyzed to generate knowledge that loops back to the knowledge repository and
into the organization.

Information Architecture and Big Data

As detailed in Chapter 4, IA is the art and science of labeling and organizing
information, so that it is findable, manageable, and useful (Downey and
Banerjee, 2010). IA also plays a significant role when applying KM to Big Data.
Big Data leverages techniques and technologies that enable enterprise to
effectively and economically analyze all of its data. We need to remember that
Big Data includes all data (i.e., unstructured, semi-structured, and structured).
The characteristics of Big Data (volume, velocity, and variety) are a challenge to
your existing architecture, and how you will effectively, efficiently, and
economically process data to achieve operational efficiencies.
In order to derive the maximum benefit from Big Data, organizations must
modify their IT infrastructure to handle the rapid rate of delivery and extraction
of a huge volume of data, with varying data types. These can then be integrated
with the organization’s enterprise data and analyzed. Organizations, with legacy
systems, must have a clear understanding of their historical data and how that
data can be managed as a part of their overall Big Data picture.
IA provides the methods and tools for organizing, labeling, building
relationships (through associations), and describing (through metadata) your
unstructured content adding this source to your overall analysis. In addition, IA
enables Big Data to rapidly explore and analyze any combination of structured
and unstructured sources. Big Data requires IA to exploit relationships and
synergies between information, aligning unstructured and structured data. This
infrastructure enables organizations to make decisions utilizing the full spectrum
of your Big Data sources.
To facilitate the inclusion of unstructured data (content), the metadata schema
must be used (it is developed as part of the IA). Having a sound, IA will enable a
consistent structure to Big Data in order for this data to provide value to the
organization. The enterprise IA checklist will assist in enabling a consistent
structure.
Elements of the enterprise IA checklist include content consumption, content
generation, content organization, content access, content governance, and
content quality of service. It is this framework (see Table 14.2) that will align
your IA to Big Data, which will provide business value to be gained from all of
your Big Data resources.
Some of the essential elements of the IA as it pertains to Big Data include the
following:

Table 14.2 Information Architecture Elements Align to Big Data

Volume Velocity Variety
Content Provides an understanding of the This directly It identifies the
consumption universe of relevant content contributes to initial variety
through performing a content the speed at of content
audit. This contributes directly which content that will be a
to volume of available content. is accessed by part of the
providing organization’s
initial volume Big Data
of the resources.
available
content.
Content Fill gaps identified in the content This directly It contributes to
generation audit by gathering the contributes to the creation
requirements for content the speed at of a variety of
creation/generation, which which content content
contributes directly to the is accessed (documents,
increasing the amount of because of spreadsheets,
content that is available in the increase in images,
organization’s Big Data volume. video, and
resources. voice) to fill
identified
gaps.
Content Content organization will provide This directly The variety of
organization business rules to identify contributes to Big Data will
relationships between content, improvement oftentimes
create metadata schema to in the speed drives the
assign content characteristic to at which relationships
all content. This contributes to content is and
the increasing volume of data accessed by organization
that is available and in some applying between the
 ways leveraging existing data metadata, various types
to assign metadata values. which in turn of content.
will give
context to the
content.
Content access Content access is about searching This contributes It contributes to
and establishing the standard to the ability the way the
types of search (i.e., keyword, to access variety of
guided, and faceted). This will content and content is
contribute to the volume of the speed and accessed. The
data, oftentimes by efficiency in variety of Big
establishing parameters such as which content Data will
additional metadata fields and is accessed. oftentimes
values to enhance search. drive the
search
parameters
used to access
the various
type of
content.
Content The focus here is on establishing When the When the
governance accountability for the volume of volume of
accuracy, consistency, and content content
timeliness of content; content available in available in
relationships; metadata and the the
taxonomy within areas of the organization’s organization’s
enterprise; and the applications Big Data Big Data
that are being used. Content resources is resources is
governance will often “prune” trimmed trimmed
the volume of content through through
available in the organization’s content content
Big Data resources by only governance, it governance
allowing access to will improve the variety of
pertinent/relevant content, velocity by content
while either deleting or making available may
archiving other content. available a be affected as
smaller more well.
pertinent
universe of
 content.
Content Content quality of service Content quality Content quality
quality of focuses on security, of service will of service will
service availability, scalability, eliminate or improve the
usefulness of the content, and minimize overall
improves the overall quality of delays and quality of the
the volume of content in the latency from variety of
organization’s Big Data your content content in the
resources by and business organization’s
processes by Big Data
• Defending content from speeding to resources
unauthorized access, use, analyze and through
disclosure, disruption, make aspects of
modification, perusal, decisions security,
inspection, recording, or directing availability,
destruction. affecting the scalability,
• Eliminating or minimizing content’s and
disruptions from planned velocity. usefulness of
system downtime. content.
• Ensuring that the content
that is accessed is from
and/or based on the
authoritative or trusted
source, reviewed on a
regular basis (based on the
specific governance
policies), modified when
needed and archived when it
becomes obsolete
• Enabling the content to
behave the same, regardless
of that application/tool that
implements it; moreover, the
content should be flexible
enough to be used from both
an enterprise level and a
local level without changing
its meaning, intent of use,
and/or function.
• Tailoring the content to the
 specific audience and
ensuring that the content
serves its distinct purpose,
thereby being helpful to its
audience and being practical.

Content consumption—which provides an understanding of the universe of

relevant content through performing a content audit. This contributes
directly to volume of available content.
Content generation—which fills gaps identified in the content audit by
gathering the requirements for content creation/generation. This in turn will
contribute directly to increasing the amount of content that is available in
the organization’s Big Data resources.
Content organization will provide business rules to identify relationships
between content, create metadata schema to assign content characteristic to
all content. This contributes to increasing the volume of data available and
in some ways leveraging existing data to assign metadata values.
Content access is all about search and establishing the standard types of search
(i.e., keyword, guided, and faceted) that will be needed. This will contribute
to the volume of data, through establishing the parameters and oftentimes
additional metadata fields and values to enhance search.
Content governance focuses on establishing accountability for the accuracy,
consistency, and timeliness of content, content relationships, metadata, and
taxonomy within areas of the enterprise and the applications that are being
used. Content governance will often “prune” the volume of content
available in the organization’s Big Data resources by only allowing access
to pertinent/relevant content, while either deleting or archiving other
content.
Content quality of service, which focuses on security, availability, scalability,
usefulness of the content, and improves the overall quality of the volume of
content in the organization’s Big Data resources by
– Defending content from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption,
modification, perusal, inspection, recording, or destruction.
– Eliminating or minimizing disruptions from planned system downtime.
– Ensuring that the content that is accessed is from and/or based on the
authoritative or trusted source, reviewed on a regular basis (based on the
specific governance policies), modified when needed and archived when
 it becomes obsolete.
– Enabling the content to behave in the same manner, regardless of the
application or tool that implements it; moreover the content should be
flexible enough to be used from both an enterprise level and a local level
without changing its meaning, intent of use, and/or function.
– Tailoring the content to the specific audience and ensuring that the
content serves its distinct purpose, thereby being helpful to its audience
and being practical.

Inclusion of additional types of data into the IA is needed. This includes semi-
structured data (i.e., data coming from sensors such as RFID, location
information coming from the mobile devices, information from web logs,
documents, and e-mails). These new data elements are often produced at much
higher rates compared to the classical transactional data. There is a lot more data
coming in at much higher rates and enterprises need to be able to manage these
new types of data and incorporate them into their overall IA framework. These
new types of data are one of the new characteristics of Big Data.

Key Learnings
The following represents some key learnings from KM and Big Data:

Don’t repeat solving the same problem. Perform root-cause analysis and
focus your analytics to solve the “right problem!”
The same principle that knowledge still exists within an organization’s data
still holds; however, the challenge is to manage the knowledge found by
breaking it down into smaller consumable chunks and then bringing them
together to form a complete picture.
There must be a cultural change to enable the belief that all of the
individuals in an organization are owners of both their own and the
company’s knowledge.
Workers today must be coached to manage, organize, and take
responsibility (or held accountable) for their content (information and
knowledge) that they create at every step of their work process.
Principles of KM are scalable as data grows.
The security, availability, scalability, and usefulness of the content can only
be achieved by executing a comprehensive content and data governance
 strategy.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques from deduced from reading
this chapter:

Leverage Big Data tools such as Apache’s Hive, Mahout, and Hadoop to
bring significant value to your Big Data analytics, which include but are not
limited to
Detecting abnormal behavior patterns
Detecting trends through social media activities
Detecting suspicious activities
Identifying discrepancies in records across systems
Aligning your organization’s tacit knowledge (experts) to content
(information and knowledge) through expertise locators, assignment of
authoritative voice as a metadata field/value is an essential part of extracting
knowledge from your Big Data sources
Incorporating in your Big Data knowledge extraction efforts the
understanding of the data, information and knowledge within your
enterprise-wide systems, and the specific knowledge types that are
important to your organization to capture
Creating a comprehensive IA structure in order to enable unstructured data
to be included into the mix of Big Data sources
Aligning IA elements with Big Data components to enable consistencies
when including unstructured data to the organization’s Big Data
environment
Chapter 15

“What Have You Done for the War Fighter

Today?”: Knowledge Management in the
Military

The twenty-first century military will be predominantly characterized by a rapid

pace and use of technology. This technological change will require a military
that is able to gather and process knowledge and make rapid decisions once that
knowledge is vetted. In addition, the policies, practices, operating procedures,
and other doctrines will need to be modified to address these advancements and
use in technology. The use of unmanned drones is an example of this. The use of
unmanned aircraft in the form of drones is being utilized to gather intelligence
for military operations in the form of surveillance, air strikes, as well as crowd
monitoring and control (Henriques, 2014).
The use of warfare technology highlights the rising importance of utilizing
KM to create a military advantage over adversaries. New technologies have
resulted in increasingly dynamic, unpredictable, and complex operations that
require people to filter and analyze data, information, and knowledge from
multiple sources. Problem solving and decision making are more complex and
more essential in military situations especially with the advancements in
technology. This type of warfare requires superiority at all levels of command
and control. It demands situational awareness tools that are superior to those of
opponents for anticipating reactions, knowledge gathering, problem solving, and
superior decision making. A comprehensive KM strategy that enables
continuous evolution in operationalization effectiveness is essential to attain and
maintain knowledge superiority, know how, and expertise in executing military
operations.
On the human resources side, the military, like their corporate counterparts,
recognize the important role of intellectual capital in the modern military
enterprise. Rapid technological advancement means that training must become
faster and more effective. Time for learning is reduced. Additionally,
demographic changes to the work force, and the loss of military knowledge
suffered through reduced military spending in the 1990s, have had a long-term
impact on the military’s corporate memory. Military personnel are rotated
through positions for both operational experience and career development. They
acquire vast resources of tacit knowledge through their experience; upon leaving
the military, the expertise acquired during their service unless captured is lost.
KM can be applied to address this issue and apply the necessary solutions.

Continuing KM Challenge of BRAC

When it comes to the movement and the loss of military (enlisted and civilian)
personnel, base realignment and closure (BRAC) plays a significant role. BRAC
presents the US military with a significant KM challenge. This is a human
resources challenge that must be met in order for the US military to maintain its
effectiveness. The BRAC specifically represents the challenge of capturing
knowledge both tacit and explicit before it leaves a command from personnel
shifts and loss due to a BRAC move. The US military has already experienced
this knowledge loss and unless steps are taken at least a year in advance of a
BRAC or similar move, this loss will continue to happen. The loss of knowledge
has the potential to compromise mission activities and the soldier in theater.
Leveraging the US military’s ability to share knowledge through its established
process and tools will help lessen the adverse impact of this knowledge loss.
However, without process and tools to capture, catalog, and reuse knowledge,
the US military will be challenged to keep the various commands fully
operational and effective in a long term for the solider in theater. At the end of
the day, KM in the military must be focused on providing actionable intelligence
in order to save lives and to successfully complete missions.
This chapter will examine three of the major branches of the military (army,
air force, and navy), and how KM is being adopted and the practical applications
of this adoption. This chapter will examine the KM strategy each branch is
deploying through tactical implementation of KM programs, systems, and
initiatives. Special attention to the past performance and future execution of
BRAC or similar movements and the knowledge needs that this presents will
also be detailed. Included in this chapter will be my own experiences as it
applies to the BRAC, KM policies, procedures, strategies, methods, and systems
being deployed within the military.
Department of Defense Knowledge Management Structure
The Joint Chiefs of Staff organizational structure provides the impetus for
driving and aligning KM throughout the military. The Joint Chiefs of Staff
Department of Defense (DoD) structure aligns the KM efforts from all branches
of the military (see Figure 15.1). The Joint Chiefs of Staff structure has
established the knowledge management cross-functional team (KM CFT). The
KM CFT is a governing entity responsible for improving KM across the Joint
Staff (JS), as well as mentoring and promulgating KM best practices across the
services, combatant commands, and combat support agencies. The KM CFT
ensures that lessons are learned and best practices are filtered up and across,
while strategic guidance from the JS guides priority of effort.
The JS KM process has a bottom-up focus where lessons learned and best
practices filtered up from the directorates, the services, combatant commands,
and combat support agencies, while strategic guidance from the vice director of
the JS guides priority of effort. To achieve this end, the KM CFT leverages the
Knowledge Management Board (KMB) to develop the JS KM strategic roadmap
and provide guidance and direction to the JS via the quarterly strategic guidance
memorandum, in support of the Chairman’s strategic direction. The KMB also
provides the authority for staffing actions initiated by the services, combatant
commands, and combat support agencies.
The designated lead for the KM CFT is the vice director of the JS. The Chief
of the Information Management Division, Secretary Joint Staff (SJS IMD) will
coordinate the day-to-day activities, act as the secretary and provide secretariat
support for the KM CFT to include ensuring that minutes are taken and
published from each meeting of the KM Board, KM synchronization cell,
content management working group, joint KM working group, and other
working groups when created. Each J-Dir and Director of Management (DOM)
component will provide representation to the KM CFT.

KM Principles
The DoD understands that KM improves efficiency, effectiveness, and
innovation across the JS and throughout the DoD. The DoD also understands
that as a force, planning, training, operations, and engagement are
improved/enhanced when the principles encapsulated in KM are applied (see
Table 15.1).
Figure 15.1 Joint Chiefs of Staff US DoD organization structure.

Table 15.1 KM Principles

KM Principles
1. Train and educate KM leaders, managers, and champions.
2. Reward knowledge sharing and make KM career rewarding.
3. Establish a doctrine of collaboration.
4. Use every interaction, whether face-to-face or virtual, as an opportunity to acquire
and share knowledge.
5. Prevent knowledge loss.
6. Protect and secure information and knowledge assets.
7. Use legal and standard business rules and processes across the enterprise.
8. Embed knowledge assets (e.g., links, podcasts, videos, documents, simulations, and
wikis) in standard business processes and provide access to those who need to
know.
9. Use standardized collaborative tools sets.
10. Use open architectures to permit access and searching across boundaries.
11. Use a robust search capability to access contextual knowledge and store content for
discovery.
12. Use portals that permit single sign-on and authentication across the global
enterprise including partners.

KM Strategies in the US Army

Army Knowledge Management (AKM) is the Army’s strategy to transform itself
into a net-centric, knowledge-based force, and an integral part of the Army’s
transformation to achieve the future force. AKM will deliver improved
information access and sharing while providing infrastructure capabilities across
the Army so that war fighters and business stewards can act quickly and
decisively. AKM connects people, knowledge, and technologies.
The goals of AKM are as follows:

Adopt governance and cultural changes to become a knowledge-based

organization.
Integrate KM and best business practices into Army processes to promote
the knowledge-based force.
Manage the infrastructure as an enterprise to enhance efficiencies and
capabilities such as collaborative work, decision making, and innovation.
Institutionalize AKO/DKO as the enterprise portal to provide universal and
secure access for the entire Army.
Harness human capital for the knowledge-based organization. The result of
the AKM strategy is to align the Army enterprise knowledge and the
information infrastructure with the DoD principles.
Army organizations will develop communities of practice (CoPs) or
communities of interest (COIs) as an integral part of the transformation to a
net-centric, knowledge-based force.
The use of online-secret (AKO-S) permits maximum sharing of Army
information and knowledge resources across the Army enterprise and
reduces the need for investment in duplicative IT resources. Army activities
require collaborative tools to successfully execute missions.
Use a single Army portal for authenticating Army users to gain access to
enterprise systems and portals.
Active Army, Army Reserve, National Guard, civilian, and appropriate
 contractor personnel will make full use of online resources and capabilities.
All personnel must become familiar with the AKM strategy and goals.
Commanders and activity heads must develop organizational initiatives to
support the strategy and goals. The ability to store and find the right
information, at the right time, and to deliver it to the right customer must be
a major focus at all levels of command and especially with the information
management (IM)/IT community of service providers.

The Army CIO/G-6 will issue policy to ensure an enterprise focus to KM efforts
with adherence to Army KM principles. Army commands and organizations will
develop KM practices and systems with an enterprise perspective with the
latitude to tailor KM practices to specific missions.

Army KM Principles
Any discussion of Army KM should include a discussion of the Army KM
principles that were signed by the Army Chief of Staff (General George W.
Casey, Jr.) and the Secretary of the Army in 2008. The AKM principles are still
in effect and have served as a basis for KM efforts in the Army and the Federal
KM arena at large.
The Army KM principles create a consistent framework, so that war fighters
and business stewards can innovate, evaluate alternate courses of actions within
context of local conditions, and act quickly and decisively. The Army KM
principles will help preserve tacit and explicit knowledge and accelerate learning
as units and personnel rotate in and out of theaters or organizations. In addition,
the Army KM principles anchor KM efforts as an Army-wide enterprise
function.
The following are the Army KM principles. These principles align closely to
the overall DoD KM principles.

People and Culture

Principle 1: Train and educate KM leaders, managers, and champions. This
will create a culture of collaboration, which will be leveraged to educate
the next-generation KM change agents who understand KM principles
and technologies and can effect change to accelerate meeting mission
objectives. This will lead to improved curriculum development and
instructional delivery methods identified to train and educate the force in
 KM competency at all levels of the Army.
Principle 2: Reward knowledge sharing and make knowledge management
career rewarding. The Army supports the statement “what gets rewarded
in organizations gets done” and reward structures guide organizational
and individual behavior. This will establish KM career fields, where
appropriate, and insert performance elements to evaluate knowledge
sharing contributions.
Principle 3: Establish a doctrine of collaboration. This will create a
collaborative environment that fosters new ideas, understanding, and
ways to execute the commander’s intent. It is the intent for Army leaders
to incorporate the core principles of collaboration into their business
procedures and human resources practices. This includes (1)
responsibility to provide—need to share should be replaced by
responsibility to provide; (2) empowered to participate—soldiers and
civilians are empowered to participate and share insights in virtual
collaborative communities, without seeking prior permission; and (3)
user driven—collaborative communities are self-defining, self-creating,
and adaptable. Users own the collaborative community, not IT providers.
Principle 4: Use every interaction whether face-to-face or virtual as an
opportunity to acquire and share knowledge. This is intended to foster
continuous learning, and is an expected day-to-day activity. Learning
faster than adversaries or competitors yields short- and long-term results.
It is the expectation that Army leaders will frame day-to-day activities as
learning opportunities to accelerate knowledge acquisition and transfer
and promote learning in teams and in informal and formal social
networks.
Principle 5: Prevent knowledge loss. The intent here is to understand that
knowledge is perishable and it has a life cycle. The life cycle can’t begin
until it is documented and assessed for its value. The Army assesses
what is valuable from a past activity, document it, and share with those
who need to know.

Process
Principle 6: Protect and secure information and knowledge assets. The
intent is to deny adversaries access to key information that gives the US
and coalition forces the decisive advantage to securely communicate and
 collaborate across geographic and organizational boundaries. This
includes balancing risks regarding need to know against need to protect
and requires leaders of knowledge communities to comply with relevant
information assurance regulations and policies.
Principle 7: Embed knowledge assets (links, podcasts, videos, documents,
simulations, wikis, etc.) in standard business processes and provide
access to those who need to know. The intent is to leverage digital media
to add context, understanding, and situational awareness to operations
and business activities. The Army insists that leaders creatively embed
and use digital media (podcasts, videos, simulations, wikis, etc.) in
training routines and operations to add to or leverage the existing
knowledge assets of the Army. Convert intellectual capital (ideas, best
known practices, etc.) to structural capital (anything that is digitized and
accessible and searchable by others). Verify content for legality and
desired outcome.
Principle 8: Use legal and standard business rules and processes across the
enterprise. The intent is to establish business rules and processes that are
repeatable, thus reducing learning curves and promoting consistent
quality products and services. The Army expects its leaders to follow
standard business rules and processes set by the Army and the DoD.
Modify and evolve business rules to meet the commander’s intent and
quickly adapt business processes to meet or anticipate emerging threats
or business opportunities (situational awareness). The Army and across
the DoD leverage lean six sigma and continuous process improvement
principles within the KM discipline.

Technology
Principle 9: Use standardized collaborative tool sets. The intent is to use
common collaborative software tool sets for training, which reduces
training and maintenance costs while creating a common platform for
data, information, and knowledge exchange in theaters and with other
partners and organizations. It reduces impediments to search for relevant
knowledge across the enterprise. This promotes the use of the approved
Army and DoD collaborative tool sets. Train and deploy with them.
Provide access to structural capital to accelerate learning curves and
adopt/modify best known practices.
Principle 10: Use open architectures to permit access and searching across
 boundaries. The intent is to create seamless and ubiquitous service on
demand, when one client application requests one or more services for
another application that provides complimentary services. The goals
here are for KM applications to be designed and operated with an
enterprise focus, permitting access, and searching across systems and
organizations without technical or structural impediments.
Principle 11: Use a robust search capability to access contextual
knowledge and store content for discovery. With the exception of
classified information, the Army expects knowledge bases to be
accessible and searchable by search engines that deliver contextual
knowledge and information. As the Army delivers and operates its KM
systems, leaders through the use of appropriate content management
principles need to ensure that there are no organizational or technical
barriers blocking access to digital media residing in knowledge bases.
Principle 12: Use portals that permit single sign-on and authentication
across the global enterprise including partners. The Army will utilize
authentication across its enterprise portal for access to lessen confusion
for users and provide a standard process for accessing enterprise
knowledge assets while reducing total cost of ownership of other portals,
websites, or knowledge networks.

Army Knowledge Online

Army Knowledge Online (AKO; see Figure 15.2) represents the Army’s
information sharing environment offering a robust KM system and access to a
network of enterprise services for Army personnel that will facilitate
communication, collaboration, and the free exchange of ideas. This environment
also provides access to more than 1200 applications that include e-mail,
directory services, blogs, file storage, instant messenger, chat, and business
process management capabilities as well as links and access to other related
Army websites (e.g., Army Training Requirements and Resources System
[ATRRS], Interactive Personnel Electronic Records Management System
[iPERMS], and Medical Protection System [MEDPROS]).

Current Army KM Direction

Current Army KM direction as stated in the Department of the Army US Army
Corps of Engineers 2015 KM Strategic Plan includes the US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) development of an enterprise-wide integrated KM strategy
to promote and drive quality and improve performance across the organization.
As the world’s largest public engineering, design, and construction management
agency, more than 37,000 USACE personnel manage dams, canals, and flood
protection projects throughout the United States, as well as a wide range of
public works throughout the world. The strategy will drive a program that
provides approaches, methods, and tools that enable KM best practices and
promote the flow of actionable information with the goal of capturing critical
knowledge and expertise of an aging workforce, transferring knowledge between
teams, and improving collaboration and learning across the USACE enterprise.
This strategy establishes the roadmap to how KM is implemented across the
Department of the Army and creates an Army-wide picture of KM benchmarks
and best practices.

Figure 15.2 Army Knowledge Online portal main page. (Courtesy of US

Army. https://www.us.army.mil/suite/login/welcome.html.)

KM Strategies in the US Air Force

Timely, accurate, and relevant information is imperative for planning and
conducting air, space, and cyberspace operations within the Air Force. A lack of
decision-ready, actionable knowledge degrades the Air Force’s ability to conduct
and support operations with the certainty required to support national military
objectives. Turning raw data into information that enables the creation and
transfer of knowledge requires an approach of careful collaboration, analysis,
deliberation, and judgment. Air Force KM supports this approach by using a
combination of technology, processes, and people to achieve mission superiority.
KM provides war fighters with the capability to rapidly access and exploit
authoritative, accurate, and relevant information to plan CoAs and execute
missions. This specifically includes virtual collaboration, tailored information
presentation, integrated data and information, locating and accessing relevant
information, sharing information and knowledge, managing information, and
intelligence IA. This enables sharing of information and knowledge among CoI,
CoP, and coalition partners in a common, collaborative information
environment, supporting network services, improved search engine technologies,
and integration of knowledge managers and training.
According to Jaggers (2014) of Air Force Public Affairs Agency, the Air
Force revamped the KM career field, aiming to make its airmen into some of the
service’s top innovators working in newly established KM centers Air-Force-
wide.
The KM career field split, announced in 2014, moved 80 percent of its airmen
to the new Administration Air Force Specialty Code 3A1 × 1. Approximately 20
percent of airmen currently assigned to the KM AFSC 3D0 × 1 will remain,
becoming a more specific, technically honed specialty.
According to Chief Master Sergeant Robert Jackson, KM career field
manager, KM will undergo a significant technical training ramp-up to meet the
challenge of making airmen into top innovators across the Air Force. They
employ a process improvement mindset, analyze mission requirements, and
recommend solutions. They are the consultants, trainers, and facilitators to
connect people to the information they need. “The idea is to help airmen avoid
searching through mountains of digital data to find what they’re looking for,”
said Jackson (Jaggers 2014). “The real goal is capturing and reusing the wisdom,
experience and lessons we learn over time.”
In 2014, the Secretary of the Air Force’s Chief Information Officer, Lt. Gen.
Michael Basla, sponsored a pilot program to evaluate KM outreach in 15
organizations spanning the Air Force and Air National Guard, yielding
promising results. “The pilot proved that real innovation can happen when we
connect process improvement and technology,” Basla said. “We are not just
applying new technology to old processes, but rather looking to improve the
process itself, harnessing our airmen’s intellectual capital to enhance mission
effectiveness.”
One pilot KM center at Dover Air Force Base, Del., reinvented a process for
producing thousands of letters of appointment. They used Microsoft SharePoint
capabilities to produce an appointment letter management tool, cutting back on
numerous hours and resources.
“If this kind of improvement can be made with appointment letters, imagine
what is possible with our critical mission and business systems,” Jackson said.
“Airmen spend a lot of time on old paper-era processes, so KM can really help.”

Air Force KM Goals and Objectives

The following represents the goals and objectives set forth by the
implementation and execution of Air Force KM as mandated in the Air Force
Instruction 33–396 7 November 2014 Communications and Information
Knowledge Management:

Decision superiority: Provides decision makers with a competitive

advantage, enabled by an ongoing situational awareness
Information superiority: The degree of dominance in the information
domain that allows friendly forces the ability to collect, control, exploit, and
defend information while denying this ability to opposing forces
Improved individual and shared awareness of the operational environment:
Allows Air Force, joint, and coalition information exchange and enables
coordinated operations across all spectrums
Constantly evolving team-based learning: Transforms the Air Force into a
learning organization using continuous innovation to steadily feed new
information, ideas, and concepts into an expanding base of tacit and explicit
knowledge
Optimized knowledge processes: The integration of knowledge principles in
work environments assists airmen with optimizing their mapped processes
through various KM methodologies and techniques
Seamless access and unified communications: Provide organizations’ access
to relevant information anywhere and anytime irrespective of hardware or
software platforms utilized
Knowledge assessment and prioritization: Evaluate classification,
sensitivity, mission criticality, and required levels of access for incoming
data, information, and knowledge to ensure compliance with required
management, handling, and security standards and practices
 Capabilities: Through effective network services and a common
collaborative information exchange, KM affords a specific set of
capabilities. Success in KM is measured by the degree in which these
capabilities are available and leveraged within an organization
Virtual collaboration: KM provides meaningful situational awareness to all
leadership levels through the ability to globally monitor, display, store,
distribute, access, and share information and knowledge
Tailored information presentation: KM connects airmen to authoritative,
accurate, and relevant information by using an airman’s role-based
attributes provided and tracked automatically by EIS
Integrated data and information: The information environment supports the
integration of relevant information from multiple sources and produces
improved situational awareness for airmen, based on their role-based
attributes and responsibilities
Locate, assess, and refine information: Airmen can locate required
information, extract it, determine its veracity and relevancy, and manipulate
it to further support mission goals. This also includes the ability to
determine the authority of information and information services by
identifying the source, currency, and conditions of use
Identify, store, share, and exchange information and knowledge: Airmen
can identify, store, share, and exchange information and knowledge for
collaboration and situational awareness. They are able to do this with other
Air Force members, as well as joint and coalition partners, as required
Manage information from creation to final disposition: Airmen have the
ability to store and manage all types of information and knowledge from
creation to final disposition. This includes all actions necessary to store and
maintain structured and unstructured information. Critical to this concept is
the capability to identify and reuse authoritative information from multiple
functional areas to eliminate redundant and potentially conflicting
information. An integrated enterprise-wide metadata repository and services
are essential to effective information discovery and accessibility
Information architecture: An established IA is essential to establish
standardized criteria, processes, and procedures to store and share data,
information, and knowledge, including cross-security domain solutions that
connect Air Force capabilities with different environments and functional
areas
Air Force Knowledge Now
Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN) is a web-based collaborative environment
developed by the Triune Group for the US Air Force (USAF; see Figure 15.3).
From 1999 to 2012, AFKN grew to more than 19,000 CoPs and 400,000
members. In 2004, Air Force CIO John M. Gilligan designated AFKN the Air
Force Center of Excellence for KM, making it the USAF’s only certified and
accredited enterprise-wide KM program. By focusing on social, behavioral, and
cultural aspects of knowledge sharing, AFKN evolved beyond traditional KM
systems, which focused on capturing information through technology.

Figure 15.3 Air Force Knowledge, new portal main page.

(http://www.slideshare.net/joannhague/walkingincloudshaguefinal;
https://afkm.wpafb.af.mil.)
The Triune Group has been the prime contractor for the AFKN program since
2004. Although the AFKN site has been shutdown and transitioned to Air Force
Net (AFNet) effective August 1, 2013, the USAF extended the AFKN contract
through 2015.
 The program had the following two focus areas:

1. Collaboration suite: Provides management and maintenance of the AFKN

application; a web-based platform providing knowledge sharing and
collaboration through virtual workspaces (called CoP) offering Web 2.0
functionality. The AFKN approach has always been technology agnostic,
and the program has embraced new technologies as they have become
available
2. KM services: Provides consulting services throughout the Air Force to
help organizations design and implement knowledge-centric solutions,
typically on the AFKN application. These solutions include KMMM,
knowledge retention and transfer (KRandT) process, and KM workshops
(taxonomy development, implementation, governance, etc.)

KM services capabilities that support AFKN included the following:

Comprehensive workshops
Online virtual collaboration and sharing
Robust document management
Expertise locators
Integrated e-learning
Search/discovery
Shared network folders
Threaded discussion forums
Validated practices library

KM Strategies in the US Navy

The KM strategy for the Department of the Navy (DON) identifies goals and
objectives for continued KM implementation throughout the DON. At the DON
departmental level, KM is defined as the integration of people and processes,
enabled by technology, to facilitate the exchange of operationally relevant
information and expertise to increase organizational performance.
Although Navy and Marine Corps personnel have shared information and
collaborated since the services began, KM as a recognized discipline with
explicit processes has been pursued only for the past 15 years in the DON.
Numerous DON commands have benefitted from the implementation of KM
processes, procedures, and programs. An updated KM strategy is necessary to
keep up the momentum.
Most KM efforts can be grouped into two overlapping categories: command
support and commander support. Command support links people to who they
need to know and what they need to know to do their jobs better. It seeks to stop
reinventing the wheel and to take advantage of the DON’s tremendous
experience and intellectual capital. Commander support includes efforts to
ensure that there is a

Common understanding of the Commander’s intent from the headquarters

to the tactical edge or furthest echelon.
Shared situational awareness with all concerned.
Process to provide the information and knowledge requisite for timely,
high-quality decisions.

The tenets of KM are a significant complement to the next generation enterprise

network, the joint information environment, and every other environment that
connects people and information.
The DON vision for KM is to create, capture, share, and reuse knowledge to
enable effective and agile decision making, increase the efficiency of task
accomplishment, and improve mission effectiveness. To achieve this vision, the
DON KM community will continue to share and leverage the significant KM
experience and resources existing within the department. Currently, DON KM is
a centralized vision executed through decentralized implementation.
The goals and objectives for DON KM are to

1. Continue to expand departmental awareness that KM applied to operational

and business processes will enable significant improvements in mission
accomplishment.
2. Instill KM principles and methodologies into the DON culture. This
includes the following:
– Expanding and supporting the DON KM CoP and other KM
stakeholders
– Sharing experiences, key learnings, and results to foster collaboration,
enable shortened learning cycles, and assist other efforts.
– Providing KM training and education across the department. Include
KM material in appropriate Navy and Marine Corps training courses
 – Assisting those new to KM to expeditiously locate the support and
resources needed to gain an understanding of KM
3. Maximizing the utility of existing DON KM experience and resources.
This includes the following:
– Assisting commands in building upon the KM experiences and resources
of others
– Collect; catalogue; and advertise existing plans, documents, topical
guides, and other resources to assist command KM programs and
projects
– Maximizing utility of existing technology resources (those already paid
for) to support KM implementation
4. Drive toward a more centrally supported universally available and
executed DON KM program

According to Mr. Jim Knox, DON CIO KM team lead, the DON continues to
“support the use of KM principles and methodologies as an enabler to improve
war fighting and business processes. Though KM is driven by the specific
mission requirements and needs of individual commands, it is important to
continue to share KM know-how and lessons learned across the department. In
the current fiscally challenging environment, commands should recognize the
benefits of KM as an enabler to facilitate mission accomplishment” (Jaggers
2014).
Some of the guiding principles of KM established by the Navy include the
following:

KM must align with the commander’s vision and mission.

Enable knowledge capture, sharing, and collaboration.
Improve Navy performance using the people, and tools available to them.
KM is critical to integrating disparate functions and units, including
functional silos, geographically dispersed domain members, and critical
strategic initiatives.
Follow the knowledge management maturity model (KMMM). This model
served as a road map to guide us through the KM process. The KMMM was
based on the same concept as the capability maturity model for software.
Effectively communicate and collaborate. Implementation of collaborative
tools that would allow sharing of documents and enable collaboration
Utilize standardized administrative processes.
 Foster an environment of continuous improvement, innovation, and
learning. KM uses CoP as cross-functional teams that can sustain change
and focus on the quality of knowledge flows, assets, and key learnings.

Navy Knowledge Online

Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) is the Navy’s knowledge portal used by active
duty, reserve, and retired enlisted and officers of the US Navy (see Figure 15.4).
NKO provides information and resources such as career management, personal
development, and leadership. Allowing Navy retired personnel access to NKO
increases the pool of knowledge available that can be shared between current
active duty and reserve personnel. Sharing knowledge is primarily done through
the NKO forum. The NKO Community of Practice (CoP) program provides the
ideal way for Navy personnel to share their knowledge. The CoP facilitates
sharing of best practices, advice, and expertise in organizational, functional, and
operational knowledge in a specific interest group. The focus is on continuous
learning, mutual exchange, and collaboration.

Figure 15.4 Navy Knowledge Online portal main page.

(http://www.slideshare.net/joannhague/walkingincloudshaguefinal;
https:/wwwa.nko.navy.mil/portal/home.)

KM and BRAC
The Congress established the 2005 BRAC Commission to ensure the integrity of
the base closure and realignment process. At the onset of a BRAC movement,
there will be many personnel who will not transition with the command as it
moves to their new location. Losing these personnel will cause a gap in both tacit
and explicit knowledge. Leveraging KM in support of BRAC movements will
provide a mechanism to capture and retain this knowledge for the command as it
transitions. This paper will focus on the KM principles, practices, and techniques
to transition knowledge from individuals and make it available as a corporate
knowledge asset that can be retrieved, examined, and leveraged by the entire
command.
A BRAC move has to synchronize people, the information systems they use
and the knowledge they have. The organization (command) experiencing the
BRAC must carefully manage the change and the transition with precise
planning and attention to detail. There must be a realization of what
roles/positions are and are not transitioning along with an understanding of the
effect of what losing knowledge would do for the command and how this will be
addressed.
One of the objectives of the BRAC is to transition and execute change
management without an interruption or dilution of mission services and/or
activities. An essential component of this is the personnel and the knowledge
they possess to effectively carry out the missions of the command. Capturing,
cataloging, and retaining critical knowledge of the command before it leaves
during a BRAC move are at the core of applying KM to BRAC movements. The
problem occurs because the loss of knowledge will have an adverse effect on the
missions and the activities of the command that can be detrimental to the
personnel in theater. The solution will be to apply KM as a mechanism to
capture and retain this knowledge for the command and make it available as a
corporate knowledge asset that can be retrieved, examined, and leveraged by the
entire command. This knowledge should continue to be updated after the BRAC
is completed.
Summary of Contributing Factors
Table 15.2 outlines the key contributing factors related to the
opportunity/problem the BRAC presents.

Addressing the BRAC Problem

To begin to address this problem of potential loss of knowledge, a KM strategy
must be created. Creating a KM strategy presents a holistic approach to
capturing, cataloging, and making available the various knowledge assets of the
command. Creating a single integrated knowledge repository is a major
deliverable for cataloging and making available the various knowledge assets.
This knowledge repository should support the KM principles as depicted in
Table 15.1.
The critical task for the command is to determine what knowledge they should
retain and share. KM content management should link to what people know, and
how they use the knowledge to support the mission, objectives, and activities of
the command. It draws on human competency, intuition, ideas, and motivations.
It is not a technology-based concept even though utilizing the correct technology
KM tools is important. The short-term KM goal for the command is to determine
what knowledge to collect from its personnel who are going to leave prior to the
final BRAC move while supporting the long-term KM goal to refine and
implement the strategic KM plan. The final state of KM at the command will
provide enterprise knowledge and services that are necessary to improve
operations and decision making across the command. Table 15.3 presents a
BRAC chart showing possible KM needs, goals, and objectives for Stakeholders
for potential services.

Table 15.2 Contributing Factors to Capturing Knowledge

# Contributing Factors Effect on Organization
1 Some personnel will Cohesiveness of mission activities could be compromised
not transition to the because of lack of skilled personnel
new location
2 Explicit knowledge Loss of documented knowledge that could compromise the
(SOP’s, lessons effectiveness and efficiency of personnel performing the
learned, templates, job at the new location
 examples) not
properly captured
and cataloged
3 Tacit knowledge Loss of knowledge (specific “know how”) that could
(specific know how compromise the effectiveness and efficiency of personnel
from experienced performing the job at the new location
personnel) not
properly captured
and cataloged
4 Lack of understanding Potential of losing key personnel with substantial
of who are the key knowledge of mission critical activities. This personnel
knowledge holders has a high impact on the effectiveness and success of
and what knowledge missions/activities once the BRAC is completed
they possess
5 Lack of understanding Understanding and identifying the gaps in knowledge will
of the “knowledge enable the command/organization to plan and execute a
gaps” that will exist strategy to fill these gaps. This strategy could consist of
once the BRAC training, additional skilled personnel (temp employees),
transition is made new hires, creating SOP’s, etc.

The KM program for the command will optimize the organization, exchange,
currency, and accessibility of knowledge so that personnel spend less time
looking for what they need in order to make critical decisions and complete the
mission. The KM efforts and initiatives will add value by

Facilitating better, more informed decisions.

Contributing to the intellectual capital of the organization.
Encouraging the free flow of ideas that leads to insights and innovation.
Eliminating redundant processes and streamlining operations.
Improving efficiency and overall productivity.

Table 15.3 BRAC Chart Showing Possible KM Needs, Goals, and Objectives
for Stakeholders
Any KM program will need to concentrate on developing the following practices
among individuals and groups, and must be reflected in management processes
and behaviors, becoming an integral part of the organizational culture:

Recognition and valuing of individual knowledge

Recognition and valuing of knowledge held by others
An enthusiasm to search for new knowledge
 The skills to search for that new knowledge
An enthusiasm for sharing knowledge with others, and a capacity to link
personal and shared knowledge to organizational goals and performance

A well-structured and consistent approach to facilitating knowledge capture,

cataloging, and retention within the command is needed to support the diversity
of content and the locations where it resides; there is tremendous content in both
physical repositories and within the minds of individuals. Understanding and
managing that content so that it can be shared and applied is vital to increasing
overall effectiveness of personnel.
An understanding of the knowledge and content being managed is an essential
first step to enable effective knowledge capture, cataloging, and retention. Raw
data can be transformed to increasing levels of trust and authority through the
application of cognitive practices of the command. This results in a spectrum of
knowledge that must be managed through structured practices and business rules
so that there is cohesion of understanding and application.
The knowledge and content that must be understood and managed range from
the unexpressed or tacit that is in the heads of individuals across the spectrum of
the command to the formal, approved content such as regulations and manuals.
At each level, the authority and trust of the material are balanced by the risk of
applying that content. There is little risk in following a regulation, whereas
applying an observation that is provided verbally from a peer may be considered
potentially risky.
As the KM BRAC process is worked, it will benefit from a well-defined
knowledge/content hierarchy and knowledge capture, and transformation rules.
These provide a framework that is at the core of the KM BRAC process and tool.

Missed KM Opportunity of BRAC

Impending BRAC moves have the potential to bring considerable personnel
turnover, which will lead to knowledge loss and gaps in operations. During my
time in executing BRAC movements within the military, there was a missed
opportunity when it came to adequately capturing and cataloging knowledge loss
to enable reuse. To close this gap, there are several steps that need to be
considered. These steps include the following:

1. Determining existing and potential sources, flows, and constraints

 including environmental factors that could influence knowledge flow
2. Identifying and locating where the explicit and tacit knowledge exists
3. Creating a knowledge map depicting the flow of knowledge within the
organization
4. Identifying what knowledge is missing within the organization that is
needed in order to achieve stated goals and objectives and who needs the
missing knowledge within the organization to effectively perform their
duties
5. Identifying possible improvements and recommendations regarding KM
activities within the organization

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

One of the takeaways from this chapter is about how the military structures
KM to be aligned to the overall DoD principles and structure, with a focus
on the individual KM principles of each branch. KM by design is given a
strategic alignment with a specific tactical focus depending on the needs of
the particular branch of the military.
All organizations can learn from the DoD structure of KM and apply it by
aligning KM to the overall corporate strategy, enabling KM through senior
leadership support (C-suite executive support), and aligning specific KM
strategies and tactical implementations across departments to the overall
policies and objectives stated in the organization’s enterprise KM strategy.

Tips and Techniques

The following are some tips and techniques that stood out from this chapter:

The chart indicating KM needs, goals, and objectives for stakeholders is a

good tool to utilize for BRAC initiatives, and it can be applied to any KM
initiative that focuses on determining the knowledge to capture and the
knowledge services that are required to improve operations and decision
making.
Developing an understanding of contributing factors to capturing knowledge
as indicated in Table 15.2 is an essential tool in understanding the effect of
knowledge loss and what has to occur in order to capture knowledge.
When the organization knows that a location move is eminent, the need to
capture, catalog, and store knowledge from individuals that may leave the
organization becomes imperative. Understanding this from experience, a
knowledge transfer/capture effort must start anywhere from six months to a
year in advance of the move. This timeframe is established to adequately
validate the knowledge being captured and to ensure individuals will be
engaged and incentivized long enough to transfer their know how.
Chapter 16

Drinking the Knowledge Management Kool-

Aid: Knowledge Management Adoption

“Drinking the KM Kool-Aid” is a metaphor to indicate the adoption of KM

(program, policies, procedures and the methods, and systems that enable it)
throughout your organization. KM is a multidisciplinary approach to enabling
the right knowledge, to get to the right people, in the right context, and at the
right time. This knowledge can be tacit (in the minds of individuals) and/or
explicit (written down/documented in various forms, for example, knowledge
articles, frequently asked questions (FAQs), job aids, standard operating
procedures (SOPs), and key learnings). To enable knowledge to flow quickly
through your organization and to support the processes and procedures that have
been defined, the implementation of methods (i.e., knowledge sharing,
collaboration, knowledge capture, and knowledge reuse), and the governance
(maintenance and management) of your knowledge assets, a systems (KMSs),
must be deployed. So, in this case, adoption will have to occur at many levels
within the ecosystem of your organization’s KM structure.
Once the need for a KM program has been determined, immediately after its
official launch, efforts must be on the way to initiate its adoption. In order to
initiate the adoption of your KM program, an effort to market the program and
its various components has to be an intentional endeavor.
Marketing and communication are critical ongoing activities that are aimed at
creating awareness and spreading the system benefits to the end user. A high-
impact and effective marketing campaign should be included in the project plan
both during and after a system launch. Marketing will help create a buzz about
the KMS and also help showcase the success that has been achieved. Marketing
strategy should ensure that all user segments and stakeholders of the project are
impacted.

Communication Channels
The following channels should be leveraged for communicating the KM
program and need to be detailed in the communications plan:

Newsletter: Created by the marketing team and published monthly. Using an

interview format, a feature article is written by a reporter from the team.
The article is then written and published in the newsletter.
News brief: Published once a week. The content is coordinated and
submitted to the communications team.
Leadership thought message: Part of newsletter. A message is highlighted
once a month from one of the leadership teams. A schedule for the year is
created at the start of each year by the communications team and the chief
information officer. Topics of messaging are left to the monthly leader but
recommended by the communications team.
Project manager forum and mentoring sessions: Mentoring sessions are
held daily for any PMs requiring assistance. The project management office
(PMO) also holds project management forums periodically for sharing
major news and addressing process efficiency issues pertaining to the KM
program.
Town hall meetings: Everyone are invited to attend town hall meetings,
which can be scheduled as needed. Schedules and marketing of these
meetings are coordinated through the communications and marketing teams.
Corporate broadcast messaging: Advertisement agency type static
messages flashed via the corporate intranet. This is utilized to drive
corporate associates to news brief and newsletter articles and also to create
awareness to events (e.g., town hall meetings). The communications team
creates the actual visuals and controls pushing those out to the organization.
This is an essential vehicle that should be utilized to socialize the KM
program and energize the adoption process.

Adoption Activities
In an effort to socialize and adopt your KM program inclusive of its policies,
practices, methods, and systems, there are certain activities that will impact in a
positive way on the success of your adoption efforts. The following is a
representation of some of these activities:
 Lunch-n-learn: At its simplest, a learning at lunch program is a training (or
learning) event scheduled during the lunch hour. The attendees bring their
lunches and eat them during the presentation session. The training is usually
less formal and less structured than normal. This promotes a comfortable
atmosphere where the attendees feel free to not only learn from the
presenter but also share knowledge among themselves.
Knowledge café (see Chapter 5): A knowledge café is a means of bringing a
group of people together to have an open, creative conversation on a topic
of mutual interest to surface their collective knowledge, to share ideas and
insights, and to gain a deeper understanding of the subject and the issues
involved. As a KM tool, a knowledge café is used to share tacit knowledge.
The knowledge café can be used within teams, communities of practice
(CoP), across several teams both colocated and distributed, to help facilitate
learning from others and gain a deeper collective understanding of a subject
through interactive conversation.
Business social: Business social represents utilizing social media
capabilities within the organization. Social media has become an important
consequence to organizational communication processes because social
media concepts and tools afford behaviors that were difficult or impossible
to achieve in combination before these new technologies entered the
workplace (Treem & Leonardi, 2012). These technologies speak to the way
people interact outside of the corporation and enable a familiar and effective
way to promote awareness of the KM program and positively influence its
adoption.

Key Adoption Challenges

With any effort there will be some challenges to a successful adoption. These
adoption challenges will be analyzed and detailed in this chapter. Typically, the
adoption challenges faced during the lifetime of the KM program are as follows:

Unclear KM strategy
Lack of personal return on investment (ROI)
Lack of organizational culture
Lack of organizational commitment
Failure to communicate effectively
Poor maturity of tool deployed
In this chapter, an examination of the communication and marketing efforts to
support adoption will be presented in detail. Also, implementation strategies,
cultural barriers, and other adoption challenges will be examined. In addition, a
demonstration of how the task–technology fit (TTF) model can be applied to
increase adoption of the KM program and its various components will be
detailed.

Communications and the Adoption Approach

The communications plan should include messages from leadership to
employees that create an awareness of the KM initiative, prepare the
organization for adoption, and educate key stakeholders to get them up to speed
on activities that are required. The goal of the communications plan should be to
move from disparate or nonexistent knowledge sources and content to
organizational knowledge value through adoption of the KM strategy. A critical
component of success in KM adoption is setting the expectation and
communicating a vision of what your organization is trying to achieve in the
short term, mid term, and long term. Successful adoption means people change
the way they work, it is not just implementing a system. The more personalized
the message the greater the understanding of change is for each employee. The
approach utilized for the communications plan should include (but not limited
to) the following:

Leveraging existing communications channels (create new ones if needed)

— see communication channels listed in this chapter
Communicate in some way at least once per week
Develop core messages that your organization can leverage through the
remainder of the initial year of KMS implementation and
postimplementation
Communicate to multiple levels in the organization—leadership and
associate

The Communications Plan

At the heart of communication (and KM) lie the development of information and
the sharing of that information with others to add insights about it—turning
information into knowledge. KM takes the matters further to (a) ensure
information is well-organized and accessible (i.e., information management), (b)
optimize the frequency and richness of dialogues (through various channels) that
take place to solve current/upcoming issues and come up with new solutions
(i.e., social learning and innovation), and (c) keep a learning attitude at various
levels to ensure continuous improvement of these information and knowledge
processes.
The KM communications plan should include the following items in its
structure:

The challenges and opportunities of setting up a KM program

The scope of the KM program
KM communication objectives
Communication channels (see Table 16. 1)
Activities proposed per objective
Activities identified in the communications calendar

Town Halls and Communication Messaging

Town Hall Content
In addition to organizational news brief messaging, a town hall meeting is the
other broad communication channel that can be utilized. Best practices for these
types of sessions include the following: dynamic lead off, several speakers to
change things up, make things interactive, and be clear about the major messages
to communicate. Two town hall sessions are recommended on the
communication calendar. The first session will educate on the topic and how it
affects each associate and work process. The second session is recommended to
market any changes in the direction or initiatives within the program.

Goals of a KM Town Hall Session Are as Follows:

Sell the vision of the enterprise KM program messages:
– Why KM?
– Not a system, a different way to work together
– Link knowledge to help address major pain points within the
organization
• Lack of SME identification
 • Lack of available corporate knowledge
• The ability to find knowledge when it is needed
Create awareness of the KM Program
Explain
– How each associate is expected to participate
– What is different from how they work today
– What KM is and why they need to care about it
Educate regarding KM program rollout and adoption plan

Communication Messaging
The recommendation for communicating about KM and setting the expectations
is a two-prong approach: (a) The executive management and KM program
leadership share similar messaging as it pertains to implementing the KM
program. They will be expected to push the messaging down through their
organizations. (b) KM champions or key management for an area will
communicate the same message with their subordinates as they work to adopt
aspects of the KM program.

Sample Messaging
XYZ Company is rolling out an enterprise KM program (EKMP). We listen to
your concerns and needs for such a program and are asking your support to
enable the EKMP to realize its vision and achieve its mission: “Deliver the right
knowledge, to the right people, in the right context, and at the right time.”
Critical to successful KM is the depth and breadth of the knowledge available.
We expect (appreciate?) your support in transferring all pertinent knowledge
assets into the enterprise KM system, making it the single location for corporate
intellectual capital.
We’ve received the questions concerning when the new knowledge sharing
methods (KSM) will be available. To eliminate silos of information/knowledge,
a news brief and calendar indicating availability of knowledge sharing
technology is now available to everyone via the corporate intranet.
Thanks for your support in changing the way we work together. A timeline for
understanding KM impacts in your area will be provided by your KM champion.
Table 16.1 indicates sample communication audience, channels, and message
points
Table 16.1 Sample Communication Audience/Channels
Audience Channel Messages Target Dates
Executive Executive-level Goals of KM program Established in
leadership meetings Rollout and adoption communications
progress and the role calendar
of the executive
KM program Program leadership Expectations during Established in
leadership meetings KM program communications
operationalization calendar
Company News article, news Vision for KM Established in
associates briefs, town hall program communications
meetings Rollout and adoption calendar
status
KM Specific Vision for KM Established in
administrators communications program communications
from KM program Features of the KM calendar
leadership system (if available)
News article, news Rollout and adoption
briefs status
KM Specific Established in
champions/KM communications communications
team from KM program calendar
leadership
News article, news
briefs

Adoption and the KM Implementation Strategy

To ensure adoption and usage of KMS, the implementation strategy should be
people centric rather than technology centric. The key activities that are critical
during KM project management are discussed next:

Project discovery is a structured and analytical approach to assess the business

value that the KM tool would deliver and also to develop an
implementation strategy for the KM tool.
 Discovery involves the following:
• Develop scenarios to identify how employees will use the system and
how value will be delivered
• Develop implementation strategy based on the organization’s use case
scenario, assessment of barriers in connecting and collaborating,
recommendations for measuring the value delivered, and tactics for
driving usage and adoption
• Leadership and cultural assessment questionnaires to identify
leadership interest and organizational culture support in making KM a
success
Business objectives and success metrics: It is a prelaunch activity that
determines the metric tracking, reporting, and success guidelines of the
project. This includes identifying your corporate objectives and business
objectives that help achieve your corporate goals, as well as determining
project-tracking metrics based on business objectives and identifying
suitable ranges. Metrics should be measureable, actionable, and
quantifiable. Examples of metrics are as follows: knowledge transactions,
reuse of knowledge content, and expertise search and location.
Champion program: The role of a champion is crucial for long-term adoption
strategies as they will evangelize the system within their respective user
groups and directly impact usage. It is important to recruit champions
across the organization (by location, function, and community) who can
positively influence the adoption within their user segments. Create a
structured champion program to motivate, manage, and provide incentives
to champions.
Community development and prepopulation strategies: They should be
developed based on the feedback gathered during the project discovery.
Communities can be based on technology or business disciplines,
departments, functions, products, business process, or special interests.
During community development, ensure that the communities are not more
than three-level deep; they are prepopulated and have an active champion
identified. Prepopulation focuses on ensuring a great first experience to the
user of the system. The strategies are to be aimed at building user profiles,
expert profiles, and bringing the existing content by integrating content
repositories such as file shares or emails with the KMS.
Integration: It involves integrating the KM tool with other existing tools and
resources within the organization. Integration coupled with prepopulation
 ensures that users are able to use the system to its fullest potential right
from the start and are also able to access the other resources made available
to them earlier. A highly integrated environment ensures that the tool is
better used and also easier to use.
Training: Training users to utilize the system helps the users in using the
system more effectively and it has also been seen that a trained user is more
likely to return to the system. Training sessions will also help in showcasing
the benefits and use of the system and drive user acceptance.
Lunch-n-learn: This will provide a less formal approach to training and will
not consume additional time; attendees would spend getting their daily
work accomplished. Typical lunch-n-learn programs when used to facilitate
adoption efforts would include the following:
– Skills training: This can range from teaching customer service
representatives how to answer the phone correctly to providing
leadership training to first-line managers.
– Product training: If your company has many products or services, a
program of learn at lunch sessions can help all employees better
understand the product differences.
– Professional development: Give people an opportunity to learn what
people in other departments do. Do you have someone in IT who could
teach a course in programming basics or someone in accounting who
could explain how financial forecasting works? Maybe someone in HR
could teach a session on how to interview better.
– Personal development: A learn at lunch program does not have to be
strictly business. You could offer an occasional session on any talent any
of your employees is willing to teach, from wood carving to painting or
drawing.
– Life skills: You could bring in a guest speaker to explain to your
employees the different types of insurance and the benefits of each. Or
have a class in household budgeting, first aid, or fire safety, anything
that helps your employees learn.
Incentive management: This involves driving usage by encouraging
participation through the use of rewards, performance reviews, and other
motivators. Incentive management in itself becomes crucial, as an incorrect
program would impact the usage of the system. While implementing an
incentive program, identify all possible incentives, get key stakeholder buy
 in, and publicize the incentive plan.
Tactics for culture change: To promote KM culture within an organization,
the project team must use the KMS to its fullest and evangelize the system.
The culture change can be brought about by maintaining a rewards and
recognition program for KM adopters, by gathering feedback from early
adopters in terms of high personal ROI and sharing broadly, and in some
cases by undoing the organization’s past history of unsuccessful attempts at
KM. The project team must also work to get full commitment and support
from key executives at the organization.
Metrics measurement, reporting, and ROI: As an ongoing exercise, metrics
need to be monitored and reported in a formal manner by the project team.
The objective of this exercise is to ensure that the system is being used as
per expectation and, if there is any deviation, the project team is able to
preempt it by taking a corrective course correction. Many KM
implementations are unsure of how to link KM efforts to ROI. This should
be addressed by identifying a set of metrics that best correlate to business
impact that can be traced to actions taken by users on the KMS such as time
taken to solve problems, project execution times, new product ideas or
feedback gathered, time taken to solve customer issues, and reduction in
manufacturing-related defects.
Usage optimization: It is a continuous exercise to measure and enhance the
value of a KM implementation and to monitor the health of the system.
Usage optimization process should
– Gather, analyze, and report actual usage and adoption metrics against
expected metrics.
– Carry out root cause analysis of the usage and adoption issues.
– Develop a set of tactics to impact these root causes.
– Set goals and timeline for next optimization exercise.

Adopting KM Systems
To succeed in executing your KM strategy, it is imperative that the adoption of
the system within the user base is achieved. The focus of the implementation and
socialization of the KMS should be on increasing and maintaining the usage of
the system in terms of the number of users participating, increasing the number
of transactions on the system, and improving the quality of the transactions.
Failure in meeting adoption translates into slow growth and an underutilized
and ineffective KMS. We will focus on two primary areas (a) key adoption
challenges faced by organizations and (b) a framework to guide project teams to
overcome these challenges.
The recommended approach to adoption followed critical elements of
technology transfer, which included taking into consideration the input from the
user community concerning their KMS needs, providing assurances of
confidence and trust that the knowledge and content contained in the KMS was
relevant and up-to-date, messaging changing attitudes from a silo organization to
an open accessible organization when it came to sharing, and the ability to obtain
knowledge and its associated content.

Implementing Information Architecture

Information architecture (IA) focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling
content in an effective and sustainable way. The goal is to help users find, share,
and collaborate regarding content (information and knowledge) in most cases in
order to complete certain tasks. The purpose of your IA is to help users
understand where they are in the system, how to find what they need, know what
they’ve found, and what to expect from the system. As a result, your IA informs
the content strategy through identifying word choice as well as informing user
interface/user experience (UI/UX) through influencing wire framing and the
KMS development. The IA brings in the understanding of the interdependent
nature of users the content and context of information.
IA as it is applied to create a KMS provides a user-centric approach to the
KMS implementation. IA (see Chapter 4) and its involvement of users contribute
to the user’s ability to understanding how the KMS works by providing intuitive
and user-friendly functionality, which contributes to the adoption and effective
use of the system. By establishing clarity upward into the UI and downward into
the system architecture, contributing to simplifying design, development, and
implementation, the IA creates a common ground bridging the gap between the
users, designers, and developers. A well-defined IA will provide consistent
experiences for the users that will also contribute to the successful adoption of
the KMS.

TTF Model
The examination of the TTF theory by Huang and Lin (2008) is predicted to be a
significant precursor to KMS usage (Huang & Lin, 2008). The Huang and Lin
study has shown that the TTF theory is suitable for understanding the specific
KMS needs of the group by determining and prioritizing their technology needs
(Huang & Lin, 2008; Simmons, 2013). The significance of Huang and Lin’s
study determines that the TTF theory can be applied to examine the motivation
of users to leverage a KMS to perform their organizational tasks and that
applying the TTF theory to the KM program can have a positive effect on the
success of the KM program.
In addressing the application of the TTF theory and how it could be applied to
a KM program, the first step is an examination of the components of a KM
program. According to an article by Robert Simmons on implementing a KM
program, he points out eight specific steps as follows:

Step 1—Establish KM program objectives: Simmons points out that

articulating the end state is important to establishing the appropriate
program objectives and identifying the business problems and the business
drivers that will provide momentum and justification for the endeavor.
Step 2—Prepare for change: Simmons indicates that a major component of
establishing a KM program is to execute change management. The change
management strategy will address the cultural changes that need to take
place on how employees perceive and share knowledge as well as
addressing the changes within the organization’s norms and shared values
that need to take place. A change management strategy will establish an
approach for managing cultural change and produce a knowledge sharing,
knowledge-driven culture end state of the KM program.
Step 3—Define high-level process: To facilitate the identification, capture,
cataloging, use, and maintenance of the corporation’s knowledge assets, an
effective KM process needs to be established (Simmons, 2013).
Step 4—Determine and prioritize technology needs: Simmons indicates that
depending on the program objectives that have been established, as well as
the process controls and criteria that have been defined, a prioritization of
the KM technology needs can occur (Simmons, 2013). It is important to
understand how the KM technology will address the knowledge processing
and cultural knowledge needs of the organization as well as how the KM
solution will be adopted by its users.
Step 5—Assess current state: Assessing the current state of KM within your
organization should focus on the five core KM components: people,
 processes, technology, structure, and culture (Simmons, 2013). This
assessment, according to Simmons, should uncover the gaps between
current and desired states, and the recommendations for addressing/closing
these gaps. This assessment will become the foundation for the KM
roadmap (Simmons, 2013).
Step 6—Build a KM implementation roadmap: Simmons stresses that “before
going too far, you should reconfirm senior leadership’s support and
commitment, as well as the funding to implement and maintain the
knowledge management program” (Simmons, 2013). This is crucial to the
development and execution of the program.
The KM program strategy should be presented as a “roadmap of related
projects, each addressing specific gaps identified by the assessment”
(Simmons, 2013). The roadmap will indicate timelines, milestones, and
dependencies. The roadmap should indicate the initiation of specific
projects to execute the KM program strategy.
Step 7—Implementation: Implementing a KM program and maturing the
overall effectiveness of your organization can require significant personnel
resources and funding. Implementation of the KM program will involve the
execution of the roadmap, ensuring that short-term goals and wins are
realized to gain momentum and maintain the support of key stakeholders
(Simmons, 2013).
Step 8—Measure and improve the KM program: In order to understand if your
KM program and its associated initiatives (projects) are effective,
establishing the appropriate metrics/measurements are necessary. These
metrics must be utilized in a way to measure the actual effectiveness and
comparing that to anticipated results (Simmons, 2013).

Applying the TTF Model

When applying the TTF theory to the KM program, a determination of where the
TTF theory fits within the KM program structure must be identified. The TTF
theory (see Figure 16.1) holds that IT is more likely to have a positive impact on
individual and group performance if it is aligned with the tasks the users perform
(Huang & Lin, 2008). When incorporating the KMS into the KM program, the
system is aligned with the KM processes that have been identified that the KM
program will support (Simmons, 2013). The KM processes of the KM program
reflect how workers within the organization use knowledge to perform their
tasks. The TTF theory is suited to measure this usage and can be leveraged to
understand not only how the KMSs are being used but will guide the KM
program administrators on the best way to increase adoption and contribute to
increasing the performance of the workers who use the KMS.
The Huang and Lin (2008) examination of KMS application of the TTF theory
included the application of the TTF theory to analyze its usefulness. This
examination indicated that the TTF theory is predicted to be a significant
precursor to KMS usage (Huang & Lin, 2008).
Furthermore, the Huang and Lin study has shown that the TTF theory is
suitable for understanding the specific KMS needs of the program contributing
to step 4 (determine and prioritize technology needs) of the KM program (Huang
& Lin, 2008; Simmons, 2013). The TTF theory will also contribute to the KM
program roadmap as it pertains to the alignment of technology to the specific
milestones and objectives identified in the roadmap; in addition, the TTF theory
will contribute to understanding what are the key aspects to adoption of the KMS
by the organization’s users and provides mechanisms to measure the rate of
adoption contributing to step 8 of the KM program, to measure and improve the
KM program (Simmons, 2013).
The Huang and Lin (2008) research into the TTF theory as it applies to the
adoption of KMS indicates that KMS can play a major role in the facilitation of
KM policies, processes, and procedures throughout an organization (Huang &
Lin, 2008). The significance of this research determines that the TTF theory can
be applied to examine the motivation of users to leverage a KMS to perform
their organizational tasks and that applying the TTF theory to the KM program
can have a positive effect on the success of the KM program.

Figure 16.1 Task–Technology fit (TTF) model.

The examination of the TTF theory by Huang and Lin (2008) is predicted to
be a significant precursor to KMS usage (Huang & Lin, 2008). The Huang and
Lin’s study has shown that the TTF theory is suitable for understanding the
specific KMS needs of the group by determining and prioritizing their
technology needs (Huang & Lin, 2008; Simmons, 2013).
The significance of Huang and Lin’s study determines that the TTF theory can
be applied to examine the motivation of users to leverage a KMS to perform
their organizational tasks and that applying the TTF theory to the KM program
can have a positive effect on the success of the KM program.

Organizational Culture
Understanding the culture of your organization will mitigate cultural resistance
to KM adoption. Knowing if your organization’s culture is knowledge hoarders
or knowledge sharers, resistant to change or welcomes change, adoption leaders,
or adoption laggards will play a significant role on the messaging, activities, and
objectives that are placed on adoption initiatives.
Hsu, Lawson, and Liang state that diverse enterprise cultures and leadership
styles may lead enterprises to a different management pattern. Three primary
factors affect the adoption of KM: senior management support, a knowledge-
friendly culture, and a clear strategy for managing knowledge (Hsu, Lawson, &
Liang, 2007).
Important to the adoption of KM is the organizational culture regarding the
importance and use of knowledge. This may be the most difficult component to
fully mitigate (Davenport & Prusak, 1999). The enterprise culture represents a
company’s values, which become the norms of its employees’ activities,
opinions, and conduct. A method to mitigate an organization’s cultural barrier to
KM is to take an individual knowledge and attitude approach toward KM
adoption. Changing user perceptions and attitudes is the key to a user’s
participation.
In numerous studies, top management support and high-ranking management
positive participation have been found to be crucial to the successful adoption of
KM by an organization’s employees (Hsu, Lawson, & Liang, 2007).

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings from this chapter:

Best practice organizations use a variety of channels including e-mail, the

intranet, and leadership involvement to promote KM to employees.
 Do not take a one size fits all approach to KM and KM adoption. A
recommendation is to structure each communication to convey the value of
KM participation to a specific audience. When your employees understand
the organizational (global) picture of how they as individuals fit and will
benefit, they are much more likely to make the effort to adopt the KM
program and its various initiatives.
By applying the task characteristics of the roles within the group to the
functionality of your organization’s KMS, you are able to ascertain the gaps
in knowledge and content provided by the system.
The TTF model indicates that the greater the fit of IS design with task
characteristics of its users along with the ability of the KMS to address the
knowledge needs of the users, the better the performance of the users.

Tips and Techniques

The following are several tips and techniques that can be applied to adopt your
organization’s KM program (policies, procedures, methods, and systems):

In adopting a KMS, it is important that the user’s knowledge needs are met
and trust that the knowledge and content contained in the system is relevant
and up-to-date.
The TTF theory can also contribute to the group enhancing the KM program
roadmap as it pertains to the alignment of technology to the specific roles
within your organization.
In measuring value and rate of adoption of the KMS, it is similar to other
software implementations. However, it has a significant difference. Instead
of quantitative measures to value a KMS such as the number of
contributions or number of uses, “measures of KMS success are rather
related to intention to use (end users) and intention to contribute
(contributory users) and can be assessed with the help of the perceived
benefit model.” (see Figure 16.2; Baloh, 2007).
The TTF is leveraged to analyze the context through an analysis of the
characteristics of knowledge needs (instead of tasks) where task and
technology contingencies are internally consistent and aligned. Baloh also
indicates that “the more technology is aligned to knowledge needs, the
greater their intentions to contribute and use KMS will be” (Baloh, 2007).
Figure 16.2 Perceived benefit model.
Chapter 17

Failure Is Not an Option: Why Do Knowledge

Management Programs and Projects Fail?

Why do knowledge management (KM) programs and projects fail?

Let’s begin by determining the difference between a KM program and a KM
project. In a blog post dated December 31, 2012, I have stated what in my
experience designates a KM program and a KM project. In many of my KM
engagements, organizations look to initiate KM through a specific initiative or
project. Once that project is concluded, many of these organizations believe that
their KM involvement is done and they move on to the next initiative. In order to
have a sustainable KM presence in an organization, we must move from the
tactical approach of a KM project to that of a strategic approach of a KM
program. In order to accomplish this, a KM strategy has to be developed.
To increase the opportunity for success, the KM strategy must be positioned at
the program level, and this strategy will drive specific initiatives that align with
the mission and objectives of the KM program. The KM strategy includes formal
procedures to collect knowledge throughout the organization, a well-established
infrastructure, networks for transferring knowledge between employees, and
tools to facilitate the process. The KM strategy will lay the foundation to align
specific tools/technology to enhance individual and organizational performance.
This is accomplished by incorporating the following three components into the
fabric of an organization’s environment:

People—those who create, organize, apply, and transfer knowledge; and the
leaders who act on that knowledge
Processes—methods of creating, organizing, applying, and transferring
knowledge
Technology—information systems used to put knowledge products and
services into organized frameworks

According to an April 2013 article by Robert Simmons, a principal within

Forsythe’s information technology (IT) operations management practice on
implementing a KM program, he points out eight specific steps as follows:

Step 1: Establish KM program objectives—Simmons points out that

articulating the end state is important to establishing the appropriate
program objectives, and identifying the business problems and the business
drivers that will provide momentum and justification for the endeavor
(Simmons, 2013).
Step 2: Prepare for change—Simmons indicates that a major component of
establishing a KM program is to execute change management. The change
management strategy will address the cultural changes that need to take
place on how employees perceive and share knowledge, and the changes
within the organization’s norms and shared values that need to take place. A
change management strategy will establish an approach for managing
cultural change and produce a knowledge-sharing, knowledge-driven
culture end state of the KM program (Simmons, 2013).
Step 3: Define high-level process—To facilitate the identification, capture,
cataloging, use, and maintenance of the corporation’s knowledge assets,
effective KM process need to be established (Simmons, 2013).
Step 4: Determine and prioritize technology needs—Simmons indicates that
depending on the program objectives that have been established as well as
the process controls and criteria that have been defined, a prioritization of
the KM technology needs can occur (Simmons, 2013). It is important to
understand how the KM technology will address the knowledge processing
and cultural knowledge needs of the organization as well as how the KM
solution will be adopted by its users.
Step 5: Assess the current state—Assessment of the current state of KM
within your organization should focus on the five core KM components:
people, processes, technology, structure, and culture (Simmons, 2013). This
assessment, according to Simmons, should uncover the gaps between
current and desired states, and the recommendations for addressing/closing
these gaps. This assessment will become the foundation for the KM
roadmap (Simmons, 2013).
Step 6: Build a KM implementation roadmap—Simmons stresses that “before
going too far, you should re-confirm senior leadership’s support and
commitment, as well as the funding to implement and maintain the
 knowledge management program” (Simmons, 2013, p. 1). This is crucial to
the development and execution of the program.
The KM program strategy should be presented as a “roadmap of related
projects, each addressing specific gaps identified by the assessment”
(Simmons, 2013, p. 1). The roadmap will indicate timelines, milestones,
and dependencies. The roadmap should indicate the initiation of specific
projects to execute the KM program strategy.
Step 7: Implementation—Implementing a KM program and maturing the
overall effectiveness of your organization can require significant personnel
resources and funding. Implementation of the KM program will involve the
execution of the roadmap, insuring that short-term goals and wins are
realized to gain momentum and maintain the support of key stakeholders
(Simmons, 2013).
Step 8: Measure and improve the KM program—In order to understand if your
organization’s KM program and its associated initiatives (projects) are
effective, establishing the appropriate metrics/measurements are necessary.
These metrics must be used in a way to measure the actual effectiveness
and comparing that to anticipated results (Simmons, 2013).
The failure rates for KM initiatives are at 50% (Frost, 2014). Knowing this
we must determine, what is the cause and effect? Is it because of lack of
senior leadership/support? Is a cultural issue? Or much more? The
reasons why KM initiatives fail are varied, and it stems from the
following key indicators:
In examining why KM programs/projects fail, besides the lack of a KM
strategy other key indicators include the following:
• Lack of executive leadership/sponsorship
• Inadequate budgeting and cost expectations
• Lack of participation from all levels of a corporation
• Inadequate processes and technology
• Lack of knowledge and resources
• Lack of education and understanding of KM
• KM does not become ingrained into the corporations work culture
• Lack of a knowledge sharing environment
• Lack of metrics to measure the impact of KM on the corporation or
insufficient/incorrect metrics being captured
• Lack of monitoring and controls in place to ensure the knowledge is
relevant and is current and accurate. The organization must view KM
 more than just a function of the call center or a cost of doing business.
KM is a method of enhancing the collective know-how of the
organization, improving productivity, and enhancing overall
organizational value. KM will improve efficiencies that will increase a
corporations’ profitability, enhances the quality of work, performance,
and overall value of the corporation. KM allows tacit knowledge to be
leveraged, transferred to increase the quality of work performed across
the organization. This tacit knowledge allows KM to eliminate the
“reinvent the wheel” syndrome. This transfer of knowledge is a core
value of KM.

Lack of Executive Leadership/Sponsorship

Successful KM initiatives depend greatly on management backing and have been
documented and proven over many years of implementing KM initiatives
(Davenport, De Long, and Beer, 1998; Chong and Choi, 2005; Wu et al., 2010).
In contrast, failure of KM initiatives have been a consequence of inadequate
management support (Singh and Kant, 2008; Weber, 2007; Pettersson, 2009).
Developing and operationalizing a KM strategy and subsequent program
involves the creation, acceptance, and adoption of processes, values, and systems
that are either company-wide or in the very least span across functions,
departments, and communities. The implementation and long-term success of
such far-reaching changes require top and central management backing, not only
from the perspective of resource and political support but also to ensure day-to-
day acceptance and use of the KM.
Sustained management support, in particular, senior leadership support is
necessary for continued KM success because of the following factors:

KM requires strong guidance, decision making, and change implementation.

KM efforts require a clear vision and the example set by management, as
well as implementing policies that serve as a way to legitimize KM and
highlight its importance in the organization.
In order to prevent lack of enforcement of responsibilities and lack central
management responsibility.
Failure can occur due to a lack of leadership support in the organization.
When KM is used as a political instrument to gain influence and leverage
within an organization.
 To incentify the use of KM as a standard for rewarding that enforce
appropriate behavior need to be set by management. The extent to which
this is useful should be discussed among leadership.
Management must provide the resources necessary for KM implementation.
KM requires a great deal of financial, human, and material resources; this
includes the assignment of competent professionals and a sufficient budget.
Management must stem the lack of understanding of the benefits,
complexity, and requirements of KM by instituting an awareness campaign
that includes but is not limited to lunch-n-learn briefings, KM training both
instructor lead and online, and the ability to attend and participate in KM
conferences.
Management needs the ability to present return on investment (ROI). The
need for solid performance indicators is extremely important for
management to continue investing in KM.
KM must not be just another task to do, but it should be a part of what is
done by everyone in the organization. It must become part of the corporate
DNA to have longevity and lasting success.

Without the enforcement of managerial responsibilities, an organization may end

up with no control of the shared or reused knowledge. Management can mitigate
this through the creation of the knowledge manager, KM liaison, and KM
champion (see Table 17.1) roles within the organization. These roles will be an
extension of management, and will facilitate the distribution of managerial
responsibilities of KM and increases the level of KM acumen and at all levels of
the organization.

Table 17.1 KM Extension Roles

KM Description
Extension
Role
Knowledge This management role is the extension of the chief knowledge officer
manager (or equivalent role), whose primary duty is to implement knowledge
initiatives and manage KM efforts, including change management.
KM liaison The KM liaison serves as extended KM team members across the
organization that has the responsibility of carrying out specific KM
initiatives within their area.
KM The KM champion promotes KM in an organization often by
champion championing/supporting and evangelizing specific KM initiatives that
align with organization strategy and direction.

Inadequate Budgeting and Cost Expectations

Successful KM requires adequate financing as well as sound financial
management. Appropriate or inappropriate budgeting depends on leadership and
management support. Budgeting in turn affects the ability to develop a KM
program/project and the technology that supports and enables KM.
Many KM projects do end successfully, while many others are outright
disasters. However, it’s common to complete a project but be over your deadline
or over your budget, or to have a dissatisfied client or a miserable team. To keep
your KM projects from ending up in this gray area (or in the failure range), you
must avoid making the single biggest project management mistake that leads to
cost and budget overruns and that is inadequate project definition and planning.
Before the KM project work begins, it is essential that the work is properly
understood and agreed to by the project sponsor and key stakeholders. Working
with your sponsor and stakeholders to ensure that there is a common
understanding of KM and what the project will deliver, when it will be complete,
what it will cost, who will do the work, how the work will be done, and what the
benefits will be. The larger the project, the more important it is to complete
upfront planning and budgeting to prevent problems caused by differing
understanding on the various KM deliverables and the basic terms of the project.
Usually, a KM project needs to have a budget and deadline before it is started.
In many cases, if the definition and planning are not done ahead of time, the KM
project team starts off with inadequate resources and time. Many KM projects
that could be successful are viewed as failures (about 50%), because they
overrun their budgets and deadlines. Inadequate budgeting and cost expectations
contribute to the following failure factors:

Inappropriate method or lack of budgeting

Excessive cost of KM implementation
Lack of a separate budget
Maintenance cost of a KM strategy

Need for Organizational Participation

Organizational participation and the lack thereof is another key reason
contributing to the failure of KM projects and programs. Many factors can be
attributed to this, including lack of contribution because stakeholders were not
asked/encouraged to contribute, because stakeholders were unable to contribute,
or because stakeholders were unwilling to contribute.
This can include adding to the corporate knowledge base, improving KM
initiatives, and actively participating in knowledge-sharing activities. Lack of
contribution because stakeholders were not asked/encouraged to contribute
(Weber, 2007) indicates that KM initiatives risk failure when they are designed
without input from all the organization’s stakeholders, pointing to the
importance of community processes and organizational culture.
More often than not, limiting KM activities based on organizational
boundaries contributes to KM failure both from a program and project
perspective, because it ignores valuable external sources such as customers. A
lack of involvement can also occur when an organization’s members are unable
to contribute with their knowledge. Inadequate technology may impose
limitations on how users can share their knowledge and is another barrier to
organizational participation (Weber, 2007).
Inadequate technology, which can put barriers up for users to contribute, also
adds to the lack of willingness among users to contribute to the KM efforts.
Knowledge sharing depends on organizational culture and its ability to foster
reciprocity, openness, and trust. The lack of reciprocity, openness, and trust
contributes to fearing the results and ramifications of contributing to KM (which
begins at knowledge sharing). Having a holistic execution of a communication
plan allows for open communication and is key to creating trust. However, the
lack of willingness to share knowledge and communicate is also a contributor to
KM failure. This is a problem when knowledge is regarded as a source of power
or when a corporate culture places value on individual genius rather than
collective work, and in some organizations, in some cases, individuals may
perceive accessing another member’s knowledge as a sign of inadequacy.

Inadequate Processes and Technology

Technology has always been a rather tricky issue within KM, and knowledge
management system (KMS) is a key component to KM success and its failure.
There are three general problems that an organization may encounter when
implementing a KMS:
 1. Poor performance
2. Poor fit with organizational processes and culture
3. Overreliance on technology

Problems related to KMS performance include poor technical infrastructure,

poor representation of knowledge, and poor usability, which contribute to
inadequate process and technology in KM. Failure can occur due to KM systems
that can either not handle the demand placed on them, which represent
knowledge in a way that does not meet the needs of its users, or that are not user-
friendly.
Achieving organizational goals depends upon organizational processes, and
therefore, failure will occur if KMS is not integrated with organizational
processes (Weber, 2007). In addition, the organizational culture plays a role in
determining whether the system is accepted by members of the organization or
not. Chapter 16 details a proven method: task–technology fit (TTF) for adopting
KM systems and the adoption of the KMS plays a key role in the success of the
KM program/project.
However, an overreliance on technology in KM can lead to a neglect of tacit
knowledge. We must understand that tacit knowledge is still best transmitted
from person to person and the more tacit the knowledge, the less high-tech the
solution has to be. Failure is likely to occur when the IT system is seen as a
solution in itself. Moreover, failure can also occur if the limitations of the IT
systems, particularly in regard to tacit knowledge, are not well understood and
should be adopted only when it is suitable to the task (Weber, 2007).

Lack of Knowledge and Resources

Staff defection and retirement can lead to failure in KM implementation. Failure
to plan ahead and transfer key knowledge can lead to problems for the
organization. This points to the need to implement a knowledge transfer program
to transfer key knowledge before employees retire. Liebowitz addresses
knowledge retention, who indicates that the process of retaining knowledge
should be integrated into the organization from the moment the employee is
hired. (This is also addressed in the human capital management section of
Chapter 6.) According to Liebowitz, few organizations have formal strategies in
place for knowledge retention (Liebowitz, 2009). Once retired, key employees
can still act as a valuable resource for the firm and can be brought back. As
indicated in Chapter 6, this is still a temporary fix if the knowledge is not
captured and transferred to the current workforce. At the end of the day, if the
organization does not plan ahead and identify and protect its key knowledge
resources, its KM initiatives risk failure.

Need for Education and Understanding of KM

It is extremely important that the staff facilitating KM activities have an
understanding of KM. This understanding must align with the organization’s
KM goals and objectives and must be consistent as KM is adopted throughout
the organization.
Knowledge managers and knowledge workers comprise the entire spectrum of
KM-related positions, and may include titles/roles such as chief knowledge
officer (CKO), knowledge champion, knowledge analyst, and knowledge
systems engineer, among others.
As a KM practitioner who has (and continues to) work across various and
different sectors and industries of the knowledge economy, I recognize that
every organization is different and therefore the success of KM, in each industry,
and company is going to depend on how well the elements of KM align with the
corporate objectives, unique management methodologies, and leadership
structures of the various organizations implementing KM programs and projects.
The skills required of KM personnel will depend on the role(s) being
performed within the KM program. The following are some typical KM roles:
The skill requirements for a knowledge manager/worker could vary drastically
depending on his specific areas of responsibility. For instance, a CKO would
require very strong strategy and business skills, as well as management, learning,
and communication (KM Skills Map, 2000). The CKO would not need to be as
strong in IT skills as, for example, a systems engineer in charge of developing a
KMS.
KM is likely to fail if there is a lack of availability of relevant skills: The right
business and technical skills must be present to sustain the project. Skills can
also be developed through training, providing that this is implemented with
clear, measurable goals (Wu et al., 2010).
The selection of KM role must have the corresponding skills and be
appropriate to the KM initiative.

Role Role Description Responsibilities

Chief Leader of enterprise KM CKO executes the KM strategy at the
knowledge and key figure for all organizational level; leads efforts to
officer knowledge from the move the organization to knowledge
(CKO) (or program level as it centricity; requires a dedication to KM
equivalent relates to enterprise principles, the ability to discuss the
position, i.e., benefits of knowledge sharing and the
vice vision to ensure that KM initiatives are
president) adopted by the organization; ensures
that the best, relevant information for
the area of practice is accessible to all
personnel and implements the
knowledge sharing strategy in
alignment with corporate guidelines;
champions cross-organizational
communities of practice; forms
relationship with HR, IT, librarian,
organizational learning; establishes
incentive programs for knowledge
sharing and reuse; fosters cultural
change; defines roles, skill set, and
opportunities for knowledge workers
and facilitates training and education
of knowledge workers
KM author The primary person(s) See KM author capabilities below
involved in creating
knowledge within the
knowledge repository
KM The KM administrator The KM administrator coordinates and
administrator promotes, facilitates, executes governance of knowledge
and supports the KMS within the knowledge repository
within the organization
—with optimized
outputs and process
management
KM lead See KM manager See KM manager
KM liaison The KM liaison is the KM Responsibilities:
resource assigned to
various teams across the • Execute KM initiatives on behalf of
 organization that the specific KM director
executes KM-specific • Serve as KM champion for the
duties for their teams on CKMO and specific KM director
behalf of the CKMO program
• Serve as the primary SME for the
specific KM director area
KM champion The KM champion
promotes KM in an
organization often by
championing/supporting
and evangelizing
specific KM initiatives
that align with
organization strategy
and direction
KM specialist The KM specialist is KM specialist responsibilities include
engaged to support the
KM policy and planning • Lead/contribute to the development
research and metrics for of a KM strategy and associated
KM implementation plan
• Lead/contribute to the development
and execution of the KM
governance plan
• Develop a comprehensive mapping
of KM information sources and
knowledge, including processes
• Contribute to the development and
ongoing maintenance of the KMS
• Create an approach for guiding
ongoing analyses needed to address
observed KM gaps and for
identifying opportunities for
innovation, process, procedure, and
policymaking/adjustments
• Oversee capacity building and
support for internal knowledge
acquisition, management and
sharing; ensure relevant
communities of practice are
 developed and strengthened.
Support development of staff,
consultants, and key partners on all
aspects of KM
KM system The KM system Responsibilities include the following:
administrator administrator is the
person(s) with • Maintains the knowledge repository
administration rights • Can serve as a KM author
and privileges within the • Subject matter expert (SME) for all
specific knowledge knowledge repository upgrades,
repository capability issues, and approved
configuration updates
Knowledge The knowledge architect is This person is charged with the design of
architect a cross-organizational dynamic systems of knowledge
and interdisciplinary creation and transfer, the design of
role. This role has semantic structures that range from
knowledge of taxonomies to models of knowledge
taxonomies, ontology flows (explicit and tacit) within an
analysis/design/creation, organization. It also deals with the
understanding and development of those semantic
creating knowledge structures and designing for their use
flows to capture tacit and application. A critical part of
and explicit knowledge creating these designs is research into
an organization’s knowledge, the
knowledge contained in the people of
the organization, and the
information/knowledge component of
the activities of the organization
KM writer A member of the KM staff Responsibilities include the following:
that applies plain
language and • Plain language
information design to • Information design
the construction of • Collaboration with key SMEs
knowledge-specific • Establish/maintain, adherence and
content (knowledge governance of style guide
articles, FAQs, and job
aids) being housed
within the KM
repository/system
Knowledge Knowledge manager The knowledge manager has the
manager works with the CKO to following responsibilities:
implement KM
initiatives • Manages KM efforts (often serves as
a KM project manager or product
owner)
• Looks across KM processes to
capture tacit and explicit knowledge
• Balances technology, information,
processes and individuals, and
organizational learning within a
culture of shared values
• Creates ways to maintain a
sustainable competitive advantage
KM analyst The KM analyst analyzes KM analyst’s responsibilities include the
and proposes following:
improvements to the
overall effectiveness • Implements a range of methods and
and efficiency of the tools to capture and document
KM program at all knowledge
levels by applying • Contributes to the analysis and
advanced KM methods configuration of knowledge
and practices for all maintenance approaches and
users of KM at practices
enterprise • Contributes to the analysis and
configuration of knowledge-sharing
approaches and practices
• Works closely with the other staff
members of the specific KM director
and/or CKMO to ensure that new
elements of KM using innovative
technology and media are retained
and developed, and advises on the
mechanisms for their
implementation

KM and the Corporate Culture

Culture is expressed by patterns of thinking and serves as the basis of creating
employee’s attitudes and their behaviors in particular to situations demonstrating
their values and norms. This means that organizational culture describing the
enterprise is understood and shared by employees. The system of cultural values
will have an influence on the implementation of KM programs/projects, and this
impact can be either strengthening or hindering.
The presence of an appropriate organizational culture is almost universally
accepted as one of the key aspects of successful KM implementation. Culture
plays a critical role in the willingness of organizational members to share
knowledge. The willingness to share knowledge affects trust, the willingness to
accept knowledge from others, without it being perceived as a personal
shortcoming, the willingness and ability to learn, openness to change and the
desire, and the ability to experiment and innovate.
Culture can vary on an organizational or community level. Because KM
initiatives span functions and departments, an understanding of all the facets of
an organization’s culture is critical. The process of changing culture is
particularly difficult; an organization’s culture could persuade or discourage
individuals to make use of KM techniques and technologies to create, codify,
and share knowledge.
However, the management of culture to ensure and support sharing, learning,
and innovation is essential for successful implementation of KM programs and
projects. Organizational cultures vary in terms of their attitudes toward KM and
the cultural obstacles that are experienced. We can conclude to some degree that
KM is approached differently depending on the organization and its culture, and
that those KM techniques and technologies that are successfully implemented in
one organization might fail in another, owing to the influence that corporate
culture has on the extent to which these techniques and technologies are used.

Creating an Environment for Knowledge Exchange

The structure of the organization plays an important role in determining how
knowledge is distributed, how decisions are made, the degree to which people
feel comfortable sharing, and the barriers that exist between different groups and
individuals. Organizational structure therefore strongly influences the ability and
willingness of people and communities to share and create knowledge, and it
also determines the management of the KM program.
Centralization: The degree to which decision making is centralized. In highly
centralized organizations, decisions are made by a few managers at the top of the
organization. This puts a heavy demand on the cognitive capacity of these
managers. Research and experience have identified that decentralized structures
as being more suited for KM.
Formalization: It is the extent to which behaviors in an organization are
governed by rules and policies (Wu et al., 2010). Conversely, it can be the
degree to which informal networks are discouraged, tolerated, or encouraged
within the organization. In general, rigid, formal structures are regarded as being
detrimental to KM.
Complexity is seen as being composed of many, not necessarily, interrelated
parts. Organizations are divided by function, region, business unit, or division,
and this tends to hinder KM, because each of these is usually worried about its
own bottom line and tends to operate as silos. Simpler organizational structures,
which lead to fewer silos, tend to make it easier for KM to be implemented. The
complexity of the organizational structure also affects its management and the
necessary managerial roles to effectively implement KM.
Although there is no specific formula for determining the best environment for
exchanging knowledge, we know that corporate structure influences KM on
many levels, and an improper structure can lead to a variety of problems with
knowledge sharing, organizational learning, effective decision making, and
effective management of KM initiatives.

Poorly Measuring the Impact of KM

The ability to determine whether a project or initiative is succeeding or failing
and whether it is a worthwhile endeavor for the organization is crucial for its
long-term success. Performance indicators are therefore required so as to assess
progress, devise improvements, and compare one’s own situation to that of a
different organization (Wu et al., 2010). KM must be linked to economics,
meaning that its value must be made apparent.
Although performance indicators are not always listed among the top failure
reasons, I have chosen to outline them first because they influence several other
causal factors, including management support and the ability to plan and
evaluate. The effect of KM is notoriously difficult to evaluate, particularly in
monetary terms. The intangible nature of knowledge and the fact that value
creation is often indirect and long term makes such an assessment very difficult.
Yet, performance indicators are crucial for management to continue investing in
KM (Wu et al., 2010).
 Successful KM implementation depends upon the integration of many
different aspects of an organization. Waltz (2003: 102) indicates that “KM
provides a strategy and organizational discipline for the integration of people,
processes, and IT into an effective enterprise.”
Proper planning and continuous evaluation are needed to ensure that all
aspects of KM are being implemented effectively and work well together. The
implementation of KM requires a long-term and practical outlook.
The ability to evaluate progress depends on having good performance
indicators. Without these, it becomes extremely difficult for management to
track the effectiveness of the program. Therefore, very broadly, inadequate
evaluation can result either from a lack of ability, due to the absence of solid
performance indicators (Wu et al., 2010), or alternatively, due to the lack of a
systemized approach during the implementation of the KM initiative. Although
there is no specific formula that will guarantee success, planning, and evaluating
your KM program/project are critical for setting goals and delegating
responsibility, integrating different KM enablers into a KM strategy, aligning the
KM strategy to the overall organizational strategy, improving KM effectiveness
at the program and project level, anticipating and detecting problems,
determining successes and failures, forecasting costs and determining budgets,
and implementing corrective measures.

Lack of Monitoring and Controls

KM enables the retrieval, creation, sharing, collaboration, and management of
knowledge. The management of knowledge resources can mean the difference
between success and failure in a competitive environment. This encourages
organizations to look for better ways to manage their knowledge assets. The lack
of monitoring and controls for knowledge leads to improperly managing,
maintaining, and keeping your organizational knowledge relevant; this in turn
will quickly cause the KM program and/or project to be branded as a failure.
One way to address this is to implement and execute a comprehensive KM
governance plan.
KM governance ensures policy adherence and contributes to the sustainability
of the KM program/project. KM governance provides controls to guarantee that
the knowledge stored in the various systems, portals, and/or repositories provide
the best value for the organization. Governance will detail how the knowledge
will be managed. It describes the policies, procedures, roles, and responsibilities
that are needed to successfully maintain and keep your knowledge relevant.
Effective governance planning and the application of the governance plan are
critical for the ongoing success of any KM program and/or project.
The governance plan will establish the processes and policies to

Avoid knowledge proliferation by periodically reviewing knowledge assets

for accuracy and relevance.
Ensure that knowledge assets quality is maintained for the life of the
solution by implementing quality management policies.
Establish clear decision-making authority and escalation procedures, so that
policy violations are managed and conflicts are resolved on a timely basis.
Ensure that the solution strategy is aligned with business objectives, so that
it continuously delivers business value.
Ensure that knowledge assets are retained in compliance with knowledge
retention guidelines of your organization.

Benefits of good KM governance

Provide a business-wide common infrastructure for knowledge assets.

Ensure that the KM delivers relevant knowledge to its users in an effective
way.
Employ best practices that will improve usability (through information
architecture).
Provide transparent mechanisms for risk management, evaluation, and
measurement.
Provide mechanisms to maintain performance management in order to
match or exceed the predefined standards and objectives.
Slow the proliferation and increases the relevance of available knowledge
through consistent review, modification, and archiving of knowledge.
Lower total cost of knowledge development and management through
increased efficiencies throughout the KM life cycle.

Key Learnings
The following are some key learnings deduced from this Chapter:
Plan for success by executing a KM strategy that incorporates/champion these
components into your organization:
 People—those who create, organize, apply, and transfer knowledge; and the
leaders who act on that knowledge
Processes—methods of creating, organizing, applying, and transferring
knowledge
Technology—information systems used to put knowledge products and
services into organized frameworks

We must keep in mind that successful KM initiatives once completed and funded
correctly can increase the organization’s profitability, enhance the quality of
work, encourage and stimulate innovation, and increase the value of the
organization through an increase valuation and accountability of knowledge
assets.
To decrease the probability of failure (and thus increasing the success rate!),
the following must be resolved:

Expecting KM technologies to replace KM processes or create processes

where none exists
Lack of participation from all levels of a corporation
Forcing inadequate processes into new technology
Lack of maintenance and resources after initial standup
Lack of education and understanding of what KM means to the individual
KM does not become ingrained into the corporations work culture
Lack of involvement in creating and evolving KM content
Lack of metrics to measure the impact of KM on the corporation or
insufficient/incorrect metrics being captured
Lack of monitoring and controls in place to ensure the knowledge is
relevant and is current and accurate

Tips and Techniques

The following are some of the tips and techniques that can be applied to
understand the reason for failure of KM programs/projects in hopes of avoiding
them!
When developing your KM strategy for success, incorporate Robert Simmons’
eight steps on implementing a KM program:

Step 1: Establish KM program objectives

Step 2: Prepare for change
 Step 3: Define high-level process
Step 4: Determine and prioritize technology needs
Step 5: Assess current state
Step 6: Build a KM implementation roadmap
Step 7: Implementation
Step 8: Measure and improve the KM program

When establishing your KM program incorporate the following:

Your KM program should be designed to support communities of practice.

Being a community of practice implies that its members share the same
interests. Sharing same interests allows for consistency in the quality of
knowledge artifacts, as they are geared to positively impact the same target
processes.
Your KM program should integrate people, processes, and technology. The
people component should consist of knowledge facilitators and users (i.e.,
knowledge workers) who work together to understand the community
processes and master the technology.
Your KM program should be designed in collaboration with different
stakeholders. It takes a variety of stakeholders from all levels of
management, KM champions from departments across the organization,
human resources department to support new and evolving KM-specific
positions, and all other employees (knowledge workers) to make the KM
program successful and sustainable.
Your KM program’s strategy should align with the overall corporate
strategy. This will support the buy-in that is necessary from senior
leadership to get the KM program established and operational.
Your KM program’s outcomes should be measurable and accountable to the
organization. Establishing a set of straightforward key performance
indicators and metrics is just the beginning. In addition, having scheduled
communication to leadership and the organization as a whole on the
successes, challenges, and impacts to the organization KM is having is
essential to creating a sustainable and successful KM program.
Chapter 18

Summary

Knowledge Management in Practice provides knowledge management (KM)

professionals and those obtaining training and formal education in KM a
practical examination on how KM is being applied. The use of its principles,
practices, and procedures has expanded enormously in recent years. This
expansion has also brought about the proliferation of KM systems in many forms
(customer relationship management [CRM], content management, document
management, knowledge repositories/libraries, social media applications,
decision support systems, etc.). The inclusion of KM from a strategic point of
view to streamline revenue, increase revenue, improve performance,
attract/retain customers, and manage human capital has enabled organizations to
maintain and/or improve their competitive edge. To compete in a local, national,
and/or global market, organizations including educational, government, and
military are looking for that differentiator and KM has proved to be just that.
This book provided techniques and insights that the KM practitioner and
organizations can utilize in order to be successful when implementing KM. This
included detailed information on applying KM practices, procedures, and
techniques to solve real-world problems. This chapter presents a synopsis of
what has been presented in this book. It will also present some forward-looking
statements about the future of KM and what we can look forward to in the near
term.
What the reader has taken away from this book:
In reading this book undoubtedly you may have come away noticing several
concepts and approaches, and patterns in delivering how KM has emerged. From
examining the case for KM in Chapter 2, which focuses on why your
organization may need a KM program, to techniques such as knowledge capture,
knowledge sharing, expertise locators, information architecture, search, and
governance that provide the methods and enablers for KM, to the industries such
as research, human resources/talent management, healthcare, insurance, finance,
military, and law, I attempted to present a holistic view of KM based on my
experience. I approach implementing KM from a perspective that the scholar and
practitioner alike can gain valuable insight from.
In addition, I presented an examination of KM in a few areas that I believe
KM will be making a significant impact. These areas included social media, KM
education programs, emergency and disaster preparedness, customer service
(particularly within the insurance and financial industries), M&A transactions,
and big data.

Social Media
Chapter 3 presented social tools and mediums such as blogs, wikis, Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn that represent the mechanisms to enable people to
engage and share openly. These social tools put knowledge-sharing power in the
hands of the users themselves, and this power has business and government
taking notice. In this chapter, social media as it pertains to the key principles of
KM were examined. These key principles included knowledge sharing,
knowledge capture, and knowledge reuse. This chapter included a template for
developing your organization’s social media strategy as well as some proven tips
and techniques to successfully execute this strategy.

Education Programs
Acknowledging that KM is a professional area of practice and to begin a formal
discussion of the educational foundation needed to support this area of
professional practice was the focus of Chapter 13. This chapter presented KM
education delivery and options within universities and colleges as well as in KM
certification organizations. This chapter covered topics that included strategic
roles and responsibilities of knowledge professionals in organizations today and
the educational needs of these professionals, standard KM competencies, KM
curriculum development and delivery, and teaching methodologies.

Emergency and Disaster Preparedness

KM applied to emergency and disaster preparedness, response, and recovery
presented in Chapter 7 focused on implementing a KM strategy centered on
emergency preparedness and response by first responders. A detailed analysis of
a comprehensive emergency alert system was presented. This chapter examined
specific areas of a comprehensive emergency alert system that is a catalyst in
delivering knowledge to the right people in the right context and at the right time
in an emergency preparedness, response, and/or recovery situation.

Customer Service
KM in customer service continues to be the focus of many organizations. This is
evident especially within the insurance and financial sectors as presented in
Chapters 10 and 11. When KM is applied to customer service, we saw that it led
to a faster speed to answer customer questions, which has been directly linked to
higher satisfaction rates, better long-term loyalty, higher degrees of trust, and
higher levels of revenue. In addition, some of the soft benefits included better
engagement and a higher likelihood to recommend your organization to other
potential customers.

M&A Transactions
The impact of KM on M&A transactions specifically when it comes to
understanding who the key knowledge holders are and to properly give a
valuation to a firm’s knowledge is an essential value addition for applying KM
to M&A transactions. We found in Chapter 8 that the effect of mergers will and
often leads to a loss of valuable knowledge from both sides of the
merger/acquisition equation. The question that was addressed is how do we
identify who the key knowledge holders are and what knowledge do they hold?
Also, has it been determined what knowledge is viable to the new organization
going forward? In this chapter a discussion of implementing a comprehensive
KM strategy with a human capital management component that would address
the many intellectual capital issues that are caused by a merger/acquisition was
examined.

Big Data
Big data continue to make an impact and present a challenge in the industry,
which specifically points to how KM will be positioned to gleam knowledge
from the various repositories of structured and unstructured data contained
within the organization. As we read in Chapter 14, infusing big data with KM
will provide organizations with a competitive edge to not only bring about
significant innovations, but deliver knowledge across the enterprise to the right
people at the right time and in the right context.
However, an examination of KM in practice would not be complete without
adding an examination of KM adoption (Chapter 16) as well as why KM
programs and projects fail (Chapter 17). In order to apply the principles,
practices, and methods presented in this book, I also highlighted tips and
techniques and key learnings. All these will provide a jump start to executing
KM at your organization.

The Future of KM
One of the major areas in which KM will make an impact is within the customer
service industry. Customer service is the area in which most customers will have
their only connection and interaction with your organization. It is this area where
customers will form their opinions about the organization and determine if they
remain a customer or move on to another competitor. Because of this scenario
(and others), organizations invest a major portion of their revenue and attention
to improving their customer service.
In an August 2014 Harvard Business Review article titled, “The Value of
Customer Experience, Quantified,” Peter Kriss states that “Intuitively, most
people recognize the value of a great customer experience. Brands that deliver
them are ones that we want to interact with as customers that we become loyal
to, and that we recommend to our friends and family.” Also, he notes that the
“value of delivering such an experience is often a lot less clear, because it can be
hard to quantify.” Delivering consistent and concise knowledge to provide
answers to customer inquiries in an efficient way leads to providing value to the
customer and improving the overall customer experience.
In support of this trend of KM in customer service, the author of Forrester’s
“Top Trends for Customer Service in 2015,” Kate Leggett, highlights in trend 4
KM’s impact when she states “Knowledge will evolve from dialog to cognitive
engagement. Organizations will look at ways to reduce the manual overhead of
traditional knowledge management for customer service. They will start to
explore cognitive engagement solutions, interactive computing systems that use
artificial intelligence to collect information, automatically build models of
understanding and inference, and communicate in natural ways. These solutions
have the potential to automate knowledge creation, empower agents with deeply
personalized answers and intelligence, scale a company’s knowledge capability,
and uncover new revenue streams by learning about customer needs.”
IBM Watson is playing a significant role in the evolution of applications that
automate knowledge creation by providing deeply personalized answers and
intelligence. This technology will affect customer service as well as a multitude
of industries with its capability to extract knowledge from big data sources. The
IBM Watson ecosystem will provide deep content analytics and intensive
scientific discovery that will lead to improved cognition contributing to an
organization’s knowledge capabilities. This supports Kate Leggett’s research and
points out that KM will continue to play a significant role in delivering
knowledge and decision-making capabilities to the customer service industry for
the foreseeable future.

Technology Services Industry Association Research

In the Technology Services Industry Association’s (TSIA) 2014 second annual
survey on KM, TSIA documents the people, process, and technology
components of technology service KM programs. It examines core metrics and
practices related to knowledge capture, sharing, and maintenance, as well as
video, crowd sourcing, and expertise management.
The TSIA research indicates that KM is no longer just of interest to technical
support and call centers (I definitely agree with this!). The TSIA survey response
was from groups other than customer support, which included 24% from
professional services organizations. The TSIA research states that “KM is seen
as a key way to improve efficiency, and a third of respondents said they could
improve productivity by 30% or more if they were sharing knowledge
effectively.”
The TSIA results centered on the effect of search (see Chapter 4), knowledge
capture (see Chapter 6), and social media (see Chapter 3), and how these factors
contribute to the overall KM strategy. In regard to search, the TSIA results
indicate that a KM strategy “that enables unified search is becoming increasingly
important, not only across service divisions, but across the entire enterprises.”
“The digitalization of the workplace, i.e., the shift toward all enterprise
technologies and processes being accessible online, is driving this trend.” To
further support the need for search, the TSIA research states that “case-
deflecting and case-resolving content typically resides across the enterprise, and
making it easily findable and usable by customers and employees alike has
elevated the role of search.”
 In regard to knowledge capture, the TSIA research indicates that there are
growing concerns about senior workers leaving organizations and taking their
knowledge and expertise with them. The research results show that CIOs are
pushing company-wide knowledge programs in order to capture
knowledge/learning from employees in a searchable and shareable format.
In regard to social media, the TSIA research indicates that younger employees
and customers having grown up in the social media era are more open to sharing
information than previous generations. With adoption of enterprise collaboration
tools on the rise, new streams, formats, and sources of enterprise knowledge are
being created. This consists largely of unstructured content (social chats, team
forums, etc.), and this must be incorporated into a broader KM strategy, and be
made easily accessible/findable by customers and employees (see the section on
information architecture in Chapter 4 to see how content can be made better
accessible).

State of KM Survey
In the State of Knowledge Management survey of customer experience, which
was conducted in order to better understand how they’re using KM, Esteban
Kolsky and IntelliResponse indicate the following:

A total of 56% of organizations have a KM program in place, whereas 44%

do not. A primary use of KM is in the customer service area. Actual
percentage breakdowns when asked to select all that apply are customer
service 83%, sales 33%, marketing 44%, accounting/finance 12%, human
resources 11%, and training 33%.
Organizations as a whole have a lot to learn about KM. The survey indicates
that the majority of organizations today do not have high competencies in
KM.
Organizations are not realizing the benefits of KM that was originally
projected.

This might reveal a level of misunderstanding in companies as to precisely how

KM should be expected to deliver value. And yet organizations that do have a
handle on how to use KM to drive value are able to clearly identify the value
they have derived.
KM solution engagement is lower than expected. A high percentage (44%) of
companies cites lack of usage as the main challenge with their KM initiative.
Knowing that people tend to avoid using what they don’t understand, plenty of
ground can potentially be gained by companies that do a better job of promoting
their KM strategy—including what it is, how their KM tools are to be used, and
the benefits the company and employees should expect to achieve.
KM investment is growing. The survey indicates that half of the companies
surveyed report some growth in their KM investment. The survey supports the
need for a KM strategy that includes metrics and key performance indicators
(KPIs) that will deliver measurable expectations. In addition, a KM strategy
must indicate an understanding of what technologies will best serve the goals for
delivering knowledge to customers, and a means to report on the success of KM
initiatives.

Global View of KM
In reviewing the 2015 Global Knowledge Management Observatory Report,
David Griffiths, Abi Jenkins, and Zoe Kingston-Griffiths state “The Knowledge
Management function in many organizations is in a state of general decline.”
This, as they indicate, is due to the following factors:

Satisfaction in KM’s contribution to strategic and operational objectives

within organizations is often poor.
KM lacks maturity and integration within the vast majority of organizations.
KM continues to be predominantly seen as a technology-led function.
Satisfaction with technology-led KM solutions is not improving.
Many KM professionals do not appear to have the necessary awareness
and/or permissions required to respond to unmet demand for KM activities
in organizations.
KM, as a field or area of practice, is argued to be suffering from a lack of
specialist practitioners.
The value and/or significance of KM activities is still not being
appropriately recognized or reported within most organizations.

Solutions that address many of the findings of the 2015 Global Knowledge
Management Observatory Report have been presented in this book; they include
producing a comprehensive KM strategy, KM education options, adopting KM
programs, project and systems, and why KM programs/projects fail. The
findings in this report present a tremendous opportunity for growth in the KM
field.

Future Edition of Knowledge Management in Practice

A future edition of Knowledge Management in Practice will include more in
regard to KM’s impact on customer service, how KM and big data are evolving,
internal KM, KM in politics, the integration of KM and CRM systems, and
personal KM and wearable technology.

KM Impact on Customer Service

KM’s impact on customer service will continue to focus on speed to provide
answers to questions, improve customer satisfaction, and eliminate churn when it
comes to finding and communicating knowledge to the customer.

Speed to answer: Customers want answers fast. Customers are not likely to
wait long for answers, even less in a social media setting. The
overabundance of channels has made it impossible for organizations to
deliver proper answers via all channels fast. However, the rise of self-
service using KM has led to great results in speed and accuracy of answers.
As customers find the answers on their own (assisted in part by knowledge
bases, but also via social media communities), the need for fast answers is
met by better use of technology powered by KM.
Customer satisfaction: This is a byproduct of faster speed to answer. By
providing the right answer quickly, customer satisfaction is increased. In
order to meet customer expectations for the right knowledge, at the right
time, in the right context, KM is used as a critical tool. Not having access to
the right knowledge is the most critical time wasted in preparing any answer
for a customer. If the knowledge is not available quickly, it is nearly
impossible to deliver against expectations. Using KM appropriately to fulfill
the need for the right knowledge leads to meeting customer expectations.
Churn: Among the leading reasons for employees churning in any job is
lack of proper tools, and this is even more prevalent in customer service.
Having to hunt for knowledge among different systems, tools, and channels
causes churn. In addition, as customers take to more channels and processes
 become automated, only complex processes will be left to be resolved by
customer service, and, in those cases, the right tools can make a difference
between a resolution and a frustrated caller that needs to be escalated to yet
further service levels. Finding the right knowledge is a key to delivering the
right answer to the customer. When customer service representatives have
the right access to the right knowledge, they will more happily answer the
interactions fast and effectively eliminate the chances for churn.

More on KM and Big Data

In recent years, the ability to manage data, information, and knowledge to gain
competitive advantage and the importance of business analytics for this process
has been well established. Organizations continue to investigate ways to
efficiently and effectively collect and manage the data, information, and
knowledge that they are exposed to. As the proliferation of structured and
unstructured data continues to grow, we will continue to have a need to uncover
the knowledge contained within these big data resources. KM and analytics will
be key aspects in extracting knowledge from big data. Strategy, process-centric
approaches, and interorganizational aspects of decision support to research on
new technology and academic endeavors in this space will continue to provide
insights into how we process big data.

Internal KM
Internal KM focuses inward within the organization. This inward focus is aimed
at maximizing the intellectual capital found in the organization. This intellectual
capital resides both within the organization’s human capital and within the
various systems (i.e., knowledge repositories, portals, wikis, blogs, CRMs, and
collaborative environments). Internal KM specifically supports the
organization’s flow of substantive expertise and is aimed at improving
operational efficiency. An organization’s KM framework must support its
internal knowledge needs. This support will yield improved quality and
efficiency of staff, outside consultants, and project teams.
Internal KM will enable your organization to gain the advantage of leveraging
all existing knowledge resources available through your organization’s entire
network of available explicit and tacit (people) knowledge. Enabling and
improving the mechanisms that deliver internal KM will continue to be prevalent
as KM matures within an organization. This is a key reason for examining this
area of KM in a future edition of Knowledge Management in Practice.

KM in Politics
KM as a political activity, made by and instituted by political leaders, will be the
subject of this chapter. The research is interesting because given that we live in a
knowledge society, in the information era, it is more or less obvious that the
political leaders should also do KM. Illustrating the ideas of KM implementation
and use with the example of President Obama and other politicians has
incorporated KM in executing their political strategy. KM always was and
nowadays is pervasive in the activity of political leaders.
Incorporating the use of blogs, YouTube, and other social networking sites
(Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), President Obama’s team was able to push
out the latest news, information, and knowledge about every aspect of his
campaign. This increased the involvement of every supporter enabling them to
feel a part of the campaign from start to finish. Supporters received text
messages and emails at every turn encouraging them to hold parties with friends
to get out the vote and donate their time and yes their money.
Leveraging the internet in a precise strategic manner that supports the mission
of political campaigns is exactly how all organizations leveraging KM (getting
the right knowledge to the right people at the right time) are positioning
themselves in this evolving paradigm. I believe that many politicians and
political organizations will utilize KM, and undoubtedly this will become a new
trend in American politics.

KM and CRM
The business environment is transforming from product centric to customer
centric. CRM as a customer-oriented business approach is considered as one of
the powerful capabilities in organizations that help transform themselves to a
customer-centric environment. The utilization of CRM is directly related with
increase in customer knowledge, which in turn has a positive effect on customer
satisfaction. By using KM, companies can improve their relationship with their
valuable customers, thus creating loyal customers and obtaining a competitive
advantage.
Organizations can create new ideas and provide improved and new services by
the help of KM and the knowledge originating from CRM. The customer
knowledge as an integral element of relationship between KM and CRM could
help organizations to tailor their products and services and even the entire
relationship with customers to increase customer satisfaction and finally
economic profitability.

Personal KM and Wearable Technology

With all of the advances in technology becoming accessories for us to wear,
have you thought about all of the information that is at your fingertips! Fitbits,
Apple watch, Google glasses, and more… all deliver and collect information that
allow us to make personal decisions during the course of the day. What to eat,
drink, wear, how much we’re exercising (or not) are all decisions in some part
influenced by our wearable tech!
Wearable technology is gathering information not only about us but also the
environment around us. Where is this all taking us? Will our physicians have the
capability to tap into all of this personal information? How about potential
advertisers? How can we capture the decisions we make from this information to
improve our own lives? Is personal KM the key to taking control of our personal
information created by these devices? These and more questions will be
addressed in this future chapter.

Closing Statement
The goal of this edition of Knowledge Management in Practice was to provide
the reader with specific key learnings, along with tips and techniques that will
enable the KM practitioner to be more productive in their application of KM,
and provide those who are being educated in KM with an understanding of the
pertinent issues KM is solving across a variety of industries. In future editions, I
will continue to present the evolution of KM, its importance, and how it can be
of leverage for a competitive advantage. In summary, it is my hope that
Knowledge Management in Practice will be a definitive KM reference for
anyone entering into the field and/or currently practicing KM.
Appendix A

KM Business Case Template

The following is a template that can be used when constructing a KM business
case:

Executive Summary
Summarize each of the sections in this document concisely by outlining the
following:

Problem or opportunity
Solution alternatives
Recommended solution
Implementation approach

Business Problem
Environmental Analysis
Outline the core aspects of the business environment that were instrumental for
this KM initiative to take place. These may include the following:

Business vision, strategy, or objectives

Business processes or technologies that are not operating efficiently
New competitor products or processes that have been identified
New technology trends (or opportunities resulting from new technologies
introduced)
Commercial or operational trends that are driving changes in the business
Changes to statutory, legislative, or other environmental requirements

Provide any facts or evidence to support the conclusions drawn above.

Problem Analysis
Outline the fundamental business problem or opportunity that the resulting KM
initiative will directly address.

Business Problem
Provide a summary of the core business problem, including:

A generic description of the core issue to hand.

The reasons why the problem exists.
The elements that create it (e.g., human, process, and technology).
The impact it has on the business (e.g., financial, cultural, and operational).
The timeframes within which it must be resolved.

Business Opportunity Outline the business opportunity that has been

identified, including:

A summary of the generic opportunity.

Any supporting evidence to prove that the opportunity is real.
A timeframe within which the opportunity will likely exist.
The positive impact that realization of the opportunity will have on the
business.

Available Options
This section provides a full listing of all solution options, their benefits, costs,
feasibility, risks, and issues. Options suggested may include doing nothing or
doing something that will achieve a better result than the current state.

Option X (Provide the Name of the Option)

Description Provide a summarized description of the option identified. This will
include the general approach to be taken, and a summary of the core elements of
the solution (e.g., people, process, organization, and technology).

Benefits, Goals, and Measurement Criteria Describe the tangible and

intangible benefits to the company upon implementation of the solution. One of
the obvious benefits described will be that the business problem/opportunity
outlined above will be addressed. Complete the following table (Note: the
benefits are examples only, refer to your established KM metrics and KPIs,
including your performance figures for specific benefit information):

Category Benefit Value

Financial • New revenue generated $x
• Reduction in costs $x
• Increased profit margin $x
Operational • Improved operational efficiency x%
• Reduction in product time to market x hours
• Enhanced quality of product/service x%
Market • Increased market awareness x%
• Greater market share x%
• Additional competitive advantage Describe

Customer • Improved customer satisfaction x%

• Increased customer retention x%
• Greater customer loyalty Describe

Staff • Increased staff satisfaction x%

• Improved organizational culture Describe
• Longer staff retention x%

Costs and Funding Plan Describe the tangible and intangible costs to the
company upon implementation of the solution. The costs of the actual KM
initiative should be included as well as any negative impact to the business
resulting from the “delivery” of the KM initiative. Complete the following table:

Category Cost Value Budgeted

People • Salaries of KM initiative staff $x Yes
• Contractors/outsourced parties $x No
• Training courses $x Yes
Physical • Building premises for KM initiative team $x No
• Equipment and materials $x No
• Tools (computers, phones, etc.) $x No
Marketing • Advertising/branding $x Yes
 • Promotional materials $x No
• PR and communications $x No
Organizational • Operational down-time $x No
• Short-term loss in productivity $x No
• Cultural change Describe No

Feasibility Describe the feasibility of the solution. To adequately complete this

section, a feasibility study may need to be initiated to quantify the likelihood of
achieving the desired KM initiative result. To assess the overall feasibility of this
option, break the solution down into components and rate the feasibility of each
component in the following table:

Component Rating (1– Method Used to Determine Feasibility

10)
New KM 5 A KM technology prototype was created to assess the
technology solution
New people 8 A survey was completed to identify skill set
availability
New processes 3 Processes within similar organizations were reviewed
New assets 9 Physical assets were inspected

To ensure that the feasibility ratings are accurate, use all appropriate methods
possible to identify the likely feasibility of the solution. For example, when
adopting a new KM technology, develop a small prototype and test it to see if
the resultant benefits match those expected from the exercise.

Risks Summarize the most apparent risks associated with the adoption of this
solution. Risks are defined as any event which may adversely affect the ability of
the solution to produce the required deliverables. Risks may be strategic,
environmental, financial, operational, technical, industrial, competitive, or
customer related. Complete the following table:

Description Likelihood Impact Mitigating Actions

Inability to recruit skilled Low Very Outsource KM initiative to a
resource high company with proven
 industry experience and
appropriately skilled staff
Technology solution is unable Medium High Complete a pilot KM initiative
to deliver required results to prove the technology
solution will deliver the
required results
Additional capital expenditure Medium Medium Maintain strict cost
may be required in addition management processes
to that approved during the KM initiative

To complete this section thoroughly, it may be necessary to undertake a formal

risk assessment (by documenting a risk management plan). To reduce the
likelihood and impact of each risk’s eventuating, clear “mitigating actions”
should be defined.

Issues Summarize the highest priority issues associated with the adoption of
this option. Issues are defined as any event which currently adversely affects the
ability of the solution to produce the required deliverables. Complete the
following table:

Description Priority Resolution Actions

Required capital expenditure High Request funding approval as part of this
funds have not been proposal
budgeted
Required computer software is Medium Design solution based on current software
only at “beta” phase and has version and adapt changes to solution
not yet been released live once the final version of the software has
been released
Regulatory approval must be Low Initiate the regulatory approval process
sought to implement the early, so that it does not delay the final
final solution roll-out process.

Upon approval of the business case, each issue should be formally recorded and
tracked using an issue management process, forms, and register.

Assumptions List the major assumptions associated with the adoption of this
option. Examples include the following:

There will be no legislative, business strategy, or policy changes during this

KM initiative.
Prices of raw materials will not increase during the course of this KM
initiative.
Additional human resource will be available from the business to support
this KM initiative.

Recommended Option
This section compares the key characteristics of each solution option and
recommends a preferred solution option for implementation.

Reasons for Recommended Option

Based primarily on the highest total score achieved above, list here the
“Recommended Option” for business case approval. Summarize the primary
reasons why this option was chosen over the other options previously identified.

Implementation Approach
This section provides an overview of the general approach undertaken to deliver
the preferred solution option and derive the resultant business benefits.

KM project initiation: Outline the method by which the KM initiative will be

defined, the KM initiative team formulated, and the KM initiative office
established.
KM project planning: Define the overall planning process to ensure that the
KM initiative phases, activities, and tasks are undertaken in a coordinated
fashion.
Project execution: Identify the generic phases and activities required to
complete the “build” phase of the KM initiative. KM project closure: List
the generic steps necessary to release the deliverables to the business (once
complete), close the KM initiative office, reallocate staff, and perform a
post-implementation review of the KM initiative.
KM project management: Describe in brief how the following aspects of the
KM initiative will be managed:
– Time management
– Cost management
– Quality management
– Change management
– Governance management
– Risk management
– Issue management
– Procurement management
– Communications management
– Acceptance management
Appendix B

Fire Fighter First Responder after Action Review Template

Executive Summary
Summarize the goal and objectives of the AAR and describe how it was conducted.
Strength
Describe what the team did well.
Opportunities
Describe what the team could have done better.
Recommendations
Describe the most important recommendations and follow up actions.
Event Overview
In this section, provide an overview of the event being reviewed and capture the
highlights of the event timeline.
Analysis of Outcomes
In this section, describe the results of the analysis of how well the team achieved the
expected outcomes. The focus of this analysis is on outcomes rather than on output or
processes. (The distinction here is between organizational/team outcomes as opposed to
human output or effectiveness of processes.)
Analysis of Critical Tasks
In this section, describe critical tasks that were done well and those that could be
improved upon. Alternatively, this section could focus on themes and explore the same
topics thematically.

Task (ID number): (Task Title)

Issue 1: (Issue concerning this task)
Reference: (Where to find a description of how the task should be performed. i.e.,
SOP)

Summary of Issue: (Summary of the issue)

Consequence: (Describe the impact of this issue, i.e., why and how did this issue create
a problem)

Analysis: (Explain the root cause for this issue)

Recommendations and Improvements

Recommendation 1: (Describe the recommendation and actions or steps that are

proposed)

Action 1:

Action 2:

Action 3:
Alternatively, choose appropriate themes and describe results of the analysis of the
themes:

THEME I:

THEME II

THEME III:

THEME IV:
Lessons Learned
Describe lessons learned that could be applied by this and other groups, teams, etc. in
the future
Remaining Issues
(Describe any issues or problems that were not resolved, their importance, their
impact if not resolved, and any recommendations to resolve the issues)
Recommendations to the Management
This section could outline recommendations that the AAR team would like to make
to management. Many if not all of these recommendations should already be
documented in previous sections; therefore, a summary table of action items could go
 here.

IMPROVEMENT PLAN MATRIX

Task/Issue Recommendation Improvement Assigned Status/Due
Action To Date

Conclusion
In this section, reflect on the event being reviewed and provide general
recommendations on how the next similar event should be conducted/managed.
Source: Adapted from the General Services Administration—PBS Knowledge Management AAR Guide.

Fire Department First Responders Knowledge Management (KM) Strategy—Template

Introduction
The following represents a template for instituting a KM strategy for first responders.
This KM strategy takes into account the following characteristics:
Executive Summary
This section summarizes where the organization is now, where it wants to be, and
how the organization intends to get there as it pertains to KM and creating a knowledge
organization.
KM Mission Statement
This section encapsulates the KM mission of the organization and sets the
definition of knowledge and KM for the organization to follow.
 KM Vision
This section encapsulates the vision of organization’s KM program.
KM Roles and Responsibilities
This section details the KM roles and responsibilities in order to support the vision
and execute the initiatives.
Knowledge Recognition Needs Assessment and Allocation
The key issues and knowledge needs of the organization will be summarized here
(knowledge audit findings) and will include any knowledge resources, processes, and
tools that will be needed to effectively execute the KM strategy.
KM Feedback and Evaluation
The following outlines the actions, activities, next steps as well as the timing
involved in performing the after action reviews as it pertains to the organization’s KM
initiatives.
Knowledge Acquisition
The key issues and knowledge needs of the organization will be summarized here
and will include any knowledge resources, processes, and tools that will be needed to
effectively execute the KM strategy.
Knowledge Transfer
Knowledge transfer is a culture-based process by which adaptive organizational
knowledge that lies in people’s heads and which lies in documents, programs, reports,
and so on is exchanged with others. This section will indicate how knowledge transfer
will play a role in the overall KM strategy.
Incident Command Structure
This section details the strategy and execution of the policy, procedure, and
protocols of incident command.
Expertise Coordination Practice (ECP)
This section details the strategy and execution of the policy, procedure, and
protocols of the ECP.
Command and Control Structure
This section details the strategy and execution of the policy, procedure, and
protocols of command and control.
Initial KM Initiatives
This section details and prioritizes the initiatives necessary to carry out the
execution of the KM strategy.
Dependencies
This section will detail critical dependencies such as the availability of key
personnel, approval of budgets, and available technologies to initiate the KM strategy.
This section will also analyze the effect of not executing the KM strategy at all.
Ongoing KM Support
To continue to foster an atmosphere of sharing, transferring, harvesting, and
creating knowledge within the organization, an adherence to this strategy will be
imperative. Ongoing support will include the following:
Identifying the key knowledge holders within the organization (perform
knowledge audit)
Creating an environment that motivates people to share
Creating opportunities and utilizing tools to harvest knowledge
Creating opportunities to foster knowledge creation
Designing a sharing mechanism to facilitate the knowledge transfer
Measuring the effects of executing the knowledge strategy
Establish a KM Initiative Board
The KM Initiative Board is comprised of the senior management and core team
members and is the vehicle for implementing and keeping under review the KM
initiatives that will be championed by the organization.
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Chapter 9
Beal, A.C., Doty, M.M., Hernandez, S.E., Shea, K.K., and Davis, K. 2007. Closing the divide: How medical
homes promote equity in health care: Results from The Commonwealth Fund 2006 Health Quality
Survey. The Commonwealth Fund, New York.
Bordoloi, P. and Islam, N. (2012). Knowledge management practices and healthcare delivery: A
contingency framework. Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(2), 110–120.
Chauhan, B., George, R., and Coffin, J. (November–December 2012). Social media and you: What every
physician needs to know. Journal of Medical Practice Management, 28(3), 206–209.
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Lambert, K.M., Barry, P., and Stokes, G. (2012). Review risk management and legal issues with the use of
social media in the healthcare setting. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, 31(4), 41–47.
Lusignan, S. and Tringali, M. (2005). Foundations of a healthcare knowledge management application
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Chapter 10
J.D. Power McGraw-Hill Financial. http://www.jdpower.com/industry/financial-services. Accessed on
February 2, 2013.

Chapter 11
Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (2002). Working Knowledge How Organizations Manage What They Know.
Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
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https://www.dimensiondata.com/Global/Downloadable%20Documents/2015%20Global%20Contact%20Centre%20Bench
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Chapter 12
Gianakos, L.K. (2013). The intersection of knowledge and legal project management.
https://info.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/signup/newsletters/practice-innovations/2013-
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Palomaki, S. and Wagner, F. (2011). Legal project management from the inside: 10 things law firm leaders
need to know about implementing legal project management. Law Practice Today.
www.lawpracticetoday.org. American Bar Association.
Precedent/Case Law. http://new.justcite.com/kb/editorial-policies/precedence-3/.
Rhem, A. (2012). Knowledge management in law firms.
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legal.html#!/2012/03/knowledge-management-in-legal.html. Accessed on September 1, 2013.
Solomon, M. http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2014/02/04/transform-your-law-firms-client-
service-starting-today-a-five-step-legal-industry-client-service-initiative/.
Staudt, R.W. (2003). Perspectives on Knowledge Management in Law Firms. Miamisburg, OH,
LexisNexis®.

Chapter 13
Green, A. (2011). Webinar, PLANT the Right Seeds to GROW: A Harvest of Knowledge
http://kmef.iwiki.kent.edu/KMEFwebinar03152001.
R. Heer, A Model of Learning Objectives based on A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A
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Teaching, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
KMEF. (2011). http://kmef.iwiki.kent.edu/.
Yunginger, D. (2013). Knowledge management challenges top the CEO agenda.
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Chapter 14
Andreasen, S. (2014). Big data delivering big knowledge. KM World.
 http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/Viewpoints/Big-Data-Delivering-Big-Knowledge-
95057.aspx. Accessed April 18, 2015.
Downey, L., & Banerjee, S. (2011). Building an Information Architecture Checklist. Journal of Information
Architecture. Vol. 2, No. 2. [Available at http://journalofia.org/volume2/issue2/03-downey/].
Erickson, S. and Rothberg, H. Big Data and knowledge management: Establishing a conceptual foundation.
The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, Volume 12, Issue 2, pp. 108–116. Available at
www.ejkm.com.
Gartner Press Release (Sept 17, 2014). Gartner Survey Reveals That 73 Percent of Organizations Have
Invested or Plan to Invest in Big Data in the Next Two Years.
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2848718.
LoPresti, M. (2014). The long tail of knowledge: Big data’s impact on knowledge management.
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Rajpathak, T. and Narsingpurkar, A. Manufacturing Innovation and Transformation Group (ITG), TCS.
Managing Knowledge from Big Data Analytics in Product Development.
http://www.tcs.com/resources/white_papers/Pages/Knowledge-big-data-analytics-product-
development.aspx. Accessed March 2015.
Yuan, Q.F., Yoon, P.C., and Helander, M. G. (2006). Knowledge identification and management in product
design. Journal of Knowledge Management, Volume 10, Issue 6, pp. 50–63.

Chapter 15
Army Knowledge Management Principles. A4 Doc 1 AKM Principles, June 25, 2008.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction, Charter of the Knowledge Management Cross-Functional
Team. (2013). DOM/SJS, CJCSI 5124.01, Distribution: A, C, https://archive.org/stream/Charter-of-the-
Knowledge-Management-Cross-Functional-Team-12-Apr-
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Senior Airman Jamie Jaggers, Air Force Public Affairs Agency Operating Location-P. (2014). Knowledge
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Chapter 16
Baloh, P. (2007). The role of fit in knowledge management systems: Tentative propositions of the KMS
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Cane, S., and McCarthy, R. (2009). Analyzing the factors that affect information systems use: A task-
technology fit meta-analysis. The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 50(1) 108–123.
Davenport, T.H., and Prusak, L. (1999). Working Knowledge—How Organizations Manage What They
Know. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Goodhue, D.L., and Thompson, R.L. (1995). Task-technology fit and individual performance. MIS
Quarterly, 19(2) 213–236.
Hsu, R.-C., Lawson, D., and Liang, T.-P. (2007). Factors affecting knowledge management adoption of
Taiwan small and medium-sized enterprises. International Journal of Management and Enterprise
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Huang, C.-C., and Lin, T.-C. (2008). Understanding knowledge management system usage antecedents: An
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visibility, editability, persistence, and association. Communication Yearbook, 36, 143–189.

Chapter 17
Chong, S.C. and Choi, Y.S. (June 2005). Critical factors in the successful implementation of knowledge
management. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, available at:
http://www.tlainc.com/articl90.htm.
Davenport, T.H., De Long, D., and Beer, M.C. (1998). Successful knowledge management projects. Sloan
Management Review, 39(2), 43–57.
Davenport, T.H. and Prusak, L. (2000). Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They
Know. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.
Davenport, T.H. and Volpel, S. (2001). The rise of knowledge towards attention management. Journal of
Knowledge Management, 5(3), 212–221.
Frost, A. (2014). A synthesis of knowledge management failure factors, available at:
http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/.
Liebowitz, J. (2009). Knowledge Retention: Strategies and Solutions. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Simmons, R. (2013). 8 Steps to Implementing a Knowledge Management Program at Your Organization.
Forsythe, Skokie, IL.
Singh, M.D. and Kant, R. (2008). Knowledge management barriers: An interpretive structural modeling
approach. International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management, 3(2), 141–150.
Weber, R.O. (2007). Addressing failure factors in knowledge management. Electronic Journal of
Knowledge Management, 5(3), 333–346, available at: www.ejkm.com/issue/download.html?
idArticle=117.
Wu, J., Du, H., Li, X., and Li, P. (2010). Creating and delivering a successful knowledge management
strategy: in M. Russ (Ed.), Knowledge Management Strategies for Business Development. Business
 Science Reference, Hershey, PA, pp. 261–276.

Chapter 18
Griffiths, D., Jenkins, A., Kingston-Griffiths, Z. (2014). The 2015 Global Knowledge Management
Observatory Report. K3-Cubed Ltd. Edinburgh, UK.
Kolsky, E. (2015). The State of Knowledge Management: A Special Report. IntelliResponse Systems Inc.
Toronto, ON, Canada.
Kriss, P. (2014). The value of customer experience quantified. https://hbr.org/2014/08/the-value-of-
customer-experience-quantified/. Accessed on February 6, 2015.
Leggett, K. (2014). Forrester’s top trends for customer service in 2015.
http://blogs.forrester.com/kate_leggett/14-12-17-forresters_top_trends_for_customer_service_in_2015.
Accessed on February 6, 2015
Ragsdale, J. (2014). The current state of knowledge management culture.
http://blog.tsia.com/blog/infographic-the-current-state-of-knowledge-management-culture. Accessed on
March 1, 2015.
Index

Note: Page numbers followed by f and t refer to figures and tables, respectively.

360-degree assessments, 101

A
Acquisitions, 127–128
Action plan, 121–123
Activity, insurance claim, 185
Add cards, 64
Administration Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC), 282
Adoption, KM
activities, 298–300
business social, 299
challenges, 299
communications and adoption approach, 300
component of success, 300
knowledge café, 299
lunch-n-learn, 299
factors, 309
and implementation strategy, 303–305
business objectives and success metrics, 303
champion program, 303
community development and prepopulation strategies, 303
incentive management, 304
integration, 304
lunch-n-learn programs, 304
metrics measurement, reporting, and ROI, 305
project discovery, 303
tactics for culture change, 304–305
training, 304
usage optimization, 305
After action review (AAR), 79–83, 121–123
CoP, 80, 82–83
facts, 80
steps, 81t–82t
types, 80
Agency KM systems, 188
Agile/Scrum software development process, 24, 25f
Agile sprints, 24
Air Force KM
goals and objectives, 283–284
portal main page, 285f
strategies in, 282–283
Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN), 285–286
A.J. Rhem & Associates’ corporate knowledge map, 90, 90f
Allen, April, 38
“America’s Best Graduate Schools,” 250
Analyzer business strategy, 119
Army KM (AKM)
goals of, 277–278
principles, 278–281
Army Knowledge Online (AKO), 281, 281f
Association of Talent Management (ATD), 253
Autonomy (HP Company), 258
Auto Tagger, 69

B
Banking institution, KM leveraged by, 163–166
core principles, 164, 166
factors to KM success, 164
increased sales through customer satisfaction, 166
KM model, 164–166, 165f
Banking KM framework, 167–170
benefits of virtual communities, 169–170
cost-cutting environments, 168
cultural dimension, 170
knowledge-intensive processes, 168
scarce talent, 168
tool selection, 170
virtual communities, 169
Base realignment and closure (BRAC), 274
addressing problem, 290–294
chart for stakeholders, 292t–293t
continuing KM challenge of, 274–275
KM and, 289–290
missed KM opportunity of, 294–295
Basla, Michael, 283
Bersin & Associates’ Talent Management Framework®, 104–106
Betweenness centrality, Big Data, 261, 261f
Big Data, 57, 184, 255, 333
analysis, 184–185, 259, 264
applying KM to, 255, 258–259
aspects defining, 255
characteristics of, 267
data, information, and knowledge, 256
competitor data, 257
partner data, 257
 public data, 257
user-generated data, 256–257
to derive benefit from, 267
elements, mapping knowledge areas to, 266t
KM and, 338
SNA, 259–264
betweenness centrality, 261, 261f
closeness centrality. See Closeness centrality, Big Data
degree centrality, 260, 260f
graph/knowledge map, 263
social media networks, 263–264
sources and KM, 264–271
enterprise view, 265f
IA and Big Data, 267–271, 268t–270t
knowledge classifications, 265–266
strategy, 264
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning, objectives of, 243–246, 244f, 245t–246t
Bottom-up approach, 199
Boundary spanners, 262–263
Boyle, Catherine, 125
Brainstorming session
creating opportunities for, 87–88
creating root cause analysis, 87
Braverman, Mark, 129
Brokerage institution KM model, 161–163
Brokerage organization KM framework, 161, 162f
Brown, Charles, 136
Brown, Toby, 202
Budgeting and cost expectations, inadequate, 318
“Build it yourself” approach, 201
Business, KM
case structure, 21, 22f
goal of sustaining, 173
healthcare business intelligence, 153–154
managing effectively, 174–175
objectives and success metrics, 303
social, 299
strategy, 119

C
CACI (company), 258
Call center, insurance, 175–176
applying KM to, 176–177
aspects to KM to cover in, 176
benefits of KM to, 176
challenges, 176
inbound, 176
knowledge repository, 180
 operators, 178
staffs, 178
Call logging systems, 179
Card sorting method, 61–67
closed, 61, 64
open, 61, 64
physical, 63, 65
search facets, 62–67
steps to conduct, 63–65
analyzing data, 65
lead session, 64
online, 63
paper, 63
prepare cards, 63
remote sorting sessions, 64–65
set-up session, 63
Cartography, 89
Case law knowledge, 206
Centralization, organizations, 326
Certification programs for education, KM, 251–253
ATD, 253
KMI, 251–252
RightAnswers (software vendor), 252
Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP), 253
Champion program, 303
Civil law judges, 206
Clare, Mark, 28, 77
Client support, law firms, 206–207
Clinical decision support system (CDSS), 145, 152
Closed card sorting method, 61, 64
Closeness centrality, Big Data, 261–263, 262f
boundary spanners, 262–263
network centralization, 261–262
network integration, 262
network reach, 262
peripheral nodes, 263
Cloud, collaboration technology, 187
Codification/technological KM strategy, 116–117, 119
Collaboration technologies, 187, 190
Collaborative office space, 83
Columbia University, KM, 250
Combination, SECI model, 112
Commercial property underwriter, 183
Communication(s), 297
and adoption approach, 300
channels, 298
messaging and town halls, 301–302
plan, 300
Communities of practice (CoP), 80–83, 286
cultivating, 82, 84f
 key dimensions, 154
NKO CoP program, 288
Community development and prepopulation strategies, 303
Comparative ratios, 132–133
Competency model, KM, 217–241, 235f
details, 236t–241t
KM roles, responsibilities, and, 218t–234t
Competitive intelligence (CI), 193, 207–208
Competitor data, 257
Conceptual knowledge, 243
Conglomeration, 127
Consolidation merger, 127
Contact center KM systems, 188
Content access, 271
Content consumption, 267
Content generation, 267, 271
Content governance, 271
Content management system, 31
Content model, 54–57
characteristics, 56
example, 55f
signs, 56
steps involved in construction, 56–57
Content organization, 271
Content quality of service, 271
Content synthesis technology, 257
Contextual intelligence, 136
Contributing factors, KM, 109–111
Corporate broadcast messaging, 298
Corporate culture, KM and, 325–326
Cost-cutting environments, financial service, 168
Cost expectations, inadequate budgeting and, 318
Coveo Corporation eBook, 135
Criminal Law, 198
Culture change, tactics for, 304–305
Customer-facing resources, KM, 180
Customer relationship management (CRM) system, 179, 190
KM and, 339
Customer satisfaction, 337
Customer service, 333
KM impact on, 337–338
Customer service representatives (CSRs), 173, 185–186
collaboration platform, 187
and KM systems, 179
Customer service self-help, 188
Customers, focusing on, 174
Custom metadata, 59

D
Data, 256
analyzing, 65
Big Data. See Big Data
collection (healthcare), 145
competitor, 257
partner, 257
public, 257
raw data into information, 282
security, 155
semi-structured, 271
user-generated, 256–257
Data Harmony software, 70–71
Data mining
in healthcare, 152–153
techniques, 185
Decision-making process, 182
Decision support system, 145
Defender business strategy, 119
Degree centrality, Big Data, 260, 260f
Department of Defense (DoD) KM structure, 275
Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE), 249
Department of the Navy (DON), 286–287
Dewey decimal hierarchical structure, 57f
Discounted cash flow (DCF), 77–78, 133
Diversity/inclusion, 102
Domain of knowledge, CoP dimension, 154
Dover Air Force Base, 283
Drexel University, KM, 250–251
“Drinking the KM Kool-Aid,” 297
Dual degree options, KM, 249

E
ECM/IA tools, 187
Education in KM, 215–216
certification programs, 251–253
ATD, 253
KMI, 251–252
RightAnswers (software vendor), 252
dual degree options, 249
at institutions of higher education, 247–251
Columbia University, 250
Drexel University, 250–251
George Mason University, 248–249
The George Washington University, 249
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 251
Kent State University, 249–250
KSI, 248
NDM University, 250
 knowledge professionals, roles and responsibilities, 217–242
core KM competencies. See Competency model, KM
curriculum development and delivery, 242
MS concentration in, 247–249
programs, 247, 332
teaching philosophy/methodology, 242–246
and understanding, 320–321
E-learning, KM, 187, 190
Emergency and disaster preparedness, 332
Emergency Medical Service (EMS) knowledge, 114
Employees in insurance industry, 175
turnover, 186
Enterprise Content Management (ECM), 187
Enterprise KM program (EKMP), 301–302
Enterprise-value-to-sales ratio (EV/sales), 133
Environment for knowledge exchange, 326
Executive coaching, talent management, 101
Expertise coordination practice (ECP), 115
Expertise locator system, 197–198, 198f
Expert systems in healthcare, 151–152
Externalization, 112

F
Facebook, 42
Faceted search, 62–67
Factual knowledge, 243
Failure of KM programs/projects. See KM programs/projects, failure
Fast-track process, 185
Feedback mechanism, 31
Financial services
arguments for KM, 166–167
banking KM framework, 167–170
cost-cutting environments, 168
cultural dimension, 170
knowledge-intensive processes, 168
scarce talent, 168
tool selection, 170
virtual communities, 169–170
empowering employees to satisfy customers, 160
KM leveraged
by banking institutions, 163–166
by brokerage companies, 161–163
technology, 167
First-responder KM strategy, 111–112
firefighter, 120–121
support
assessment and allocation feedback, 115
command and control structure, 115–116
 EMS knowledge, 114
evaluation, 115
expertise coordination practice, 115
knowledge recognition, 115
learning and knowledge transfer, 116
quick and decisive decision making, 114
Five W’s, business case structure, 21
Focused crawler, 57–58
Formal AARs, 80
Formalization, organizations, 326
Formal knowledge transfer, 121
Fraudulent, insurance claims, 184
Frequently asked questions (FAQs), 174, 179
Frontline professionals, 183

G
George Mason University, KM, 248–249
The George Washington University, KM, 215, 249
Gianakos, Lisa Kellar, 202
Gibson, Ann Lee, 208
Gilligan, John M., 285
Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, 175
Global social KM, 39f
Governance of law firm knowledge, 210–212
archiving, 212
benefits of, 211
content, 212
enforcing metadata quality, 212
IA, 210f, 211
KM effectiveness, 212
policies and standards, 211
Graph theory, 263
Griffiths, David, 336

H
Hard competencies, KM, 217
Healthcare
applying KM to, 148
delivery process, 142f, 143–146
data collection, 145
decision support system, 145
diagnosis and treatment, 146
patient closeout/discharge, 146
patient intake process, 143, 145
informatics and KM, 150–151
KM model for, 144f, 146–148
 knowledge construction, 148–150
MedicineNet.com, 150
patient-centered, 150
WebMD, 149
Yahoo Health, 149–150
knowledge tools and techniques, 151–155
business intelligence and analytics, 153–154
CoP, 154
data mining, 152–153
expert systems, 151–152
social networks, 154–155
text mining, 153
patient-centered approach, 147–148
trends in KM for, 155–156
collaboration between healthcare providers, 155–156
need for Big Data, 156
patient-centered care, 156
population health management, 156
technological advancements, 155
Heathfield, Susan, 100
Hierarchical taxonomies, 57
High-impact talent management framework, 104–106
High-level process, 307, 314
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, KM, 251
Horizontal merger, 127
Human capital, defined, 98
Human Capital Management (HCM), 98–100
talent acquisition and planning, 98–99
workforce
management, 99
optimization, 99–100
Human (H) knowledge, 266

I
IA. See Information architecture (IA)
IBM, 258
Implementation approach, 346
Inadequate technology, 319
Inbound call centers, 176
Inbound links, 45
Incentive management, 304
Index, search facets, 66
Information, 256
currency, 31
Information and knowledge strategy (IKNS) program, 250
Information architecture (IA), 51–54, 208–210
benefits, 52
and Big Data, 267, 268t–270t
 checklist, 53t
content management and, 187, 190
creating/modifying/managing metadata, 210
creating/modifying taxonomy, 208–210
Data Harmony tools, 70–71
implementing, 306
metadata. See Metadata, IA
organizational, 52–53, 57
principles, 177
role of architect, 67–68, 67f
search intent, 68–69
tools, 69–71
Wordmap Taxonomy Management Software, 70
Information architecture and knowledge management (IAKM), 249
Informal AARs, 80
Institutional logic, 149
Institutions of higher education, KM, 247–251
Columbia University, 250
Drexel University, 250–251
George Mason University, 248–249
The George Washington University, 249
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 251
Kent State University, 249–250
KSI, 248
NDM University, 250
Insurance, KM in, 173
accurate and up-to-date, 178
business challenges, 174
call center, 175–176
applying KM to, 176–177
benefits of KM to, 176
claims, 183–185, 189
collaboration, 187, 190
content management/IA, 187, 190
CRM systems and, 179
customer-facing resources, 180
e-learning, 187, 190
element of, 181
employees in industry of, 175
focusing on customers, 174
integrate help desk and, 179
integrate IVR and, 180
knowledge repository, 178–179
knowledge workers, developing, 185–186
managing business effectively, 174–175
model, 180–181, 182f
role of technology, 186–187
sales and marketing, 189
structuring knowledge, 177–178
 talent management, 186
underwriting, 181–183, 188–189
Insurance knowledge management systems (IKMS) framework, 187–188, 188f
Intangible asset, 163
Intangible book value, 135
Integrated healthcare knowledge, 148
Integration, KM, 304
Interactive voice response (IVR) system, 180
Internalization, 112
Internal KM, 338
Internal rate of return (IRR), 29
The Intersection of Knowledge and Legal Project Management, 202
Investment yield rate, 29
Iowa State University Center of Excellence in Learning and Teaching (2012), 243
Iterative software development methodology, 23–24, 24f

J
Jackson, Robert, 282–283
Jenkins, Abi, 336
Jobs, Steve, 83
Johansson, Frans, 85–86
Joint Chiefs of Staff DoD, 275, 276f
Joint Staff (JS) KM process, 275
Judges, civil law, 206

K
Kent State University, 215, 249–250
Key performance indicator (KPI), 37
customer satisfaction, 30
knowledge use, 30–31
edits required, 31
links created, 31
number of users, 30
user rankings, 31
and ROI, 77–78
search engine usage, 30
Khanna, Tarun, 136
Kingston-Griffiths, Zoe, 336
KM. See Knowledge management (KM)
KM business case template, 341–346
available options, 342–345
assumptions, 345
benefits, goals, and measurement criteria, 342–343
costs and funding plan, 343
description, 342
feasibility, 344
 issues, 345
risks, 344–345
business problem, 341–342
business opportunity, 342
environmental analysis, 341
problem analysis, 342
implementation approach, 346
reasons for recommended option, 345
recommended option, 345
KM programs/projects, failure
components into organization’s environment, 314
environment for knowledge exchange, 326
governance plan, 328
inadequate budgeting and cost expectations, 318
inadequate processes and technology, 319–320
KM
and corporate culture, 325–326
poorly measuring impact of, 326–327
roles, 320–325
lack of
executive leadership/sponsorship, 316–317
knowledge and resources, 320
monitoring and controls, 327–328
need for
education and understanding of KM, 320–321
organizational participation, 318–319
Simmons steps, 314–315
KM strategy
alignment
with business strategy, 119
with NIMS, 112
ECP protocols, 115
firefighter first-responder, 120–121
first-responder, 111–112
selection, factors influencing, 117–118
template elements, 123
types, 116–117
codification (technological), 116–117
personalization, 117
socialization, 117
KM World (magazine), 256, 258
Knowledge, 256
in accounting and finance, 163
base, 91–92
to Big Data elements, 266t
classifications, 265–266
contributing factors to capture, 291t
data, information, and, 256
competitor data, 257
 partner data, 257
public data, 257
user-generated data, 256–257
domains, 88–89
EMS, 114
exchange, environment for, 326
gap in organization, 95–96
map, 263
matrix, 113f
M-H-T-P, 266
portal, 91
repository, 91
and resources, lack of, 320
transfer planning, 121
types of, 243
workers, developing, 185–186
Knowledge Acquisition Unified Framework (KAUF), 26–27, 28f, 97
capture/catalog knowledge, 27
decompose domain knowledge, 26–27
define domain knowledge, 26
determine interdependency, 27
judgments in knowledge, 27
knowledge patterns, 27
perform conflict resolution, 27
Knowledge audit (KA), 89–91, 121
Knowledge-based organization, 259
Knowledge café, 86–87, 299
Knowledge capital, 88–91
Knowledge dimension, 243
Knowledge-intensive processes, 168
Knowledge management (KM), 37–38
additional tools, 70
and Big Data. See Big Data
business case structure, 21
core benefit of, 208
and CRM, 339
current environment, 77
customer satisfaction in banking, 166
distributed authoring, 32
education in. See Education in KM
for financial services. See Financial services
future of, 334
global social, 39f
global view of, 336–337
goal of, 255
healthcare. See Healthcare
impact on customer service, 337–338
in insurance. See Insurance, KM in
internal, 338
 in law firms. See Legal professionals and law firms, KM
metrics and key performance indicators, 30–31
in military. See Military, KM in
mission statement, 76
on-going, 79
in politics, 338–339
practitioners, 215–216
professional, 242
pyramid, 256f
research institutions, 73–94
ROI for, 28–30
solution analysis, 21–22
solution implementation approach, 22–23
strategy, 32–33
transaction costs, 32
user feedback, 31
vision statement, 76
Knowledge Management Board (KMB), 275
Knowledge management cross-functional team (KM CFT), 275
Knowledge Management Education Forum (KMEF), 215–216, 242
Knowledge Management in Practice, future edition of, 337
Knowledge Management Institute (KMI), 251–252
Knowledge management maturity model (KMMM), 288
Knowledge management system (KMS), 319
adopting, 305
Knowledge map/mapping, 97–98, 126, 137–138
A.J. Rhem & Associates corporate knowledge map, 90, 90f
construction of representation of knowledge capital, 89
overview, 89–91
Knowledge professionals, roles and responsibilities of, 217–242
core KM competencies, 217–241
curriculum development and delivery, 242
Knowledge profile (KP), 138
Knowledge Systems Institute (KSI), 248
Knowledge value equation (KVE), 28, 133–134, 133f
Knowledge value tree, 78, 78f, 134, 134f
Kutz, Matthew, 136

L
Lasseter, John, 83
Law firm business model, 197
Lawyers Liability Review (LLR), 205
Leadership/sponsorship, lack of executive, 316–317
KM extension roles, 317t
success factors, 316–317
Leadership thought message, communication, 298
Learning and capability development function, 106
Legal assistants, 196
Legal professionals and law firms, KM
benefits for, 194–195
and client support, 206–207
competitive intelligence, 207–208
drivers for, 194–195
KM architecture in, 208–212, 209f
governance of law firm knowledge. See Governance of law firm knowledge
information architecture, 208, 210
KM software, 197
legal research, 203–205
LexisNexis, 204–205, 204f
tools, 203
VersusLaw, 205
WestLawNext, 203–204, 204f
precedent/case law knowledge, 206
search, 213
strategy, 193
talent management in, 195–197
lawyer/legal staff training, 195–196
legal secretaries/legal assistants/paralegals, 196–197
legal technology specialist, 197
Legal project management (LPM), 193, 199–203
KM in, 202–203
methodologies, 202
practice of, 201
techniques, 199
Legal secretaries, 196
LexisNexis research tool, 204–205, 204f
Life skills, lunch-n-learn program, 304
LinkedIn, 39–40
List attributes, 60
Litigation, insurance claim, 185
Loss reserve, insurance claim, 185
Lunch-n-learn programs, 299, 304

M
Machine Aided Indexer (M.A.I), 70
Maistro™, 70
Market-extension merger, 127
Marketing activity, 297
Market (M) knowledge, 266
Master of Science (MS) in KM, 247–248, 250
Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) program, 250
M&A (merger/acquisition) transactions, 333
The Medici effect, 85–86, 86f
MedicineNet.com, 150
Merger of equals, 128
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
communication, 131
company valuation, KM leverage in, 132–134
contextual intelligence, 136
distinction between, 128
failure of, 139
knowledge and
economic value, 135
organizational culture, 135–136
knowledge mapping, 137–138
people side of, 129–131
boards, 130
customers and other stakeholders, 130
employees, 130
operations, 130–131
productivity, 131–132
synergy determination, 128–129
types (merger), 127
Metacognitive knowledge, 243
Metadata, IA, 58–61
attributes, 60
fields, 59–60
object, 58
schema, 60–61, 61f
specialized settings, 59–60
uses, 58
Metrics measurement, 305
M-H-T-P knowledge, 266
Microsoft SharePoint, 283
Military, KM in
AFKN, 285–286
AFSC, 282
AKM principles, 278–281
people and culture, 278–279
process, 279–280
technology, 280–281
AKO, 281, 281f
and BRAC, 289–290
addressing problem, 290–294
chart for stakeholders, 292t–293t
continuing challenge of, 274–275
missed KM opportunity of, 294–295
current Army KM direction, 281–282
DoD KM structure, 275
DON, 286–287
missed KM opportunity of BRAC, 294–295
NKO, 288
principles, 275, 277t
strategies
 in the US Air Force, 282–283. See also Air Force KM
in the US Army, 277–278. See also Army KM (AKM)
in the US Navy, 286–288
use of unmanned aircraft, 273
warfare technology, 273
Mind mapping, 88
Monitor and evaluation (M&E) stage, 37
Monitoring and controls, lack of, 327–328

N
National alert system, 112
National Incident Management System (NIMS), 112, 114, 120
National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), 184
Navy Knowledge Online (NKO), 288
Needs analysis, 21–22
Net present value (NPV), 29
Network centralization, 261–262
Network integration, 262
News brief (communication channels), 298
Newsletter brief (communication channels), 298
NKO Community of Practice (CoP) program, 288, 289f
Notre Dame of Maryland (NDM) University, KM, 250

O
Onboarding process, 101–103
Online card sorts, 63
On-the-job training, 187
Ontology Manager, 70–71
Ontology software tool, 54, 70
Open card sort, 61, 64
OpenUP methodology, 24–26, 25f
Operators, call center, 178
Optimization process, 305
Organizational culture, 309
Organizational participation, 318–319
Organization Development & Knowledge Management Development (ODKM) program, 248–249
Organization’s environment, components into, 314

P
Palmert, Christopher, 38
Paper card sorts, 63
Paralegal, role of, 196
Participatory communication cycle, 36–37, 36f
KM and, 37–48
Partner data, 257
Patient-centered approach, KM model, 147–148
Perceived benefit model, 310, 310f
Performance management, 101, 103
Personal development, lunch-n-learn program, 304
Personalization KM strategy, 117, 119
Personal KM and wearable technology, 339–340
Physical card sort, 63, 65
Pixar, 83
Policy forms, underwriter, 189
Politics, KM in, 338–339
Population health management, 156
Price earnings ratio (P/E ratio), 132
Principles of KM, 275, 277t
AKM, 278–281
people and culture, 278–279
process, 279–280
technology, 280–281
banking institution KM model, 164, 166
brokerage institution KM model, 163
established by the Navy, 288
Problem statement, 21
Procedural (P) knowledge, 243, 266
Processes and technology, inadequate, 319–320
Product-extension merger, 127
Product training, lunch-n-learn program, 304
Professional development, lunch-n-learn program, 304
Program management method, 22–23
Project discovery, 303
Project Management Institute, 23
Project management, legal, 199–203
Project manager forum and mentoring sessions, 298
Projects failure, KM
components into organization’s environment, 314
environment for knowledge exchange, 326
governance plan, 328
inadequate budgeting and cost expectations, 318
inadequate processes and technology, 319–320
KM
and corporate culture, 325–326
poorly measuring impact of, 326–327
roles, 320–325
lack of
executive leadership/sponsorship, 316–317
knowledge and resources, 320
monitoring and controls, 327–328
need for
education and understanding of KM, 320–321
organizational participation, 318–319
Simmons steps, 314–315
Prospector business strategy, 119
Public data, 257
Purchase merger, 127

Q
Query, search facets, 66

R
Reader engagement, 45
Recognition programs, 102–103
Related Content Web Part, 69
Remote sorting sessions, 64–65
Replacement cost, 133
Repository, knowledge, 178
metadata quality in, 212
Required metadata fields, 59
Requirements definition, 21
Research institutions, challenges in implementing
case for implementing, 74–75
cataloging, 88–92
developing KM strategy, 75–79
challenges and knowledge needs, 77
components of research organization, 75–76
current KM environment, 77
dependencies, 78
establish research KM office, 79
executive summary, 76
KM mission statement, 76
KM vision statement, 76
KPI and ROI, 77–78
on-going KM, 79
R&D, 77
strategy details and key initiatives, 77
tools, 79
innovation techniques, 85–88
conducting knowledge café, 86–87
creating diversified teams, 85
creating opportunities for brainstorming, 87–88
creating root cause analysis sessions, 87
The Medici effect, 85–86, 86f
knowledge capital by knowledge map, 89–91
knowledge domains, 88–89
knowledge sharing techniques, 79–84
AAR, 79–83
working in collaborative settings, 83–84
locating research knowledge/expertise, 88–92
methods/tools for capturing, 88–92
 research problems to KM initiatives, 76t
reusing, 88–92
Resources, lack of knowledge and, 320
Retention and reinsurance, underwriter, 189
Return on investment (ROI), 28–30, 35, 44, 77–78, 305
Reverse merger, 127
RightAnswers (software vendor), 252
Risk assessment, KM, 27
Risk selection, underwriter, 188
Role-based knowledge, 97, 103
Role knowledge base, 97
Root cause analysis, 87

S
Scarce talent, 168
Schlussel, Art, 247
School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), 249
Search engine, 178–179
Search intent, 68–69
Semi-structured data, 271
Sermo, 154
Settlement, insurance claims, 185, 189
Shared practice, CoP, 154
Share of voice, 43–44
SharePoint, 187
SharePoint 2010, 69
Simmons, Robert, 306, 314
Simple attributes, 60
Single sourcing, 180, 191
Skills training, lunch-n-learn program, 304
Smart Logic, 70
Socialization, 112
KM strategy, 117, 119
Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization (SECI) model, 112–113, 117
Social media, 37–38, 299, 332
guidelines, 38–39
networks, 263–264
policies, 38–39
procedures, 38–39
strategy, 42–47
create and develop content, 46
engage and facilitate conversations, 46
engaging audience, 46
facilitate conversations, 46
find and establish communities, 44
identify influencers, 44–45
listen to conversations, 43
results, 46–47
 set goals and benchmarks, 44
share of voice, 43–44
tools, 45
strategy-roles and responsibilities, 47–48
Social network analysis (SNA), Big Data, 259–264
betweenness centrality, 261, 261f
closeness centrality. See Closeness centrality, Big Data
degree centrality, 260, 260f
graph/knowledge map, 263
social media networks, 263–264
Social structure, knowledge construction process, 150
Soft competencies, KM, 217
Software, KM, 197
Software methodologies, 23–26
Solution analysis, KM, 21–22
Solution implementation approach, 22–23
State of Knowledge Management survey, 335–336
Strategic plan/goal alignment, 101, 103
Subject matter experts (SMEs), 26, 31, 54
Subrogation, insurance claims, 184
Succession management, 102–103
Sustained management support, 316
Synergies, 128

T
Tacit knowledge, 96, 98
Tag Cloud Web Part, 69
Tag custom field, 198
Tag Directory Web Part, 69
Tag Navigation Web Part, 69
Tag Suggester, 69
Talent acquisition and planning, HCM, 98–99
Talent management, 100–106, 186
aspects of, 104–106
360-degree assessments, 101
career path/career development, 101–102
compensation, 102
competencies, 102
diversity/inclusion, 102
engagement, 102
executive coaching, 101
leadership development, 101
on boarding, 101
performance management, 101
professional development, 101
recognition programs, 102
recruiting, 101
retention, 102
 strategic plan/goal alignment, 101
succession management, 102
workforce planning, 101
defined, 100
framework, high-impact, 104–106
KM influence on, 102–103
in law firms, 195–197
lawyer/legal staff training, 195–196
legal secretaries/legal assistants/paralegals, 196–197
legal technology specialist, 197
Task codes, 200–201
Task–technology fit (TTF) model, 306–309, 308f, 319
applying, 308–309
Simmons steps, 306–307
Taxonomy, 57–58
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning, 243–246, 244f, 245t–246t
creating/modifying, 208, 210
designing and constructing, 181
planning, 69
of policy information, 58f
Taxonomy Manager, 69
Teaching philosophy/methodology, KM, 242–246
Technology, 167
acquiring new, 7, 129
content synthesis, 257
in delivery of healthcare knowledge, 149
inadequate processes and, 319–320
legal technology specialist, 197
overreliance on, 320
personal KM and wearable, 339–340
role of, 186–187
technological KM strategy, 116–117
use of warfare, 273
vendors, 168
Technology (T) knowledge, 266
Technology Services Industry Association’s (TSIA) research, 334–335
Text mining in healthcare, 153
Thesaurus Master, 70
Timeline Publishing Company, 205
Town hall(s)
and communication messaging, 301–302
content, 301
meetings, 298
sample communication audience/channels, 302t
Transaction costs, 32
Trapani, Gina, 87
Triune Group, 285
Twitter, 40–42
be aware of your voice, 42
be personable, 41
 don’t be complainer, 42
“Find People” search function, 41
people following, 40
stay away from discussing politics and religion, 42
tweets, 40–41

U
Underwriting, KM, 181–183
Unified process, 24
Unmanned aircraft, use of (KM), 273
USAID After-Action Review Technical Guide, 122
The US Air Force, 282–283
The US Army, 277–278
The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 281–282
User-centric approach, 306
User-generated data, 256–257
User indifference, 168
User interface/user experience (UI/UX), 306
The US Navy, 286–288

V
Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies (book), 134
Value analysis, 27
VersusLaw, Inc., 205
VersusLaw legal research, 205, 205f
Vertical merger, 127
Vertical search, 57–58
Virtual communities, 169
benefits, 169–170
characteristic of, 169

W
Warfare technology, 273
Wearable technology, personal KM and, 339–340
WebMD website, 149
Web page, search facets, 66
Weighted average costs of capital (WACC), 133
Wenger, Etienne, 82
WestLawNext legal research, 203–204, 204f
Wordmap Taxonomy Management Software, 70
Workforce life cycle management, 100f
Workforce management (WFM), 99
Workforce optimization, 99–100
World Wide Web, 59
Y
Yahoo Health, 149–150
Younger tech-savvy attorneys, 196