THE ROLE OF INNOVATION AND

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR

CO-CREATION

MARCH 30 2023
 CONCEPTS OF KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
Knowledge
• Knowledge is the awareness of what one knows
through study, reasoning, experience or
association or through various other types of
learning. Knowledge is often thought of as being
a property of individuals; a great deal of
knowledge is produced as well as held
collectively. Such knowledge is quickly generated
when people work together in the tight knit
groups, which they describe as “communities of
practice.”
 Concept…….
The different approaches to knowledge
• There is a diversity of perspectives on knowledge that
highlights the definitional ambiguity surrounding the
concept. The different perspectives of knowledge that have
been considered pertinent to this study are the data,
information and knowledge perspective, the individual
perspective, the social perspective, and the organisational
perspective. These perspectives are considered in the spirit
of accepting a wide range of views as possible rather than
attempting to prescribe a particular meaning to knowledge.
Each of these perspectives suggests a different meaning to
knowledge, a different strategy for managing knowledge
and a different implication on knowledge management.
 CONCEPTS……
The data, information and knowledge perspective
• In order to fully understand the depth of
knowledge, it is important to differentiate it from
data and information. There is a hierarchical
distinction between data; information and
knowledge that goes from data (facts and
figures) to information (data with context) to
knowledge (information with meaning). That is,
knowledge is an authenticated and expanded
view of information that follows from
information, which again flows from data.
 CONCEPTS…….
Distinction between information, data and knowledge
• Value is added to data, turning them to information. Information
becomes knowledge when it is processed in the mind of an
individual. The data, information and knowledge perspective
provides an inroad in understanding the different concepts by
presenting a hierarchical relation between data, information and
knowledge with each varying along context, usefulness and
interpretability. Knowledge is richer than data and information.
Knowledge must exist before information can be formulated or
before data can be measured to form information. They observed
that in a sense, knowledge is a “meaning” made by the mind.
Without meaning, knowledge is information or data. It is only
through meaning or organisation that information finds life and
becomes knowledge.
 CONCEPTS……
• Personal perspective of knowledge- From the
personal perspective, knowledge is viewed as
existing in the individual
• Social perspective of knowledge - From the
social perspective, knowledge is created and
inherent in the collective actions of a group of
people working together and dependent on the
social context where they belong. Knowledge
ecology, community of practice and knowledge in
networks are basic concepts in this social process
 CONCEPTS…..
• The organisational perspective of knowledge - The
organisational perspective draws from the data,
information and knowledge perspective, the personal
perspective and the social perspective to present a deeper
understanding of knowledge formed through unique
patterns of interactions between technologies, processes,
techniques, and people, which is shaped by the
organisation’s unique history and culture. From the
organisational perspective, knowledge is based on
knowledge systems that consist of a series of knowledge
processes such as knowledge creation, storage, transfer
and application with data, information, knowledge and
wisdom as important factors
 DEFINITIONS OF KM

• Knowledge Management (KM) is the process of creating, sharing,

using and managing the knowledge and information of an
organization.
• Knowledge management involves activities related to the capture,
use and sharing of knowledge by the organisation. It involves the
management both of external linkages and of knowledge flows
within the enterprise, including methods and procedures for
seeking external knowledge and for establishing closer
relationships with other enterprises (suppliers, competitors),
customers or research institutions. In addition to practices for
gaining new knowledge, knowledge management involves methods
for sharing and using knowledge, including establishing value
systems for sharing knowledge and practices for codifying routines.
 DEFINITIONS…..
• Knowledge management is the name given to the set of
systematic and disciplined actions that an organisation can
take to obtain the greatest value from the knowledge
available to it. It is not only based on the management and
communication of information and knowledge, but also
entails managing the balance of people, processes and
technology that determines the organisation and its
relationship with its markets. It is about creating an
environment where knowledge, creativity and innovation is
valued, by facilitating communication between people in
different locations and from different departments and
creating an organisation that encourages ideas, rewards
success, while allowing people to fail and learn from failure.
 THE PURPOSE OF KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
• The purpose of knowledge management is to
provide support for improved decision making
and innovation throughout the organization.
This is achieved through the effective
management of human intuition and
experience augmented by the provision of
information, processes and technology
together with training and mentoring
programmes.
 KNOWLEDGE LEVELS

• Core knowledge is the basic or minimum knowledge required to

stay in business. This type of knowledge creates efficiency barriers
for the entry of new companies since new competitors are
generally not up to date with basic business processes. It provides
no advantage to the firm to differentiate its product and services
from that of a competitor.
• Advanced knowledge is what makes a firm competitively visible and
active. It enables firms to differentiate their products and services
from that of competitors through the application of superior
knowledge .
• Innovative knowledge enables firms to clearly differentiate
themselves from competition with other firms . Such knowledge
allows firms to introduce new business practices or expand market
shares by winning new customers and improving on the conditions
of services for existing customers.
 KNOWLEDGE LOCATION
• Knowledge is located either at the individual,
collective or organisational level.
Organisational knowledge is the collective
sum of individual knowledge, assets and
processed information embodied in routines,
databases, sharing of experiences and best
practices, sources both internal and external
to the organisation, and processes produced
and held by an organisation.
METHODS FOR KNOWLEDGE RETENTION AND
ORGANIZATION CONTINUITY
Knowledge retention
• Knowledge retention consists of three
activities – knowledge acquisition, storage,
and retrieval.
• Is the management practices and processes
designed to preserve older workers’ valuable
organizational knowledge before they enter
retirement
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
Knowledge taxonomies and types
• Underlying the retention process is an understanding
of what knowledge is, and what implications the
different knowledge types will have on the retention
process. You can’t, and shouldn’t transfer all
knowledge, just the critical one, and the knowledge in
question will influence how one chooses to transfer it.
It is not just a matter of choosing a retention strategy
or tool, the literature is also concerned with identifying
and prioritizing types of knowledge before it is
transferred.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
Explicit knowledge & Tacit Knowledge
• The explicit portion refers to formalized
knowledge, expressed in the form of data,
formulas, specifications, manuals and
procedures. Tacit knowledge, on the other
hand, is non-verbalized, intuitive knowledge.
Tacit knowledge is best defined as knowledge
that has not yet been abstracted from the
practice.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
Critical knowledge
• Refers to the experience based, undocumented knowledge
stored in an expert employee. The critical knowledge does
not refer to the know-what that can be taught through
education and by reading instructions, as this is something
that are available to everyone, hence it is not what makes
you competitive in the market you operate within. What it
does refer to in their point of view, is the know-how, the
skills and knowledge the workers have learned to do,
accumulated through experience and time. This is the tacit
dimension of the knowledge. On the other hand, both tacit
and explicit dimensions have been identified as types of
knowledge older workers possess.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
• Knowledge taxonomies is of use to knowledge
retention, when deciding which transfer
methods to use, and by calling attention to
the need for different support of different
knowledge types. Determining the knowledge
to be retained is one of the most important
tasks of knowledge retention projects. One
must identify specific knowledge to be able to
find a way to retain that knowledge within the
organization.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
Knowledge transfer
• Knowledge-sharing must necessarily be done
through knowledge transfer, where the
targeted knowledge is retrieved from the
source, and directed and transferred onto the
recipient or recipients. This is the crucial stage
that will produce the knowledge retention.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
• Knowledge transfer in organizations is defined as
the process through which one unit (group,
department, or division) is affected by the
experience of another. The term knowledge
transfer can also be applied to transfer between
individuals, individuals to groups, between
groups and across groups and from individuals to
an explicit source. For knowledge retention to
happen in an organization, senior workers and
the knowledge receivers need to interact in a
social setting, stressing communication and
interaction.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
METHODS OF TRANSFERING KNOWLEDGE
• Mentoring - is as mentioned a highly widespread tool in the
literature for transferring knowledge
• Exit interviews - is often the only thing to do, when key employees
are on the organizations threshold, as a fire extinguisher to gather
and retain the knowledge as quick as possible.
• Communities of practice (CoPs) - this is a method to be
incorporated as an integrated part of the organizations that aims
for continuous knowledge transfer and retention, hence it requires
long-term commitment. The method usually involves creating
groups, or networks of employees within the same area of
expertise, that share the same problems and issues, hence a
method that is useful when needing to retain knowledge from
specific functions or types of people in the organization.
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
• After action reviews (AARs)- have a potential for
transferring and creating knowledge within groups,
unlike mentoring and storytelling which can be better
for transferring already existing knowledge from one
person to another . Like CoPs, the method is better as
an integrated part of operations in an organization,
and will not be an effective tool for knowledge
retention if the critical knowledge is leaving within a
short period of time. The method focuses on “on-the-
job learning: in terms of having an action plan for
learning during and after activities, promoting
reflection, capturing of knowledge and integrating the
knowledge back into activities
 KNOWLEDGE RETENTION……
• Managing knowledge
• Two basic strategies for managing knowledge
that is personalization and codification strategies
Codification refers to the capture and storage of
explicit knowledge, in a way that aligns with the
organizations objectives. Personalization on the
other hand, refers to aggregating the knowledge
flow in an organization through social networks
and interacting across the organization.
 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR
TRANSFORMATION
• Organizational knowledge is considered as an
intangible asset, generates competitive advantage to
the organization. Competitive advantage is reached
through continuous improvement and process
innovation and of product, and knowledge is the
organizational resource that allows the organization to
develop activities of improvement and innovation.
• The values in the company should be those that create
a learning environment in which individuals are
committed to excellence, and failures and risk-taking
tolerated. There must be a continuous process of
knowledge creation and sharing to ensure that
businesses remain innovative and healthy.
 KNOWLEDGE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
CO-CREATION
• knowledge management infrastructure consists
of a mix of technological infrastructure,
organisational infrastructure, non-technological
techniques and interpersonal skills. Technological
infrastructures are the tools and technologies for
knowledge management such as computers,
collaborative and communication technologies,
intelligent tools, expert systems. These tools and
technologies support the various knowledge
management activities.
 KNOWLEDGE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
CO-CREATION…….
• if a group of people are not sharing
knowledge and interacting with each other,
information technology is not likely to create
it. Therefore, the use of the non- technological
techniques, such as communities of practice,
brainstorming, tutoring and mentoring should
be taken into account for knowledge
management to succeed.
 KNOWLEDGE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
CO-CREATION…….
• An appropriate organisational infrastructure comprises of the
organisation’s culture and values, the role of management and
human resource departments, the politics of the organisation and
employees’ skills. An appropriate culture for knowledge
management emphasises that power is not a product of knowledge
hoarding but rather a product of knowledge sharing. It is necessary
for management to be in front to create an environment that truly
values knowledge sharing. The politics of the organisation is crucial
because it determines whether the status and power of the firm are
for or against knowledge sharing. Employees’ skills and prior
knowledge on knowledge management are a key component to the
organisational infrastructure given that employees have to be
aware of the basic issues of knowledge management before the
initiative is undertaken.
 KNOWLEDGE CONTRACT FOR CO-
CREATION
• The concept of value and its role in businesses are always
of interest to researchers, as well as executives of firms.
Several researchers showed that value recognition and
creation play an important role in companies’ ability to gain
a competitive advantage. In recent decades and under
disruptive technologies, some significant changes occurred
in business logic that shifted the value creation process,
such as changes in corporate behavior from traditional
company-centered product systems to customer-centric
product and service systems. This led corporate executives
to not only focus on cost, speed, and product performance
but also on innovation and creativity to better meet the
needs of users of products and services.
 KNOWLEDGE CONTRACT FOR CO-
CREATION
• Information technology and social media also made it
possible for customers to give feedback to business
owners in the shortest possible time on one hand, and
for business owners to listen to their customers’
interests and opinions on the other hand. Using the
insights generated from social network analysis and big
data, corporate decision-makers are enabled to
identify their weaknesses and opportunities based on
the rich information they receive from customers and
other stakeholders, thereby striving for delivery of
better services to their customers or other
stakeholders.
 KNOWLEDGE CONTRACT FOR CO-
CREATION
• Indeed, due to the emergence of web 3.0 and
social platforms, value co-creation evolved
toward a co-creation activity. Fuchs expressed
that, while web 1.0 was the web of cognition and
web 2.0 was the web of connection, web 3.0 is
the web of collaboration, and value creation
evolved into the collaborative creation of
business value. Value co-creation occurs in the
form of a complex blend of people, technology,
organizations, and information through a
complex interaction between service providers
and customers