how it can improve productivity
TRANSCRIPT
How IT can improve the productivity
of an organisation
Nadia Giuliani Brussels, 31 March 2010
FOUR FUNDAMENTAL WORDS
o Knowledge
o Information Technology
o Learning Organizations
o Productivity
AGENDA
1. My Knowledge vision
2. IT and Organizations
3. Capabilities & Productivity
1 MY KNOWLEDGE VISION
According to the Japanese
philisopher Kitaro Nishida
(1870-1945) the fundamental
conditions for knowledge
creation are based on the
Japanese concept of “ba”, in
English a shared “place” for
emerging relationships, a
context which harbours
meaning.
Knowledge and ba concept
Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009
Knowledge creation and SECI spiral
Consequently, Ikujiro Nonaka and Noboro Konnoconceptualized the circular knowledge creationinto an interaction spiral of four conversionprocesses between tacit and explicit knowledge :
ocialization
xternalization
ombination
nterna l iza t ion
Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009
Knowledge and SECI spiral
ocialization , tacit knowledge sharingamong individuals living in physicalproximity
xternalization, expression of tacitknowledge into forms that can be easilyunderstood by others
ombination, conversion of explicitknowledge into more complex sets tobe disseminated
nternalization, newly createdknowledge becomes the organization’s tacit knowledge SECI spiral according to Nonaka and
Konno
Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009
Knowledge and Cyber ba
There are four types of “ba” matching the four spiral processes :
Originating ba , physical place where tacit knowledge is transfered
Interacting ba, where tacit knowledge is made explicit to be easily understood byothers
Cyber ba, a place of interaction in a virtual world where new knowledge isdisseminated thanks to the Information Technology
Exercising ba, where the conversion process from explicit to tacit knowledge takesplace and new knowledge is finally internalized by the community
Str
utt
ura
de
lla
ric
erc
a
Final Dissertation of the Post Graduate Master in Open & Distance Learning – April 2009
Knowledge and IT revolution
Thanks to IT revolution, cyber ba is fostered by the web where
knowledge sharing is promoted and learning organizations are
enhanced.
Peter Senge (1990) describes learning organizations as an “organization
… where people are continually learning how to learn together” to switch from
the industrial paradigma to the learning organization.
Industrial Paradigma Learning Paradigma
Organizations are control systems Organizations are systems to create
knowledge
Organizations are a portfolio of
products and services
Organizations are constellations of
capabilities and competences
2. IT AND ORGANIZATIONS
IT and Organizations
• IT improves productivity in traditional and learning organizations in
different ways (information transfer from top to down level Vs
Enterprise 2.0)
• Traditional and learning organizations are ideal patterns: in reality
organizations have a mix of tradition and innovation.
• IT programmes need to adapt to organizational context to improve
learning capabilities.
Traditional organizations
• Strong hierarchy
• Strong operations of rules
• Heavy internal siloing
• Strong organizational cultures
stressing control
• Slow at adopting organizational
innovations and new IT
Learning organizations
• Capability of creating new knowledge
• Good at experimentation
• Can transfer knowledge to solve problems quickly
• Teamwork and group problem solving
• Innovative
IT and productivity
According to Asian Productivity Organization (APO) productivity is an
effective and efficient use of input or resources to produce or represent
output.
IT has a prominent role in driving productivity both in business and in
the public sector through two mechanisms:
• “capital deepening” – where the investment in IT improves the
level of capital stock in the economy ;
• enabling changes through the most effective application of the
technology and skills, to improve efficiency.
IT and the European Commission
The European Commission has set up and industry task force to foster the use of
IT, recommending possible policy responses.
In the UK, HM Treasury has identified five long term challenges in this direction:
demographic and socio-economic change, especially increasing numbers of old
people and rising expectations of public services;
global competition, with the rise of China and India and the intensification of
cross border competition;
the rapid pace of innovation and technological diffusion, transforming the way
people live and the way services are delivered;
global uncertainty through terrorism and poverty and increasing pressure on
natural resources and global climate.
3. CAPABILITIES & PRODUCTIVITY
An Information disaster
On Sept 23 1999 NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft disappeared.
Scientists were stumped at first about what had gone wrong.
It turned out that NASA contractor had submitted acceleration data in pounds of
force instead of the metric equivalent, newtons.
By not converting the pounds to the metric measurement, the spacecraft was lost.
A costly information disaster. And an embarrassing one.
With the advent of the World Wide Web, every professional
worker has become a searcher, but without either
search training or a roadmap of what he is searching.
Without information training and skills, most people don’t know where
to look, how to ask for what they are seeking, or when it is
okay to stop looking.
IT and Learning Capabilities in Training
Classroom training
Exercise bookQRC
Validation Course CardOpen-source e-learning platform developed for
Expedia Italia
Learning Object on software platform usagePost-course analysis
Thank you!
Nadia Giuliani Brussels, 31 March 2010