KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS LIFE CYCLE

In a Nutshell• The building of knowledge mgmt

can be viewed as a life cycle that begins with a master plan and ends with a systems structured to meet KM requirements for the entire company.

• The most critical phase of the KM systems life cycle is identifying the immediate, intermediate & long term needs for the prospective system.

Characteristics• Discipline, order or segmentation into

manageable activities or phases.• Good documentation for possible

changes or modifications of the system in the future.

• Coordination of the project to ensure the cycle is completed on time.

• Regular mgmt review at each phase of the cycle.

Challenges in building KM Systems• Culture (K sharing & reward

system)• Knowledge Evaluation (metrics)• Knowledge Processing

(capture, store, process & distribute)

• Knowledge Implementation (change, learn & innovate)

Conventional Vs KM System Life Cycle

Those who have developed conventional information systems in the past are now involved in building KM systems need to see the relationship b/w the conventional system approach & KM systems development.

Recognition of need & Feasibility study

Evaluate existing Infrastructure

Form the KM Team

KnowledgeCapture

Design KM Blueprint

Implement theKM System

Verify & ValidateKM System

S/w Requirements Specifications

Logical Design

Physical Design

Testing

Implementation

Manage change &Reward Structure

Operations &Maintenance

Post System Evaluation

Corrections Corrections

CSLC KMSLC

Key Differences1. The system analyst deals with the data

& information obtained from the user, user-analyst for soln whereas the K developer deals with the K captured from people, developer-people for soln.

2. The main interface for the system analyst is with user who knows the problem but not the soln whereas for a K developer-knowledgeable person who knows both.

3. CS is sequential. KMSLC is incremental and interactive.

4. In CS testing occurs towards the end of the cycle. In KMSLC, the K developer tests from the beginning of the cycle.

5. Development & maintenance is extensive in CS whereas in KMSLC, D&M is delegated to K editors- to ensure a reliable system and upgrade the system to standards.

6. CSLC is process driven & documentation oriented- fosters “specify the build” approach.The KMSLC is result-oriented, emphasis on “start slow & grow” incremental process.

7. CS development does not support tools like rapid prototyping because it follows a set of sequential order. KMSLC utilizes rapid prototyping, incorporating changes on the spot.

Process/Stages of KMSLC1. Evaluate existing infrastructure2. Form the KM team3. Knowledge capture4. Design KM Blueprint5. Test the KM System6. Implement the KM System7. Manage change & reward

structure8. Post-system evaluation.

1.Evaluate existing Information• Identifying and evaluating the current

knowledge envt makes it easier to point out the critical missing gaps & justify the formation of new knowledge envt. As a part of this phase ,we focus on the system justification, scoping the evaluation, determining feasibility.

a. System Justification:K developer to justify whether it is worth undergoing changes that ensures top mgmt support.KM system justification involves answers to specific questions.

1. Is current knowledge going to be lost through retirement, transfer or departure to other firms?

2. Is the proposed KM system needed in several locations?

3. Are experts available & willing to help in building a KM system?

4. Does the problem in question require ears of experience & cognitive reasoning to solve?

5. When undergoing knowledge capture, can expert articulate how the problem will be solved?

6. How critical is the knowledge to be captures?

7. Is there a champion in the house?

b. The Scope Factor:The term scoping means “limiting the breadth & depth of the project within the financial, human resource & operational constraints”. The project should be small enough for the K developer’s capabilities, especially if it is orgn’s first attempt at developing a KM system.

• Readiness of the company’s current technology (intranet, LAN etc).

• Identification of gaps & areas needing improvement in current technology.

• General review & understanding of the benefits & limitations of KM tools & components.

c. The Feasibility Question:Is the project doable? Affordable? Appropriate? Practical?

Factors for successful installation:1. Economic Feasibility (cost benefit

analysis)2. Technical Feasibility3. Behavioral FeasibilityTraditional approach to conducting a

feasibility study could be useful in building KM system.

It involves several tasks:• Form a KM team.• Prepare a master plan

• Evaluate cost/performance of the proposed KM system.

• Quantify system criteria & costs (rating scale).

2.Form the KM Team• After the evaluation of the

company’s existing infrastructure is complete, a KM team should be formed.

Team success depends on a number of factors:

1. Caliber of team members in terms of personality, communication skills & experience.

2. Team size.3. Complexity of the project.4. Leadership & team motivation.5. Promising more than can be

realistically delivered.

3.Knowledge Capture• Knowledge capture involves eliciting,

analyzing & interpreting the knowledge that a human expert uses to solve a particular problem.

• Knowledge capture & transfer are often carried out in teams, not just through individuals.

• K capture includes determining feasibility, choosing the expert, tapping the expert’s knowledge, and retapping the knowledge to plug gaps in the system & to verify and validate the knowledge base after the system is in operation.

• A competent & cooperative expert is essential to the success of knowledge capture.

4.Design the Blueprint• This phase is the beginning of designing

the IT infrastructure & the KM architecture in order to proceed with the actual design & deployment of the KM system.

1. Aim for system interoperability & scalability with existing IT infrastructure.

2. Finalize the scope of the proposed KM system with realized net benefits in mind.

3. Decide on the required system components, such as user interface options, knowledge directories and mining tools.

4. Develop the key layers of the KM architecture to meet the company’s requirements.

The key layers are as follows:a. User interface.b. Authentication/security layer.c. Collaborative agents and filtering.d. Application layer.e. Transport internet layer.f. Physical layer.g. Repositories.

Authentication/Security Layer

(includes access identification, firewalls & user recognition)

Collaborative Agents & Filtering

(intelligent robots that can disseminate news, warnings & notifications)

Application Layer

(collaborative work tools, videoconferencing, decision support tools, group decision support tools & yellow pages)

Transport/Internet Layer

(TCP/IP)-manages transmission of data b/w computers

Physical Layer

(cables, physical wires, modems for transmission)

Repositories

Key Layers of a KM System Infrastructure

User interface via Browser

User Interface

Part of the Internet

Documents&

Other Files

Data Warehouse

Legacy Applications

Databases

5.Test the KM SystemThis involves 2 steps1. Verification:

This procedure ensures that the system is right -that the programs do what they are designed to do.

2. Validation:This test ensures that the system is the right system –that it meet’s the user’s expectations, that it is user friendly and that it will be usable and scalable on demand.

6.Implement the KM System

Implementation means converting a new KM system into actual operation.

• Conversion is the major step in implementation.

• The other steps are post implementation review & KM system maintenance.

• It is the transformation of the precise representation of knowledge into machine equivalent – a specific program or software package.

7.Manage Change & Reward Structure

Implementation means change and people in general resist change.People become anxious when they do not know what the system will offer and how it will effect their current jobs & decision-making quality. The result is stress & further resistance to change.

The resistors include the following:• Experts.• Regular employees(users).

• Troublemakers.• Narrow minded “superstars”.Resistance is displayed in 3

personal reactions:1. Projection: Hostility towards

peers.2. Avoidance: Withdrawal from the

scene.3. Aggression: Killing the system,

because of uncertainty of its operation or use.

8.Post System Evaluation• System impact must be assessed in

terms of its effects on people, procedures and performance of the business.

• The main areas of concern are quality of decision making, attitude of end users and cost of knowledge processing & updates.

• The objective is to evaluate the KM system against standards & determine how well meets the goals set in advance.

• The user initiates the review for enhancement (upgrading the system) & maintenance (making corrections).