(Mt) – Kennesaw State University Knowledge Management Discussion

College of Administrative and Financial Sciences Assignment 2 Deadline: End of Week 11, 16/11/2020 @ 23:59 Course Name: Knowledge Management Student’s Name: Course Code: MGT 403 Student’s ID Number: Semester: Ist CRN:10786 Academic Year: 1441/1442 H For Instructor’s Use only Instructor’s Name: Dr. Farrukh R.Ahmad Students’ Grade: Marks Obtained/Out of Level of Marks: High/Middle/Low Instructions – PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY ● The Assignment must be submitted on Blackboard (WORD format only) via allocated folder. ● Assignments submitted through email will not be accepted. ● Students are advised to make their work clear and well presented; marks may be reduced for poor presentation. This includes filling your information on the cover page. ● Students must mention question number clearly in their answer. ● Late submission will NOT be accepted. ● Avoid plagiarism, the work should be in your own words, copying from students or other resources without proper referencing will result in ZERO marks. No exceptions. ● All answered must be typed using Times New Roman (size 12, double-sp) font. No pictures containing text will be accepted and will be considered plagiarism). ● Submissions without this cover page will NOT be accepted. ASSIGNMENT-2 Knowledge Management (MGT-403) First Semester (2020-2021) Course Learning Outcomes-Covered 4 Implement knowledge management cycle processes in organization (Lo 2.2 & 2.5). 5 Apply elements of core knowledge and learning organization principles (Lo 2.1). 6 Identify and analyze challenges and issues pertaining to community of practice (Lo 2.7). Submission Guidelines ❖ All students are encouraged to use their own words. ❖ This assignment is individual assignment. ❖ Be very specific and focused on the issue while answering a question. ❖ Student must apply Saudi Electronic University academic writing standards and APA style guidelines and review at least three (3) scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles to support their answer for each question. ❖ A mark of zero will be given for any submission that includes copying from other resource without referencing it. ❖ No marks will be given for irrelevant details. ❖ It is strongly encouraged that you should submit all assignments into the safe assignment Originality Check prior to submitting it to your instructor for grading. ❖ If the assignment shows more than 25% plagiarism, the students would be graded zero. Assignment 2. The focus of the assignment is to evaluate the understanding level of students related to communities of Practice, learning organization, Students are required to: Read the material covered in Chapter 5 “Knowledge sharing and Communities of Practice” thoroughly from book as well as other sources. Use the following link besides other material to access the research paper titled, “Using communities of practice towards the next level of knowledge-management maturity” https://sajim.co.za/index.php/SAJIM/article/view/503 Assignment Questions Besides chapter 5 material, use above journal link to access the research paper titled, “Using communities of practice towards the next level of knowledge-management maturity” and write an essay containing following points. (500-600 Words) (5 Marks) a. Concept of communities of Practice. b. Highlight key components of Community of Practice. c. Roles and responsibilities in communities of practice. d. Chief obstacles to knowledge sharing. e. Concept of Learning Organization. f. Paragraph about the organization used for case study purposes in the above article. g. Summary of results / findings of case study. h. The main recommendations of the study. Answer: Communities of Practice The key components of Community of Practice Roles and responsibilities in communities of practice Chief obstacles to knowledge sharing Learning Organization Paragraph about the organization used for case study purposes in the above article Summary of results / findings of case study The main recommendations of the study Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice Lecture 5: Knowledge Sharing and Communities of Practice Recap: KM Cycle Processes  Knowledge Capture  Knowledge Creation & Contribution  Knowledge Codification & Refinement (inc. Sanitize) & Reconstruction (e.g. synthesis)  Selectively filter contributions  Knowledge Modeling  Knowledge Sharing & Pooling  Knowledge Organization &Access  Knowledge Learning &Application  Knowledge Evaluation & Re-Use OR Divest 2 Overview Knowledge Sharing  Communities of Practice Building blocks  Types of communities  Roles and Responsibilities   Directories of Experts Yellow pages  Skill mining   Mapping the Flow of Knowledge  Organizational networks and Sociograms 3 What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?   Traditionally, we have shared knowledge through ‘word of mouth’ (e.g. master to apprentice) While socializing comes ‘naturally’ to us, there are fewer opportunities in today’s much larger, much more global companies It was easy to do in the past: coffee/smoker cliques, water cooler conversations….. 4 But: In Today’s Working Environment Multi-lingual Multi-site Multi-cultural More & Faster More Global KM More Mobile More Connected 5 What is a Community of Practice (CoP)?  Definition of “Community”    “A group of people having common interests: the scientific community, the international business community” Similarity or identity: a community of interests Sharing, participation, fellowship American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3rd Ed. 1996. 6 Community Definition (continued)  “The body of people in a learned occupation: “the news spread rapidly through the medical community”   Common interests Agreement as to goals Merriam-Webster Dictionary 7 Community Definition (continued)  The word has been in the English language since the 14th century      Comes from the Latin “The quality of holding something in common” A sense of common identity and characteristics More direct, more immediate and more significant relationships than in formal organized societies Sharing of common goals, values, identities; participatory decision-making 8 What is a virtual community?  “social aggregations that emerge from the Net when people carry on those public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships” Knowledge is social as well as individual (The Virtual Community, Howard Rheingold, 1993) 9 What is a Practice?  A customary way of operation or behaviour  Translating an idea into action  The exercise of a profession  Knowledge of how something is customarily done Merriam-Webster Dictionary “There can be no knowledge without a knower” Knowledge is dynamic in nature 10 What is a Community of Practice in the KM World?  “A group of individuals informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise” (Snyder and Wenger)  Peers in the execution of real work. What holds them together is a common sense of purpose and a real need to know what each other knows” (John Seely Brown)  “Focused on the more professional nature of work. It’s trying to find a better way of doing work” (From the field….) 11 Putting the pieces together  The term “community” suggests that CoPs are not constrained by typical geographic, business unit or functional boundaries but rather by common tasks, contexts and interests.  The word “practice” implies knowledge in action – how individuals actually perform their jobs on a day-to-day basis as opposed to more formal policies and procedures that reflect how work should be performed. Lesser & Prusak, IBM Institute for KM 12 Community of Practice A group of people  informally bound together  by shared expertise  and passion for a joint enterprise 13 Source: Etienne Wenger Dimensions of Practice as the property of a community Joint enterprise Mutual engagement Shared repertoire 14 Dimensions of Practice as the property of a community Joint enterprise Mutual engagement Shared repertoire What is the “work” of community members? e.g. KM practitioners Heterogeneous Complementary 15 Dimensions of Practice as the property of a community What are the accepted objectives of the community? Joint enterprise Mutual engagement Negotiated consensus Mutual accountability Shared repertoire What is the “work” of community members? e.g. KM practitioners Heterogeneous Complementary 16 Dimensions of Practice as the property of a community What are the accepted objectives of the community? ‘Knowledge is local, sticky and contextual” Joint enterprise Mutual engagement What is the “work” of community members? e.g. KM practitioners Heterogeneous Complementary Negotiated consensus Mutual accountability Shared repertoire Artifacts: routines, tools, stories, ways of doing things, language, concepts, history, discourse Shared virtual space 17 How are Communities of Practice Different? Community of Practice Work Group Project Team Informal networks Purpose Exchange knowledge Membership Self select Deliver product Accomplish specific task All under manager Assigned or selected Pass on business information Friends & business acquaintances Glue Passion, identification with group Job & common goal Project milestones and goal Mutual need Duration As long as the interest lasts Until restructured Project completed As long as reason exists (excerpt from “Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier, by Etienne Wenger) 18 A Community of Practice Experts, Mentors *LPP – Legitimate peripheral participant Members Lurkers* 19 Multiple Communities Lurker in one, mentor in another Overlapping Communities A community waiting to happen Knowledge brokers 20 Multiple Communities Boundary objects Artifacts: tools, documents, models shared by CoP’s. Discourses: a common language that can be shared across CoPs Processes: shared processes, routines, procedures that facilitate coordination of and between CoPs 21 The Value Added by Communities of Practice The help drive strategy They start new lines of business They solve problems quickly They transfer best practices They develop professional skills They help companies recruit and retain talent 22 Source: Etienne Wenger Benefits of Communities of Practice  For the organization      Help drive strategy Solve problems quickly Diffuse best practices Cross-fertilize ideas, increase opportunities for innovation Build organizational memory 23 CoP Benefits (continued)  For the community     Develop professional skills Develop a common language Improve continuously LEARN 24 CoP Benefits (continued) • For the individual • Help people do their jobs & save time • Building a sense of community bonds within organization • Helps people to keep up to date • Provides challenges and opportunities to contribute 25 Why are CoPs important now?  Knowledge increasingly recognized as a strategic intellectual asset  Cannot be left to chance – need to actively, systematically organize, and disseminate knowledge  CoPs are a good way of doing this  CoPs need librarians, archivists, taxonomists….”knowledge stewards” 26 A Paradox of Management Although communities of practice are fundamentally informal and self-organizing, they benefit from cultivation. How to cultivate them:    identify potential communities of practice that will enhance the company’s strategic capabilities provide the infrastructure that will support them and enable them to apply their expertise effectively use nontraditional methods to assess their value 27 Community Building Blocks  Collective identity  Community type  Community roles and responsibilities  Community membership  Collaborative work environment 28 Community Types  Helping Communities  Provide a forum for community members to help each other solve everyday work problems  Best Practice Communities  Develop and disseminate best practices, guidelines and procedures for members’ use  Knowledge Stewarding Communities  Organize, manage, and steward a body of knowledge from which members can draw  Innovation Communities  Create breakthrough ideas, knowledge & practices 29 Community Roles and Responsibilities  Functional sponsor  Believes in and promotes the value of knowledge sharing and community membership  Core team  Community Leader  Community Facilitator  Logistics Coordinator 30 Community Core Team  Use their knowledge of the discipline to judge what is important, groundbreaking and useful  Enrich information by summarizing, combining, contrasting and integrating information into the knowledgebase  Establish a taxonomy for the knowledgebase 31 How Knowledge Workers Spend their Time Other 22 % 18 % Production 60% Research & Validation EDS 1996 32 How do we find information online? Phase I : on-line search Phase II : off-line search Succeed 5% Fail 10% Fail 95% 45 minutes spent on-line: Searching: Surfing: 5 min. 40 min. Succeed 90% After phoning for help, they find what they are looking for 90% of the time in less than 5 min 33 Directories of Experts  Research shows that even in companies with welldeveloped KM infrastructures, people still turn first to other people as they seek solutions to problems and knowledge   Knowledge flows are primarily through people What knowledge flows?    Direct answer to question Metaknowledge Help in reformulating the problem….. 34 Skill Mining  Similar to data mining  Purpose is to identify who within an enterprise has the expertise required to help a knowledge worker with a specific issue   Manual – Knowledge Support Offices Automated – Abuzz, Autonomy, Dataware  Tends to be better suited to ‘hard’ or technical skills 35 Yellow Pages – Expert Network Example Trading strategy Intelligence analysis Investment strategy Economic forecasting Portfolio theory Technical analysis Portfolio selection Company analysis Securities selection Industry and competitive analysis 36 Yellow Pages Activity  See handout FOR INSTRUCTORS: you can develop a list of about 20 items such as: “knows how to fix a lawnmower”, “can name 3 types of potatoes”, “has run a marathon.” Draw a line next to each item. Ask students to find someone in the class who has this type of “expertise”. This is a method of developing yellow pages. 37 Social Network Analysis (SNA)  SNA is a diagnostic method for collecting and analyzing data about patterns of relationships among people in groups    Can identify patterns of interaction such as average number of links between people in an organization or community, the number of subgroups, information bottlenecks, knowledge brokers Can help to improve knowledge flow, identify key brokers and hoarders E.g. 6 degrees of separation 38 SNA (continued)  Example: if your goal is to build a more cohesive knowledge network so people can access and interact with one another more quickly, more easily:    How well do you know and understand the skills and experiences of other members? Is the type of knowledge held by this other person important to the work that you do? Do you find it easy to access other people when you need help? 39 Knowledge Flow Analysis Example: Finding Hidden Experts Rosa and Thomas are `hidden` experts Orphaned database 40 SNA (continued)  Based on the results of the analysis, you may decide to:      Reorganize Introduce new specific roles e.g. moderator to assist in knowledge transfer Technologies to support expertise location, virtual meetings, as well as face-to-face meetings Introduce a shared goal they can work towards or theme of interest for discussion Self-awareness may be enough (“yikes – I am a knowledge black hole!) 41 Mapping the Flow of Knowledge Portal Jack Sue Knowledge request Knowledge response 42 Sociogram Example  Draw a sociogram of a community you belong to:    Family Friends Peers – e.g. have you exchanged knowledge with anyone in this class? How? (email, conversation, phone) for what purpose? (assignment) with anyone outside the class on the topic of CoPs/KM? Who?   Hobby groups Interest groups 43 Next:  Knowledge Acquisition and Application 44

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