Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know

Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know

By: Thomas H. Davenport & Laurence Prusak

1.    The goal of the book and its scope

The goal of the book is to offer a real “down-to-earth” guide for maintaining and managing what the authors call “the only sustainable source of competitive advantage going forward” which is knowledge.  The book breaks down the basic steps for knowledge management into four parts that must take place one after another in order to properly and effectively manage the precious commodity known as knowledge.  The book is designed to give managers of all levels the tools and insight needed to first understand what knowledge is, then find it in the company and lastly realize how to share it with everyone else.

The book uses a large number of case studies from a wide variety of companies to show the reader the different aspects and the importance of knowledge management in larger firms. The case studies are based on companies from different fields and of different sizes. Some of the case studies show successful implementations of knowledge management techniques and these case studies are used to show the benefits and the “what to do”. On the other hand many of the case studies are of companies that refused to acknowledge the importance of knowledge management in their companies. The companies mentioned in the book include: Coca-Cola, Texas Instruments, IBM, Ernst & Young, Boeing and many more.

The book deals with the theoretical side of knowledge in the company and its management. The book does not go into detail about the physical ways of technologies that can be used in order to share and mange knowledge. Although many examples are given of companies and their use of such technologies such as the internet and video conferencing, this is not the main point of the book.  The book specifically talks about the fact that knowledge management projects are not IT projects but rather cross companies projects that must have support from the highest levels of management (not unlike ERP projects).

2.    Summary of the book

The book is divided into nine chapters that offer a guide to knowledge management in any company.  The first chapter of the book is entitled “What do we talk about when we talk about knowledge”. This chapter offers definitions for key terms that are used later throughout the book and must be understood in order to grasp what knowledge management is. These terms include: Data, Information and Knowledge. This chapter also discusses the main issues that are present today regarding knowledge management, such as complexity of the knowledge, the changing economy and the fact that the world is moving to a service based system rather than a product based system. The first chapter also offers a look into the first case study which was done on the company “British Petroleum”.  The book mentions the need in the company to transfer and manage knowledge between teams that are located at different parts of the world and how British Petroleum used various technologies and management techniques in order to manage and transfer knowledge throughout the company.

The second chapter is named “The Promise and Challenge of Knowledge Markets”. This is one of the most important chapters in the book in my opinion. This chapter talks about dealing with knowledge the same way we would deal with any other commodity in an economy. The authors claim that the first step in managing knowledge correctly is to first recognize that there is a market for that knowledge.  The chapter discusses the elements needed to manage a knowledge market (which are very similar to any other market). Buyers and sellers are the most important part of any market and likewise also in the knowledge market. Without knowledge sellers (people in the company that want to pass on their knowledge) the market will not exist and therefore knowledge transfer will not occur. On the other hand there has to be buyers (people interested in learning and obtaining knowledge) otherwise there will again be no transfer of knowledge.

Like all markets the knowledge market must have some type of monetary benefit for the seller of the information. The authors state in this chapter that knowledge sellers must be rewarded in some way (not necessarily money) in order to encourage them to continue to act as knowledge sellers. In order for the knowledge sellers to have something to sell they must invest time and energy into acquiring said knowledge. Therefore it is important for the companies to recognize the knowledge sellers and allow them time to acquire knowledge and also “sell” it.

“Knowledge markets are built on trust”. This is the most important thing about a knowledge market. If the company frowns upon employees reading or water cooler talk as a waste of time employees, and especially knowledge sellers, will not want to gain more knowledge. The change in the company must come from top management and works its way down to all the employees. Employees must feel that the management of the company wants them to learn and exchange knowledge.

The third chapter named “Knowledge Generation” discusses the ways in which companies today generate or acquire knowledge. The authors mention five ways in which knowledge is generated in companies. The first way is acquisition. Acquisition may happen when a company buys another company and therefore gains control over its knowledge base or it may happen inside a company when an employee uses an idea from one project on another project that is not related. It is important to mention that many companies buy other companies for the sole purpose of gaining their knowledge but this many of the times fail once the buying company realizes that the knowledge was not documented and shared between employees informally.  The second method is dedicated recourses. Dedicated resources refer to the act in which companies set up dedicated teams to try and acquire knowledge, such as R&D teams. The third method is fusion. Fusion is where the company takes employees from various groups and puts them together in teams to try and come up with new ideas. The fourth method is adaptation. Companies today must adapt in this ever changing environment in order to survive. An adapting company will learn and gain knowledge while a company that fails to adapt will cease to exist. The final method for generating knowledge is through networks. It is important for the company to promote formal and informal networks for transferring knowledge. Examples are conferences about certain technologies, fun days for people with similar hobbies and even allowing employees to chat by the water cooler.

The fourth chapter is named “Knowledge Codification and Coordination”. This chapter deals with the way information flows throughout the company and how to map its flow. The chapter points out the importance of mapping the knowledge and the knowledge holders. The chapter also offers some advice on methods for mapping and coordinating the knowledge flow.

The fifth chapter is named “Knowledge Transfer”. This chapter is one of the most important in the book and rests on the idea of the second chapter that knowledge exists in a market. The chapter discusses the best way to motivate employees to “sell” their knowledge and how without the supply and demand of knowledge in the company there will be now flow. The chapter empathizes the importance of the high level management in the reshaping of how the company thinks about knowledge and it transfer from one person to another.  The chapter offers some methods for encouraging knowledge transfer such as forums and fairs. The chapter finishes with a discussion about the importance of changing the knowledge culture in the company. Without a real change in the way managers and employee perceive knowledge and its transfer no technologies or forum will change the way knowledge flows.

The sixth chapter is named “Knowledge Roles and Skills”. This chapter talks about the various roles that are needed in order to have an effective knowledge transfer infrastructure in the company. It is not enough to have a small team that is in charge of knowledge management and put all the responsibilities on that one team. Knowledge management should be a part of every employee’s job in the company. The most important part of the chapter talks about a key position that should exists in every company: Chief Knowledge Office or CKO. This position should be directly under the CEO and is responsible for deciding how knowledge is managed in the company. It is not the job of the CKO to actually distribute the knowledge but to create guidelines and to create systems by which knowledge “sellers” are rewarded. It is also the job of the CKO and his/her office to map out the key knowledge people in the company.

The seventh chapter of the book is “Technologies for Knowledge Management”. This is a brief chapter that discusses the various technologies available for knowledge management in a company. This chapter is not relevant due to the fact that it was written in 1998 and all of the technologies mentioned in the chapter and very basic today and used abundantly in every company regardless of their knowledge management capabilities.

The eighth chapter is named “Knowledge Management Projects in Practice”. This is a short chapter that deals with the aspect of managing projects that deal with knowledge management in the company. The chapter discusses various types of projects and uses various case studies as examples of successful and unsuccessful projects.

The ninth and final chapter is named “The Pragmatics of Knowledge Management”. This chapter is used to combine all the information discussed in the previous chapters and offer the reader some basic pointers in how to manage knowledge projects in a company. The chapter offers practical steps that are based on the theories that were placed forward throughout the book.

3.    A review of the positive aspect of the book

I think that this is a great book for any person starting to work in any company. It provides a new outlook as to what is knowledge and how and why we should share it. This book is a MUST for every CEO and will change the way they think about knowledge in their companies. The book review web paged called “Kip’s Review” had this to say about the book “One of the real winners in this arena”. (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2096530)

4.    A review of the weaker points of the book

One of the weaker points of the book is the fact that is has not been updated in 12 years. The book has many references to companies that are no longer relevant. I would have like to have seen case studies from companies that are relevant in today’s market. The book also talks somewhat about technologies that can be used to help manage knowledge in a company. Because the book was written in 1989 all the technologies mentioned are not relevant anymore.

5.    Personal view of the book

I personally very much enjoyed the book and have learned a lot from it. While reading the book and realized many things about the company that I currently work at and its problems regarding knowledge management. Since reading the book I have tried to implement some changes in my department in order to try and manage the knowledge a little better.

6.    Suggestions for future revisions

There are two major revision that I would suggest be made to the book. The first is to update the chapter that deal with knowledge management technologies (chapter 7). The second suggestion would be to update the companies used as examples throughout the book in order to make it more relevant to today’s readers.

7.    Summary and Suggestions to the future reader

My first and only suggestion for feature readers of this book is to read it and then pass it on to their boss who in turn should read it and pass it on to their boss and so on.

Looking for a JOB

This is my final simester of my BA and that means that it is time to start looking for a job!!!
Where to start from? What kind of job do i want? How much money to ask for? These are all questions that are sitting in the minds of all my class mates.  Unlike most of my class mates i have work experience in the field that i want to find a job in, but this does not mean i can have any job i want.
For the last couple of weeks i have been in and out of dozens of internet sites looking for different jobs that i might want to do.I could easily stay at my current job where everything is nice and cozy but i would be cheating myself.  I want to working in a new field that i dont have any experience in and so i feel like all my other class mates.  Every job opening i see requires experience for that particular job.  How am i supposed to get experience in a certain field if in order to get a job i need experience.  It is a "Catch 22". 
So i have sent out around 20 resumes and signed up for about 5 different job web sites and i am hoping to start getting some telephone calls back.  Other than that i have also filled out forms on various government web sites applying for certain jobs. 
I am very lucky that i worked for two years at a real company and had a real job before starting school.  I hear all my classmates talking and see how difficult it is to get even the smallest amount of work experience.  I know that it will be hard for me to change fields but at least i know that i can get a good job in the field that i have 5 years experience in.
The big question is how much money to ask for.  This was a big problem for me when i first started going on job interviews right after the army.  I would always get to that point in the interview and have a small internal panic attack.  Now that i am starting this process over again it brings back all those memories.  At the job i had before i started school i was making X amount each month.  Now when i go to an interview and they ask me what are my expectations for salary i want to say X+4000.  I obviously dont want to make the same as i did before school and i for sure do not want to make less.  I need to somehow convey to the new company that i now have 5 years experience (2 years full time and 3 years part time) and i also have a degree for the university.  But i also know that if i want to start in a new field that i might have to take a pay cut in the first year or two.
So these are all dilemma that i have to deal with while i am looking for a job. And on top of all of that i have to consider staying at my current job where i am very happy and enjoy my work.
So wish me luck on my hunt and if you hear of any good jobs please let me know.
Bye for now :-)

The GMAT

So i have decided to try and get accepted to the MBA program at Ben Gurion University. In order to get accepted i either have to have a certain average or get a certain grade on the GMAT test (either way i have to have above an 80 average to be eligible). So what is the GMAT test?
Well this week i started the course that is supposed to tell me what the GMAT is and help me get a good grade.  The GMAT is a standardized test not unlike the "Psychometric" test that people in Israel take in order to get into the various Universities.  The test is made up of three parts:
1. Essay writing - You have to write 2 different essays on two different subjects (30 min)
2. Math - Various math problems like algebra and geometry (no calculator) (75 min)
3. Verbal - English questions such as reading comprehension and sentence re structure (75 min)

Luckily the only part that matters to get excepted into the MBA program in Beer Sheva is the Math part.  I say "luckily" with sarcasm obviously because if it was the English then i would for sure get a good grade. Math is defiantly not my field.
So the course is 10 weeks with each class being almost 5 hours!!!  This week we had our first class and i am a bit scared about my chances of success.  The math questions a re really hard and i don't know if i will have enough time to do all the homework in the course.  They recommend to take the GMAT test 1 week after you finish the course.  The course finishes on the 6 of July which is 2 weeks before my first test of the Semester at the University.  The course cost 2,600 shekels and the test itself cost 250$ !!!!!!!!!
I am taking the test as a backup plan because i hope that my grades will be enough to get me into the MBA program. As of now i have an average of about 83 and i really hope that this semester will bring my average up to 84 at least.
Yesterday i took the opening test in order to help them determine in my level. I found the questions on the test to be really hard. I got a 33 with is like a 60 on a scale of 0-100. i was really bummed out about the grade i got and thought that i was in better shape then i actually was. So at least i know that signing up for the prep course was not a bad idea :-).
The place that i am doing the course in called "Kidum" which belongs to an american company called "Kaplan".  I am really happy with the instructor and think he can really help get a good grade on the test.  The course comes with lots of online materials which are great because it means that i do not have to carry around heavy books.  Also the real GMAT test is on the computer so taking the practice tests on the computer helps to simulate the real thing.
I will keep you posted on how the course goes and of course the grade that i get on my final test.
Bye for now...

Twitter - Knowledge Management and the Experience

So i have been using Twitter for a while now and i would like to discuss two aspects.  The first is my experience using Twitter and the second is the use of Twitter in Knowledge Management and in Organizations.
My experience with Twitter - I did not really "get" the idea behind Twitter before starting it and i am not sure that i get it now.  I see a lot of potenial for Twitter on a comercial and organizational level but not for noraml people.  I dont have anything to say that i feel will intreset other people.  On the other hand i like that i can get quick updates from important people or orginizations about what is going on with them. So i can see the point in following Israel or A major news paper but i can not see the point in following a friend or class mate.  During the exercise i found myself writing things that i know will not intreset anyone else and could not think of anything that would intreset them.  Also i did not feel the need to follow any of my classmates in order to know what they are doing.  It is true that it is like reading the status of a friend on Faceboook, but somehow for me it is different.  Maybe it is because i am already on Facebook and used to it by now or maybe it has to do with the frequency of the updates.  Twitter makes you feel like you have to update every few hours but on Facebook it is ok to updated every few days.  Even on Facebook i have friends that update everyfew hours and it is very anyoing.  To sum up this part, i do not think that after this course i will continue to use Twitter.
Twitter in an organization and as a tool for knowledge management - I think that Twitter can play a very important role in any organization as far as knowledge management is consigned.  It is useful in order to know what other people in the company are doing.  For example project managers can notify people about which customer they are working and then other workers can share information with them.  Also programs can tweet that they are having problems solving a certain computer problem and then other workers can try and help them out.  Twitter can also be use to keep the informal communication lines open between the employees and the management of the company. I think that Twitter can help join people in the company that have knowledge with people looking for knowledge, and as we know this is the most difficult part of knowledge management in a company. 
So as far a a tool in my personal life i do not see the need for Twitter but i think that it can be a strong tool to help companies with knowledge management.

The State of our State

Usually i write about gadgets and technology in my blog but given the recent events in the country and in particular in the South i have decide to write about "The State of our State".  On wnedsday morning at 5:30 am i was woken up by the sound of the air raid sirens.  Luckly my bedroom is also a bomb shelter so i did not have to go far.  Later that day the sirens went off again as more rockets were fired into Israel.  Then is the afternoon a bomb exploded in the heart of Jerusalem.  I think this situation has got to stop.  I know that this is not a one sided story where we are the victims, but the fighting on both sides has to stop. What bothers me the most is the battle that is taking place in the media.  When we retaliate the media shows only one side of the battle.
There is no other country in the world that would even allow one missile to be fired into there country.  I would like to see how the French would react if a missile was fired into Nice for example. The French would bomb the crap out of any country that sent a missile into one of their cities. The Hamas are firing rockets into cities that are not part of the conflict.  Beer Sheva is not close to Gaza it is not in the West Bank and no military action is being launched from there.  It is the only western country in the world where people have bomb shelters in their homes.
This situation is crazy!!!  It has become part of our daily lives here in Israel and it has got to stop. 
I dont have the perfect solution and i dont think that more violence from either side will solve the problem.  I do think that we need to give them their own country and build a secure boarder (like every other country in the world has).  I think we need to stop supplying them with water and electricity and stop letting them come work here.  They need their own country and even create an army.  That way when the fire missiles into our country it will be an act of war and we will have all the rights in the world to attack. But i think that they like the current situation.  They dont want their own country because this way they have someone to blame for all their problems.  You can not forget that no other country wants the Palestinians.  Lebanon does not want them, neither does Jordan, Syria or Egypt.  The situation is good for everyone because they are used to show how "bad" Israel is.   Once they have their own country they will have no more excuses as to why they can not get their shit together. 
I prefer to write about phones and gadgets but i had to get some things off my chest.
So bye for now and see you soon.

One week with the Desire HD

Ok...I have had the phone for one week and overall i am very happy but there are some things that are really pissing me off.
I am now trying to work on a problem with the WiFi that is driving me crazy.  Yesterday i spent 7 hours trying to downgrade the OS version from 2.2.1 to 2.2.  But what did i expect?  The truth is that i expected exactly what i got and i love it!!!!  I love reading posts in forums, i love solving problems and i love the fact that not every 12 year-old girl has the same phone as i do.  I have signed up in the past week to 6 new forums that deal with HTC or Android (both English and Hebrew).
I have already learned so many things, for example:
1. What is a ROM (i knew what ROM was but now i know in connection with android)
2. Gold Card (a Micro SD card used to make a phone Sim-Free)
3. Radio (not the kind you have in the car but the kind that controls all the radio frequencys and controls of the phone - Wifi, Cell, bluetooth)
4. Gingerbread (the next version of the OS - 2.3)
5. How to flush the ROM
6. How to create a Gold Card (physically changing the HEX code on the SD card :-))
7. How to do a factory restart
8. And much more...
The battery is one of the things that is driving me crazy and not in a good way.  This phone loves the battery.  It loves it so much that it wants to completely consume it in a few hours. 
The phone does not really like the WiFi connection at the University.  I can see to get a good connection for more than a couple of minutes and today i can not get a connection if my life depended on it.  All the forums say that i have to do a factory restart to my phone which means that everything that i have done so far will be erased (which is not necessarily a bad thing). 
The interesting thing is that this week i also got a new phone from Comverse.  I got a Nokia E5 smart phone (fully QWERTY keyboard, no touch).  The wired thing is that it is not the worst phone that i have ever used and actually has some features that are useful and that the Desire does not.  The Nokia will sync the Exchange to-do list and the HTC (and the iPhone for that sake) will not!!!
I will keep you all updated on how the adventure with the HTC goes.
Bye for now :-)

My Brand New HTC Desire HD!!!!!

Hello All,
Yesterday i received my HTC Desire HD.  I can not put into words how nice the phone is.  The huge screen is amazing and the phone feels great in my hands.  From the first second you turn on the phone i noticed how different it is from the iPhone.  I still think that the iPhone is a great phone but the HTC is so much different.  It is going to take me a while to get used to the new interface but i will have a lot of fun learning new things.  The thing that is going to take me the longest to get used to is the fact that there is a "back" button on the phone that lets you go back to where you just were. 
I think that the main difference in the UI is the fact that the HTC feels like it is always working.  For example in the iPhone i had to open the facebook app in order to see my notifications.  In the HTC all the apps are integrated into the phone so well that all notifications from all apps are shown on the phone all the time.  All types of notifications are shown at the top of the screen including things like: app download, app installations, SMS, e-mail and more.  Another example is the use of "widgets" like in the windows 7 OS.  There is a Ynet widget that shows news updates all the time.  There is no longer a need to open the Ynet app in order to get the main news. 
Of course the fact that it is a Google OS and it is open source has many advantages (which i am sure i will learn about as i learn more).  One thing i was amazed to see was in the Android store, where the Angry Birds app is FREE.  I also noticed lots of other apps that cost money in the Apple store are free in the Android store.  Making ringtones is also a breeze because all you have to do is pick a song from your library and make it a ring tone which one touch. 
The HTC is a phone that allows you to do so much more.  For example controlling the way apps run is possible in the HTC.  I can control how much memory each app will use and can also view the memory status of the phone.  These types of things are only possible on the iPhone after performing a jailbreak and adding some intrusive software.  If after a while i do not like the HTC version of the OS i can use someones version of the OS called ROM.  Any person can make there own special ROM and put it in the internet.  This gives me the freedom to choose a ROM that best suites my needs. 
The fact that there is no more need for iTunes or converting movies in order to play them on my phone is a huge advantage for me.  i no longer need to be worried about upgrading my iphone through itunes and having to reinstall everything on my phone. 
All in all i think that i am going to have lots of fun with this phone.  I will keep you up to date with my experience as a new android user.