MITS5505 Introduction to Knowledge Management Assignment Sample

Knowledge Management

1. Being an experienced Chief Knowledge Officer, what is your suggestion / recommendation on following:

a) Evaluate the above-mentioned scenario and give your arguments on failure of implementation of knowledge management.

Answer: Knowledge management system was a failure because of the following reasons:

1. The knowledge management system could not connect with the daily activities of the workers and help them understand the benefits of the knowledge management system.

2. The knowledge management efforts were not linked with the strategic objectives of the organization.

3. The employees were not accepting the change because of which the knowledge management system was not being used up to its maximum potential towards its success.

4. Lack of training for the employees for creating awareness and letting them know it functions.

b) If you were implementing the Production Project, then how you will motivate the employees and what strategy you will implement before and after the implementation of Production Project so that you won’t face the problem of plants not applying the new knowledge?

Answer: If I were implementing the Production Project, I would motivate the employees by:

1. involving the employees in the formulation of project objectives

2. encouraging team bonding and teamwork.

Before the implementation of the production project, I will prepare myself for the challenges in the implementation

1. Establish the objectives of the program.

2. prepare to turn the tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge about the importance of the knowledge management

3. Understand the limitations of the present information and communication systems

4. Understand the need for knowledge management in a constantly changing business environment.

5. Training and monitoring needs and plans

6. Overcoming the resistance to change.

After the implementation of the production project, I will:

1. Arrange training for the use of the program by the employees

2. Monitor the use of the program

3. Take feedback

4. Make necessary changes in the program

5. Re-run the program to check the effectiveness

c) Assume that you got the contract of implementation of knowledge management then discuss about what strategy you will apply and how would you implement the KM projects, ‘Production Project’, ‘Supply Chain Project’ and ‘Design Project’ by applying relevant capturing, codification and sharing techniques. Also, discuss and suggest which latest tools and techniques you would apply for the successfully doing the capturing, codification and sharing of the knowledge.

Answer:

While culture is disobeying strategy, the definition of a strategy is a prerequisite for the execution of a successful Knowledge Management program. The first three steps to be followed by implementing a successful Knowledge Management program are:

1. Create a Top 3 Targets list of your Knowledge Management program challenges and opportunities which will align the program objectives with the business goals.

2. Provide solutions to individuals, systems and development concerns which would eventually determine who will participate, which processes will be required, which tools to be used, and how will they help the processes and people in achieving their objectives.

3. Defining the strategy for the knowledge management program and converting the top objectives into the potential action.

The knowledge management project will be implemented by using the capturing, codification, and sharing techniques by:

1. Capturing knowledge is concerned with converting the tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. It includes collecting the information related to the project and storing the information of the previous projects which can be applied to the new project. The content which is captured using project databases, skills inventories, and documents. This becomes the raw material for the project which is further analyzed, codifies, stored and reused.

2. After the captured knowledge is analysed, it is then codified for producing methodologies, reusable materials, and reputable processes. Codifying would also involve establishing intellectual property, adding metadata to the stored documents for easy retrieval whenever required in the future.

3. The main aim of knowledge management is to make the correct knowledge or the right source of knowledge (including people) at the right time available to the right people. Thus the sharing of knowledge is perhaps the main aspect of this process, as the vast majority of KM initiatives depend on it. Knowledge can be shared once after codification is it correctly stored at various databases for effective retrieval of the knowledge.

Different sources of capturing knowledge are:

1. Previous project documents

2. communication with the client

3. communication with the employees

Different sources of the codifying the knowledge are:

1. knowledge maps

2. decision table

3. decision tree

4. case-based reasoning

5. knowledge-based agents

Different sources of sharing the knowledge are:

1. Newsletters

2. Unsolicited publications

3. Libraries

4. Databases

5. maintaining records

6. Maintaining files

d) Discuss about the steps and actions you would accomplish for a successful implementation of knowledge management projects, ‘Production Project’, ‘Supply Chain Project’ and ‘Design Project’ with respect to different stages of knowledge management as given below:

i. Stage 1: Advocate and learn

ii. Stage 2: Develop strategy

iii. Stage 3: Design and launch KM initiatives

iv. Stage 4: Expand and support initiatives

v. Stage 5: Institutionalize knowledge management

Answer:

i. Stage 1: Advocate and learn: Introduce the knowledge management by identifying the KM teams and focal points, learn about the past experiences of the similar organizations, identify the different advocates of the knowledge management, and promoting the support of the knowledge management initiative.

ii. Stage 2: Develop strategy: It includes forming the task force for the implementation of the pilots, then be vigilant in selecting the pilots, and at last, identify and allocate the resources to support the pilots.

iii. Stage 3: Design and launch KM initiatives: It includes releasing the money for the project, followed by developing the methodology keeping the budget in mind, and at last, to capture the learned lessons.

iv. Stage 4: Expand and support initiatives: It includes developing an expansion strategy, followed by communication and marketing of the knowledge management strategy, at last managing the growth of the knowledge management.

v. Stage 5: Institutionalize knowledge management: With the support of the top management embed the knowledge management in the business model, then realignment of the organization’s structure and budget for the knowledge management, then continuous monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the knowledge management strategy, followed by ensuring the balance of the knowledge management framework using the local control and making relevant changes, and at last, ensuring continuous operations of the journey towards continuous knowledge management.

e) After the successful implementation of ‘Production Project’ by you in above scenario, is it ethical to use the same plans, strategies and steps in implementing ‘Production Project’ in other similar companies? Give your answer with enough justification.

Answer:

After the successful implementation of the ‘Production Project’ in the above scenario, using the same plans, strategies, and steps in implementing the ‘Production Project’ in other companies would be ethical to an extent. The plans and strategies can become a part of the research study for other companies. Because these steps, plans, and strategies which were good for one company may not be the best strategy and plans for the other, thus, it will be required for the Chief Knowledge Officer to research the other companies.

These steps and strategies can form the basis of the work, so that the Chief knowledge officer knows which steps to not avoid and or ignore while planning and implementing the ‘Production Project’.

The Chief knowledge officer has the power to use, implement, absorb or withheld the knowledge, thus ensuring that the knowledge can be handy in different situations.

Remember, at the center of any academic work, lies clarity and evidence. Should you need further assistance, do look up to our Knowledge Management Assignment Help