Knowledge Management Systems: Information and Communication Technologies for Knowledge Management

645 Pages·2004·21.261 MB·English

by  Professor Dr. Ronald Maier (auth.)

Knowledge Management Systems
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Ronald Maier
Knowledge
Management Systems
Information
and Communication Technologies
for Knowledge Management
Second Edition
with 103 Figures
and 91 Tables
'Springer
Professor Dr. Ronald Maier
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
School of Business and Economics
Department of Management Information Systems
06099 Halle/Saale, Germany
maier@ wiwi. uni-halle.de
ISBN 978-3-662-12163-4 ISBN 978-3-540-24779-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-24779-1
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Preface for the Second Edition
Many skeptics thought that knowledge management (KM) was yet another passing
management fad and that knowledge management systems (KMS) were a pile of
complex, if not complicated, unintegrated, user-unfriendly technologies far from
being ready-to-use. However, the underlying goal of substantially increasing pro
ductivity of knowledge workers has paved the ground for an enduring effort that
does not shy away from the uneasy questions that arise when it comes to showing
the impact of KM initiatives on the financial results of an organization. Thus, more
and more organizations have implemented KM and KMS in the last couple of
years. At the same time, the number of books, articles and conferences on knowl
edge management has soared showing the tremendous interest of practitioners and
scholars alike.
The last two years have been an interesting period in my life. After completing
the habilitation at the University of Regensburg, I moved to the Martin-Luther
University of Halle-Wittenberg. My research assistants and Ph.D. students Thomas
Hadrich and Rene Peinl and I have developed a ten hours per week specialization
in knowledge management for the MIS program that builds on a four hours per
week course on information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastruc
tures. Teaching the subject is a demanding, yet rewarding endeavor. The bits and
pieces of concepts, approaches, theories, methods and tools that the book amal
gamates had to be turned into learning objects. The result is a demanding series of
courses requiring that the students bring together their knowledge about strategy,
organizational design, business and economics as well as information and commu
nication technologies. Strategically relevant bundles of organizational, functional
and ICT elements can be called KM instruments. As a consequence, part B of the
book was substantially extended and rearranged.
Due to the fact that knowledge management matures, the call for an integration
with more traditional management techniques has increased. Although this is diffi
cult for a long-lasting effort that requires a cultural change and years to harvest its
benefits, business process management techniques have been combined with KM
VI Preface for the Second Edition
approaches in the field of knowledge process reengineering. The (re-)design of
knowledge-intensive business processes and knowledge processes that was shortly
described in the first edition has been substantially extended in this edition. This
has been a joint effort with Ulrich Remus from the University ofErlangen-Nurem
berg.
Also, advances in ICT have provided new possibilities for supporting KM initi
atives, especially in the realm of personal knowledge management. The advances
have been organized in an amalgamated architecture for a centralistic KMS and
contrasted with an architecture of a distributed or peer-to-peer KMS. Peer-to-peer
KMS are a recent, still emerging phenomenon in KM. A number of ideas on the
potentials of peer-to-peer KMS are presented in Infotop, a joint project with
Johannes Sametinger from the Johannes-Kepler-University Linz.
What still stays the same is that I hope that the book will help you, the readers,
to understand the complex matter, that you will enjoy the ideas presented here and
that you will be motivated to develop them further. Any comments are most wel
come to [email protected]!
Many people have influenced my thoughts on knowledge management (sys
tems) during the last two years for which I want to thank them all. My special
thanks go to Florian Bayer, Thomas Hiidrich and Rene Peinl, Martin-Luther-Uni
versity Halle-Wittenberg for the many fruitful discussions and for proofreading the
manuscript, to Nadine Amende, Tilo Flother and Alexander Sandow, Martin
Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg for drawing some of the new figures and to
Klaus Bredl, University of Regensburg, Ulrich Remus, University of Erlangen
Nuremberg, and Johannes Sametinger, Johannes-Kepler-University Linz, for free
knowledge sharing on knowledge management and beyond.
Halle I Saale, October 2003
Preface for the First Edition
The term knowledge management systems (KMS) seems to be a misnomer at first
glance. On the one hand, knowledge in many definitions as used in the discipline
management information systems is either bound to people or extracted from an
t~xpert and made available in specially designed systems, so-called knowledge
based systems. On the other hand, management is a term that denotes the software
supported handling, e.g., storing, administering, updating and retrieving of (busi
ness) objects when used in connection with information and communication tech
nology (ICT). Examples are data base management systems or document
management systems. However, strictly speaking, knowledge management sys
tems neither contain knowledge nor do they manage it.
Even though the definition itself is subject to many misinterpretations, espe
cially from researchers and practitioners who are not enthusiastic about the use of
information systems in general, the term has been able to draw the attention of
researchers from multiple disciplines and practitioners with diverse backgrounds
alike. The term KMS has been a strong metaphor or vision for the development of
a new breed ofiCT systems. In this view, knowledge management systems create a
corporate ICT environment, a contextualized base, an infrastructure that takes into
account the complex nature of knowledge and thus supports the handling of knowl
edge in organizations. In order to achieve this, a number of heterogeneous ICT
have to be integrated, improved, recombined and repackaged. Examples are AI
technologies, business intelligence technologies, communication systems, content
and document management systems, group support systems, Intranet technologies,
learning environments, search engines, visualization technologies and workflow
management systems. Given the complexity of these "predecessors" or "ingredi
ents", it seems obvious that the development of knowledge management systems is
a complex undertaking.
Within this field, the book amalgamates a considerable number of theories,
approaches, methods and tools. The results are presented in the light of strategic
issues, the organizational design, particularly roles, collectives, tasks and pro-
VIII Preface for the First Edition
cesses, the contents of KMS, technologies and systems as well as the economics of
the application of KMS. I hope that the book will help you, the readers, to under
stand the complex matter, that you will enjoy the ideas presented here and that you
will be motivated to develop them further. Any comments and discussion are most
welcome: [email protected]!
The book presents the results of a four-year research project. During this period
I researched and taught at the University ofRegensburg, Germany and the Univer
sity of Georgia, Athens (GA, USA). I felt that it helped substantially in this effort
to participate in two different (research) cultures during that period. MIS research
in German-speaking countries differs from its Anglo-American counterpart in
some distinctive ways. In this research I tried to combine the rigorous, cumulative,
primarily quantitative Anglo-American MIS tradition with the more holistic, proto
type-oriented, often qualitative MIS tradition in the German-speaking countries.
The research underlying this book has involved many colleagues. First of all, I
would like to thank my two academic teachers, Franz Lehner, Chair of MIS at the
University of Regensburg and Richard T. Watson, Chair for Internet Strategy at the
Terry College ofBusiness, University of Georgia (UGA, Athens, GA, USA). Franz
created the freedom and the environment at the University of Regensburg neces
sary for this work, inspired me with his way of thinking about organizational mem
ory and supported this work in many ways. Rick not only helped me to understand
the Anglo-American way of research and teaching, intensively discussed my ideas,
the methods and procedures I used and served as a referee on my habilitation the
sis. He also created the opportunity for me to fully participate in the MIS depart
ment at the Terry College of Business as a Visiting Professor which gave me the
chance to work with the excellent scholars that taught there in 1998/1999. I would
like to especially thank Bob Bostrom, Chair of Business at UGA, Alan R. Dennis,
now Chair of Internet Systems at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
(Bloomington, IN, USA), Dale Goodhue, Professor of MIS at UGA, Antonie Starn,
now Professor of Information Systems at the College of Business, University of
Missouri-Columbia and Hugh Watson, Chair of Business Administration at UGA
for their kind support. I also thank Johannes Sametinger, Professor of MIS at the
University of Linz, Austria, for proofreading the manuscript.
My special thanks go to the members of the knowledge management team at the
MIS department of the University of Regensburg. Many ideas were created in the
countless debates, discussions and workshops that we organized! I would like to
especially thank Oliver Klosa, Ulrich Remus and Wolfgang Rockelein for their
support and companionship. Our strong commitment to free knowledge sharing
paid offi Furthermore, I would like to thank the members of the MIS group who
motivated me in difficult times and sometimes just smiled at my frantic sessions in
front of the computer: Volker Berg, Stefan Berger, Klaus Bred1, Ulrich Nikolaus,
Holger Nosekabel and Klaus Schafer. Last, but not least, my parents, Helga and
Kurt Maier, and my girlfriend, Alexandra Reisinger, always stood by my side when
the barriers seemed infinitely high. Many thanks to you all!
Regensburg, February 2002
Contents
Preface for the Second Edition . . . . . . . . . . . V
Preface for the First Edition . . . . . . . . . . . VII
Introduction ......................... 1
PART A
1 Motivation . • • • . • • • • • • • . • • . . . • . • . • . • • • • . • . . . • . . . . . . . 1
2 Goals ..•...••..•••..••..•..•••.•••..•.•••.•••.•...• 8
3 Procedure, Methods and Overview ..•••..•............ 10
Concepts and Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
PARTS
4 Foundation of Knowledge Management Systems . . • . . • • • . 19
4.1 Knowledge management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.1 From organizational learning to knowledge
management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.1.2 From management of data to management of
knowledge ............................. 37
4.1.3 From traditional work to knowledge work 44
4.1.4 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.1.5 Critique to knowledge management . . . . . . . . . 55
4.2 Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2.1 History and related concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
4.2.2 Types and classes of knowledge ............ 63
4.2.3 Consequences for knowledge management
(systems) .............................. 67
X Contents
4.2.4 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.3 Knowledge management systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
4.3.1 Overview and related concepts ............. 79
4.3.2 Definition .............................. 82
4.4 Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5 Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.1 Strategy and knowledge management .............. 87
5.1.1 From market-based view to knowledge-based
view .................................. 88
5.1.2 Knowledge (management) strategy .......... 98
5.1.3 Process-oriented knowledge management
strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5.2 Goals and strategies ........................... 108
5.2.1 Strategic goals ......................... 108
5.2.2 Strategic options ........................ 114
5.2.3 Generic knowledge management strategies 123
5.3 Success factors and barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.4 Resume ..................................... 130
6 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
6.1 Structural organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.1.1 Separate knowledge management unit . . . . . . . 140
6.1.2 Knowledge management roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.1.3 Groups, teams and communities . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.2 Process organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.2.1 Knowledge management tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.2.2 Knowledge management processes ......... 179
6.2.3 Example: Process-oriented KM . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
6.3 Organizational culture ......................... 189
6.3.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
6.3.2 Willingness to share knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . 190
6.4 Other interventions ............................ 197
6.5 Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
6.5.1 Process modeling ....................... 201
6.5.2 Activity modeling ...................... 210
6.5.3 Knowledge modeling .................... 214
6.5.4 Person modeling ........................ 220
6.6 Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
7 Contents and Systems .............................. 231
7.1 Technological roots ........................... 231
7.2 Contents .................................... 239
7.2.1 Types of contents ....................... 240
7 .2.2 Size and media used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
7.2.3 Structuring of contents ................... 246
7.2.4 Quality of contents ...................... 247
Contents XI
7.3 Centralized architecture . . . . . . . . . .............. . 250
7.3 .1 Integrating architectures for centralized KMS 250
7.3.2 Infrastructure and integration services ...... . 260
7.3.3 Discovery services ..................... . 261
7.3.4 Publication services .................... . 264
7.3.5 Collaboration services .................. . 266
7.3 .6 Learning services ...................... . 270
7.3.7 Personalization services ................. . 271
7.3.8 Access services ....................... . 273
7.3.9 Example: OpenText Livelink ............. . 274
7.4 Distributed architecture ....................... . 278
7.4.1 Peer-to-peer metaphor .................. . 278
7.4.2 Peer-to-peer knowledge management systems 280
7.4.3 Example: Infotop ...................... . 286
7.5 Classification ............................... . 298
7.5.1 Related work ......................... . 299
7.5.2 Classes .............................. . 306
7.6 Resume 310
8 Economics ........................................ 316
8.1 Expenses and funding .......................... 318
8.1.1 Expenses for knowledge management ....... 318
8.1.2 Expenses for knowledge management staff . . . 320
8.1.3 Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
8.2 Benefits of knowledge management initiatives 320
8.2.1 Intellectual capital approach .............. 321
8.2.2 Measuring knowledge transformations 322
8.3 Information systems success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
8.3.1 A multi-faceted construct ................. 324
8.3.2 The DeLone/McLean model .............. 326
8.3.3 Critique and extensions .................. 328
8.4 Success of knowledge management systems ........ 331
8.4.1 System quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
8.4.2 Information, communication and knowledge
quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
8.4.3 Knowledge-specific services .............. 337
8.4.4 System use ............................ 338
8.4.5 User satisfaction ........................ 340
8.4.6 Impact on individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
8.4.7 Impact on collectives of people ............ 344
8.4.8 Impact on the organization ................ 347
8.5 Resume ..................................... 349
9 Summary and Critical Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355