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Further Praise for People-Focused Knowledge Management
“Drucker may point the way of a knowledge economy, a knowledge business, a knowledge worker, but Karl Wiig instructs us precisely how to take advantage of a dynamic knowledge strategy. In People-Focused Knowledge Management, he sim- plifies the complex, makes the concepts relevant and actionable and leaves the (inevitable) results to us. Finally, we have a resource for creating a compelling knowl- edge value proposition linking economics, behavior and technology. For decades, his remarkable graphics and penetrating analysis has been a cornerstone for manager- ial excellence in all corners of the globe and all sectors of the economy. Few can match his roots and vision in this field; and no one will be disappointed with this newest triumph.” — Debra Amidon, Founder and CEO, Entovation International, Ltd., and Author of The Innovation Superhighway
“Melding theory with application, Wiig has created an invaluable ready reference for everyone who works in the knowledge management arena. He is uniquely qual- ified to provide such a thorough and thought-provoking analysis of the role of knowledge and knowledge management in meeting the business challenges that we all face.” — Alex Bennet; Mountain Quest Institute; Co-Author of Organizational Survival in the New World: The Intelligent Complex Adaptive System; former Chief Knowledge Officer of the U.S. Department of the Navy
“This book distills the practical and theoretical wisdom of one of the true pioneers in the field of Knowledge Management. The constant interplay of case analysis and fundamental propositions signals the coming of age of the discipline. It takes sea- soned practitioners and students alike to the strategic and systematic perspective of management that is required to release the power of knowledge in action.” — Francisco J. Carrillo, Professor of Knowledge Management, Center for Knowledge Systems, ITESM
“In People-Focused Knowledge Management, Karl Wiig goes beyond the boundaries of traditional knowledge management and integrates this with recent cognitive research on such diverse subjects as mental models, narrative, conceptual blending, decision theory, and sense making, in a very comprehensive treatment.” — Steve Denning, Author of The Springboard
“Karl Wiig’s understanding of the human and organization dynamics of KM is unsurpassed. His decades of experience and insight are captured in this seminal work.” — Carla O’Dell, Ph.D., President, APQC
“When it comes to weaving together theory and practice, Karl Wiig is a master! People-Focused Knowledge Management illustrates this beautifully. In it he inte- grates management philosophy with company specific illustrations, cutting edge epis- temological theory with specific knowledge management strategies, and current psychological research with operational details. The depth of Wiig’s analysis is unusual, and the fact that he carries the analysis all the way to concrete actions makes this book an especially valuable addition to the growing literature on knowl- edge management. A feast for the mind as well as the enterprise!” — Sue Stafford, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, Simmons College This page intentionally left blank PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page iii
People-Focused Knowledge Management This page intentionally left blank PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page v
People-Focused Knowledge Management How Effective Decision Making Leads to Corporate Success
Karl M. Wiig KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS • SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO An imprint of Elsevier PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page vi
Elsevier Butterworth–Heinemann 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wiig, Karl M. People-focused knowledge management : how effective decision making leads to corporate success / Karl M. Wiig. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7506-7777-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Knowledge management — Social aspects. 2. Organizational effectiveness. 3. Organizational learning. 4. Decision making. 5. Corporate culture. 6. Organizational behavior. I. Title. HD30.2.W52 2004 658.4¢038–dc22 2004005921
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 0-7506-7777-5
For information on all Butterworth–Heinemann publications visit our Web site at www.bh.com
04050607080910 10987654321
Printed in the United States of America PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page vii
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, xvii
Preface, xix
Foreword, xxi
Chapter 1 Competing in the Global Economy Requires Effective Enterprises 1
Premise 1-1: The Global Economy Demands Excellence, 1 The Competitive Enterprise Example, 1 The Global Economy Challenge, 4 The World Requires Us to Change, 6 Knowledge-Intensive Work, 7 The Misunderstanding of Knowledge-Intensive Work, 7 Knowledge Intensity, 8 Work Is Becoming Increasingly Complex and Valuable, 9 Complex Work Creates Greater Value, 12 The Six Major Challenges, 12 Four Management Initiatives, 17 Enterprise Effectiveness Requires Good Intellectual Capital Assets, 19 Examples of Structural Intellectual Capital, 22 The Role of Knowledge Workers, 23 vii PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page viii
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Chapter 2 The Effective Enterprise 26
Premise 2-1: Individual Actions Lead to Overall Enterprise Performance, 26 Premise 2-2: Effective Enterprise Behavior Leads to Success, 26 The Proactive and Decisive Company Example, 26 Management Philosophy, 27 Management Choices, 27 Knowledge-Related Practices and Actions, 28 Resulting Behavioral and Cultural Traits, 29 The Company’s Business Results, 29 What Does It Mean That an Enterprise Is Effective?, 29 Good Enterprise Performance Results from Effective Personal Actions, 31 Effective Enterprises Rely on Broad and Deep Knowledge, 33 What Is Successful Enterprise Performance?, 34 External and Internal Enterprise Effectiveness, 35 Success and Knowledge-Intensive Work, 36 The Importance of Information Technology, 36 Productivity Is Not Always What We Expect!, 37 Different Kinds of Productivity, 38 Value Creation and Productivity, 39 A Systemic Model of Enterprise Performance, 40 Changing Enterprise Performance Takes Time, 42 Characteristics of the Effective Enterprise, 44 Six Success Factors for the Effective Enterprise, 46 Six Behaviors of the Effective Enterprise, 51 Successful Performance Is Durable, 55 Performance Is a Function of Many Factors Acting Simultaneously, 58 The Intellectual Asset Management Mentality, 59 Building and Exploiting Intellectual Capital Assets Are Important, 60 People Adopt New Mindsets!, 61 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page ix
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Chapter 3 Actions Are Initiated by Knowledgeable People: People Make Decisions and Act Using Different Kinds of Mental Functions 63
Premise 3-1: The Machinery of the Brain Metaphor Is a Useful Beginning, 63 Premise 3-2: The Mind-As-Machine Metaphor Does Not Cover Everything, 63 The Personal Reasoning Example, 64 Have We Misunderstood How People Think, Make Decisions, and Act?, 65 Thinking, Reasoning, and Knowledge, 69 Associations and Biases Govern Our Actions, 72 Information Is Not Knowledge!, 73 The Purpose of Knowledge Is Action; the Purpose of Information Is Description, 73 On Information, Knowledge, and Discontinuity, 76 Good Reasoning Matches Knowledge and Information, 77 Knowledgeable and Informed Decisions Deliver Performance, 80 Goal-Directed Reasoning Relies on Goals, Information, and Knowledge, 81 Personal Knowledge Is Built from Mental Models, 83 On Mental Models, 85 Many Mental Models Are Based on Metaknowledge, 86 The Importance of Metacognition, 87 The Importance of Implicit Learning, 89 The Personal and Enterprise Knowledge Evolution Cycle, 89 The Needs to Increase People’s Knowledge, 93 Knowledge Required to Act Effectively, 93 Examples of Approaches to Develop Mental Models in People, 96 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page x
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Chapter 4 Mental and Structural Reference Models 100
Premise 4-1: People Imitate Prior Behaviors, 100 Premise 4-2: Organizations Re-enact Past Practices, 100 The Personal Memory Example, 100 Mental Model Preview, 102 Personal Reference Models, 102 Reference Models Are Stories!, 105 Why Are Stories Important?, 107 It Is Always Hard to Grasp the Whole Coherently, 107 Stories Are Unsurpassed for Effective Communication, 109 We Rely on Stories to Tackle New Problems, 110 Stories Help Us Learn Better, 110 Stories and Mental Simulations, 111 Organizational Reference Models, 114 Leaders Create Powerful Reference Models, 115
Chapter 5 A Knowledge Model for Personal Situation-Handling 117
Premise 5-1: Situation-Handling Requires Action, 117 Premise 5-2: Good Situation-Handling Is the Result of Effective Actions, 117 Personal Situation-Handling: A Customer Service Example, 118 Introduction to Personal Situation-Handling, 118 The General Context, 120 The Knowledge-Based Situation-Handling Model, 122 The Customer Service Example Revisited, 125 The Four Situation-Handling Tasks, 126 Sensemaking and Situational Awareness, 127 Sensemaking, 127 Situational Awareness, 128 Decision-Making/Problem-Solving and Action Space and Innovation Capability, 131 Decision-Making, 131 Single-Stage and Multistage Decision-Making, 133 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xi
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Mental Simulations, 135 Problem-Solving, 135 Action Space, 140 Innovation Capability, 141 Implementation and Execution Capability, 142 Implementation, 143 Execution Capability, 143 Monitoring and Governance Competence and Perspectives, 144 Monitoring, 144 Governance Competence and Perspectives, 147 The Expert and the Novice: When Situations Are Not as First Believed, 147 Story-Based Models Provide Situation-Handling Knowledge, 148 Topic Domain Knowledge, 149 The Mental Reference Models in Situation-Handling, 150 Understanding Adjacent Operations, 152 The Relevance of General and World Knowledge, 152
Chapter 6 Enterprise Situation-Handling 155
Premise: Individual Situation-Handling Actions Lead to Consolidated Enterprise Behavior, 155 The Enterprise Situation-Handling Example, 155 The Situation, 155 Information Gathering, 155 Sensemaking, 156 Understanding the Situation, 157 Decision-Making/Problem-Solving and Action-Selection, 158 General Aspects, 159 Introduction to Enterprise Situation-Handling, 160 The Four Enterprise Situation-Handling Tasks, 162 Sensemaking and Its Situational Awareness, 167 Sensemaking in the Enterprise, 168 Enterprise Situational Awareness, 170 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xii
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Decision-Making/Problem-Solving and Action Space and Innovation Capability, 172 Enterprise Decision-Making, 175 Enterprise Problem-Solving, 177 Enterprise Action Spaces, 181 Enterprise Innovation Capabilities, 183 Implementation and Its Execution Capability, 186 Implementation in the Enterprise, 189 Enterprise Execution Capability, 191 Monitoring and Governance Competence and Perspectives, 192 Monitoring in the Enterprise, 194 Enterprise Governance Competence and Perspectives, 198 Enterprise Situation-Handling Has Many Levels, 200 The Importance of the Situation-Handling Model, 200 Enterprise Situation-Handling Model Insights, 202 Why Should We Be Concerned with Details?, 204 Appendix: Action Program Details of the Enterprise Situation-Handling Example, 206
Chapter 7 People-Focused Knowledge Management in Daily Operations 213
Premise 7-1: Knowledge Drives Enterprise Performance, 213 Premise 7-2: Knowledge Must Be Managed, 213 Premise 7-3: Effective Knowledge Management Must Be People- Focused, 213 Premise 7-4: Six Factors Determine Personal Knowledge-Related Effectiveness, 213 The Vigilant Knowledge Company Example, 214 New Generation Knowledge Management, 216 New Generation Knowledge Management Is Different, 218 New Opportunities Require New Efforts and Directions, 222 Perspectives on New Generation Knowledge Management, 222 Deliberate and Systematic Knowledge Management, 225 New Generation Knowledge Management Foci, 227 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xiii
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People Focus, 227 Enterprise Focus, 228 Technology Focus, 230 The Bar Has Been Raised — NGKM Implications, 230 Starting the Knowledge Management Practice, 231 Problems with Conventional Knowledge Management, 234 New Generation Knowledge Management Challenges, 235 Knowledge-Focused Mentality and Corporate Culture, 237 The Enterprise Culture, 239 Four Key Knowledge Management Thrusts, 240 The Power of Role Models, Examples, and Practices, 240 Making Everybody Understand, 241 Understanding the Enterprise Direction and Context, 241 The Service Paradigm, 242 Knowledge-Related Effectiveness and Efficiency, 245 Knowledge Effectiveness and Efficiency, 245 Knowledge Effectiveness, 245 Knowledge Efficiency, 245 Knowledge Management Effectiveness and Efficiency, 246 Knowledge Management Effectiveness, 246 Knowledge Management Efficiency, 246
Chapter 8 People-Focused Knowledge Management Expectations 248
Premise: People-Focused Knowledge Management Supports Global Excellence, 248 The Global Leader Example, 248 What Future Knowledge Management Business Users May Expect, 252 The Business Environment Is Under Pressure, 254 Success Relies on Knowledgeable Behavior, 255 Expected Knowledge Management Developments, 257 The Changing Workplace, 263 Knowledge Will Be Bought and Sold, 266 Societal Side-Effects, 267 We Are Far From Finished!, 268 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xiv
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New Enterprises and Integrative Management, 269 Objectives of Integrative Management, 270 In Complex Businesses, Better Practices Are Required, 272 Intellectual Work Is Indeed Complex, 273 How Do We Implement Integrative Management?, 274 Final Thoughts, 276 Our Present Direction, 276 The Societal Conundrum — What Shall We Do?, 278
Appendix A Examples of Knowledge Management Analysis Approaches 281
Knowledge Vigilance Survey Approaches, 281 Knowledge Surveys and Knowledge Audits, 283 Knowledge Assets Mapping — Intellectual Capital Inventorying, 283 Knowledge Landscape Mapping, 284 Knowledge Mapping (K-MAPs), 286 Competitive Knowledge Analysis, 287 Knowledge Flowcharting and Analysis (KFA), 287 Knowledge Diagnostics, 288 Critical Knowledge Function Analysis (CKFA), 289 Knowledge (Management) Benefit Assessment (KBA), 290 Information Technology-Based KM Tools, 293
Appendix B Examples of Knowledge Management Practices and Initiatives 298
General Business Focus, 299 Intellectual Asset Management Focus, 299 Innovation and Knowledge Building Focus, 300 Knowledge Sharing and Information Transfer Focus, 301 Information Technology-Based Knowledge Capture and Delivery Focus, 302 20 Knowledge Management Initiatives and Practices, 303 PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xv
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Appendix C Memory and Knowledge Categorizations 312
Human Memory Organization, 312 Working Memory, 314 Medium-Term Buffer Memory, 317 Long-Term Memory, 318 Procedural Memory, 319 Conceptual Memory, 319 Episodic Memory, 320 Semantic Memory, 320 Lexical Memory, 321 Encyclopedic Memory, 321 Priming Memory, 322 Abstract Knowledge Objects, 323 Routines, Operational Models, Scripts, Schemata, General Principles, and Metaknowledge, 323 Routines, 323 Operational Models, 324 Scripts, 325 Schemata, 325 General Principles, 326 Metaknowledge and Metacognition, 326 Metacognition, 327
Glossary, 329
References, 347
Index, 357 This page intentionally left blank PR.qxd 5/3/04 2:31 PM Page xvii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book could only be possible by the continued support by Elisabeth, my wife of many decades, who with her own research, deep insights, and collaboration has encouraged my investigations and allowed me to channel my efforts into this venture. I am also grateful for the support of Serina Lai and her associates at Angel Net Universal Company, Ltd. For the insights and contents of this book, I thank my many clients and professional collaborators over the past 40 years. They have continually pointed me in directions — and shown me solutions — that for the most part would have eluded me. I am particularly indebted to those organizations, some with which I have not worked, that by their examples demonstrate the enduring power of leadership that combines people-friendliness with business savvy, requirements for perfection, and intolerance for foul play. Several of my teachers of the past changed and broadened my per- spectives, providing lasting influences, even though some encounters were brief. I particularly wish to recognize Russel Ackoff, the late Donald Ekman, Edward Lawler, and Irving Lefkowitz. I am also beholden to the researchers and thinkers in many fields whose works have influenced and strengthened my convictions. They made it possible to “stand on their shoulders,” and many of their contributions are referenced in this book. The book includes examples and case histories without attribu- tions. Most are modified to fit the topics they illustrate, and some might be recognized by their originators. I am thankful for their contributions.
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PREFACE
This book is based on some fundamental beliefs about what makes a great enterprise: