Knowledge Management System For Tribal Knowledge In Organizations

Goals of the organization and how data is captured

Discuss about the Knowledge Management System for Tribal Knowledge.

Managing the knowledge and skills of the employees is a major challenge to any organization. Every management department or discipline has contributed to the notion of knowledge management in a relatively independent manner. As indicated in the abstract, knowledge is the most fundamental and crucial asset to organizations. Yet, as it has been experienced before, knowledge has always remained undocumented making it hard to access and is at risk of getting diminished. The existence of apps that are used by various teams across the organizations means that important data increasingly lives within the stores within companies. And that just exacerbates the impacts of tribal knowledge, which is unwritten data or information that is not shared outside of a team. So, how do the organizations use knowledge management systems to manage, capture and react to ethical and legal issues associated with capturing data?

Knowledge management systems provide various advantages in any institutional setting, whether it is a community or a business or a whole country. It allows people and organizations to better create, use and transfer knowledge for several reasons.

Goals of every organization differ in so many ways but there are some that appealed based on the class discussion. The organization in this case is the World Bank. Its goals include using information technology to fight poverty and diseases in the developing world. The most outstanding of all is provision of technical assistance and developmental knowledge in the whole system. Moving on to the problem, the World Bank is focused on making things done professionally through knowledge sharing. In this case, the main problem being addressed is knowledge sharing barrier which is more of tacit knowledge in relation to knowledge management connected problem, a situation that forced the organization to overhaul the antiquated IT system to enhance knowledge sharing among the management staffs and the public.

Data capture is the extraction of data pairs from image files using OMR/OCR/ICR as well as Barcode technologies and it exist in different types such as fixed form, semi-structured and unstructured (Ragsdale, 2014). Data capture using KM systems seeks to address the problems as well goals of the World Bank. First and foremost any organization using Knowledge management systems would want to achieve growth and development. Therefore, a basis for progress is one of the goals of the World Bank. Capturing data using an effective knowledge management system increases an organization’s potential development and expansion. Growing an organization needs the ability to learn and adapt which requires knowledge management systems in place. There are multiple methods for capturing data from unstructured documents. The list is not exhaustive; there are very many methods; however, in this case, the focus is on the use of knowledge management systems. The method of capturing data depends on the origin of the document/source. It is advisable to consider the originality of the document to improve the capture process as well as method. The appropriate method of metadata capture for a particular organization process automation project consider all the available methods and the application of one or several may be suitable (Easterby-Smith & Prieto, 2008, p. 242).

Tacit and explicit knowledge

Knowledge plays a major role in the data management. Main challenges are to choose the right information from various sources and change it into useful knowledge.  Tacit knowledge is insubstantial knowledge received from the experience. This is recognized in individuals with capability and expertise. Explicit knowledge is the opposite of the tacit or that knowledge which is codified and transferable through oral or written language. The tacit and explicit knowledge that are addressed include leadership, innovation, sales, intuition, emotional intelligence, and decision making. On the other hand, explicit knowledge is any knowledge that is defined and explained in prescribed language, print media, normally determined by reputable work processes. Explicit is codified and saved in a specific media then quickly transferred to others. In many cases, most of the explicit knowledge is academic or specialized data which is defined in the official language as explained earlier. Examples include manuals and patents.

Tacit Knowledge	Explicit Knowledge
Leadership	Manuals
Sales	Documents
Innovation	How-to videos
Intuition	Procedures
Emotional Intelligence	Works of art
Decision making	Product design

Based on the goals of the World Bank, every company wants to achieve the best for the purpose of growth through growth. World Bank is putting in place good practices using knowledge management to ensure that tacit knowledge is well addressed. One notable thing that most companies as well as World Bank have done is providing training programs to steer the leadership, improve on sales, increase the capacity of the employees to emphasize on innovation practices as well as good decision making when it comes to several issues affecting the management.

Since it is difficult to capture and manage tacit and explicit knowledge/data through language, World have to some extent used other strategies such as:

1. Collaboration and Social networks: this strategy provides a structure for the transfer of knowledge/data through a process of collectively constructed learning (ElKhouly et al., 2017, p. 185). This strategy is based on the idea that the social nature of joint or collaborative communities provides the prospect to learn through joint discussion and discourses. This strategy offers a good opportunity to capture data based on the conversation and manage them through social network platforms where they can be stored for reference.
2. Reinvention: It is a route to receiving knowledge that does not engage transfer is the route to regenerating or reinventing the knowledge (Bahrami, Salehi & Korkmaz, 2014, p. 10). This strategy involves a demonstration by an expert within the organization and a mechanism for an intensive response. It is not quick but achievable route toward capturing and managing a satisfactory data in a selected area.

Recommendation: When particular elements in a work atmosphere are present, it is easier to share tacit knowledge, and the employees are encouraged to do the same. These comprise developing a non-aggressive setting, executing a guiding value, promoting the advantages of clarifying how work is done and creating ways to make an individual’s work noticeable in relation to the application of knowledge management systems.

World Bank is doing a good job of getting its member-states involved, mentally, and professionally making a suitable working atmosphere that encourages the employees in every nation. Knowledge management systems application has created some important changes in the workforce through incentives that result in higher output due to the effort put in place by employees (Dalkir, 2011). My recommendation will not be as strong as anybody would want it because there is still a lack of knowledge sharing among employees of World Bank de to disconnected systems and has been evident in the developing nations. Poverty and diseases are still causing problems to the member-states. However, other departments of World Bank are pretty doing well; the use of GDLN and the overhaul of the antiquated systems are just some indications that they are heading to the right direction. In measuring the benefits or advantages of using knowledge management, World Bank needs to emphasize on using various updated sytems that favors every member-states in poverty and disease eradiction rather than using systms that seem to help only developed nations (Limaye et al., 2017, p. 7).

Different aspects of KM at the company on the BTOPP framework (Benefits-Tool-Organization-People-Process)

As it is being defined, knowledge management helps the organization to create, use and share collective knowledge of the products, people, and processes to improve the output in the workplace (Byounggu & Jae-Nam, 2012, p. 503). One initiative that is currently being used is customer relationship management. Customer relationship management involves drawing, growth and maintaining successful customer relationships within a given time frame. At its center, there is growth or development of learning relationship that involves clients or customers in a two-way or joint conversation that is effectual and successful for both parties involved in the transaction or business. When the customer relationship management is effective, the knowledge-based procedure results in a relationship that becomes perfect and wider through each communication and dealing. The initiative’s main intention is to increase profitability, sales and return to investment through managing knowledge assets and a better understanding of the customer relationship management (Jyh-Rong & Kai-Ping, 2011, p. 658). The initiative is guided by the holistic considerate of the level of performance goals and needs. It is through this initiative that has enabled the World Bank to reach many starving member states and accomplish its agenda or goals in different nations.

Knowledge management systems are emphasized on the ability to capture knowledge and make it accessible at a later date when it is needed. For any organization that is purposed for great performance, it is recommended that they need to implement an effective knowledge management system in order of significance:

• The topmost officials of the company must establish and encourage knowledge sharing culture. This should take place at the top level of the organization and be imitated down the management line within the institution. If the top management is not ready to support knowledge management, the individual offices that would like to create an effective knowledge transfer can set up their knowledge culture (Bouthillier, 2015, p. 114). This will not only speed up the access to the important information but also improve decision making process culture.
• The culture of sharing knowledge should start early in the career of an employee. However, for those who are currently working, it should begin to immediately promote innovation and cultural transformation. This will encourage the sharing of ideas and access to the current or latest information and knowledge. The cultural change or transformation is important in the stimulation of innovation and to meet changing organization’s needs.
• Knowledge formation should be identified as top precedence within the work component. This is important in addressing both ethical and legal issues within and outside the organization (Firestone, 2017, p. 45). It ensures that code of conduct and good practices are followed to meet the needs of the customer thus ensuring satisfaction is achieved.

References

Bahrami, M, Salehi, M, & Korkmaz S. (2014).  ‘A Study of the Driving Factors of Knowledge Management and Corporate Entrepreneurship in Iran’, IUP Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 7-19.

Bouthillier, F. (2015). ‘Trust in Knowledge Management and Systems in Organizations’, Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 113-114.

Byounggu, C, & Jae-Nam, L. (2012). ‘Complementarities and Substitutabilities Among Knowledge Sourcing Strategies and Their Impact on Firm Performance’, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 498-545.

Dalkir, K. 2011. Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition, MIT Press

Easterby-Smith, M, & Prieto, IM. (2008). ‘Dynamic Capabilities and Knowledge Management: an Integrative Role for Learning?’, British Journal of Management, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 235-249.

ElKhouly, SE, El Sedafy, H, & Yehia, IA. (2017). ‘The Impact of Knowledge Management on Developing Career Path Planning and Development: An Empirical Study of Echocardiologists in Egypt’, Competition Forum, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 176-190.

Firestone, J. M. M., Mark W. (2017). Key Issues In The New Knowledge Management. [S.L.], Routledge.

Jyh-Rong, C, & Kai-Ping, H. (2011). ‘The Effects of the Introduction of Knowledge Management System into High-Tech Industry in Taiwan on Managerial Performance’, Pakistan Journal of Statistics, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 655-662.

 Ragsdale, C. 2014. Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis: A Practical Introduction to Business Analytics, 7th Edition Cengage Learning, Boston, Ma.

Limaye, RJ, Sullivan, TM, Dalessandro, S, & Hendrix-Jenkins, A. (2017). ‘Looking through a social lens: conceptualising social aspects of knowledge management for global health practitioners’, Journal of Public Health Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 3-9.