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KnowBits
A. The Prototypical Knowledge Management Organization - A Reference Report Available From ACCSYS Corporation
As part of my ongoing
effort to create useful reference materials for those of us involved in knowledge management, I have prepared a report entitled, "The Prototypical Knowledge Management Organization," that is available for purchase. The
report costs $25 and can be downloaded from the ACCSYS Corporation web site at http://www.accsys-corp.com. A brief synopsis of the report follows.
Synopsis: The Prototypical Knowledge Management Organization. Dr. R. Kaplan.
ACCSYS Corporation. May 2000.
This report focuses on the "design" of a prototypical knowledge management organization. The premise of this report is to design an organization and describe the positions in it that would
support a complete knowledge management effort. The report presents the organizational design, describes 11 positions, and provides detailed job descriptions for each of these positions. The content of the report could be used as
the basis for a company's own knowledge management effort, as a reference for the necessary positions and the specific requirements for these positions. In addition, the report also describes a "starter" or
"seed" organization that would serve as the beginnings of a knowledge management group within a larger organization.
B. Virtual TeleClass - Brain Dominance
On November 8th from 9PM to 10 PM EST
I will be leading a virtual class about brain dominance. About 20 years ago, a researcher at GE wanted to better understand creativity. Out of this work came a model of brain dominance and a means to understand thinking style
preferences. This work has far reaching applications in learning, human interaction, and knowledge management. Join me for this virtual class. The class is free except for the cost of the telephone call. You may register at
www.teleclass.com and clicking on "Search for Classes." When the next screen comes up, in the box labeled "number" enter 4297. Click on "Find Classes." At the next screen click on "Add to
Cart." Follow the directions to register. I look forward to meeting you in this virtual space.
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knowldgWORKS News Number 36 November 2, 2000
Every Business is a Knowledge Business
Three basic questions should be part of the planning for running any business.
- What knowledge do I need?
- What knowledge already exists, and how can I acquire it?
- How can I create the knowledge that I cannot acquire?
For the last few months I have had the unique experience of working with a group of people who are attempting to give birth to a company. During this process, I have had an opportunity to get glimpses of the many activities that
may or may not result in the successful creation of a new enterprise. My primary insight has been the rate at which knowledge is consumed during these activities even if knowledge is not explicitly on the radar screen and knowledge
management is not an explicit part of the process. This leads me to the question, "What would it look like if we followed a knowledge management protocol for the creation of a startup enterprise?"
The idea for the new
business is a knowledge creation task and everything beyond that initial task is also a knowledge intensive task. Consider what knowledge is necessary to complete a business plan.
- Define the business - need knowledge about the business
- Define what environmental conditions make the business possible - need knowledge about the environment
- Define how the business will work - need knowledge the product(s) and transactions.
- Define who the competitors are - need knowledge of who the competitors and potential competitors are and what it will take to enter the market.
- Define the financials - need knowledge of where the money is going to come from, what the business model is, how much can be charged for the product, and how to prepare the financial documents.
- Knowledge about business plans - need knowledge of what is in a business plan and how to prepare a business plan.
This list is by no means complete. At the same time, it is extremely telling. By posing startup tasks as a knowledge intensive process, we can clearly see that the creation of a new business can be viewed as a series of tasks
which revolve around getting and using a particular type of knowledge. A project plan could be based on knowledge requirements. These requirements could, in turn, drive the startup creation process.
The table below depicts
a part of the project plan, the knowledge needs and how these knowledge needs might be fulfilled. In the third column of this table we have indicated how we may obtain the knowledge. In some cases we may acquire the knowledge (A)
as in buy the knowledge. In other cases we would be able to create (C) the knowledge. Lastly, the knowledge may be the kind that we could either acquire or create (A/C).
