Knowledge Management.

A PROJECT REPORT ON

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIRMENT OF MASTER’S DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Webuniv Infotech Ltd.

SUBMITTED BY: MANISH KUMAR SINGH Roll No.: 510919914

Session: 2009-2011

SANNEXURE –A (COVER PAGE)

Webuniv Infotech Ltd
Code:-0963

Project title:

KNOWLEDGE MANGEMENT

By:

MANISH KUMAR SINGH Roll No.: 510919914

A project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION of SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY, INDIA. Sikkim –Manipal university of Health, Medical and technological Sciences Distance education wing Syndicate house Manipal-576 104

ANNEXURE B (STUDENT DECLARATION)

We here by declare that the project report entitled KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of masters of business Administration to Sikkim-Manipal University, India, are our original work and not submitted for the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or prizes.

Reg.No: 510919914

Name MANISH KUMAR SINGH

Date:

Place:

ANNEXURE –C (EXAMINER’S

CERTIFICATE)

The

project

report

by

Manish

Kumar

Singh

on

KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT is approved and is acceptable in quality and form.

Internal examiner

External examiner

Name:Qualification: Designation: -

Name:Qualification:Designation:-

ANNUXERE – D (UNIVERSITY STUDY CENTRE CERTIFICATE)

This is to certify that the project report entitled KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION of SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY of Health, Medical and Technological science.

Manish Kumar Singh has worked under my supervision and that no part of this report has been submitted for the award of any other degree, Diploma , fellowship or other similar titles or prizes and that the work has been published in any journal or Magazine.

Name Manish Kumar Singh

Reg. no 510919914

Certified

(Guide’s Name)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With a deep sense of gratitude I express we thanks to all those who have been instrumental in the development of the project report.

I am also grateful to Webuniv Infotech Ltd, Delhi who gave me a valuable opportunity of involving me in real live business project. I am thankful to all the professors whose positive attitude, guidance and faith in my ability spurred me to perform well.

I am also indebted to all lecturers, friends and associates for their valuable advice, stimulated suggestions and overwhelming support without which the project would not have been a success.

S.NO

CHAPTERISATION

1. 2.

Objective of the Project Introduction of the Topic  Introduction  Definition of Knowledge  Types of Knowledges  Religious Meaning of Knowledge

3.

About Knowledge Management  History of Knowledge Management  Modern Methods  Needs of Knowledge Management  Key Concepts of Knowledge Management  Knowledge Management Technologies  Sources of Knowledge Management  Knowledge Management Stratagies  Knowledge Management – Emerging Perspective  Knowledge Management in Disaster Risk Reduction  Knowledge Management – Cross Disciplinary Domain

4.

About Tata Steels  Introduction  Products  Corporate Sustainability  Policies  Management  Business Units  Corporate Governance

 Aim & Vision 5. Journey of Knowledge Management in Tata Steels  Phases of Knowledge Management  Stakeholders in Knowledge Management  Knowledge Management Stratagies at Tata Steels  Knowledge Management Portal at Tata Steel  Knowledge Management Milestones 6. Knowledge Management at Asian Development Bank  Core Knowledge Activities  Knowledge Management Tools  Pillars of Knowledge Management  Function & Activities for Knowledge Management 7. Knowledge Management at NASA  Where is NASA headed ?  How will NASA measure success? 8. 9. 10. 11. Research Methodology Suggestion Conclusion Bibliography

1.KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

OBJECTIVES 1. To understand the concept of Knowledge Management in India. 2. To learn the importance of Knowledge Management in Corporate World. 3. The project will identify, analyze and evaluate the various types of Knowledge existing thereof. 4. To identify the Importance of Knowledge Management in Disaster Risk Reduction. 5. To understand the problems and challenges faced by the Organizations in managing the Knowledge of different types. 6. To define the Knowledge Management in different organizations. 7. To study the profile of the Tata Steel. 8. To know about the Journey of Knowledge Management in Tata Steels. 9. To know about the Knowledge Management in Asian Development Bank. 10. To understand the Concept of Knowledge Management in detail.

2. INTRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Introduction Knowledge Management ('KM') comprises a range of practices used by organisations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. It has been an established discipline since 1995
[1]

with a body of university courses and both professional and

academic journals dedicated to it. Many large companies have resources dedicated to Knowledge Management, often as a part of 'Information Technology' or 'Human Resource Management' departments. Knowledge Management is a multi-billion dollar world wide market. Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organisational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage innovation, lessons learnt transfer (for example between projects) and the general development of collaborative practices. Knowledge Management is frequently linked to the idea of the learning organisation although neither practice encompasses the other. Knowledge Management may be distinguished from Organisational Learning by a greater focus on specific knowledge assets and the development and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge flows At Knowledge Praxis, Knowledge Management has been defined as a business activity with two primary aspects:  Treating the knowledge component of business activities as an explicit concern of business reflected in strategy, policy, and practice at all levels of the organization.

 Making a direct connection between an organization’s intellectual assets — both explicit [recorded] and tacit [personal know-how] — and positive business results. In practice, knowledge management often encompasses identifying and mapping intellectual assets within the organization, generating new knowledge for competitive advantage within the organization, making vast amounts of corporate information accessible, sharing of best practices, and technology that enables all of the above — including groupware and intranets. That covers a lot of ground. And it should, because applying knowledge to work is integral to most business activities. Knowledge management is hard to define precisely and simply. (The definition also leapfrogs the task of defining "knowledge" itself. We’ll get to that later.) That’s not surprising. How would a nurse or doctor define "health care" succinctly? How would a CEO describe "management"? How would a CFO describe "compensation"? Each of those domains is complex, with many sub-areas of specialization. Nevertheless, we know "health care" and "management" when we see them, and we understand the major goals and activities of those domains. What is “KNOWLEDGE ?” In simplest terms, knowledge is the ability of an actor to respond to a body of facts and principles accumulated over a period of time One way to look at knowledge is as the apogee of the following continuum – data information knowledge

 Data=1 unit of fact; information=aggregation of data; knowledge=potential for action on information  Data and information have intrinsic properties, the quality of knowledge depends on the properties of the agent Aren’t we managing knowledge already? Well, no. In fact, most of the time we’re making a really ugly mess of managing information. In practice, the terms information and knowledge are often used interchangeably by business writers. Let’s choose a simple working definition and get on with it:  Knowledge has two basic definitions of interest. The first pertains to a defined body of information. Depending on the definition, the body of information might consist of facts, opinions, ideas, theories, principles, and models (or other frameworks). Clearly, other categories are possible, too. Subject matter (e.g., chemistry, mathematics, etc.) is just one possibility.  Knowledge also refers to a person’s state of being with respect to some body of information. These states include ignorance, awareness, familiarity, understanding, facility, and so on. There are many thoughtful and thought-provoking definitions of "knowledge" — including the important distinctions Gene Bellinger et al. make in "Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom". Nevertheless, Nickols provides a good, sensible, functional definition, and it is sufficient for our purposes. Nickols’ two kinds of knowledge parallel Michael Polanyi’s often-quoted distinction between explicit knowledge (sometimes referred to as formal knowledge), which can be articulated in language and transmitted among individuals, and tacit knowledge (also, informal knowledge), personal knowledge rooted in individual experience and

involving personal belief, perspective, and values. (Polanyi, Michael. The Tacit Dimension. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. See also Karl E. Sveiby’s online description, "Tacit Knowledge." In traditional perceptions of the role of knowledge in business organizations, tacit knowledge is often viewed as the real key to getting things done and creating new value. Not explicit knowledge. Thus we often encounter an emphasis on the "learning organization" and other approaches that stress internalization of information (through experience and action) and generation of new knowledge through managed interaction. In the opinion of the editors of Knowledge Praxis, quibbles about fine distinctions in the meaning of knowledge are just not very important. (See Rant #1: Thinking objectively about subjective knowing) It doesn’t matter whether a written procedure or a subject matter expert provides a solution to a particular problem, as long as a positive result is achieved. However, observing how knowledge is acquired and how we can apply knowledge — whether tacit or explicit — in order to achieve a positive result that meets business requirements … that’s a different and very important issue. Knowledge is defined (Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of knowledge as "justified true belief". There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories.

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose if appropriate. DEFINING KNOWLEDGE “ We suppose ourselves to possess unqualified scientific knowledge of a thing, as opposed to knowing it in the accidental way in which the sophist knows, when we think that we know the cause on which the fact depends, as the cause of that fact and of no other, and, further, that the fact could not be other than it is. Now that scientific knowing is something of this sort is evident — witness both those who falsely claim it and those who actually possess it, since the former merely imagine themselves to be, while the latter are also actually, in the condition described. Consequently the proper object of unqualified scientific knowledge is something which cannot be other than it is. ”

The definition of knowledge is a matter of on-going debate among philosophers in the field of epistemology. The classical definition, described but not ultimately endorsed by, Plato[1], has it that in order for there to be knowledge at least three criteria must be fulfilled; that in order to count as knowledge, a statement must be justified, true, and believed. Some claim that these conditions are not sufficient, as Gettier case examples allegedly demonstrate. There are a number of alternatives proposed, including Robert Nozick's arguments for a requirement that knowledge 'tracks the truth' and Simon Blackburn's additional requirement that we do not want to say that those who meet any of these conditions 'through a defect, flaw, or failure' have knowledge. Richard Kirkham suggests that our definition of knowledge requires that the believer's evidence is such that it logically necessitates the truth of the belief.

In contrast to this approach, Wittgenstein observed, following Moore's paradox, that one can say "He believes it, but it isn't so", but not "He knows it, but it isn't so".
[2]

He goes on to argue that these do not correspond to distinct mental states, but rather to distinct ways of talking about conviction. What is different here is not the mental state of the speaker, but the activity in which they are engaged. For example, on this account, to know that the kettle is boiling is not to be in a particular state of mind, but to perform a particular task with the statement that the kettle is boiling. Wittgenstein sought to bypass the difficulty of definition by looking to the way "knowledge" is used in natural languages. He saw knowledge as a case of a family resemblance.

RELIABLE KNOWLEDGE

In An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method (1934), Morris R. Cohen and Ernest Nagel reviewed the pursuit of truth as determined by logical considerations. They reviewed ways of eliminating doubt and arriving at stable beliefs or reliable knowledge, such as  The method of authority  The method of intuition  The methods of experimental inquiry:  Types of invariant relations  The experimental method in general  The method of agreement  The method of difference  The joint method of agreement and difference  The method of concomitant variation  The doctrine of the uniformity of nature  The plurality of causes Their final conclusion was, "Scientific method we declare as the most assured technique man has yet devised for controlling the flux of things and establishing stable beliefs." In an essay entitled "Inductive Method and Scientific Discovery," Marcello Pera said, "In the first place, the scientific method is a procedure, a general strategy that indicates an ordered sequence of moves (or steps) which the scientist has to make (or go through) in order to reach the goal of his research." (In On Scientific Discovery, edited by Grmek, Cohen, and Cimino [1977], published in the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series.) The scientific method is not a method directly applied, but rather a guide to the mental activity stages of originating, refining, extending,

and applying knowledge. It is subject neutral and flexible in use; it is thus suitable for all domains. Statements about truth must be viewed skeptically. Rather than state something as "true," the following phrase should be used: "On the evidence available today the balance of probability favors the view that..." The literature contains hundreds of formulas for the scientific method. They are basically the same but differ in length and terminology. In an article "Suggestions for Teaching the Scientific Method" published in the March 1961 issue of American

Biology Teacher, Dr. Kenneth B.M. Crooks suggested this one:
 Curiosity  Is there a problem?  Get the evidence  Attributes needed  Weigh all evidence  Make the educated guess (hypothesis)  Challenge the hypothesis  Get a conclusion  Suspend judgment  SDeductive reasoning

COMMUNICATING KNOWLEDGE Symbolic representations can be used to indicate meaning and can be thought of as a dynamic process. Hence the transfer of the symbolic representation can be viewed as one ascription process whereby knowledge can be transferred. Other forms of

communication include imitation, narrative exchange along with a range of other methods. There is no complete theory of knowledge transfer or communication. While many would agree that one of the most universal and significant tools for the transfer of knowledge would be the different systems of writing argument over the usefulness of the written word exists however, with some scholars skeptical of its impact on societies. In his novel “Technopoly” Neil Postman demonstrates the argument against the use of writing through an excerpt from Plato’s work “Phaedrus” (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York, pp 73). In this excerpt the scholar Socrates recounts the story of Thamus, the Egyptian king and Theuth the inventor of the written word. In this story Theuth presents his new invention “writing” to King Thamus, telling Thamus that his new invention “will improve both the wisdom and memory of the Egyptians” (Postman, Neil (1992) Technopoly, Vintage, New York ,pp 74). King Thamus is skeptical of this new invention and rejects it as a tool of recollection rather than retained knowledge. He argues that the written word will infect the Egyptian people with fake knowledge as they will be able to attain facts and stories form an external source and will no longer be forced to mentally retain large quantities of knowledge themselves Andrew Robinson also highlights, in his work “The Origins of Writing”, the possibility for writing to be used to spread false information and there for the ability of the written word to decrease social knowledge (Robinson, Andrew (2003) “The Origins of Writing” in Crowley and Heyer (eds) Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, Allyb and Bacon, Boston pp 34). People are often internalizing new information which they perceive to be knowledge but are in reality fill their minds with false knowledge.

SITUATED KNOWLEDGE Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a particular situation. Imagine two very similar breeds of mushroom, which grow on either side of a mountain, one nutritious, one poisonous. Relying on knowledge from one side of an ecological boundary, after crossing to the other, may lead to starving rather than eating perfectly healthy food near at hand, or to poisoning oneself by mistake. Some methods of generating knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience, tend to create highly situational knowledge. One of the main benefits of the scientific method is that the theories it generates are much less situational than knowledge gained by other methods. Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or tradition. Knowledge generated through experience is called knowledge "a posteriori", meaning afterwards. The pure existence of a term like "a posteriori" means this also has a counterpart. In this case that is knowledge "a priori", meaning before. The knowledge prior to any experience means that there are certain "assumptions" that one takes for granted. For example if one is being told about a chair it is clear to him that the chair is in space, that it is 3D. This knowledge is not knowledge that one can "forget", even someone suffering from amnesia experiences the world in 3D. See also: A priori and a posteriori. PARTIAL KNOWLEDGE One discipline of epistemology focuses on partial knowledge. In most realistic cases, it is not possible to have an exhaustive understanding of an information domain, so then we have to live with the fact that our knowledge is always not complete, that is, partial. Most real problems have to be solved by taking advantage of a partial

understanding of the problem context and problem data. That is very different from the typical simple math problems that we solve at school, where all data are given and we have a perfect understanding of formulas necessary to solve them. RELIGIOUS MEANING OF KNOWLEDGE In many expressions of Christianity, such as Catholicism and Anglicanism, knowledge is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Islam, the prophet Muhammad has described himself and his vicergeant Ali as the sources of knowledge: "I am the City of Knowledge and Ali is its Gate". Hindu Scriptures present two kinds of knowledge, Paroksha Gnyana and Aporoksha Gnyana. Paroksha Gnyana is secondhand knowledge: knowledge obtained from books, hearsay, etc. Aporoksha Gnyana is the knowledge borne of direct experience, i.e., knowledge that one discovers for oneself. The Old Testament's Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil contained the knowledge that separated Man from God. In Gnosticism divine knowledge or gnosis is hoped to be attained and escape from the demiurge's physical world. And in Thelema knowledge and conversation with one's Holy Guardian Angel is the purpose of life, which is similar to Gnosis or enlightenment in other mystery religions KNOWLEDGE ASSETS There are two types of knowledge assets –  Explicit or formal assets like copyrights, patents, templates, publications, reports, archives, etc.

 Tacit or informal assets that are rooted in human experience and include personal belief, perspective, and values

3. A BRIEF HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

An overarching theory of knowledge management has yet to emerge, perhaps because the practices associated with managing knowledge have their roots in a variety of disciplines and domains. A number of management theorists have contributed to the evolution of knowledge management, among them such notables as Peter Drucker, Paul Strassmann, and Peter Senge in the United States. Drucker and Strassmann have stressed the growing importance of information and explicit knowledge as organizational resources, and Senge has focused on the "learning organization," a cultural dimension of managing knowledge. Chris Argyris, Christoper Bartlett, and Dorothy LeonardBarton of Harvard Business School have examined various facets of managing knowledge. In fact, Leonard-Barton’s well-known case study of Chaparral Steel, a company which has had an effective knowledge management strategy in place since the mid-1970s, inspired the research documented in her Wellsprings of Knowledge — Building and Sustaining Sources of Innovation (Harvard Business School Press, 1995). Everett Rogers’ work at Stanford in the diffusion of innovation and Thomas Allen’s research at MIT in information and technology transfer, both of which date from the late 1970s, have also contributed to our understanding of how knowledge is produced, used, and diffused within organizations. By the mid-1980s, the importance of knowledge (and its expression in professional competence) as a competitive asset

was apparent, even though classical economic theory ignores (the value of) knowledge as an asset and most organizations still lack strategies and methods for managing it. Recognition of the growing importance of organizational knowledge was accompanied by concern over how to deal with exponential increases in the amount of available knowledge and increasingly complex products and processes. The computer technology that contributed so heavily to superabundance of information started to become part of the solution, in a variety of domains. Doug Engelbart’s Augment (for "augmenting human intelligence"), which was introduced in 1978, was an early hypertext/groupware application capable of interfacing with other applications and systems. Rob Acksyn’s and Don McCracken’s Knowledge Management System (KMS), an open distributed hypermedia tool, is another notable example and one that predates the World Wide Web by a decade. The 1980s also saw the development of systems for managing knowledge that relied on work done in artificial intelligence and expert systems, giving us such concepts as "knowledge acquisition," "knowledge engineering," "knowledge-base systems, and computer-based ontologies. The phrase "knowledge management" entered the lexicon in earnest. To provide a technological base for managing knowledge, a consortium of U.S. companies started the Initiative for Managing Knowledge Assets in 1989. Knowledge managementrelated articles began appearing in journals like Sloan Management Review, Organizational Science, Harvard Business Review, and others, and the first books on organizational learning and knowledge management were published (for example, Senge’s The Fifth Discipline and Sakaiya’s The Knowledge Value Revolution). By 1990, a number of management consulting firms had begun in-house knowledge management programs, and several well known U.S., European, and Japanese firms

had instituted focused knowledge management programs. Knowledge management was introduced in the popular press in 1991, when Tom Stewart published "Brainpower" in Fortune magazine. Perhaps the most widely read work to date is Ikujiro Nonaka’s and Hirotaka Takeuchi’s The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation (1995). By the mid-1990s, knowledge management initiatives were flourishing, thanks in part to the Internet. The International Knowledge Management Network (IKMN), begun in Europe in 1989, went online in 1994 and was soon joined by the U.S.-based Knowledge Management Forum and other KM-related groups and publications. The number of knowledge management conferences and seminars is growing as organizations focus on managing and leveraging explicit and tacit knowledge resources to achieve competitive advantage. In 1994 the IKMN published the results of a knowledge management survey conducted among European firms, and the European Community began offering funding for KM-related projects through the ESPRIT program in 1995. Knowledge management, which appears to offer a highly desirable alternative to failed TQM and business process re-engineering initiatives, has become big business for such major international consulting firms as Ernst & Young, Arthur Andersen, and Booz-Allen & Hamilton. In addition, a number of professional organizations interested in such related areas as benchmarking, best practices, risk management, and change management are exploring the relationship of knowledge management to their areas of special expertise (for example, the APQC [American Productivity and Quality Council] and ASIS [American Society for Information Science]). KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT There is no universal definition for knowledge management

At its broadest, KM is the ‘process through which organizations generate value from intellectual and knowledge based assets’ Knowledge management (KM) refers to a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse and learning across the organization. Knowledge management applications/ knowledge management tools are used to tie organizational objectives to the achievement of specific business outcomes such as improved performance, competitive advantage, and higher levels of innovation. Definitions used by PETER DRUCKER “Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Converting data into information thus requires knowledge.” “In the information–based organization, the knowledge will be primarily at the bottom, in the minds of the specialists who do different work and direct themselves” “Managing Knowledge Means Managing Oneself” “For the first time, they [people] have to manage themselves” “The historic shift to self-management offers organizations four ways to best develop and motivate knowledge workers: Know people’s strengths Place them where they can make the greatest contributions Treat them as associates Expose them to challenges”

“Knowledge workers don’t believe they are paid to work 9 to 5; they believe they’re paid to be effective.” “Organizations that understand this– and strip away everything that gets in their knowledge worker’s way – will be able to attract, hold, and motivate the best performers.” S“This will be the single biggest factor for competitive advantage in the next 25 years.” “Management Legend: Trust Never Goes Out of Style” Delphi Group’s Collaborative Commerce Summit Drucker delivered an opening speech on the topics of business processes and the role of technology in the modern company. Discussed with John Archer, senior architect for SilverStream Software Inc. about the role of technology in management of strategic business processes “Trust is a central issue in making the most of organization knowledge” “The workers shouldn’t be managed so much as entrusted to do the most with their knowledge” “You can't manage knowledge. …Knowledge is between two ears, and only between two ears.” “When employees leave a company, their knowledge goes with them, no matter how much they've shared.” NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Some of the most common reasons that makes having a knowledge management solution imperative:
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Volumes of unorganized unsearchable knowledge.

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Knowledge transfer is time consuming. Email overload due to knowledge transfer by email. Secure sharing of sensitive knowledge among limited people Loss of knowledge when people leave or hardware devices fail. Ongoing security and backup of knowledge.

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: CONTEXT There is a broad range of thought on Knowledge Management with no unanimous definition. The approaches vary by author and school. Knowledge Management may be viewed from each of the following perspectives:  Techno-centric: A focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing/growth.  Organisational: How does the organisation need to be designed to facilitate knowledge processes? Which organisations work best with what processes?  Ecological: Seeing the interaction of people, identity, knowledge and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system. In addition, as the discipline is maturing, there is an increasing presence of academic debates within epistemology emerging in both the theory and practice of knowledge management. British and Australian standards bodies both have produced documents that attempt to bound and scope the field, but these have received limited acceptance or awareness. Knowledge Management, has always existed in one form or another. Examples include on-the-job peer discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate

libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. However, with computers becoming more widespread in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technology such as knowledge bases, expert systems, and knowledge repositories have been introduced to further enhance the process. The emergence of Knowledge Management has also generated new roles and responsibilities in organisations, an early example of which was the Chief Knowledge Officer. In recent years, Personal knowledge management (PKM) practice has arisen in which individuals apply KM practice to themselves, their roles and their career development. Schools of thought in Knowledge Management There are a variety of different schools of thought in Knowledge Management. These include:
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the Intellectual capital movement with Leif Edvinsson and Tom Stewart a focus on collaboration including concepts of Community of practice and a range of collaborative technologies. Much of this work originates from research by Etienne Wenger and the Lotus Institute (now absorbed into IBM Research). Other prominent figures include Saint-Onge, McDermott and others.

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the use of social network analysis to understand interactions between people within organisations, both qualitatively and quantitatively, associated with Krebs, Stephen Borgatti, Cross and others.

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a body of work derivative of Information theory associated with Larry Prusak and Tom Davenport and linked to the conversion of internalized tacit knowledge

into explicit codified knowledge (SECI) allowing successful knowledge sharing as highlighted by Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi. This is probably the dominant school of thought, as represented by publications and includes later developments by authors such as Probst, Von Krough & Malhotra amongst many others.
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Management of tangibles & intangibles, living networks, co-creation and whole systems through value networks and value network analysis (Allee). This work also includes linkages and connections to theory associated with the Learning Organization

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Complexity approaches associated with David Snowden (see Cynefin) Max Boisot, J C Spender and others. Variations of this include the use of narrative (Snowden, David M. Boje and others) as a form of fragmented knowledge

KEY CONCEPTS IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Dimensions of knowledge A key distinction made by the majority of knowledge management practitioners is Nonaka's reformulation of Polanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. The former is often subconscious, internalized, and the individual may or may not be aware of what he or she knows and how he or she accomplishes particular results. At the opposite end of the spectrum is conscious or explicit knowledge -- knowledge that the individual holds explicitly and consciously in mental focus, and may communicate to others. In the popular form of the distinction, tacit knowledge is what is in our heads, and explicit knowledge is what we have codified. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995)
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argued that a successful KM program needs, on the

one hand, to convert internalized tacit knowledge into explicit codified knowledge in order to share it, but, on the other hand, it also must permit individuals and groups to internalize and make personally meaningful codified knowledge they have retrieved from the KM system. The focus upon codification and management of explicit knowledge has allowed knowledge management practitioners to appropriate prior work in information management, leading to the frequent accusation that knowledge management is simply a repackaged form of information management.
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Critics have argued that Nonaka and Takeuchi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is oversimplified and that the notion of explicit knowledge is selfcontradictory. Specifically, for knowledge to be made explicit, it must be translated into information (i.e., symbols outside of our heads).

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incorporated into an artifact of some type (for example an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design); and embodied knowledge as representing knowledge as a learned capability of the body’s nervous, chemical, and sensory systems. These two dimensions, while frequently used, are not universally accepted. It is also common to distinguish between the creation of "new knowledge" (i.e., innovation) vs. the transfer of "established knowledge" within a group, organization, or community. Collaborative environments such as communities of practice or the use of social computing tools can be used for both creation and transfer. Knowledge access stages Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after knowledgerelated activities. Some people would argue that there is a life cycle to knowledge use. Starting with capture (although that word is itself contentious) or creation, moving on to use and reuse with the ultimate goal of enriching an organisation's capability. In counter to this many would state that such a life cycle view is too linear in nature and reflects an information centric view. For example, individuals undertaking a new project for an organization might access information resources to identify lessons learned for similar projects , access relevant information again during the project implementation to seek advice on issues encountered, and access relevant information afterwards for advice on after-project actions and review activities. Knowledge management practitioners offer systems, repositories, and corporate processes to encourage and formalize these activities with varying degrees of success.

Similarly, knowledge may be accessed before the project implementation, for example as the project team learns lessons during the initial project analysis. Similarly, lessons learned during the project operation may be recorded, and after-action reviews may lead to further insights and lessons being recorded for future access. Note: In this context recording knowledge relates only to those aspects of knowledge which can be codified as text, or drawings. Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans. There is considerable controversy over whether incentives work or not in this field and no firm consensus has emerged. Adhoc knowledge access One alternative strategy to encoding knowledge into and retrieving knowledge from a knowledge repository such as a database, is for individuals to make knowledge requests of subject matter experts on an ad hoc basis. A key benefit claimed for this strategy is that the response from the expert individual is rich in content and contextualized to the particular problem being addressed and personalized to the particular person or people addressing it. The downside of this strategy is that it is tied to the availability and memory recall skill of specific individuals in the organization. It does not capture their insights and experience for future use should they leave or become unavailable, and also does not help in the case when particular technical issues or problems previously faced change with time to the point where a new synthesis is required, the experts' memories being out of date. The emergence of narrative approaches to knowledge management attempts to provide a bridge between the formal and the ad hoc, by allowing knowledge to be held in the form of stories.

DRIVERS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT There are a number of claims as to the "drivers", or motivations, leading organizations to undertake a knowledge management program. Popular business objectives include gaining a competitive advantage within the industry and increasing organizational effectiveness with improved or faster learning and new knowledge creation. As knowledge management programs can often lead to greater innovation, better customer experiences, consistency in good practices, knowledge access across a global organization, and other organizational benefits, many knowledge management programs will usually set some of these as end objectives as well. The government sector represents a highly active area, for example DiploFoundation Conference on Knowledge and Diplomacy (1999) outlines the range of specific KM tools and techniques applied in diplomacy. Some typical considerations driving a Knowledge Management program include:  Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services  Achieving shorter new product development cycles  Facilitating and managing organizational innovation and learning  Leveraging the expertise of people across the organization  Increasing network connectivity between employees and external groups with the objective of improving information flow  Managing the proliferation of data and information in complex business environments and allowing employees to access appropriate information sources  Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals) as individuals retire and new workers are hired

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES The early Knowledge Management technologies were online corporate yellow pages (expertise locators) and document management systems. Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular Lotus Notes), KM

technologies expanded in the mid 1990s. Subsequently it followed developments in technology in use in Information Management. In particular the use of semantic technologies for search and retrieval and the development of knowledge management specific tools such as those for communities of practice. More recently social computing tools (such as blogs and wikis) have developed to provide a more unstructured approach to knowledge transfer and knowledge creation through the development of new forms of community. However, such tools for the most part are still based on text, and thus represent explicit knowledge transfer. These tools face challenges distilling meaningful re-usable knowledge from their content. Knowledge mapping is commonly used to cover functions such as a knowledge audit (discovering what knowledge exists at the start of a knowledge management project), a network survey (Mapping the relationships between communities involved in knowledge creation and sharing) and creating a map of the relationship of knowledge assets to core business process. Although frequently carried out at the start of a Knowledge Management programme, it is not a necessary pre-condition or confined to start up. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ENABLERS Historically, there have been a number of technologies 'enabling' or facilitating knowledge management practices in the organization, including expert systems,

knowledge bases, various types of Information Management, software help desk tools, document management systems and other IT systems supporting organizational knowledge flows. The advent of the Internet brought with it further enabling technologies, including elearning, web conferencing, collaborative software, content management systems, corporate 'Yellow pages' directories, email lists, wikis, blogs, and other technologies. Each enabling technology can expand the level of inquiry available to an employee, while providing a platform to achieve specific goals or actions. The practice of KM will continue to evolve with the growth of collaboration applications, visual tools and other technologies. Since its adoption by the mainstream population and business community, the Internet has led to an increase in creative collaboration, learning and research, e-commerce, and instant information. Organisational enablers for knowledge management programs include Communities of Practice, Networks of Practice, before-, after- and during- action reviews (see After Action Review), peer assists, information taxonomies, coaching and mentoring, and so on. KM: ROLES AND ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTRUE Knowledge management activities may be centralized in a Knowledge Management Office, or responsibility for knowledge management may be located in existing departmental functions, such as the Human Resource (to manage intellectual capital) or IT departments (for content management, social computing etc.). Different departments and functions may have a knowledge management function and those functions may not be connected other than informally.

KM: REASONS OF FAILURE OR SUCCESS No established evidence attests to the reasons behind failure and success of Knowledge Management initiatives in organizations. Some argue that a failure to sustain investment is one factor, but it can equally be argued that if knowledge management delivered on its promises investment would continue. As with many management initiatives, particularly those with a heavy IT basis (as is the case in Knowledge Management), frequent questions are raised about the level of consultation necessary before a program is started; these questions are linked to issues of cultural change and a willingness to share and collaborate with colleagues. There is no evidence that Knowledge Management, in all these respects, is any different from other management initiatives. THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

 It is important to manage knowledge assets because – • Organizations compete increasingly on the base of knowledge (the only sustainable competitive advantage, according to some) • Most of our work is information based (and often immersed in a computing environment) • Our products, services, and environment are more complex than ever before • Workforces are increasingly unstable leading to escalating demands for knowledge replacement/acquisition

DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT  Knowledge began to be viewed as a competitive asset in the 80s, around the same time that information explosion started becoming an issue

 The trend was fueled by the development of IT systems which made it simple to store, display, and archive classified, indexed information  The process received a fillip after Drucker (and others) stressed the role of knowledge as an organization resource, and Senge popularized ‘learning organizations’  Seeds of KM may also be found in business practices like TQM and BPR to which KM is often compared

SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

 Today, KM draws from a wide range of disciplines/practices – • • • • • • • • Cognitive science Groupware, AI, KBMS Library and information science Document management Decision support systems Technical writing Organizational science Many more

KM today (catch-all?)

 There is a great risk today of KM over-reaching itself • Everything from organizational learning to business and competitive intelligence has become fair game for KM • There are KM components to each of these but these spaces are however best left to specialized practitioners

SCOPE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

 Today, most companies define the scope of KM as – • • • KM mechanics (tools for information management) KM culture (knowledge as a social activity) KM systems (knowledge sharing as part of an organization’s DNA)

KM MECHANICS

 Information management may well be considered the first wave of KM (and is still often considered synonymous with KM)  Information management tries to make the right information available to the right person at the right time though a variety of database driven information applications  Information management tools try to capture the human experience of knowledge through the collecting, classifying, disseminating, searching,

indexing, and archival power of technology

LIMITATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

 Reliance on technology produces consensual knowledge (over-reliance on best practices for instance) and may stifle innovation  The notion that ‘right information’ is predictable and flows from historical data may be flawed  Making information available in not enough; getting people to use it is more critical

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CULTURE

 All knowledge has a social and evolutionary facet  There is a crying need to continuously subject knowledge to re-examination and modification  It is important to keep the human and social elements of organization involved in all stored knowledge

KM culture through CoP

 Communities of practice (or thematic groups) are a popular way of injecting KM culture in an organization  CoPs are fora where members share information and experiences, develop new insights, assimilate and transform knowledge  CoPs emphasize shared interests and work across locations and time zones (often using technology developed during KM’s first wave)

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

 KM succeeds fully when it is woven into the fabric of an organization and becomes intrinsic to an organization’s processes  Common practices include – • • • • • Formal KM leadership Formal rewards and recognition for KM oriented work Tools and mechanisms that encourage knowledge sharing Development of knowledge bases Intellectual asset management

•

Metrics to evaluate KM initiatives

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS TODAY

 In many ways, the systemic approach is the logical culmination of KM mechanics and KM culture  Many KM systems are however not yet robust enough – • KM metrics (surveys, benchmarking, cost/benefit studies, service evaluation) are still an inexact science • Knowledge workers are often KM resistant (KM is frequently considered an oxymoron)

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT – REPORT CARD

 Clearly, the jury is still out on KM though there is increased acceptance that KM can be central to organizational success  The key achievements of KM have been in emphasizing that – • There is a tacit dimension of knowledge creation which must be recognized and valued • Knowledge is subjective and interpretative and distinct from raw data or information • • • Meaning is central to knowledge creation Knowledge is social and interactive in nature Technology is an inalienable aspect of KM

Knowledge management strategies that create value there is no one-size-fits-all way to effectively tap a firm's intellectual capital. To create value, companies must focus on how knowledge is used to build critical capabilities. A firm that had invested millions of dollars in a state-of-the-art intranet intended to improve knowledge sharing got some bad news: Employees were using it most often to retrieve the daily menu from the company cafeteria. The system was barely used in day-to-day business activities. Few executives would it. There are numerous examples of knowledge-management programs intended to Institute for Strategic argue with the premise that knowledge management is critical—but few know precisely what to do about Change have been exploring the roots of the problem and have developed a method improve innovation, make effective knowledge management a reality in their organizations. Much of the problem with knowledge management today lies in the way the subject has been approached by vendors and the press responsiveness and adaptability that fall short of expectations. Researchers at the Accenture to help executives. Knowledge management is still a relatively young field, with new concepts emerging constantly. Often such as British Petroleum and Skandia. And most knowledgemanagement initiatives have focused almost entirely on changes in tools and technologies, such as intranets and Lotus Notes. These approaches have little , it is portrayed simplistically; discussions typically revolve around blanket principles that are intended to work across the organization. For example, companies are urged to emulate knowledge-management leaders relevance for executives contending with the day-to-day reality of running a company. Knowledge management is complex and multifaceted; it encompasses everything the

organization does to make knowledge available to the business, such as embedding key information in systems and processes, applying incentives to motivate employees and forging alliances to infuse the business with new knowledge. Effective knowledge management requires a combination of many organizational elements—technology, human resource practices, organizational structure and culture—in order to ensure that the right knowledge is brought to bear at the right time. Many companies have implemented sophisticated intranets, common repositories and other systems, largely ignoring the complex cultural issues that influence the way people behave around knowledge. By and large, those companies have seen little improvement in their ability to manage knowledge. Too often, companies implement state-of-the-art technology and then discover that culture and behavior are slow to change. In short, simplistic solutions and "one-size-fits-all" approaches leave executives with little in the way of practical advice about how to transform the entire knowledgemanagement system. What's more, this fuzziness makes it difficult for executives to see a clear link between their knowledge-management investments and business value. To help executives, the Institute has developed a framework that associates specific knowledge-management strategies with specific challenges that companies face. This Knowledge Management Framework is based on the premise that the focus should be placed on the way knowledge is used to build the critical capabilities a company needs in order to succeed—on the core processes and activities that enable it to compete. Enhancing a bank's know-how in evaluating credit risk, for example, should result in reduced loan losses; improving a consumer products company's understanding of customer preferences should increase its percentage of successful new products.

The framework begins by assessing and categorizing the way work is done in the core process. Work can be evaluated along two dimensions. First is the level of interdependence involved—that is, the degree to which individuals and organizations need to collaborate and interact. Second is the complexity of work involved—the degree to which employees need to apply their judgment and interpret a variety of information. Using these two factors, the Institute has identified four distinct categories of work, or "work models":  Transaction model, in which there is a low degree of both interdependence and

complexity. Work is typically routine, highly reliant on formal rules, procedures and training, and depends on a workforce that exercises little discretion.  Integration model, in which there is a high degree of interdependence and a low

degree of complexity. Work is systematic and repeatable, relies on formal processes, methodologies and standards, and depends on tight integration across functional boundaries.  Expert model, in which there is low interdependence and high complexity. Work

requires judgment and is dependent on "star performers."  Collaboration model, in which there is a high degree of both interdependence

and complexity. Work involves improvisation and learning by doing, and relies on deep expertise across functions and the use of flexible teams.

Key to Understanding In general, a given core process can be mapped to one of these four categories. For example, supply-chain management and procurement tend to fit into the integration model; the work in these processes is often routine, and activities generally span multiple functions and organizations. In comparison, marketing and financial management tend to be expert model work, requiring individuals in one functional area to apply their judgment to solve unanticipated problems. However, it is important to note that there are no hard-and-fast connections between a certain core process and a work model, because the same process can be performed in different ways. Sales, for example, can refer to individuals covering their respective territories (expert model) or to a supplier's multifunctional team working closely with a customer to maintain retail inventories (integration model). So the key is to understand how work is performed; it is the nature of the work that determines the appropriate knowledge-management approach. Knowing the work model that's associated with the core process is important because each model presents its own distinct set of knowledge-management challenges. In the collaboration model, for example, a key challenge is the achievement of breakthrough innovation. To drive such innovation, a company needs to encourage risk-taking and bring together a variety of knowledge domains, such as research, product development, marketing and manufacturing, in order to solve complex problems. At one biotech company, the Institute found that increasingly complicated projects and the need for a growing number of scientific disciplines was making it harder to integrate activities into a coherent whole. Every point in the chain needs to know not just what the links above and below are, but also needs to have some idea of what the whole continuum is.

In the expert model, on the other hand, the organization usually needs to focus on getting results from its star performers. To do so, companies must contend with issues such as attracting and motivating talented individuals and overcoming "silos" of information. For example, at one expert model company studied by the Institute, individuals had a tremendous amount of knowledge about products, but each person rarely knew what the others were doing. In one product area, managers discovered seven redundant research projects. In essence, the framework allows executives to gain a better understanding of their current knowledge-management practices—which in most companies have evolved in an ad hoc, unconscious manner—and to identify the knowledge-management challenges associated with their core processes. From that specific diagnosis, it is a short step to prescribing specific remedies, because each set of challenges points to a handful of potential knowledge-management strategies. For example, the challenges in the transaction model are centered on the need to codify knowledge and ensure consistent performance. Possible knowledge-management strategies would therefore include "automation" that embeds knowledge in systems, or perhaps "routinization," in which knowledge is built into policies and procedures, and training is aimed at standardizing workers' behavior. In the integration model, where the challenge is to orchestrate activity across various parts of the organization, executives might consider the adoption of standard processes or methodologies that integrate performance across functions. Or they might use softer measures that focus on the use of cross-functional teams, shared goals and feedback systems.

In the expert model, knowledgeable individuals are key. Here, executives may recruit star performers away from other companies, or may choose to focus on programs that develop stars internally through long-term career-progression programs, apprenticeships, mentoring and training. And in the collaboration model, where the challenges revolve around creating breakthrough innovations, the choices may include "action-learning" strategies that encourage discovery through "skunkworks" and pilots, or "knowledge-linking" strategies that focus on learning through consortia and alliances. The framework also makes it possible to address all elements of the knowledgemanagement system as a whole—technology, human resource practices, organization and culture—because it focuses executives' attention on the capabilities their organizations need rather than on component solutions. Also, attention is shifted from broad, vague issues to a well-defined set of challenges that are specific to their business. They have a manageable number of targeted options from which to choose, which makes it easier to formulate an integrated approach to changing organizational structure, technology, human resources and the world culture.

In addition to guiding improvements in today's core processes, the framework can also be used to help companies evolve and adapt to new conditions. Markets, customers, technology and competition are always changing. To thrive, companies must change over time as well, or their core capabilities may well become core rigidities that lead to obsolescence. As they strive to move in new directions, executives can use the framework to understand the knowledge-management systems that new capabilities will require. In the silicon-chip industry, for example, the design of new microchip manufacturing processes has always been considered something of an art—a collaborative model type of effort involving a small cadre of experts, extensive experimentation and rapid learning to get it right. Now, however, with most personal computers selling for less than $1,000, chip makers need to move to lower-cost approaches—and to an integration model of knowledge management, where the focus is on standardization, repeatable work and continuous improvement. The framework can help companies envision what their new knowledge-management approach should look like under their new strategy, and plot out a path that will take them there.

The company believes that it may be falling behind in terms of bringing true breakthrough products to market, particularly in the area of eCommerce. Executives want to build on traditional strengths to keep improving existing products, but they also recognize that they will need to take a different approach if the company is to maintain product leadership in its industry. So in the creation of electronic commerce products, the company is considering a move toward the collaboration model and the use of a skunkworks-style operation that relies on multidisciplinary teams and team incentives, rather than individual experts.

Executives are also beginning to experiment with external alliances as a way to bring new knowledge into the company. Using the framework as a guide, the company has been able to gain a sophisticated understanding of how to improve its current knowledge-management systems and, at the same time, develop a sense of how it can manage knowledge to forge new capabilities for the long term. That kind of evolutionary ability will become increasingly important in the coming years, as the demands of new markets and new competitors drive continuing shifts in corporate strategies. To support those strategies, companies will have to build new capabilities more and more rapidly—and so the ability to manage knowledge to support that change will be critical.

Knowledge Management - Emerging Perspectives Yes, knowledge management is the hottest subject of the day. The question is: what is this activity called knowledge management, and why is it so important to each and every one of us? The following writings, articles, and links offer some emerging perspectives in response to these questions. As you read on, you can determine whether it all makes any sense or not.

Develpoing a Context Like water, this rising tide of data can be viewed as an abundant, vital and necessary source. With enough preparation, we should be able to tap into that reservoir -- and ride the wave -- by utilizing new ways to channel raw data into meaningful information. That information, in turn, can then become the knowledge that leads to wisdom. Before attempting to address the question of knowledge management, it's probably appropriate to develop some perspective regarding this stuff called knowledge, which there seems to be such a desire to manage, really is. Consider this observation made by Neil Fleming as a basis for thought relating to the following diagram.  A collection of data is not information.

 A collection of information is not knowledge.  A collection of knowledge is not wisdom.  A collection of wisdom is not truth. The idea is that information, knowledge, and wisdom are more than simply collections. Rather, the whole represents more than the sum of its parts and has a synergy of its own. So, in summary the following associations can reasonably be made:  Information relates to description, definition, or perspective (what, who, when, where).  Knowledge comprises strategy, practice, method, or approach (how).  Wisdom embodies principle, insight, moral, or archetype (why). Now that I have categories I can get hold of, maybe I can figure out what can be managed. An Example This example uses a bank savings account to show how data, information, knowledge, and wisdom relate to principal, interest rate, and interest.  Data: The numbers 100 or 5%, completely out of context, are just pieces of data. Interest, principal, and interest rate, out of context, are not much more than data as each has multiple meanings which are context dependent.  Information: If I establish a bank savings account as the basis for context, then interest, principal, and interest rate become meaningful in that context with specific interpretations. • Principal is the amount of money, $100, in the savings account.

•

Interest rate, 5%, is the factor used by the bank to compute interest on the principal.

 Knowledge: If I put $100 in my savings account, and the bank pays 5% interest yearly, then at the end of one year the bank will compute the interest of $5 and add it to my principal and I will have $105 in the bank. This pattern represents knowledge, which, when I understand it, allows me to understand how the pattern will evolve over time and the results it will produce. In understanding the pattern, I know, and what I know is knowledge. If I deposit more money in my account, I will earn more interest, while if I withdraw money from my account, I will earn less interest.  Wisdom: Getting wisdom out of this is a bit tricky, and is, in fact, founded in systems principles. The principle is that any action which produces a result which encourages more of the same action produces an emergent characteristic called growth. And, nothing grows forever for sooner or later growth runs into limits.

KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

The Indian

Approach

Background

Indian sub-continent is susceptible to different types of natural hazards owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics. Theoccurrence of disasters along with the losses over the years has been increasing on account of larger population

being vulnerable to natural hazards. India has experienced many massive disasters such as the Orissa supercyclone in 1999, Gujarat earthquake in 2001, recent devastating Tsunami - 2004 and many more in the past. This owes not only to the physical vulnerability i.e their proximity to the hazard zone and ill-maintained standards of safety to counter the effects but also due to the prevailing social and economic conditions. There is a conscious effort for Disaster Risk Reduction at National, Provincial and sub-provincial level. Thousands of organizations are supporting the effort from last few decades. However there is a felt gap in information coordination and sharing. The knowledge and experiences of disaster practitioners are remaining in individual or institutional domain. There is an urgent need of an organized common platform to capture, organize and share this knowledge and to create a versatile interface among policy-makers in the Government and disaster managers at all administrative level (National/State/District/Sub-

District/Community). Acknowledging the need for a disaster knowledge networking platform to facilitate interaction and have simultaneous dialogue with all related expertise dealing with disaster management in India, the knowledge management initiative has been thoughtfully envisaged asa tool to store, retrieve, disseminate and manage information related to Disaster Management.

Knowledge Management Concept and Principles

Knowledge Management is about applying the collective knowledge of the entire workforce to achieve specific organizational goals. It is about facilitating the process by which knowledge is created, shared and utilised. Knowledge is defined as “the fact or condition of knowing something with a considerable degree of familiarity through expe-rience, association or contact.” Forty years ago, Michael Polanyi provided an

explanation of knowledge upon which models of knowledge creation have been built. He differentiated between explicit, tacit and implicit forms of Knowledge Management

Explicit knowledge is that which is stated in detail and leaves nothing merely implied. It is termed “codified” or “formal” knowledge because it can be recorded. Tacit knowledge is that which is understood, implied and exists without being stated. It is informal, experiential, and difficult to capture or share. It is knowl-edge that cannot be expressed.For example, an individual knows how to reach with his arm to grasp an object, but cannot describe how he knows how to do it. Implicit knowledge is that which could be expressed, but has not been. It is most often thought of as existing within the minds of individuals or in social relationships. Nonaka and Takeuchi argue that effective organizational knowledge creation best occurs through the spiral process where knowledge is converted from tacit to explicit in a continuous and dynamic cycle,as illustrated in following figure. It is when tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge interact that innovation occurs. Knowledge creation is facilitated by deliberately managing the cycle. Organizational knowledge creation begins with socialization, where individuals share experience and mental models. It develops into externalization when individuals use metaphors or analogies to articulate hidden tacit knowledge that is otherwise difficult to communicate. It moves into the combination phase for knowledge to be articulated, shared and expounded. Finally, individuals learn by doing and internalizing the new knowledge. The spiral begins again as the

experience-based operational knowledge learned in the first cycle provides a larger knowledge base for continuous innovation and growth. It is this model that demonstrates how knowledge comes into action.

The Knowledge Management Cycle

How knowledge processes in a KM environment are managed to convert knowledge for action and to achieve the desired results of increased value in the organization or specific operations is illustrated in the model in Figure 3.There are three general perspectives in the cycle: Management, Application and Organization:

 Management focuses on capturing, organizing and facilitating knowledge. Many of these activities span the externalization and combination quadrants of the Nonaka model.  Application focuses on effective retrieval of relevant content through advanced searches and mining to conduct knowledge-related work and tasks and on the use of the results for discovery. It relies on the knowledge combination portion of the model.

 Organizations focus on learning, sharing and collaboration. This is the education component of the cycle that is within the internalization quadrant, moving into the socialization portion.

Disaster Risk Reduction – Role of Information and Knowledge

Many of us assume that knowledge management is about capturing best practices and experiences people have and store it in a database with a hope that it will be useful later. In fact this is not true and many of us spend more than ten percent of our time in searching for a piece of information we know resides somewhere. Knowledge management is all about getting the right knowledge, in the right place, at the right time. In a broader context, information about disaster preparedness, dos’ and don’ts in emergency, disaster management plans, policies and guidelines are available at various domains from decades. However, millions of people are getting severely affected by disasters every year due to lack of adequate coping mechanisms. This

may be attributed to the fact that the information lying at one place is not getting transformed into the life saving knowledge for the communities at risk. It is a proven fact that India is among the world’s most disaster prone countries due to its geo climatic conditions, large population and socio-economic conditions.

In order to enhance the information sharing and management of the knowledge generated in these institutions, it is highly essential to closely knit the organizations/ institutions and moreover people.

The network of these institutions will create a common platform and enable its stake holders and people to capture, organize, share and reuse the knowledge generated in the area of disaster management. The network will use various tools to connect the Government, Institutions and people.

Indian Approach to Knowledge Management in –Disaster risk Reduction Practice area

Under the Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI-UNDP(United Nations Development Programme) National Disaster Risk Management programme, Knowledge Networking is foreseen as an initiative to establish networks and partnership among prime government agencies, policy makers, disaster managers and specialists from allied fields of engineering, architecture, planning, seismology, hydrology, agriculture and social science to exchange information and working together to reduce the risk of disaster. The initiative is aiming to connect all government departments, statutory agencies, research organizations/ institutions to share collectively and individually their expert

know-how’s. The exchange is facilitated through physical interaction, workshops, documentation of experiences, sharing on World Wide Web Portal etc.

Creating an Environment for Knowledge Management

In order to evolve community of practices the initiative is focusing at linking the program partners and providing a platform to collaborate. This collaborative platform which is in the form of an electronic platform will facilitate interaction among the program partners. The system will be incentive based and provide various tools, decision support systems, monitoring systems to the stake holders.

Strengths of Knowledge Networks in Disaster Management

 Better response.  Empowered Government Disaster Management Departments.

 Better valuation of Resources and services  Integration into mainstream development.  Effective monitoring of initiatives.  Promoting fair practices among the disaster management community.

The KNOWLEDGE PORTAL : A tool for Knowledge Management

The knowledge management initiative of Government of India involves a web portal to facilitate the knowledge collaboration between the network members. The portal provides tools to capture or acquire and organize knowledge. It also provides facility to find and share knowledge through the portal. The portal is providing Knowledge Collaboration Tools and incentive based tools such as:

 Moderated access and facilitation.  Programme monitoring and methodology sharing tools.  Members workspace for decentralized content management.  Powerful search engines.  Moderated discussion forum for problem solving.  Document management system.  Moderated intra network e-mail groups.

Other services to create an incentive for the network members:  GoI, Disaster Management programme monitoring tool.  Disaster Risk Management Programme monitoring tool.

 NPCBEERM1/ NPCBAERM2 programme monitoring tool.  Emergency contact management system.  Database of district Disaster Management Plans.  Map center – Hazard & vulnerability maps.  Independent workspace for States & Resource Institutions for designing and updating content.

 Automated portal administration for ease of content updating. The portal is operating on an extranet and controlled by access levels. Users at the various networks are sharing their programme status and progress in the portal.

The portal is capturing the products of the programme such as disaster management plans, various manuals, documents, reports, trained human resources roaster etc. The portal will have a public interface once it is populated with information. The portal is also containing a List Server3 which facilitates e-mail and discussion groups. The

portal will enable cross postings and interactions across the networks. The description of the functioning of the portal is depicted below.

There are various groupware and e-mail list servers to facilitate discussion and interaction of the network members.

COMPONENTS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge Management : a Cross-Disciplinary Domain Knowledge management draws from a wide range of disciplines and technologies.

 Cognitive science. Insights from how we learn and know will certainly improve tools and techniques for gathering and transferring knowledge.  Expert systems, artificial intelligence and knowledge base management systems (KBMS). AI and related technologies have acquired an undeserved reputation of having failed to meet their own — and the marketplace’s — high expectations. In fact, these technologies continue to be applied widely, and the lessons practitioners have learned are directly applicable to knowledge management.  Computer-supported collaborative work (groupware). In Europe, knowledge management is almost synonymous with groupware … and therefore with Lotus Notes. Sharing and collaboration are clearly vital to organizational knowledge management — with or without supporting technology.  Library and information science. We take it for granted that card catalogs in libraries will help us find the right book when we need it. The body of research and practice in classification and knowledge organization that makes libraries work will be even more vital as we are inundated by information in business. Tools for thesaurus construction and controlled vocabularies are already helping us manage knowledge.  Technical writing. Also under-appreciated — even sneered at — as a professional activity, technical writing (often referred to by its practitioners as technical communication) forms a body of theory and practice that is directly relevant to effective representation and transfer of knowledge.  Document management. Originally concerned primarily with managing the accessibility of images, document management has moved on to making content accessible and re-usable at the component level. Early recognition of the need to associate "metainformation" with each document object prefigures

document management technology’s growing role in knowledge management activities.  Decision support systems. According to Daniel J. Power, "Researchers working on Decision Support Systems have brought together insights from the fields of cognitive sciences, management sciences, computer sciences, operations research, and systems engineering in order to produce both computerised artifacts for helping knowledge workers in their performance of cognitive tasks, and to integrate such artifacts within the decision-making processes of modern organisations." [See Powers’ DSS Research Resources Home page.] That already sounds a lot like knowledge management, but in practice the emphasis has been on quantitative analysis rather than qualitative analysis, and on tools for managers rather than everyone in the organization.  Semantic networks. Semantic networks are formed from ideas and typed relationships among them — sort of "hypertext without the content," but with far more systematic structure according to meaning. Often applied in such arcane tasks as textual analysis, semantic nets are now in use in mainstream professional applications, including medicine, to represent domain knowledge in an explicit way that can be shared.  Relational and object databases. Although relational databases are currently used primarily as tools for managing "structured" data — and object-oriented databases are considered more appropriate for "unstructured" content — we have only begun to apply the models on which they are founded to representing and managing knowledge resources.  Simulation. Knowledge Management expert Karl-Erik Sveiby suggests

"simulation" as a component technology of knowledge management, referring to "computer simulations, manual simulations as well as role plays and micro arenas for testing out skills." (Source: Email from Karl-Erik Sveiby, July 29, 1996 )

 Organizational science. The science of managing organizations increasingly deals with the need to manage knowledge — often explicitly. It’s not a surprise that the American Management Association’s APQC has sponsored major knowledge management events. That’s only a partial list. Other technologies include: object-oriented information modeling; electronic publishing technology, hypertext, and the World Wide Web; help-desk technology; full-text search and retrieval; and performance support systems. Categorization of knowledge management approaches The term "knowledge management" is now in widespread use, having appeared in the titles of many new books about knowledge management as a business strategy, as well as in articles in many business publications, including The Wall Street Journal. There are, of course, many ways to slice up the multi-faceted world of knowledge management. However, it’s often useful to categorize them. In a posting to the Knowledge Management Forum, Karl-Erik Sveiby identified two "tracks" of knowledge management:  Management of Information. To researchers in this track, according to Sveiby, "… knowledge = Objects that can be identified and handled in information systems."  Management of People. For researchers and practitioners in this field, knowledge consists of "… processes, a complex set of dynamic skills, know-how, etc., that is constantly changing." Sveiby’s characterization is on target, but it may not capture the full flavor of the important distinctions in approaches to organizational knowledge management. At

Knowledge Praxis, we have adopted a three-part categorization: (1) mechanistic approaches, (2) cultural/behavioristic approaches, and (3) systematic approaches to knowledge management. Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management are characterized by the application of technology and resources to do more of the same better. The main assumptions of the mechanistic approach include:  Better accessibility to information is a key, including enhanced methods of access and reuse of documents (hypertext linking, databases, full-text search, etc.)  Networking technology in general (especially intranets), and groupware in particular, will be key solutions.  In general, technology and sheer volume of information will make it work. Cultural/behavioristic approaches to knowledge management Cultural/behavioristic approaches, with substantial roots in process re-engineering and change management, tend to view the "knowledge problem" as a management issue. Technology — though ultimately essential for managing explicit knowledge resources — is not the solution. These approaches tend to focus more on innovation and creativity (the "learning organization") than on leveraging existing explicit resources or making working knowledge explicit.

Assumptions of cultural/behavioristic approaches often include:

 Organizational behaviors and culture need to be changed … dramatically. In our information-intensive environments, organizations become dysfunctional

relative to business objectives.  Organizational behaviors and culture can be changed, but traditional technology and methods of attempting to solve the "knowledge problem" have reached their limits of effectiveness. A "holistic" view is required. Theories of behavior of large-scale systems are often invoked.  It’s the processes that matter, not the technology.  Nothing happens or changes unless a manager makes it happen. Systematic approaches to knowledge management Systematic approaches to knowledge management retain the traditional faith in rational analysis of the knowledge problem: the problem can be solved, but new thinking of many kinds is required. Some basic assumptions of Systematic Approach are  It’s sustainable results that matter, not the processes or technology … or your definition of "knowledge."  A resource cannot be managed unless it is modeled, and many aspects of the organization’s knowledge can be modeled as an explicit resource.  Solutions can be found in a variety of disciplines and technologies, and traditional methods of analysis can be used to re-examine the nature of knowledge work and to solve the knowledge problem.  Cultural issues are important, but they too must be evaluated systematically. Employees may or may not have to be "changed," but policies and work practices must certainly be changed, and technology can be applied successfully to business knowledge problems themselves.

 Knowledge management has an important management component, but it is not an activity or discipline that belongs exclusively to managers.

4. TATA STEELS Introduction Established in 1907, Tata Steel is the world's 6th largest steel company with an aggregate of annual crude steel production capacity of around 28 million tonnes having approximately 82,700 employees across the four continents. It was Asia's first steel company and remains India's largest integrated private sector steel manufacturer. With investments in Corus, NatSteel and Tata Steel (Thailand), Tata Steel is the world's second most geographically diversified steel producer, with operations in 24 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Company plans to grow and globalise through organic and inorganic routes. To fulfil its objective of Growth & Globalisation, the five million tonnes per annum (MTPA) Jamshedpur Works is gearing up to double its capacity by 2010. The Company is making steady progress on its three greenfield steel projects in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, to add 23 million tonnes to its present capacity. It also plans to set up steel making capacities in Vietnam and Bangladesh. Through investments in Corus, Millennium Steel (renamed Tata Steel Thailand) and NatSteel Asia, Singapore, Tata Steel has created a manufacturing and marketing network in Europe, South East Asia and the Pacific-rim countries. Corus, which manufactured 18.3 MT of steel in 2006, has operations in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Belgium. Tata Steel (Thailand) is the largest producer of long steel products in Thailand, with a manufacturing capacity of 1.7 MT. NatSteel

Asia produces about 2 MT of steel products annually across its regional operations in seven countries. Tata Steel, through its joint venture with Tata BlueScope Steel Limited, has also entered the steel building and construction applications market. It has also set up joint ventures for the development of limestone mines in Thailand, to procure low ash coal from Australia and coking coal from Mozambique, for the development of iron ore deposits in Ivory Coast and for setting up of a deep-sea port in coastal Orissa. The Company is also exploring opportunities in the titanium dioxide business in Tamil Nadu, India and it will soon be manufacturing high carbon ferro-chrome from its plant in South Africa. Tata Steel is one of the few steel companies in the world that is Economic Value Added (EVA) positive. It was ranked the "World's Best Steel Maker", for the third time by World Steel Dynamics in its annual listing in February, 2006. Tata Steel has been conferred the Prime Minister of India's Trophy for the Best Integrated Steel Plant five times.

PRODUCTS Tata Steel is a global player with a balanced presence in developed European and fast growing Asian markets and with a strong position in the construction, automotive and packaging markets. Its Jamshedpur steel works produces hot and cold rolled coils and sheets, galvanised sheets, tubes, wire rods, construction rebars, rings and bearings. In an attempt to 'decommoditise' steel, the Company has introduced several branded steel products, including Tata Steelium (the world's first branded Cold Rolled Steel), Tata Shaktee (Galvanised Corrugated Sheets), Tata Tiscon (rebars), Tata Pipes, Tata

Bearings, Tata Structura, Tata Agrico (hand tools and implements) and Tata Wiron (galvanised wire products). In the financial year 2006-07 revenue from the sale of these branded steel products was 26% of the company's sales revenues. Corus' main operating divisions comprise Strip Products, Long Products and Distribution & Building Systems Division. Combining international expertise with local customer service, the company supplies a range of long and strip products to demanding customers worldwide in markets including the construction, automotive, packaging and engineering sectors. The NatSteel group produces construction grade steel such as rebars, cut-and-bend, mesh, precage bore pile, PC wires and PC strand. Tata Steel Thailand produces round bars and deformed bars for the construction industry. CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY Regarded globally as a benchmark in corporate social responsibility, Tata Steel's commitment to the community remains the bedrock of its hundred years of sustainability. Its mammoth social outreach programme covers the company-managed city of Jamshedpur and over 800 villages in and around its manufacturing and raw materials operations through uplift initiatives in the areas of income generation, health and medical care, education, sports, and relief. The Company, fully conscious of its responsibilities to the future generations, has always taken pro-active measures to ensure optimum utilization of natural resources. This is reflected in the ISO-14001 certification that all its operations have achieved for environment management. The SA 8000 certification for work conditions and improvements in the workplace at the steel works in Jamshedpur, along with its Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, is a reiteration of its commitment towards the Company's employees. Tata Steel has pioneered numerous employee welfare measures

such as the 8 hours working day and the three tier joint consultation system of management which have been the platform for nearly 80 years of industrial harmony in its Steel Works in Jamshedpur. Global Compact, United Nations  Founder member.  Conferred the prestigious Global Business Coalition Award for Business Excellence in the Community in recognition of its pioneering work in the field of HIV/ AIDS awareness.  Jamshedpur city has been chosen to participate in the UN Global Compact Cities Pilot Programme. AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS  World Steel Dynamics has ranked Tata Steel as the world's best steel maker (for two consecutive years) in its annual listing in February 2006.  Tata Steel has been conferred the Prime Minister of India's Trophy for the Best Integrated Steel Plant five times.  It has been awarded Asia's Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise award in 2003 and 2004. POLICIES Quality Policy Consistent with the group purpose, Tata Steel shall constantly strive to improve the quality of life of the communities it serves through excellence in all facets of its activities.They are committed to creating value for all our stakeholders by continually improving our systems and processes through innovation, involving all our employees.

This policy shall form the basis of establishing and reviewing the Quality Objectives and shall be communicated across the organization. The policy will be reviewed to align with business direction and to comply with all the requirements of the Quality Management Standard Alcohol and Drugs Policy Tata Steel believes that the loyalty and commitment of its employees depend upon the quality of life they are offered at work and at home. We recognize that indiscriminate use of alcohol and drugs is injurious to the well being of individuals, their families and the community as a whole. We acknowledge that the misuse of these psychoactive substances is a major health and safety hazard. Tata Steel is therefore committed to creating an alcohol and drug-free environment at the work place. This would be achieved through the involvement of all employees and the Joint Departmental Councils in spearheading appropriate initiatives. The initiatives would include :  Raising awareness, through the dissemination of information, education and training and by promoting healthy life styles among our employees and their families.  Motivating those employees who have an alcohol/drug problem, to seek assistance, while maintaining confidentiality about such cases.

HIV(+) & AIDS Control Policy

Tata Steel would take measures to prevent the incidence and spread of HIV and AIDS in the society. In case of need, the company would arrange to provide counseling and medical guidance to these patients and their families. Human Resource Policy Tata Steel recognises that its people are the primary source of its

competitiveness.It is committed to equal employment opportunities for attracting the best available talent and ensuring a cosmopolitan workforce. It will pursue management practices designed to enrich the quality of life of its employees, develop their potential and maximise their productivity.It will aim at ensuring transparency, fairness and equity in all its dealings with its employees.Tata Steel will strive continuously to foster a climate of openness, mutual trust and teamwork. Corporate Social Responsibility Policy Tata Steel believes that the primary purpose of a business is to improve the quality of life of people. Tata Steel will volunteer its resources, to the extent it can reasonably afford, to sustain and improve healthy and prosperous environment and to improve the quality of life of the people of the areas in which it operates. Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety Policy Tata Steel reaffirms its commitment to provide safe working place and clean environment to its employees and other stakeholders as an integral part of its business philosophy and values. We will continually enhance our Environmental, Occupational Health & Safety (EHS) performance in our activities, products and

services

through

a

structured

EHS

management

framework.

Towards

this

commitment, we shall;  Establish and achieve EHS objectives and targets.  Ensure compliance with applicable EHS legislation and other requirement and go beyond.  Conserve natural resources and energy by constantly seeking to reduce consumption and promoting waste avoidance and recycling measures.  Eliminate, minimize and/or control adverse environmental impacts and occupational health and safety risks by adopting appropriate "state-of-the-art" technology and best EHS management practices at all levels sand functions. Enhance awareness, skill and competence of our employees and contractors so as to enable them to demonstrate their involvement, responsibility and accountability for sound EHS performance.

MANAGEMENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS (As on 22nd November, 2007) Mr R N Tata Mr James Leng (Chairman) (Non Executive Deputy

Chairman) Mr Nusli N Wadia Mr S M Palia (Company Director) (Company Director)

Mr Suresh Krishna

(Financial Nominee)

Institutions'

Mr Ishaat Hussain Dr Jamshed J Irani Mr Bhargava Mr Schraven Dr Hayward Mr Philippe Varin Subodh

(Board Member)

Jacques (Non - Executive Independent Director) Anthony (Non - Executive Independent Director) (Non Executive Non

independent Director) Mr B Muthuraman Dr T Mukherjee Mr Andrew Robb (Managing Director) (Non Executive Director) (Non Executive Independent

Director)

BUSINESS UNITS Apart from the main Steel Division, Tata Steel's operations are grouped under the following Strategic Business Units:

Bearings Division : Manufactures ball bearings, double row self-aligning bearings, magneto bearings, clutch release bearings and tapered roller bearings for two wheelers, fans, water pumps, etc. Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division : Operates chrome mines and has units for making ferro chrome and ferro manganese. It is one of the largest players in the global ferro chrome market. Agrico Division : Tata Agrico is the first organised manufacturer in India of hand tools and implements for application in agriculture. Tata Growth Shop (TGS) : Has designed, developed, manufactured, erected and commissioned thousands of tonnes of equipment ranging from overhead cranes to high precision components, including a rocket launch pad for the Indian Space and Research Organisation. Tubes Division : The biggest steel tube manufacturer with the largest market share in India, it aspires to strengthen its market presence by expanding and modernising its commercial and precision tube manufacturing capacity. Wire Division : A pioneer in the manufacture of steel wires in India, it produces coated and uncoated wires, branded as Tata Wiron. The division also operates a wholly owned subsidiary in Sri Lanka.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE The company believes that good corporate practices enable the board to direct and control the affairs of a company in an efficient manner and to achieve its ultimate

goal of maximising shareholders value. Realising this, the company has adopted many practices over the last few years, even when there were no mandatory requirements in this regard. As a result, a number of provisions regarding Corporate Governance prescribed by the Listing Agreement have already been complied with and steps are being taken to comply with the balance provision within the current financial year. The Internal Audit Department reports, on a quarterly basis, any significant findings to the Audit committee, which comprises of three non-executive Director: Mr. P.K Kaul - Chairman, Mr. S. M. Palia and Mr. Ishaat Hussain - Members. The committee met three times during the year to review the audit observation, adequacy of actions taken and followed up implementation of corrective actions. AIM AND VISION "To seize the opportunities of tomorrow and create a future that will make us an EVA Positive Company

To continue. to improve the quality of life of our employees and the communities we serve."

VISION INTO REALITY Tata Steel is Asia’s first and India’s largest private sector integrated steel manufacturer. At the advent of the new millennium the employees of the Company cocreated Vision 2007 as a statement of future intent. Sustainable Development, through the improvement of the quality of life of its employees and the communities

it serves, was enshrined within it. To translate this Vision into reality, Tata Steel altered paradigms, repositioned benchmarks and re-evaluated core competencies. Having effected a quantum change in operations, work culture and efficiencies, the Company aspires to further accelerate the creation of stakeholder value. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Having espoused the philosophy of Sustainable Development, the Company’s operations, including all its outlocations are inextricably interlinked with the progress of the enterprise, the welfare of the people and the health of the environment. As global initiatives in promoting responsible business gather momentum, Tata Steel stands as a beacon of social and environmental commitment, not only in India but across the world as well. Today, Tata Steel is well positioned to take forward its 100-year ethos with renewed vigour, having formally integrated its economic, environmental and social performance reporting. Tata Steel’s commitment to sustainable development and growth is amply reflected in its Vision 2007. The Company has identified and is proactively engaged in addressing economic sustainability, environmental concern and the social needs of its stakeholders. The core issue, however, identified by Tata Steel, which underpins all these is Value Balancing; such that long-term partnerships are established with its stakeholders. Sustainability has also been integrated into the business systems at Tata Steel. Inputs from stakeholders through formal and informal processes allow the Company to focus on their concerns, to identify issues and delineate strategic objectives. OBJECTIVES AND TARGETS

Sustainability issues are reflected through specific social and environmental objectives and targets accepted by the top management as a part of Vision 2007. To achieve its sustainability goals, the organisation has identified 12 key enterprise processes critical to the growth and success of the organisation. Mapping and identifying stakeholder concerns through a structured engagement and feedback process has been initiated. These stakeholder concerns are analysed, prioritised and are the prescribed goals for Corporate Sustainability Management. The senior management of Tata Steel tracks the performance of the targets against each strategic goal. Sustainability at the Tata Group and Tata Steel has always been value-driven. The five core values underpinning the way the Tata companies conduct business are:  Integrity  Understanding  Excellence  Unity  Responsibility 12 Key Enterprise Processes • Leadership • Strategic Management • Market Development • Investment Management Planning & • Order Generation Risk • Operation and Fulfillment • Inbound Supply Management • Research & Development

• Improvement

&

Change • Information Management

Management • Human Resources • Social Responsibility & Corporate Services

5. JOURNEY OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN TATA STEELS Tata Steel decided to embark on formal KM initiative in the year 1999. The beginning was made in July’99 to place a Knowledge Management (KM) programme for the company to systematically & formally share and transfer learning concepts, best practices and other implicit knowledge.

The emphasis on knowledge management was clearly demonstrated in 1999 while coining the vision statement of the company – which read “Tata Steel enters the new millennium with the confidence of learning and knowledge based organization…..” Then followed the new vision statement, co-created by the employees in 2001 (Fig. 1) which again identified ‘Manage Knowledge’ as one of the main pillars in strategy to become EVA+ by 2007. This clearly indicated the thrust Senior Management wanted on an initiative like KM.

The essence of Knowledge management is to capture the available abundant knowledge assets either in form of tacit (experience, learning from failure, thumb rules, etc.) or explicit (literature, reports, failure analysis etc.), to organize and transform the captured knowledge, and to facilitate its usage at right place and at the right time.

PHASES OF KNOIWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Starting from a small sapling in 1999, the KM system of Tata Steel underwent a lot of improvements, and changes. In the process, it passed through many learning phases to reach its current state. The various phases of KM spiral at Tata Steel are shown in Fig 2. In its latest phase, the Knowledge Management has been identified as one of the main enablers to make Tata Steel self reliant in technology which will enable the company become a global player in near future.

STAKEHOLDERS IN KM

Tata Steel aims at capturing knowledge from various working groups and outside agencies who play a major role in day-to-day functioning. The major stakeholders covered under KM being:  Senior Management  Officers  Employees (Supervisors & Workmen)  Customers  Supplier  Experts (In & outside company)

OPPORTUNITY OF KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER Tata Steel’s knowledge management initiative is driven by its corporate KM group which attempts to cover all possible opportunities of knowledge generation in and outside the steel works. The primary sources being: Day-to-day operation  Learning from failure  Published Papers by employees (National and International publications)  Task Force/Consultant/Technical Groups  Engineering Project  Knowledge Sharing across the value chain Tata Steel defines its value chain as a connected series of internal and external organizations, resources, and knowledge streams involved in creation and delivery of

value to end customers. It includes the organization’s suppliers and customers. In fact, one of the organization’s strategic goals is to develop value-creating partnerships with customers and suppliers. Tata Steel developed two programs in particular to help manage knowledge across its value chain: the customer value management (CVM) program and its supplier value management (SVM) program. Instruments of Knowledge Transfer Tata Steel follows three strategies for managing organizational knowledge (Fig 2). Knowledge can be contributed either by an individual (codification) or a team or a group of people (Personalization). The first two strategies enable capture and systematic storage of knowledge, whereas the third strategy (Knowledge Diffusion) derives the benefit of replicating best practices identified in the repository and thereby eliminating the ‘re-invention of wheel’.

The above strategies ensure knowledge sharing across the entire value chain from customer to the supplier. Some of the instruments through which the above strategies are deployed are:

 Knowledge Contribution by an individual (I): All contributions are first sent to a set of subject matter experts to check their relevance, correctness of information and utility to the company before being available in portal for public usage  Ask Author (I): A user can put forth his/her queries to the author regarding any particular Knowledge Piece through this route.  Ask Expert (I & II): A panel of experts is identified area-wise to answer queries of users from all corner of Tata Steel. This feature directs the query to the relevant expert and thus helps the questioner in seeking his answer. The queries also remain open for other users to attempt a reply

 Knowledge Usage (III): Any employee can bring about intangible/tangible savings in related work areas by using an existing knowledge asset.

 Communities of Practice (II): To encourage knowledge sharing behavior in an informal manner, across the boundaries of departments and divisions, various Communities of Practice or Knowledge Communities are formed. Each knowledge

community further consists of certain sub-communities which attempts to focus on smaller functional areas.

 Content Management (I): The knowledge repository of Tata Steel is not only huge in size, but also is rich in content - thanks to the contribution of more than 15,000 employees. However, constant effort is put in to keep the knowledge base current and contemporary. In order to do this, old knowledge pieces are archived and knowledge on similar subjects are distilled. In the process of knowledge distillation, members are encouraged to compile knowledge pieces available in related areas and hence prepare a consolidated one which will contain all relevant information at one place.  Other activities of Knowledge Communities (II & III) : The diverse community structure requires knowledge sharing among the members to ensure proper knowledge diffusion. Hence communities organize inter and intra community meetings at regular intervals chaired by senior officials to discuss and share knowledge on aspects that affects both the parties. These communities also organize seminars by inviting well-known experts in various fields.  Involving shop-floor employees in KM: A large number of employees in Tata Steel are deployed at the shop-floor. In a century old company, these employees really possess a wealth of knowledge. In order to capture the tacit knowledge from shop floor and to facilitate horizontal deployment of the same at all other locations, a new initiative named as Knowledge Manthan (means churning) has been started in 2004. Realizing the rich dividend from its Knowledge Manthan initiative the Knowledge management group has extended

the idea of involving grass-root employees by launching yet another initiative named ‘MASS’ in the year 2005. Many of the ideas captured through Manthan are now being deployed through ‘MASS’.

KM Portal @ Tata Steel On the corporate intranet a KM Portal has been developed to communicate all KM related matters across the company. It provides an online knowledge repository to the users who can submit, search and use knowledge pieces available on it. The portal also provides a virtual forum where employees can invite and involve other fellow employees or lead experts (specific to interested areas) to discuss and solve the problems faced by them. Relevant Indian and international standards, quality system manuals, standard practices and procedures also feature for ready reference of users.

Awards & Accolades Tata Steel has won many laurels for its endeavour and initiatives towards creating a culture of managing knowledge. It was the winner of MAKE Asia award for the year 2003 and 2004 (finalist in the year 2002). In 2005, Tata Steel won the first MAKE

India award. It has also earned a distinction among Indian companies to be selected twice as a best practice partner by American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) for its KM process. KM MILESTONES  Tata Steel ranked as no.1 in 2006 Indian MAKE Survey  Tata Group recognized as one of the 2006 Global Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE)  Tata Steel is selected as a Best Practice Partner by APQC – Second Time for KM  An International Symposium on Knowledge Management was organised at Jamshedpur on December 6-7, 2005  Thrust on usage of knowledge assets through MASS (Manthan ab shopfloor se)  Tata Steel – winner of the first Indian MAKE Award, 2005  Launch of Knowledge Debate; a mode of knowledge transfer  TATA STEEL Launches ‘Knowledge Manthan’  TATA STEEL Wins MAKE ASIA 2004 AWAR  Tata Steel is the Best Practice Partner in Knowledge Management  Tata Steel wins the MAKE ASIA 2003 Award

6. KM AT “ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK”

Core Knowledge Activities Knowledge management activities can be described in relation to many different disciplines and approaches but almost all focus on five core activities:

 identify,  create,  store,  share, and  use. The routine associated with these can be interpreted thus:

Knowledge Management Tools

Knowledge management tools fit in five areas of competence as illustrated in the figure below. Some knowledge management tools require expert facilitation.

Knowledge Management Context Knowledge management tools are more effective where the specific knowledge, relationships, and context of development agencies such as ADB and the external environment they face are dealt with in an integrated and coherent manner.
•

The figure above demonstrates the importance of using knowledge management tools with respect to the specific milieu in which ADB operates.

Pillars of Knowledge Management Four pillars are critical to knowledge management. Balanced interconnectivity must be sought. Leadership is particularly important because it drives values for knowledge creation. Successful implementation of knowledge management in OED requires champions and OED's management has risen to the challenge of removing cultural roadblocks, building commitment, and getting results from knowledge management.

Functions and Activities for Knowledge Management Knowledge management must be embedded into all of an organization's business processes. It is not an activity delivered by a distinct department or a particular process. An architecture must be built to initiate and implement organization-wide knowledge management initiatives. The pillars of knowledge management are critical to success. All must be addressed. The following table outlines the core functions and

typical activities of the architecture for lesson learning, and identifies illustrative implementation elements.

Pillar

Function

Typical Activity
•

Illustrative Implementation Element
• • •

Leadership Drive values for knowledge management.

Identify

Strategic planning Vision sharing Definition of goal and

knowledge critical to learning lessons in ADB.
•

objectives
• •

Executive commitment Knowledge management

Conduct

work-centered analysis.
•

programs tied to metrics
•

Formal knowledge

Plan high-

management roles in existence
•

level strategic approach.
•

Tangible rewards for

Establish

use of knowledge management
•

goal and prioritize objectives.
•

Encouragement,

recognition, and reward for knowledge sharing
•

Define

requirements and develop measurement program.
•

Communications

Promote

values and norms.
•

Implement
• • •

Organization Organize to support values for knowledge management.

strategy. • Identify critical knowledge gaps, opportunities, and risks.
•

Organizational structure Organizational culture Business process

workflows
•

Business process

Develop

reengineering
•

business process model.
•

Management by

objectives
•

Engage key

Total quality

audiences with incentives.

management
•

Operating procedures

for knowledge sharing
•

Knowledge performance

metrics
•

Technology Collect and connect knowledge.

•

Enhance

• • •

Communications Email Data warehousing Data management

system integration and access.
•

software
• • •

Deploy

Multimedia repositories Groupware Decision support

intelligent agents for people.

systems

•

Exploit

• • •

Intranet Search engines Business modeling

semantic technologies.
•

Reuse

systems
• • • •

existing capabilities in new ways.
•

Intelligent agents Neural networks Lessons learned systems Video conferencing Communications

Monitor,

measure, and report knowledge performance Learning Cultivate and utilize virtual teams and exchange forum for knowledge management. metrics. • Enliven collaboration.
•

•

•

Tacit and explicit

knowledge
•

Facilitate

Capturing, organizing,

communities of practice.
•

and disseminating knowledge
• •

Team learning Management support for

Encourage

storytelling.
•

continuous learning
• • • •

Recognize

Virtual teams Exchange forums Communities of practice Encouragement,

and reward knowledge sharing.

recognition, and reward for innovation

•

Communications

Audiences for Evaluation Audiences for evaluation products and services are both inside and outside ADB. They include the Board of Directors; Management; senior staff; staff in headquarters, resident missions, and representative offices; institutional responsibility centers in developing member countries; local stakeholders; nongovernment organizations; other development agencies; and umbrella organizations such as the Development Cooperation Directorate in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Evaluation Network that it coordinates, the United Nations Evaluation Group, and the Evaluation Cooperation Group.

Interfaces for Lesson Learning Interand intra-organizational developing member relationships countries, encompass and the OED itself, other

departments,

international

evaluation

community. The figure below shows these interfaces with the specific context, knowledge, and the relationships of OED and the external environment it faces.

Influencing Change OED makes continuous efforts to influence change in development strategies, policies, practices, and procedures. Having influence begins with determining what, exactly, one wants to influence. Specifically, what decisions does one wish to influence, what changes does one seek to effect? After that, it is easier to establish who one needs to influence, namely, who is in a position to make or influence those decisions or effect those changes. Subsequently, OED considers what knowledge the target audience needs, what OED itself needs to know in order to advise the latter, and how OED is going to share that knowledge. OED endeavors to explicitly anchor broader evaluation studies in decisions and changes desired and emphasizes the importance of focusing on relationships at the onset of each evaluation study.

Operating Framework for Lesson Learning Drawing the elements of knowledge, relationships, context, external environment, interfaces, and architecture in a conceptual structure generates the operating framework within which decisions on knowledge management initiatives can be taken and implemented. The following figure depicts the operating framework within which knowledge management tools can be leveraged for lesson learning in ADB.

7. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT NASA

Knowledge management is getting the right information to the right people at the right time, and helping people create knowledge and share and act upon information in ways that will measurably improve the performance of NASA and its partners. For NASA this means delivering the systems and services that will help our employees and partners get the information they need to make better decisions. There are three priority areas where KM systems and processes can help NASA's ability to deliver its missions:  To sustain NASA's knowledge across missions and generations KM activities will identify and capture the information that exists across the Agency  To help people find, organize, and share the knowledge NASA already have KM processes will help to efficiently manage the Agency's knowledge resources  To increase collaboration and to facilitate knowledge creation and sharing The Knowledge Management Team will develop techniques and tools to enable teams and communities to collaborate across the barriers of time and space Where Is NASA Headed?

NASA’s 25-Year roadmap for how knowledge management will support their space missions. How Will NASA Measure Success? Successful implementation of KM is truly measured by its contribution to mission success. However, our research shows that there are four primary success factors for KM: culture, an architecture, services, and a robust infrastructure.

8. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Type of research: Descriptive Research.

Data Collection a). Secondary data collection:- Secondary data was collected through:• The companies have some data & it was taken from their websites. • • • • Through Various Websites. Through various Magazines. Through Newspaper Through various Books

Data analysis and Hypothesis testing

After collecting data through above mentioned methods various tools were used to analyse the data.

SUGGESTIONS

Although Knowledge Management is such a broad topic that I don’t have much knowledge to give suggestions but still I would recommend some suggestions from my side, these are:

  

Knowledge Management Programmes should be handled properly. It should focus more on managing knowledge of past and present employees. It should give proper knowledge and training to the persons who are managing knowledge.

 

Company should provide Environment for Knowledge Management functions. As Knowledge Management is useful in every aspect of life, so it should be deal with proper care.



Companies should increase the Knowledge Management Departments.

CONCLUSION

From the deep and thorough study made on company, organization, firm, or any government department way of managing the knowledge of their employees, employers, directors and co-members through studying the Knowledge Management in detail, I get to conclude that it was a really interesting part of an Organisation to

study in and it gave me immense knowledge about the way the companies are prone to keep the Knowledge of their past and present employees and use it at the time of need.

It was an expansion of my knowledge and a very good experience to know about the Knowledge Management criteria and methods of Knowledge Management of reputed companies like TATA STEELS, ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK and NASA and it would be very useful in my carrier ahead in corporate because of my keen interest in KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES The various Information and Data has been gathered from the following sources.  BOOKS :• • BUSINESS COMMUNICATION – I (K.K. SINHA) BUSINESS COMMUNICATION – II (K.K. SINHA)

 MAGAZINES :• • • • BUSINESS TODAY READERS DIGEST INDIA TODAY OUTLOOK

 WEBSITES :• • • • • www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.tatasteels.com www.adb.com www.indiatimes.com

 NEWS PAPERS • • • • • ECONOMIC TIMES BUSINESS TIMES HT BUSINESS MINT TIMES ASCENT