Knowledge Management Practices Applying Corporate in Higher Education

Knowledge Management Practices Applying Corporate in Higher Education

Colleges and universities have significant opportunities to apply nowledge anagement practices to support every part of their mission


Are The Concepts Of Knowledge management (KM) applicable to colleges and niversities? Some would argue that sharing knowledge is their raison d’être. If hat is the case, then the higher education sector should be replete with examples of nstitutions that leverage knowledge to spur innovation, improve customer service, or achieve operational excellence. However, although some examples exist, they are the exception rather than the rule. Knowledge management is a new field, and experiments are just beginning in higher education.

We believe there is tremendous value to higher education institutions that develop initiatives to share knowledge to achieve business objectives. This article
outlines the basic concepts of knowledge management as it is applied in the corporate sector, considers trends, and explores how it might be applied in higher education and whether higher education is ready to embrace it.

Knowledge Basics

Knowledge management is the process of transforming information and intellectual assets into enduring value. It connects people with the knowledge that they need to take action, when they need it. In the corporate sector, managing knowledge is considered key to achieving breakthrough competitive advantage.

But what is knowledge? Knowledge starts as data—raw facts and numbers—for example, the market value of an institution’s endowment. Information is data put into context—in the same example, the endowment per student at a particular institution. Information is readily captured in documents or in databases; even large amounts are fairly easy to retrieve with modern information technology systems.

Before acting on information, however, we need to take one more step. Only when information is combined with experience and judgment does it become knowledge. Knowledge can be highly subjective and hard to codify. It includes the insight and wisdom of employees. It may be shared through emailed “best practices” memos or even sticky notes on a cubicle wall. And once we have knowledge, we can put it to work and apply it to decision making.

A popular framework for thinking about knowledge proposes two main types of knowledge: explicit and tacit (see Figure 1).1 Explicit knowledge is documented information that can facilitate action. It can be expressed in formal, shared language. Examples include formulas, equations, rules, and best practices.
Explicit knowledge is:
• Packaged
• Easily codified
• Communicable
• Transferable
Tacit knowledge is know-how and learning embedded within the minds of the people in an organization. It involves perceptions, insights, experiences, and craftsmanship. Tacit knowledge is:
• Personal
• Context-specific
• Difficult to formalize
• Difficult to communicate
• More difficult to transfer
Most business actions require the guidance of both explicit and tacit knowledge.

How does knowledge work in organizations? Knowledge originates in individuals, but it is embodied in teams and organizations, as shown in Figure 1. In an organization, examples of explicit knowledge are strategies, methodologies,
processes, patents, products, and services. Examples of tacit knowledge in an organizational context are skills and competencies, experiences, relationships within and outside the organization, individual beliefs and values, and ideas.

Knowledge also is embedded in work processes, and it exists in all core functions
of an organization as well as in its systems and infrastructure. Effective knowledge management programs identify and leverage the know-how embedded in work, with a focus on how it will be applied. The challenge in knowledge management is to make the right knowledge available to the right people at the right time.

New Trends in Knowledge

Management Several trends will shape the field of knowledge management in the not-toodistant future:
• Emerging technology solutions
• The convergence of knowledge management with e-business
•The movement from limited knowledge management projects to more enterprisewide projects
• Increasing use of knowledge management to enhance innovation
• Increasing use of tacit knowledge (rather than explicit knowledge)

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

Lotus Notes, the software that packaged e-mail with data repositories and basic collaborative tools, was the first catalyst for knowledge management. Since Notes, most KM applications (including later versions of Notes) have migrated to
intranet-friendly, Web-based platforms. Currently available solutions for search and retrieval, e-mail, collaboration, and soforth are much better today than they were even a year ago. However, no single application does all of these things well.

It is likely that the next “killer application” for knowledge management will be the corporate portal—a gateway to applications that integrate collaborative tools, business intelligence, and unstructured text search capabilities. Portals started as a way to organize a variety of Web-based information sources on one desktop interface: a search tool, news feeds, links to favorite Web sites, content organized by topic, and so forth. Corporate portals do the same thing, allowing users to customize their desktops to show information from a variety of sources within the organization (and usually from outside the firewall as well).

Some universities are already making use of the corporate portal concept. For example, one major state university system is developing Web-based portals to deliver integrated services previously addressed in a very disaggregated fashion.
The business objectives of the first portal—for the university’s central administration—include institutional marketing, creating brand identity, building community with prospective students and parents, becoming the gateway for finding information about university resources and programs, and providing a rich information environment for decision making. The portal serves
multiple functions for multiple customers with one tool.

Development of a second, similar portal supports the vision of a new intercampus collaborative for teaching and learning with technology. That vision
calls for uniting the collective interests and goals of the campuses in the system in nurturing excellence in the use of technology for teaching and learning. The portal will improve the efficiency of knowledge exchange and deliver a set of shared business objectives that include communications around best practices, a
gateway to research on the use of teaching and learning through technology, professional development, policy development and review, and resource development.
The portal provides the faculty members at the individual campuses with efficient, direct links to current knowledge about teaching and learning through technology among the campuses of the university system, nationally, and internationally.

CONVERGENCE WITH E-BUSINESS

The trend toward portals as the technology tool of choice for knowledge leads to another trend: the convergence of knowledge management and e-business. One reason for this trend is that the Web-based technologies that support ebusiness are now being applied to support KM (and vice versa). A more powerful reason is that both disciplines are about creating conversations, sharing knowledge, and building communities. Knowledge management has been about breaking down barriers within the organization, and e-business has been about breaking down barriers between the organization and its customers.

A major application of the convergence of e-business and knowledge management will be in managing businessto-business customer relationships. Extending the organization’s communities to include the customer in the generation and exchange of knowledge promises to be an effective competitive advantage.

FROM LIMITED PROJECTS TO HOLISTIC PROGRAMS

As knowledge management matures as a corporate discipline, more companies will gravitate toward a more holistic approach to KM. Research shows that although many companies have begun to develop some sort of knowledge management capability, very few (6 percent) have implemented knowledge management programs on an enterprisewide scale. Over the past two or three years, a company could be recognized as a best-practice exemplar of knowledge management by having a single successful initiative—for having developed a robust intranet, for instance, or initiating communities of practice or redesigning a core business process around knowledge sharing.

This early tendency to focus on one type of initiative has fueled the debate between experts advocating a technocentric approach to knowledge management and those advocating a learning-centric approach. Organizations are already realizing that it does no good to have robust technology solutions if the existing culture prevents knowledge sharing, and conversely that it does little good to have pockets of robust knowledge sharing without some technological means of making knowledge widely accessible.

As organizations share their lessons learned about implementing knowledge management programs, some are discovering the interdependent nature of KM capabilities. They are finding that a balanced portfolio of knowledge management initiatives yields the best results and that excelling at technology-related capabilities does not preclude excelling at people- or process-related capabilities. (In fact, excelling in one area may well depend on excelling in another.)

MOVING FROM BEST PRACTICES TO INNOVATION

A March 2000 Conference Board survey report indicated that most knowledge management programs are still focused on creating repositories for storing and diffusing best practices, focusing on operational excellence and cost reduction.2 While many companies have earned a significant payback from these efforts, the real payoff may lie in applying knowledge management to spur innovation. Nokia is a good example of a company that has applied knowledge management
to encourage innovation in its R&D and product development functions. The company uses knowledge management practices to make sense of market trends and customer requirements and quickly puts that knowledge into action in the product development pipeline. Industry analysts report that Nokia delivers a new mobile communication product about every 25 days.

ADVANCES IN WORKING WITH TACIT KNOWLEDGE

Explicit knowledge, which consists of formulas, equations, rules, and best practices, is easier to work with than tacit knowledge, which involves perceptions, experiences, and insights because it can be recorded, stored in databases, and transported easily. The problem is that it is a little too portable—if you have it today, your competitors will likely have it tomorrow. And in any case, the mechanics of managing explicit knowledge are sufficiently well known that it will not provide a lasting competitive advantage.

The ability to manage tacit knowledge, on the other hand, promises to deliver huge returns for organizations that learn to use it effectively. The reason is that in the most valuable knowledge-intensive businesses—software development, say, or product design—the difference between a good performer and the best performer is huge. And the difference that matters most lies in tacit knowledge: a deep understanding of how to act on knowledge effectively.

Applying KM in Higher Education

Using knowledge management techniques and technologies in higher education is as vital as it is in the corporate sector. If done effectively, it can lead to better decision-making capabilities, reduced “product” development cycle time (for example, curriculum development and research), improved academic and administrative services, and reduced costs.

Consider the number of faculty and staff who possess institutional knowledge. For example, what institution does not have a faculty member who has led successful curriculum revision task forces? Or a departmental secretary who knows how to navigate the complex proposal development or procurement processes? Or a researcher who has informal connections to the National Science Foundation? Or a special assistant to the president who has uncovered (or generated) useful reports that individual deans or department chairs could use to
develop their own strategic plans?

Relying on the institutional knowledge of unique individuals can hamper the flexibility and responsiveness of any organization. The challenge is to convert the information that currently resides in those individuals and make it widely and easily available to any faculty member, staff person, or other constituent.

An institutionwide approach to knowledge management can lead to exponential improvements in sharing knowledge—both explicit and tacit—and the subsequent surge benefits. Tables 1 through 5 illustrate how knowledge management applications could benefit a number of university processes and services: the research process, curriculum development process, student and alumni services, administrative services, and strategic planning.

Is higher education ready to embrace knowledge management? A key ingredient
in an institution’s readiness to embrace knowledge management is its culture—the beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors that are unique to an organization. Informally, it is the unwritten rules or “how things really get done.”3 Higher education is moving from the old culture that considers, “What’s in it for me?” to a new culture that says, “What’s in it for our customer?” And it is developing a culture that is ready to embrace knowledge management.

As institutions launch knowledge management initiatives, they can learn lessons
from their counterparts in the corporate sector. Some key points to remember are:
• Start with strategy. Before doing anything else, determine what you want to accomplish with knowledge management.
• Organizational infrastructure—human resources, financial measurements of success, and information technology—should support knowledge management. Think of technology as an enabler, and measure the impact of KM in financial terms, such as cost reductions, customer satisfaction, and speed to market.
• Seek a high-level champion for the initiative—someone who believes in its benefits and who can advocate as needed.
• Select a pilot project for knowledge management —ideally one with high impact on the organization but of low risk to build credibility for knowledge management. If possible, make the pilot one that participants will enjoy and find rewarding.
• Develop a detailed action plan for the pilot that defines the process, the IT infrastructure, and the roles and incentives of the pilot project team.
• After the pilot, assess the results and refine the action plan.

Summary

Colleges and universities have significant opportunities to apply knowledge management practices to support every part of their mission—from education to public service to research. Knowledge management should not strike higher education institutions as a radically new idea; rather, it is a new spin on their raison d’être. But implementing knowledge management practices wisely is a lesson that the smartest organizations in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors are learning all over again.

Endnotes:
1. T. M. Koulopoulos and C. Frappaolo, Smart Things to Know about Knowledge Management (Dover, NH: Capstone US, 1999); M. Polanyi, The Tacit Dimension (London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1967).
2. B. Hackett, Beyond Knowledge Management: New Ways to Work (New York: The Conference
Board, March 2000).
3. Ibid.
© 2001 Jossey-Bass Inc.