Organizational culture and Knowledge management

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Organizational culture and Knowledge management

• B.V.L.Narayana
• Sr Professor (T M )
• RSC/BRC

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Definitions

• The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and
  practices that characterizes an institution,
  organization or group (Wikipedia)
• Wilkins and Dyer (1988) suggest that culture "is
  composed of the values, competencies, and
  beliefs of a group of people that strongly
  influence whether and how organizational
  strategies are implemented. (p. 522)."

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Definitions

• Schein (1990) defines culture as, "a) a pattern
  of basic assumptions, b) invented, discovered, or
  developed by a given group, c) as it learns to
  cope with its problems of external adaptation and
  internal integration, d) that has worked well
  enough to be considered valid and, therefore e)
  is to be taught to new members as the f) correct
  way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to
  those problems

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Importance of culture

• Karlsen Gottschalk (2004) view culture as
  important because it shapes assumptions about
  what knowledge is worth exchanging it defines
  relationships between individual and
  organizational knowledge it creates the context
  for social interaction that determines how
  knowledge will be shared in particular
  situations and it shapes the processes by which
  new knowledge is created, legitimated, and
  distributed in organizations. Lack of technology
  does not prevent KM activity it just means that
  KM activity must be accomplished in different
  ways.

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Importance of culture

• Without the benefit of a culture that recognizes,
  encourages, and rewards KM activities, consistent
  performance of KM activities will not occur.
  Interaction and collaboration among employees is
  important when attempting to transmit tacit
  knowledge between individuals or convert tacit
  knowledge into explicit knowledge, thereby
  transforming it from the individual to the
  organizational level (Gold, et. al., 2001).

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Model of knowledge categories(Hedlund and Nonaka)
Knowledge characteristics Individual Group Organization Inter organization domain
Articulated knowledge information embodied cognitive skills Knowing calculus Quality circles documented analysis of its performance Organization chart Suppliers patents and documented practices
Tacit knowledge and information, cognitive skills embedded Cross cultural negotiation skills Team coordination in complex work Corporate culture Customers attitudes to products and expectations
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Factors in culture and impact

• Information Systems
• Combine people, processes, and technology
• Must be flexible and tailored to the type of
  knowledge being captured, shared, or created
• Include formal and informal approaches
• Impact
• Build networks that foster conversation,relationsh
  ips, and trust among employees.Generate a
  collaborative environment in which employees know
  who knows what,know what was done before, and use
  this knowledge to resolve problems quickly and
  effectively.

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Factors in culture and impact

• Organizational Structure
• Must be permeable and minimize the focus on
  organizational silos
• Must support learning and sharing of knowledge
• Encourages the formation of teams, work groups,
  and communities of practice
• Impact
• Allows the flow of knowledge regardless of
  employee role, job function, or other traditional
  boundaries. Facilitates sharing of knowledge and
  learning to create even more knowledge. Allows
  employees to bond socially and technically to
  share information, build on each others
  knowledge, and to solve problems.

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Factors in culture and impact

• Reward Systems
• Consist of a balance between intrinsic and
  extrinsic motivators
• Encourage knowledge sharing across role and
  functional boundaries Must not trivialize
  knowledge sharing efforts
• Include a formal assessment of achievements
  against knowledge management objectives
• Impact
• Encourage knowledge sharing through formal
  systems, such as financial incentives and
  compensation structures and through informal
  systems such as peer-to-peer recognition.
  Acknowledge the value of sharing knowledge, the
  contributions people make, and the importance of
  not hoarding information or knowledge. Motivate
  employees to develop innovations that would help
  them do things right the first time.

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Factors in culture and impact

• Processes
• Connect people with other knowledge people
• Connect people with information
• Enable conversation of information to knowledge
• Encapsulate knowledge
• Disseminate knowledge throughout organization
• Impact
• Promote collaborative problem solving,
  streamlined workload, consolidated information,
  and enhanced performance.Enable learning, sharing
  of cross-functional expertise, and sharing of
  worker-to-worker knowledge. Develop information
  systems that enable information to seamlessly
  cross traditional silos.

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Factors in culture and impact

• People
• Most significant element of a knowledge
  management system
• Employees need reassurances that they are still
  valued after they give up their knowledge
• Level of trust greatly influences the amount of
  knowledge that is shared
• Impact
• Fosters an environment where employees trust that
  their knowledge is valued and ensures that the
  culture grows at the right pace, with the right
  people, and in the right mix. Allows employees to
  do a better job of aggregating useful
  information, and make it available to others who
  need it when they need it.

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Factors in culture and impact

• Leadership
• Provides strong and dedicated commitment to
  knowledge management initiatives
• Leads by example
• Fosters open knowledge sharing by creating an
  environment built on trust
• Fosters a belief that organizational learning and
  knowledge management are critical
• Develops a customer-centered business orientation
• Impact
• Creates the vision, mission, objectives, and
  ethics code for the organization as it develops
  its knowledge management system. Endorses and
  sustains knowledge management initiatives by
  taking on the role of coach and mentor. Removes
  barriers to progress. Reinforces and rewards
  positive behaviors and promotes the right
  people.Moves the entire organization toward
  knowledge management.

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Factors in culture and impact
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Factors in culture and impact
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