1. Andrew O. Parlogean
Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning
CONCEPT PHASE
Introduction
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Purpose
The Concept Phase will determine whether
Knowledge Management (KM) and Andrew O. Parlogean explores the
Organizational Learning (OZL) can be found relationship between knowledge
to address corporate business inefficiencies Management and Organizational
with high confidence that technology can Learning to stimulate thinking toward a
support this approach. combined approach that focuses on
The purpose of this phase is to: delivering transferable knowledge to
the point of performance.
a. Establish system concepts,
b. Identify goals, objectives, critical success factors,
c. Identify basic high level requirements to satisfy the business need,
d. Identify high level KOLTS (KM & OZL Training System) requirements,
e. Identify performance measures,
f. Assess project, technical, and business risks.
Abstract
Corporate knowledge normally belongs to the individual and not the company. When an
employee leaves the organization, their knowledge of the business process and expertise
leave too. The employees who stay with the firm primarily share their ideas and
experience with those they work with on a daily basis. These individuals contain the
knowledge regarding everything from the organization’s best practices, business
processes, patents, completed projects, email messages and those ideas contained in their
own head. Capturing this knowledge and transferring it to other employees is critical to
an organizations success. This knowledge however may not be the most productive or
efficient because it does not take into account how or from whom the knowledge was
transferred or how creative the person holding this knowledge was. For this reason best
practices for one company may be only adequate for another.
The information in this brief is valuable information, technical knowledge, experience and data of a secret and
confidential nature. This information are regarded as commercial assets of considerable value; Andrew O. Parlogean is
willing to disclose such information on the condition that the recipient of the information does not disclose the same to
any third party nor make use thereof in any manner without the express written consent of Andrew O. Parlogean.
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2. Andrew O. Parlogean
Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning
Overview
Let us first start out with a common understanding of Knowledge Management (KM) &
Organizational Learning (OZL) as set forth in this brief.
1. When we speak of KM we are talking about the management of knowledge
within an organization, not the collection of information and data. We seek to
make the best use of the knowledge that is available to our organization, often
times creating new knowledge in the process.
2. OZL is the ability to prioritize the way in which people construct and use
knowledge. It is what some are loosely calling tacit knowledge or learning and
doing. OZL recognizes that learning and doing are more important to
organizational success than the dissemination of structured Information and data.
Most literature on knowledge management
concurs that knowledge within an Many companies have explored the
organization falls into two categories. This potential benefits of a KM program
includes both tacit knowledge and explicit and similarly, looked into possible KM
knowledge. Explicit knowledge is easy to systems. Few however have realized
code and comes in the form of books, policy the relationships and synergies
manuals, company documents, reports, between Knowledge Management
software, mission statements, databases and and Organizational Learning.
etc. On the other hand, tacit knowledge is
hard to code and extract. It is practical
knowledge on how to get things done and personal knowledge based on individual
experience. Knowledge is more than just data and information being made available to
users on a database. Data is raw facts and figures, while information consists of patterns
of data. Organizations have databases full of data and information, but until the people in
the company use it, it is not knowledge. Organizations are investing billions of dollars in
information technology and are receiving minimal results, because they are confused
about the differences between knowledge and information. Organizations must realize
knowledge is inside their people and knowledge creation is an interactive social process.
It is critical that organizations understand that by just having data and information
collected on a file server and sharing it, does not mean they have a knowledge
management system.
The common challenge for all organizations is how to leverage the collective knowledge
existing in an organization and pass this knowledge from one to another. Exacerbating
this challenge is the idea employees have that once one gives up this information, they
The information in this brief is valuable information, technical knowledge, experience and data of a secret and
confidential nature. This information are regarded as commercial assets of considerable value; Andrew O. Parlogean is
willing to disclose such information on the condition that the recipient of the information does not disclose the same to
any third party nor make use thereof in any manner without the express written consent of Andrew O. Parlogean.
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3. Andrew O. Parlogean
Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning
become less valuable and therefore, more at risk. After all, individuals are being asked to
give up unique knowledge and experience on behalf of the organization.
Almost all of the Knowledge Management practices (i.e. Software, Consulting, etc.)
which are emplace today or being sold and implemented come from the position of
explicit knowledge. Structuring this in a way where it is usable for someone to try and
gain tacit knowledge from it within the organization. Some companies have taken the
steps of disseminating explicit knowledge and collaborating with tactic knowledge in
teams. Most of these practices however have been developed because of our current
learning environment. For many centuries we have been passing along our knowledge
through “Pen & Paper”, because we have been able to grasp concepts and ideas through
this medium of knowledge transfer, we as humans have found great use for these tools.
Prior to this, most knowledge was transferred by means of observation and trial and error.
Let’s take for example; Pleistocene Man didn’t magically learn to hunt in deliberately
planned groups. Most likely they learned by watching the way the wolf pack hunts?
Communication could only have been via sign language and a range of grunts and
whoops. All this required some form of training. It’s easy to believe then that all learning
must have been that way – one-on-one, skill transfer by observation, trial & error, and
practice. The disciplines of war were (and still are) taught. Experientially, the only way
to find out whether you can attack a castle wall with a siege-engine is to wheel the thing
up against a friendly castle wall and try it. But sooner or later, in order to ‘learn’ truly
what is involved in reality, one can only be learned while at the same time having arrows,
spears, rocks, boiling tar, curses and dead bodies hurled down at you. Now that is
experiential learning, for those who survive.
Many of the insights and skills that are needed for proper KM & OZL can only be
learned in practice. Learning by doing, so to speak. You try something out, evaluate how
it works and if it doesn’t work, you change your intervention until the original objectives
are met. If you are working in truly unknown territory, this exploratory way of
discovering how to do KM & OZL is indeed the proper way. If the territory however is
only unknown to you because you are new to the field, this way of working may be
unnecessarily costly to your organization. Why put the organization at risk by
experimenting in an area where others have already figured out how to do things in an
effective way? Why only allow some employees to acquire knowledge & skills? In such
situations, organizations typically resort to hiring external consultants. This does solve
some of the immediate problems facing the organization, but the more general issue
remains. After all, external advisors do not know the organization as well as you do, and
sooner or later they will leave, leaving you once again all alone to deal with KM & OZL
by yourself. So how can you acquire KM & OZL skills that can only be learned in
practice without creating unacceptable risks for the organization?
The information in this brief is valuable information, technical knowledge, experience and data of a secret and
confidential nature. This information are regarded as commercial assets of considerable value; Andrew O. Parlogean is
willing to disclose such information on the condition that the recipient of the information does not disclose the same to
any third party nor make use thereof in any manner without the express written consent of Andrew O. Parlogean.
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4. Andrew O. Parlogean
Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning
‘Fortunately’, the problem is not unique to knowledge management. Other management
disciplines are facing similar problems, and we can learn from how these have been
tackled.
The premise behind knowledge Management & Organizational Learning is not to try and
reinvent the way people learn, or how organizations do business, but to exploit our innate
abilities and speed up the process of transferring knowledge within an organization, thus
significantly impacting the overall business performance. This can be accomplished at an
unbelievably accelerated rate using technology which has been developed within the last
10 years.
System Concepts
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KOLTS (Knowledge & Organizational Training System) is a concept aimed at
developing an interactive one-on-one learning environment based on an organization’s
“Best Practice”, tacit & explicit Knowledge. Proper implementation of KOLTS in an
organization requires a deep understanding of the concepts and methods that the
organizations have or do not have at their disposal. KOLTS requires knowledge
management and organizational learning to deliver knowledge and skills which are
transferable to the point of performance.
But how does an employee acquire this knowledge and these skills? Many of the
insights and skills that are needed for proper knowledge management can only be learned
in practice. Learning by doing. You try something out, evaluate how it works and if it
doesn’t, you change your intervention until the original objectives are met. If you are
working in truly unknown territory, this exploratory way of discovering how to do the
task at hand is indeed the proper way. What else could you do? But if the territory is only
unknown to you because you are new to the field, this way of working may be
unnecessarily costly to your organization. Why put the organization at risk by
experimenting in an area where others have already figured out how to do things in an
effective way? This is where a combination of technologies comes into play. The ability
to capture tacit & explicit knowledge with sophisticated monitoring devices, advanced
fuzzy logic programming, newly developed VR systems, and interactive simulation
systems gives us the ability to transfer both tacit & explicit knowledge with years of KM
& OZL from “Best Practice” environments transferable within weeks.
The information in this brief is valuable information, technical knowledge, experience and data of a secret and
confidential nature. This information are regarded as commercial assets of considerable value; Andrew O. Parlogean is
willing to disclose such information on the condition that the recipient of the information does not disclose the same to
any third party nor make use thereof in any manner without the express written consent of Andrew O. Parlogean.
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