It is important to review The Office of Public Sector Development Commission of Thailand (OPDC) on behalf of Thai government that has shaped Thai university by putting KM strategies into its corporate strategic plan for the years 2006 to 2010 (Commission 2007).
In 2006 Thai universities, in order to improve its performance in management, introduced the first phases of KM into the organisation. At that time, since KM was new to the staff, only a few staff understands KM. According to the annual report of the university, its performance with that KM trial run, the university lacked a good business plan for knowledge management (Naresuan University 2008). The former KM committee of one university further emphasised that KM’s implementation in the university had no clear objectives or goals. In addition, the staff had little skills or correct understanding of how to effectively implement KM activities, a problem that continues to exist in many other Thai universities.
2.1.1 Current operation of knowledge management at all Thai universities
KM was started at Thai universities at the end of year 2006, Thai universities started KM activities by applying and operating KM in many ways (Sarawanawong et al. 2009) as the following:
University’s Policy. The Thai universities’ four-year KM strategic plan 2007-2010 (Sarawanawong et al. 2009) focuses on KM by using tools that can enhance and develop Thai university into a learning organisation.
Needs of Applying KM. The Office of the Public Sector Development Commission of Thailand requires every public organisation to apply KM in order to develop into a learning organisation. The annual evaluation and follow-up of each public university is inspected by the Office of the Public Sect...
... middle of paper ...
...Management Institute’s (KMI) “Platoo Model”. This tool focuses on sharing knowledge among staff. Thus, Thai universities now encourage staff to create and acquire knowledge by knowledge sharing among individuals and groups through the use of various KM tools. Examples include: storytelling, working groups/ communities of practice, staff meetings/group meetings, brainstorming, one-on-one conversations, mentoring/tutoring, best practice, and online discussion via Web blog.
Further, Thai universities have been able to integrate staff knowledge into its organisation. Thai universities have the mechanisms in place for storage, organisation, capturing, and codifying the working knowledge of staff. Therefore, Thai universities do have the potential for an information technology infrastructure to support the storage and dissemination of knowledge in the organisation.
Professionals in both arenas can learn from each other. Six Sigma can learn from KM how to recognize knowledge, as well as processes. Joseph Hofer-Alfeis from Siemens said, "Six Sigma is oriented to the quality of products and processes. If you think of a knowledge-intensive business, 'Six Sigma for knowledge quality' -- the quality of the proficiency, the quality of knowledge flows, and the quality of description knowledge -- should also be a ...
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1998). Putting the balanced scorecard to work. The Economic Impact of Knowledge, 315-24.
Knowledge work according to Raman, (1999), contains activities, which are "information-based, knowledge intensive and knowledge generating" (p. 2). The paper's theme is, "organizations staying ahead of the competition have come to realize knowledge and knowledge workers are their key to success in today's environment where knowledge and information have become commodities" (Raman, 1999, p. 1). This paper's theme traces the historical development of knowledge management and knowledge workers; differentiates between knowledge workers and non-knowledge workers, and illustrate the knowledge workers experience in the author's organization. Knowledge systems contain the potential to increase business value (Bang, Cleemann, & Bramming, 2010).
Gorelick, C., Milton, N. J., & April, K. (2004). Performance through learning: Knowledge management in practice. Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
Nicolini D, Powell J, Conville P & Martinez-Solano L. (2008) Managing knowledge in the healthcare sector. A review. International Journal of Management Reviews 10, 245-263.
T.D. Wilson (2002) makes a point of identifying several sources of articles, references and course syllabi with varying takes on knowledge management within organizations. Wilson is convinced that organizations misuse the terminology “knowledge management” and that their activities are more concerned with managing information than with the management of knowledge (Wilson, 2002). Wilson defines knowledge as involving “the mental processes of comprehension” or, as “what we know” and information as the expression of what we know and can convey through messages (Wilson, 2002). By researching the use of the “knowledge management” Wilson conveys that the terms knowledge and information are used interchangeably, which results in an inaccurate application
Conclusion Knowledge does not simply flow vertically or horizontally. Decision-makers would have to be aware of different aspects involved in KM in order to be innovative and effective. Additionally, they should not neglect in using an inclusive approach where every participant can make active interactions. This will help foster a ‘learning organization’ where every member can learn, grow, and, in return, contribute greatly to their organizations as proactive participants, not just as mere bystanders.
The management of knowledge within the context of organizational processes is a determining factor of its effectiveness and level of performance. Hislop (2013) stated, "One of the key distinctions in the knowledge management literature relates to epistemology" (p. 8). In an attempt to acquire an in-depth understanding of key aspects of knowledge management I will analyze a key organizational job position that possesses valuable experience and traits of fulfilling responsibilities. My analysis will include a description of the organization and position, a review of the perspectives and types of knowledge, as described by Hislop (2013), as they relate to the job position, and the challenges encountered in transferring
Chen, E. T. (2009). KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY. One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854: Operations and Information Systems Department, University of Massachusetts Lowell.
- Communities of practice are groups of people who share a passion for something that they know how to do, and who interact regularly in order to learn how to do it better. They, therefore, are the cornerstones of knowledge management. From this perspective, the role of professional "manager" is not to manage knowledge directly, but to enable practitioners to do so.
Knowledge sharing is process that happen in organization to make knowledge accessible and can acts as a basis for innovation in the future. Creating and sharing knowledge is possible when the members of organization willing to synergies from combination different background of experience and education. Knowledge sharing can be called knowledge transfer with the process spreading throughout the organization and spreading across individuals, groups that use any kind of communication channels, which have several pillars according Alavi and Leidner (2001), such as: know the value of the knowledge, willingness of the source to share knowledge, media richness of communication channels, willingness to get knowledge and ability to recover
Hansen M., Nohria N., and Tierney T. (1999), “What’s your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?,” Harvard Business Review (March 1999), 106–16.
In most organizations, effective utilization of knowledge increases productivity, creates competitive advantage and, ultimately, improves profits.
(106) 'Knowledge management means using the ideas and experience of employees, customers and suppliers to improve the organisation’s performance. ' (5) Knowledge management (KM) is best when 'it is in alignment with organizational culture, structure and strategy ' (5). For this reason, the aim of this briefing document is to advise Santander on solutions to potential KM barriers employees may face by discussing three key barriers- culture, technology and leadership.
What struck me when I began approaching the topic of knowledge management in the context of development, was the realization that the meaning of “knowledge management” changes depending on the particular notion of “development” it is used with. There are diverse schools of thought on development and how it should be measured, the same way that there are different schools of thought on knowledge management. Though I should be concerned with comparing IM4D and KM4D, or looking at the MDGs in the context of KM, I became fascinated by the diversity (even contradiction) of meanings of these concepts, right at a time when I was reading about discourse. At some point, I began to think that it would be more interesting to address this particular concern instead.