Course: 0224M - Knowledge

Management

The Knowledge Management

Cycle and Models
Week 2

A little knowledge that acts is

worth infinitely more than
much knowledge that is idle
Kahlil Gibran (18831931)

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Learning Outcomes
Describe how valuable individual, group and
organizational knowledge is captured, created,
codified, shared, applied and reused throughout the
knowledge management cycle.
Compare and contrast major KM life-cycle models,
including the Zack, Bukowitz and Williams, McElroy and
Wiig life-cycle models.
Define the key steps in each process of the KM cycle
and procide concrete examples of each.
Identify the major challenges and benefits of each
phase of the KM cycle.
Describe how the integrated KM cycle combines the
advantage of other KM life-cycle models.
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Learning Outcomes (Cont.)

Understand the key tenets of the major knowledge
management thoretical models in use today.
Link the KM framework to key KM concepts and the
major phases of the KM cycle.
Explain the complex adaptive system model of KM and
how it addresses the subjective and dynamic of content
to be managed

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Acknowledgement
These slides have been adapted from
Dalkir, K. (2011). Knowledge
Management in Theory and Practice.
The MIR Press. USA. ISBN: 9780262015080. (Chapter 2 and 3)

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Sub Topics

The Meyer and Zack KM Cycle

The Bukowitz and Williams KM Cycle
The McElroy KM Cycle
The Wiig KM Cycle
An Integrated KM Cycle

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Sub Topics (Cont.)

The Von Krogh and Ross Model of Organizational
Epistomology
The Nonaka and Takeuchi Knowledge Spiral Model
The Choo Sense-making KM Model
The Wiig Model
The Boisot I-Space KM Model

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The Knowledge
Management Cycle

Introduction KM Cycle
Effective knowledge management requires an
organization to identify, generate, acquire,
diffuse, and capture the benefits of knowledge
that provide a strategic advantage to that
organization.

One of the major KM processes aims at

identifying and locating knowledge
and knowledge sources within the
organization.

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KM Cycle Approaches
Wiig (1983)

Mc Elroy
(1999)

Rollet
(2003)

Bukowitz
and
Williams
(2000)

Meyer and
Zack
(1996)

- Creation
- Sourcing
-Compilation
-Transformation
-Dissemination
-Application
-Value
Realization

-Individual
and Group
Leaning
-Knowledge
Claim
validation
-Information
Acquisition
-Knowledge
Validation
-Knowledge
Integration

- Planning
- Creating
- Integrating
- Organizing
Transferring
Maintaining
- Assessing

- Get
- Use
- Learn
Contribute
- Assess
Build/susta
in
- Divest

- Acquisition
- Refinement
- Store /
Retrieve
- Distribution
Presentation

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The Meyer and Zack KM Cycle

This approach provides a number of useful
analogies, such as the notion of a product
platform
(the knowledge repository) and the information
process platform (the knowledge refinery) to
emphasize the notion of value-added processing
required in order to leverage the knowledge of an
organization.

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The Meyer and Zack KM Cycle

(Cont.)
The KM cycle consists primarily of creating a higher
value-added knowledge product at each stage of
knowledge processing.
For example, a basic database may represent an
example of knowledge that has been created. Value
can then be added by extracting trends from this data.
The original information has been repackaged to
provide trend analyses that can serve as the basis for
decision making within the organization.

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The Meyer and Zack KM Cycle

(Cont.)
The repository becomes the foundation upon which
a firm creates its family of information and knowledge
products.
This means that the greater the scope, depth, and
complexity, the greater the flexibility for deriving
products and thus the greater the potential variety
within the product family.
Such repositories often form the first kernel of an
organizational memory or corporate memory for
the company.

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A sample repository for a

railway administration
organization

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The Meyer and Zack KM Cycle

(Cont.)
The Meyer and Zack KM cycle processes are
composed of the technologies, facilities, and
processes for manufacturing products and services.
Meyer and Zack analyzed the major developmental
stages of a knowledge repository and mapped these
stages onto a KM cycle.
The stages are: acquisition, refinement,
storage/retrieval, distribution, and presentation/use.

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The Major Stage Meyer and Zack

KM Cycle

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The Major Stage Meyer and Zack KM

Cycle (Cont)

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The Bukowitz and Williams KM

Cycle

Bukowitz and Williams (2000) describe a

knowledge management process framework that
outlines how organizations generate, maintain
and deploy a strategically correct stock of
knowledge to create value

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The Bukowitz and Williams KM

Cycle (Cont.)

In this framework, knowledge consists of:

- Knowledge repositories,
- Relationships,
- Information technologies,
- Communications infrastructure,
- Functional skill sets,
- Process know-how,
- Environmental responsiveness,
- Organizational intelligence,
- and external sources.

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The Bukowitz and Williams KM

Cycle (Cont.)

The get, learn, and contribute phases are tactical in

nature. They are triggered by market-driven opportunities
or demands, and they typically result in day-to-day use of
knowledge to respond to these demands.
The assess, build/sustain, or divest stages are more
strategic, triggered by shifts in the macro environment.
These stages focus on more long range processes of
matching intellectual capital to strategic requirements.

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The McElroy KM Cycle

McElroy (1999) describes a knowledge life cycle
that consists of the processes of knowledge
production and knowledge integration, with a
series of feedback loops to organizational
memory, beliefs, and claims and the businessprocessing environment.

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

McElroy emphasizes that organizational
knowledge is held both subjectively in the minds
of individuals and groups and objectively in
explicit forms.
Together, they comprise the distributed
organizational knowledge base of the company.
Knowledge use in the business-processing
environment results in outcomes that either
match expectations or fail to do so.

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

In knowledge production, the key processes are
individual and group learning; knowledge claim
formulation; information acquisition; codified
knowledge claim; and knowledge claim
evaluation.

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge is information until it is validated.
Knowledge claim validation involves codification
at an organizational level. A formalized procedure
is required for the receipt and codification of
individual and group innovations.
Knowledge Claim
Evaluation Process

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge integration is the process by which an
organization introduces new knowledge claims to
its operating environment and retires old ones.
This includes all knowledge transmission such as
teaching, knowledge sharing, and other social
activities that either communicate an
understanding of previously produced
organizational knowledge to knowledge workers
or integrate newly minted knowledge.

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The McElroy KM Cycle (Cont.)

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The Wiig KM Cycle

Wiig (1993) focuses on the three conditions that
need to be present for an organization to conduct
its business successfully:
It must have a business (products/services) and
customers;
It must have resources (people, capital, and
facilities); and
It must have the ability to act.

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge is the principal force that determines and
drives the ability to act intelligently.
With improved knowledge we know better what to do and
how to do it. Wiig identifies the major purpose of KM as an
effort

to make the enterprise intelligent-acting by facilitating the

creation, cumulation [sic], deployment and use of quality
knowledge (p. 39).

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

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The cycle focuses on identifying and relating the functions

and activities that
we engage in to make products and services as knowledge
workers.

The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

Building knowledge refers to activities ranging from
market research to focus groups, surveys, competitive
intelligence, and data mining applications. Building
knowledge consists of five major activities:
1. Obtain knowledge.
2. Analyze knowledge.
3. Reconstruct/synthesize knowledge.
4. Codify and model knowledge.
5. Organize knowledge.

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge creation may occur through R&D
projects, innovations by individuals to improve the way
they perform their tasks, experimentation, reasoning
with existing knowledge, and hiring of new people.
Knowledge may also be created through knowledge
importing (e.g., elicit knowledge from experts and from
procedure manuals, engage in joint ventures to obtain
technology, or transfer people between departments).

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge may be created through observing the real world (e.g.,
making site visits, observing processes after the introduction of a
change).
Knowledge is organized for specific uses and according to an
established organizational framework (such as standards and
categories).
Examples include a help desk service or a list of frequently asked
questions (FAQs) on the company intranet. This organization is
usually done using some form of knowledge ontology (conceptual
model) and taxonomy (classification rules).

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

Knowledge analysis consists of:
Extracting what appears to be knowledge from obtained material
(e.g., analyze transcripts and identify themes, listen to an
explanation, and select concepts for further consideration).
Abstracting extracted materials (e.g., form a model or a theory).
Identifying patterns extracted (e.g., trend analysis).
Explaining relations between knowledge fragments (e.g., compare
and contrast, causal relations).
Verifying that extracted materials correspond to the meaning of
original sources (e.g., meaning has not been corrupted through
summarizing, collating, and so on).

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The Wiig KM Cycle (Cont.)

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An Integrated KM Cycle
A synthesis of the proceeding steps from the four approaches to a KM Cycle
Meyer and
Zack
(1999)

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Bukowitz
and
Williams
(2000)

McElroy
(1999)

Wiig
(1993)

An Integrated KM Cycle (Cont.)

Table represents amalgamation of the major KM Cycle steps that each of the
four approaches had in common.
Steps in Common

Step added by

1. Knowledge capture
2. Knowledge creation
2a. Knowledge
contribution

Bukowitz and Williams (2000)

2b. Knowledge filtering

and
selection

Bukowitz and Williams (2000)

3. Knowledge codification
3a. Knowledge
refinement
4. Knowledge sharing
5. Knowledge Access

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Meyer and Zack (1999); Bukowitz

and Williams (2000)

An Integrated KM Cycle (Cont.)

Table represents amalgamation of the major KM Cycle steps that each of the
four approaches had in common.
Steps in Common

Step added by

6. Knowledge capture
6a. Knowledge
evaluation

McElroy (1999); Bukowitz and

Williams (2000)

7. Knowledge reuse
7a. Knowledge reuse
and
divestment

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Bukowitz and Williams (2000)

An Integrated KM Cycle (Cont.)

On the basis of the authors preceding study of
some major approaches to KM cycles, they can
distill an integrated KM cycle. The three major
stages are:
1. Knowledge capture and/or creation.
2. Knowledge sharing and dissemination.
3. Knowledge acquisition and application.

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The Knowledge
Management Model

Introduction KM Models
All the KM models presented in this topic attempt to
address knowledge management from a holistic and
comprehensive perspective.
Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) provide a more philosophical
distinction, starting from the traditional definition of
knowledge as justified true belief. They define
knowledge as a dynamic human process of justifying
personal belief
toward the truth

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MAJOR THEORETICAL KM MODELS

The following models were selected because they possess the
following critical characteristics:
1. They represent a holistic approach to knowledge management
(i.e., they are comprehensive and take into consideration
people, process, organization, and technology dimensions).
2. They have been reviewed, critiqued, and discussed
extensively in the KM literature, by practitioners, academics,
and researchers alike.
3. The models have been implemented and field tested with
respect to reliability and validity.

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The von Krogh and Roos Model of

Organizational Epistemology
The von Krogh and Roos KM model (1995) distinguishes between
individual knowledge and social knowledge, and they take an
epistemological approach to managing organizational knowledge: the
organizational epistemology KM model.
A number of issues must be addressed:
- How and why individuals within an organization come to know.
- How and why organizations, as social entities, come to know.
- What counts for knowledge of the individual and the organization.
- What are the impediments in organizational KM.

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The von Krogh and Roos Model of

Organizational Epistemology
(Cont.)
Von Krogh and Roos adopt the connectionist
approach. In their organizational epistemology KM
model, knowledge resides both in the individuals
of an organization and, at the social level, in the
relations between the individuals.
Knowledge is said to be embodied; that is,
everything known is known by somebody (von
Krogh and Roos, 1995, p. 50).

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge Spiral Model

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) studied the success of

Japanese companies in achieving creativity and innovation.
They quickly found that it was far from a mechanistic
processing of objective knowledge.
Instead, they discovered that organizational innovation
often stemmed from highly subjective insights that can best
be described in the form of metaphors, slogans, or symbols.
The Nonaka and Takeuchi model of KM has its roots in a
holistic model of knowledge creation and the management
of serendipity.

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge Spiral Model (Cont.)
Knowledge creation always begins with the individual.
For Example:
A brilliant researcher has an insight that ultimately leads
to a patent
A middle manager has an intuition about market trends
that becomes the catalyst for an important new product
concept.
A shop floor worker draws upon years of experience to
come up with a process innovation that saves the
company millions of dollars

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge Spiral Model (Cont.)
In each of these scenarios, an individuals
personal, private knowledge (predominately tacit
in nature) is translated into valuable, public
organizational knowledge.
Making personal knowledge available to others in
the company is at the core of this KM model.
This type of knowledge creation process takes
place continuously and occurs at all levels of the
organization.
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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge Spiral Model (Cont.)
According to Nonaka and Takeuchi, there are four modes of
knowledge conversion.
There are four modes of knowledge conversion, as
illustrated in the next slide:
1. From tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge: the process of socialization.
2. From tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge: the process of
externalization.
3. From explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge: the process of
combination.
4. From explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge: the process of
internalization.

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge
Spiral Model

Source: Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, p. 62.

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge
Model (Cont.)
KNOWLEDGESpiral
SPIRAL
Knowledge creation is not a sequential process. Rather, it
depends on a continuous and dynamic interaction between tacit
and explicit knowledge throughout the four quadrants.
The knowledge spiral shows how organizatins articulate, organize
and systematize individual tacit knowledge.
Organizations produce and develop tools, structures, and models
to accumulate and share knowledge.
The knowledge spiral is a continuous activity of knowledge flow,
sharing, and conversion by individuals, communities, and the
organization itself.

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The Nonaka and Takeuchi

Knowledge
Spiral Model (Cont.)

Source: Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995, p. 71.

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The Choo Sense-making KM Model

The Choo KM model focuses on how information
elements are selected and subsequently fed into
organizational actions.
Organizational action results from the concentration
and absorption of information from the external
environment into each successive cycle.
Each phase, sense making, knowledge creation, and
decision making, has an outside stimulus or trigger.

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The Choo Sense-making KM Model

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge
Wiig (1993) approached his KM model with the
following principle: in order for knowledge to be useful
and valuable, it must be organized.
Knowledge should be organized differently depending
on what use will be made of the knowledge.
Knowledge organized within a semantic network can
be accessed and retrieved using multiple-entry paths
that map onto different knowledge tasks to be
completed.

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)
Some useful dimensions to consider in Wiigs KM model
include:
Completeness,
Connectedness,
Congruency, and
Perspective and purpose.
Semantic networks are useful ways of representing different perspectives on the
same knowledge content. Figures at the next slide present examples of different
perspectives on the same knowledge object (car) using semantic networks.

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)
High level (Overview)

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)
Wiigs KM model goes on to define different levels
of internalization of knowledge. Wiigs approach
can be seen as a further refinement of Nonaka
and Takeuchis fourth quadrant, internalization.

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)
The three forms of knowledge and the four types
of knowledge combine to yield a KM matrix that
forms the basis of the Wiig KM model

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The Wiig Model for Building and

Using Knowledge (Cont.)
Wiig (1993) proposes a hierarchy of knowledge
that consists of public, shared, and personal
knowledge forms.

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

The Boisot KM model is based on the key concept of an
information good that differs from a physical asset.
Boisot distinguishes information from data by emphasizing
that information is what an observer will extract from data
as a function of his or her expectations or prior knowledge.
Boisot (1998) proposes the following two key points:
1. The more easily data can be structured and converted into
information, the more diffusible it becomes.
2. The less data that has been so structured requires a shared
context for its diffusion, the more diffusible it becomes.

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

(Cont.)
Together, they underpin a simple conceptual framework,
the Information Space or I-Space KM model.
Data is structured and understood through the processes of
codification and abstraction.
The I-Space model can be visualized as a three-dimensional
cube with the following dimensions (see Figure at the next
slide):
(1)Codifieduncodified;
(2)Abstract concrete; and
(3)Diffusedundiffused

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

(Cont.)
The activities of coding, abstracting, diffusing,
absorbing, impacting, and scanning all contribute
to learning.
Where they take place in sequence and to
some extent they must together they make up
the six phases of a social learning cycle (SLC).
See Table in the next slide.

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

(Cont.)
The Social Learning Cycle in Boisots I-Space KM Model
Phase

Name

Description

Scanning

Identifying threats and opportunities in

generally available but often fuzzy data
ie, weak signals. Scanning patterns such
data into unique or idiosyncratic insights
that then become the possession of
individuals or small groups. Scanning may
be very rapid when the data is well
codified and abstract and very slow and
random when the data is uncodified and
context-specific

Problem
Solving

The process of giving structure and

coherence to such insights ie., codifying
them. In this phase they are given a
definite shape and much of the uncertainty
initially associated with them is eliminated.

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

(Cont.)
The Social Learning Cycle in Boisots I-Space KM Model
Phase

Name

Description

Abstraction

Generalizing the application of newly

codified insights to a wider range of
situations. This involves reducing them to
their most essential features ie.,
conceptualizing them. Problem-solving
and abstraction often work in tandem.

Diffusion

Sharing the newly created insights with a

target population. The diffusion of well
codified and abstract data to a large
population will be technically less
problematic than that of data which is
uncodified and context-specific. Only a
sharing of context by sender and receiver
can speed up the diffusion of uncodified
data; the probability of a shared context is

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The Boisot I-Space KM Model

(Cont.)
The Social Learning Cycle in Boisots I-Space KM Model
Phase

Name

Description

Absorption

Applying the new codified insights to

different situations in a learning by doing
or a learning by using fashion. Over
time, such codified insights come to
acquire a penumbra of uncodified
knowledge which helps to guide their
application in particular circumstances

Impacting

The embedding of abstract knowledge in

concrete practices. The embedding can
take place in artifacts, technical or
organizational rules, or in behavioural
practices. Absorption and impact often
work in tandem.

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Complex Adaptive System Models

of KM
The Intelligent Complex Adaptive Systems (ICAS)
KM theory views the organization as an intelligent
complex adaptive systemthe ICAS model of KM.
Complex adaptive systems consist of many
independent agents that interact with one
another locally. Together, their combined behavior
gives rise to complex adaptive phenomena.

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Complex Adaptive System Models

of KM (Cont.)
The key processes in the ICAS KM model can be
summarized as:
1. Understanding.
2. Creating new ideas.
3. Solving problems.
4. Making decisions.
5. Taking actions to achieve desired results.

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Complex Adaptive System Models

of KM (Cont.)

To survive and successfully compete, an organization also

requires eight emergent characteristics, according to this model:
(1)Organizational intelligence,
(2)Shared purpose,
(3)Selectivity,
(4)Optimum complexity,
(5)Permeable boundaries,
(6)Knowledge centricity,
(7)Flow, and
(8)Multidimensionality.

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Complex Adaptive System Models

of KM (Cont.)

An emergent characteristic is the result of nonlinear

interactions, synergistic interactions, and self-organizing
systems.
The ICAS KM model follows along the lines of the other
approaches in that it is connectionist and holistic in nature.
The emergent ICAS characteristics are outlined in Figure
below.
These emergent properties serve to endow the
organization with the internal capability to deal with the
future unanticipated environments yet to be encountered.

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OVERVIEW OF THE ICAS MODEL

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The European Foundation for

Quality Management (EFQM) KM
Model

The EFQM model (Bhatt 2000, 2001, 2002) looks

at the way in which knowledge management is
used to attain the goal of an organization.
This model is based on traditional models of
quality and excellence, so there are very strong
links between KM processes and expected
organizational results.
In figure on the next slide shows the major
components of the EQFM KM model.

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The Key components of EFQM

model
People

Leadersh
ip

Policy
and
Strategy
Partnership and
resources

Enablers
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Processe
s

Key
performanc
e results
(people,
customer,
society)

Results

The Inukshuk KM Model

The Inukshuk KM modek (Girard, 2005) was developed to
help Canadian government departments to better manage
their knowledge.
This model was developed by both reviewing existing major
models to extract five key enablers (technology, leadership,
culture, measurement, and process) and by conducting
quantitative research to validate these enablers.
The name Inukshuk is derived from the human-shaped
figures built by piling stones on one another by the Inuit in
the northern part of Canada to serve as navigational aids.

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The Inukshuk KM Model (Cont.)

There were three main reasons for choosing this symbol to
represent KM:
Its well recognized in Canada.
It emphasizes the key role played by people in KM.
All inukshuk are similar they are not identical, reflecting
the variations in KM implemented in different organizations.
Figure on the next slide depicts the major components of the
Inukshuk KM model

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The Inukshuk KM Model (Cont.)

MEASUREMEN
T
Tacit Knowledge

Explicit
Knowledge

Socialization

Externalizati
on

Internalizati
on

Combination

LEADERSHIP
TECHNOLOGY

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CULTURE

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