Chapter-5 How Organization Manage what they know

After reading this chapter, I came to know that how organization's culture is impacting on transferring knowledge. Japanese organization believes in face-to-face meeting or knowledge sharing sessions whereas American companies believe in both that is face-to-face and electronically. This chapter also talks about the frictions at the organization and their best solutions. I think, this the most interesting part of this chapter. It doesn't only raise the question in the readers mind but also providing effective solution of that.

The Forrester Wave Enterprise Content Management Suites

This article provides evaluation on leading ECM vendors based on suite radiness, extended
capabilities, and strategy. It has also provided the results of their evaluation. The evaluation methodolgy involves Vendor surveys and customer interviews. Based on the Forrester Wave results, EMC and IBM lead in ECM suite.

EMC leads based on result because EMC's Documentum 5.3 offers ECM breadth and strong document management. IBM leads because DB2 content manager offers strong document imaging, COLD, and records management support.Also, Stellent, FileNet, Interwoven, Humingbird, Vignette, Oracle, Open Text, Mobius, and Microsoft companies have improved or need to improve their ECM suite in one way or the other.

Problem Solving

Today's organizations are facing two types of problems: technical and adaptive.

Technical Vs Adaptive Problem:
The challenge in solving technical problem is to obtain and apply the knowledge in an efficient and rational way. That is applying knowledge at the right time, and right place to right person. Whereas, the challenge in solving adaptive problems is to mobilize people so that they are able to make painful but necessary adjustments while learning new ways of working.

There are six stages in Problem-solving process which are as follow:

These processes are being held by asking particular questions in each processes.
1. Present the Problem.
2. Reframe the Problem.
3. Determine Causes of the problem.
4. Develop Alternative Solutions.
5. Evaluate alternatives and select actions.
6. Implement the solution.

Organizations and individuals gain benefits through solving problems via Action Learning. Those benefits include Organizational learning, team development, leadership development, and individual growth and professional development.

Action Learning: What It Is and Why It Works

Action Learning is process and a powerful program which involves usually four to eight individuals in a group solving real problems while at same time focusing on what they are learning and how their learning can benefit each group member and the organization as a whole.

There are six interactive and interdependet components of an action learning program. Which are as follows:
1. A Problem: Some examples of a problem are project, challenge, issue or task.
2. The Group: Four to eight individuals who examine the problem which is not easily solvable.
3. The Questioning and Reflection Process: This process involves first asking questions, to get better clarification of the exact nature of the problem and then reflecting and identifying possible solutions before taking any action.
4. The resolution to take action: People who are working the problem have the power to take action themselves or be assured that their suggestions will be implemented.
5. The Commitment to Learning: This interply between solving the problem and learning as well as developing yourself and organization.
6. The facilitator: The facilitator helps the group members in solving the problem by giving advising in the process.

What action learning is not:

Action Learning is not Task Forces and Quality Circles.
Action Learning is not Learning an Reflecting on the Job.
Action Learning is not Outdoor Adventures.
Action Learning is not Simulation.

Need of Action Learning in Today's world:
As we move from Newtonian Physics to Quantum Physics, Industrial Age to Information Age, National Economy to Global Economy, Worker Market focus to Customer Market focus, Manufacturing to Mentofacturing, we need solution to a complex problems in a systetic way, so they remain solved. Action Learning provides this kind solution to organizations.

Intranet Librarian

I read this article. I think most of the organizations use blogs, wikis, portals, groupware, discussion boards, and IM to share knowledge. It didn't provide any extra information.

Personal Toolkit

A framework for Personal Knowledge management tools provides seven principles and each principle has its own processes, values, skills, and tools. Each principle is based on information and ideas. What I think is both information and idea is different from each other then why the author has combined them together and given the principles on information and ideas? Are they interdependent?
Even he has also shown the differences between accessing information and accessing ideas. Accessing information is about locating, identifying, retrieving and viewing documents and data to discover the knowledge contained therein. Accessing ideas is about learning, inquiring and seeking out experts and other colleagues in the network who can help.

The Knowledge-Creating Company

The business review describes four basic patterns for creating knowledge in any orgainzation.
1. From Tacit to Tacit
2. From Explicit to Explicit
3. From Tacit to Explicit
4. From Explicit to Tacit.

While I was reading the fundamental principle of organizational design at the Japanese companies, the author of the business review says that in Japan, a team is divided into competing groups that develop different approaches to the same project and then argue over their proposals. When I thought about this approach, it still didn't convience me due its overlapping, time consuming and wastage of money approach. I still have questions on this principle.
One is what if two teams have the same proposal for project? another one is How about oppertunity cost?