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A Framework for Knowledge Managemt Systems Implementation in Higher Education
Abstract—Higher education performs an important role in the knowledge-based economy. As learning organizations, they will be able to extend knowledge skills, produce top quality graduates, enhance innovation and creativity and contribute effectively to the knowledge production and intellectual property development. This paper discusses the concept of knowledge management at higher education institutions, presents a review of knowledge management (KM) processes and proceeds to a knowledge management systems (KMS) systematization. Finally, it proposes a framework to manage knowledge, as well as the processes and activities that enhance knowledge, in higher education institutions. Keywords- knowledge management, knowledge management systems, higher education Institutions
I.
INTRODUCTION
Knowledge management systems (KMS) are tools geared to support knowledge management (KM) processes, as knowledge creation, storage and retrieval, knowledge share, knowledge application, and the flows between them [1], [2]. These systems provide an environment that facilitates the creation and usage of knowledge, and also the communication and collaboration among the organization workers. Not all KMS are based on technologies. A not virtual community of practice or a face meeting are means to create and share knowledge. However, today almost all KMS are based in information technologies. The amount of knowledge that needs to be captured, stored and shared, the geographic distribution of people and the dynamic knowledge evolution make the use of technology a necessity [2]. The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory study about managing and measuring knowledge in higher educational institutions, describing a framework that allows these issues. The major aim of the purposed framework is to link the operational and the technical perspectives of KM, covering a set of KMS categories that can offer support to the KM operational processes of knowledge creation, access, sharing, usage and application and, on the other hand, also the measurement of knowledge assets, i.e. the intellectual capital (IC) measurement. Section two of this paper provides a brief discussion about the role of knowledge management in higher education
institutions, and their main issues. The third section reviews the existing models and frameworks for managing IC, referring to those that were used in higher education A systematization of KMS categories is made in the fourth section with the purpose of highlighting the different categories that are normally used to classify KMS according their main functionalities. Section five presents the proposed framework, its components, the relationship between them, as well as its role in supporting KM processes and IC measurement. Finally, section six presents some conclusions and draws some directions for future research.
II.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN HIGER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Higher Education Institutions face many challenges in the knowledge economy: renew economic and social systems, extend knowledge and specialist skills, engage effectively in knowledge production, be interconnected with industry, research centers and other institutions, and produce top quality graduates [5], [6]. Universities are the main instruments of society for the constant pursuit ok knowledge. KM in educational institutions should provide a set of issues for linking people (students, teachers, researchers, business and industry external entities), processes and technologies. It also focusses on how organizations can promote strategies and practices that help the different actors to share, manage and apply their knowledge [4]. We can distinguish two perspectives of KM in higher education institutions [4], [5]: i) academic knowledge, resulting from learning and teaching activities, the primary purpose of universities; ii) organizational knowledge, which refers to knowledge of the overall business of an institution: its strengths, weaknesses, strategies, critical factor of success, relationships with research centers, etc. The framework proposed in this paper seeks to address the both perspectives of knowledge and KM. Institutions of higher education can deeply benefit from KM by creating and maintaining relevant knowledge repositories, improving knowledge access, enhancing the knowledge environment and valuing knowledge [3]. Due the appearance of new knowledge producers in the higher
education, more and more universities are looking into de possibility of applying corporate KMS. Technologies are important to facilitate KM activities, such as discovery or acquisition (research), dissemination or share (teaching), application ok knowledge and their preservation (libraries, repositories). On the other hand, these issues miss their importance if the institution does not have a strategy and a culture of creating, sharing and collaboration between the various actors across the organization [7], [8].
III.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Considering that the aim of KMS is to support and enhance knowledge processes and activities, a review of organizational knowledge management processes was made. The purpose of this review is to highlight the different processes and activities that KMS need to support and adopt a classification that will be used to further develop the purposed framework for KMS implementation [1], [4], [5], [9], [10], [11]. Table 1 summarizes the referred classifications, presenting for each author, the knowledge management processes considered. TABLE I.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES
Author Alavi & Leidner
Knowledge management processes creation, storage/retrieval, transfer, application Identification, capture, codification, storage, Amaral & Pedro transfer, usage, evaluation European KM Com. Identification, creation, storage, share, use gathering, storage, communication, dissemination, Jackson synthesis Kemp capture , representation, retrieval, share Klein acquisition, share, utilization Knowledge Institute creation, capture and storage, organization and Research transformation, development, application and usage creation, organization/storage, distribution, Lindval & Rus application Loureiro acquisition, codification, transfer, use Nemati capture, clean, storage, organization, dissemination acquisition, share, retention, retrieval, validation, Neves audit, use Newman & Conrad creation, retention, transfer, utilization socialization, externalization, combination, Nonaka internalization O’ Dell create, identify, collect, review, share, adapt, use Queen´s University at creation/acquisition, codification/storage, Kingston transfer/dissemination, use Ruggles generation, codification, transfer Serrano creation, processing, development, transfer generation (creation/acquisition), codification, Silva transfer creation, test, application, refinement, storage, Sousa security, share Szulanski initiation, Implementation, usage, integration identification, acquisition, development, Vouros dissemination, use, preservation Wiig creation, manifestation, usage, transfer acquisition, development, storage/retrieval, transfer, Zack presentation
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From the analysis of table 1 some important conclusions can already be drawn:
Knowledge creation, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge transfer and knowledge application appear in almost all the proposed classifications. These are the knowledge management processes adopted in the context of this research.
Some authors specify different names to describe similar processes. For example, knowledge dissemination, communication or distribution are very similar processes in this context.
None of the authors specify processes to evaluate the economic impact of knowledge in organizations, i.e. the IC measurement IV.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
KMS are tools developed with the purpose of supporting KM processes, namely knowledge creation, storage and retrieval, transfer and application and the flows between them [1], [2]. These systems enable an environment that facilitates the creation and usage of knowledge, and also the communication and collaboration among the organization employees. More than technological systems, the KMS could be viewed as virtual spaces that promote knowledge conversion between explicit and tacit dimensions of knowledge. According to Nonaka [11], Knowledge conversion from one form to another occurs frequently and leads to the creation of new knowledge. On the other hand, KMS should offer support to individual and collective experiences, learning contents and activities, insights, values, organizational and individual culture, etc. [1], [12]. Thus, KMS must deal with explicit and tacit knowledge, as well as individual and collective knowledge, providing him at the right time, at the right people, at the right way [11]. Many authors have written about the use of different types of KMS [2], [6], [9], [10], [11], [13]. The variety of classifications referred by these authors takes us to develop a systematization of KMS regarding their addressed issues, capabilities and functionalities [14], [15], [17]. Table 2 summarizes this systematization presenting the KMS categories considered and their main functionalities: TABLE II. Categories
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS CLASSIFICATION
Main functionalities Document management; edition collaboration; Document versions control; documents sharing; support for management all content types (text, audio, video, graphs, xml, systems (knowledge web, etc.); searching and retrieval advanced repositories) mechanisms. Categorizing and indexing knowledge in taxonomies; creating knowledge maps; pointing to Knowledge organizational knowledge; inserting tags and maps labels in documents; alerting to relevant information. Synchronous or asynchronous communication; Collaboration process/people collaboration; virtual meetings; systems instant messenger, videoconference; real-time (groupware) conversation; grouping calendar; scheduling, etc.
Business processes automation; support automated flows of activities, tasks and information; support documental flows. Statistical, OLAP analysis; reveal patterns and Business hidden relationships between data; generate new intelligence and data knowledge from existing one; query and reporting mining tools tools; data mining and data warehousing tools. Expert identification; connect users with experts to solve certain problems; ask questions, provide Expert systems recommendations and explain logical processes; capture and store new questions and rules in a knowledge base. Employees profiles; experts, customers, vendors or others profiles in some systems; competence Competence maps; individual competence analysis; training management programs recommendation based on employees skills; recruitment and selection support. Environment personalization; evaluation and progress tracking: exercises quiz and tests; collaboration tools; reusable learning and object E-learning libraries; support different types of contents: text, systems audio, video, etc.; classes’ workgroups; authoring, scheduling and reporting tools; searching and matching tutorials. Self-desk and help-desk functionalities; FAQs Help-desk access and maintenance; on-line customer systems support; expert help; customer profiles; customers queries. Environment personalization; filtering relevant information; search and retrieval advanced mechanisms; news, activities, tasks and calendar Corporative management; unified access environment to other portals tools: documents management, workflow, knowledge maps, groupware, etc.; integration with other applications: ERPs, CRMs, etc. Workflow systems
Web 2.0
V.
Interaction, collaboration, participation of people: blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, tagging, platforms for content sharing.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
The framework proposed for KMS implementation in higher education institutions is presented in Fig. 1. The major aim of this framework is to allow the support of knowledge management processes and activities in higher education. In fact, we tried to enable an environment that increases the culture of knowledge creation and discovery, knowledge codification and storage, knowledge share and knowledge application, in the several core activities of teaching, learning and research.
FIGURE 1 . KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
The technologies and facilities that support the KMS functionalities consist on infrastructure and technology as enabler tools, which allow communication and collaboration across the institution actors (students, professors, researchers), as well as physical support to corporate memory and repositories [6], [13]. The framework described in Figure 1 shows a structure that represents the role performed by the different KMS categories, according their own characteristics and functionalities, in supporting KM processes [14], [18]. This relationship is based on the assumption that KMS, as technological systems focused on managing the organizational knowledge, do not support knowledge application; in fact, only people are able to apply knowledge. However, the KMS could facilitate the development of an environment that enables the knowledge usage and application, by institution actors. Knowledge management is based on processes as a set of activities to manage knowledge. According to the foregoing third section, knowledge creation, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge share and knowledge application are generally accepted as the key processes in the knowledge management filed, including higher education institutions [1], [3] . Knowledge creation involves the development of existing contents and the generation of new knowledge, namely in activities related with research and development and also learning activities. Collaboration systems (groupware) can support teamwork and thereby increase an individual’s contact with other individuals. This can accelerate the growth of knowledge creation. Corporative portals can include functionalities related with knowledge discovery, facilitating the generation of new knowledge. The goal of business intelligence tools is to combine different sources of knowledge, identifying new relationships and patterns, so that can generate new knowledge [16]. Knowledge storage and retrieval consists in the organization and representation of knowledge such that it can be accessed. Document management systems allow knowledge, often dispersed among a variety of retention supports, to be effectively stored and made accessible. Knowledge maps, competence management and customer relationship management provide the representation and facilitate the retrieval of organizational knowledge. On the other hand, corporative portals with search and retrieval advanced mechanisms increases the speed at which knowledge may be accessed and collaboration systems enables organizations to develop an intra-organizational memory in the form of both structured and unstructured information [6], [9], [16]. Knowledge transfer refers to the activities of knowledge dissemination and distribution within a community, through a specific channel. Collaboration and workflow systems are, per excellence, tools that enable knowledge distribution and dissemination. They support processes and people communication, coordination and collaboration across the
organization. A corporative portal contains, frequently, groupware and workflow functionalities, so it supports knowledge transfer. Expert systems are another tool that provides knowledge transfer from experts to users. Knowledge also can be distributed and transferred through online training programs based in e-learning systems. Applying knowledge is the fundamental scope for KM. Competitive advantage resides in the application of knowledge, rather than in the knowledge itself. Collaborative systems, corporative portals and expert networks can provide organizational knowledge at any time anywhere. From this perspective, they facilitate knowledge assimilation and application. VI.
CONCLUSIONS
Higher education institutions are part of the flourishing knowledge business and their core activities. In fact, in universities, the knowledge is an end in itself. In this context, it is reasonable to search strategies and approaches to manage knowledge and increase the collaboration, communication and interaction between the actors, promoting the creation and sharing of knowledge. Using KM technologies in higher education is as vital as it is in the corporate sector. They cloud saving time and effort to get knowledge, so all actors can use the organization’s knowledge; knowledge is able to be user wherever and whenever it is needed; technologies allow filtering knowledge according to the user interests and profile. The framework proposed in this paper includes a technological infrastructure that supports KMS architecture: databases, repositories, intra and internet, email server, etc. In an upper layer, the KMS offer support to the knowledge management processes and activities. The framework establishes a relationship between processes and tools, facilitating the selection of the most appropriate KMS according the organization needs and strategy. KMS can offer a relevant contribute to KM activities, by supporting and enhancing processes related with organizational knowledge crucial to the organization [14]. However, this contribute can only be achieved if KMS are focused on the processes that bring value added and competitive advantage to the institutions, according their strategic objectives. Future work will focuses on the framework validation through case studies in a Higher education institution. Feedback from the case studies could also improve de framework proposed.
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