management is changing the way we do business ... programme design efforts, which starts with a call to ... This call to action determines the business's value.
Knowledge Management Research & Practice (2012) 10, 99–101 & 2012 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved 1477–8238/12 www.palgrave-journals.com/kmrp/
BOOK REVIEW
The new edge in knowledge: how knowledge management is changing the way we do business Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 1st edn, 1 March 2011, ISBN-10: 0470917393; ISBN-13: 978-0470917398, hardcover, 256 pp., Price $45
Reviewed by: Sameer Kumar Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya, Malaysia
Knowledge Management Research & Practice (2012) 10, 99–101. doi:10.1057/kmrp.2011.42
Knowledge travels through social networks formed as a result of collaboration between individuals. Today, knowledge has morphed from being considered a technology activity into something that is primarily a human endeavour and, thus, qualitative in nature. The advent of digital technologies, especially 2.0 versions, is forcing many organizations to amend the way they do business. These technological developments have positive implications for knowledge management (KM). As of October 2011, more than 60,000 research artifacts with the keyword knowledge management have been indexed in the Web of Science database. Since 1998, the annual production of KM research articles has experienced a nearly six-fold increase. These data empirically show that interest in KM has only increased with time. KM is among the most frequently cited management disciplines in subject areas as diverse as computer science, management and business, water resources, and criminology and penology. The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business is written by executives at APQC, a non-profit organization involved in KM consultancy and benchmarking. From my point of view, the present book resembles O’Dell’s earlier book, If Only We Knew What We Know (O’Dell et al, 1998), in spirit, line of content, and even its cover. It is a major second edition of the previous book that portrays the new look of KM through the lens of developments in e-technologies, learning, and our changes in perception in general. The book ‘tells you how leading organizations achieve great results in Knowledge Management, or KM, and provides the strategic principles to help you do the same in your organization’ (p. xiii). This sentence conveys four important points about the book: (a) it is based on case studies, (b) as per authors, KM works and yields great results, (c) the best practices learned by the companies in the case studies can be emulated by other firms, and (d) the book is mainly meant for companies that are interested in implementing a formal KM programme. KM strives to decode what is tacit (internalized knowledge) into something that is explicit (externalized knowledge), thereby creating the repository of knowledge that is also known as the organizational memory. As ‘externalized knowledge’ is another term for ‘information’, ‘knowledge’, and ‘information’ remain virtually inseparable terms. We do not know how these two terms are specifically distinct and where they merge. Is
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‘knowledge’ just another form of ‘information’? Scholars often define knowledge by differentiating it from data and information (Alavi & Leidner, 2001; Lloria, 2008). Authors of this book consider knowledge to be ‘information in action’ (p. 2), asserting that – unless we can process information and make practical use of it – it is not knowledge. The 11 chapters of the book build one upon another. Hence, a reader zooming to a random chapter may not get the full idea the chapter is trying to convey. Each chapter has closing remarks, which are not the usual chapter summary, but a distillation of what the chapter covers. Chapters end with a grey text box containing ‘implementation resources’ that direct the reader mostly to APQC resources. With so many APQC references and with APQC holding the book’s copyright, the title might more properly be The APQC Book of Knowledge Management. Hence, a word of caution: The authors here present APQC’s view of KM. Not everyone will agree with their ideas. Chapter 1 presents the APQC framework for KM programme design efforts, which starts with a call to action. This call to action determines the business’s value proposition and identifies the knowledge considered critical for the organization. The call to action provides the basis for KM efforts and is used to persuade top management to formally develop a KM strategy. A comprehensive business case and budget are needed to develop this strategy. With detailed plans and budgets, teams can be formed to design and launch KM approaches. Finally, by using a sustain-and-evolve approach to KM, organizations benefit from early pilots and implementations. The authors delineate the deliverables associated with each of these four phases (Figure 1.1, p. 16). In Chapter 2, the call to action is discussed in detail. Chapter 3 describes how to develop a business case for developing a KM strategy. Chapters 4 through 7 discuss various aspects of designing and implementing KM approaches. Chapters 8 through 10 identify the people infrastructure needed to sustain and evolve. Finally, Chapter 11 brings together the guiding principles and best practices, so that the KM programme can continue to grow and evolve. The book ends with an appendix that presents in-depth case studies of KM practices at ConocoPhillips, Fluor, IBM, and MITRE. All four companies are headquartered in the United States and have multi-billion dollar annual revenues from global operations. The authors of this book are industry consultants, who have more than two decades of ‘wet’ experience in handling various KM programmes at companies throughout the world. Their statements in the book are backed by several successful case studies. According to the authors, KM must both tackle and reap benefits from newer playing fields, such as online social networking and mobile technology. KM methodologies must adapt to these game changes, so that knowledge is shared, filtered, and accumulated by the
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organization for its current and future use. In my opinion, although people may be in the driver’s seat when it comes to KM, yet technology still seems to play a larger-than-life role in the process. Using informal English, the authors explain KM concepts in a simple and enjoyable manner. For example, consider these passages from the book: Enterprise 2.0 tools may be the best thing to happen to KM since the water cooler. (p. xiii) or Don’t start with approaches at the extreme ends of tacit and explicit knowledge. As every tennis player knows, the sweet spot lies in the middle of the racket. (p. 53)
The authors stress what they call teachable moments, moments when an individual is most receptive to absorbing an idea or concept, and KM was born to address these teachable moments (p. 11). Thus, the KM programme must be part of the everyday activity of employees (in the flow). Creating and maintaining the KM infrastructure to build core capabilities is ‘above the flow’. Similarly, the authors mention that KM principles can look very different in practice. KM depends to a great extent on the organizational culture to properly fit in. How much time will KM programme implementation take? Most firms are concerned about the time issue. To address this question, the authors provide a clear time line of 9–12 months from Phase 1 through Phase 4, provided the company allocates the right resources towards the effort. However, according to the authors We have seen a number of programs falter because KM professionals think they must first transform their organizational culture. Our response is to get over it. Culture change is often a consequence of knowledge sharing rather than the antecedent to it. (p. 129)
One of the most interesting aspects of this book is its focus on measuring the impact of a firm’s KM efforts. The authors are categorical in saying that capturing knowledge through technology is a fruitless exercise unless it is linked to a firm’s strategic goals (p. 19). I found this statement profound as it provides a yardstick for quantitatively measuring the direct impact of KM efforts on a firm’s cash books. The authors assert that those organizations that most rigorously measure KM can show a 200% return on investment (ROI) – a healthy return by any standard. (p. 143)
As promised, the book does provide a road map for an enterprise-wide KM programme. The authors of this book successfully capture the idea of old and trusted KM approaches, such as communities of practice and lessons learned, as well as the facilitated transfer of best practices’ integration with newer technologies, such as Web 2.0, mobile technology, and social networking.
Book Review
Overall, The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business is a valuable resource – a useful book that can
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serve as both a primer and a practical guide to implementing an effective KM programme in your organization.
References ALAVI M and LEIDNER DE (2001) Review: knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly 25(1), 107–136. LLORIA MB (2008) A review of the main approaches to knowledge management. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 6(1), 77–89.
O’DELL CS, GRAYSON CJ and ESSAIDES N (1998) If Only We Knew What We Know: The Transfer of Internal Knowledge and Best Practice. Free Press, New York.
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