People-focused knowledge management

Expected Knowledge Management Developments
KM promotes the development and application of tacit, explicit,
and embedded intellectual capital — that is, leveraging unders-
tanding, action capabilities, and other intellectual assets to attain the
enterprise’s ultimate goals of profitability, long-term viability, or
quality services. This perspective of KM suggests a number of devel-
opments in the coming years.
A developing area of increasing insight is the role that under-
standing — or meaning-connected knowledge — and abstract
mental models play in intellectual work. The 1990s notion that
“knowledge is actionable information” and similar early per-
Strategic
Perspective
Tactical
Perspective
Operational
Perspective
IM & IT
Focus
People Focus
Enterprise
Effectiveness
Focus
Intellectual
Asset
Focus
Figure 8-1
Four tactical perspectives of knowledge management focus areas. Copyright ©
1995 Knowledge Research Institute, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
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People-Focused Knowledge Management
spectives will be displaced. Insights from emerging cognitive
research and business experiences with the importance of deep
knowledge will make it plain what, and how, people need to
understand in order to handle complex challenges competently.
Future KM practices and methods will be systematic, explicit,
and relatively dependent upon advanced technology in several
areas. However, overall we expect KM to become more people-
focused as the recognition spreads that the networking of 
competent and collaborating people forms the basis for any
organization’s success (Cannon-Bowers & Salas 1999; Dawson
2002; Wellman 1999; Winograd 1988).
By building on extensive experiences from many organizations,
the manner in which KM is organized, supported, and facili-
tated will change. The more obvious changes will be associated
with placement and organization of the KM effort itself, be it
with a high-level chief knowledge officer (CKO) or with a dis-
tributed effort. Changes that deal with reorganization of work
and the abolishing of whole departments that are integrated into
other operations will be less apparent but prevalent.
Management and operating practices will change to facilitate
KM in many different ways. Incentives will be introduced and
disincentives eliminated to promote innovation, effective knowl-
edge exchange (“sharing”), learning, and application of best
knowledge in all work situations. Cultural drivers such as man-
agement emphasis and personal behaviors will be changed to
create environments of trust and concerns for finding the root
causes of problems without assigning blame.
Efforts will be made to embed KM perspectives and considera-
tions in regular activities throughout the enterprise. An example
of how broadly KM may affect an organization is indicated in
Figure 8-2. It highlights some sole and shared-responsibility
KM-related activities within Research and Development (R&D),
Human Resources (HR), Information Management and Tech-
nology (IM & IT), and a KM supervisory function.
New practices will focus on desired combinations of under-
standing, knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) when assem-
bling work teams or analyzing requirements for performing
work (Cannon-Bowers & Salas 1999). The emphasis on com-
plementary work teams will coincide with the movement toward
virtual organizations where many participants in in-house
teamwork will be external workers who are brought in for
limited periods to complement in-house competencies for 
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P
eople-
F
ocused 
K
no
wledge 
M
ana
gement 
E
xpect
a
tions
259
Enterprise-Wide Knowledge Management
HR &
Competency-Based
HR Management
Research & Development Function
• Identify and Conceptualize Complementary Knowledge Processes Across Departments and Other Silos 
• Oversee Creation of Integrated Comprehensive Knowledge Capture and Transfer Program
• Align Knowledge Strategies and Tactics with Enterprise Direction 
• Create Knowledge-Related Capabilities Shared Across Enterprise
• Support Enterprise Strategy and Direction by Facilitating Effective Communication to All 
• Facilitate and Monitor Knowledge Management-Related Activities and Programs
• Provide General Education and Training Programs
• Institute Incentives to Motivate Personal Knowledge Creation, Sharing, and Use
• Coordinate and Govern “Integrated Learning Programs” (ILPs)
• Understand Legislation and Determine the Implications for Enterprise
• Provide Metaknowledge to All Personnel 
• Issue and Manage
Personnel Policies
• Conduct and Monitor
Personnel Management
• Provide General
Personnel Relation Services
• Establish Knowledge
Requirements for Quality Work
• Conduct Succession Planning
• Conduct Specific Skill Training
• Determine R&D Agenda
• Transfer Knowledge
to Points of Action
• Motivate Knowledge Creation
• Promote Knowledge Use
• Renew and Improve Practices
• Operate Intranet
Personal Homepages
• Operate Knowledge-Related
Personnel Evaluation 
& Review System
• Manage Corporate Memory
• Provide KDD Capabilities
• Operate R&D Information
Environment and IT Resources
• Deliver Business-Specific
Information Services 
• Build and Maintain Personnel
Data Bases
• Create IT Infrastructure
• Create KBS Development
Capabilities
• Build IT Systems
• Conduct Planning and Manage IT
• Produce High Quality Information
• Hire Personnel for Businesses
• Assist in Personnel Evaluation
• Support Promotion Assessments
• Maintain Personnel Records
• Plan and Manage R&D Operations
• Develop New Intellectual Capital
• Build and Maintain Content
Knowledge
• Staff Collaborating Teams
• Perform Quality Work
• Provide On-the-Job Training
• Maintain, Renew, and Improve
Operating Facilities
Information Management & Technology