A FRAMEWORK FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN THE WATER SERVICES INDUSTRY

Transcription

1 A FRAMEWORK FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN THE WATER SERVICES INDUSTRY R.W. Moollan Scientific Services Department, City of Cape Town, PO Box 16548, Vlaeberg, ABSTRACT The knowledge management philosophy adopted by several leading global organisations is centred on the premise that it is the effective use of knowledge that increases business competitiveness and sustainability in the modern economy. The four pillars that uphold this philosophy are the creation, sharing, application and retention of knowledge, all of which, are facilitated by modern information, communication and business technologies. This paper provides a knowledge management diagnostic questionnaire and a set of in-depth interview questions that can be applied to a stratified random sample of employees to determine the levels of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge application and knowledge retention within an organization. Findings from this survey will enable the organisation to determine how well it manages its organisational knowledge and whether it is sufficient to achieve the strategic objectives of the organisation. It may also highlight aspects which inhibit knowledge management so that remedial measures can be instituted. INTRODUCTION As part of a local government structure which promotes the sustainable growth and development of the city of Cape Town, the Water Services Directorate can contribute by providing an effective and cost efficient service to its customers. How well it achieves these strategic objectives will depend, to a large extent, on how adept it will be in gaining and applying knowledge vital for continual improvement. Even though knowledge management was designed as a strategy for companies to keep ahead of it competitors, it does have value to public institutions, since the lack of competitiveness can lead to the reduction of the public s trust in that organisation and present opportunities for outsourcing. It is generally acknowledged that organisational knowledge is a critical resource but is poorly managed. There is, therefore, a growing need for managers to develop models and frameworks which are contextually specific to generate value to their organisation by managing knowledge and intellectual resources more effectively. Part of this process is to identify and understand the key inhibitors to the various processes of creating, applying, sharing and retaining organisational knowledge. THE CHALLENGES Public sector institutions are generally characterised as having bureaucratic cultures that do not espouse creativity nor value an individual for their talent or ideas. Decisions are typically top down with no perceived input from the affected staff, hence the incorporation of new business technologies or work processes are viewed with suspicion by employees and unions alike, and change is not generally embraced in a positive light. Public sector institutions are also tasked with sustaining and developing services amidst dwindling or limited financial resources. This phenomenon is exacerbated by ineffective communication and poor inter-departmental cooperation, where strengths and expertise within an organisation are not properly leveraged or the experts may not be known, and duplication of efforts and re-inventing the wheel are common. Proceedings of the 2004 Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) Biennial Conference 2 6 May 2004 ISBN: Cape Town, South Africa Produced by: Document Transformation Technologies Organised by Event Dynamics

2 The absence of integrated technologies and infrastructures entrenches departmentalism and "silo" approaches with an eventual loss of focus on the customer. Poor teamwork and networking with outside institutions allows individuals to hoard information as a source of power which prevents the flow of knowledge amongst departments and other stakeholders. Inevitably when more experienced people leave, retire or are retrenched during re-engineering initiatives, organisational knowledge is lost and there is a dip in service delivery, which may take some time before it is restored. Newer, less experienced staff, who are soon to pick up on a non-supportive organisational culture, concede that their lack of knowledge may be viewed as an indictment of their competence and avoid seeking help. This exclusion of certain members from acquiring knowledge inhibits the generation of new knowledge and re-enforces the bureaucratic and innovation-stifling cultures that may exist. Without the promotion of knowledge management, an organisation is less likely to externalise and document vital knowledge to the benefit of new apprentices for continual improvement and adequate succession planning. THE BENEFITS OF KM Everyone in an organisation has the desire to be valued for the knowledge they possess, whether it was acquired via a formal qualification or through experiential training. Giving employees the space, time, tools and encouragement to interact and collaborate on work projects allows for effective teams to be built and also improves transparency in the workplace. As has been applied in a case study within Water Services, the promotion of increased workplace interaction and dialogue reduces distrust amongst staff over time and allows for genuine friendships to develop. Once the back of the non-supportive culture is broken, ideas are freely exchanged and better ways of doing things easily communicated. Collective knowledge has also been proven to be a powerful problem-solving mechanism where change is viewed as an opportunity to improve the status quo. ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY The in-depth interview questions given in Appendix 1 was designed for senior management, to assess their opinions on knowledge management and how much they perceive it as being crucial to achieving the organisations strategic objectives. A sample of managers that are responsible for the accomplishment of these objectives should be taken. This set is also used to validate the survey questionnaire findings as well as explore possible barriers to knowledge management. A stratified random sample from the entire organisation can be done as follows: (i) obtain a list of all employees and separate them along job designations, then (ii) put numbers in chronological order to the list of names on each page, and then (iii) use the random number generator in Microsoft Excel to choose a pre-determined quantity of candidates. The survey questionnaire (see Appendix 2) can then be distributed among the selected staff. Each set of 15 questions in the questionnaire are designed (as suggested by Bukowitz and Williams) to obtain information on the status of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge application and knowledge retention within an organisation. Converting the various answers to a Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree) and then averaging each set of 15 to a score from 1 to 5, should generate the existing level of the various knowledge management processes (where 1 = very low, 3 = moderate and 5 = very high). Using this score one can compare the managers desired level of knowledge management perceived necessary to achieve the organisations objectives to what the organisation is actually producing. More in depth analysis involves the statistical reduction of the questions via Factor analysis (which can be accommodated using STATISTICA - a software application) to generate the themes which could explain the variation in the answers obtained. This done by isolating the questions that produced the highest Eigenvalues from the factor analysis (typically >0.70). The themes obtained can help understand and detect certain phenomena that may exist within an organisation and, together with the data obtained from the interview questions, may serve as basis for an explanatory theory.

3 REFERENCES 1. Bukowitz W. and Williams R., The Knowledge Management Fieldbook, 1999, Prentice Hall, London. 2. Haricharan S. and Moollan R.W., An Assessment of the Readiness for Knowledge Management in the Western Cape Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Tourism, UCT MBA research, Huberman M. and Miles M., Qualitative Data Analysis, 1994, Sage Publications, London. 4. Martiny M., Knowledge Management at HP Consulting, Organisational Dynamics, 1998, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp Gupta A., and Govindarajan V, Knowledge Flows within Multinational Corporations, Strategic Management Journal, 2001, Vol.21, No6, pp Skyme D.J., Knowledge Networking: Creating the Collaborative Enterprise, 1999, Butterworth- Heinemann, Oxford.

4 APPENDIX 1 - SENIOR MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS SENIOR MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS An Assessment of Knowledge Management Processes within the Water Services Directorate of the City of Cape Town WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT? Knowledge can be defined as a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief towards the truth that increases an entity s capacity for affective action. The concept of knowledge as having two dimensions, namely, tacit and explicit forms, dates back to the 1960s. Tacit knowledge is essentially what lies in people s heads and involves the action, experience and involvement that apply to a specific context (i.e., the beliefs, viewpoints, mental models, concrete know-how, crafts and skills, etc.) Explicit knowledge is an articulated or codified form of knowledge that is readily communicated, an example, of which, is the operation manual that would accompany an electronic product. Together, these two forms of knowledge form the basis for organisational knowledge, and how well knowledge is managed is emerging as a key factor for organisational success. This study will enable Water Services to measure how well knowledge within the directorate is being managed. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE INTERVIEW? The following set of questions forms part of a study on the processes that underpin knowledge management, namely, the creation, application, sharing and storage of organisational knowledge. These questions are designed to validate and explain the survey questionnaire findings and aid in the determination of the barriers to the processes of knowledge management so that an appropriate remedial framework can be developed. REQUIREMENTS Please answer the following questions within your immediate (not general) work context. The use of examples or explanations to substantiate your answers will be extremely valuable. There are no right or wrong answers - just opinions that have been formulated during your work experiences within Water Services. 1. How does knowledge play a part to the success of your department? 2. What is your understanding of knowledge management practices? 3. At what level, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = poor, 5 = excellent) would you like to see knowledge a) created = b) shared = c) applied = d) stored = 4. How would improved methods of managing knowledge help Water Services achieve its strategic organisational objectives? 5. Are the employees in your department adequately skilled to perform the tasks required of

5 them? 6. Have you made an analysis of existing knowledge in your department and how can the experts or knowledge owners be identified? 7. In which knowledge management processes (creation, application, sharing, retention) do you see your main problems and in which area is your department particularly strong? 8. Who or what inhibits knowledge management processes in your department? 9. Are there people in your department who champion or promote knowledge? 10. Do you have documented best practices for the core competencies in your department? 11. What ways can tacit knowledge (in one s head) be made explicit? 12. Which methods of acquiring knowledge do you use most often? 13. Do you know all the major projects that are undertaken by your department at the moment? 14. How satisfactory are problems dealt with? 15. Who should be in charge of knowledge management and what advice would you give that person? Please return the form to the distributor. The supplied information is for validation purposes and will be treated as confidential!

6 APPENDIX 2 - SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE An Assessment of Knowledge Management Processes within the Water Services Directorate of the City of Cape Town Dear Colleague Knowledge management (which is explained in more detail below)will help us to create, apply, store and share knowledge within Water Services on a more sustainable basis for empowerment of our staff and improvement in service delivery. You have been randomly selected to fill in the following questionnaire that is being distributed throughout Water Services. Kindly assist us in determining the areas within our organisation where knowledge management initiatives can be focused on by answering the questions as best you can. Your participation is greatly appreciated. Kind Regards Dave Ramsay WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT? It is the process by which an organisation generates wealth from its intellectual or knowledgebased assets (Bukowitz & Williams, 1999) It is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge and its associated processes of creation, storage, retrieval, transfer, and application, in pursuit of organisational objectives. (Skyrme, 1999) Purpose of the Questionnaire To obtain the opinions of staff throughout Water Services regarding its knowledge management processes (i.e., the creation, sharing, application and storage/retrieval of knowledge). Confidentiality Please note that the information obtained from respondents is solely for research purposes and will be treated as confidential. INSTRUCTIONS There are no correct or incorrect answers. Decide to what degree each of the following statements describes your Branch or Department best. Select one of the following: STRONGLY AGREE, AGREE, SO-SO, DISAGREE, STRONGLY DISAGREE for each statement by making a tick in the appropriate box. Example:

7 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSTIC STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE SO-SO AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 1 Groups and individuals routinely share information about their expertise At which Branch / Department do you work? BRANCH: DEPT:.. Please tick the appropriate box What is your Job Designation Level? Senior Management Middle management Technical Admin / Semitechnical General How long have you worked in your Branch / Department? < 3 years 4 10 years years >15 years In which age category do you belong? < >55 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSTIC 1. Groups and individuals routinely share information about their expertise STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE SO-SO AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 2. Training on new systems focuses on how these technologies can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of how people work. 3. Specific individuals identify, collect, classify, summarise and disseminate organisational knowledge. 4. Experts play a role in identifying important information for other users 5. The electronic and physical places where we store our knowledge contain the best information available on a wide range of critical topics. 6. When people are given the task of searching for information they are able to fulfil the request.

8 7. The organisation has created electronic (e.g. Intranet) and paper-based tools which direct people to available resources. 8. We have established ways for people to document and share information. 9. People can search for information across a wide variety of applications and databases 10. We recognise that knowledge is part of our asset base. 11. Members of the senior management team frequently talk about knowledge management when reporting on the state of the organisation. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSTIC 12. We have developed a framework that links knowledge management activities to strategic outcomes. 13. Senior management assesses what knowledge needs to be developed when it allocates resources. 14. Assessment of knowledge-based assets is part of our overall organisational performance measurement process. 15. We have mapped the process flow of knowledge management activities. STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE SO-SO AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 16. People apply what they learn outside the organisation to their work. 17. Teams engage in off-site learning experiences to find better ways of working together. 18. Reflecting on lessons learned from work experiences is an established practice in our organisation. 19. When people finish projects, they generally take the time to meet with their team and analyse what went wrong and what could have been done better. 20. Our learning process often includes gathering feedback from customers. 21. People admit when they fail. 22. People apply the ideas they developed in past work situations to their current work. 23. Our organisation supports group activities that promote mutual learning. 24. We treat disagreement as an opportunity to learn from one another. 25. Dedicated roles, such as knowledge manager or knowledge co-ordinator, support the knowledge-sharing process. 26. People in our organisation would say that sharing knowledge does not diminish the individual's value to the organisation. 27. We link people across traditional organisational units and functional groups to promote knowledge sharing. 28. Knowledge-sharing behaviour is built into the performance appraisal system. 29. Our organisation looks for ways to remove barriers to knowledge sharing. 30. People can identify others in the organisation that might benefit from their knowledge.

9 31. Our reporting relationships do not interfere with people(other than our direct line manager) getting the information they need. 32. We seriously consider what others might call crazy or outrageous ideas as part of our problem-solving process. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSTIC 33. Most people speak up if they have an opinion or idea to offer. STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE SO-SO AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 34. We give all promising ideas thorough consideration, no matter whom they come from. 35. We make a point of not structuring some of our meetings because it helps us think more creatively about problem solving. 36. Involving our customers in the process of creating and developing new products and services is a well-established practice in our organisation. 37. People would describe our organisation as flexible rather than rigid. 38. Our workspace is designed to promote the flow of ideas between work groups. 39. People in our organisation can use the information they get to improve their work. 40. We use approaches that people would call playful as part of our problem-solving process. 41. We actively collaborate with other spheres of government when we need information. 42. We treat information as an open resource that flows freely to all corners of our organisation. 43. We value the contribution of ideas of everyone in our organisation. 44. We often meet away from our offices in relaxed settings to discuss work-related issues. 45. The hierarchy in our organisation is not a barrier to the flow of ideas and information. 46. We routinely ask ourselves how we can leverage our knowledge into other areas. 47. Our IT systems connect us to information sources we need to do our work. 48. Our IT systems promote the formation of different networks of people. 49. Our managers include knowledge management in their business plans. 50. Our organisation treats people like assets rather than costs. 51. We find ourselves increasingly teaming up with other organisations in strategic networks or partnerships to bring innovative products/services to our customers. 52. We view information technology as a tool to help us get our work done.

10 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DIAGNOSTIC 53. People who leave the organisation are given the opportunity to document their tacit (stored in their head) knowledge. 54. We have a formal policy that ensures we share technology and ideas across unit or departmental border. 55. It is easy to retrieve documents from their electronic or physical storage spaces. STRONGLY DISAGREE DISAGREE SO-SO AGREE STRONGLY AGREE 56. We apprentice our people to other organisations to determine if we need to acquire new skills or expertise 57. We form alliances with organisations that complement our skills sets as an alternative to doing everything ourselves. 58. We outsource skills and expertise that do not support our core competencies 59. Before people are retrenched, our organisation tries to determine if their skills and expertise can be used elsewhere. 60. Most people in our organisation have access to a personal computer.