Management Science. Knowledge Management. Academic Year

Transcription

1 Management Science Knowledge Management Academic Year MS307 Credit value: 20 - Standard/level: 3 - Core/optional: Optional - Semester: 1 - Pre-requisites: None Lecturers: Viktor Dörfler (Class Co-Ordinator): viktor.dorfler@strath.ac.uk 1. Rationale (including Peer/External comment) Knowledge is arguably the most important resource and the sole source of competitive advantage for organizations today, i.e. in the knowledge are. To make use of knowledge and thus build competitive advantage, however, requires deep understanding of the nature of knowledge work as well as how knowledge work and knowledge workers should be managed and led. The very roles of the leadership and management are redefined by the increased and still increasing importance of knowledge. These tendencies make it essential to have a class dedicated to the foundations of knowledge management. Developing knowledge workers as (creative) problem solvers is very important, as problems do not come neatly packaged and labelled. Knowledge workers have to be able to understand their problems and explain these to the other stakeholders in order to make decisions about them or to attempt solving them. As many of the problems knowledge workers face are ill-structured, solving them often involves knowledge creation. To make good use of the knowledge workers capacity, it is important to recognise what information and data is required, how it will be obtained and where new knowledge needs to be created. 2. Class Description Knowledge is of immense importance to all organizations today, yet, the employees have complete control over it: they own it. To gain advantage of the knowledge of its employees, which is the purpose of knowledge management, the organization needs understanding of the nature of personal knowledge and more broadly of cognition in terms of structures and processes. Then the leaders and the managers of the knowledge workers can understand their roles and thus create and support the organizational structures and processes which facilitate making use of knowledge. This class builds on the knowledge that students have acquired in Management Development Programme 1 and 2 and in the second year Information Systems class.

2 3. Class Aims The Knowledge Management class will provide students with understanding of the nature of knowledge in terms of structures and processes as well as the appreciation of the role and importance of knowledge for organizations. On this basis the students will be introduced the knowledge-related management and leadership issues and the techniques that may used to support these. 4. Learning Outcomes a. Subject-specific knowledge To acquire basic understanding of the nature of knowledge-work in managerial context To appreciate the leadership and management issues with respect to knowledge-work To understand the relation of the personal and organizational knowledge and knowledge increase To be able to recognize what IS/ICT tools are appropriate for supporting knowledge management in various situations b. Cognitive abilities and non-subject-specific skills To recognise the appropriateness of data collection and structuring methods To enhance team-working skills To reflect on the process of team-working and individual learning 5. Indicative Content The class covers three large areas: the structures of personal knowledge (weeks 2-4), the processes of personal knowing (weeks 5-7), and the organizational context of knowledge and knowing (weeks 8-10). One lecture is dedicated to the technologies used in knowledge management. 1. Introduction 2. Knowledge typologies 3. Cognitive structures 4. Knowledge levels 5. Cognitive processes 6. Ways of thinking 7. Knowledge increase 8. Knowledge oriented organizations 9. Knowledge sharing 10. Management and leadership in the knowledge era 11. Review of advanced topics in Knowledge Management 12. Revision session

3 6. Resources A teaching space for lectures with AV equipment is required. Rooms are also required for tutorials. These should be flexible spaces with wireless coverage. The class is supported through the University online teaching-learning space. 7. Indicative Reading List Davenport, TH. Prusak, L., Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know (paperback edition). 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Davenport, TH. Völpel, SC., The rise of knowledge towards attention management, Journal of Knowledge Management,?: Mcb UP Ltd. De Bono, E., Teach Your Child How to Think. London: Penguin Books. Drucker, PF., Management Challenges for the 21st Century (paperback edition). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Gurteen, D., Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation, Journal of Knowledge Management.?: Mcb UP Ltd. László, M., Ways of Thinking: The Limits of Rational Thought and Artificial Intelligence. New Jersey, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd. Polanyi, M., Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul PLC. Senge, PM., The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York, NY: Doubleday Currency. Sveiby, KE., The New Organizational Wealth: Managing & Measuring Knowledge-Based Assets. San Fransisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Takeuchi, Hirotaka (1998) Beyond Knowledge Management: Lessons from Japan, retrieved 2005/10/02, from Tsoukas, Haridimos (2005) Complex Knowledge: Studies in Organizational Epistemology, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Tsoukas, Haridimos & Vladimirou, Efi (2001) What is Organizational Knowledge?, Journal of Management Studies, 38(7), Electronic version: The particularly important chapters of the books from the list above will be indicated for the students. Additional papers will be provided in electronic format. Apart from the books and papers students will also be directed to interesting related websites.

4 8. Assessment Including Reassessment There are three components of assessment for this class. The first is a group project, for which the students will prepare a group essay (30% of overall mark). The second component is preparing material for discussion in 4 tutorials (10%). The remaining 60% comes from the exam. The assessment is discussed and agreed with the students in the first session and may somewhat differ from the above. 9. Matrix of Learning Outcomes/Assessment subject specific knowledge and skills To acquire basic understanding of the nature of knowledge-work in managerial context To appreciate the leadership and management issues with respect to knowledge-work To understand the relation of the personal and organizational knowledge and knowledge increase To be able to recognize what IS/ICT tools are appropriate for supporting the knowledge management in various situations teaching/ learning method evidence of outcome L, C, EP GP, EP Cognitive abilities and non-subject specific skills To recognise the appropriateness of data EP GP, EP collection and structuring methods To enhance team-working skills EP GP. EP To reflect on the process of team-working and individual learning To get hands-on experience with a knowledge management software package EP, DR, IR EP CD, GP, EP, E GP, EP l lecture, c computer lab session, dr directed reading, ir independent reading, rp- research papers, ep empirical project, gp- group presentation, e exam, cd class discussion

5 10. Indicative Hours Lectures: Tutorials: Tutorial preparation: Assignment: Exam: Exam preparation: Reading: 24 hrs 5 hrs 11 hrs 60 hrs 2 hrs 48 hrs 50 hrs