One of our chief services is Knowledge Structure Mapping and Analysis.This simple but effective applied methodology can enable your business to support decision making by giving managers direct access to the business knowledge resource. The following gives some background insight into its foundations.
Knowledge is now recognised by most businesses as a very important and valuable resource.
Previously knowledge was not managed explicitly and as a consequence of this, some serious mistakes have been made, sometimes putting a company's future at risk.
Knowledge management is intended to allow organisations to protect and develop their knowledge resource.
KSM leads to several physical outputs that can be used directly by managers to help them protect and develop the organisational knowledge resource. The results can also be used by managers in a wide range of knowledge related business areas.
Specifically, KSM delivers:
A large map of the structure of knowledge in a particular area of the business provides a common frame of reference for discussion. It also provides structural information about the knowledge that relates directly to the way the knowledge can be developed and utilised. The map can also be colour coded to aid management decision making.
Knowledge contained on the map also supports several descriptive analytical parameters that can be used to support value judgements when decision making is required.
The report presents a set of results derived directly from the map and from statistical evaluation of the parameters attached to each knowledge node. It presents an analysis of these results that combines elements from the separate result statistics and from the records of interviews carried out. The report also presents a set of recommendations that have been derived from the analysis and can form the basis of a management action plan concerning the knowledge resource.
The computer based tool allows the map to be viewed on a computer screen and edited or updated as the knowledge management project develops.
The work is carried out in accordance with a methodology that has been developed with the help of many organisations over a diverse range of projects. The methodology can be very briefly outlined:
A typical project will be completed in about three weeks. The major time requirement is from a person who is designated the knowledge leader and has a general working knowledge of the whole area to be studied. All staff who will be involved will be required for one day and then subsequently for one two hour interview. Results are generally presented to all staff and this presentation lasts about 1.5 hours (+ any discussion)
The map of Arithmetic Knowledge derived using the KSM methodology.
KSM can be applied on a range of
different levels. Organisations may wish to study their knowledge resource at
global yet very general level or they may want to study a specific and well
defined area of the knowledge resource in greater detail. An organisation may
also wish to design a programme of individual projects to investigate the
knowledge resource in a fairly complex way.
Two of the benefits of multiple projects are:
In practice, knowledge can be studied at a variety of different levels of granularity. Typically however, organisations use the work to look at knowledge at one of three levels:
The method has been applied at several different levels of granularity. A company may require a more strategic look at an area of the business or even the whole business. Clearly, the depth of study in these cases will be relatively shallow and will involve high level knowledge items. Analysis of the strategic study may lead to other studies of a strategic nature or more focused studies of particular knowledge areas identified in a previous study. Examples include: The whole company: A business within the company: A discipline:
Alternatively, an organisation may wish to look directly at a specific knowledge area in a more detailed way. This will reveal knowledge structure at a more fundamental level. Even this is likely to leave many fundamental areas unexplored. Typically these areas will be related to general and occupational knowledge prerequisites. Examples include: A particular business activity: A specific job: An interesting area such as 'Negotiation':
It is of course, also possible to study the most fundamental areas of knowledge. Examples of this could include: 'Arithmetic', 'Writing', Logic etc.
The aim of KSM is to provide managers with information and guidance so that decision making involving the organisational knowledge resource can be more objective.
KSM Provides:
Analysis Provides:
Recommendations are derived from the results, the analysis and the stated business needs.
Recommendations are derived from the KSM process but further recommendations would usually be derived by the in house management team following a presentation of the results.
The KSM methodology leads to the derivation of an action plan involving the knowledge resource. This plan may draw from the results and recommendations of the process but will be produced by the in house management team. This is intended to combine information from the study of the knowledge resource by dedicated professionals with the best of management practice and in depth business knowledge provided by the in house management team.
A typical action plan could include:
The following knowledge dependency map has been created by considering the knowledge associated with negotiation. Negotiation is an important element in many job functions.
The map shows that one of the things that needs to be known before it is possible to fully know 'negotiation' is the area of 'conducting a negotiation'.
From the parameters assigned, this shows up as being the highest risk piece of knowledge on the map, see the table below. Being able to start a negotiation and constructing a response rely on the prior acquisition of the ability to describe things. In order to know how to describe things it is necessary to already know how to compose a concise statement. The table below identifies this piece of knowledge as the second highest risk in the area of negotiation.
| Node Name | Importance | Difficulty | Study - Experience | Known - By |
| Conduct a negotiation | 9 | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Compose concise statements | 8 | 9 | 8 | 2 |
| Identify agents fundamental position | 6 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
| Compare bargaining elements | 8 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Describe things | 8 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Value component parts | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
Knowledge nodes with parameters in order of highest risk (top 6)