Richard T. Herschel

Knowledge warehouse: an architectural integration of knowledge management, decision support, artificial intelligence and data warehousing

Decision support systems (DSS) are becoming increasingly more critical to the daily operation of organizations. Data warehousing, an integral part of this, provides an infrastructure that enables businesses to extract, cleanse, and store vast amounts of data. The basic purpose of a data warehouse is to empower the knowledge workers with information that allows them to make decisions based on a solid foundation of fact. However, only a fraction of the needed information exists on computers; the vast majority of a firms intellectual assets exist as knowledge in the minds of its employees. What is needed is a new generation of knowledge-enabled systems that provides the infrastructure needed to capture, cleanse, store, organize, leverage, and disseminate not only data and information but also the knowledge of the firm. The purpose of this paper is to propose, as an extension to the data warehouse model, a knowledge warehouse (KW) architecture that will not only facilitate the capturing and coding of knowledge but also enhance the retrieval and sharing of knowledge across the organization. The knowledge warehouse proposed here suggests a different direction for DSS in the next decade. This new direction is based on an expanded purpose of DSS. That is, the purpose of DSS in knowledge improvement. This expanded purpose of DSS also suggests that the effectiveness of a DSS will, in the future, be measured based on how well it promotes and enhances knowledge, how well it improves the mental model(s) and understanding of the decision maker(s) and thereby how well it improves his/her decision making.

Knowledge management and business intelligence: the importance of integration

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to provide a thorough analysis of the difference between business intelligence (BI) and knowledge management (KM) and to establish a framework for relating one field to the other.Design/methodology/approach – A review of the literature from approximately 1986 through 2004 served as the basis for analysis and comparison of BI and KM. The theoretical scope of the paper is to distinguish between BI and KM to clarify the role of each in a business environment.Findings – BI focuses on explicit knowledge, but KM encompasses both tacit and explicit knowledge. Both concepts promote learning, decision making, and understanding. Yet, KM can influence the very nature of BI itself. Hence, this paper explains the nature of the integration between BI and KM and makes it clear that BI should be viewed as a subset of KM.Originality/value – This paper establishes a clear distinction between two important fields of study, BI and KM, establishing an expanded role for BI. That is, the ro...

Tacit to Explicit Knowledge Conversion: Knowledge Exchange Protocols

In the knowledge management domain, the conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is critical because it is a prerequisite to the knowledge amplification process wherein knowledge becomes part of an organization’s knowledge network. In this article, knowledge exchange protocols are examined as a vehicle for improving the tacit to explicit knowledge conversion process. In an experiment testing the use of knowledge exchange protocols, it is learned that while structure may significantly improve the tacit to explicit knowledge conversion process, it also may matter how the structure is employed in this process.

Using “knowledge champions” to facilitate knowledge management

Executives and strategists have long recognized the value of knowledge as a primary driving source for a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage – hence the creation by many firms of a position called the chief knowledge officer (CKO). However, many people have proposed differing perspectives and models relating to the concept of knowledge management. In this paper differing knowledge management viewpoints are examined, by examining and integrating theories relating to the diffusion of innovations and change agents. The roles of change agents, innovators, and opinion leaders, such as CKOs, are explored in terms of effective knowledge management strategies and techniques. A model and strategies are proposed that can serve as a framework for CKOs and other knowledge management change agents to effectively facilitate the acquisition and use of knowledge in the firm by effectively using an organizational memory system.

Knowledge‐management issues for smaller businesses

Knowledge management efforts are often seen as being more prevalent in larger firms. However, smaller organizations also have critical needs to share and maintain employee expertise. This paper examines some of the unique issues facing knowledge‐management efforts in smaller firms and suggests techniques they can employ to retain and acquire knowledge.

Chief Knowledge Officer: Critical Success Factors for Knowledge Management

This article examines attributes of the CKO position and the backgrounds of the people who fill it. Variations in the prescribed role for the CKO are reviewed, as are CKO critical success factors. One critical knowledge management issue, implicit-to-explicit knowledge conversion, is investigated in some depth to reveal the unique nature of issues confronting the CKO position. Finally, the arguments for potentially not implementing a CKO function are discussed.

Test of a Model Linking Cognitive Motivation, Assessment of Alternatives, Decision Quality, and Group Process Satisfaction

The proposed model links cognitive motivation to the assessment of alternatives, decision quality, and group satisfaction in Ventana Corporations GroupSystemsm environment. The proposed model hypothesized a direct link between cognitive motivation, as operationalized by Petty and Cacioppos (1986) Need for Cognition (NFC) construct, and assessment of alternatives. This link was confirmed. Group assessment of alternatives was hypothesized to have a direct effect upon the quality of decision and satisfaction with group process. These links were confirmed. The hypothesized link between quality of decision and satisfaction with group process was, however, not supported. The finding that higher quality decisions result from greater member input concerning the value of alternative choices bolsters the importance of establishing a comprehensive survey of the options. Group composition issues are discussed.

Knowledge Management in Business Intelligence

This paper explains the nature of the integration between Knowledge Management (KM) and Business Intelligence (BI) and reveals how KM is embedded in BI. There has been some confusion as to the relationship between KM and BI. The lack of clarity is seen to be, in part, dependent on how the two concepts are defined. BI focuses on explicit knowledge, but KM encompasses both tacit and explicit knowledge. Both concepts promote learning, decision-making, and understanding. However, KM influences the very nature of BI itself, because KM informs BI relative to organizational knowledge creation, knowledge transfer, and learning. BI knowledge and its analytics must for practical purposes be understood and shared. This means that BI’s effectiveness is subject to organizational culture, which affects sensemaking and knowledge sharing. The employment of KM-based knowledge exchange protocols to facilitate knowledge sharing and the contextual understanding of BI activities is examined. Use of the knowledge exchange protocols framework is shown to provide the potential for observing how BI analytics affect decision-making tacit behavior over time. KM principles are shown to provide important elements that facilitate BI’s performance and efficacy.

Knowledge Transfer: Revisiting Video

Knowledge transfer has been an important issue for organizational knowledge management programs. This article reviews the plethora of user-generated video activity and the issues it creates for knowledge management activities. Video’s media richness combined with its ability to convey rich narratives can facilitate sensemaking and learning. However, structure and culture are important factors that must be considered in story telling activities to increase the opportunity for effective sensemaking and message retention. Evidence and arguments are presented that should motivate organizations and academics to review video generation activities both internal and external to the organization. Issues concerning video content delivery, liability, spam, and search engine capabilities are discussed. Opportunities for new research inquiries are identified.

Knowledge Exchange Protocols: A Second Study

In the knowledge management domain, the conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is critical because it is a prerequisite to the knowledge amplification process wherein knowledge becomes part of an organizations knowledge network. Moreover, this process is strategically important because it enhances an organizations ability to create new knowledge that is inevitably expressed through the organizations capabilities, products, and services. The conversion of tacit to explicit knowledge is particularly relevant to information technology (IT), because IT can only partially facilitate tacit knowledge management, while it offers a substantial number of techniques to support the management and sharing of explicit knowledge. In this paper, knowledge exchange protocols are examined as a vehicle for improving the tacit-to-explicit knowledge conversion process. In a second experiment testing the use of knowledge exchange protocols, initial findings are confirmed: while structure may significantly improve the tacit-to-explicit knowledge conversion process, it also matters how the structure is employed in this process.