MANAGING KNOWLEDGE

WORKERS

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

KMS Topics Covered

 Knowledge Management Systems Life Cycle
 Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Architecture
 Capturing Tacit Knowledge
 Knowledge Codification
 System Testing and Development
 Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Sharing
 Knowledge Transfer in the E-World
 Learning from Data

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Managing Knowledge Workers

 Definition of Knowledge Worker
 Core Competencies
 Traditional vs. “Smart” Managers
 Major Challenges and Responsibilities
 Factors Affecting Knowledge Worker’s Productivity
 Work Adjustment Model
 Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
 Responsibilities and Role
 Key CKO’s Attributes and Success Factors
 Incentives and Motivation

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

What Is a Knowledge Worker?

 Transforms corporate and personal experiences
into knowledge through capturing, assessing,
applying, sharing, and disseminating it within the
organization to solve specific problems or to
create value
Transformatio
n process
IT
Tools

Values KNOWLEDGE
WORKER
Organizationa
l
Culture
Personal and
corporate
experience 4
 Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Core Competencies
 Thinking skills — having a vision
how the product or the company can
be better
 Continuous learning — unlearning
and relearning in tune with fast-
changing conditions
 Innovative teams and teamwork —
via collaboration, cooperation, and
coordination
 Creativity — ”dreaming” new ways to
advance the firm
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Core Competencies (cont’d)

 Risk taking and potential
success — making joint
decisions with calculated risk
 Decision action taking — be
willing to embrace professional
discipline, patience, and
determination
 Culture of responsibility toward
knowledge — loyalty and
commitment to one’s manager or
leader
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Traditional vs. Smart Managers

Action-oriented Learning-oriented

Spend most time Focus on organizational

supervising, delegating, learning to ensure
controlling and ensuring operational excellence
procedures are complied
Mastered the work of the Expected not to have
subordinates because they mastered the work of the
were once workers subordinates
A supervisor and an order A facilitator and a teacher
giver
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Major Challenges
 Get the organization moving
towards achieving goals in line
with rate of change
 Promote active learning to
improve knowledge worker’s
capacity to create, produce,
and respond to change
 Provide opportunities for
knowledge workers to
brainstorm ideas, exchange
knowledge, and devise new
ways of doing business
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Responsibilities of Smart
Managers
 Managing knowledge
workers
 Searching out, creating,
sharing, and using
knowledge regularly
 Maintaining work motivation
among knowledge workers

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Responsibilities of Smart
Managers (cont’d)
 Hiring or recruiting bright,
knowledge-seeking
individuals
 Managing collaboration,
coordination, and
concurrent activities
among knowledge
workers

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Factors Affecting Knowledge

Worker’s Productivity
 Time constraint
 Knowledge workers
performing tasks that the
firm did not hire them to do
 Work schedule mismatch
 De-”motivation” against
knowledge worker’s
productivity
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Work Adjustment Model

Correspondence
(match)
Satisfactoriness
(satisfied
Abilities Job
employer) Promote
requirements

Transfer

Individua Job
l Fire

Retain
Vocational Reinforcers Job Satisfaction
needs (satisfied
employee) TENURE

option
Correspondence
(match) Quit Remain

NEW JOB 12
Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Responsibilities of the CKO

 Maximize returns on investment
in knowledge — people,
processes, and technology
 Share best practices and
reinforce benefits of knowledge
sharing among employees
 Promote company innovations
and commercialization of new
ideas
 Minimize knowledge loss at all
levels of the business
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Role of the CKO (In Summary)

 Agent of change
 Investigator
 Linking pin
 Listener
 Politician

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Key CKO Attributes

 Teaching and selling
 Communicating — speaking the
language of the user, mediate, and
working with management at all levels
 Understanding — e.g., identifying
problem areas and determining their
impact

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Key CKO Attributes (cont’d)

 Technical Skills
 Broad knowledge of business practice and
ability to translate technical information at
employee level
 Making effective use of technical and non-
technical elements in KM design
 Knowledge of information technology,
information systems, and how information
is transformed into knowledge
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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

CKO’s Success Factors

 Focus less on problems and
more on successes and
opportunities
 Adopt an attitude that views
challenges as opportunities
 Work on creating tomorrow’s
business instead of focusing
on yesterday’s problems

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Chapter 12: Managing Knowledge Workers

Incentives and Motivation

 Use monetary awards,
bonuses and special prizes
for teams or individuals for
unique contributions
 Flextime allows the team to
decide on when to work,
when to quit, and so forth
 Publicize success
throughout the firm

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