Knowledge organisations in the public sector, such as the government and police forces are affected by the need to implement government policies and interact effectively while remaining responsive to customers. Private organisations, small to medium enterprises are affected by the need to innovate and bring more products to the market more rapidly than competitors. More importantly and essential is that they need to integrate the knowledge of their staff in order to retain customer confidence and loyalty.
Culture is one of the most important aspects in knowledge management. Knowledge sharing needs a culture and a set of behaviours in which people will share knowledge as part of their day-to-day activities. To create a knowledge sharing culture organisations need to encourage people to work together more effectively, collaborate and make organisational knowledge more productive.
A learning organisation views its future and subsequent competitive advantage based on continuous learning and adaptive behaviour. It develops a culture and processes to improve its ability to learn and share both at an individual and organisational level. The main aim is to create a flexible, agile organisation able to handle uncertainty and then hopefully organisations will use this uncertainty to generate new ways of working, to build on this success and learn by mistakes. A large multinational company, British Airways (BA) identified its culture as the biggest barrier it had to learning and sharing so it set out to create an environment where this was made easy. BA developed facilities for staff to access knowledge, libraries, have meeting rooms, training rooms that enhanced its culture. Therefore the facilitation of personal contacts and network, and the enhance role of training and development being a core was British Airways success for its new culture.
Organisational culture can be thought of as a relatively rigid structure that can shape not only our behaviour but also our perception of an organisation. It establishes a set of guidelines by which members of an organisation work and how those organisations are structured.
Culture according to Schein (1985) is ‘ a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems or external adaptation and internal integration- that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.
One of the most difficult problems faced by knowledge organisations is the sharing of knowledge. In most organisations knowledge sharing requires a change in corporate culture, from ‘information is power’ to ‘knowledge sharing build power.’ Many organisations decide that the most effective way to encourage individual sharing appears to be through appraisal systems where individuals are asked to assess their own knowledge-sharing behaviours and consider their colleagues view of their sharing performance. However, the results of the appraisals may affect promotion and salary but their use is part of the development culture that includes knowledge sharing as a core competence.
Knowledge sharing between individuals within an organisation is within their own interest. Knowledge sharing helps them do their jobs more effectively, retain their jobs, helps them in personal and career development, rewards them for getting things done, and brings more personal recognition so that knowledge sharing will become more of a reality. There are many reasons why people should be motivated to share knowledge. Knowledge loses its value rapidly so it is important to share this knowledge. If the knowledge isn’t made productive within an organisation, then you can guarantee that somewhere in an organisation another employee might have the same idea and receive rewards for sharing it. Sharing knowledge with another person will improve the initial idea’s from their input and ideas. Also by sharing and collaborating with others you are more likely to success as they help you to achieve your objectives. The philosophy of modern knowledge management exponents is that ‘intrinsic motivation’ is the only real motivator of knowledge sharing. This is where an individual, group or community are sympathetic to each other’s goals, those of the organisation work for collective goals-if these are best achieved through sharing then this is what happens. Intrinsic motivation is making sure that individuals feel part of the business and culture through reward and recognition. Knowledge sharing is not about sharing great ideas’. It’s about improving the way that things get done by sharing the little things and in return they will share the relevant knowledge with you.
Sharing knowledge helps other individuals to learn it and the individuals who are sharing. In trying to explain and utilises the knowledge it moves it on. Knowledge thrives on where others contribute and this is where it grows in status. The key to building knowledge within an organisation is to work on problems together, recognise expertise and the sharing of this expertise in being able to solve the problem is vital to success. The exchange of knowledge can be improved through mechanisms that focus on the building of teams, communities and networks.
Nowadays teambuilding has developed significantly with the building of teams of people with different backgrounds, experience, locations and concerns. Cross-functional and multidisciplined teams with a common purpose are more likely to result in creative solutions. Whereas virtual teams can share experience and expertise to solve problems or develop idea’s.
Communities are fundamental to the knowledge sharing process. They provide the mechanism for informal knowledge exchange, learning and development. All individuals within the communities have a common sense of purpose and interest, who shares work related knowledge and experience. Communities need to feel recognition and support to operate successfully within an organisation where meetings and communication become paramount. Networks are essentially individuals with a common professional concern that join informal communities to encourage the sharing of information and knowledge.
Knowledge management is about people, not technology but technology has a crucial role. It is a key part of changing the corporate culture of an organisation to a knowledge sharing culture. Technological developments and advancements have made knowledge sharing possible. It is now possible to share knowledge and work collaboratively with co-workers around the world with email, Internet, video conferencing e.t.c. Therefore technology is a key enabler of knowledge management. It has been recognised that effective implementation of IT can help change behaviour for the benefit of knowledge sharing, while poorly managed implementations can be detrimental. However, the downfalls of enabling technologies is that time wasting through browsing irrelevant material on the Internet can be prevalent within an organisation. Also destructive use of emailing and chat rooms are other problems that organisation have to cope and contend with.
However knowledge sharing is useful and effective for organisations if it is implemented well. Information and knowledge can be found effectively through the Internet. Also employees can post their knowledge on the Internet for their co-workers to access in other parts of the world. An organisation through Lotus Notes or an intranet and extranet can work collaboratively with anyone else in the world to achieve its aims and objectives. Lotus Notes can enable shared working as it enables people in one room to work together and contribute their opinions and idea’s anonymously so that individuals will give their own views without feeling inhibited by lack of confidence or their status within a company. However in order for this to be effective within an organisation they need to be carefully managed and facilitated.
The intranet is influential and important in knowledge management as it allows access to diverse data sources, discussion groups and signposting. In many organisations the intranet is the core objective of knowledge management as it is highly structured and carefully managed. ‘BG Technology, use their intranet to provide a document library, discussion forums and databases for teams and groups, with connecting area’s for sharing appropriate material throughout the company.’(Abell & Oxbrow).
The most effective way of creating a knowledge sharing culture is for managers at the highest level of hierarchy to start practicing it within their organisations. They will have a greater influence and effect on changing the culture to educate employees in knowledge sharing. Once this has been achieved, and the knowledge sharing technology has been set up, an organisation can become a knowledge sharing culture. These two processes together, people with the appropriate knowledge sharing mindset and the appropriate knowledge sharing technology to support them, will bring about a knowledge sharing culture within an organisation.
References
ABELL, A & OXBROW, N. Competing with Knowledge. (2001), Library Association Publishing. Chapters 1-3.
CLASH OF THE TITANS- OR HOW TO DEVELOP A KNOWLEDGE FRIENDLY ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE. Online. Internet WWW page, at URL: http://www.kmmagazine.com/.../articleid.B20CC8C9-E92F-44AC-AC7A-18A756014507/ qx/display.htm
Accessed on 12/11/02
KNOWLEGDE MANAGEMENT. Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture. Online. Internet WWW page, at URL:
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/0/FD35AF9606901C42802567C70068CBF5/
Accessed on 12/11/02
NONAKA, I & TAKEUCHI, H. The Knowledge Creating Company. (1995), Oxford University Press. Pages 13-14, 57-70.
