Goodbye

Well here is one last post before the semester is over. I think this course has been extremely beneficial and I have really learned much more than KM. In my mind KM is more than just an IT tool, it is a vision that encompasses everyday life and culture at an organization. The part that culture plays in KM implementations is huge but the part that management plays can be very influential in changing these things. I'm excited to get to work in an organization where I can actually use KM for its true purpose.

From all of these blog posts it has been really nice to explore my own experiences as well as those of others I have found through reading many more things online. I can't say this class would have been the same without this reflection. Overall you need to use KM tools to truly experience it and understand how to use/implement it. And this blog was very successfull in doing so. 

A KM Experience Reaches My Sister

My sister has been very interested in what I am learning in this KM class from the first day in September. She is working at a small internet start-up company doing search-engine optimization, and has always made it a priority to learn the latest and greatest on the internet. The company she is working at is called Yodle, and is based on a school project designed at the Warton School of Business. At the ripe young age of 26, the founder uses many technologically advanced techniques in making his business run as efficiently as possible. Just this past week, she mentioned that all the stuff I have told her about in my class is coming to Yodle!

Apparently the company is starting their own wiki in order to make it easier for the employees to contact people for advice on how to better handle clients. They created the wiki to store things like powerpoint slides made for presentations and things that they generally don't know where to store. In addition to file storage and advice sections, they wiki is also going to act as a social networking site. The employees already have a contact directory that lists the accounts that everyone has, but the wiki is adding a section for every employee to list some things about themselves "to make employees feel more comfortable contacting people they don't know." 

The interesting thing about this wiki though, is that not all employees can have access to change things. The employees have to go through an administrator to update anything. My first question when hearing this was "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a wiki?" But after thinking about it some more, it seems the wiki isn't being used for the same purposes we have discussed in class, although it does take advantage of the enormous flexibility. Yodle is using a wiki as a kind of internal portal, but I wonder how this will evolve in the coming years as Yodle's clients and problems grow.  Any thoughts?

The KM Response to the Economic Crisis

In addition to discussing how KM is used with organizations, we talked about KM tools open to the general public. I have listed some of them in the links on the right. I found an extremely interesting article recently about how blogging is being used to combat the economic crisis and everyone being laid off from their jobs. The article mentions how free lance writers are going to be attempting a new style of creating a career. They call it "guerilla" like as in guerilla warfare. Their approach seems to be going back to the American entrepreneurial style. A lot liked linked in, new writer blogs can act as a yellow pages for people looking to hire writers or publish books. It's fascninating how Web 2.0 tools are changing and becoming flexible to our society. 

In my first blog post on my experiences with KM, I mentioned that the youth generation was becoming reliant on new KM tools and that eventually this will be able to be seen in the workplace. This article reinforces that and shows that now the workplace is becoming intertwined with our personal KM needs. In organizations blogs are also being used as kind of advertisements for skills and ideas. Which brings me to my thought of using a "Craigs List" within an organization to be able to progress ones job promotion quicker. Ultimately employees may have to use this "guerilla" career building technqies on an everyday basis. Scary thought! 

"For Laid-Off Journalists, Free Blog Accounts"

Web 3.0

In prepartion for the Knowledge Management forecasting paper coming up, I have decided to start looking into what is out there. I came across this article on a NY Times Blog and found it very interesting. The blog post speaks about how Silicon Valley is moving beyond Web 2.0 tools and moving to what they call the Semantic Web and Web 3.0 tools. The post also mentions that previously the Web 2.0 tools are only available to large corporations and sharing/creating knowledge within them. This Web 3.0 that is coming about is an attempt to bring Web 2.0 to the average user. I am fully aware that I am not an expert in this, but from what I have seen besides the few extremely large corporations Web 2.0 is not being fully utilized. How can companies think that coming up with new tools is going to help if they aren't even using current tools available? Also is this shift to Web 3.0 really a semantic web? Or is it just opening integrated Web 2.0 tools to the general public? I am excited to see what Silicon Valley has come up with, but I am concerned about its implementation. If smaller companies can't even implement Web 2.0 how are they going to be able to move to Web 3.0?

Semantic Web Blog Post YouTube Video on Web 3.0

Does Location Matter in KM?

Recently I found an interesting book by an author while researching a little bit more about KM. The book is called "Who's your city?" by Richard Florida and he brings up the point that even though all of the new technologies allowing us to collaborate across continents and telecommute to work, location really is still important to our careers. He even feels that location is more important than ever. I read the first chapter of the book and although it touches on many things beyond just sharing knowledge based on location, I completely agree in feeling that Knowledge Management is becoming increasingly important in our globalized "flat" world. A lot of the articles these days touch on using KM in order to bring employees on different continents closer to each other. It's amazing that technology can make us feel like we are closer than ever and at the same time continue to make us realize how we really are worlds apart. The book brings to light an important theme often lost in the excitement of technology: culture. We talk about organizational culture often, but many people forget about the cultures of the countries/societies we are working in. Since our culture has been given so much more mobility people are now taking advantage of it. Therefore we can even venture to say that where we live tells a lot about our lifestyle and ultimately our values. I believe that companies can benefit by this and are going to start capitalizing on this theory. Some may call it discrimination but isn't it the same as picking someone based on the fact that they fit into the company culture better? Ultimately Richard Florida discusses location as a key factor in creating a "creative class" for an industry and attracting the best of the field to one location. I am interested to find this book to read more....

Richard Florida's Book Website

Flirting with Google and Scaring the Bejesus out of Microsoft

Wow, amazing timing for our class to be finishing up our case analysis on Google. The article Professor Jang sent us is very interesting:

P&G Flirts with Google Apps and Scares the Bejesus out of Microsoft

The only thing that I thought the article didn't address was probably a major factor in P&G's decision: security. Briefly mentioned in my last post about Google, security is a major factor in Google's entry into the Enterprise world. The security features of Gmail just aren't going to cut it for enterprises carrying extremely sensitive data - for example medical records or payroll information. When everything is going to be centered around web-based applications, security better be as excellent as can be. BUT has Google ever made us think their security is not superior to Microsoft? If you think about how secretive Google has been about their PageRank algorithm, we should not be doubting them at all. Through all of the scares of Google becoming a major competitor of Microsoft I do think that we should be happy. Microsoft now has a competitor to give them a run for their money, maybe they will acutally take a que from Google's innovation and instead of following the pack become the leader of the pack again.

A better question to be asking is if Google is going to become the next Microsoft-like bully...

IBM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_x78XLBBVM

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I have been intrigued by IBM's success and by how they have been one of the early adopters of KM. What is even more interesting is how they are so vocal about its importance and their success. Isn't this a competitve advantage they are giving away? I recently attended a recruiting session for IBM and they listed their Web 2.0 KM tools as a large recruiting tool. One of the ways they explained their tools was in relating them to tools open to the general public in order for the company to feel small amongst its thousands of employees:

BlueTube - You Tube
Dogtagging - del.ico.ous
Wiki - Wikipedia
BluePages - Facebook/Yellow Pages

I also found other tools (more on the enterprise level) when researching a little bit about IBM. I guess we can all learn a lot about IBM's success. They have converted well-liked/used tools widely available to the public into internal tools just for their employees and created the largest intranet in the world. IBM has become successfull because they have basically created their own INTERNET! Imagine that? It is apparent that IBM has realized the power of knowledge and have even conquered social issues that our class as encountered (ex confidence in declaring oneself an "expert" in order to publish their knowledge) and has saved approximately 220,000 hours of practitioner time. No wonder they are bouncing back after their brief loss of market share in the 90's. And no wonder our class and practicaly all of the project's presented in class (including my own on CRM) are studying IBM as an example of success. My question now, is what are they concocting next?

Some articles I found interesting about IBM's success:

http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=16907&PageNum=1

http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/journal/sj/404/thomas.html

Google That

Isn't it amazing to think that Google has become a household word? I mean 10 years ago if you told someone to go "google it," they would think you were crazy. I found that our last case on Google has been the most interesting and the most relevant to us as a class. Undergrads and Grads alike all use Google in their daily lives, making it the first case this semester that is clearly applicable to us and large organizations alike. Here are some of the main things I got out of the case:

- Google became successful initially due to their PageRank algorithm, but what has allowed them to sustain/grow their success is their company culture of commitment to innovation through technology and the upper management's control of business moves

- Google is committed to "Not being evil" something I found very funny, but also is important to ensure people trust their tools (practically only achievable by large prominent companies)

- Google's tools are not only growing out of their core search functionality but also growing into tools that are "useful" to people in leveraging all that the internet has to offer

- Regarding Google's future, they must be able to tap into the portal domain of Yahoo! and the software domain of Microsoft. BUT Google will only truly be able to achieve this by attacking each from a new angle using their innovation techniques as leverage and by gaining support of the Open Source community

- Google also needs to enter the global enterprise market by addressing the security needs that are not met by their free products as well as addressing cultural differences preventing Google from becoming popular

The interesting thing about Google is that because they revolutionized the internet and search relevance, everyone is looking to them to see what they will come up with next. BUT, Google has to tread very lightly. They have the trust of the public now, but this is the same way Microsoft started. Google must continue their innovation without becoming a dominatory bully. If Google can successfully sustain their innovation and creative persona, they will be able to sustain their growth and hopefully continue to revolutionize the internet in order or users to leverage the knowledge available to them. Such an interesting topic for students to be able to personally witness....anyone download Google Chrome yet?

The Integration of KM into Learning

As the semester progresses I have realized how much the KM tools really can improve knowledge sharing. Until this year, I have really skated by without using much KM technology beyond e-mail, instant messenger, my travel blog and facebook. This is my first time participating in any kind collaboration tools. I have never even had to use WebCT for discussion purposes. This semester a lot has changed. 

The first big change came with the use of the discussion function on WebCT. At first I was hesitant, but it is really interesting to see how everyone approaches such comments differently. I also underestimated the power of capturing those comments. It is amazing how much more I get out of these discussions than those in the classroom because everything is documented so well. 

The second big change is the wiki. I have never participated in anything like the wiki for our class either. My technique of studying has always been much like the essence of the wiki, in organizing my tacit and explicit knowledge onto paper (or in this case computer) so that I may better understand the whole. I really like reading how everyone is taking the class differently and again like WebCT, the documentation allows much better reflection on what we have learned. 

The last and probably most significant change is the use of Web 2.0 tools for my own use. This is the first time that I have been involved in project groups that insist on using collaboration tools. I'm not sure if this is due to never having worked with these people before or if the tools are really becoming that more prevalent and useful. One of my groups is using a wiki to communicate and create project documents while another is using a Google Group. I have to say so far, I am liking Google Group better because the functionality for collaboration space seems to be much more useful (Discussion functions, page creation, file uploading, and so on). It is really making our projects better and since finding time when 5 busy people can meet is so hard, this allows us to share our work as we accomplish it online. Turnover between group members has increased tremendously. 

Lastly I just wanted to note something I found very interesting in the presentations on Monday, EVERY single group presenting mentioned IBM. I know IBM is great at what they do but this is the first class I am learning about their great success, I wonder if anyone else is finding this? And if so, why??

KM's Issues brought to our class

Lots has happened in class since I posted last, but I think the most interesting thing to comment on is the way our class is encountering problems just like any ordinary business. Recently I have been having trouble keeping up with all of the different places our class is requiring us to utilize KM. Between this blog, the discussion board on WebCT, and the Wiki it has just seemed like there isn't enough information or time to go into doing all three well. And in class on Monday, it came out that I was not the only one having this problem. A few things that happened in class are prime examples of what can happen in the work place.

1. Passive Resistance

The first problem our KM system has encountered is a passive resistance from students. Students are not participating in the wiki and blog's as much as they should be. The common response is a lack of time, which I won't deny I have used myself. But something I brought up on a blog discussion last week, and was resonated by others, is a lack of confidence. I personally have never been involved in the content creation and organization of a wiki before and it is very intimidating. I have no idea where to begin with what content and where? How will other students take my content? So the problem before us is how do we get people to WANT to be involved with KM?

2. Lack of Consistency

The second problem our KM system has encountered is a lack of consistency. Like mentioned above, there are three different places that we are supposed to be updating and constantly using. I am not alone in my overwhelment. I realize that for our classes purposes our professor is trying to expose us to as many different KM 2.0 tools as possible, but I can see how this would be a large problem in the workplace. Personally I have been more involved in the discussion board on WebCt and I know others who have been more involved with the Wiki. These two tools seem too similar, and have too many similar functionalities to be seperated in my mind. I also think that if each student were to have their own page on the Wiki, that it could act as their own personal blog as well. Overall, the three tools assigned to us are very similar to companies who try to use too many tools in their workplace. There is great information in all three places, but the information won't be maximized unless users know where to find it....all in one place.

So what do we do about these two problems?? The first problem might be solved through more incentives or structure. Even if the structure isn't assigned to us by the professor, if the students sit down together and decide what they will be responsible for they might be a lot more likely to particiapte. Regarding the second problem, we have already started to fix this problem by changing the discussion board over to the Wiki. The next problem we might encounter with this is keeping track of all of the discussions. But by moving the discussions over to the Wiki we might begin to also solve the first issue. The greater lesson we can learn from all of this, is how we can fix our problems until we are satisfied by the results. Hopefully we get there by the end of the semester!!

Research, research, research

Well since I posted last I have done some research on what exactly KM could be in our lives. So far I have really enjoyed what I see. The social aspects of life has potential to really change the way we live. We are becoming so connected with each others lives that sociological laws and boundaries are shifting to accommodate the number of people we can be connected with. After digging around a little (no pun intended) I found some Knowledge Management websites that I found to be really great concepts. I listed my favorites as links on the right side bar of the blog, you should all check them out.

I also have to say that these are really great sites that I use on a regular basis, with the exception of Twitter, and I think most people do too. All of these sites approach KM in a different way. But a common thread among them is that all of the "noise" from different areas comes together to create knowledge at the end. Whether it be knowledge about news on the internet from Digg , knowledge about friends on Facebook , or knowledge about traveling on Wikitravel , they ALL involve organizing messy tacit knowledge into a way we can sift through the madness. Since people use these resources by choice, there is a huge incentive for the authors to entice its users in by constantly making them better. They also can change as the technology changes, much like the open source networks. The future of these sites and the new ones being created every day leave the world of KM at our fingertips. But it leaves us open to the question, how long will it take for our society to be COMPLETELY dependent on communicating through them 24/7?

The First Day: What IS Knowledge Management?

Welcome to my blog on my experience with Knowledge Management! I'm not sure about most students, but the extent of my Knowledge Management experience is very limited. It doesn't really go beyond Facebook and another blog I have written for when I was traveling. So when I showed up at the first day of class I wasn't really sure what to expect. I wasn't even really sure what "Knowledge Management" was. From my understanding of the first class and the couple of readings that were assigned, KM is anything we do to harness intellectual property in order to use, re-use, access, and realize it. The intellectual property can range anywhere from organizational culture to processes on dealing with clients, to actual data on products. My feeling is that companies would not be so successful today if they didn't use some kind of KM already, no matter how primitive. So my question is, would a pencil and paper be one of the most primitive forms of KM? Would your doctor's hand-written file on your yearly visits be considered KM? And if we can figure out what the primitive versions of KM are, can we better create technologically advanced KM that won't waste billions of dollars on functions with no promise like Adrian Ward suggests?

A bit unrelated to what we discussed in class but a really fun article to read, is an article I found on the NYTimes website:

"Brave New World of Digital Intimacy - I'm So Totally, Digitally Close to You"

I think this article really shows how not only the corporate world is using KM, but how also our generation is becoming dependent on it to define us. If all of this stuff is defining the generation, then I have no doubts that it will work itself into the corporate culture. It's just a matter of time... and getting the generations above us to understand/ utilize its greatness.