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PROCESS TO PRODUCT:
CREATING TOOLS FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

3. DEFINING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

There is considerable debate concerning the definition of knowledge management, knowledge management software, and the scope of items that should be included. There is general agreement, however, that knowledge processes are multidimensional, provide value, and are not the same thing as ìdataî or ìinformation.î For the purposes of this investigation knowledge management was defined as:

A system for managing the gathering, organizing, refining, analyzing, and disseminating of knowledge in all of its forms within an organization. It supports organizational functions while addressing the needs of the individual within a purposeful context

Having set parameters by which knowledge management can be defined, a study of the types of software that could be included under this definition was conducted (Fayyad, 1996, Lethbridge, 1994). Software was classified into the five knowledge management categories shown in Figure 1: gathering, storage, communication, dissemination, and synthesis.

Figure 1

Software was grouped into five common categories that represent the current software market: document management, information management, searching and indexing, communications and collaboration, and expert systems. A six category, systems for managing intellectual property, was added as an adjunct category. Although they arenít specifically knowledge management tools, they help codify the intellectual assets of an organization and are certainly part of the domain of the knowledge manager (Edvinsson, 1997, Leonard, 1995). Other computer methods, such as geographic information systems and visualization techniques, also contribute to knowledge management but were excluded from this study.

3.1 Document Management Systems

One of the first software opportunities for the use of software in managing knowledge was the collection, storage, and distribution of the artifacts of knowledge contained in an organization. Many of these systems emulated the paper and library systems that preceded computers. Advanced features of document management systems provide version control, authentication, and translation. Leading software titles in this field include EDMS (Documentum), Datware II Publisher (Dataware), and Panagon (JetForm). These products, like those of other companies have evolved to help companies better organize their information and usually include very structured approaches to indexing.

3.2 Information Management

Software for information management fills many needs within an organization. Information on hardware and software assets and location, analysis of user needs, automated alert systems, and data storage help to provide an infrastructure that is needed for ìhigher levelî software systems. Information management tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated as computer networks expand. Some of the best-selling software has been developed in this category including RS (SAP) and SCS (Baan) and a variety of smaller titles such as Echo (Information). These tools are generally horizontally positioned within an enterprise and may include such features as general asset tracking.

3.3 Searching and Indexing

There has been much attention given in recent years to search and indexing techniques with the exponential growth of information. The Internet has accelerated techniques and, as disparate systems become connected to one another, searching and indexing becomes a function more critical than storage. Information that canít be located easily and with reliability holds little value. There new companies that have specifically been created to search the WWW and other titles, such as SearchServer (Fulcrum), RetreivalWare (Excalibur Technologies), and Searchí97 (Verity), that have been developed with traditional corporate information uses in mind. The field of searching and indexing is one of the fastest growing software areas.

3.4 Expert Systems

Another area of software that has been growing rapidly is in the intelligent analysis of information, online processing, and filtering. These ìexpertî systems attempt, in part, to simulate human decision making and synthesis information. Often relying on concepts from the field of artificial intelligence, expert systems help make vast quantities of data and information useful. There are several products that have been in use providing intelligent analysis and online analytical processing (OLAP) for quite some time. New software such as dbProphet (Trajecta), PowerPlay (Cognos), and Extract (Evolutionary Technologies), are beginning to enjoy widespread use by businesses, especially those with large data warehouses.

3.5 Communications and Collaboration

Software tools that aid in communications and collaboration are included within knowledge management because of their role in facilitating the flow of tacit information. The problem of how tacit knowledge is incorporated is perhaps one of the most significant differentiation factors between ìknowledgeî and ìinformationî management systems. (Nonakia and Takeuchi, 1995). It is an area, however, that most of the software studied fails to address.

There are still much greater quantities of knowledge stored within the heads of individuals and within business processes than has been translated into electronic forms. Communications and collaboration software generally help to build relationships between people and reinforce organizational culture and design. An area that was once dominated by e-mail systems software titles have evolved to provide more robust communications features. Older products such as Notes (IBM/Lotus), Exchange (Microsoft), and Eudora (Qualcomm) are representative of this category.

3.6 Intellectual Assets

Software that helps track and manage the intellectual assets of an organization range from legal systems to maintenance of trademarks, patents and other intellectual property. Since much of the organizational knowledge and value is contained within those assets it is essential that these tools be included in an overall investigation of knowledge management software. Most of the systems in this category have been developed internally or come from the legal field. They were not evaluated as part of this study but are mentioned here for reference.

If one investigates all of the software that supports business decisions, contains knowledge, or facilitates the making turning of raw information into knowledge it becomes apparent that there are many types of software could be included, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools, computer aided manufacturing, etc. Many software products have been designed from a functional, rather than integrated, perspective due to the structuring of traditional organizations. As organizational structures evolve to become more holistic, knowledge management software tools will also change.