©2002, Marco C. Bettoni, FHBB & Sibylle Schneider -
25.4.02 - 25.04.02 Knowledge ownership
1.
Corporate Knowledge Ownership Old Generation
Knowledge Management |
2. Corporate & Associate
Knowledge Ownership New Generation Knowledge Management |
| 1.1 Knowledge acquired within the company as project or on-the-job knowledge, whether explicit [documented knowledge] or tacit [knowledge in peoples head] belongs to the company. | 2.1 Knowledge acquired within the company as project or
on-the-job knowledge, belongs to the company if it is explicit, but
belongs to the knowledge worker if it is tacit: in this sense we speak
seriously of a 'knowledge owner'! This is why a knowledge worker should be considered as
an "associate" more than as an "employee" (see the
key note of 28.2.2002 by Klaus Endress, www.endress.com).
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| 1.2 Tacit knowledge must be extracted and converted into explicit knowledge so that it can be stored efficiently, effectively and securely. | 2.2 Practical work in Artificial Intelligence has clearly
demonstrated in the last 20 years that: a) Tacit knowledge cannot be "extracted" from its knowledge owner: the "knowledge mining" metaphore does not work!!! Explicit knowledge can only be "constructed" from the tacit state. b) Tacit knowledge should not always to be transformed into explicit knowledge: this process is very difficult and hence very expensive and time consuming (benefit/cost ratio).
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| 1.3 All company Knowledge must be
harnessed and secured so that it remains with the Company, even when major changes, such
as an employee suddenly leaving, or major technology or operational changes, takes place.
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2.3 The use and securing of knowledge can be improved by
other means than by harnessing it, for instance by means of well organized communities of
practice (CoP, see: http://www.ewenger.com/).
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| 1.4 Business knowledge is a
valuable company asset and must be efficiently and securely captured, stored, protected,
accessed, retrieved, used, distributed and shared.
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2.4 Business knowledge is a valuable company asset and must
be understood in its tight relation to the knowledge owner and his or her Human Factors
(power to choose, desire to know, need for belongingness and love, egoism and altruism,
tendency toward creative accomplishments, etc.): this is the condition for successfully
expliciting, storing, protecting, accessing, retrieving, using, distributing and sharing
it.
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©2002, Marco C. Bettoni, FHBB & Sibylle Schneider -
25.4.02 - 25.04.02