KNOWLEDGE AND INNOVATION JOURNAL OF THE KMCI Estim

KNOWLEDGEANDINNOVATION:JOURNALOFTHEKMCIVOLUMEONE,NO.THREE,APRIL15,2001©2001KNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTCONSORTIUMINTERNATIONAL,INC.EstimatingBenefitsofKnowledgeEstimatingBenefitsofKnowledgeManagementInitiatives:Concepts,ManagementInitiatives:Concepts,Methodology,andToolsMethodology,andToolsJosephM.Firestone,Ph.D.JosephM.Firestone,Ph.D.KnowledgeManagementBenefitsandCorporateGoalsHowarevariousclaimedKnowledgeManagement(KM)benefitsrelatedtocorporategoals,businessprocesses,andtoITapplications?MostdiscussionsofKMbenefitsand,forthatmatter,ofbenefitsofotheralternativestoKM,arenottightlycoupledtocorporategoalsandbusinessprocesses[1].IntheKMliteraturethediscussionofbenefitsthusfarhasnotapproachedasystematicanalysisofcorporategoals,objectivesandbenefitsinthecontextofKMalternatives.Instead,inmostanalysesthereisanadhoclistingofenvisionedoutcomesoreffectsoftheintroductionofKMinitiativesandanassertionthattheseoutcomesareunequivocalbenefits.Theapproachisbasicallyintuitiveratherthananalyticalandcomprehensive.Itdoesn’tclarifytherelationshipoftheclaimedorenvisionedoutcomestocorporategoalsorbusinessprocesses.Anditoftendoesn’tdistinguishtheoutcomesintermsofthedegreeofbenefittheyprovide.Thispaperpresentsconcepts,methodologyandtoolsforproducingimprovedKMbenefitestimates.MyobjectiveistoprovideaframeworkforthinkingaboutmorecomprehensiveestimationofKMbenefits--estimationthatistightlycoupledtocorporategoals,andthatdistinguishesbenefitsaccordingtotheirrelativeimportance.Iwillnotproposeaspecificmethodologyforestimationinallsituations,because,aswewillsee,nosinglemethodologyisappropriateforeverycorporatesituation.Comprehensivebenefitestimationisnotpracticalinmanysituations.While,inothers,varyingdegreesofcomprehensivenesswillbeappropriate.Insteadofasinglemethodology,IwilldefineanabstractpatternofComprehensiveBenefitEstimation(CBE)thatwould,ifimplemented,achievethegoaloftightcouplingofbenefits,goals,andKMinitiativesandcompetingalternatives.ThenIwillpointouthowindifferentconcretesituationsonemaytailorthepatterntoachieveafeasibleestimationprocedure.AFrameworkforKMBenefitEstimatesToimproveKMbenefitestimatesbothabroaderconceptualperspectiveandmoresubstantialmethodsandtoolsareneededthanthoseprovidedbyadhocanalyticalapproaches.TheroadfromKMinitiativesorprogramstobenefitsleadsthroughbusinessprocessesandcorporategoals.SohereisanintroductoryKNOWLEDGEANDINNOVATION:JOURNALOFTHEKMCIVOLUMEONE,NO.THREE,APRIL15,2001©2001KNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTCONSORTIUMINTERNATIONAL,INC.conceptualframeworkthatcanleadusdownthisroad.Thefirstpartoftheframeworkrelatesbusinessprocesses,corporategoals,andKMinitiatives.Thesecondfocusesontherelationshipbetweencorporategoalsandbenefits.Oncetheframeworkisdeveloped,IwilldiscussissuesrelatedtoapplyingittoestimatingKMbenefitstightlycoupledtocorporategoals.CorporateGoals,BusinessProcesses,andKMInitiativesCorporateGoalsareonecategoryofglobalpropertyofcorporations.Corporategoal-strivingsarepre-dispositionstoperformactionscalculatedtocreateormaintaincertainintrinsicallyvaluedstatesoftheworld,eitherinternalorexternaltoacorporation.Corporategoalsarenomorethanthesevaluedstates--thetargetsofgoal-strivings.Idistinguishbetweencorporategoalsandcorporateobjectivesbydefiningobjectivesasstatesthatarevaluedinstrumentallyforthecontributiontheymaketowardachievingcorporategoals.Sothereis,inthisconception,acauseandeffectrelationbetweengoalsandobjectives.Objectivescauseanagenttomoveclosertoitsgoal.Goalsmayormaynotreinforceobjectives.SidebarOne:Analytical,Structural,AndGlobalPropertiesofCorporationsThisdistinctionbetweengoalsandobjectivesisconceptuallyprecise,butactualstatesoftheworldmaybebothgoalsandobjectives.Thisistruebecausetheycanbesimultaneouslyvaluedinthemselves,andfortheirinstrumentalvalue.Corporategoalscanbehighlyabstract,orveryconcrete.Theycanalsobegeneralintheirgeographicortemporalfocus,orveryspecific.Ofcourse,highlyabstractgoalsalsotendtobeverygeneralinscope,whilehighlyconcretegoalstendtobeveryspecific.Thesamevariationsofabstractnessandconcretenessandgeneralityandspecificityapplytocorporateobjectives.Bothgoalsandobjectivesareoftenexpressedingeneralizedandvagueformincorporatediscussionsofthem.“Ourgoalistobethemostcompetitivecorporationinourindustry.”“Ourgoalistobeanethicalandsociallyresponsiblememberofthecommunity.”“Ourgoalisbringthevisionoftheintegrateddesktoptoallconsumers.”ThesearethreeexamplesofvaguestatementsofgoalsoneForeverymulti-personcorporateorganization,wecandistinguishanalyticalproperties,structuralproperties,andglobalproperties.[2]Analyticalpropertiesarederivedbyaggregating(summing,averaging,orperformingotherelementarymathematicaloperationson)datadescribingthemembersofthecorporation.Structuralpropertiesarederivedbyperformingoperationsondatadescribingrelationsofeachmemberofthebusinesstosomeoralloftheothers.Lastly,globalpropertiesarebasedoninformationaboutthecorporationthatisnotderivedfrominformationaboutitsmembers.Instead,suchpropertiesareproducedbytheintra-corporateinteractionscomprisingthesystemtheycharacterize.And,inthatsense,maybesaidtoeme