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21860 Managing Knowledge

Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a particular semester, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.

UTS: Business: Management
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level:

Postgraduate

Result type: Grade and marks

There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Handbook description

The basis for the global momentum of implementing knowledge management is the need to understand the real value of knowledge, to create new management philosophies, standards and practices and to establish new models of success. This subject examines the movement away from the traditional paradigm of 'hoarding knowledge' to a structured approach, which creates the incentive for sharing knowledge and establishes a knowledge management framework. It introduces the management initiatives of implementation, technology strategies, planning organisational transformation, and a general understanding of the future environment for managing knowledge within the organisation

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

  1. identify and understand the benefits, concepts and techniques of knowledge management
  2. understand the impact on enterprise stakeholders, organisational design and processes, and organisational culture and relationships of the increasing significance of knowledge
  3. identify and understand knowledge management infrastructures, implementation strategies and the initiatives to meet different business needs based on creating a knowledge environment that supports business goals
  4. understand the appropriate role of supporting technology
  5. understand and identify technologies — the internet, intranets, groupware and expert systems — that support workflow management and knowledge sharing objectives.

Contribution to course aims and graduate attributes

This subject provides a foundation for the understanding of organisational knowledge and the application of knowledge management for the core of the Master of Business in e-business. It contributes to the objectives of the core by focusing on the fundamentals of knowledge management; the processes of implementation, which establishes an understanding of the strategies and organisational issues associated with the development of e-business management; and an understanding of the environment for the establishment of e-business relationships.

Teaching and learning strategies

Lectures and group discussions: case analysis and presentation; workshops. Reading and library search: internet search and analysis of material; use of collaborative communication software products.

Content

  • An introduction to knowledge management
  • Organisational strategy and knowledge
  • Organising knowledge work flows
  • Designing the knowledge infrastructure
  • Learning and sharing knowledge
  • The reality of knowledge management projects

Assessment

Assessment Item 1: Presentation-based assignment (Individual)

Objective(s):

1–3
Weighting: 40

Assessment Item 2: Organisational-based case study assignment (Group)

Objective(s):

3–5
Weighting: 30

Assessment Item 3: Organisational-based case study assignment (Individual)

Objective(s):

3–5
Weighting: 30

Required texts

Housel, TJ and Bell, AH, 2001, Measuring and Managing Knowledge, McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Davenport, TH and Prusak, L, 1998, Working Knowledge, Boston, Massachusetts: Havard Business School Press.

Rollo, C and Clarke, T, 2001, International Best Practice: Case Studies in Knowledge Management, Standards Australia, HB 275 Supplement 1.

References

Articles

California Management Review (1998) Special Issue on Knowledge and the Firm, Volume 40, Number 3 Harvard Business Review (1998) Harvard Business Review on Knowledge Management, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management

Books

Allee, Verna (1997) The Knowledge Evolution, Butterworth Heinemann Allee, Verna (2003) The Future of Knowledge: Increasing Prosperity through Value Networks, Butterworth Heinemann Argyris, C. & Schön, D. A. (1974) Theory in practice: increasing professional effectiveness, Jossey-Bass Burton-Jones, A. (1999) Knowledge Capitalism: Business, Work and Learning in the New Economy, Oxford: Oxford University Press Davenport, T. (1997) Information Ecology, New York: Oxford University Press Denning, S, (2001) The Springboard : How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations Butterworth Heinemann Huseman, R.C. and Goodman, J.P. (1999) Leading with Knowledge: The Nature of Competition in the 21st Century, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Klein, D.A. (1998) The Strategic Management of Intellectual Capital, Boston: Butterworth Heinemann Koulopoulos, T., Spinello, R. and Toms, W. (1997) Corporate Instinct, New York: Van Nostrand, Reinhold Leonard-Barton, D. (1995) Wellsprings of Knowledge, Boston: Harvard Business School Press Lesser, E.L. (2000) Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications, Boston: Butterworth Heinemann Martin, J. (1996) Cybercorp, New York: AMACOM Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995) The Knowledge-Creating Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation New York: Oxford Press Probst, G., Raub, S. and Romhardt, K. (2000) Managing Knowledge, Chichester: John Wiley Rickards, T. (1999) Creativity and the Management of Change, Oxford: Blackwell Rosenberg, M. J. (2001) E-Learning; Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age, McGraw-Hill Seely Brown, J. and Duguid, P., (2000) The Social Life of Information Boston: Harvard Business School Press Stewart, TA, (1997) Intellectual Capital: The New wealth of Organisations Doubleday / Currency Sveiby, K.E. (1997) The New Organisational Wealth: Managing and Measuring Knowledge Based Assets Berrett-Koehler Tapscott, D., (1996) The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence McGraw Hill Tobin, D. (1997) Knowledge-Enabled Organization, New York: AMACOM Tiwana, A., (1999) The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Practical Techniques for Building a Knowledge Management System Prentice Hall Wenger, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W.M. (2002) Cultivating Communities of Practice, Harvard Business School Press World Bank (1998) World Development Report: Knowledge for Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press Von Krogh, G., Ichijo, K., and Nonaka, I., (2000) Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation Oxford University Press

Websites

KM Dmoz Directory http://dmoz.org/Reference/Knowledge_Management/

www.brint.com
www.kmworld.com
www.icasit.org
www.km.org
NOIE www.noie.gov.au
Community Intelligence Labs www.co-i-l.com/coil/index.shtml
Delphi Group www.delphigroup.com
MIT Media Lab www.media.mit.edu
Ernst & Young www.ey.com
ICMG www.icmgroup.com
Knowledge Media Institute http://kmi.open.ac.uk/home-f.cfm
Knowledge Science Institute http://ksi.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/KSI/KSI.html
Learning-Org Dialog on Learning Organizations http://world.std.com/~lo/
Microsoft Research http://research.microsoft.com
Management of Innovation and New Technology (MINT)* Research Centre http://mint.mcmaster.ca/mint/mint.htm
Outsights Overview www.outsights.com/main/welcome.htm