KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SMES — INTRODUCTION TO COURSE

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN SMES - INTRODUCTION TO COURSE AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT BY ASSOC. DR. SUSANNE DURST South Ural State University - 6 December 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SKÖVDE – WWW. HIS. SE/EN Bild 1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES The objectives of the subject are to provide students with • an understanding of SMEs, their attributes and implications for knowledge management; • an awareness of SMEs business operations and their impact on knowledge management practices; • an awareness regarding the issues of knowledge retention and knowledge transfer with regard to succession planning in SMEs; • an awareness of the danger of knowledge loss/attrition in SMEs as a consequence of skills shortage, aging workforces, knowledge concentration, and missing/insufficient succession planning. Bild 2 2

LECTURE SCHEDULE Session Date Content 1 6. 12. 16 Introduction to course and KM 2 13. 12. 16 Introduction to SMEs 3 15. 12. 16 Introduction to KM in SMEs 4 19. 12. 16 Succession planning/business transfer 5 20. 12. 16 Knowledge retention, knowledge transfer, knowledge loss 6 21. 12. 16 Knowledge leakage, knowledge risk management, unlearning and the deliberate loss of knowledge Bild 3 3

READING LIST AND REFERENCES Book 1. Hislop, D. (2013), Knowledge Management in Organizations, 3 rd ed. , Oxford University Press, Oxford. Articles 1. Durst, S. & Edvardsson, I. R. (2012). Knowledge Management in SMEs: A Literature Review. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16(6), 879 -903. 2. Durst, S. and Wilhelm, S. (2012). Knowledge management and succession planning in SMEs. Journal of Knowledge Management, 16(4), 637 -49. 3. Durst, S. , & Wilhelm, S. (2011). Knowledge management in practice: insights into a medium-sized enterprise’s exposure to knowledge loss. Prometheus, 29(1), 1 -16. 4. Hutchinson, V. and Quintas, P. (2008). Do SMEs do Knowledge Management? Or Simply Manage What They Know? International Small Business Journal, 26(2), 131 -154. 5. Sparrow, J. (2005). Classification of different knowledge management development approaches of SMEs. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 3(3), 136 -145. 6. Wong, K. Y. & Aspinwall, E. (2004) Characterizing knowledge management in the small business environment. Journal of Knowledge Management, 8(3), 44 -61. 7. Mc. Adam, R. & Reid, R. (2001). SME and large organisation perceptions of knowledge Bild 4 management: comparisons and contrasts. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5(3), 231 -241. 4

INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF SKÖVDE – WWW. HIS. SE/EN Bild 5

WHAT’S ALL THE KM FUSS? KM started around the 1990 s Knowledge seen as the most important source of competitive advantage IT played a significant role too (increasing availability of technologies designed to manage information) Some strongly into IT, some strongly into HR and some into strategy Bild 6 6

KEY ASSUMPTIONS IN THE KM LITERATURE Central idea: It is important for organizations to manage their workforce’s knowledge This flows from 3 assumptions • The end of the 20 th century witnessed an enormous social and economic transformation which resulted in knowledge becoming the key asset for organizations to manage • Nature of work has also changed significantly • Effective management of knowledge is likely to provide a source of competitive advantage 7 Bild 7 7

The KM literature is based on an analysis which suggests that, since approx. the mid-1970 s, economies and society in general have become more information and knowledge intensive, which information/knowledge-intensive industries replacing manufacturing industry as the key wealth generators. Statistical evidence is typically mobilized to show the increasing importance of service work, and the simultaneous decline of manufacturing employment. 8 Bild 8 8

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY CONCEPT I Typically knowledge work is conflated with service sector jobs. However, not all service sector work can be classified as knowledge work The transition from an industrial to a post-industrial knowledge economy should produce an increase in the proportion of jobs that are knowledge-intensive. 9 Bild 9 9

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY CONCEPT II Questions have also been raised regarding the way knowledge is conceptualized, i. e. focus on theoretical knowledge as codifiable and objective. Contemporary analysis views knowledge as having substantially different characteristics, being partial, tacit, subjective, and context dependent. 10 Bild 10 10

A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY CONCEPT III These critiques do not mean that society and economies have remained unchanged. For the advanced, industrial economies there has not only a significant change in the type of products and services produced, and the nature of work itself, but the role of information and knowledge in many aspects of social and economic life also increased substantially. Yet, suggesting that these changes represent a fundamental rupture is going to far 11 Bild 11 11

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Disciplines, content and activity (Jashapara, 2011, p. 12) Bild 12 12

THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY Transition to knowledge economy • Economy has become more intangible • Knowledge as key differentiator and thus sustainable competitive advantage Bild 13 13

KNOWLEDGE-BASED VIEW Knowledge is the most important resource KBV is a further specification of the RBV Knowledge creation as source of competitive advantage Types of knowledge • • explicit tacit To build a sustainable competitive advantage, organizations should build company specific knowledge assets by managing the relevant knowledge processes knowledge management Bild 14 15

TYPOLOGIES OF KNOWLEDGE I Bild 15 (Jashapara, 2011) 16

TYPOLOGIES OF KNOWLEDGE II Hislop, 2013, p. 21 Bild 16 17

CORE PROCESSES OF KM http: //wiki-nkm. iaea. org/wiki/index. php/File: Probst. KMModel. JPG Bild 17 19