Solution Manual For
Knowledge Management Systems and Processes in the AI Era, 3E Irma Becerra-
Fernandez, Rajiv Sabherwal, Richard Kumi
Chapters 1-16
Chapter 1
Introducing Knowledge Management
Teaching Objectives
To describe what KM is and what the forces are that drive KM.
To discuss organizational issues related to KM.
To explain knowledge management systems (KMS) and their role in the organization.
To discuss the relevance of KM in today’s dynamic environments augmented with
increasing technological complexity.
To present the benefits and considerations about KM, including an overview of the nature
of the KM projects currently in progress at public and private organizations around the
world, and the important role that IT plays in KM.
Key Terms
The following alphabetical list identifies the key terms discussed in this chapter.
Experience Management
Intellectual Asset
Intellectual Capital
Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management Systems
Structural Capital
Teaching Suggestions
The opening quote by Sylvia Fries, chief NASA historian between 1983 and 1990 is a dramatic
testimony for the need to organizations to manage their knowledge: “…the knowledge that during
the twenty intervening years much of the national consensus that launched this country on its first
lunar adventure had evaporated…”
For graduate students, the instructor may with to facilitate class discussion related to the themes
presented in this chapter. It may be a good idea to ask your students if they have face similar
situations of knowledge loss at their organizations. Have students discuss their views related to
the following questions:
1. What specific instance in your career did this example remind you?
, 2. Describe the type of knowledge of knowledge that was lost in that occasion.
3. Where any steps taken to try to capture this knowledge?
4. What were some of the repercussions on the business that followed the lost of such
knowledge?
Students may also be encouraged to share some other examples of the four forces driving KM
discussed later on in the Chapter.
For undergraduate students, the instructor may prefer to ask a few questions about how KM
relates to the individual. It may be a good idea to ask the students to share their experiences on
individual KM:
1. How do you manage your personal knowledge so you can best reuse it?
2. How do you share your knowledge with others?
Review Questions
1. Describe what knowledge management (KM) is.
KM can be described as doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources.
2. Discuss the forces driving KM.
a. Increasing Domain Complexity. The complexity of the underlying knowledge
domains is increasing. As a direct consequence, the complexity of the knowledge
that is required to complete a specific business process task has increased as well.
b. Accelerating Market Volatility. The pace of change, or volatility, within each
market domain has increased rapidly in the past decade.
c. Intensified Speed of Responsiveness. The time required to take action based on
subtle changes within and across domains is decreasing. The rapid advance in
technology continually changes the decision-making landscape, making it
imperative that decisions be made and implemented quickly, lest the window of
opportunity closes.
d. Employee Turnover. Organizations continue to face employee turnover due to
voluntary and involuntary reasons. Such employee turnover inevitably leads to the
organization losing of the knowledge possessed by the departing individuals.
3. What are knowledge management systems? Enumerate the four types of KM systems?
KM systems are the applications resulting from the synergy between the latest technologies
and social/structural mechanisms. KM systems utilize a variety of KM mechanisms and
technologies to support the KM processes. The four types of KM systems are:
a. Knowledge Discovery Systems
b. Knowledge Capture Systems
c. Knowledge Sharing Systems
d. Knowledge Application Systems
4. Describe some of the issues facing KM.
a. Many KM systems implementations have fallen short of their promise.
b. Understand the factors that lead to the successful implementation of KM systems is
an important area of research that is still in its infancy.
c. KM initiatives are not solely limited to a technological solution. KM practices must
first identify ways to encourage and stimulate the ability of employees to develop
, new technologies. Second, KM methodologies and technologies must enable
effective ways to elicit, represent, organize, re-use and renew this knowledge.
Third, KM should not distance itself from the knowledge owners, but instead
celebrate and recognize their position as experts in the organization.
Application Exercises
1. Identify an example of a KM initiative that has been undertaken in your organization.
Has the initiative been successful? What are some of the issues, both technical and
non-technical, that were faced during its implementation?
Company X implemented a system to support the work of the help desk. The software is
designed to record solutions to technical issues that have occurred in the company’s
computing environment. The purpose of the system is to capture knowledge about
technology-related problems and their solutions and make this solution available to the rest of
the team, on demand, using natural language.
This initiative has been marginally successful at Company X. The main reason for its
partial success is that the management group didn’t embrace the use of the tool, and therefore
didn’t properly convince the staff of the value of the tool in solving day-to-day problems.
Furthermore, performance standards were not developed to foster the staff to adopt the tool.
Finally, solutions are not validated prior to their inclusion in the application; therefore the
quality of the information is questionable leading to lack of trust issues.
2. Design a knowledge management initiative to support your business needs.
The recent accounting fraud scandals resulted in the adoption of the Sarbanes-Oakley
Act (SOA), which requires senior management to assert the effectiveness of the company’s
internal control and financial reporting systems. Many times senior management is
removed from the intricacies of day-to-day affairs in the company. Therefore, a KM
initiative to identify and document information on the company’s internal controls is of
extreme importance in today’s business environment.
This project would have both knowledge capture and knowledge sharing components.
Most organizations already have the required information documented, but many times it’s
distributed throughout the organization. This project may also require formalizing relevant
tacit knowledge.
3. Describe the non-technical issues that you will face during its implementation.
For example, the members of the management team tasked with this project may
already be over-committed to other obligations. Perhaps consultants would need to be
hired for this project, which requires the commitment of resources. Finally, management
will need to be convinced that the initiative has an added value to the organization.
4. Consider the four forces driving KM described in this chapter. Think of another
example that illustrates each of these forces.
a. Increasing Domain Complexity – Globalization has increased the domain complexity
for many organizations, which need to provide products and services that meet the
need of customers across the globe.
b. Accelerating Market Volatility – The terrorist event of September 11 crippled the
travel industry almost overnight. In order to stimulate travel, companies in this
industry were forced to reduce prices to levels way below their break-even prices. As
a result, many companies in this sector were forced into bankruptcy.
, c. Intensified Speed of Responsiveness – In order to be able to continue to support
relevant IT education, universities need to adapt their curriculum to current industry
trends. In the past, degree curriculums were more static with infrequent revisions. In
today’s environment three-year-old IT curriculums are old – in terms of Internet
years!
d. Employee Turnover – The recent dot com explosion created many new opportunities
for IT professionals which lured them away from their positions. As a result, many
organizations had to re-hire new talent to fulfill their IT needs, and are now left with
IT professionals who lack the business experience or understand the business culture
at their organizations. This creates a huge barrier in terms of adequately supporting
the needs of the organization.
Chapter 2: The Nature of Knowledge
Teaching Objectives
1. To help the student understand the difference between knowledge, data,
and information
2. To explain to the students the alternative views of knowledge
3. To help the student understand the different types of knowledge
4. To help the student recognize the various locations of knowledge
Key Terms
The following alphabetical list identifies the key terms discussed in this
chapter.
Knowledge Management Systems and Processes in the AI Era, 3E Irma Becerra-
Fernandez, Rajiv Sabherwal, Richard Kumi
Chapters 1-16
Chapter 1
Introducing Knowledge Management
Teaching Objectives
To describe what KM is and what the forces are that drive KM.
To discuss organizational issues related to KM.
To explain knowledge management systems (KMS) and their role in the organization.
To discuss the relevance of KM in today’s dynamic environments augmented with
increasing technological complexity.
To present the benefits and considerations about KM, including an overview of the nature
of the KM projects currently in progress at public and private organizations around the
world, and the important role that IT plays in KM.
Key Terms
The following alphabetical list identifies the key terms discussed in this chapter.
Experience Management
Intellectual Asset
Intellectual Capital
Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management Systems
Structural Capital
Teaching Suggestions
The opening quote by Sylvia Fries, chief NASA historian between 1983 and 1990 is a dramatic
testimony for the need to organizations to manage their knowledge: “…the knowledge that during
the twenty intervening years much of the national consensus that launched this country on its first
lunar adventure had evaporated…”
For graduate students, the instructor may with to facilitate class discussion related to the themes
presented in this chapter. It may be a good idea to ask your students if they have face similar
situations of knowledge loss at their organizations. Have students discuss their views related to
the following questions:
1. What specific instance in your career did this example remind you?
, 2. Describe the type of knowledge of knowledge that was lost in that occasion.
3. Where any steps taken to try to capture this knowledge?
4. What were some of the repercussions on the business that followed the lost of such
knowledge?
Students may also be encouraged to share some other examples of the four forces driving KM
discussed later on in the Chapter.
For undergraduate students, the instructor may prefer to ask a few questions about how KM
relates to the individual. It may be a good idea to ask the students to share their experiences on
individual KM:
1. How do you manage your personal knowledge so you can best reuse it?
2. How do you share your knowledge with others?
Review Questions
1. Describe what knowledge management (KM) is.
KM can be described as doing what is needed to get the most out of knowledge resources.
2. Discuss the forces driving KM.
a. Increasing Domain Complexity. The complexity of the underlying knowledge
domains is increasing. As a direct consequence, the complexity of the knowledge
that is required to complete a specific business process task has increased as well.
b. Accelerating Market Volatility. The pace of change, or volatility, within each
market domain has increased rapidly in the past decade.
c. Intensified Speed of Responsiveness. The time required to take action based on
subtle changes within and across domains is decreasing. The rapid advance in
technology continually changes the decision-making landscape, making it
imperative that decisions be made and implemented quickly, lest the window of
opportunity closes.
d. Employee Turnover. Organizations continue to face employee turnover due to
voluntary and involuntary reasons. Such employee turnover inevitably leads to the
organization losing of the knowledge possessed by the departing individuals.
3. What are knowledge management systems? Enumerate the four types of KM systems?
KM systems are the applications resulting from the synergy between the latest technologies
and social/structural mechanisms. KM systems utilize a variety of KM mechanisms and
technologies to support the KM processes. The four types of KM systems are:
a. Knowledge Discovery Systems
b. Knowledge Capture Systems
c. Knowledge Sharing Systems
d. Knowledge Application Systems
4. Describe some of the issues facing KM.
a. Many KM systems implementations have fallen short of their promise.
b. Understand the factors that lead to the successful implementation of KM systems is
an important area of research that is still in its infancy.
c. KM initiatives are not solely limited to a technological solution. KM practices must
first identify ways to encourage and stimulate the ability of employees to develop
, new technologies. Second, KM methodologies and technologies must enable
effective ways to elicit, represent, organize, re-use and renew this knowledge.
Third, KM should not distance itself from the knowledge owners, but instead
celebrate and recognize their position as experts in the organization.
Application Exercises
1. Identify an example of a KM initiative that has been undertaken in your organization.
Has the initiative been successful? What are some of the issues, both technical and
non-technical, that were faced during its implementation?
Company X implemented a system to support the work of the help desk. The software is
designed to record solutions to technical issues that have occurred in the company’s
computing environment. The purpose of the system is to capture knowledge about
technology-related problems and their solutions and make this solution available to the rest of
the team, on demand, using natural language.
This initiative has been marginally successful at Company X. The main reason for its
partial success is that the management group didn’t embrace the use of the tool, and therefore
didn’t properly convince the staff of the value of the tool in solving day-to-day problems.
Furthermore, performance standards were not developed to foster the staff to adopt the tool.
Finally, solutions are not validated prior to their inclusion in the application; therefore the
quality of the information is questionable leading to lack of trust issues.
2. Design a knowledge management initiative to support your business needs.
The recent accounting fraud scandals resulted in the adoption of the Sarbanes-Oakley
Act (SOA), which requires senior management to assert the effectiveness of the company’s
internal control and financial reporting systems. Many times senior management is
removed from the intricacies of day-to-day affairs in the company. Therefore, a KM
initiative to identify and document information on the company’s internal controls is of
extreme importance in today’s business environment.
This project would have both knowledge capture and knowledge sharing components.
Most organizations already have the required information documented, but many times it’s
distributed throughout the organization. This project may also require formalizing relevant
tacit knowledge.
3. Describe the non-technical issues that you will face during its implementation.
For example, the members of the management team tasked with this project may
already be over-committed to other obligations. Perhaps consultants would need to be
hired for this project, which requires the commitment of resources. Finally, management
will need to be convinced that the initiative has an added value to the organization.
4. Consider the four forces driving KM described in this chapter. Think of another
example that illustrates each of these forces.
a. Increasing Domain Complexity – Globalization has increased the domain complexity
for many organizations, which need to provide products and services that meet the
need of customers across the globe.
b. Accelerating Market Volatility – The terrorist event of September 11 crippled the
travel industry almost overnight. In order to stimulate travel, companies in this
industry were forced to reduce prices to levels way below their break-even prices. As
a result, many companies in this sector were forced into bankruptcy.
, c. Intensified Speed of Responsiveness – In order to be able to continue to support
relevant IT education, universities need to adapt their curriculum to current industry
trends. In the past, degree curriculums were more static with infrequent revisions. In
today’s environment three-year-old IT curriculums are old – in terms of Internet
years!
d. Employee Turnover – The recent dot com explosion created many new opportunities
for IT professionals which lured them away from their positions. As a result, many
organizations had to re-hire new talent to fulfill their IT needs, and are now left with
IT professionals who lack the business experience or understand the business culture
at their organizations. This creates a huge barrier in terms of adequately supporting
the needs of the organization.
Chapter 2: The Nature of Knowledge
Teaching Objectives
1. To help the student understand the difference between knowledge, data,
and information
2. To explain to the students the alternative views of knowledge
3. To help the student understand the different types of knowledge
4. To help the student recognize the various locations of knowledge
Key Terms
The following alphabetical list identifies the key terms discussed in this
chapter.
