Human Aspects of Information Management

An Overview

Intellectual Capital
consists of the stocks and flows of knowledge, ability, skill and competence available to an organisation (Armstrong and Baron, 2002) Intellectual capital is made up of 3 elements: human capital, social capital and organisational capital

Human capital the knowledge, skills and abilities of employees Social capital stocks and flows of knowledge that are a product of networks of relationships Organisational capital institutionalised knowledge owned by an organisation stored on computer and in hard copy documents

Human Capital
Skills, knowledge and competences are key factors in determining whether organisations and nations will prosper Human capital is built by:

Recruiting knowledgeable staff Effective appraisal Training and development Job rotation & promotion Mentoring

Social Capital
Term became popular in the 1960s to describe the need to build up strong social bonds within communities to regenerate urban areas, i.e. it is about investing in communities In an organisational context, social capital is knowledge created, developed and transferred by relationships among employees, partners, customers and suppliers Social capital enables human capital to realise its potential

Organisational Capital
Knowledge that belongs to the organisation rather than individuals or groups Can be found in software, documents and is embedded in organisational routines Helps to explain why organisations can function when individuals leave

Intellectual Capital and New Organisational Forms

Knowledge-creating and learning companies will want to invest heavily in human, social and organisational capital because this is viewed as the source of wealth (private company) or the means of achieving their social mission (public/voluntary companies)

The Issue of Ownership

Who owns (and therefore has a right to use and exploit) employees knowledge and ideas? People possess innate abilities, behaviors and personal capital and it is they, not their employers, who own the capital and decide when, how and where they will contribute it. Work is a two-way exchange of value, not a one-way exploitation of as asset by its owner (Davenport, 1999) Contractually, what an individual or group creates as a result of their knowledge or ideas is owned outright or in part by the organisation- it becomes intellectual property The task for managers is persuading individual employees and others to part with their knowledge (give it to others, particularly managers)

The Importance of Trust

Trust is essential to promote co-operative behaviour amongst individuals and groups Trust encourages acceptance of risk and willingness to share risk taking Trust is essential to persuade employees to accept new work practices and change

Trust is as vital a form of social capital as money is a form of actual capital (Ridley, 1996)

What is Trust?
firm belief in the honesty, veracity, , justice, strength etc of a person or thing confident expectation (OED) Trust is about accepting vulnerability
To trust someone there must be a situation of uncertainty of which there is an element of perceived risk on the trustees part (Newell et al, 2002)

Objectives
To consider the role of information and knowledge management in building intellectual capital To identify the human problems involved in managing information and knowledge, especially the problem of trust To examine techniques for encouraging employees to manage their own information To evaluate techniques for information and knowledge sharing

A Trust Typology
Companion Trust
Based on judgements of goodwill or personal friendship

Competence Trust
Based on the belief in others competence

Commitment Trust
Based on contractual agreements between parties Can develop rapidly if parties have high credibility Reasonably strong

Develops slowly over Where based on time through reputation, can continuing exchange develop quickly Resilient Fragile

(From Newell et al, 2002)

Trust is Elusive
Established institutions are suffering from a malaise, if not a crisis, of trust we need to embark on a wave of innovation in our institutions both public and private to reform them to inspire and reproduce trust, among their workers, consumers and financiers (Leadbeater, 1999) At an organisational level, low trust is reflected in:

Lack of motivation Poor team-working Divisive relations between employers and employees, management and workers High turnover, absenteeism, sabotage

How to Promote Trust

Clear set of corporate values that are agreed on by all parties and reflected in actual behaviour Senior managers act as role models Freedom of information and transparent reporting processes, balanced against respect for privacy The psychological contract is respected Consultative & open door management styles of behaving Mistakes tolerated, productive failure accepted Rewards based on merit not nepotism

Trust and New Technology

People are often apprehensive about the introduction of new systems to manage information As managers, you should:

Adopt established change management strategies Plan carefully and consult all stakeholders Explain need for change Phase change in & provide training Ensure staff see benefits & feel empowered

Trust in Virtual Teams

Clarify expectations Use face-to-face when making important commitments Dont over-commit Communicate frequently Be attentive to possible misunderstandings Be extra helpful. Deal with problems straight away Socialize through informal channels (Skyrme, 1999)

The People Factor

Employees use information to manage their daily tasks and ensure effective organisational functioning; their knowledge helps move the organisation forward Task for senior management is three-fold:

Ensuring that information is available as a resource to support employees in their work Encouraging employees to make use of it, that is, to develop their knowledge/intellectual assets Ensuring that knowledge held by individuals is shared amongst others: Making personal knowledge available to others is the central activity of the knowledge-creating company (Nonaka, 1991)

Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the acquisition and use
of resources to create an environment in which information is accessible to individuals and in which individuals acquire, share and use that information to develop their own knowledge and are enabled to apply their knowledge for the benefit of the organisation.

(Brelade and Harmon, 2001)

Getting People to Manage their Information/Knowledge

Recruit staff who understand the value of information and are willing to develop their own and other peoples knowledge assets Discuss personal learning needs in appraisal and reward staff for self-development and sharing knowledge Provide opportunities to socialise and relax Foster communities of practice Use IT to support learning and knowledge sharing

Xerox: A Case Study

Regarded as a world leader in KM practices Used KM to transform its flagging photocopier business in early 1990s KM practice aligned with business plan has used strength in document management products to evolve into a total digital network solutions company Senior management support for KM resulted in a major culture change work becoming more team-based, IT needed to support distributed sharing of knowledge Uses knowledge sharing to accelerate the learning process within the company Knowledge sharing is IT enabled

Eureka Electronic yellow pages DocuShare IT-supported communities of practice

The World Bank is a Knowledge Bank

Mission to enable sustainable development through the transfer and sharing of knowledge, ensuring that clients are able to help themselves (Egan, 2003) Recruits experts with a willingness to share knowledge & strong teamwork orientation Induction programs encourage the formation of networking amongst new hires. All new hires are assigned a buddy Bank uses retirees to work on projects and has an expertise database with their details Peer network of country directors with the aim of providing mutual support and knowledge sharing Appraisal system explicitly rewqrds client orientation, teamwork, learning & knowledge sharing Internal Communications Group based in HR to enciurage knowledge sharing intranet, discussion databases, video conferences with offices in different parts of the world, community meetings

The Role of IT
Capturing individual expertise through expert and knowledge-based systems Facilitating group work group decision-support systems, videoconferencing, email Facilitating corporate knowledge sharing expertise databases, knowledge repositories

The Limitations of Technology

Difficult to capture, store and process tacit knowledge electronically Knowledge is constantly being created and recreated through social relationships which makes processing difficult or even irrelevant IT can get in the way of knowledge sharing if the systems are badly designed Unless cultural change takes place staff will not accept IT

References
Armstrong, M. and Baron, A. (2002) Strategic Human Resource Management: The Key to Improved Business Performance, CIPD Brelade, S. and Harmon, C. (2001) How Human Resources Can Influence Knowledge Management, Melcrom Publishing Ltd, www.melcrum.com Egan, M. (2003) Creating a Knowledge Bank, Melcrom Publishing Ltd, www.melcrum.com Hickins, M. (2000) Xerox Shares its Knowledge, in J.W. Cortada and J.A. Woods The Knowledge Management Yearbook 2000-2001, Butterworth-Heinemann Leadbeater, C. (1999) Living on Thin Air: The New Economy, Penguin Newell, S., Robertson, M. Scarbrough, H. and Swan, J. (2002) Managing Knowledge Work, Palgrave MacMillan. Nonaka, I. (1991) The Knowledge-Creating Company, Harvard Business Review: 91(6) Ridley, M. (1996) The Origins of Virtue, Viking, London.

Skyrme, D. J. (1999) Knowledge Networking: Creating the Collaborative Enterprise, Butterworth-Heinemann