Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

18 | Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water Utilities
Table 2.2 (Continued)
# Organization Representative Initiatives Benefits Identified by Organization
21 National Aeronautics
and Space
Administration (NASA)
Knowledge sharing
Collaborative decision support
model
22 U.S. Forest Service Lessons learned
Organizational learning
Benchmarking
Communities of practice
Systematic problem solving
Source: Project 4003 Research.
Mission critical
More effective communications at all levels
Improved decision support
Increased knowledge and insights
Helps people think more clearly about how to
perform their work
Helps contain unexpected events, conditions
and circumstances
Ensures safer and more effective day-to-day
outcomes that have the potential to escalate
beyond control
implementation framework built around five balanced concepts: technology, content, process, culture
and learning.
Another core element was the development of a Knowledge Management Community of
Practice (CoP) which now includes more than 50 participating organizations and gets its support
through the web and actively exchanges ideas and best practices virtually.
The overarching message of this case study is that: “There is something here of value.
Knowledge management offers an opportunity for us to do what we do better.” The outcomes of
this approach were described in terms of:
• An integrated, results-oriented Navy and Marine Corps team characterized by strategic
leadership, ubiquitous communication, and invisible technology;
• An effective, flexible, and sustainable Department of the Navy enterprise-wide information
and technology environment that enables our people to make and implement
efficient and agile business decision; and
• A Knowledge-Centric culture where trust and respect facilitate information sharing
and organizational learning.
Specific initiatives and their benefits are also discussed in this case study.
Learn@WELL (Water and Environmental Health in Developing Countries): Design and
Practical Experiences With the Learn@WELL Knowledge Management Module
This case study introduces knowledge management and describes how it is being implemented
to partners in Learn@WELL (Water and Environmental Health in Developing Countries)
through the Learn@WELL knowledge management distance-learning module. This module is a
value chain model and is also known as knowledge lifecycle, which is driven by the operational
goals flowing from an organization’s mission and vision. These goals can be accomplished by
creating, sharing, applying and evaluating knowledge.
Learn@WELL intended to strengthen its network system by implementing the knowledge
management module in small steps through the application of different tools, such as communities
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