1.0 Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter describes the ... - DSpace

1.0 Chapter 1: IntroductionThis chapter describes the overview of the Implication of Knowledge Management (KM) inHigher Learning Institutions (HLI). The context of this chapter is structured into sectionsthat explain the detail of this research. First of all, it begins with an overview of KM whichstudies the background of KM and knowledge. Secondly, the problem statement is coveredin Section 1.2 to discuss the existing problem of this research. Next, research objectives areidentified then followed by the research questions which are derived through theseobjectives. Consequently, the research hypothesis is specified based on the researchobjectives and research questions which are mentioned in the earlier sections. This chapteralso contains an empirical section, significance of research in Section 1.6 to highlight theimportance of this research. Besides, the scope and expected outcome of the research arealso included to provide an understanding of the research area as well as the deliverables ofthe study. On top of that, the overall layout of the research with short description of eachchapter is explained in Section 1.9 and lastly, a summary section is provided to concludethis chapter.1.1. Overview of Knowledge Management in Higher Learning InstitutionThe rapid growth of data and technologies has triggered the transformation of data touseful information, known as knowledge. Knowledge is power and it is identified ascrucial assets in many sectors especially in HLI. Many people are aware of theimportance of knowledge and ways to acquire, recognize, capture, retrieve, use,measure, manage and collaborate the knowledge, so that the knowledge can be sharedwithout losing it.1

Tiwana (2000), it has categorized two major types of knowledge:a. Explicit KnowledgeIt is the knowledge that can be expressed in words and numbers, and easilycommunicated and shared in the form of hard data, scientific formulae, codifiedprocedures, or universal principles (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Choo, 2003)such as outputs of Research and Development (R&D) teams, strategicinformation about customers, suppliers, products and competitors. Besides, theexplicit knowledge can also be accumulated through reports that consist of‘know-what’ knowledge.b. Tacit KnowledgeIt is the knowledge that can be expressed through people’s minds via their viewsand experiences, which cannot be recorded easily (Tiwana, 2000). Tacitknowledge can also be conveyed through ‘face-to-face’ and ‘hands-on’ methodsby focusing on ‘know-how’ knowledge to others that includes competencies andknowledge resources of human capital within the organization.Elizabeth A.Smith (2001) believed that workers who are lacking in adequate educationand training rely on common sense and intuition or tacit knowledge. While the ability toacquire and manage tacit knowledge is deemed to be the key to managerial success,however it is also found that the tacit knowledge can be lost through employeeoutsourcing, organization downsizing, job termination and retirement. As a result, mostorganizations are trying to retain their employees or capture and store their knowledgefor future reference.According to Hansen et al. (1999), Koehn and Abecker (1997), the two main strategiesfor KM that have been employed by early adopters of principals are:2

a. The process-centered approach emphasizes on communication process andenforces person-to-person contacts, which help in knowledge sharing andcommunication.b. The product-centered approach which describes the knowledge documents,knowledge creation, storage and re-use.In general, knowledge is developed and transferred through process-centered approach,while the content of KM can be transformed into different forms such as documents anddigital forms via the product-centered approach.‘The business of universities is all about knowledge and the HLI such as universitieshave been the site of knowledge production, storage, dissemination and authorization.’(Ian C. Reid, 2000) This is shown that the HLI are no longer just places for learning andstudying, but also to contribute knowledge. Therefore, management of knowledge andintellectual capital is necessary to retain the available knowledge.In this research, it identifies the current status of KM in HLI, within Selangor and KualaLumpur (KL), Malaysia and follows by an in-depth study on how KM can beimplemented in HLI. As an end result of this research a proposed web-based systemknown as ‘KnowledgeLink’ that supports KM in HLI would be developed andimplemented.1.2. Problem Statement‘The fixed tangible resources of the organization are no longer considered as asustainable source of competitive advantage because such assets are quickly becomeavailable to the competitors’ (Mark Sharratt and Abel Usoro, 2003). KM is a new fieldespecially in HLI. Therefore, a survey by Sam Hijazi and Lori Kelly (2003) hasindicated that HLI and the business world have some difficulties in understanding the3

implication of KM as a new model to support business process. This is due to thedifficulty in establishing a common understanding of what KM is. Besides, theknowledge is everywhere and it has not been captured, collaborated and managedsystematically especially in the HLI. Similarly, resources in HLI may not be able tosustain for long period too. As a result, these resources need to be transformed intoknowledge, so that it is hard to be replicated. However, the problems are:a. “Why knowledge need to be managed?”b. “How knowledge is currently managed?”c. “How knowledge can be transformed?”d. “Where knowledge can be stored?”e. “How to retain the knowledge?”1.3. Research ObjectivesThe objectives of this research are as follow:a. To study and analyze how KM is implemented with the aid of existing KMframework and KM System (KMS) in HLI, in order to understand the currentstatus of KM in Malaysia HLI.b. To construct a framework based on the current status or condition of KM inHLI, as well as tacit and explicit knowledge that can be captured from HLI. Inthis case, several existing KM frameworks are analyzed so that the elements andcomponents of these frameworks can be re-used and integrated to form theproposed KM framework. The main reason of constructing a proposed KMframework is because, there are limited KM frameworks which are found inMalaysia HLI and the proposed KM framework would be a guideline for theacademia and adopted in their daily routine.4

c. To develop a proposed web-based system which provides KM support thatcollaborates with Electronic-Learning (E-Learning) to facilitate the ease ofretrieving, sharing, collaborating and contributing ideas and knowledge amongthe academia in HLI. On top of that, this proposed KMS is developed as one ofthe components in the proposed KM framework (as stated in second researchobjective) to cater for knowledge repository, sharing and dissemination. Theproposed web-based system or KMS is known as ‘KnowledgeLink’ that wouldbe implemented based on the following features:i. Login and logout modules are used for security purposes to preventfrom unauthorized users login as well as for knowledge preservation.ii. Knowledge group and sub group modules are developed forknowledge segregation.iii. Knowledge contribution with template module is developed forknowledge creation.iv. Knowledge display module is developed for knowledge distribution.v. Knowledge accreditation is developed to authorize the knowledge.This is to ensure that, only accredited knowledge is disseminated tothe academia.vi. Collaboration of E-Learning module is developed for knowledgedistribution.5

1.4. Research QuestionsBased on the research objectives, the following are the research questions that lead tothe forming of this research:a. Research Questions based on first Research Objective:i. What is the current status or condition of KM in HLI?ii. What are the problems or issues faced by the academia that lead toimplementation of KM in HLI?iii. What are the tacit and explicit knowledge that can be captured from HLI?iv. How knowledge is captured from HLI?b. Research Questions based on second Research Objective:i. What are the KM processes that can be implemented in HLI?ii. How does the framework (proposed KM framework) help in the implicationof KM in HLI?c. Research Questions based on third Research Objective:i. What are the possible benefits of KM for academia in HLI?ii. How to collaborate KM with E-Learning in HLI?iii. How does the proposed KMS help the academia in HLI?1.5. Research HypothesisThe following are the research hypothesis based on the stated research objectives thatlead to the forming of this research:a. Research Questions based on first Research Objective:Knowledge can be captured and managed properly in HLI which practice KMthan HLI that do not practice KM. (Directional Hypothesis)6

. Research Questions based on second Research Objective:KM can be implemented in HLI which use KM framework than HLI that do notuse KM framework. (Directional Hypothesis)c. Research Questions based on third Research Objective:There will be significant difference in retrieving, sharing, collaborating andcontributing ideas and knowledge among the academia in HLI who either use ordo not use the proposed KMS known as ‘KnowledgeLink’ that provides KMsupport. (Nondirectional Hypothesis)1.6. Significance of ResearchThis research is able to improve the current status or condition of KM in HLI, inmanaging, collaborating and sharing knowledge, with the help of the proposed KMSthat has implemented with KM elements.The findings of this research:a. Provides the importance of KM in HLI.b. Provides ways to enforce KM in HLI.c. Provides solution on how knowledge can be managed, collaborated and shared.d. Focuses on the proposed KMS that leverages the HLI’ expertise and ‘knowhow’to add value to the HLI by utilizing some updated technologies.e. Emphasizes on knowledge sharing and re-use as well as disseminate ordistribute the available knowledge.f. Explains how KM and E-Learning can be collaborated.The research was viable and significant because:a. The required technology for this research is easily available, as it does notrequire expensive system.7

. The analysis of how knowledge can be shared and collaborated can be obtainedfrom literature reviews, interviews and questionnaire surveys.c. This research does not require high total cost of ownership.d. This research is able to invent new ideas and approaches in terms of howknowledge can be managed systematically, in order to improve the current stateas well as to prevent the loss of knowledge.e. This research shows how KM is able to maximize the value of HLI’ knowledgebased.The end result of this research would be a proposed KMS known as ‘KnowledgeLink’,which is developed based on the following details:a. Area: Local universities, colleges and institutes (the area of academic) in HLI,within Selangor and KL, Malaysia.b. Environment: Within different campuses or branches.c. Users: Academia such as KM Leader, KM Expert and professors or lecturers.d. Development tools: ASP.Net, MySQL Database Server.1.7. Scope of ResearchThe research of this study is limited to KM in HLI, within Selangor and KL, which onlyinvolves the academia.The survey research with questionnaire is used as the research method to obtain thedata, as it is easier to receive feedback from a large group of samples (refers to theacademia in HLI) without delay. Besides, the interview is another research method usedto retrieve an in-depth understanding of the existing HLI that implementing KM.Nevertheless, most of the academia does not practice knowledge sharing among themand it is also time consuming to observe each sample’s action and daily routine on how8

he or she manages the knowledge, therefore observation method is not applied in thisresearch for data analysis.1.8. Expected Research OutcomeIt is expected that the deliverables at the end of the study would be as follow:a. A KM framework would be constructed specially for HLI.b. A proposed KMS known as ‘KnowledgeLink’ would be developed that enablesthe academia to store, retrieve and share knowledge.1.9. Organization of ThesisChapter 1: IntroductionThis chapter provides an overview of KM, Problem Statement, Research Objectives,Research Questions, Research Hypothesis, Significance of Research, Scope of Researchand the Expected Research Outcomes, Organization of Thesis and ends with Summaryof Chapter 1.Chapter 2: Literature ReviewThis chapter consists of all the research, with the researcher’s reviews and opinions.Chapter 2 begins with the introduction before it explains the important variables for thisresearch, and then follows by a thorough and detailed research on the implication ofKM in current business environment and the HLI. Next, this chapter proceeds to reviewon KM in University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, Multimedia University(MMU), Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), then it also covers researchabout KM and E-Learning, and explains the human factors such as believes, culturesand ethnics that affect knowledge sharing. In addition to that, various existing KM9

frameworks and KMS are also analyzed in this chapter before it ends with the summaryof Chapter 2.Chapter 3: Research Methodology and Data AnalysisThe chapter starts with an introduction of research methodology. Next, the research isdivided into qualitative research and quantitative research as different approaches togather and retrieve accurate data. In qualitative research, it covers document review andinterviews based on Motorola, Malaysia, MMU and UPM as part of the data analysis.On top of that, qualitative research was carried out to collect data via survey so thatquestionnaire data is transformed to relevant graphs and tables to assist in data analysis.Lastly, the summary is provided to end this chapter.Chapter 4: Proposed Knowledge Management Framework and KnowledgeManagement SystemGenerally, the existing KM framework and KMS are used as the references to create anew KM framework and KMS for HLI. On top of that, the architecture of the proposedKM framework as well as important features of the proposed KMS are also included inthis chapter.Chapter 5: System Methodology, Tools and TechnologiesIn this chapter, Unified Software Development Process (USDP) is the methodologyused as guidelines to implement the proposed KMS named ‘KnowledgeLink’. Besides,tools and technologies are used in developing the proposed KMS ranging fromprogramming tool, database tool, application server tool, security technology to systemdesign technology based on the respective hardware and software.10

Chapter 6: Design and development of Proposed Knowledge Management SystemThe description of the proposed KMS known as ‘KnowledgeLink’ which covers systemoverview, system objective, system scope, system limitation, users of the proposedsystem, how proposed KMS works, and the system development were included in thischapter. Besides, diagrams for system and database design are constructed to assist insystem development, thus to provide detailed understanding of the system. Uponcompletion of the proposed KMS, it is tested with various testing methods whichcontain Unit Testing, Interface Testing and Integration Testing to ensure itsfunctionality and effectiveness. On top of that, Usability Testing is carried out to gatherrespondents’ feedback of the proposed KMS.Chapter 7: ConclusionLastly, Chapter 7 concludes and finalizes this research based on the research andanalyzed data that are obtained from Chapter 1 to Chapter 6. In addition, the conclusionfor this research is explained based on different sections such as outcomes of research,impact of KM in HLI, future work of research before it ends with the summary ofChapter 7.1.10. Summary of Chapter 1This chapter provides an outline of KM, a new field or concepts that involves activitiessuch as storing, capturing, retrieving, distributing, managing and organizing theavailable knowledge, in which the knowledge can be categorized as either tacit orexplicit knowledge. Issues about problems to be identified through this research havebeen discussed in Section 1.2. Thus, these problems trigger to identify the objectives ofthis research, in which one of the main objectives is the development of a proposed11

KMS. In Section 1.6, it explains the importance of this research especially to theacademia such as lecturers and professors in HLI who involve in knowledge sharingand distribution, as the scope of this research is limited to the academia in HLI (Section1.7). Finally, a proposed KMS named ‘KnowledgeLink’ would be expected as theoutcome of the research (Section 1.8) and wrap up with the organization of thesis thathas stated the overall layout of this thesis. In the next chapter (Chapter 2), LiteratureReview covers the details of KM based on the research articles.12