Preface for the Third Edition - Read

166 B. Concepts and Theories
6.1.2.4 Knowledge base administrator
In analogy to data base administrators 300 , knowledge base administrators are
responsible for the development and maintenance of the technological infrastructure
of KM, the knowledge management systems. At Accenture, there are three different
roles responsible for the administration of their KMS Knowledge Xchange:
knowledge base sponsors, knowledge base integrators and knowledge base developers
(Baubin/Wirtz 1996, 143). The knowledge base sponsor develops policies,
standards and procedures for the KMS and develops the KMS architecture. The
knowledge base integrator provides overall coordination of structure and content
for one knowledge base and ensures that security and ownership specifications are
implemented. The knowledge base developer finally develops, supports and maintains
the technical implementations of the knowledge base, ensures that it conforms
with general IT standards (set forth by the CIO), executes and administers the security
and ownership specifications and implements modifications to a knowledge
base structure.
6.1.2.5 Knowledge broker
A knowledge broker is a person helping participants to locate the knowledge or
experts needed (Ruggles 1998, 86). Knowledge brokers are also called knowledge
connectors, knowledge navigators, knowledge translators and knowledge stewards
(e.g., Skyrme/Amidon 1997, 33) or, in a more focused setting, best practice sharing
facilitators (Klementz 2000, 2). Ernst & Young distinguishes between the following
three levels of orders their knowledge brokers can get:
navigate: to support people in navigating the organization-wide KMS,
research: to collect documents and locate experts to a given topic by accessing
the KMS,
analyze: to create a formal report on a topic which includes valuing, summarizing
and relating documents and experts found in the KMS.
The role of knowledge brokers might involve participation in several communities
in order to broker knowledge from one community to another (Brown/Duguid
1998, 103). They argue that knowledge brokers work best in the context of overlapping
communities. They call persons that “broker” knowledge between mutually
exclusive communities “translators” (Brown/Duguid 1998, 103). A translator
can frame the knowledge and interests of one community in terms of a different
community’s practice. In this respect, the knowledge broker also takes on the role
of a boundary spanner 301 . Thus, knowledge broker is a key role in organizational
knowledge management (see Delphi 1997, 22).
6.1.2.6 Boundary spanner
A boundary spanner has to network fields of competencies and broker contacts
between experts in different fields needed to realize new business ideas (Probst et
300. See Maier et al. 2001 for a recent study on data management tasks.
301. See section 6.1.2.6 - “Boundary spanner” on page 166 below.