Preface for the Third Edition - Read

200 B. Concepts and Theories
into KM instruments that target knowledge as a product (section 6.2.2) versus those
that target knowledge as a process (section 6.2.3).
6.2.2 Product-oriented instruments
Documented knowledge certainly is of high importance with respect to the design
of KMS. On the one hand, product-oriented KM instruments target personal
knowledge, such as personal experiences, ideas and proposals or skills descriptions.
On the other hand, documented knowledge can be spread across multiple
sources and requires identification and visualization with the help of knowledge
maps as well as integration which is supported by ontologies. Ontologies also aid
the management of semantic content. While this instrument targets electronically
available content as potential knowledge sources throughout the organization, there
are two instruments that specifically establish the systematic handling of inter-subjective
knowledge with commitment, i.e. case debriefings and lessons learned.
Personal experience management. The implementation of experience management
systems eases documentation, sharing and application of personal experiences
in organizations. These systems have to be integrated into the daily work
practices of employees in order to be accepted. Several approaches exist that support
capturing of experiences, e.g., information mapping, learning histories or
microarticles (Willke 1998, 107ff) that help employees to document and structure
experiences. On an organizational level, systematic management of personal experiences
enables a company to solve recurring problems more effectively. However,
there are some barriers which prevent the documentation of experiences or reuse of
already documented experiences. Foremost, time required for documenting experiences
is a critical factor because it imposes additional efforts on employees. Therefore,
organizational measures are required that provide time tolerances and keep
the effort as low as possible. Simultaneously, sufficient context of the experience
has to be provided. ICT solutions help to automatically detect context. Personal
barriers, e.g., insufficient willingness to share knowledge or to apply knowledge
created by other employees (not-invented-here-syndrome) have to be considered
by measures like trust management and incentive systems.
Idea and proposal management. Most organizations systematically collect ideas
and proposals for improvements put forward by their employees. In Germany, such
instruments are called organizational proposal system (Betriebliches Vorschlagswesen).
These are formally defined processes that handle those ideas and proposals
that have been submitted by individual employees. A group of experts reviews the
proposals and evaluates them in a committee. If the idea or proposal is selected, it
is then implemented and the employee is rewarded, mostly financially. A template
can help employees to structure their ideas and proposals, an automated workflow
can identify appropriate experts for reviewing the proposals. From an ICT perspective,
a data base system as a minimal solution can be used to store the proposals.
Semantic content management can help interpret the proposals, e.g., with a glos-