MANAGEMT 7224 - Knowledge Management

North Terrace Campus - Trimester 1 - 2014

The value of most organisations today greatly exceeds their net tangible assets. This course addresses contemporary issues in managing knowledge, intellectual capital and other intangible assets. Beginning with a view that these intangibles are strategic assets, the course will introduce the fundamentals of managing knowledge and intellectual capital, understanding some of the measurement issues, processes and cycles involved in their management and the specific issues in managing knowledge based workers and the organisations in which they work. The course then turns to the strategic issues of creating value from flows in intangible assets and organisation structures to support knowledge and intellectual capital development leading to an examination of the management of knowledge intensive businesses. The course concludes with a review of specific application issues, global issues, application to the public sector and current developments in the field.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code MANAGEMT 7224
    Course Knowledge Management
    Coordinating Unit Adelaide Business School
    Term Trimester 1
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Prerequisites MANAGEMT 7087, MANAGEMT 7100 & MANAGEMT 7104
    Course Description The value of most organisations today greatly exceeds their net tangible assets. This course addresses contemporary issues in managing knowledge, intellectual capital and other intangible assets.
    Beginning with a view that these intangibles are strategic assets, the course will introduce the fundamentals of managing knowledge and intellectual capital, understanding some of the measurement issues, processes and cycles involved in their management and the specific issues in managing knowledge based workers and the organisations in which they work. The course then turns to the strategic issues of creating value from flows in intangible assets and organisation structures to support knowledge and intellectual capital development leading to an examination of the management of knowledge intensive businesses. The course concludes with a review of specific application issues, global issues, application to the public sector and current developments in the field.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Mr David Pender

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    This course is designed to …

    1. Develop an understanding of the theory and practice of knowledge and intellectual capital management;
    2. Apply that theory to a wide range of scenarios;
    3. Formulate action plans for knowledge intensive organisations;
    4. Distinguish aspects of industrial era management that may be inappropriate for knowledge intensive organisations and provide alternatives;
    5. Formulate a framework for thinking about knowledge intensive organisations;
    6. To understand and become comfortable in dealing with intangibles.
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised. 1
    The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner. 2-6
    An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems. 2-6
    Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication. 2-6
    A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies. 2-6
    A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life. 2-6
    A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community. 2-6
    An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities. 2-6
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    Text Books (s): There is no prescribed text
    Recommended Resources
    Preliminary reading (on myUni): please browse these articles before the first session.

    Eustace C (Ed) (2003), The Prism Report 2003: Research findings and policy recommendations European Commission Society Technologies program

    Hall, Richard, Knowledge Management in the New Business Environment, acirrt, University of Sydney, 2003 (Executive Summary)

    Hull D & Read R (2003) Simply the best workplaces in Australia, accirt working paper no 88, University of Sydney

    Readings
    Topic Topic description Readings and Cases
    1 Setting the scene Browse the KM articles at www.vernaallee.com
    2 What are knowledge management and intellectual capital management? Unknown (1999) Do We Know How to Do That? Harvard Management Update, February Fahey & Prusak (1998) The Eleven Deadly Sins of Knowledge Management, California Management Review, Vol 40 No 3
    3 The Knowledge Creation Process Nonaka I (1991) The Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, November-December pp 96-104
    Nonaka I & Konno N (1998) The Concept of “Ba”: Building a foundation for knowledge creation, California Management Review, Vol 40 No 3 3.5 Ichio, K, From Managing to Enabling Knowledge in Takeuchi & Nonaka (Eds), Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management, Wiley, 2004
    4 Knowledge as a Strategic Asset Executive Summary from R Hall, Knowledge Management in the New Business Environment, acirrt, University of Sydney, 2003
    5 A knowledge based theory of the firm Sveiby K-E, (2001), A knowledge-based theory of the firm to guide strategy formulation, Journal of Intellectual Capital 2 (4) pp 344-358 V Allee V (2000) The Value Evolution: Addressing larger implications of an intellectual capital and intangibles perspective Journal of Intellectual Capital 1(1) pp 17-32
    6 Developing a knowledge strategy Zack M (1999) Developing a knowledge strategy, California Management Review, 41(3) pp 125-144 Hansen MT, Nohria N & Tierney T (1999) What’s your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review, March-April pp 55-69
    7 Best practice transfer Probably for self study O’Dell C & Grayson CJ (1998) If only we knew what we know: Identification and transfer of internal best practices, California management Review Vol 40 No 3
    8 Social Network Analysis and Social Capital Parker A, Cross R & Walsh D, (2001) Improving Collaboration with Social Network Analysis, Knowledge Management Review pp 24-28
    Cross R, Parker A & Borgatti S, (2002) A bird’s eye view: Using Social Network analysis to improve knowledge creation and sharing, IBM Institute for Business Value Cross R, Liedtka J & Weiss L (2005) A practical Guide to Social Networks, Harvard Business Review, March pp 124-132
    9 Collaboration Sveiby K-E & Simons R, (2002) Collaborative Climate and Effectiveness of Knowledge Work – an Empirical Study Journal of Knowledge Management Vol 6 No 5 pp 420-433
    American Management Association, AMA 2002 Survey on Internal Collaboration, AMA Research 2002
    American management Association, AMA 2003 Survey on Leadership Challenges, AMA Research 2003
    Hansen MT & Nohira N (2004) How to build collaborative advantage, MIT Sloan management Review, Fall
    Inkpen AC (1996) Creating knowledge through collaboration, California Management Review, Vol 39 No 1
    Sveiby KE (2007) Disabling the context for knowledge work: the role of managers’ behaviours, Management Decision Vol 45 No 10 Pender DSD (2007) Emerging Themes in Inter-Firm Collaboration, Conference Paper - 1st International Workshop for Knowledge Management in Space Exploration, NASA/Caltech, July 2007
    10 Value Network Analysis Allee V (2008), Value network analysis and value conversion of tangible and intangible assets, Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol 9 No 1 pp 5-24
    Allee V & Taug J (2006), Collaboration, innovation and value creation in a global telecom, The Learning Organization Vol 13 No 6 pp 569-578
    Refer to the e-book available at
    www.valuenetworksandcollaboration.com
    Browse the articles and blogs at
    www.vernaallee.com www.valuenetworks.com
    11 Communities of Practice Lesser & Storck (2001), Communities of practice and organizational performance, IBM Systems Journal, Vol 40 No 4
    Breu & Hemingway (2002), Collaborative Processes and Knowledge Creation in Communities-of-Practice, Creativity and Innovation management, Vol 11 No 3
    Burk (2004), Using communities to collaborate across boundaries at the FHWA, KM Review, Vol 7 Issue 3 Vestal (2003), Ten traits for a successful Community of Practice, KM Review, Volume 5, Issue 6
    12 Knowledge Audits and Knowledge Maps Self study Koulopoulos T & Frappaolo C (2002) Why do a knowledge audit? The Knowledge management Year Book Boston: Butterworth Heinemann Ch 7 pp 418 – 424
    Liebowitz J et al (2000) The Knowledge Audit Knowledge and Process Management Jan/Mar pp 3-10 Skyrme DJ (1999) Knowledge Networking: Creating the collaborative enterprise Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann pp 177 – 211
    13 Technologies for Knowledge Management
    Readings will be advised and distributed during the previous session(s).
    With student approval, mini group presentations may be used to cover this aspect of the course with an appropriate re-weighting of assessment percentages.
    14 Scorecards, Monitors & Measurement Sveiby KE (1996-2003) Creating value with The Intangible Assets Monitor Working Paper
    13.2 Sveiby K-E (2001) The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and the Intangible Assets Monitor – a comparison Working Paper
    There are many references on The Balanced Scorecard. Refer to those you are familiar with. Danish Agency for Trade & Industry, A Guideline for Intellectual Capital Statements – a key to knowledge management, (2000), pp1 – 30
    15 Innovation Darroch J & McNaughton R (2002) Examining the link between knowledge management practices and types of innovation Journal of Intellectual Capital Vol 3 No 3 pp 210-222
    Tushman M & Nadler D (1986) Organising for Innovation California Management Review Vol XXVIII No 3 pp 74-92 Leonard D & Sensiper S (1998) Tacit Knowledge in Group Innovation California management Review Vol 40 No 3 pp 112-132
    16 Leadership TBA
    17 Managing Knowledge Workers Manville B & Ober J (2002) Beyond Empowerment: Building a company of citizens, Harvard Business Review, January pp 2-7
    Pfeffer J & Sutton RI (1999) The Smart Talk Trap Harvard Business Review May-June pp 134-143
    Hansen MT &von Oetinger B, (2001) Introducing T-Shaped Managers: Knowledge Management’s Next Generation Harvard Business Review March pp 106 – 116 Quinn JB, Anderson P & Finkelstein S, (1996) Leveraging Intellect Academy of Management Executive Vol 10 No 3 pp7-27
    18 Global Issues Self study Chatzel, Establishing a Global KM Initiative: the Wipro Story, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol 8 No 2, 2004, pp6-18 Pearce II,JA & Doh JP (2005) The High Impact of Collaborative Social Initiatives, MIT Sloan Management Review Spring

    Further readings may be distributed during class. Some are loaded on myUni.

     Recommended Resources
    Students may wish to read more widely in specific subject areas, something that I wholeheartedly encourage. There are a myriad of websites that provide useful information. Be careful that what you find is validated and not just an attempt to “sell” a particular idea or product. Like wise, there are many texts written in the past few years on the subject (and related issues). I have found Google Scholar to be useful in locating information.

    Relevant journals include:
    · Academy of Management Journal (USA),
    · Administrative Science Quarterly (USA),
    · California Management Review,
    · European Management Journal
    · Harvard Business Review (USA),
    · Journal of Knowledge Management (Europe)
    · Journal of Intellectual Capital (Europe)
    · Journal of Workplace Learning (Europe)
    · Journal of the Learning Organisation (Europe)

    Full texts of a great many of the articles that appear in these journals can be accessed via the University of Adelaide’s library databases.
    Online Learning
    MyUni is used extensively in this course. Please keep watch.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    No information currently available.

    Workload

    No information currently available.

    Learning Activities Summary

    No information currently available.

  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary

    No information currently available.

    Assessment Detail

    No information currently available.

    Submission

    No information currently available.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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