Knowledge Management: Rewarding Efforts and Increasing Personal Worth

This document discusses how companies can reward efforts and increase the perception of personal worth in knowledge management. It explores different solutions to the employee personal-worth perception problem and suggests the best solution. It also covers the importance of storytelling in organizations and the stages of knowledge development.

Knowledge Management
Name
Class
Date

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Knowledge Management
Task One
a) How the company can reward efforts and increase the perception of personal worth other than
issuing pay increases.
It is common for most employees to feel like they are being underpaid or under-
rewarded. Accordingly, it does not matter how much effort that human resource managers can
exert to fine tune the employees’ salaries or even promotions; the underlying fact is that they are
dissatisfied. And when that happens, they are likely to leave hence increasing costs for the
organization in terms of finding potential replacement1. It is worse when they stay considering
that they will work without satisfaction or engagement. Therefore, according to a suggestion by
one group member, it is pertinent to create structures that reward talent and performance fairly.
Equally, it is important for the management to communicate effectively with the employees, who
feel shortchanged, with the help of a well-thought-out compensation philosophy2. Another
suggestion was that employers need to offer their employees a listening ear as well as responding
to their concerns while helping them understand how their pay is relative to the overall
compensation structure.
b) The best solution to the employee personal-worth perception problem. Consider the solutions
from the brainstorming activity and select the best solution from that set.
1 Maryam Alavi and Dorothy E. Leidner, "Review: Knowledge Management And Knowledge
Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations And Research Issues" (2001) 25(1) MIS
Quarterly.
2 Ibid

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From the three suggestions arrived at by the group members, a comparison was made to
weigh the most appropriate solution to the issue of concern. Creating structures mandated with
rewarding talents and performance in a fair manner. Doing so will motivate the employers to
exert more effort into their work rather than whining over how their pay is low compared to
others3. It will create an understanding amongst them that they will be able to earn more through
their hard work hence improve their performance significantly.
c) A solution to the employee personal worth perception problem to which all members of the
group can commit.
The group unanimously agreed that rewarding employees’ talents and performance is the
most effective way of increasing the perception of personal worth. Holding talks with employees
to explain to them why their salaries are low will not augur well with them since most of those
presiding over the talks usually earn more. According to the employees, the management reaps
from their sweat. Therefore, rewarding the employees who exhibit talent and improved
performance is the best option as it will encourage them to work harder hence improve their
pay4. They will be driven with the spirit of exhibiting their best to impress the employer which in
turn works positively to increase production in the organization.
Task: Storytelling Discussion
Storytelling in organizations is the best way through which corporate values, beliefs, and
culture are shared amongst the workers. Knowledge transfer and knowledge discovery becomes
easier through stories since they uncover knowledge in its context of use. Every organization
3 Fei Gao, Meng Li and Steve Clarke, "Knowledge, Management, And Knowledge Management
In Business Operations" (2008) 12(2) Journal of Knowledge Management.
4 Saurabh Gupta and Robert Bostrom, "Using Peer-To-Peer Technology For Collaborative
Knowledge Management: Concepts, Frameworks And Research Issues" (2006) 4(3) Knowledge
Management Research & Practice.

3
contains its unique stories requiring proper leveraging, fostering, and management to define the
underlying components. Organizations can utilize such stories to create a change in their cultures
and a conducive environment for knowledge sharing among its workers. Learning points and
experiences are shared through stories.
Task Two: Knowledge Codification
a) Horse Frame
b) Student Frame
Horse Frame
Families: Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred Frame
Is a: animal
Is a: 18 hand
Jump: yes
Trot: yes
Mini: instance frame
Is a: thoroughbred
Boards in: stall
Facet
Location:
Stable
Facet
Location:
Glen Farms
College Frame
Families: Student

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c) An airline pilot frame
Task: Knowledge Development
Someone suggested two types of potential knowledge developers: “Send me a well-developed
computer programmer or a programmer competent in several languages, and we’ll make him or
her into a successful knowledge developer.”
Student Frame
Is a: young human
Is a: undergraduate
Is a: equesterian
Mini: instance Frame
Name: Brenda
Height: medium
Major: Liberal arts
Year: fourth
Lives in: room
Facet
Location:
Dormitory
Facet
Location:
Los Angeles
Airline Frame
Families: Pilot
Pilot Frame
Is a: human
Is a: captain
Is a: certified
Is a: veteran
Mini: instance Frame
Is a: pilot
Name: Fred
Age: 30
Lives in: suburb
Facet
Location:
Chicago
Facet
Location:
Illinois

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and
“Send me a talented generalist with well-developed interpersonal skills—or somewhat more
delicately, ‘a user friendly person’—and a rigorously analytical mind, and we’ll team him or her
with a competent knowledge developer.”
In your opinion, which approach would be more successful in knowledge development? Why?
In my opinion, the latter approach will be more successful in knowledge development
than the former since communication and analytical skills are critical for one to become a
knowledge developer. Knowledge based systems do not involve any algorithm but requires one
to possess good interpersonal skills as well as being friendly. Writing rules and testing the
resulting knowledge can be learnt easily with someone in possession of these skills just like the
one with programming competency5.
Task three: Stages of knowledge development
Successful knowledge management implementation ensures increased staff productivity.
Additionally, there is consistency in terms of service delivery as well as quality. However, most
organizations fail to identify their intentions in implementing a knowledge management program
hence suffer a setback. They fail to outline how best the organization will manage its knowledge
assets long term6.
Stage one: advocate and learn
Most organizations fail to envision and articulate the end state of a given tool they wish
to embrace in defining a process and the development of workflows hence become an
5 Suliman Al-Hawamdeh, Knowledge Management (Elsevier Science, 2003).
6 Ronald Maier, Knowledge Management Systems (Springer, 2010).

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impediment in knowledge management. Then need to foster a learning environment as well as a
knowledge sharing platform to increase productivity.
Stage 2: Develop strategy
Knowledge management does not rely only on the application of technology as most
companies do. In most instances, most companies fail to embrace organizational culture in terms
of how employees share and perceive the knowledge that is in their possession. Implementation
of knowledge management in most companies is usually hurdled by the rewarding of individual
performances rather than fostering knowledge sharing7.
Stage 3: Design and launch KM initiatives
Most organizations fail to lay out a high level knowledge management process during the
KM implementation. Detailed procedures and work instructions are key to designing and
launching knowledge management initiatives. What most organizations fail to do is fail to clearly
define the knowledge management processes hence do not reach the desired goals.
Stage 4: Expand and support initiatives
While implementing the KM programs, most organizations fail to build a roadmap to
guide them through. They fail to procure for the support and commitment of senior leadership as
well as the funding necessary to see the implementation plan through. Neglecting all these makes
the organization’s efforts futile. Therefore, organizations should assess their shortcomings while
organizing them according to their urgency rate.
Stage 5: Institutionalize knowledge management
7 Joyline Makani, "Revisiting Knowledge Management Systems: Exploring Factors Influencing
The Choices Of Knowledge Management Systems In Knowledge-Intensive Organisations" (2012)
11(04) Journal of Information & Knowledge Management.

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It is common for most companies not to evaluate whether or not their knowledge
management investments work. They fail to establish the baseline measurements that would be
useful in determining the advancements that they are making with the knowledge management
program. As a result, they fail to determine how their performance has improved.
References
Alavi, Maryam and Dorothy E. Leidner, "Review: Knowledge Management And Knowledge
Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations And Research Issues" (2001) 25(1) MIS
Quarterly
Al-Hawamdeh, Suliman, Knowledge Management (Elsevier Science, 2003)
Gao, Fei, Meng Li and Steve Clarke, "Knowledge, Management, And Knowledge Management
In Business Operations" (2008) 12(2) Journal of Knowledge Management

8
Gupta, Saurabh and Robert Bostrom, "Using Peer-To-Peer Technology For Collaborative
Knowledge Management: Concepts, Frameworks And Research Issues" (2006)
4(3) Knowledge Management Research & Practice
Maier, Ronald, Knowledge Management Systems (Springer, 2010)
Makani, Joyline, "Revisiting Knowledge Management Systems: Exploring Factors Influencing
The Choices Of Knowledge Management Systems In Knowledge-Intensive Organisations"
(2012) 11(04) Journal of Information & Knowledge Management