Organisations today are facing increased challenges, brought on by pressures of the workplace. In today's economy, knowledge sharing and collaboration are the survival skills of the 21st century [1]. Many organisations are now looking to knowledge management to address these challenges. Such initiatives are often started with the development of a knowledge management strategy [6].
Below is a detailed description of what is knowledge? What is knowledge collaboration? The Role identifications within knowledge management, Knowledge management systems and the benefits of knowledge management.
What is Knowledge?
We can define Knowledge as being "information combined with experience, context, Interpretation, and reflection. It is a high-value form of information that is ready to apply to decisions and actions." (T. Davenport et al., 1998) Knowledge itself comes in two forms:
Explicit knowledge – It is knowledge has been recorded and documented and can be shared with others
Tacit knowledge – Tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that is known, but has not been shared with others. Tacit knowledge is problematic in a support organization because if it is not shared with others, it cannot be leveraged to solve problems and is gone when the knowledge holder leaves the organization [5].
What is Knowledge Collaboration?
Knowledge collaboration for an Architectural Organization is the successful implementation of Knowledge-Centred Support. Evidence of good Knowledge Collaboration is seen when the successful implementation of Knowledge-Centred Support has been completed.
This, in turn, leads to:
• Improved speed of collaboration,
• Positive customer perception, the Architect knows what they are doing.
• Leveraging tacit knowledge and enabling authors to turn it into explicit knowledge
• Ownership and increased enthusiasm on the part of experts.[5]
Identify Roles in Knowledge Collaboration
Knowledge collaboration flows through a chain of people communicating from various perspectives. By identifying the key roles along this chain, the people who play those roles, and their perspectives, you can help to make this flow smoothly. Identifying the knowledge collaboration roles for each user plays within the organization will help to scope and plan the implementation. The key roles in the knowledge collaboration are:
• Owners
• Producers
• Consumers
• Problem Manager/Quality Analysts [5]
Knowledge Management System (KM System)
Is a system for managing knowledge in organizations, supporting creation, capture, storage and distribution of information.
The idea of a Knowledge Management system is to enable employees to have ready access to the organization's based documented of facts, sources of information, and solutions. For example an engineer could know the metallurgical composition of an alloy that reduces sound in gear systems. Sharing this information organization wide can lead to more effective engine design and it could also lead to ideas for new or improved equipment.
A Knowledge Management system could be any of the following:
Document based i.e. any technology that permits creation/management/sharing of formatted documents such as Lotus Notes, web, distributed databases etc.
Provide network maps of the organisation showing the flow of communication between entities and individuals. Increasingly social computing tools are being deployed to provide a more organic approach to creation of a Knowledge Management system.
The Benefits of Knowledge Management Systems
Some of the advantages claimed for Knowledge Management systems are:
Sharing of valuable organizational information.
Can avoid re-inventing the wheel, reducing redundant work.
May reduce training time for new employees
Retention of Intellectual Property after the employee leaves if such knowledge can be codified. [4]
Developing a knowledge management strategy provides a unique opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the way the organisation operates, and the challenges that confront it. By focusing on identifying staff needs and issues, activities and initiatives can be recommended with the confidence that these will have a clear and measurable impact upon the organisation. Taking this approach to the development of a KM strategy allows limited resources to be targeted to the key needs within the organisation, delivering the greatest business benefits while positioning the organisation for long-term growth and stability.
http://www.knexa.com/[1]
http://en.proverbia.net/citastema.asp?tematica=688[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management[3]
http://www.answers.com/topic/knowledge-management-system?cat=technology[4]
http://www.thinkhdi.com/hdi2006/files/StrategicAdvisoryBoardPaperKnowledgeCollaboration.pdf[5]
http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_kmstrategy/index.html[6]
http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_kmstrategy/index.html[7]
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Week 4 - Records
The definition of record management is the practice of identifying, classifying, archiving, preserving, and destroying records. Records is also "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business"[1]
Record keeping is an important aspect of architecture, all records need to be keeping such as word documents, drawing files hard copy or electronic and let’s not forget meeting records which are the minutes of the project.
Keeping record of any information is imperitive in the running of any job. From anything to setting down in writing, images or even sound, for the sole purpose of preserving evidence. As history has shown us, many records of the past have been used to helps us learn about our history, and present, but also helps us in answering questions for the future. This can be shown in recording information at work, and especially when many people are working together on a project. In any group work, it is important to record any work that has been completed. This is most important as it helps the individuals see what has been completed, and what the progress of completion is, on each individual part. In the case of where the work has to be continued by another person, that person can just see what has been completed so far, and continue on without much interruption in the progress of the project. It also helps in the future when a simple job has to be completed, as it gives a approximate estimate as to the duration of each task, and any problems that may arise in each step, and more importantly the solutions. Also, it can assist in problem solving when a mistake is picked up further down the work progress. It can be traced back to the person who worked on the project at the time of the mistake, so he/ she can be brought up to fix the problem.
In our group project records are important as it help us with the process of forming our presentations. We have found that having one person (being the group leader) it helps keep the organization process under control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_management%5b1]
Record keeping is an important aspect of architecture, all records need to be keeping such as word documents, drawing files hard copy or electronic and let’s not forget meeting records which are the minutes of the project.
Keeping record of any information is imperitive in the running of any job. From anything to setting down in writing, images or even sound, for the sole purpose of preserving evidence. As history has shown us, many records of the past have been used to helps us learn about our history, and present, but also helps us in answering questions for the future. This can be shown in recording information at work, and especially when many people are working together on a project. In any group work, it is important to record any work that has been completed. This is most important as it helps the individuals see what has been completed, and what the progress of completion is, on each individual part. In the case of where the work has to be continued by another person, that person can just see what has been completed so far, and continue on without much interruption in the progress of the project. It also helps in the future when a simple job has to be completed, as it gives a approximate estimate as to the duration of each task, and any problems that may arise in each step, and more importantly the solutions. Also, it can assist in problem solving when a mistake is picked up further down the work progress. It can be traced back to the person who worked on the project at the time of the mistake, so he/ she can be brought up to fix the problem.
In our group project records are important as it help us with the process of forming our presentations. We have found that having one person (being the group leader) it helps keep the organization process under control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Records_management%5b1]
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Week 3 – Discipline
The building and construction industry is a fast growing industry with an expanding list of professionals such as architect, engineers, landscape architects, interior decorators, surveyors and let’s not forget local government authorities.
Once a client approaches the first consultant being the Architect who in turn is the client’s representative the design process begins and the architect leads the project to the final stage of construction.
Each Discipline has their own skills, rules and responsibilities to the client to finalise their requirements and to complete this project.
In our project we as a team have spit up the responsibilities between the four of us to complete the given task. Some of these tasks are:
Planning/Organisation of the project and communications
The 3 Dimensional geometry
The textures, UVW and normal mapping
The lighting and atmospherics
The soundscape
The interactivity
The context
WIKI
Video editing and images for the presentation
Each person in our group will have different skills and qualifications therefore we need to take these and use them accordingly. It will be trial and error to get the correct cocktail.
Once a client approaches the first consultant being the Architect who in turn is the client’s representative the design process begins and the architect leads the project to the final stage of construction.
Each Discipline has their own skills, rules and responsibilities to the client to finalise their requirements and to complete this project.
In our project we as a team have spit up the responsibilities between the four of us to complete the given task. Some of these tasks are:
Planning/Organisation of the project and communications
The 3 Dimensional geometry
The textures, UVW and normal mapping
The lighting and atmospherics
The soundscape
The interactivity
The context
WIKI
Video editing and images for the presentation
Each person in our group will have different skills and qualifications therefore we need to take these and use them accordingly. It will be trial and error to get the correct cocktail.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Week 2 - Virtual Worlds
A virtual world is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. Virtual worlds are also called "digital worlds," "simulated worlds" and "MMOG's." There are many different types of virtual worlds, however there are six features all of them have in common:
1. Shared Space: the world allows many users to participate at once.
2. Graphical User Interface: the world depicts space visually, ranging in style from 2D "cartoon" imagery to more immersive 3D environments.
3. Immediacy: interaction takes place in real time.
4. Interactivity: the world allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content.
5. Persistence: the world's existence continues regardless of whether individual users are logged in.
6. Socialisation/Community: the world allows and encourages the formation of in-world social groups like teams, guilds, clubs, cliques, housemates, neighbourhoods, etc.
Virtual worlds have been created for many different purposes. The largest and most common type of virtual world is the "MMORPG" which stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game." But virtual worlds have also been built for purposes other than gaming. Some of those virtual worlds which are currently being used are:
Socializing / Online Community Buildingsmall-scale, casual games may be incorporated into a social world, participants are not necessarily there to win or play a game, but rather to socialize with others and, in many cases, create and decorate a personal space such as a home, room, or apartment. Social worlds tend to use settings based on idealized versions of reality. Most provide some basic building tools and the ability to host activities and events that revolve around a wide variety of topics.
EducationEducational worlds come in a wide variety of forms, including 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses.
Political ExpressionVirtual worlds can serve as forums for political expression and debate. While real-world political issues can crop up in gaming, social, and educational worlds, there are a few cases in which completely separate virtual worlds have been built for the purpose of political debate or even experiments in various types of self-governing online communities.
References:
http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/whatis.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world
1. Shared Space: the world allows many users to participate at once.
2. Graphical User Interface: the world depicts space visually, ranging in style from 2D "cartoon" imagery to more immersive 3D environments.
3. Immediacy: interaction takes place in real time.
4. Interactivity: the world allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content.
5. Persistence: the world's existence continues regardless of whether individual users are logged in.
6. Socialisation/Community: the world allows and encourages the formation of in-world social groups like teams, guilds, clubs, cliques, housemates, neighbourhoods, etc.
Virtual worlds have been created for many different purposes. The largest and most common type of virtual world is the "MMORPG" which stands for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game." But virtual worlds have also been built for purposes other than gaming. Some of those virtual worlds which are currently being used are:
Socializing / Online Community Buildingsmall-scale, casual games may be incorporated into a social world, participants are not necessarily there to win or play a game, but rather to socialize with others and, in many cases, create and decorate a personal space such as a home, room, or apartment. Social worlds tend to use settings based on idealized versions of reality. Most provide some basic building tools and the ability to host activities and events that revolve around a wide variety of topics.
EducationEducational worlds come in a wide variety of forms, including 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses.
Political ExpressionVirtual worlds can serve as forums for political expression and debate. While real-world political issues can crop up in gaming, social, and educational worlds, there are a few cases in which completely separate virtual worlds have been built for the purpose of political debate or even experiments in various types of self-governing online communities.
References:
http://www.virtualworldsreview.com/info/whatis.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_world
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