Collaboration and Complex Challenges

A friend of mine Andre Martin co-authored a research white paper on 10 Trends in Leadership Development when he was a research associate at the Center for Creative Leadership. The study asked 247 senior executive around the globe about 10 leadership trends in business. The goal was to asses these trends, the obstacles they create, and their potential impact on leading organizations.

This white paper updated the way I thought about leadership, and confirmed what I intuitively knew about the challenges leaders face in today’s global workplace. However, I found the paper equally maddening as liberating. I share it with you and think it is a “must read” for any one of us charged with helping businesses share and create knowledge. Trend 4 Collaboration Nation was particularly maddening . “97 per cent of executives surveyed believed leaders in their organization must collaboration to succeed . . . However, only 47 percent of 115 executives believe leaders in their organizations are skilled collaborators.”

As a student of KM does this surprise you? I doubt it. If I was to collect stories from all of you, no doubt you would substantiate these findings. In fact, we could be happy about these numbers as they represent an opportunity in the marketplace. Yet, it is maddening because those same leaders who assert collaboration is important are often the most resistant to adopting new technology which may help them do just that. If I was a bit more jaded, I would share the perspective of my Gen Y friend. “It is because Boomers run the world. Thing will change overnight once they leave the C Suite.”

As a cusp Gen Xer/Boomer myself, I have to grant a grain of truth to her statement. She was particularly infuriated because executives at her firm banned instant messaging. Regardless of your view, it does raise an interesting discussion. How do you help leaders develop collaboration strategies if they are not willing to try new technologies designed to help them do just that? Unlike my friend, my experience has not necessarily broken down across generational boundaries. Andre’s research says leaders must live beyond organizational norms, and still manage to succeed. When I have worked most effectively with leaders it is in these circumstances. They have allowed me to help them expand the walls of their own organizations whether business unit, department, or silo to connect information in a meaningful way. Like it or not, technology has always been a component.

-Tracey Wik

What do midshipman, Generation Y and the CSUN Faculty have in common?

Three members of the CSUN faculty had the opportunity to meet with midshipment and faculty from the US Naval Academy to discuss learning styles, use of technology and the implications for KM.

What we came away with...first of all...had little to do with KM or Gen Y issues. It had to do with Leadership and Critical thinking. From our experience it is rare to find an institution that emphasizes, much less teaches either of these critical life skills. After spending just a little time with these Academy students, it was clear that their education was steeped in each of these, and that they had a powerful impact on their lives. It is no wonder that the graduates from our academies are so sought after in the business world.

We have all heard about - and witnessed - how Gen Y's (born between 1980 and 1995) live via text messages and FaceBook. It is a major part of their social life and fabric. So is this impacting how they learn? What we heard from midshipmen was that they did want "information now" and they wanted it in byte size chunks. They wanted to feel connected to their peers though FaceBook (one of them has over 1000 friends on FaceBook). But we also heard that they wanted the in depth knowledge that only comes from study and reflection. They are interested in learning from those that have the relevant experience - and in listening to well told relevant stories. Traditional learning is not a "thing of the past" for Gen Y.

However, because the technology is there, and they know how to use it, they expect to be able to get information now. They expect to be able to ask anyone what they know and think - and get a quick - short response, that will allow them to act. They expect to "learn through collaboration" - not just to be told, this is the way it is, this is what you should do.

Kent Greenes, in a discussion the group summarized some of the work that he has been doing on Gen Y as:

• They want to learn collaboratively
• They want to have rapid access to information - and want it in a form they can use
• They want to be recognized for what they know
• They want to contribute

Isn't this the way we all want to learn and work?

So is there a big difference in the Gen Y's. We're not so sure. Technology has shaped their expectations - and shown what is possible. As we said above...are these expectations any different that want any other generation wants?

-Allan Crawford

The Second Annual Southern California Knowledge Management Forum

A lot has happened since we last posted on the CSUN KM Blog. It's about time to tell you a little of what is going on in the program.

The second “cohort” of students is now half-way the KM Master’s degree program at CSUN. The 19 students are mostly mid career professionals looking for an educational opportunity that allows them to advance in their career, or in some cases return to the job market. The students come from across the US and have widely varied backgrounds including the US Military, the oil industry, aerospace, academia and consulting.

Most recently sixteen CSUN students, faculty and staff participated in the Second Annual Southern California Knowledge Management Forum, which was held on Pepperdine University Drescher Graduate Campus September 9 - 11, 2008. The Conference Theme was Evolution of Knowledge for Value Creation.

CSUN KM Faculty member Kiho Soho was one of the coordinators for the event, helping with the event design and orchestration.

CSUN KM student (& Pratt Whitney Rockedyne employee) Rick Ladd talked about the effective application of Web 2.0 tools and how they are impacting our ability to collaborate at all levels of the organization.

Below Rick shows the yin and the yang of the use of the Web 2.0 tools and quotes from Marshall McLuhan “We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us...”

Professor Dione Zell, from CSUN talked about what Social Network Analysis can tell us about the effectiveness of organizations and the vital importance of relationships - it's not just the connections...it is the relationships that people have

Mary Gonzales, from the first CSUN KM cohort, and Jim Wolff, from the current cohort chaired sessions during the conference. Their biggest challenge was in finding the right speakers for their sessions…and they did an outstanding job. Captain Ralph Soule, US Navy, one of their speakers, gave an incredible talk entitled full contact mentoring for high performance. Captain Soule not only had great techniques for mentoring, including allowing junior officers to shadow him for an entire week, while providing them a notebook full of some of his favorite articles to discuss during the week; but he also had one of my favorite slides, which was captioned “I need someone well versed in the art of torture---do you know PowerPoint?”



Finally for more on the actual conferencje check out http://www.ericmackonline.com/ where one of CSUN's KM program students Eric Mack blogged about the confernce.

-Allan Crawford

Distance Learning Global Master's Degee in Knowledge Management at California State University Northridge

A growing number of private sector and nonprofit organizations are implementing Knowledge Management (KM) programs. Consequently, there are a growing number of career opportunities in this innovative field. To meet this need for trained professionals, California State University, Northridge is offering a challenging Distance Learning (DL) master's degree program for professionals currently employed in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors who wish to acquire the skills and abilities required in this emerging field.

Link to Program Website:
http://tsengcollege.csun.edu/kmdl

Distinguished Faculty

The Knowledge Management Distance Learning program faculty and the program’s advisory board are drawn from recognized industry practitioners who have worked on KM issues at organizations such as Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, the U.S. Army, Northrop Grumman Corp., Disney, Xerox, and Unocal and CSUN faculty in a variety of disciplines.

These KM experts also collaborated in designing the program’s curriculum. The result is a course of study that combines the best professional practice with academic excellence and discipline.

Current faculty members include:

Paul G. Andersen, M.S.

Paul Andersen is director, enterprise knowledge management strategy, in the Enterprise Information Technology group of the Walt Disney Company. He works with all segments of the organization to provide strategic direction, promote awareness, and to further KM efforts within the company. His areas of focus include enterprise search, enterprise portal, collaboration technologies, and information management. Paul has been a senior vice president of MarketWire, a press release distribution company; vice president of product management for Business.com, a directory of Business information; and senior technical producer for Disney Online. He holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a bachelor’s in history, both from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Cynthia Cheng Correia, M.S.

Cynthia Cheng Correia is principal of Knowledge inForm, Inc, where she helps professionals and organizations achieve enhanced competitive and market intelligence outcomes through the better understanding and implementation of intelligence research, analysis and knowledge and information management. She has written for many publications, including Information Today, Information Outlook, LLRX.com, the National Law Journal, and Library Journal, Location Intelligence, and Medical Science Liaison Quarterly. She is a frequent speaker on competitive intelligence and information/ knowledge-related topics, and has addressed the Society of Competitive Intelligence (SCIP), Information Today, the Special Libraries Association (SLA), and the New England Online Users Group (NENON), among many others. Cynthia holds a master’s degree in library and information science from Simmons College and a certificate in competitive intelligence from the Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence (ACI).

Allan G. Crawford, Ph.D.

Allan Crawford is founder and president of AC consulting. He has worked in the areas of knowledge management, research, strategic planning and education for more than 25 years and includes wide experience in the energy industry, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and city government. His background has provided a unique perspective on what it takes to make individuals, teams and organizations effective and has also provided the understanding that one of the few ways to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage is to have the ability to apply what you and your organization know ahead of your competition. Allan has a B.S. degree in geology from Winona State University and a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Wisconsin. He also completed the Executive Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and has been an invited lecturer at USC, Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.

Abe Feinberg, Ph.D.

Abe Feinberg, professor of systems and operations management at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s in industrial management from MIT, and a Ph.D. in business administration at UCLA with a concentration in operations research and a subspecialty in decision analysis. He has wide experience in such KM-related fields as decision analysis and decision support systems and has written for publications such as Management Science, the Journal of Audio Engineering, Policy Studies, Omega, Concurrency, and Transactions on Engineering Management of the IEEE. At CSUN, he has developed and taught courses and seminars in operations management, decision support systems, strategic management, and statistics.

Kent A. Greenes, M.S.

Kent A. Greenes, founder and president of Greenes Consulting, has worked internationally in a variety of executive, operations, technology and business renewal roles in the energy and engineering industries. Recognized as a KM pioneer, he was named by Fortune Magazine in 1999 as the world’s leading money-maker in the field as a result of his work for British Petroleum and was recognized as one of the top twenty knowledge leaders in the world by the Teleos 2000 Most Admired Knowledge Leaders survey. He is executive in residence at George Washington University, where he is developing a program on researching the future of enterprise. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Knowledge Management and a founding member of several KM consortia and communities. He holds a bachelor’s in geology from Kent State University and a master’s in geophysics from the University of Arizona. He also completed the executive program from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

Karen K. Johnson, Ph.D.

Karen K. Johnson, a thirty-year employee of Xerox Corporation, is the company’s global eService learning strategy and development manager, responsible for the global implementation of custom eLearning content development with call center employees and external customers. She has worked in various departments in Xerox including eLearning, marketing, sales, sales training, marketing, and marketing communications. She has also served as the Xerox Program Manager for numerous customer symposiums and events. Her work focuses developing online curriculum to teach call center employees to access and contribute to various knowledge management data bases to better serve customers. She earned her doctorate in instructional technology from the University of Southern California and her Project Manager Certification from Project Management International. Karen frequently speaks on problem solving, KM, and eLearning at numerous international conferences.

Paul Krivonos, Ph.D.

Paul D. Krivonos is emeritus professor of communication studies and program development director in The Tseng College of Extended Learning at California State University, Northridge. He has taught CSUN courses in group communication, organizational communication, communication in public organizations, and numerous other KM-related fields. He has also been a visiting professor of management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand and at the University of Auckland, and co-authored Communication for Supervisors and Managers, a textbook published in the United States, and the Communication in American Business Series and the Dictionary of Managerial and Intercultural Communication, published in Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in communication from Purdue University and an M.A. in political science and a B.A. in international relations, both from University of California, Davis. He chaired the CSUN Communication Studies Department for eight years and served for three years as associate dean of the College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

Mike Prevou, Ph.D.

Mike Prevou is a former professor of education and learning at the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the director of the Army-wide Leader Network, responsible for designing, deploying and maintaining an Army network of professional forums (for a is the plural of forum. I changed it to forums for folks unacquainted with Latin], developing knowledge sharing solutions and coordinating the college’s emerging knowledge management program. Mike is one of the architects of vignette-based learning and one of the founding officers of the Army’s Battle Command Knowledge System program, designed to improve the transfer of lessons learned and expertise to leaders and units deployed in the Middle East. His recent professional emphasis has been on improving performance by integrating judgment exercises, decision games, simulations and collaborative learning technologies into classrooms and communities of practice to create experiential learning opportunities. He has been an Army Fellow at Harvard University’s Learning Innovations Laboratory, is an adjunct professor at the Army Simulations and Modeling School, and serves on the advisory board for the Federal Government’s KM conference, eGov. He holds a Ph.D. in education from the University of Kansas, a master’s degree in organizational behavior from Golden Gate University, and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee.

Kiho Sohn, M.S.

Kiho D. Sohn is chief knowledge officer at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. (PWR) where he is responsible for developing strategic planning and implementation of KM processes and innovation methodologies. PWR KM focuses on overall KM process, and provides well balanced enablers to cover multiple aspects of tacit and explicit knowledge. He was instrumental in developing an innovation workshop to facilitate and to promote innovation techniques. Prior to his current position, he devoted more than 16 years to engineering disciplines such as thermal/stress/structural dynamics analyses and systems engineering. He has a master of science in mechanical engineering from UCLA and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois. The success of the Pratt & Whitney KM program is being benchmarked by many organizations. including NASA. Kiho has spoken at numerous international conferences, organizations and universities about the success of the PWR KM program.

Tracey Wik, M.S.

Tracey Wik is managing director of leadership and learning for ABN AMRO’s Global Markets division in the Americas. She has held a variety of roles in the financial services industry over the past 15 years. The current focus of her work is on assessing the talent development needs of her clients and helping them create high-performing teams. Tracey designs and facilitates strategic planning sessions for the North American Executive Management Committee and is responsible for teaching senior leaders the strategies and practices used to promote knowledge sharing throughout the organization. As internal consultant, she draws on her past line management experience as well as a wide array of developmental tools to help her clients engage and motivate their employees. Tracey is certified in multiple assessment instruments, including Myers-Briggs, Inventory of Leadership Styles, Organizational Climate Survey, DiSC, Appreciative Inquiry, Gallup Strengths Finder and the Emotional Competency Inventory and is skilled in experiential learning techniques designed to produce breakthrough results. She holds a master of science in organizational development and workplace learning from Northwestern University, is a member of the Organizational Development Network of Chicago, and serves on the board of an educational company.

Melanie Stallings Williams, J.D.

Melanie Williams is a professor of business law at California State University, Northridge, where she has served as the graduate director of the College of Business & Economics and is currently acting chair of the Department of Business Law. She teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels, with courses including traditional business law core courses along with marketing law, entertainment law, ethics and the MBA introduction to contemporary business cross-disciplinary course. Her areas of academic research include antitrust law, intellectual property, biotechnology, small business programs and pedagogy. She has published numerous articles on these topics in a wide variety of professional journals. Melanie has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of California and practices in the areas of civil litigation, administrative law, employment law and intellectual property.

Mary S. Woodley, Ph.D.

Mary S. Woodley is an active member of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and is a member of its advisory board. She is an elected member of the Cataloging and Classification Executive Committee of the American Library Association, the Association of Library for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). She has published on digital projects and metadata and recently created a workshop for ALCTS and the Library of Congress on managing digital projects. Mary has a doctorate in classical archaeology and an MLIS in library science from UCLA. She has been a cataloger at the Getty Research Institute and currently at California State University, Northridge, cataloging all formats of information resources. More recently, she has focused on cataloging digital objects using a variety of metadata standards and controlled vocabularies.

Course Work

KM 610, The Information and Knowledge Professional
in the Information World

This course provides an introduction to Knowledge Management (KM) as practiced today. Real-world situations will be used wherever practical. The topics covered will include: KM Uses and Challenges, History of KM, KM Components, KM Collaboration Techniques, KM Benefits and Success Measurements, and the Capture, Preservation and Use of Explicit Knowledge. Students will be organized into virtual teams to accomplish several tasks. Weekly chats will be held and regular electronic interaction with the instructor, the teams and the class will enable a enriching group experience. The culminating class effort will be the design of a successful KM system using the material covered in the course.

KM 611, Policy, Law, and Economics of Knowledge Management

How can you manage the collection, storage and effective use of information? The legal and economic environment governing the acquisition and use of data is essential knowledge for any manager. Learn how to identify the key issues affecting the acquisition and use of information. The course will outline the legal rules governing intellectual property and the use of information along with ethical and public policy aspects of managing knowledge. You'll develop your abilities to identify and analyze issues while improving your research and communication skills and you'll have access to the premier databases of legal, economic and scholarly information. This course will give you the foundation you need to work with service providers, experts, clients and the public.

KM 620, Information Organization in the Knowledge Management Environment

Studies the constitution, structure and form of information and knowledge, including traditional principles of information and knowledge organization as well as special metadata standards for non-traditional materials, data mining, storage and retrieval, formats, strategies and software. All media types will be covered, including audio, video, electronic and print.

KM 630, Information Needs and Learning for Knowledge Workers

Designed from the point-of-view of the practitioner, this course will explore what is required to be viewed as a strategic partner in creating a collaborative environment where knowledge is shared and created. The course will offer knowledge managers the tools, concepts, principles, and techniques needed to create a learning organization. We will discuss the potential roadblocks and unintended consequences of designing and implementing a knowledge management strategy within an organization, and what the organization can learn along the way. We’ll also explore the theoretical and practical sides of knowledge and how its creation, access, and protection is critical to an organization’s success and longevity. In addition we will discuss adult learning theory and how to structure learning such that it sticks and has impact.

KM 631, Management of Information and Knowledge Services

This course, which is one of the last in the program, builds on what you have learned in your previous courses, helping you develop the knowledge and skills needed to become an effective leader and manager in a knowledge-based organization. Emphasis will be placed on aligning with corporate strategy, business planning, leading and motivating staff, developing and using metrics, delivering quality products through effective project management and managing in times of change. And of course, you will use and apply knowledge management tools and techniques to help you do your job more effectively.

KM 632: The Knowledge Management Business

This course will provide a practical hands-on approach to setting up your KM business or KM internal consulting practice. We will discuss the value, creation and execution of a knowledge management business (such as an internal knowledge management team in an organizational department, or an external, commercial KM business). Students will acquire, practice and demonstrate the skills necessary to start up a KM practice, determine the knowledge management needs of organizations, and develop and implement a successful KM program as a service to internal or external clients. Emphasis is placed on practical methods and the importance of culture and behavior in delivering meaningful business results. This course also addresses at a high level the structural and legal issues relating to business formation. Through case studies, business development exercises, and the exploration of potential service offerings, you will be able to develop your unique KM business model.

KM 633, Communication in the Knowledge Environment

This course explores the fundamentals of effective communication in knowledge environments, particularly in organizational settings. The curriculum examines collaboration, teambuilding, leadership, knowledge transfer, information overload, organizational culture and storytelling and provides an overview of communication networks to enable students to gain skills in the transfer of knowledge. Students will gain expertise in how information and knowledge flow in the organizational context and an understanding of the dynamics involved in creating, changing, and managing the sharing of knowledge.

KM 641, Information Access and Online Searching

Explores the principles of information retrieval and introduces key sources for information navigation and display concepts. Explains search strategies and skills for using both print and electronic sources, including algorithms for retrieval and mediated searching.

KM 642, Knowledge Management

This course continues the introduction to Knowledge Management (KM) following KM 610. The topics covered will include: KM Uses and Challenges, KM in Systems Thinking perspective, Role of KM in organization, Development of KM programs, Tacit Knowledge Transfer Techniques, and Relationship between KM with Innovation. Students will be organized into virtual teams to accomplish several tasks. The culminating class effort will be the improvement of KM system developed in KM610, using the material covered in the course.

KM 643, Competitive Intelligence

This course presents both theoretical and practical coverage of the relationship between knowledge management and competitive intelligence (CI) and builds foundational skills for enhancing intelligence and competitiveness through KM. Topics and issues we will explore include KM functions and purposes throughout the intelligence business process, KM practices for key intelligence models, KM in strategic and tactical intelligence support, as well as tools, ethics, cultures, management, and other key considerations. Course content also encompasses protecting an organization’s knowledge assets from vulnerabilities and threats from competition. Students will develop vital understanding and skills in KM and CI through lectures, readings, case studies, practical exercises, and class discussions. Within the focus of the course, students will have the opportunity to explore issues of individual professional interest and/or related to their current/recent work environments.

KM 650, Knowledge Management Technologies

Introduces the conceptual and practical elements for enabling Knowledge Management practices with technologies. This is not an IT course nor is it focused on information technology, but rather a course that helps Knowledge Management leaders understand what technology tools are available and how to select and apply specific technology tools to the practice of knowledge acquisition, organization, dissemination and collaboration. During KM 650 you will also become familiar with the capability and processes of “digital story telling” as a means of tacit knowledge transfer and professional development.

KM 690, Capstone Experience

This course focuses on professional and career development for the new knowledge management professional. As part of the course, students will create a portfolio that includes a major project and report, a career plan, and a professional resume. The project may be undertaken in cooperation with a KM-related organizational unit.