Tacit Knowledge Capture: A Quality Management Imperative for Attainment of Operational Excellence

By William G. Dzekashu

About This Book:

Knowledge loss forced organizations to develop knowledge capture programs. Yet captured knowledge proved deficient in quality, due in part to lack of integration of quality management throughout the capture process. This book presents the outcome of a case study that explored the impact of integrating quality management into the tacit knowledgecapture process. The study framed around Polanyis theory of tacit knowing proves the perfect management companion. From a social perspective, implementation of a model that encompasses personality and quality could improve the decision-making process.


Book Review:

This book presents the outcome of a case study investigation of quality problems associated with learning tacit knowledge. Using qualitative methods, Dr. Dzekashu finds through the study that focusing on human development needs and quality control in knowledge transmittal mitigates quality degradation issues associated with transmitting tacit knowledge. These findings provide important implications for managers seeking to maintain critical and quality mass of organizational knowledge in the face of a rapidly aging workforce.

Hermann A. Ndofor, PhD, assistant professor, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503578111

William G. Dzekashu

About the Author: Dr. William G. Dzekashu resides in Maryland with his beautiful family. He is a graduate of University of Buea, Cameroon (LLB Hons); Southeastern University, Washington, DC (MBA in banking and finance); and Walden University, Minnesota (PhD in applied management and decision sciences). He is employed by the US Federal Government and has served as adjunct professor at the Business and Organizational Leadership Program at Argosy University. He coauthored the peer review article titled “A Quality Approach to Tacit Knowledge Capture: Effective Practice to Achieving Operational Excellence” (2014).

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by William G. Dzekashu, PhD.

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Rev. date: 06/17/2015

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Contents

DEDICATION

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

History of Knowledge

Knowledge Management

Quality Maturity Eras

Key Process Areas

CHAPTER 2 TACIT KNOWLEDGE

Nature of Tacit Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge Capture

KM Measures

Knowledge Environment

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN

Background on Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC)

Problem Statement and Background

Research Questions

Purpose and Significance of the Study

Research Design

Theoretical Framework

CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Nature of the Study

Assumptions of the Study

Scope, Delimitations and Limitations of the Study

Role of the Researcher in Collecting Data

Instrumentation

Methods

Ethical Protection of Research Participants

Population, Sampling Methods and Procedures

Data Collection Procedures

Data Analyses

Data Generation, Gathering, and Recording Processes

Data Tracking System

CHAPTER 5 ANALYSES AND STATISTICS

Analyses of Relevant Research Data

Survey Questionnaire

Interviews

Document Review

CHAPTER 6 KM TECHNOLOGY

Knowledge Management Systems

Artificial Intelligence

Content Creation and Management

CHAPTER 7 KM PROCESSES AND PEOPLE

Knowledge Experts

Personality and Knowledge

KM Cycle and KM Models

Quality Management and Process Improvement

CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS

Summary

Recommendations

Impact of Findings and Implications for Social Change

REFERENCES

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

FIGURES

Figure 1: QM Key Process Areas and Activities

Figure 2: Tacit knowledge capture process.

Figure 3: Tacit knowledge capture sub-process.

Figure 4: Methods Used in Previous Research

Figure 5: Age and Length of Service (N = 170)

Figure 6: Age Distribution (n = 63)

Figure 7: Gender Distribution (n = 63)

Figure 8: Distribution of Marital Status (n = 63)

Figure 9: Distribution of Educational Level (n = 63)

Figure 10: Distribution of Job Classification (n = 63)

Figure 11: Distribution of Length of Service (n = 63)

Figure 12: Age Category

Figure 13: Educational Level Category

Figure 14: Length of Service Category

Figure 15: Survey Data Regarding Knowledge Capture Processes (n = 30)

Figure 16: Survey Data Regarding Quality Control Processes (n = 30)

Figure 17: KM Processes Document Review Data

Figure 18: QM Control Processes Document Review Data

Figure 19: Proposed KM department organigram.

Figure 20: Integrating QM into the Tacit Knowledge Capture Process

DEDICATION

To my loving parents;

Sebastian F. Dzekashu and Justine W. Dzekashu

FOREWORD

This book has been prepared from the substance of material in a Dissertation submitted by William Gang Dzekashu (now Dr. William Gang Dzekashu) in April 2009 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Management and Decision Sciences (now Management) to Walden University. The title of the book may appear high-flown and rather bizarre, but it is because the author is dealing with a relatively new discipline/profession—Knowledge Management. It is in the culture of every new discipline to devise and define new terminology to facilitate communication within—as well as growth of—that discipline. Dr. Dzekashu has clearly and skillfully, explained what the largely elusive term Tacit Knowledge (as distinct from Explicit and Implicit Knowledge) is; and has further indicated ways by which tacit knowledge may be captured and converted into explicit knowledge prior to the departure of people who constitute repositories of such Tacit Knowledge from the organizations or businesses in which they are engaged.

In the case study which the author conducted at the Cameroon Development Corporation in early 2009, he sought to extend the limits of knowledge in the Tacit Knowledge domain by studying the impact quality management would have on the Tacit Knowledge capture process. In passing, the study was carried out using qualitative research methods; mainly, by the administration of survey questionnaires; complimented by interviews and document reviews. Readers, especially leaders and managers of organizations or businesses will benefit immeasurably from reading this book, why? Because the author has meticulously reformatted the book different from the format of the scholarly Dissertation from which it is derived. What is more, the language and style of presentation – a domain in which the author has shown preeminent ability and matches perspicacity – have also been suitably recast to meet the new purpose of the author; which is to convey knowledge from a relatively new and obscure subject area to leaders and managers of businesses or organizations, many of whom may not be scholars. The book is, without question, more readable than its forerunner, the dissertation. In this regard, readers will do well to pay particular attention to what the book says about two things:

i) What the research revealed about the method used by managers at the organization he studied to enable implementation of quality management into the tacit knowledge capture process; and

ii) The recommendations, which have been reformulated (to make them less skewed) and serialized, and thus rendering them more readily consumable and digestible than they were in their former home, the dissertation.

Finally, I recommend this book as—a vibrant initial galvanizer to action–to all leaders and managers eager to acquaint themselves with what needs to be done, in the subject of knowledge quality, in order to optimize performance in their businesses or organizations.

Colonel Fombon Fomuso Gaїus (RET.)

Gendarmerie; Cameroon Defense Forces

PREFACE

In almost two decades of its existence, knowledge management both as a discipline and management tool has ascribed to many concepts borrowed largely from theories in management, systems, and psychology. Quality management on the other hand has undergone distinctive phases of development since the early twentieth century. The application of knowledge management in industry is undeniably important and has refocused businesses and organizations from competition to collaboration and from creativity to innovativeness. In this book, I demonstrate the operational and performance impact of integrating quality management into the tacit knowledge capture process. With continued upsurge of ageing populations and the need to ensure continuity by documenting know-how or practical knowledge, organizations have become more apprehensive of possible knowledge degradation resulting from flaws in knowledge capture processes. I explored the current processes used at the organization described in the case study in documenting critical knowledge, and also how the integration of quality management into the knowledge capture process could possibly lead to the attainment of operational excellence.

Various studies have been conducted across industries that describe both successful and unsuccessful implementation of initiatives relating to quality management or knowledge capture processes; however there is no evidence of a study that has addressed the problem described in the case study in this book - impact of integrating quality management into the tacit knowledge capture process which is what this study has accomplished. The outcome of the study demonstrated that culture contributes greatly in the implementation of quality management in knowledge capture programs. The book empowers managers of programs, projects, groups, and organizations by providing them with a foundation to support reasoned decisionmaking and problemsolving. Managers seeking excellence could establish a model that incorporates elements of personality theories and quality control in the tacit knowledge capture process.

William G. Dzekashu, PhD

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To successfully transform my research to the current book, I had to rely on the unending support of several individuals—family, friends, and professional relationships. I want to first and foremost extend affectionate thanks to my darling wife—Dr. Jenka’a C. Dzekashu, precious daughter and son—Jayda S. Dzekashu and William Gang Dzekashu, Jr. respectively, for their inspiration and unwavering support. To my parents—Sebastian and Justine, I want to express special appreciation to you for your support throughout the years; you two shaped the direction of my life and made beyond necessary sacrifices to ensure I received the support—moral, financial, and otherwise—needed to achieve resounding success. I love you two unendingly. I am equally grateful for the everyday sacrifices you made to ensure that my siblings—Dr. Juliet S. Dzekashu-Dangoh, Joan T. Dzekashu, and Frederick B. Dzekashu—and I had a solid education. Finding the right words to convey this feeling of gratitude has been challenging.

Special thanks to my uncle—Mr. Lionel Gwandua for facilitating my cooperation with the organization under study (Cameroon Development Cooperation); and to my uncle (the Patriarch of my maternal family)—Colonel Fombon Fomuso Gaїus (RET.) and family friend Dr. Maimo Anthony Mapri Faay woo Bamfem for the painstaking detail offered in review of my work and recommendations provided to transform my research to the current book, I am truly grateful. To the individuals whose names I have left out, your constant words of encouragement were equally invaluable; I have more family and friends than I could start enumerating. You all were an inspiration to my educational journey in many ways.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Many organizations from the early 1990s have faced the issue of declining knowledge resulting from an aging workforce. Private and public sector employees, including employees in government agencies, are eligible for both merit and early retirement, thus threatening productivity and operational continuity. Many countries around the world in the early 1990s experienced a substantial increase in the size of their aging populations (Profeta, 2004), which affected organizational operations and demanded continuous attention from management. The importance of the global issue of an aging workforce is evident in the agenda of the World Assembly of the United Nations held in Vienna, Austria, in 1982 and Madrid, Spain, in 2002. The United Nations’ (2002) agenda focused on the negative effects of aging (neglect, abuse, and violence) within communities. Although the negative effects discussed at the assembly are not directly related to the subject matter of the current study, the development of the agenda demonstrates that the issue of an aging workforce poses a real threat to organizations. In the United States, a report from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP, 2006) indicated 40% of the U.S. labor force was eligible for early retirement.

History of Knowledge

Philosophers have attempted to understand knowledge and its characteristics dating far back to the classical