Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – July 2020

Welcome to July 2020 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

For the year 2020, we have chosen the core subject of Revisiting Basic Quality Concepts w.r.t. the sustained success of the organization As of now we have visited

• History of Quality in January 2020
• The Sustained Success of Organization in February 2020
• Organizational Context in March 2020
• Understanding Needs and Expectations of the Interested Parties in April 2020
• Risk Based Approach in May 2020
• Opportunity Based Approach in June 2020

We take up The Organizational Knowledge for the Sustained Success as our next core concept this month–

Auditing Practices Group Guidance on: Organisational Knowledge, ISO & IAF (2016) defines organizational knowledge as “Organizational Knowledge is the specific knowledge of the organization, coming either from its collective experience or from the individual experience of its persons. In an explicit or implicit way this knowledge is, or can be, used to attain the organization’s objectives.”

The two important features that emerge from this definition are:

Firstly, ‘knowledge’ is an important resource.

Secondly,  ‘Organizational Knowledge‘ is an asset that we cannot quantify

The two basic ways to classify the organizational knowledge are –

Tacit knowledge: This knowledge is often referred to as the ‘know-how’ that exists in an organisation.

Examples of tacit knowledge include skills acquired through tradition, common knowledge or understanding, etc.

Explicit knowledge – Explicit knowledge is the ‘know-what’ knowledge that has been formalized, articulated and most often documented.

Examples of explicit knowledge include databases, memos, notes, documents, etc.

Some more classifications are also applied:

• Implicit knowledge is ‘knowledge’ that can be articulated but has not yet been articulated.
• Procedural knowledge is ‘knowledge’ that manifests itself through an activity.
• Declarative knowledge is ‘knowledge’ that consists of descriptions of facts and things or methods and procedures.
• Strategic knowledge is the ‘knowledge’ of when to do something and why to do it.[1]

In general, the following are the Sources of Knowledge:

Knowledge can be found almost anywhere in your organization and comes in many tangible and intangible forms. For example:

• Individual—These are good sources of tacit knowledge.
• Group/Community— These are good sources of explicit, implicit, and tacit knowledge.
• Structural—These are sources of implicit knowledge.
• Organizational memory—These are good sources for a combination of tacit and explicit knowledge.

The knowledge is generally captured in the following Repositories of Knowledge

• Documentation of any kind
• Internal knowledge bases
• Customer-facing knowledge bases
• FAQs
• Intranets
• Onboarding materials
• Training materials
• Webinars
• Case studies

Other repositories can include:

• Databases
• Internal collaboration tools
• Ticketing systems
• Wikis/communities/forums[2]

Knowledge Model is represented as:

Knowledge Transfer is visualized as:[3]

The benefits of knowledge sharing are numerous[4]:

• Knowledge overcomes fear
• Knowledge breaks down barriers & facilitates communication
• Seeing the “Big Picture” reinforces that we’re all in this together.
• Knowledge reveals the reasons behind the actions
• Knowledge leads to intelligent decisions.
• Knowledge is motivating and empowering
• Knowledge encourages involvement & breeds a feeling of ownership –
• Knowledge creates opportunities –

Three key reasons why actively managing knowledge is important to a company’s success are[5]:

• Facilitates decision-making capabilities,
• Builds learning organizations by making learning routine, and,
• Stimulates cultural change and innovation.

While most business leaders appreciate the strategic value of knowledge and the need to manage their knowledge assets, many of them seem unable to derive real benefits from their efforts. There are several reasons for this, including their persistence in viewing knowledge management (KM) as a supply-side issue, namely their belief that the acquisition of the right knowledge automatically produces benefits. Other reasons that benefits don’t materialize include a lack of focus on KM initiatives; a staggering over reliance on technology to provide both the solution and the benefit; structures that are inappropriate for capitalizing on an organization’s knowledge assets; and lastly, a lack of proper ownership[6].

An effective knowledge management strategy enables an organization to create, apply, and share information, breaking down silos and increasing usage of valuable data. The right strategy sustains organizational objectives as technologies evolve, keeps companies on the bleeding edge of industry trends, and pushing one step ahead of the competition at all times.[7]

Suggested Additional Reading:

• Organizational Knowledge – NSF International
• ISO 30401:2018 – Knowledge management systems – Requirements
• The Journey: Achieving Sustained Organizational Success – By Charles A. Cianfrani, Isaac Sheps, John E. (Jack) West

The detailed note on The Organizational Knowledge for the Sustained Success can by clicking on the hyperlink.

We will now turn to our regular sections:

In the series the Organizational Culture, we have taken up Building The Organizational Culture –

We now watch ASQ TV, wherein we look at a few relevant videos from the archive:

• Culture Of Quality – explains 3 Ps – Proximity, Persuasion and Position- and 3 Cs – Connectivity, Clarity and Consistency.
• Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Quality – this episode we dig deeper into transforming the organizational culture into a culture of quality and a simple [A3] communications tool that can help create a culture of quality.

We do not have relevant article from Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems this month.So we move on to  –

The Unfolding Course of Events – Looking to the past provides some perspective.by Michelle Bangert . “It is not given to human beings—happily for them, for otherwise life would be intolerable—to foresee or to predict to any large extent the unfolding course of events.” – Winston Churchill from his eulogy for Neville Chamberlain, November 12, 1940. – is a quote from the Erik Larson’s book The Splendid and the Vile, wherein the author has presented in the cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless.”

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the subjects of Basics of Quality and Organizational Culture and their role in Creating and Maintaining Sustained Success.

Note: The images depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images.

[1] What is Organisational Knowledge and why is it so important?

[2] What Is Organizational Knowledge, and Where Can I Find It? – Emil Hajric

[3] A MODEL FRAMEWORK FOR MEASURING ORGANIZATIONAL INTANGIBLE ASSETS – Sudhir Warier

[4] 7 reasons – Organizational Knowledge is power – Donna Coppock

[5] Why Knowledge Management Is Important To The Success Of Your Company – Lisa Quast

[6] KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AS A SUSTAINED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE – Peter Murray

[7] The Competitive Advantage of the Right Knowledge Management Solution