Ibms Knowledge Management Proposal for the ontario Ministry of Education

IBMs Knowledge Management Proposal for the Ontario Ministry of Education
Written Case Study

Knowledge Management – Module 5

Instructor: Tony Williams

Candidate: David J. L. Walker – 10046715

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Table of Contents

Executive Summary        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        3

Issue Identification        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        4 – 6

        Short Term Issues        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        4        

Long Term Issues        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        4 – 5         

Main Issue        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        5 – 6

Environment & Root Cause        .        .        .        .        .        .        6 – 7          

Alternatives & Options        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        8  

Recommendation & Implementation        .        .        .        .        .        9 – 12         

Monitor & Control        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        12

Conclusion        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        13

Executive Summary

        Kathryn Everest of IBM has been contracted by The Ministry of Education of Ontario to help design and implement a new Knowledge Management System. The Ministry has been bogged down with document duplication caused by the increasing amounts of electronic information, as well as the corporate culture of not sharing, or collaborating with peers.

        The purpose of this report is to outline The Ministry of Education of Ontario’s position within their industry and place in society, and their opportunities to improve its current operation. Currently they operate in the public eye, while being inefficient and not taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge that each employee has. There is much room to improve when it comes to changing corporate culture and becoming a learning and knowledge-focussed organization.

        The aforementioned issues create much opportunity for the Ministry. Designing and implementing a Knowledge Management System by the people for the people in order to boost efficiency is step one in transforming the ministry into a well oiled machine for years to come.

        As Kathryn Everest, I would recommend that the Ministry of Education of Ontario implement a document sharing system that is closely moderated to ensure that unique and useful documents are hosted for the Ministry’s benefit. Additionally, communities of practice which can help change the organization culture from the ground up will provide a strong complimentary benefit to the Knowledge Management System. Combined with a sound implementation plan, and constant evaluation, success will be seen.

Issue Identification

Short Term Issues

• Relying on Informal Relationships
  Lots of information and day to day tasks rely on informal relationships, whether it is mentorship, or seeking answers to questions outside of one’s area of expertise. Efficiency is lost on both the information seeker and giver as the former is relying on a tacit source of information that may not be conveyed effectively, and the latter is interrupted by potentially multiple employees often seeking the same information.
• Document Duplication
  Due to a lack of a formal network, multiple employees save the same, or very similar versions, of different documents on their hard drive. This is wasting resources, and perpetuating the problem of employees constantly asking the same questions. A one-stop shop for employees to pull commonly used documents would provide consistency to the actions of the Ministry, and would help employees save time in searching for and creating documents.

Long Term Issues

• Increasing Rate of Electronic Information
  The Ministry of Education of Ontario is embarking on a technological wave where everything is done digitally. Duplication of information is a form of information overload as every employee will be adding to the mountain of information they store locally. As more and more processes and operations are carried out in a digital manner, the problem of document duplication will only increase.
• Corporate Culture
  This is a wide-ranging issue that includes employee resistance to change, hesitance to share information, and the presence of tacit knowledge far outweighing explicit knowledge. Employees, no matter the line of work, tend to be reluctant to change or learn new procedures at work. Encouraging employees to share information, of which they are unsure if they have clearance to share, is another tricky task. Lastly getting employees to document their knowledge so others can use it is another tough sell. It is more work for them with payback seemingly only felt by coworkers.
• Security Concerns
  With the ministry being a large public body, they hold a great deal of sensitive information. The technological landscape is shaping rapidly and it calls for a large increase in digital security. They must be ahead of the curve to prevent any leaks of information, and must do so in a way that assures employees and the public that information is safe and sound in order to keep the trust of the public and staff.

Main Issue

• Weak Knowledge Sharing Infrastructure
  Many of the aforementioned issues are revolve around the main issue of the Ministry requiring some form of digital infrastructure. The digital landscape is changing dramatically every year, and with the Ministry working online more and more, there needs to be formal processes put in place in order to minimize information overload, and an overall convolutedness of data within the Ministry. There are problems that are surfacing, that can be capitalized on and turned into advantages should the main issue of a need of a formal Knowledge Management System be implemented.

Environment & Root Cause

        The Ministry of Education of Ontario is tackling this issue right on the cusp of it expanding to a larger issue. The capabilities that come along with the consistently changing technology has hardly been felt. Files are being transferred at slow rates, programs lack power and speed, however they are improvements that are easily anticipated and must be planned for. It is hard to say exactly at this point how wide this technology boom will hit, and how much it will revolutionize the industry which, not only the Ministry of Education operates in, but all businesses operate in. What is most clear is that there needs to be protocol put in place to facilitate this change and organize the clutter that is currently being experienced.