- Email: [email protected]
Knowledge Management Supported by Business Models
IFAC
Copyright © IFAC Automated Systems Based on Human Skill , Palanga, LITHUANIA, 1998
o
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SUPPORTED BY BUSINESS MODELS
Marite Kirikova
Department of Systems Theory and Design, Riga Technical University, J Kalku Str., Riga, L V-J658 LA TV/A, e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Development of modem, dynamic work systems has to be based on analysis and design in terms of the behaviour shaping goals and constraints . This kind of analysis and design , in turn, requires consideration of knowledge processes in organisations, as well as purposely organised procedures of knowledge distribution. Multilevel enterprise models can be used for knowledge amalgamation, analysis and distribution with respect to knowledge needs of individuals and groups in organisations . Keywords : Knowledge acquisition, knowledge representation, enterprise modelling, business process engineering , dynamic systems
1. INTRODUCfION Research in Cognitive Engineering has shown that development of modem , dynamic work systems cannot be based on analysis and design of work systems in terms of stable task procedures . Instead, analysis of work systems must be in terms of the behaviour shaping goals and constraints, that define the boundaries of space within which actors are free to improvise guided by their local subjective performance criteria . (Rasmussen, et al., 1994). In other words, actors involved in business process have to have knowledge concerning current goals and constraints that are relevant to their tasks. Similar conclusions have been made also by researchers working in the area of managing changes in turbulent environment (Hartmann and Forster, 1997). Rapid and unexpected changes in the environment of organisations can require very fast changes in goals and constraints that have to be based on the information concerning the changes in environment and in organisation. Transparency of changes, i.e . a
possibility to see how changes in one part of an organisation affect other parts of the organisation, is necessary for providing satisfactory change management including provision of necessary knowledge for the actors (employees or structural units) of the organisation. The hypothesis can be sated that it is useful to
support each employee with knowledge, that gives him or her a possibility to see the business process as a whole, as well as his or her particular place in that process. Such knowledge would give additional opportunities to perform tasks with the best quality and adjust to the changes in the environment and organisation. The knowledge has to be provided with respect to particular knowledge needs of employees of organisation. The knowledge needs, in turn, are employee's motivation, role, position , experience and education dependent.
46
This paper suggests to use business models and business modelling tools to support change management and provide necessary knowledge for the actors of the organisation. The business modelling is a popular tool for business reengineering and allows to amalgamate essential business information in a transparent and relatively easily changeable way. For the purpose of change management business models are to be built in a way that they could comprise not only a business process itself but also (1) the information people were supported with, (2) intended changes in goals and constraints of an organisation as a whole as well as of particular actors in the organisation, and consequently, (3) new information individuals must be supported with in the current moment of organisational development. Development and use of such models, in turn, require analysis design and management of knowledge processes in organisations. (Wikstrom and Normann, 1994). This requirement suggests one more hypothesis that is the following. In turbulent environment organisations need knowledge management in a line with other kinds of management such as configuration management, risk management, etc., to be able to support purposely organised distribution of goal and constraint oriented knowledge according to the needs of particular groups and individuals in the organisation. The paper is organised as follows. The second section concerns knowledge processes in organisations. Complexity of the business model, that is to be used for knowledge amalgamation and distribution, is discussed in the third section. Contents and granularity of knowledge to be provided for the actors of the organisation are considered in the forth section. The fifth section deals with to the issues of knowledge management. The sixth section consists of brief conclusions.
result of representative processes is conveyed to the customer by representative knowledge processes. All three kinds of processes are mutually related and overlapping. For example, if a HEI decides to apply for accreditation, generative processes accumulate knowledge concerning accreditation. Productive processes can manifest as changes in education programmes and management procedures. Representative processes, in turn, are the basis for development of self evaluation report that has to be presented to the accreditation officials. Most of knowledge processes in an organisation are invisible and usually left uncontrolled. However, it is possible to influence them by purposely provided information concerning dynamically changing goals and constraints in the organisation. Information concerning goals and processes performed by individuals, groups or organisation as a whole can be represented in the business model of the organisation. The business model concerns not only the organisation itself, but also can contain a certain amount of information concerning the environment of the organisation. Configuration management of the enterprise model can keep history of dynamic changes of the model's components (Bubenko, 1993). Thus the business model can be kept up-to-date and the changes in it delivered to the employees affected by those changes (Fig. 1). In that way an individual can receive additional information relevant to his current task. Infonnation concerning the environment
Higher Educational Institutions (HE!) example is used to illustrate ideas and concepts.
2.
KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES IN AN ORGANISATION
According to Wikstrom and Normann (1994) three kinds of knowledge processes are recognised and are to be modelled. These are generative, productive and representative processes. Generative processes accumulate knowledge necessary for development of an organisation. This knowledge is then used in productive knowledge processes, that result in knowledge manifesting as concrete customer offerings, e.g., machines, services, etc. Finally the
Infonnation concerning the organisation
Fig. 1. Knowledge from the business model can be purposely distributed to the individuals affected by the changes in goals and constraints concerning their tasks. This information concerning the organisation and environment can be more prompt than the one individual could acquire by another modes of acquisition. Each time knowledge purposely is provided to the individual the generative knowledge processes are potentially introduced that consequently can enhance productive and
47
representative organisation.
knowledge
processes
in
the
Research in organisational learning as well as in cognitive psychology has shown that knowledge processes depend on and influence actor values, goals and performance (Anderson , 1990; Wikstrom and Normann 1994) . Therefore, for managing knowledge processes in organisation and providing knowledge for individuals, business models have to comprise several levels of abstraction including such as goals, values and processes . Each level of abstraction can consist of information relevant to individual actors and structural units in the organisation (Rasmussen, et aI. , 1994). An example of HEI's representation in the following six abstraction levels (Kirikova 1998) is given in Fig. 2 :
• Mission (M) • Values (V) • Goals (G)
•
Abstract Functions (AF) Physical Processes (P) Configuration (Conf)
Mission: Knowledge processing System of values : Academic - subject focus : knowledge and curricula Managerial - institutional focus : policies and procedures Pedagogic - people focus : skills and competencies Employment orient. - output focus : graduate standards/learning outcomes
(Stamolis et aI., ] 997) are fulfilled. Fulfilment of the functions or physical processes depend on and at the same time influence configuration of the HE!. Changes in each of abstraction levels can cause changes in one or more other abstraction levels. For example changes in the value system can cause changes in the goals. Fragments of two alternative goal hierarchies are reflected in the figure 3. If values change , it can happen that hierarchy of goals b is replaced with hierarchy of goals a. According to hierarchy of goals b the goal to be achieved is the Accreditation. The self evaluation report is necessary for accreditation, therefore subgoal Self evaluation report has to be defined that, in turn, has the subgoal Self evaluation. According to such hierarchy of goals the self evaluation can be a procedure that HE! goes through each fifth or sixth year according to the requirements of local accreditation organisations . The goal system a, in contrast, has a high level goal Self evaluation . The Self evaluation report then is a subgoal of the Self evaluation . The report can be used also for accreditation when it is necessary. This means that in goal hierarchy a self evaluation is an integrated part of HEI's functions and processes (Knight, 1998) not a temporal activity as in the case of a goal hierarchy b. Thus replacement of goal system b with the goal system a can require quite essential changes in the decomposition of functions in the HEI as well as in ph ysical processes of the institution. High quality of teaching and research
a)
Goal : High quality ofperforrnance
~
1 ________
Official acceptance
Self evaluation
/""
/- -
Self evaluation repon
Accreditation ··
b)
Physical processes: e.g., Worktlow
High salary and
~dr~
Configuration: Physical objects and location
Accreditation
I
Self evaluation
Fig. 2. Abstraction levels in HEl's representation.
repon
The level of mission reflects the ultimate goal of the organisation that defines its setting in the environment. Knowledge processing can be considered as a mission of the HE! (Stamoulis et aI., 1997). The way mission is fulfilled depends on the system of values of the HE! that can be represented at the next level. Four main quality systems have been recognised in the HEIs (Brennan, 1998), each of them having focus on different aspects of higher education, as shown in Fig. 2. In turn, goals defined by the HEI depend on the system of values and influence the way how the main functions of the HEI
I
Self evaluation
Fig 3 . Self evaluation in two systems of goals. According to research results in cognitive engineering (Rasmussen, et aI., 1994) and management of organisations (Hartmann and Forster, 1997) goals and constraints are the most important knowledge to be provided to the actors of the organisation. On the other hand, mutual dependence between abstraction levels of the representation of the organisation can require several levels of
48
abstraction to be included in the definition of the goals and constraints in each particular organisational situation. Therefore knowledge provision is a quite complicated task that includes the following main subtasks: • •
•
maintenance of business model and models for capture of additional information consideration of generative , productive and representative knowledge processes In an organisation definition of goals and constraints for particular actors in terms of different abstraction level elements with respect to the type of knowledge processes to be stimulated
A business model that can meet requirements stated by cognitive engineering standards and provide possibilities for reflecting different kinds of dependencies is the system of mutually related multilevel submodels. As an example of such system the three dimensional multilevel architecture of the business model with dependency links (Kirikova 1998) is represented in Fig. 4 .
. ,~! :.-~ : ....
-' -
The quality of knowledge provided depends on the quality of knowledge amalgamated . Therefore business mod elling language and tool used for development and maintenance of the business model have to support the high level of complexity and flexibility of representations.
According to cogmtlve engineering standards (Rasmussen, et aI., 1994) , the following aspects of the work system must be modelled : • work domain in terms of means - ends structure • activity analysis in work domain terms, decision making terms and terms of mental strategies that can be used cognitive resources in terms of actors competency, criteria and values
:
A fractalle ve
Mulislrala
represental ion~
A depeooency link
Fig.
3. COMPLEXITY OF THE BUSINESS MODEL In organisational setting there is not just one goal • hierarchy that is shared by all employees in different levels of organisation. Rather a system of goals , that comprises organisational goals, goals of formal and non-formal groups, as well as private goals and variety of relationships between different kinds and levels of goals is to be considered (Dardenne, 1993). Therefore, preparing of information, necessary to support a particular employee's work, requires modelling in different levels of abstraction and granularity with respect to each actor. Modelling of different aspects of organisation is also necessary for providing information according to the viewpoints determined by employee's position.
-.... ..
A part-Of relationship
o
An actor
4. The three dimensional multilevel architecture of the business model with dependency links.
In the architecture reflected in Fig. 4 actors of the organisation are related by the part-of relationship showing fractal levels of the organisation. Each actor's space of activities is described by multistrata representation, i.e., in several levels of abstraction . Each abstraction level, in turn, can be reflected in several levels of decomposition. Dependency links between levels of abstraction can represent different kinds of dependencies between actors. For example, in Fig. 5 the University depends on the Accounting department, that performs accounting (goal dependency) and the Faculty depends on the Accounting department for the monthly list of salaries (resource dependency). Such architecture has a high degree of complexity and can be maintained using appropriate software tools. However, even less complex dynamically changing models of organisations may be helpful for supporting the employee~ with knowledge that can improve their understanding of organisational goals and processes.
On the other hand mutual dependencies between individuals and organisational units have to be taken into consideration (Yu, 1994). Goal, task, resource and soft goal dependencies can be differentiated and modelled.
49
I or~ :~~~_~~_-+_~"-C:::J i'/c=S
.'
-
I !
Fig . 5. Dependency links between levels of abstraction .
4. CONTENTS AND GRANULARITY OF THE
c:=J .....:....4==--....1
Fig. 6. Contents of knowledge to be provided. separate goals model may overcomplicate or restrict analysis of knowledge processes in organisation.
KNOWLEDGE TO BE PROVIDED Dynamically changing environment and internal flexibility of modern organisations require a new approach of organisation analysis and decision making . Employees are to be able to react quickly and creatively in many unpredictable work situations. Tough work instructions are not anymore a solution for achieving harmony in organisation's behaviour. In many situations employees must rapidly design situation dependent work procedures themselves , choose dependency routes and examine alternative ways of problem solution . As discussed in the previous sections the most important information necessary for employee is the following : goal(s) to be achieved constraints to be taken into consideration Each employee is a part of an organisation and usually a member of one or more subgroups or organisational units. Therefore goals to be achieved by an employee are related to more general goals of the particular organisational units and organisation as a whole (Fig . 6). It is essential for an employee to know not only a particular goal he or she is responsible for, but also higher level goals and values. This knowledge allows the employee to harmonise his or her behaviour with behaviour of subunit and organisation as a whole and avoid misunderstanding of the tasks (consider, e .g., differences between goal hierarchies a and b in Fig. 3). Knowing the goals of the organisation supports employee's perception of his or her personal role and understanding of supervisors expectations.
Depending on the particular business or enterprise model in use, constraints may be included in goals model, too (Bubenko, 1993). Nevertheless , useful information concerning constraints is provided by the business process model that is an essential submodel of the business model in use. Employees can receive the following information from the process model that supports their understanding of tasks to be performed (Fig . 6): • description of the task and mutually related tasks on the level of decomposition where e~ployee's task is considered as a single unit (e.g ., task Writing the Self-Evaluation Report in Fig. 7) • description of tasks dependent on the employee's task on a higher levels of decomposition (e.g., Tasks Self-Evaluation and Accreditation in Fig. 8 where the role of the SelfEvaluation Report is seen) possible decomposition of the task, if necessary (e.g., decomposition of the task Writing the SelfEvaluation Report in Fig. 9) Again possession of information concerning the task from higher levels of abstraction and decomposition supports better understanding of the task and constraints to be taken into consideration . In the case of goal dependency (procedure of accomplishment is chosen by an employee) a particular routine of behaviour is not forced on the employee . Freedom of choice thus supports creative and flexible way of working.
The business models offered by different research groups and companies differ in their frameworks. Some of them have the goals model as a separate submodel (Bubenko, 1993), but there are also business models where goals are reflected only as textual information (Barzdins, et aI., 1996) . Lack of
50
( - - A~c-;-edit;;io-;; - , I officials I
'-----
Organisation Chart. Detailed knowledge in fine granularity then will be provided concerning shaded elements . Knowledge concerning other elements drawn with the thick line can be provided in a way supporting only general understanding of the elements, i.e. in rougher granularity.
6 . KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Knowledge management supported by business models consists of procedures for knowledge representation in business models as well as procedures for knowledge provision.
Fig . 7. Task decomposition (level i).
I
Accreditation
1
'---------}
Fig. 8. Task decomposition (level i - 1).
Fig. 9. Task decomposition (level i + 1). Knowledge needs of individuals differ in granularity of knowledge necessary for accomplishment of particular tasks. According to suggestions of cognitive psychology (Anderson, 1990) a hypothesis can be stated that information on the level of abstraction directly related to the individual should be provided in a finer granularity than information on the levels of abstraction related to the individual indirectly . In Fig. 2 elements of the Goal Hierarchy and the Business Process Model drawn using a thicker line are those to be in included in knowledge purposely provided for the individual reflected in the
Knowledge representation in business models require its translation from utterances and documents to the business language in use. There are advantages as well as disadvantages of such translations. An attempt to put "ordinary" information into business model highly improves understanding of things to be reflected in the model. Business modelling language indirectly "asks questions" and so reveals lack of knowledge that otherwise would be left hidden. However, it is evident, that not all information can be put in the business model. Therefore additional forms of representation must be used together with the business model's diagrams . The core of knowledge provision is the preparation of information for a particular individual, that consists of the following activities: • examination of information that has already been provided to the individual, i.e., "knowledge already provided" (if exists) • analysis of system of business models with respect to a particular individual • generation of current state of knowledge amalgamated in business models, with respect to the particular individual. This state of modelling knowledge can be called "knowledge in use" comparison of knowledge already provided with the knowledge in use • deciding about the contents and granularity of "knowledge to be provided" • communication of the knowledge to be provided to the employee • feedback analysis (if necessary) updating of knowledge already provided Employees of an organisation are usually sources of information du ring initial stages of the business model development. Therefore current knowledge distribution in the organisation can be represented by recording relationships between individuals and knowledge elements in the model (Kirikova, 1996). This knowledge distribution can be considered as "knowledge already provided" concerning the
51
particular individual in the first go of purposely organised knowledge distribution activities. Knowledge management supported by business models can be organised in the following two ways: receivers of knowledge have no access to the business models, i.e., knowledge receivers do not read business models directly knowledge is provided by giving the access to the palticular parts of the business model , i.e., knowledge receivers read business models directly
Regiatl'lltion of S-E Report and
handing over to
In the first case knowledge from business models is translated to the "ordinary language" easily understandable for employees.
HEQEC +
bepartment~
t,Mislry AND HEQEC Registered and haded over Evaluatio Report
(- C';m-;;Iellng ~r-',
In the second case each receiver of knowledge has to have particular skills in business modelling . It must be noted here that the opinion exists among designers of information systems that diagrams (the main form of knowledge representation used in the business modelling) are not easily understandable to employees. However, it is just a question of education. The experimental 48 hours course in Business Modelling was held for students in Port Management (Marine Academy of Latvia). After that course the students were able to read and create business diagrams freely. A similar course with similar results was held also for students of Faculty of Economics (University of Latvia).
!
Evaluation
I
I
Commisaion
I
~~~a-=c:: '--'-- ,
(- - p';pari;g- - ....., I I
documentt for accreditaion
'-----~----
(-_ ~ _-~CiSI; - - ,
I-Accr8dTtailo- n- - -, I commission AND HE I
'-----r I Council
Working with the business model directly open more possibilities in knowledge acquisition by employees. The business model permit knowledge representation at different levels of detail, from different viewpoints and on different levels of abstraction. For example, in Fig. 10 the accreditation process is shown as explained by accreditation officials. If an employee is interested in what a department has to do in this process, the performers diagrams can be generated by the business modelling tool, that show the accreditation process in a smaller granularity and from the department's point of view. The accreditation process from the point of view of the department is shown in Fig. 11 .
I I
I- HEQEC- ---- -,
<
I
C ---
Accredited)
<
Non-accredited
>
Fig. 10. A fragment of the accreditation process (as explained by the accreditation officials).
1(=-===':':":-":-1 11 I,
Le.rnIng Sett' ..Evaluation
1, lj
~'::==~~~==~
Having a direct access to the model, the receiver of the knowledge is less dependent on the knowledge managers' limited understanding of the the actor's knowledge needs .
ReglstralkJn of S-E Report end
handing ov., to HEQEC
Departmer( ANO-
Mini5tryAND HEaeC
,,==--I, [,
egiatered Md haded ov.r Ev.uetion Report --:"':-~ I
Completing of Evaluadon
'I
11
~,-==~~1-~=~
Fig. 11. Accreditation from the point of view of the department.
52
and
7. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge processes are very important in modem dynamic work systems. Usually these processcs are invisible and cannot be controlled. However, there is a possibility to support these processes purposcly by providing information to employees using a continuously maintained and renovated business model of an organisation. Contents and granularity of knowledge provided should be chosen appropriately , considering particular needs of individuals that , in turn , depend on the employee's motivation, role, position, experience and education. Maintenance of business model and additional information required by procedure of knowledge distribution is a task of high complexity and should be software supported . Careful knowledge management is necessary for software supported analysis of knowledge processes in the organisation, knowledge amalgamation in the business model, and regular knowledge distribution according to the needs of organisational units and individual actors. Although possibilities to model knowledge processes in organisations are rather limited , this kind of modelling supports transparency of organisational processes and influences patterns of decision making and responsibility. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge Prof. Janis Grundspenkis, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering, Riga Technical University, Latvia for valuable comments on the draft of the paper.
Databases, Lloret Costa Brava: Universitat Politechnica C'-atalunya . Dardenne , A., et al. (1993). Goal-Directed Requirements Acquisition. In: Science of Computer Programming N 20 , Elsevier, 1993, P3 - 50. Hartmann , M. and Forster, T . (1997). Managing Change in Turbulent Environment. Preprints of the IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skills, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, September 17-19, P. 199 - 202 . Kirikova, M. (1998). Towards completeness of business models. Accepted at the 8th European - Japanese Seminar on Information Modelling and Knowledge bases, Finland, May 26 -29. Kirikova, M. (1996). Knowledge Distribution in Organisations. In: Proceedings of the 5th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skill: Joint Design of Technology and Organisation . D. Brandt and T. Martin (Eds .), PERGAMON, 1996, P. 137 -142 . Knight, J. (1998). Internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions: Rationale, Strategies and Quality Assurance. Presentation to IMHE/NAUA Seminar, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia April 1-3. Rasmussen, J., et al. (1994) . Cognitive Systems Engineering. John Willey & Sons, Inc. Wikstrom, Sand Normann, R. (1994). Knowledge and Value . Routledge, London and New York. Stamoulis, D.S. (1997). Higher Education Institutions: A Case for IT Driven Business Process Reengineering? Proceedings of the 5th
European Conference on Information Systems, Cork Publishing Ltd., Ireland, P. 441 - 459. Yu, E.S.K. (1994). Modelling Strategic Relationships for Process Reengineering. Dissertation . University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
The Business Model examples presented in the paper are prepared using the business modelling tool GRADE, provided for research and tcaching at Riga Technical University by the a/s DATI, Latvia. REFERENCES Anderson , J .R. (1990) . Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications . Freeman and Company . Barzdins J., et al. (1996). Business Modelling Language GRAPES BM - 3.0 and Its Use, Riga, RITI (in Latvian). Brennan, J. (1998.) Quality and Its Assessment. Presentation to IMHE/NAUA Seminar, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia April 1-3. Bubenko, J.A. jr. (1993). Extending the Scope of Information Modelling. In: Proceedings of the
Fourth International Workshop on the Deductive Approach to Information Systems
53
Copyright © IFAC Automated Systems Based on Human Skill , Palanga, LITHUANIA, 1998
o
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SUPPORTED BY BUSINESS MODELS
Marite Kirikova
Department of Systems Theory and Design, Riga Technical University, J Kalku Str., Riga, L V-J658 LA TV/A, e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Development of modem, dynamic work systems has to be based on analysis and design in terms of the behaviour shaping goals and constraints . This kind of analysis and design , in turn, requires consideration of knowledge processes in organisations, as well as purposely organised procedures of knowledge distribution. Multilevel enterprise models can be used for knowledge amalgamation, analysis and distribution with respect to knowledge needs of individuals and groups in organisations . Keywords : Knowledge acquisition, knowledge representation, enterprise modelling, business process engineering , dynamic systems
1. INTRODUCfION Research in Cognitive Engineering has shown that development of modem , dynamic work systems cannot be based on analysis and design of work systems in terms of stable task procedures . Instead, analysis of work systems must be in terms of the behaviour shaping goals and constraints, that define the boundaries of space within which actors are free to improvise guided by their local subjective performance criteria . (Rasmussen, et al., 1994). In other words, actors involved in business process have to have knowledge concerning current goals and constraints that are relevant to their tasks. Similar conclusions have been made also by researchers working in the area of managing changes in turbulent environment (Hartmann and Forster, 1997). Rapid and unexpected changes in the environment of organisations can require very fast changes in goals and constraints that have to be based on the information concerning the changes in environment and in organisation. Transparency of changes, i.e . a
possibility to see how changes in one part of an organisation affect other parts of the organisation, is necessary for providing satisfactory change management including provision of necessary knowledge for the actors (employees or structural units) of the organisation. The hypothesis can be sated that it is useful to
support each employee with knowledge, that gives him or her a possibility to see the business process as a whole, as well as his or her particular place in that process. Such knowledge would give additional opportunities to perform tasks with the best quality and adjust to the changes in the environment and organisation. The knowledge has to be provided with respect to particular knowledge needs of employees of organisation. The knowledge needs, in turn, are employee's motivation, role, position , experience and education dependent.
46
This paper suggests to use business models and business modelling tools to support change management and provide necessary knowledge for the actors of the organisation. The business modelling is a popular tool for business reengineering and allows to amalgamate essential business information in a transparent and relatively easily changeable way. For the purpose of change management business models are to be built in a way that they could comprise not only a business process itself but also (1) the information people were supported with, (2) intended changes in goals and constraints of an organisation as a whole as well as of particular actors in the organisation, and consequently, (3) new information individuals must be supported with in the current moment of organisational development. Development and use of such models, in turn, require analysis design and management of knowledge processes in organisations. (Wikstrom and Normann, 1994). This requirement suggests one more hypothesis that is the following. In turbulent environment organisations need knowledge management in a line with other kinds of management such as configuration management, risk management, etc., to be able to support purposely organised distribution of goal and constraint oriented knowledge according to the needs of particular groups and individuals in the organisation. The paper is organised as follows. The second section concerns knowledge processes in organisations. Complexity of the business model, that is to be used for knowledge amalgamation and distribution, is discussed in the third section. Contents and granularity of knowledge to be provided for the actors of the organisation are considered in the forth section. The fifth section deals with to the issues of knowledge management. The sixth section consists of brief conclusions.
result of representative processes is conveyed to the customer by representative knowledge processes. All three kinds of processes are mutually related and overlapping. For example, if a HEI decides to apply for accreditation, generative processes accumulate knowledge concerning accreditation. Productive processes can manifest as changes in education programmes and management procedures. Representative processes, in turn, are the basis for development of self evaluation report that has to be presented to the accreditation officials. Most of knowledge processes in an organisation are invisible and usually left uncontrolled. However, it is possible to influence them by purposely provided information concerning dynamically changing goals and constraints in the organisation. Information concerning goals and processes performed by individuals, groups or organisation as a whole can be represented in the business model of the organisation. The business model concerns not only the organisation itself, but also can contain a certain amount of information concerning the environment of the organisation. Configuration management of the enterprise model can keep history of dynamic changes of the model's components (Bubenko, 1993). Thus the business model can be kept up-to-date and the changes in it delivered to the employees affected by those changes (Fig. 1). In that way an individual can receive additional information relevant to his current task. Infonnation concerning the environment
Higher Educational Institutions (HE!) example is used to illustrate ideas and concepts.
2.
KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES IN AN ORGANISATION
According to Wikstrom and Normann (1994) three kinds of knowledge processes are recognised and are to be modelled. These are generative, productive and representative processes. Generative processes accumulate knowledge necessary for development of an organisation. This knowledge is then used in productive knowledge processes, that result in knowledge manifesting as concrete customer offerings, e.g., machines, services, etc. Finally the
Infonnation concerning the organisation
Fig. 1. Knowledge from the business model can be purposely distributed to the individuals affected by the changes in goals and constraints concerning their tasks. This information concerning the organisation and environment can be more prompt than the one individual could acquire by another modes of acquisition. Each time knowledge purposely is provided to the individual the generative knowledge processes are potentially introduced that consequently can enhance productive and
47
representative organisation.
knowledge
processes
in
the
Research in organisational learning as well as in cognitive psychology has shown that knowledge processes depend on and influence actor values, goals and performance (Anderson , 1990; Wikstrom and Normann 1994) . Therefore, for managing knowledge processes in organisation and providing knowledge for individuals, business models have to comprise several levels of abstraction including such as goals, values and processes . Each level of abstraction can consist of information relevant to individual actors and structural units in the organisation (Rasmussen, et aI. , 1994). An example of HEI's representation in the following six abstraction levels (Kirikova 1998) is given in Fig. 2 :
• Mission (M) • Values (V) • Goals (G)
•
Abstract Functions (AF) Physical Processes (P) Configuration (Conf)
Mission: Knowledge processing System of values : Academic - subject focus : knowledge and curricula Managerial - institutional focus : policies and procedures Pedagogic - people focus : skills and competencies Employment orient. - output focus : graduate standards/learning outcomes
(Stamolis et aI., ] 997) are fulfilled. Fulfilment of the functions or physical processes depend on and at the same time influence configuration of the HE!. Changes in each of abstraction levels can cause changes in one or more other abstraction levels. For example changes in the value system can cause changes in the goals. Fragments of two alternative goal hierarchies are reflected in the figure 3. If values change , it can happen that hierarchy of goals b is replaced with hierarchy of goals a. According to hierarchy of goals b the goal to be achieved is the Accreditation. The self evaluation report is necessary for accreditation, therefore subgoal Self evaluation report has to be defined that, in turn, has the subgoal Self evaluation. According to such hierarchy of goals the self evaluation can be a procedure that HE! goes through each fifth or sixth year according to the requirements of local accreditation organisations . The goal system a, in contrast, has a high level goal Self evaluation . The Self evaluation report then is a subgoal of the Self evaluation . The report can be used also for accreditation when it is necessary. This means that in goal hierarchy a self evaluation is an integrated part of HEI's functions and processes (Knight, 1998) not a temporal activity as in the case of a goal hierarchy b. Thus replacement of goal system b with the goal system a can require quite essential changes in the decomposition of functions in the HEI as well as in ph ysical processes of the institution. High quality of teaching and research
a)
Goal : High quality ofperforrnance
~
1 ________
Official acceptance
Self evaluation
/""
/- -
Self evaluation repon
Accreditation ··
b)
Physical processes: e.g., Worktlow
High salary and
~dr~
Configuration: Physical objects and location
Accreditation
I
Self evaluation
Fig. 2. Abstraction levels in HEl's representation.
repon
The level of mission reflects the ultimate goal of the organisation that defines its setting in the environment. Knowledge processing can be considered as a mission of the HE! (Stamoulis et aI., 1997). The way mission is fulfilled depends on the system of values of the HE! that can be represented at the next level. Four main quality systems have been recognised in the HEIs (Brennan, 1998), each of them having focus on different aspects of higher education, as shown in Fig. 2. In turn, goals defined by the HEI depend on the system of values and influence the way how the main functions of the HEI
I
Self evaluation
Fig 3 . Self evaluation in two systems of goals. According to research results in cognitive engineering (Rasmussen, et aI., 1994) and management of organisations (Hartmann and Forster, 1997) goals and constraints are the most important knowledge to be provided to the actors of the organisation. On the other hand, mutual dependence between abstraction levels of the representation of the organisation can require several levels of
48
abstraction to be included in the definition of the goals and constraints in each particular organisational situation. Therefore knowledge provision is a quite complicated task that includes the following main subtasks: • •
•
maintenance of business model and models for capture of additional information consideration of generative , productive and representative knowledge processes In an organisation definition of goals and constraints for particular actors in terms of different abstraction level elements with respect to the type of knowledge processes to be stimulated
A business model that can meet requirements stated by cognitive engineering standards and provide possibilities for reflecting different kinds of dependencies is the system of mutually related multilevel submodels. As an example of such system the three dimensional multilevel architecture of the business model with dependency links (Kirikova 1998) is represented in Fig. 4 .
. ,~! :.-~ : ....
-' -
The quality of knowledge provided depends on the quality of knowledge amalgamated . Therefore business mod elling language and tool used for development and maintenance of the business model have to support the high level of complexity and flexibility of representations.
According to cogmtlve engineering standards (Rasmussen, et aI., 1994) , the following aspects of the work system must be modelled : • work domain in terms of means - ends structure • activity analysis in work domain terms, decision making terms and terms of mental strategies that can be used cognitive resources in terms of actors competency, criteria and values
:
A fractalle ve
Mulislrala
represental ion~
A depeooency link
Fig.
3. COMPLEXITY OF THE BUSINESS MODEL In organisational setting there is not just one goal • hierarchy that is shared by all employees in different levels of organisation. Rather a system of goals , that comprises organisational goals, goals of formal and non-formal groups, as well as private goals and variety of relationships between different kinds and levels of goals is to be considered (Dardenne, 1993). Therefore, preparing of information, necessary to support a particular employee's work, requires modelling in different levels of abstraction and granularity with respect to each actor. Modelling of different aspects of organisation is also necessary for providing information according to the viewpoints determined by employee's position.
-.... ..
A part-Of relationship
o
An actor
4. The three dimensional multilevel architecture of the business model with dependency links.
In the architecture reflected in Fig. 4 actors of the organisation are related by the part-of relationship showing fractal levels of the organisation. Each actor's space of activities is described by multistrata representation, i.e., in several levels of abstraction . Each abstraction level, in turn, can be reflected in several levels of decomposition. Dependency links between levels of abstraction can represent different kinds of dependencies between actors. For example, in Fig. 5 the University depends on the Accounting department, that performs accounting (goal dependency) and the Faculty depends on the Accounting department for the monthly list of salaries (resource dependency). Such architecture has a high degree of complexity and can be maintained using appropriate software tools. However, even less complex dynamically changing models of organisations may be helpful for supporting the employee~ with knowledge that can improve their understanding of organisational goals and processes.
On the other hand mutual dependencies between individuals and organisational units have to be taken into consideration (Yu, 1994). Goal, task, resource and soft goal dependencies can be differentiated and modelled.
49
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.'
-
I !
Fig . 5. Dependency links between levels of abstraction .
4. CONTENTS AND GRANULARITY OF THE
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Fig. 6. Contents of knowledge to be provided. separate goals model may overcomplicate or restrict analysis of knowledge processes in organisation.
KNOWLEDGE TO BE PROVIDED Dynamically changing environment and internal flexibility of modern organisations require a new approach of organisation analysis and decision making . Employees are to be able to react quickly and creatively in many unpredictable work situations. Tough work instructions are not anymore a solution for achieving harmony in organisation's behaviour. In many situations employees must rapidly design situation dependent work procedures themselves , choose dependency routes and examine alternative ways of problem solution . As discussed in the previous sections the most important information necessary for employee is the following : goal(s) to be achieved constraints to be taken into consideration Each employee is a part of an organisation and usually a member of one or more subgroups or organisational units. Therefore goals to be achieved by an employee are related to more general goals of the particular organisational units and organisation as a whole (Fig . 6). It is essential for an employee to know not only a particular goal he or she is responsible for, but also higher level goals and values. This knowledge allows the employee to harmonise his or her behaviour with behaviour of subunit and organisation as a whole and avoid misunderstanding of the tasks (consider, e .g., differences between goal hierarchies a and b in Fig. 3). Knowing the goals of the organisation supports employee's perception of his or her personal role and understanding of supervisors expectations.
Depending on the particular business or enterprise model in use, constraints may be included in goals model, too (Bubenko, 1993). Nevertheless , useful information concerning constraints is provided by the business process model that is an essential submodel of the business model in use. Employees can receive the following information from the process model that supports their understanding of tasks to be performed (Fig . 6): • description of the task and mutually related tasks on the level of decomposition where e~ployee's task is considered as a single unit (e.g ., task Writing the Self-Evaluation Report in Fig. 7) • description of tasks dependent on the employee's task on a higher levels of decomposition (e.g., Tasks Self-Evaluation and Accreditation in Fig. 8 where the role of the SelfEvaluation Report is seen) possible decomposition of the task, if necessary (e.g., decomposition of the task Writing the SelfEvaluation Report in Fig. 9) Again possession of information concerning the task from higher levels of abstraction and decomposition supports better understanding of the task and constraints to be taken into consideration . In the case of goal dependency (procedure of accomplishment is chosen by an employee) a particular routine of behaviour is not forced on the employee . Freedom of choice thus supports creative and flexible way of working.
The business models offered by different research groups and companies differ in their frameworks. Some of them have the goals model as a separate submodel (Bubenko, 1993), but there are also business models where goals are reflected only as textual information (Barzdins, et aI., 1996) . Lack of
50
( - - A~c-;-edit;;io-;; - , I officials I
'-----
Organisation Chart. Detailed knowledge in fine granularity then will be provided concerning shaded elements . Knowledge concerning other elements drawn with the thick line can be provided in a way supporting only general understanding of the elements, i.e. in rougher granularity.
6 . KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Knowledge management supported by business models consists of procedures for knowledge representation in business models as well as procedures for knowledge provision.
Fig . 7. Task decomposition (level i).
I
Accreditation
1
'---------}
Fig. 8. Task decomposition (level i - 1).
Fig. 9. Task decomposition (level i + 1). Knowledge needs of individuals differ in granularity of knowledge necessary for accomplishment of particular tasks. According to suggestions of cognitive psychology (Anderson, 1990) a hypothesis can be stated that information on the level of abstraction directly related to the individual should be provided in a finer granularity than information on the levels of abstraction related to the individual indirectly . In Fig. 2 elements of the Goal Hierarchy and the Business Process Model drawn using a thicker line are those to be in included in knowledge purposely provided for the individual reflected in the
Knowledge representation in business models require its translation from utterances and documents to the business language in use. There are advantages as well as disadvantages of such translations. An attempt to put "ordinary" information into business model highly improves understanding of things to be reflected in the model. Business modelling language indirectly "asks questions" and so reveals lack of knowledge that otherwise would be left hidden. However, it is evident, that not all information can be put in the business model. Therefore additional forms of representation must be used together with the business model's diagrams . The core of knowledge provision is the preparation of information for a particular individual, that consists of the following activities: • examination of information that has already been provided to the individual, i.e., "knowledge already provided" (if exists) • analysis of system of business models with respect to a particular individual • generation of current state of knowledge amalgamated in business models, with respect to the particular individual. This state of modelling knowledge can be called "knowledge in use" comparison of knowledge already provided with the knowledge in use • deciding about the contents and granularity of "knowledge to be provided" • communication of the knowledge to be provided to the employee • feedback analysis (if necessary) updating of knowledge already provided Employees of an organisation are usually sources of information du ring initial stages of the business model development. Therefore current knowledge distribution in the organisation can be represented by recording relationships between individuals and knowledge elements in the model (Kirikova, 1996). This knowledge distribution can be considered as "knowledge already provided" concerning the
51
particular individual in the first go of purposely organised knowledge distribution activities. Knowledge management supported by business models can be organised in the following two ways: receivers of knowledge have no access to the business models, i.e., knowledge receivers do not read business models directly knowledge is provided by giving the access to the palticular parts of the business model , i.e., knowledge receivers read business models directly
Regiatl'lltion of S-E Report and
handing over to
In the first case knowledge from business models is translated to the "ordinary language" easily understandable for employees.
HEQEC +
bepartment~
t,Mislry AND HEQEC Registered and haded over Evaluatio Report
(- C';m-;;Iellng ~r-',
In the second case each receiver of knowledge has to have particular skills in business modelling . It must be noted here that the opinion exists among designers of information systems that diagrams (the main form of knowledge representation used in the business modelling) are not easily understandable to employees. However, it is just a question of education. The experimental 48 hours course in Business Modelling was held for students in Port Management (Marine Academy of Latvia). After that course the students were able to read and create business diagrams freely. A similar course with similar results was held also for students of Faculty of Economics (University of Latvia).
!
Evaluation
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I
Commisaion
I
~~~a-=c:: '--'-- ,
(- - p';pari;g- - ....., I I
documentt for accreditaion
'-----~----
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Working with the business model directly open more possibilities in knowledge acquisition by employees. The business model permit knowledge representation at different levels of detail, from different viewpoints and on different levels of abstraction. For example, in Fig. 10 the accreditation process is shown as explained by accreditation officials. If an employee is interested in what a department has to do in this process, the performers diagrams can be generated by the business modelling tool, that show the accreditation process in a smaller granularity and from the department's point of view. The accreditation process from the point of view of the department is shown in Fig. 11 .
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I- HEQEC- ---- -,
<
I
C ---
Accredited)
<
Non-accredited
>
Fig. 10. A fragment of the accreditation process (as explained by the accreditation officials).
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Le.rnIng Sett' ..Evaluation
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~'::==~~~==~
Having a direct access to the model, the receiver of the knowledge is less dependent on the knowledge managers' limited understanding of the the actor's knowledge needs .
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handing ov., to HEQEC
Departmer( ANO-
Mini5tryAND HEaeC
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egiatered Md haded ov.r Ev.uetion Report --:"':-~ I
Completing of Evaluadon
'I
11
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Fig. 11. Accreditation from the point of view of the department.
52
and
7. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge processes are very important in modem dynamic work systems. Usually these processcs are invisible and cannot be controlled. However, there is a possibility to support these processes purposcly by providing information to employees using a continuously maintained and renovated business model of an organisation. Contents and granularity of knowledge provided should be chosen appropriately , considering particular needs of individuals that , in turn , depend on the employee's motivation, role, position, experience and education. Maintenance of business model and additional information required by procedure of knowledge distribution is a task of high complexity and should be software supported . Careful knowledge management is necessary for software supported analysis of knowledge processes in the organisation, knowledge amalgamation in the business model, and regular knowledge distribution according to the needs of organisational units and individual actors. Although possibilities to model knowledge processes in organisations are rather limited , this kind of modelling supports transparency of organisational processes and influences patterns of decision making and responsibility. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I acknowledge Prof. Janis Grundspenkis, Dean of the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Computer Engineering, Riga Technical University, Latvia for valuable comments on the draft of the paper.
Databases, Lloret Costa Brava: Universitat Politechnica C'-atalunya . Dardenne , A., et al. (1993). Goal-Directed Requirements Acquisition. In: Science of Computer Programming N 20 , Elsevier, 1993, P3 - 50. Hartmann , M. and Forster, T . (1997). Managing Change in Turbulent Environment. Preprints of the IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skills, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, September 17-19, P. 199 - 202 . Kirikova, M. (1998). Towards completeness of business models. Accepted at the 8th European - Japanese Seminar on Information Modelling and Knowledge bases, Finland, May 26 -29. Kirikova, M. (1996). Knowledge Distribution in Organisations. In: Proceedings of the 5th IFAC Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human Skill: Joint Design of Technology and Organisation . D. Brandt and T. Martin (Eds .), PERGAMON, 1996, P. 137 -142 . Knight, J. (1998). Internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions: Rationale, Strategies and Quality Assurance. Presentation to IMHE/NAUA Seminar, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia April 1-3. Rasmussen, J., et al. (1994) . Cognitive Systems Engineering. John Willey & Sons, Inc. Wikstrom, Sand Normann, R. (1994). Knowledge and Value . Routledge, London and New York. Stamoulis, D.S. (1997). Higher Education Institutions: A Case for IT Driven Business Process Reengineering? Proceedings of the 5th
European Conference on Information Systems, Cork Publishing Ltd., Ireland, P. 441 - 459. Yu, E.S.K. (1994). Modelling Strategic Relationships for Process Reengineering. Dissertation . University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
The Business Model examples presented in the paper are prepared using the business modelling tool GRADE, provided for research and tcaching at Riga Technical University by the a/s DATI, Latvia. REFERENCES Anderson , J .R. (1990) . Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications . Freeman and Company . Barzdins J., et al. (1996). Business Modelling Language GRAPES BM - 3.0 and Its Use, Riga, RITI (in Latvian). Brennan, J. (1998.) Quality and Its Assessment. Presentation to IMHE/NAUA Seminar, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia April 1-3. Bubenko, J.A. jr. (1993). Extending the Scope of Information Modelling. In: Proceedings of the
Fourth International Workshop on the Deductive Approach to Information Systems
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