Guidelines for Constructing Consumption Aggregates for Welfare Analysis (Lsms Working Paper)

Book Description

"A fine blend of analysis and highly practical advice. Useful for anyone interested in the professional development of teachers as a collaborative learning process."
Stephen Brookfield, Professor
University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota

Encourage your teachers to form study groups to enrich their professional development programs.

This book shows how "Learning Circles"—small groups of learners who come together to support each other in learning—can make great improvements in the quality of teaching and learning in your school.

Based on six key conditions, teachers form Learning Circles by learning how to:

1. Build "community" with other learners

2. Construct knowledge through personal experience

3. Support other learners in their reflective practices

4. Document reflections on professional experiences

5. Assess growth expectations

6. Improve the culture in classrooms, schools, and communities

Help your teachers see how reflective practice can boost their effectiveness! They can make significant, positive differences in your school by improving how people relate to each other and sharing a vision for change.

Customer Reviews:

Learning Circles and Mentoring.......2000-01-21

Learning Circles was designed for teachers in the elementary and secondary schools and those individuals involved with teacher professional development. "Learning circles", as defined by the authors, are small groups of learners who come together to support each other in learning. The authors discuss the six key conditions needed to create a "learning circle." These conditions are:

Building Community "...building community means making sure members get to know won another, their work histories, their life stories, and their areas of interest." (pg. 9)

"...is a basic condition necessary for empowered learning by individuals and for the group as a whole." (pg. 9)

4 stages of building community -- initialing maintaining sustaining transforming

Constructing Knowledge -- "Teaching cannot be based on telling learners what we think they should know but must be done by engaging them through active learning experiences so they form their own conclusions about situations presented to them." (pg. 10) Should be a constructivist learning environment--engage the learner

Supporting Learners -- the participants should share a common goal, this goal is created together and made explicit, participants must feel valued by other group members

Documenting Reflection -- keeping journals, analyzing student learning, videotaping teaching sessions for peer review, summarizing learning circle gatherings

"Metaphors are mirrors in which we observe ourselves and windows through which our colleagues can gaze." (pg. 69)

Assessing Expectations -- group determines expectations collectively, group agrees on a process for assessing, individual progress, create and maintain portfolios to demonstrate personal growth and professional change, Approaches to Assessment -- Self-Assessment, Peer-Assessment, Portfolio Assessment

Changing Cultures -- cultures are constantly changing--members of "learning circles" should engage in "thinking about how the culture of their classroom and students or their businesses, churches, or organizations could be changed by their individual or collective efforts." (pg. 11)

Ways to learn about cultures -- artifacts, dance, acting

You may be wondering what all of this has to do with Mentoring. ""Learning circles" are based on the earliest understanding of how people learn--through mentorship." (pg. 106) The learning circle offers possibilities of "group mentorship", where several people work closely together for the good of the group.(pg. 107) A group, that I'm working with at this time is a "learning circle". We have all the conditions required to have a "learning circle." We are also mentoring each other. The authors say that mentoring plays a critical role in the transformation of an organization. They give 3 roles for the mentor in any group:

Mentors must be competent and qualified in their own right

Mentors accept responsibility for the culture

Mentors identify ways they can formally and informally structure the learning of new members and experienced colleagues

Book Description

Cutting-edge measurement technology for multidimensional systems
The Mahalanobis-Taguchi Strategy presents methods for developing multidimensional measurement scales that are up to date with the most current trends in multivariate diagnosis/pattern recognition-namely, using measures and procedures that are data analytic and not dependent upon the distribution of the characteristics defining the system. Applications for these measurement scales are also explored across a wide range of disciplines from manufacturing to medicine.
This book presents methods that integrate mathematical and statistical concepts such as Mahalanobis distance and Gram-Schmidt's orthogonalization method with the principles of Taguchi methods. These completely new systems of measurement and analysis move beyond anything Dr. Taguchi has done in the past. Coverage includes the refined Mahalanobis-Taguchi system, the Mahalanobis-Taguchi-Gram-Schmidt method, the Adjoint Matrix method, and other advanced topics, along with a detailed examination of each method. In addition to examining how real-world problems are solved using these methods, critical comparisons are made between the methods covered here and existing multivariate diagnosis/pattern recognition techniques.
The Mahalanobis-Taguchi Strategy: A Pattern Technology System is an essential book for engineers, designers, and statistical quality experts and programmers in the fields of engineering and computer science, as well as researchers in finance, medicine, statistics, and general science.

Customer Reviews:

Finally A Book To Understand MTS & MTGS.......2005-11-23

If you want to learn how to use Mahalanobis Taguchi System (MTS) to solve real case problems and design robust maltivariate systems using orthogonal arrays, buy this book. It is easy to understand to read and to follow the content. The case studies gives a clear idea how to use MTS and Robust Engineering and the potential of both extracting the required information from many variables efficiently. You learn how to use MTS for inspection, diagnosis systems. But you can develop your own ideas e.g. for software testing and screening purposes etc.

The Mahalanobis-Taguchi Strategy - A Pattern Technology System

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The Mahalanobis-Taguchi Strategy - A Pattern Technology System
TAGUCHI
Manufacturer: JOHN WILEY AND SONS LTD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5GNU8

Book Description

Strategic Thinking Leadership and the Management of Change Edited by John Hendry University of Cambridge, UK and Gerry Johnson Cranfield School of Management, UK with Julia Newton Cranfield School of Management, UK Published in association with the Strategic Management Society, The Wiley Strategic Management Series aims to illustrate the `best in global strategic management' for academics, business practitioners and consultants. This book, the first volume in the series, is concerned with the process of strategic management and change. It places emphasis on the way people think about strategy and make sense of their organisational worlds; on organisational learning and adaption; and on the part played in this by leadership. Contributors Chris Bennett R. Thomas Lenz Mary M. Crossan Michael Levenhagen Yves Doz Martha L. Maznevski Jane E. Dutton Lief Melin Tony Eccles Julia Newton Colin Eden Wendy J. Penner Ewan Ferlie Andrew Pettigrew Charles M. Hampden-Turner Joseph F. Porac Kees Van Der Heijden James C. Rush Bo Hellgren Heinz Thanheiser John Hendry Howard Thomas Terry Hildebrand Richard Whipp Gerry Johnson Rod E. White Henry W. Lane Richard Whittington

Fourth Generation Management: The New Business Consciousness

Average customer rating:

I highly recommend this book
All businesses have costs but waste is optional.
A Good Read!
Practical and Realistic
I wish every senior manager would read this book.

Fourth Generation Management: The New Business Consciousness
Brian L. Joiner
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0070327157

Book Description

Written by the first of a new breed of ``quality gurus,'' Fourth Generation Management is a clear, concise synthesis of the best of current management practice and a host of dynamic prescriptions for the future. The centerpiece of the book is the ``Joiner Triangle'', which provides readers with a conceptual framework upon which to build a new corporate culture--one that positions companies for growing productivity and profit in the years ahead. Focusing on quality as defined by the customer. . .a scientific, databased approach to management. . .and the creation of long-term, team-spirited relationships both internally and externally--the Joiner Triangle is already gaining credence as the management philosophy of tomorrow. And that's only the beginning. Readers will learn why process is more important than short-term results, how to foster a working environment in which all employees feel like winners, a new way of looking at data, processes, and variation, and much more. In short, this major release by a widely respected quality improvement leader is the business person's blueprint for the next phase of the ``Quality Revolution.''

Customer Reviews:

I highly recommend this book .......2007-09-09

Brian Joiner really captures the key concepts leaders need to understand to lead their businesses today. His explanation of variation should open many eyes and help many businesses avoid over-correction and over-compensation for what is just occurring. And that is just one of the many useful concepts this book provides.

This book is a classic and should be core to business school curricula.

All businesses have costs but waste is optional........2007-08-22

This is an excellent book, with many breakthrough ideas explained in a very compelling way.

I recommend this book for practitioners working with Lean, Systems thinking or general operational improvement, however, if you are into six-sigma you will not understand the profound knowledge this book contains.

There are a many reasons why I like this book, it has some memorable insights and phrases. Such as `don't work on costs, work on the causes of costs'.

Joiner also highlights how most managers manage their business without any theory behind their actions.. `We should be thankful if the action of management is based on theory...'

Joiner relentlessly pushes the notion that organisations must be `understood and managed as a `system', while developing process thinking, making decisions on customer data and understanding the theory of variation'.

He then goes on to say that the typical management response to calls for improvement is to either 1) distort the system or 2) distort the figures instead of improving the system.

Most people in the world of operational improvement will have come across the Deming PDCA (Plan Do Check Act) cycle, Joiner explains and supports this process very well but he adds a significant insight, what he says is, that when starting to make improvements you must start at CHECK, in fact he devotes a whole chapter to this important variation on Deming's PDCA theme. `Performing check is what most organisations fail to do. Check uncovers things we would just as soon not know, it forces us to look at the huge wastes in each of our activities and exposes it all, and the non productive or plain stupid things we have unknowingly been doing for years. It creates the gut level energy to do a better job of taking Action, of Planning and Doing'.

Joiner states that `a fundamental tenant is that nothing happens in a predictable, sustainable way unless you build mechanisms that cause it to happen in a predictable sustained way'

He talks about listening to management conversations for insights into the organisations real intent and focus he says ... `The way top management spends its time and the questions they ask of each other and the rest of the organisation is critical in determining the focus of the organisation.'

The book goes on to explain how to reduce process variation, the sections about how managers respond to variation would be amusing if they were not real, i.e. how managers work on the people instead of working on the system and the injustice that results in addition to the loss in organisational performance.

A good example of system variation resulting in perverse decisions and behaviour is illustrated by an example Joiner uses in telling a real story about a bank teller, who on several occasions got rewarded for her performance and at other times chastised....finally, she was unlucky enough to loose her job. Later, when talking to a friend she said that she never understood why she being praised because she hadn't done anything different and likewise the chastisement. Further conversation revealed that she had been a victim of system variation, the performance factors were attributed to her and not where they should have been that is to the system in which she worked. Essentially she had lost the Variation Lottery. He quotes Dr. Lloyd Nelson `failure to understand variation is the central problem of management'

Joiner also wallops the inappropriate use of standards (accreditation schemes like ISO and BSI) because they are a barrier to improvement and creativity. He argues that standards far from improving the organisation often result in a loss of performance. `They stifle creativity, deflect attention from customers, increase red tape and make work inflexible, while providing only the minimum acceptable outputs'

When it comes to people motivation he states that `to optimise the organisation as a whole, intrinsic motivation works better that rewards and punishment'

Finally he states that in order to get `better results you must have better methods' and he goes on to explain what those methods are.

This is a fine book, with excellent practical ideas as long as you see people as an asset capable of improving their own workplace and not as a cost to be `managed'.

A Good Read!.......2001-03-20

To survive in today's business environment, it's not enough to just keep improving - you have to do it faster than the other guy does. Brian L. Joiner provides valuable direction in how to get better faster. This approach transcends goal-based management by focusing on the needs of the customer. Only then do apparent contradictions between customer service and cost-cutting become manageable again. The author admits that the teachings of management guru W. Edwards Deming heavily influences his advice. We at getAbstract recommend this very helpful work to managers searching for a more enlightened, more effective approach. It will be particularly useful for those who need a strong rationale to do what they already think is right.

Practical and Realistic.......2000-03-01

Joiner, being Deming's former protégé, has not let the latter down by the technical content of this book. It is straightforward and realistic in its teachings and does not glorify the illustrious side of 'Quality' and its affiliated managerial principles. Most managers should find it relatively easy and practical enough to apply.

A manual well written.

I wish every senior manager would read this book........1999-09-16

While I think the title "Fourth Generation Management" overstates its impact, I wish every senior manager in corporate America would read this book. Many of today's larger corporations are filled with managers so busy fighting for their own promotion (or survival) that their decisions and actions fail to move the organization towards its goals. Adding to the problem is a general laziness in the thought processes displayed by many career-minded individuals. Further compounding the problem is the mindless tampering that always seems to backfire, resulting in increased costs and waste. In this very readable book, Brian Joiner provides solid explanations for these phenomena and offers insight into how to address these issues. As a management consultant, I often recommend this book to my clients. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me - adamleft@webspan.net.

Average customer rating:
COAL, STEEL, AND THE REBIRTH OF EUROPE 1945-1955: THE GERMANS AND FRENCH FROM RUHR CONFLICT TO ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
John Gillingham
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MTCO9O

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Australian Journal of Politics and History, published by University of Queensland Press on September 1, 2001. The length of the article is 910 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: British Society, 1680-1880: Dynamism, Containment and Change.(Review)
Author: Simon Devereaux
Publication: The Australian Journal of Politics and History (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2001
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Page: 435

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Proven Program for Identifying—and Focusing on—Your Best Customers

It's the classic business paradox. You know you could get more business from your best customers, yet you devote the majority of your resources to pursuing the wrong prospects and demanding, unprofitable customers. Customer Chemistry introduces an innovative approach for identifying your best customers, then presents a systematic program for focusing on them to strengthen and benefit from your relationships with them--and increase your incremental profits!

Praise for Customer Chemistry:

"Backed by first-hand experience and rich case studies, this book is packed with the best practices and strategies to educate start-up and CEO alike." --Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D., Founders, Peppers and Rogers Group, Authors of The One to One Future and One to One B2B

"Simple rules--with lots of examples--that reap big results. A mind-changing book that could just save your company." --Nancy Evans, Cofounder and Editor-in-Chief, iVillage

"Many companies are clueless about the importance of chemistry but, after reading this remarkable book, they'll see their new wisdom reflected in their cash flow." --Jay Conrad Levinson, Author of the Guerrilla Marketing series

"The vast majority of businesses and other organizations are still fixated on selling their commodities, while ignoring their customers as human beings. Mary Naylor and Susan Greco provide an ideal model for developing long-range customer loyalty." --Dan Sullivan, President, The Strategic Coach

"Customer Chemistry is . . . an honest and inspiring must-read for anyone whose business success depends on keeping customers happy." --Mario Morino, Chairman, Morino Institute

"Customer Chemistry nails the concept of what it takes to maintain and cultivate customer relationships and maximize their value." --Harry L. Geller, President and CEO, Deutsche Post

"The truth is many companies--let's venture to say most companies--don't know who their best customers are. They may not have a clue which ones consistently contribute to the company's net profits or which bring the most referral business. . . . If you don't know who your customers are, how can you possibly have any kind of relationship with them?" --From Chapter 1

Customer Chemistry turns conventional marketing wisdom on its head. While most marketing books focus on pursuing and landing every possible new customer, this profit- focused book shows you how to identify your A-list customers and strengthen relationships with them--instead of wasting time and money on high-maintenance, low- margin, B-list clients.

Before you begin, however, you must answer two fundamental, yet occasionally painful, customer questions: Which customers have made you the most money? Which consistently promise you the moon but fail to deliver? Customer Chemistry shows you how to uncover and focus on the former as you recognize and discount the latter, tightening your entire marketing and customer relationship program. Written by a seasoned chronicler of today's top customer relationship innovators, along with the founder of one such organization, this fascinating book transcends marketing initiatives to explain how you can:

? Sidestep emotion to calculate each customer's impact on your bottom line and then allocate your resources accordingly ? Develop meaningful bonds with customers that lead to greater satisfaction and increased referrals ? Reject one-size-fits-all prospecting formats in favor of individualized plans tailored to the needs of key prospects Customer Chemistry shows you how to recognize and reward your best customers--just as you do your best employees--and gently but firmly discard your worst. From a clear- eyed customer review process to techniques for reviewing and renewing constantly changing aspects of customer chemistry, it outlines a step-by-step process for taking the customer relationship from the initial courtship phase to a deeper professional friendship, rooted in respect and shared interests but based on achieving your bottom-line financial goals.

Customer Reviews:

Essential Insight for Any Marketing Professional.......2002-06-17

I can always tell how useful and informative I consider a book by how much page dog-earing, highlighting and underlining
I've done. This book looks like it has been through a major battle.

So many things impressed me. On page 111, for example, they give a 'top of mind' marketing success story for a mortgage lender. This is an industry that loses two-thirds to three-quarters of its borrowers when they refinance or take out a new mortgage. Creating programmatic value for borrowers should be at the top of their agenda; but the industry is tough to budge from their old, reactive forms of relationship. They tend to see themselves solely as bankers, order-takers. Susan and Mary offer an example of a concrete, creative way to both have customer involvement and generate valuable customer insight.

On page 157, they do a succinct, focused job of presenting Customer Life Cycle as a concept. Applying life-cycle to customer relationships is a platform in everything I write about and do for my clients, so I was really glad to see it in their book.

I'm particularly interested in how they recommend generating customer data, as well as storing and applying it. While, based on my background, I have pretty strong views on market research as a tactical and strategic tool(which differs somewhat from their opinions and experiences), I appreciate their methods for contacting and debriefing customers in Chapters 4 and 8.

Bottom line: Customer Chemistry is crisp, professional and easy to read

Customer Chemistry Has The Winning Formula.......2002-04-29

Mary and Susan really have found the winning formula for maximizing business relationships. The book is loaded with valuable advice and techniques all designed to reach, keep and expand your relationships with your best customers. The book even has actual forms and plans that Mary uses in her businesses -- which obviously work. I found the ratings systems to be particularily useful. Keep this book close to your desk, you'll be referring to it often. I made many notations as I read it.

Book Description

Clearly illustrates how established techniques can be easily understood and used with a sample size that is smaller than normally envisioned. Provides solutions to complex industrial problems by demonstrating how to define the problem and evaluate it statistically with the aim of accelerating product design testing that requires fewer samples and offers more information with less test effort. Along with examples, it contains detailed additional material presented in tabular form for both easy reference and cross-reference.

DESIGN AND TESTING OF WOOD SCHOOL DESK FRAMES SUITABLE FOR PRODUCTION BY LOW TECHNOLOGY METHODS FROM WASTE WOOD RESIDUES.(Statistical Data Included): An article from: Forest Products Journal

Average customer rating:

DESIGN AND TESTING OF WOOD SCHOOL DESK FRAMES SUITABLE FOR PRODUCTION BY LOW TECHNOLOGY METHODS FROM WASTE WOOD RESIDUES.(Statistical Data Included): An article from: Forest Products Journal
E. Haviarova , C. Eckelman , and Y. Erdil
Manufacturer: Forest Products Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Forest Products Journal, published by Forest Products Society on May 1, 2001. The length of the article is 8590 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: DESIGN AND TESTING OF WOOD SCHOOL DESK FRAMES SUITABLE FOR PRODUCTION BY LOW TECHNOLOGY METHODS FROM WASTE WOOD RESIDUES.(Statistical Data Included)
Author: E. Haviarova
Publication: Forest Products Journal (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2001
Publisher: Forest Products Society
Volume: 51 Issue: 5 Page: 79

Article Type: Statistical Data Included

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Amazon.com

For those responsible for future corporate strategies on the Web, the challenge of fully harnessing all of an enterprise's information is extremely humbling. Managing Knowledge: A Practical Web-Based Approach is an inspiring title designed to keep you motivated while you plan your information strategy.

The authors quickly evangelize the concept of the "information economy" and explain that for businesses to be competitive, it is imperative that they leverage institutional information and empower in-house decision making. In an easy-to-read style punctuated by encouraging quotes, the authors describe the process of profiling the way people inside and outside your organization work and structuring your overall plan around knowledge and process rather than just technology. This book is aimed at corporate environments and emphasizes the importance of managing personnel as well as information.

Throughout the book, sections titled "Case in Point" and "Why Is It Important?" provide real-world examples of important concepts and help maintain clarity during discussions of big-picture ideas.

The book wraps up with a checklist for a 90-day action plan to demonstrate feasibility on a small scale. Whether you're looking for a starting point for retooling an enterprise information strategy or trying to sell the higher-ups on the concept, this brief title delivers straight talk. --Stephen W. Plain

Book Description

Building and maintaining a successful corporate Intranet and Extranet goes well beyond developing the network and setting up Web servers. After the network is in place, then what? Managing Knowledge is the first practical guide to using knowledge management techniques to ensure that your Intranet and Extranet deliver the right content to the right people at the right time. Based on the authors' experience developing J.D. Edwards' Intranet and Extranet, this book contains examples and helpful tips on how to get started with a web-based knowledge management initiative. The book clearly explains how to decide what content to include on your site and how to create a "knowledge architecture" for your organization. Managing Knowledge concludes with a list of steps that you can take in the next 90 days to get your KM project off the ground.

Customer Reviews:

Action Plan for Managing Knowledge.......2001-11-27

"Managing Knowledge - A Practical Web-Based Approach" is an easy to read and apply guidebook for a complicated process. The book breaks down the daunting task of getting the "right knowledge, to the right people at the right time" so you can get started in applying knowledge management. This practical guide to implementing knowledge management techniques can be used on one process or an entire organization. Though, the authors do recommend picking one process/cycle to begin the implementation process.
The authors are straight forward in explaining that the nature of their book is not to explain knowledge management. It is assumed that you have read other books on knowledge management prior to using this guide. I found the book was well written enough that you really just needed some basic understanding of knowledge management, along with the foresight and desire to improve the formation and flow of data, information and knowledge. The book's subtitle states "a practical web-based approach", yet many principals of this book can be used in non web- based applications. Before I finished the book, I was convinced that my organization should implement the needed changes for managing knowledge, and that my organization would benefit greatly from retooling its self for the information economy. The authors should have included a quick reference page for the numerous abbreviations that were used. Some of the abbreviations may have another meaning in other industries.

Good but not great.......2001-01-20

This book had some good aspects but I kept feeling it wasn't very deep.

A very good and concise treatment.......2000-04-22

It may not give you any insights. In many places it will look just like plain common sense. It is also weak on the technical architecture side. But it is concise, printed nicely, clear, and focused. And it will make you wonder why other books can't just be like that.

It Really Is "A Practical Web-Based Approach".......2000-01-25

The authors are quite specific when explaining for whom Managing Knowledge has been written: "This book is for those people who have read some of the academic literature on KM [Knowledge Management] and who (along with their bosses) are convinced that they need to go down this path....Our purpose is not to address the nature of knowledge. Rather, we want to help you get the right information to the right people so that they can take effective action....Everything we say in this book assumes that you are (or are going to be) leveraging Web-based technologies to move data, information, and knowledge." Their purposes could not be clearer.The book is divided into four sections:

Part One: Getting Started (Strategy and Profiling People)

Part Two: Organizing Around Information (Storyboarding Knowledge and Mapping the Knowledge Network)

Part Three: Knowledge Architecture (Hiring People, Mobilizing Content, and Building the Technical Architecture)

Part Four: The Ninety-Day Action Plan

This book provides both the structural design and the operations manual needed by any organization to achieve these objectives:

1. To evaluate the information it now has

2. To identify the information it needs...but does not (as yet) have

3. To formulate a Web-based system to manage knowledge more effectively

4. To set in place those best qualified to manage that system

5. To facilitate and encourage knowledge sharing throughout the organization

In Part Four, the authors wisely recommend that an organization choose a single business cycle that can be improved and begin the "Ninety-Day Action Plan" with a knowledge audit; next, begin building a core team and select an appropriate technology (or technologies); then during Day 61-Day 90, explain your team's efforts throughout the organization ("to communicate the benefits of a KM system and to sell the concept of the knowledge architecture") while constantly updating the content under management.

Given its stated purposes, I rate this book very highly. It is well-organized, well-written, and comprehensive in terms of material covered. Contrary to what some reviewers may suggest, I think it provides the knowledge needed to manage knowledge effectively. If your organization has the aforementioned five objectives and has not as yet achieved them, I suggest that its key executives read this book immediately and then launch a collaborative effort to implement the "Ninety-Day Action Plan." Why wait?

Hits the mark - One of the few practical treatments ..........2000-01-09

A Review and Synopsis of Managing Knowledge - A Practical Web-Based Approach by Wayne Applehans, Alden Globe, and Greg Laugero

In knowldgWORKS News Volume 1 Number 12 KnowBits pointed you to a series of World Wide Web links on the Microsoft Web Site. The links consisted of a series of case studies offered by Microsoft as examples of how their technology could be used as the basis of knowledge management efforts. Most of the case studies had very little to do with knowledge management, but quite a bit to do with Microsoft technology. One of the case studies distinguished itself. This was the case study describing the knowledge management effort at J.D. Edwards. The description of the effort was so rich that I sprang for the book by the people responsible for the work at J.D. Edwards.

My overall opinion: BUY THIS BOOK !

Without equivocation this book is the best compact description of what knowledge management is about. The book consists of practical information and advice about conducting a knowledge management effort. It is short, to the point, and has lots of great diagrams. Here is a synopsis.

This book begins with a series of assumptions. They are as follows:

Assumption 1: (my favorite) "Knowledge management does not have to be profound." Assumption 2: You have a champion and are figuring out how to get started. Assumption 3: Document management concepts, technologies, and procedures provide the basic disciplines to kick off a successful effort. Assumption 4: Yours is a mid to large size company with an intranet and extranet and an internet presence. Assumption 5: Your business is consciously preparing for the internet economy.

The parameters of the discussion are clearly set forth by these assumptions. But consider that even if you don't meet all of the assumption criteria, the information contained in this book is still extremely valuable.

One of the challenges of any knowledge management effort is explaining why your organization might want to do knowledge management. Consider adopting these reasons :

1. Ease of partnering 2. Ease of managing expertise turnover 3. Ease of decentralizing decision-making

Each of these reasons represents a competitive imperative.

Any book about knowledge management needs to define the term. Remember my own definition goes, "Knowledge Management is the process of controlling, using, manipulating, and communicating that which enables us to do things." Consider the authors's definition of knowledge.

"Knowledge is the ability to turn information and data into effective action."

The authors go on to say this is a tactical definition "because they are not interested in esoteric debates about the nature of epistemology." (Hooray ! )

With regard to managing knowledge, Applehans et al give the following definition.

"managing knowledge means delivering the information and data people need to be effective in their jobs."

This book does not mince words. It tries to keep things fairly simple and straightforward. The authors represent the trichotemy of data, information and knowledge as a pyramid consisting of data at the base, information in the middle and knowledge at the top. Interpreting this figure, one can infer the relationship between data, information and knowledge fairly easily.

The book is divided into four parts and several chapters. Part one, "Getting Started", focuses on strategy and profiling people. Part 2 creates the basis for relating knowledge to the business and covers storyboarding the knowledge and designing the organization around the knowledge it uses.

Part three deals with the topics, "Hiring People," "Modeling Content," and "Building the Technical Architecture."

Lastly part four presents a 90 day action plan.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is in part two where business process is attached to the informational needs and people involved in the process. What this breakdown gives you is the ability to see where the knowledge resides and how it is used in the business. The relationship of knowledge to process to people grounds a knowledge management effort in the business.

Given the success of the author's effort at J.D. Edwards, I certainly believe they are on the right track. Given J.D. Edwards, size one has to wonder if the process scales down to smaller organizations. I would argue that, regardless of the size, the processes apply. The technical architecture may be substantially different for a small organization but that does not change the desired results, and the process proposed by the authors should scale up and down for businesses of all sizes.

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