In this assignment you are presented with a case study of an organisation that is looking for a knowledge management solution to problems it is facing. Your task is to investigate its knowledge preparedness, identify gaps and weaknesses, and finally to recommend a solution to address its knowledge needs, basing your work around the KDLC that we described in Topic 6.
The steps you will follow are detailed in this handout. You will first carry out the preliminary investigation work of a knowledge audit for the organisation by assessing its maturity in terms of KM, and your own preparedness as investigator. You will then proceed with the knowledge audit by identifying where problems exist and how further information could be gained, and suggest a broad type of solution to address the problem and ‘fix the knowledge gap'. Finally, you will investigate further the solutions you have suggested and recommend a suite of tools and techniques that the organisation should implement.
The specific background to this assignment is covered in lecture Topic 6 (KDLC) and the associated practical work for Practical 6, although you will also find the material covered in all of the topics to date and Assignment 1 relevant. You will also have to do some research of your own to acquaint yourself with the subject areas of the case study, and other points that are raised in it.
As usual, when you are referencing sources you should use either Chicago or APA style described at https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/Chicago and https://libguides.murdoch.edu.au/APA.
See also https://our.murdoch.edu.au/Student-life/Study-successfully/Referencing-and-citing/ .
You should also read the information on the Murdoch site on Academic Integrity at https://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Academic-Integrity/
Case Study: Rural and Regional Cuisine Heritage Project
The (hypothetical) Museum of Country Life in Birdsville, Queensland, was set up to record the traditional way of life in outback Australia, which is in danger of being forgotten with mass migration to the cities over the last few decades. They have programs that focus on specific aspects of outback life, including textile art (knitting, quilting, embroidery); music, song, and dance; and the area with which we are concerned here, the cuisine that developed across Australia in the last two centuries.
Some areas of Australia have developed unique food dishes that are to be found nowhere else in the world. Outback cuisine in Australia is unique for two reasons. Firstly, each area tended to be settled by particular ethnic groups (Cornish, German, Italian, Chinese, Moravian, Scottish, Irish), so the recipes are very likely to be adaptations of recipes from the original countries using new vegetables or meats, and using new flavouring ingredients. This inheritance may not be realised by the people who still make the meals.
Furthermore, a lot of the recipes developed in the early days were designed to deal with the problem of a lack of fresh ingredients and a lack of preservation techniques. They also incorporated a number of proprietary ("brand name") ingredients that may not be around because of rising standards in food health, or exist in name only with a different product being sold under that name. This means that it may not be actually possible to cook some meals any more.
To stop this knowledge being lost, the Museum formed a working group ‘Rural and Regional Cuisine' in 1988 with Australian Bicentennial funds to record outback cuisines by sending out teams of interviewers to interview cooks and film them making the meals. They were equipped with interview kits - booklets with questionnaires to be filled out by the interviewers, and instructions on the best way to video the food production process. Unstructured interviews with the participants were also recorded. 150 of these kits were sent out and returned, and the Museum has them in a store-room but unfortunately has made little use of them.
The RRC working group has now obtained funds from UNESCO to bring the project up to date. In part, this will involve digital conversion so that the material gathered can be looked at by experts in the city as well as around the world. Additionally, they want to revisit the interviewees (if they are still alive) in order to get clarification of points that were not clear in the original interviews.
Some members of the working group have had an idea that they could extend the knowledge collection process to get people to fill in an online version of the interview and upload their own versions, independent of interviewer teams. They think that they might get more material as well as saving money. They could get the national broadcaster ABC Radio National to call for participants. Other members think this would be a bad idea as they might get a lot of material of lesser quality compared to the first set, which was produced by professional ethnologists.
The RRC working group have decided that before they make any decisions they need a proper assessment of the situation. Consequently, they have called in a consultant (you) to carry out a knowledge audit of the working group and the digital preservation project, with a view to eventually recommending possible solutions.
Complete ALL of the questions below for the case study. Please use the question numbers (e.g. 1a, 2b, etc) in your answer.
Preliminary investigation
1. Carry out the preliminary investigation of the organisation and yourself in relation to it, as follows:
a) Give an initial appraisal of the organisation's aims and preparedness for a knowledge audit. In your assessment, consider specifically whether it is:
mature viable holistic self-aware, as discussed in Topic 6. Note that while you should consider the items in the checklist in carrying out your appraisal, you do not need to address each of the items in detail here.
b) Give an assessment of your own preparedness in undertaking the knowledge audit for the organisation. In carrying out your assessment, make use of the issues of expertise, ontological structure, background knowledge, opinions and prejudices, and tacit components of knowledge, as discussed in Topic 6. What areas of knowledge do you need to research to bring yourself up to speed?
c) Give your assessment of whether it is worthwhile proceeding with the knowledge audit, and why, based on your findings above.
Assuming it is worthwhile proceeding with the knowledge audit (hint: it is worthwhile!) continue to the next part of the assignment.
Knowledge Audit
2. Commence the knowledge audit by identifying the knowledge gaps and blockages in the organisation, as follows:
a) Consider each of the ten checklist issues listed, and assess from the case study whether the organisation addresses them well (needing no further attention), adequately, or whether there is a problem. Justify your assessment in each case. Take some time to do this part of the assignment thoroughly.
b) Where you consider that more information would be needed to properly identify the knowledge gaps and blockages, outline your strategy for finding out this information.
c) Include a list of sources you have consulted in carrying out your investigation so far (for example: books, journals, Internet sites). Give the complete reference using Chicago/APA format.
3. Summarise the organisation's KM goals, and state which issue you consider to be the organisation's most pressing problem in achieving its goals, explaining your reasons.
4. Now commence the ‘Fixing knowledge gap' phase by identifying the broad nature of the solution required, as follows:
a) Wherever you have identified the organisation has a problem in the checklist of issues, suggest the nature of the solution required to address the issue (bridge the knowledge gap). This solution needs to be in broad terms only: you are not recommending particular vendor products as yet.
b) Include a list of sources you have consulted in carrying out your research for this stage. Give the complete reference using Chicago/APA format.
5. Having identified the knowledge gaps and broad plan for fixing them for the organisation, now proceed to recommend a solution it can implement.
a) Briefly describe the extent of IT infrastructure (hardware, application software, operating system, networks) already present in the day-to-day running of the organisation. (Some of this information may be stated in the case study, for the remainder you should make an educated estimate and explain your reasoning.) This infrastructure is what your proposed solution will have to work with (by building on/ extending/ replacing).
b) Summarise the requirements for a Knowledge Management System for the organisation, and create a list of suggested software packages that will build on the existing infrastructure and assist the organisations in reaching its KM targets.
c) Describe any potential problems that could arise with implementing your solution in the organisation. What would you do to avoid or minimise these problems?
d) List the sources for your solution. Give the complete reference using Chicago/APA format.
6. A potential problem with any knowledge system is ‘brain drain' - the departure of key staff with ‘knowledge in their head'. If this is significant, it could amount to a ‘catastrophe' event where the organisation might be unable to continue operating in its normal way.
How vulnerable would the organisation you have discussed be to this sort of knowledge loss, after your solutions have been put into place? Explain your assessment. If your solutions still leave the organisation vulnerable, what would it take to address this problem?
7. The KDLC has investigator separation as an end point for the work-flow: this is where the investigator helps the organisation continue without him or her, but also involves the investigator taking stock of what new knowledge or skills they have gained in the process.
How has carrying out the investigation in this assignment skilled you, as a knowledge investigator? How would this influence your approach the next case you may need to undertake? Reflect on how your personal analytical, research and problem solving skills have been developed (or not) through carrying out the work of this assignment. Where do you consider there are still gaps in your own skill base, and how would you address them?