Download Expert systems have not lived up to expectations and have not

CHAPTER 4
KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND KNOWLEDGE ARCHITECTURE
TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1.
What is knowledge creation?
Knowledge creation is using the new knowledge acquired from ongoing experiences in
a particular problem area, in combination with the initial knowledge, to come up with
extended knowledge that should improve the quality and effectiveness of performing
the same job the next time around.
2.
A job is more than a task. Do you agree? Give an example.
True. It is a series of specific tasks carried out in a specific order, format, or sequence.
Example: The job of procurement coordination requires several tasks such as (planning
short-term purchases, creating profiles for suppliers, selecting the best supplier, tracking
orders progress, etc).
3.
How is knowledge created and transferred via teams?
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4.
Explain the main impediments in knowledge sharing.
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5.
Essentially, a team commits to performing a job with an initial knowledge
The team performs the job
Realizes outcome
Compares outcome to action “before and after”
New experience/ knowledge is gained
Knowledge captured and represented in a form usable by others
This new knowledge is reusable by same team on next job
Personality
Attitude
Vocational reinforcers
Work norms
Distinguish between:
a. transport layer and application layer
b. usability and portability
c. profiling and repository
d. collaborative intelligence and intelligent agent
a.
The Transport Layer is the layer that standardizes exchanges between the
operating systems of the computers in the system. It includes local area
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KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND KNOWLEDGE ARCHITECTURE
b.
c.
d.
6.
networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), intranets, extranets, and the
Internet. The Application Layer is the applications that provide the user with
better ways to do their jobs. They include knowledge bases, discussion
databases, sales force automation tools, yellow pages, decision support, and
imaging tools.
Usability ensures user-friendly software. Portability is a measure of how well
the software will run on different computers.
Profiling: In knowledge management systems, it is generating a graphic or
textual representation of people in terms of criteria such as skills, personality
traits, etc. Repository is a storage subsystem, such as a database for data,
information, or knowledge storage.
Collaborative Intelligence provides a customized or personalized view based on
stored knowledge. It is designed to reduce search time for information by
combining the knowledge sought and the user’s profile. Intelligent agents are
active objects that can perceive, reason (learn from past mistakes), and act in a
situation that assists in problem solving, retrieving the right information. It
behaves as a personal assistant that cooperates with the human users.
Why do we profile people in knowledge management design? Be specific.
The goal of profiling is to have a handle on existing knowledge exchanges that the
organization relies on and ways to capture them. The whole idea is to assign job
content to the right person and to ensure the flow of information that once was
obstructed by departments now flows to the right people at the time needed.
7.
What is the main difference between intranet and extranet? Where does the Internet
fit in?
The Intranet is used for sharing information within an organization; the Extranet
connects separate companies with shared databases through the Internet. Hence,
intranets are more localized within a firm and move data quicker than the more
distributed extranets. The use of Internet (primarily Web) is to connect the public at
large, mostly business users and branches.
8.
Explain in your own words the functions of middleware. How does it differ from
the user interface?
The middleware provides connections between legacy applications and existing and
new systems, i.e. old and new data formats. The user interface standardizes exchanges
between the ultimate user and the system.
9.
What does it mean to leverage technology?
It means leveraging an organization’s technological infrastructure to meet the data
requirements of users and customers.
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10.
Why is it a critical requirement that a successful knowledge management system be
tagged to collaboration?
Because it would be superfluous to think of knowledge sharing, knowledge transfer, or
continued creativity without collaborative success.
11.
People are no longer expected to adapt to the requirements of the machine, but the
other way round. Explain.
Today’s human intelligence should make use of the way the machine (computers,
networks, etc.) supports intelligent thinking, innovations, and creativity.
12.
When it comes to leveraging, what should one keep in mind?
One should keep in mind the following:
 Focus on real knowledge of people rather than artificial intelligence that was once
unique to expert systems, which has now become a flop.
 Concentrate on a knowledge management system that facilitates finding the
sources of know-how, not just the know-how.
 A successful knowledge management system should be tagged to collaboration.
 People are no longer expected to adapt to the requirements of the machine.
 Concentrate on realism, not perfection. A knowledge management system should
begin with what you have and try to improve it.
 Check with the user as the final decider on whether the proposed knowledge
management system makes sense and how well information is organized and
ready for day-to-day access.
13.
Explain the basis for the user interface layer and the services it offers.
The services that this layer offers are:
 Moving information in and out of the KM system.
 Simplifying technology for the user by the way graphics, tables, and texts are
displayed on the screen.
 Representing knowledge when displayed in a timely, actionable, and nontechnical
user-friendly universal view. Which means no barriers to information and tacit
knowledge transmitted from repositories or remote sources.
14.
What design considerations are unique to the user interface?
In terms of user interface design, several features should be considered:
 Consistency.
Menus, icons, buttons should have the same meaning or
representation throughout the KM system, including future upgrades. All
information in layout and format should be consistent across all areas of the system.
 Relevancy.
Any information displayed should be relevant to the user’s
expectations. It means users should be able to customize information in the way
they want. It also means personalization of the Web site.
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Visual clarity. Ideally, all information should be presented in one screen, with
space-saving features like pull-down menus available as default. Proper use of
color, margins, and text density can add quality and clarity of the displayed
information. In today’s digital age, people do not like to read text-heavy screens. In
designing Web pages, for example, there is an 8-second rule that measures user
tolerance to reading a screen full of information or to wait for one.
Navigation. The term navigation means how easily a user moves through Web
pages, files, or records in a computer-based system. When dealing with different
packages or tools within the KM system, the user’s view should be a single mode of
operation or one where the system tells the user which packages he or she is in
operation.
Usability. This feature addresses navigation in terms of how easy it is to use icons
and buttons and the speed of access to files or databases.
What is involved in authorized access to a knowledge system?
The authorized access layer maintains security and ensures authorized access to the
knowledge captured and stored in repositories through the company’s intranet, the
Internet, and extranet. There are two main issues related to the access layer: access
privileges and backups. A network administrator has to authenticate each company user
and define the types of files he or she may access. A knowledge base also requires a
duplicate in case of fire, security violations, virus attack, or hardware breakdown.
16.
Explain the main steps in knowledge transfer.
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17.
A team gets together with initial knowledge. It performs a specific job.
The job outcome is realized and is compared to action.
A new experience or knowledge is gained.
The new experience is captured and codified in a form usable by others.
The new knowledge is reusable by the same team on the next job. See Figure 4.1.
How does an intelligent agent differ from filtering? Be specific.
Filtering reduces search time for information by combining the knowledge sought and
the user’s profile. Intelligent agents are used to assist in problem solving by retrieving
the right information.
18.
Explain briefly the key components of the collaborative intelligence layer.
The key components of the collaborative intelligence layer are:
(1) The registration directory that develops tailored information based on user profile.
(2) Membership in specialized services such as news service, sales promotion,
schedules, customer support, etc.
(3) Search facility like a search engine to assist in finding information.
19.
What is so unique about the Web browser that distinguishes it from a client-server?
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The Web browser allows the public at large to connect to the server, while the clientserver only allows authenticated users.
20.
Cite some prerequisite criteria for an effective collaborative layer.
For an effective collaborative layer, several criteria are considered:
 Security. This is a critical feature, especially as an organization becomes
increasingly distributed worldwide.
 Portability. A collaborative platform must operate in a portable environment
across platforms. For example, HTTP and the Web allow different systems to
communicate with each other, regardless of architecture, location, or language. The
Web browser is the most universal tool that users employ to access repositories.
 Integration with existing systems, including legacy applications. The Web is a
good example, where a collaborative knowledge-sharing platform integrates with
existing systems and mainframe databases.
 Scalability, flexibility, and ease of use. These three criteria go together in
emphasizing the importance of a knowledge-enabling upgradeable, flexible, and
easy to use (and to learn) collaborative platform. It boils down to the platform’s
ability to filter out irrelevant content and display what the user needs to see.
21.
Distinguish between:
a. scalability and portability
b. flexibility and ease of use
c. fault-tolerance and integrity
d. expert systems and CBR
a.
b.
c.
d.
22.
Scalability is the ability of a computer system, a database infrastructure, or a
network to be upgraded to new standards. Portability is the ability of software
to be used on different hardware and operating systems.
Flexibility is the ease of modifying or extending a software package to address
changing requirements. Ease of use implies that usage does not require special
skills
Fault-tolerance: in hardware, having a specially-designed operating system that
keeps the Web site or any application running, even when the central processing
unit that they’re running on goes down. Integrity: each knowledge satellite
should be assigned a manager to ensure integrity of information content, access,
and update.
Expert systems are a branch of AI, which assist a person’s thinking process
based on years of captured human experience. CBR is based on real-life cases
that allow the decision maker a chance to compare his or her decisions to the
ones decided by the cases.
What are the main drawbacks of expert systems? Any unique benefits?
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Drawbacks:
Expert systems have not lived up to expectations and have not revolutionized the
business environment. The main reasons are:
 The human knowledge is too complex to understand, capture, or manipulate.
 Their applications are also rather restricted.
 They work best with two simultaneous conditions: express a problem variable in
hard terms (numbers, speed, etc.) and rules cannot overlap.
Benefits:
Expert systems utilize the research discipline of AI to create a commercial reality that
produces benefits each day. It contains practical knowledge obtained from a human
expert. Its information is explicit and comprehensible, and the system is able to explain
its reasoning on demand. In this respect, it is viewed as a problem-solving tool.
23.
In your own words, how do databases differ from legacy systems?
The term legacy system refers to applications that once ran on mainframes or operating
on traditional programming language such as COBOL. A database is a repository
where relational data are specially organized to provide ‘cleaned’ data in a format
understandable to the user.
24.
Identify a business organization and cite the key content centers it includes.
Students should be encouraged to be creative by being selective of the organization of
their choice and should take time in citing the key content centers.
KNOWLEDGE EXERCISES
1.
Arrange a visit to a medium- or large-size firm in your area. In an interview with a
company representative, address the following:
a. Identify the satellite knowledge centers
b. Identify managers for each knowledge center within departments or divisions
c. Identify the company’s KM strategies and specific projects that support overall
corporate goals
d. Write up strategic plans to higher levels of management and get their buy-in.
This exercise is designed to familiarize students with the inter workings of a company’s
satellite knowledge centers, their respective managers, and the strategic projects that
support overall corporate goals. From experience, we found that students should be
given a week to do the work well. The company should be approved by the instructor
in advance.
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2.
Access to knowledge is based on profiles derived from the knowledge base. What
technology would you recommend to provide access? Who will manage such
access?
This is an exercise that should generate discussions in class. Profiles derived from a
knowledge base imply some data mining on an ongoing basis. Depending on company
requirements, a knowledge base should be on a separate server in a client-server
environment so that it can be accessible to multiple authorized users. It means PCs, a
local area network that can be interfaced with the Internet, and the proper security
measures to ensure integrity of the resident knowledge and profiles. Usually a network
administrator is assigned the management of such architecture.
3.
Visit the Internet and review the latest applications based on expert systems, CBR,
and neural nets. Write a short report showing how these applications relate to
knowledge management.
Students should be expected to search the computer science journals or look up white
papers that continue to address these areas, especially in law for CBR and medicine for
neural nets. The bottom line is that such applications either generate or cater to a
wealth of knowledge for the profession.
4.
Visit the Internet and look up two articles that explain the role of the CKO. Report
your findings to class.
A good search engine to recommend for this exercise is www.google.com.
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