**7. Action taking**

Seven training sessions were held over a two-week period. These sessions involved all HR managers and officers, lasted one day each, and were conducted by the researcher.

#### **7.1 Core KM groups**

The core KM groups were tasked to review the following processes:


The evaluation had earlier on, set out how these processes fit within the overall structure of the Directorate. This analysis is set out in section **??**: List of core processes, and present the six process maps for the Recruitment process, in section **??** [cf. **??**]. These processes are also relevant to how these processes translate into the Directorate Policy Databases. The remaining processes were completed within the specified time, and successfully implemented.

Three high-level KM groups were formed involving the Director and the two Deputy Directors. All three groups had 10 to 14 members, were led by the Deputy Director, or the Senior Assistant Director, and facilitated by the researcher (The members were of similar seniority in the three groups). These groups targeted three main core processes at Directorate: (a) Recruitment process; (b) Personnel Administration, and (c) Policy Database.

The KM group working on the recruitment process made a number of recommendations which were implemented by management within six months of those recommendations being made. The main recommendations are indicted in paragraph 6.1 for the recruitment process. The group also felt that the unit responsible for managing the technical infrastructure of the CPMS should be elevated to the status of a Division with the Directorate structure. This was done within the same time period, as is evidenced by the Functional Structure in Figure **??**. The Directorate and HRM ministries were encouraged to use the process maps as templates for carrying out any personnel action. They were also asked to use the CPMS network, and the LotusNotes groupware system whenever they must carry out any personnel action.

Although a number of technical problems were reported by Line managers, during the implementation phase of the CPMS, in general, the system, (the computerised Policy database, and the Infinium HRM applications) were running on the Directorate – Ministry intranet seamlessly, and users of the system, in general, reported significant efficiency gains in their respective local processes (Line ministries) due to the resulting decentralisation of access to data relevant to their activities/personnel actions.

In line with this development, the Directorate implemented version 5, of the Lotus Notes, groupware system, in order to provide greater functionality to users. This email system was linked seamlessly in an integrated suite of tools with the Domino Docs, a database application, which is a sister product of Lotus Notes. This was the kernel on which the Policy Database was built.

The email system (ES) was used as a vehicle to conduct personnel actions. The ES was widely accepted by all the process owners. There were much concerns about issues of confidentially and security in the use of officers personal information, and the protection of the personnel record and data of the Directorate. There were no observed or reported resistance or reluctance, in using the ES for the processing of personnel actions. The researcher surmised this to be due in part to the prior experience officers have in the usage of ES for interaction on a personal basis with family, friends and colleagues. The use of the ES for facilitating KM group work and BPI for the purposes of improving the workflow interactions were implemented for all the 14 processes which were proposed by the consultant.

#### **7.2 Local KM groups**

26 Will-be-set-by-IN-TECH

Seven training sessions were held over a two-week period. These sessions involved all HR

The evaluation had earlier on, set out how these processes fit within the overall structure of the Directorate. This analysis is set out in section **??**: List of core processes, and present the six process maps for the Recruitment process, in section **??** [cf. **??**]. These processes are also relevant to how these processes translate into the Directorate Policy Databases. The remaining

Three high-level KM groups were formed involving the Director and the two Deputy Directors. All three groups had 10 to 14 members, were led by the Deputy Director, or the Senior Assistant Director, and facilitated by the researcher (The members were of similar seniority in the three groups). These groups targeted three main core processes at Directorate:

The KM group working on the recruitment process made a number of recommendations which were implemented by management within six months of those recommendations being made. The main recommendations are indicted in paragraph 6.1 for the recruitment process. The group also felt that the unit responsible for managing the technical infrastructure of the CPMS should be elevated to the status of a Division with the Directorate structure. This was done within the same time period, as is evidenced by the Functional Structure in Figure **??**. The Directorate and HRM ministries were encouraged to use the process maps as templates for carrying out any personnel action. They were also asked to use the CPMS network, and the LotusNotes groupware system whenever they must carry out any personnel action. Although a number of technical problems were reported by Line managers, during the implementation phase of the CPMS, in general, the system, (the computerised Policy database, and the Infinium HRM applications) were running on the Directorate – Ministry intranet seamlessly, and users of the system, in general, reported significant efficiency gains in their respective local processes (Line ministries) due to the resulting decentralisation of access to

In line with this development, the Directorate implemented version 5, of the Lotus Notes, groupware system, in order to provide greater functionality to users. This email system was linked seamlessly in an integrated suite of tools with the Domino Docs, a database application, which is a sister product of Lotus Notes. This was the kernel on which the Policy Database

The email system (ES) was used as a vehicle to conduct personnel actions. The ES was widely accepted by all the process owners. There were much concerns about issues of confidentially and security in the use of officers personal information, and the protection of the personnel record and data of the Directorate. There were no observed or reported resistance or reluctance, in using the ES for the processing of personnel actions. The researcher surmised this to be due in part to the prior experience officers have in the usage of ES for interaction on a personal basis with family, friends and colleagues. The use of the ES for facilitating KM group work and BPI for the purposes of improving the workflow interactions were implemented for

managers and officers, lasted one day each, and were conducted by the researcher.

processes were completed within the specified time, and successfully implemented.

(a) Recruitment process; (b) Personnel Administration, and (c) Policy Database.

data relevant to their activities/personnel actions.

all the 14 processes which were proposed by the consultant.

was built.

The core KM groups were tasked to review the following processes:

**7. Action taking**

**7.1 Core KM groups**

1. Recruitment, and

2. Personnel Administration.

The researcher recommended the use of ministry specific KM groups, using the principles of WITS to target processes cutting across only a few departments within the Ministry. This was the reason for calling them "local" KM groups. One of the rationales for these groups was to improve the ownership of the changes, which were introduced in the processes. These groups had very short-term projects. Some of them lasted only for a few weeks to a month; while others only for a few days. The researcher found that this short-term group duration were particularly linked to a narrow target process scope. Also, that the shortest groups being those targeting very localised processes at the departmental and divisional level. Local WITS groups were led by management as well as line staff.

In the case of Directorate, which was the agency responsible for implementing the PMS in the Public Service, local KM groups abound. There was a long tradition of WITS projects and usage within this agency. So, there was no resistance to the setting up of local KM groups – teams. About seven months after the research iteration had begun four KM groups had completed their work. These groups met exclusively face-to-face, as the ES was unavailable at that stage. As the Directorate had 50 management level staff working in a campus environment, and considering that, a group would last on average of 4 weeks, the Directorate's maximum WITS group capacity was approximately of 4 five-member groups at a time. Some of the groups recommend very impressive alternatives to some of the Directorate processes, while others concentrate on short-term problems. This apparent tendency of some groups to focus on problems rather than on underlying processes has also been pointed out by previous research on both gradual and radical KM groups/community of practice interaction, and occurred in spite of the one-day training sessions previously mentioned.

Some of the Directorate's employees who did not take part in any of the KM groups, reported as one of the reasons for non-participation as being the inability to attend KM group meetings because they were engaged in external activities (e.g. meeting with a client) during scheduled group meetings. Since all the Directorate staff had access to the intranet – the GDN, this problem called for the introduction of the ES prototype developed by the researcher as a tool to allow KM group members to interact from their own computers at different times. This prototype was built on the Lotus Notes infrastructure. Each KM group was assigned a group mailbox upon its creation. KM group mailbox topics were suggestive of the business process under consideration, and held postings from group members' related to different stages of the KM methodology (i.e. process definition, analysis, and redesign). Some KM group mailboxes allowed public access within the organisation to group postings so other public officers could participate in the ongoing discussions. However, some of the KM group mailboxes had restricted access to group members, whenever the discussion was perceived as addressing confidential issues (e.g. possible dismissals as a result of process changes, terminal benefits, termination, etc.).

In addition, a number of public mailboxes were created and gradually populated with information regarding the core business processes of the HRM policies and regulations. This information was previously held in the conventional paper-based "General Orders," and other policy document, such as "savingram"6. These mailboxes also contained some regularly updated postings with information about efficiency, PMS outcomes, and service delivery, and ministries and clients complaints for each business process. Employees were instructed

<sup>6</sup> SAVINGRAM – A circular/memorandum document, which provides information on policy/regulation issues that subsequently, becomes part of the "General Order".

**9.1 Future research direction**

processes and flows.

the natural evolution of intellectual capital.

**9.2 Future work on a learning-oriented KM system**

the Natural Evolution of Knowledge Management Systems

This section summarizes ideas for potential future work, as it relates to the design of a KM system, for the deployment of BI. This list does not include minor improvements or cosmetic

<sup>423</sup> The Liberation of Intellectual Capital Through

Therefore, further research may proved valuable, in investigating the potential role of the evolution of knowledge management in knowledge systems, and how the value of intellectual capital can be leveraged to maximized the use of knowledge systems in organisational processes, and to ensure a more efficient and effective liberation of intellectual capital

Allied to the foregoing, impact studies in this area maybe extremely valuable, especially in organisations that have distinct knowledge management systems oriented programs. It is important for knowledge management professionals to understand the systemic relationship between the concepts and the value that can be generated in respect of creating and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage for organisations and naturing, and liberating

Ideas for potential future work, as it relates to the design of a KM system, for the deployment of BI are summarized. This list does not include minor improvements or cosmetic changes

The literature called for the information systems (IS) field to begin to develop theory based on endogenous paradigms rather than based on other disciplines. The learning-oriented component (OL) of one's model for KM strategy, deals with IS, and as such impacts on the

There is a need, however, to use a systematic approach to the implementation of this IT infrastructure, which would enable the conceptualize of a robust IS based on expert systems theory. This research has suggested how a KM system may be specified by proposing a high-level casual model of latent factors which impact the implementation of KM practices in an organisational milieu. The portal in the KM-BI model requires the development of the conceptual heuristics so as to operationalise the model. This therefore, requires the testing of individual components [BI, AG, SC, Ol, and HK] validation, where appropriate when

This work involves the use of systems theory, at a design level, to conceptualize both a

The literature addressed both the design product and the design process. This research presents the design product in our KM-BI model (the conceptualized learning-oriented and the portal components, of the KM-BI system) and portions of the design process (the components). The method of design for the other potential components identified as a result of this research is the conceptualization of methods to achieve other meta-requirements, such as the use of the IT instrastructure. Such work would be analogous to the normalization procedure of a design method that achieves the goal of reducing certain anomalies in a database. Each of the components identified in this research has the ability to achieve the

The findings in this research offer a number of approaches firms may use to implement their KM projects. The underlying dialogue is that managers need a corporate-wide strategy to implement their KM practices. The researcher discussed throughout this work, and intimated

that any successful BI oriented strategy should have the following components:

that are implicit in an organization's implementation of their KM-BI framework.

use of the IT infrastructure, as it relates to groupware technologies to aid OL.

applying management theories at the implementation process level.

learning-oriented, and strategy-oriented KM system.

meta-design for our hypothesized KM-BI system.

1. Definition of the system to be assessed;

changes that are in the implications of implementation of the KM-BI framework.

about how to use the Lotus Notes system (ES) to support KM group communication and retrieval of previously posted information, and were encouraged to use the ES as much as possible. None of the local WITS was directly facilitated by the researcher, as was the case of the core KM groups. The reason for this was that the researcher's support was restricted to troubleshooting and orientation meetings with other group facilitators. This means that the researcher's facilitation of local KM groups was indirect.
