Title of dissertation: 

Dissertation directed by: 

ABSTRACT 

THE EFFECT OF AN INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE 

MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE ON ORGANIZATIONAL 

PERFORMANCE AND IMP ACT: THE CASE OF THE 

WORLD BANK. 

Ana Flavia Fonseca, Doctor of Philosophy, 2003 

Dr. Dagobert Soergel 

College oflnfom1ation Studies 

Using the World Bank as Case Study, this dissertation investigates the impact of knowledge 

management programs on the organization perfonnance by using a combination of three 

methods: Records Analysis, Interviews and Outcome Mapping. The study had two phases: 

quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. 

The Knowledge Management Program of the World Bank has had a direct and beneficial impact 

on its operations. The Program changed internal staff behavior, improved the sharing of 

information and knowledge within the organization, and promoted the design and application of 



participatory knowledge strategies in the countries. New knowledge products as well as strong 

country pa1iicipation and ownership to the projects studied resulted from these changes. 

However, the study also shows that this impact is far from being sufficiently significant to 

influence or help make the knowledge management program fully integrated with the 

organi zation core processes and products. The gap between the KM Program architecture and 

other programs and initiatives focusing on making this concept operational within the Bank 

remains an issue. In spite of the fact that knowledge management principles are being 

mainstreamed in core services, the difference is still very wide between the overall goals of the 

Knowledge Bank and their translation into the implementation of knowledge products and 

services in the countries. 

The research did confirm previous research in the field of knowledge management and validated 

the findings from other case studies. The results of the study also allowed for the identification 

of 10 criteria for mainstreaming knowledge management programs within organizations and 

identified characteristics of knowledge delivery processes that were effective for knowledge 

absorption . . The importance of "how to" and "procedural knowledge"; the importance 

"horizontal knowledge exchanges" and a number of other elements, were confim1ed as factors 

affecting knowledge absorption and positive changes in user behavior. 



THE EFFECT OF AN INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 

ARCHITECTURE ON 

ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND IMPACT. 

THE CASE OF THE WORLD BANK 

by 

Ana Flavia Fonseca 

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the 
Univers ity of Maryland, Co llege Park in partial fu I ft llment 

of the requirements for the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy 

2003 

Advisory Committee: 

Professor Dagobert Soergel, Chair 
Professor Eileen G. Abels 
Professor Brigitte Duces 
Professor Ani I Gupta 
Professor Claude E. Walston 
Professor Madelyn White 



© Copyright by 

Ana Flavia Fonseca 

2003 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Any determination of the effect of knowledge management architecture on organ iza tion 

processes, performance, and impact, requires the integration of various di sc iplines and 

experi ences that do not always come together in the same time and place. 

The stud y results documented in the following pages reflect my career focus on linking 

theory and prac ti ce in my work and studies. The preparation of this study to complete 

of the requirements to earn a Ph .D. from the College oflnformation Studies at the 

University of Maryland at College Park, has made it possibl e to me to take thi s 

interdisciplinary focus to a new level. However, this work would not have been 

possible without the support and guidance from many peopl e in a vari ety of 

organizations and professions, each with different perspectives in the area of knowledge 

management. 

The people at the University of Maryland have been were instrumental in creating an 

academic climate that has helped me develop the discipline to focus this research and 

define a methodology to systematic channel my earlier studies and experience in the 

information field in Brazil , the United States and around the world Ann Prentice . • ' 

former dean of the College oflnformation Studies understood and appreciated the 

nature of my situation, and guided me during a critical time through the institutional 

process that has made it possib le for me to complete this di ssertation . 

11 



My advisor, Dr. Dabobert Soergel, has provided inva luable academi c guid ance and 

profess ional support. As a teacher and advi sor, he was always availabl e to meet with 

me. There were times during the entire process when my health and demands o f my 

wo rk made me wonder ifT wou ld ever get this far . It was Dr Soerge l who never gave up 

on me and whose gentle persistence made me beli eve that I would be able to complete 

the dissertati on and the program . His confidence and pati ence have been invaluable in 

making sure that I made it to this point. 

I am grateful to the other members ofrny Doctor Committee, Dr Mari lyn White, Dr 

Eileen Abels, Dr Claude Walston, Dr Anil Gupta and Dr Brigitte Duces, for making the 

time in their busy schedul es to provide important guidance. 

Mohamed Muhsin , V ice-President and Chief Information Office at the World Bank, 

made it poss ible for me to be able to carry out a case study on one of the leading 

organi zations in the fie ld of knowledge management. Access to people, internal 

documentation, and to the Bank ' s clients , enabled me to track the linkages and the 

impact o f the elements of the World Bank Knowledge Management Program. H is 

professional support and friendship pl ayed a significant role in mak ing sure that key 

aspects of the Knowledge Management Program where addressed during the research. 

111 



The profess ional s in the World Bank Knowledge Management Program Coordinati on, 

particularly Bruno Laporte, David Grey, Les ley Schne ier, Bas il Kawalsk y and Martha 

Patillo-S iv , provided innumerable ins ights , suggestions and in formation. 

Others at the World Bank who were instrumental in supporting my resea rch were: 

Alvani Silva, for al low ing her staff to provide programmatic support to generate specia l 

access to oflicial project documents; Nitin Parekh, Hugh Graham, Shirley Tan, Erik 

Krody, and Barathon G nanas undram , for providing me with the necessary programming 

in order to obta in the data from a number of different databases (KMTRS, Info1111ation 

Warehouse, Bank Directory, web logs, and [RlS) ; Ramesh Siva, Samia Benidir, Giles 

Hopkins and Virginia Yee, for the helpful suggestions on the methodology and 

willingness to discuss the results ; Denise Bedford, and Susan Dubas who he lped w ith 

the training program for the catalogers using the Knowledge Analysis Data Base and 

provided innumerous inputs regarding Thesaurus, SAP Databases, and the Bank Sector 

Codes and Product Line descriptions ; Kristin Lado, for providing me with access to 

hi stori cal internal documents about the KM Program· Shobha Muralidharan Klim , ' 

Bakhitov, .J ennifer Gellman and Ndiogou F. Cisse, worked in categorizing all KM 

Queries and the bibliographic search for the study; David Witsel, Katie Bannon and 

Adoracion Arribas-Banos helped generate Internet statistics and al lowed me to use the 

results of the survey of Bank web users ; and Sylvia Piggott, and Michael Stumpf who 

conducted all the interviews for the Bank Knowledge Cases. 

IV 



The government officia ls wi th whom J met in Brazi l and N igeri a as we ll as the teachers 

and schoo l ad ministrato rs in the respective ed ucational projects through w hi ch the 

knowledge was tracked, were extremely open and fo rthcom ing in responding to the 

survey questi ons during the interv iews. Privacy restricti ons do not permit me to 

acknow ledge these people individ ua ll y. However, 1 must acknow ledge that their 

w ill ingness to share experi ences and ins ights made it possible to track the effect of th e 

knowledge management program to loeal level project implementation . 

Access to the coordinating and executing agencies as well as to the bene ficiari es in 

Nigeria was made possible by Brigitte Duces, N igeri a Principal Project Officer and in 

Brazil by Robin Horn , Fundescola Task Manager. Without them and the members of 

the Nigeria Universal Basic Education (UBE) and the F undesco la3 proj ect teams, it 

would have been imposs ibl e to do thi s study. Antonio Augusto de Almeida Neto, as 

well as all the staff of the Fundesco la National Coodinati ng Body also provided 

enormous help in arranging visits and intervi ews in seven states in Brazil. 

Staff from the World Bank Country Offices in Ni geria and Braz il provided substantial 

logistical suppo1i, arranged meetings and interviews with project members and other 

authorities in these countries. Special thanks are due to Maria Madalena dos Santos 
' 

Vined Thomas, and Chima Oabonima Urbani, for facilitating contacts with Brazili an 

and Ni geri an Offici als and other institutions, including visits to schools. 

V 



As a result or a ll or this support , 1 was abl e to conduct a to ta l of 147 interviews in 

Nigeria, Brazil and at the World Bank. Being ab le to do so has given breath and depth 

to thi s research. 

A number or people made it possible to convert the results of the resea rch into data and 

documents that cou ld be analyzed and presented. 

Arnoldo Medeiros daFonseca provided the techJ1i ca l support needed to program the 

Knowledge Analys is Database, Text Search Engine for automati c ind ex ing and the 

support with the creation of Nud*ist matri ces. Sand ra Scafutto helped to gather data 

abo ut Education Programs in Brazil. Pamela Hunter, Gay Kirsh , and L izandra Scafutto, 

translated and transcribed all the intervi ews. Karin Meira-Ribas, Olesya Oza remba, and 

Alcione Amos, provided editing support without which l cou ld not have fini shed the 

work in time. 

I want to express a special thanks to the National Counci l for Sc ientific and 

Techno logical Development (CNPq, Brazil) for the scholarship I received to pursue a 

doctorate at the Un ivers ity of Maryland. Without this fin ancial support a long with the 

understanding of my situation in this country, it wou ld not have been possibl e to start 

this program. Yone Chastinet, at the time at the Braz ilian Institute for Scientific and 

Technological Information (IBICT), was instrumental in authorizing a leave of absence 

that permited me to come to this country to work towards thi s degree and Hugo Paulo 

Vieira at CNPq provided the institutional support to reach thi s poi nt. 

V I 



Even thought thi s stud y was supported by many peop le, I am so le ly responsible fo r the 

research des ign, interpretation and presentati on. 

VII 



TABLE OF CONT ENTS 

List of Tabl es 

XXX I I 

List of Figures 

CHAPTER I . Introduction 

1.1 Statement o f Purpose 

1.2 Overview of the Methodology 

CHAPTER 2. Literature Rev iew 

2.1 lntroduction 

2.2 Know ledge Management - Concepts and Themes 

2.2 .1 Concepts and Themes 

2.3 Information Services - Evaluation o f Perfo rm ance and Impact 

2.3. 1 Value oflnfom1 ation Services 

2.4 Know ledge Management - Evaluation of Perfo rmance and Impact 

2.4.1 Performance measures 

CHAPTER 3. Methodo logy 

3. 1 Introduction 

3.2 Study Questions 

V I II 

Xl X 

6 

10 

10 

10 

14 

25 

26 

33 

40 

42 

42 

43 



4.3 Phase I - G lobal Quantitat ive Ana lysis of Knowledge Demand, Provision and 

Use 48 

3.3 .1 Ana lysis of the Knowledge Management Tracking System (KMTRS) 49 

3.3.2 Intranet and External Web Statistics 58 

3.4 Phase 2 - Qualitative Analysis of the impact of knowledge delivery processes 61 

3.4. 1 "Know ledge Cases" criteri a 62 

3.4 .2 Qualitative analys is for "Knowledge Cases" 66 

3.4.3. "Knowledge Delivery Instance" cri teria 78 

3.4.4 Qualitative Analysis for the "Know ledge Delivery Instance" 79 

3.4 .5 Use of Nud*ist Software 80 

3.4.6 Human Subject Approval Form 84 

3.5 Summary 84 

CHAPTER 4. The World Bank Knowledge Management Program 87 

4.1 The World Bank Group Work 87 

4.2 - The "Knowledge Bank" 94 

4.3 - The Knowledge Management Program - KM 100 

4.3.1 - KM Governance and Formal Organizational Architecture 123 

4.3.2 KM Program Operational Architecture 130 

4.3 .3 - Planning and Budgeting Architecture to support the KM Program 15 8 

4.3.4 - Personnel Processes to Support KM 162 

4.3 .5 - The Quality Program and the KM Program ( l 53) 167 

4.3.6 World Bank Institute (WBI) knowledge ac ti vit ies 17 1 

IX 



4.4 Know ledge Management System (KMS) 

4.4. 1 Fu ndamentals of the Knowledge Management System 

4.4.2 Components of the Know ledge Management System (KMS) 

175 

175 

187 

CHAPTER 5. Global Quantitati ve Ana lys is of Knowledge Demand, Provision, and Use 

5.1 - Ana lys is of Knowledge Demand (Research quest ions 1.1 and 1.2) 

5.1.1 - Type of Requesters 

5.1.2 - Purpose of the KM Queries 

5. 1.3 - KM Queries - Analysis by Category Usi ng Bank Thesaurus 

5.1.4 - Sectors of the KM Queries 

224 

230 

230 

243 

248 

261 

5.1.5 - Relationships between KM Queries and the Bank's Products and Services 

265 

5.2 - Analysis of the Know ledge Provision (Research questions 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4) 268 

5.2. l - Analysis of the Knowledge Provi sion by the Advisory Services 268 

5.2.2 KM Answers 298 

5.3 - Use of the Bank Intranet and External Web (Research questions 1 .2 and 1.2) 301 

5.3. l - External Web 301 

5.3.2 - World Bank Intranet 

CHAPTER 6. Qualitative Analysis of the Impact of the KM Program - Overall 

Picture 

X 

321 

332 



6. 1 - Knowledge Dissemination Vehicles that Promoted Better Knowledge 

Absorption (Research questions 1.1 , 1.4, 2.2) 

6. 1.1 - Country Interviewees 

6. 1.2 - Bank Staff Interviewees 

338 

339 

342 

6.2 - Type of Knowledge (Received and Transferred) that Provoked a Bigger Impact 

on Bank Cli ents (Research questions 1.1 , and 1.2) 

6.3 - Learning and Benefits from the Bank's Inform ation and Advice (Research 

questions 1. 3, 1.4, 2. 1, and 2.2) 

6.3 .1 - Changes in Bank Staff Attitudes Due to the KM Program 

6.3.2 - Changes in Country and Bank Processes 

6.3 .3 - Benefits Brought by the Bank 's Missions 

6.3.4 - Benefits from the KM Program 

348 

354 

358 

361 

363 

364 

6.4 - Impact of the Bank 's Knowledge Delivery Processes on the Countries ' Capacity 

Building (Research question 2.3) 368 

6.5 - Outcomes of the KM Advice (Research questions 2.1 , 2.2 and 2.3) 3 79 

6.5.1 - Reuse of Knowledge Outside the Knowledge Cases 382 

6.6 - The Bank's Knowledge-Sharing Problems (Research questions 2.1 , 2.2 and 2.3) 

383 

6.7 - Failings of the KM Program and Process (Research questions 2.1 , 2.2 and 2.3) 

389 

XI 



CHAPTER 7. Qualitati ve Analys is of the Impact of Know ledge Deli very Processes -

Know ledge Cases 393 

7. 1 Knowledge Country Case. N igeri a Uni versa l Basic Ed ucat ion (UBE) Project 398 

7.1 .1 Project Team and Reviewers' KM Queri es (Research question 2 .1 ) 398 

7.1 .2 - Analys is of N igeri a UBE O ffi cial Records (Research questi ons 2. 1 and 2.2) 

405 

7.1.3 Nigeri a UB E. Interview Results (Research questions 2. 1, 2.2 and 2 .3) 409 

7 .1.4 Causal Relationship between the KM Program and the Impact of the N igeri a 

UBE Project in the Bank 's Benefi ciary (Research questions 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3) 423 

7.2 Know ledge Country Case - Fundescola3 Proj ect 427 

7.2 .1 Analys is of Proj ect Team KM Queri es (Research questi on 2.1) 427 

7.2.2 - Analys is o f Bank Official Records (Research questi ons 2. 1 and 2.2) 429 

7.2.3 - Fundescola3 - Interview Results (Research questi ons 2. 1, 2.2 and 2.3) 435 

7.2.4 - Causal Relationship between the KM Program and the Impact o f the 

Fundescola3 Proj ect in Bank and Country's Perfo rmance (Research question 2.2 

and 2.3) 

7.3 - Knowledge Instances - Study Tour 

7.3.1 - Analys is o f KM Queri es and th e Stud y To ur Offici al Bank Records 

(Research questions 2. 1 and 2.2) 

45 6 

459 

459 

7.3 .2 - Study Tour - Knowledge-Sharing Behav ior and Impact - Intervi ew Results 

(Research questi ons 2.1 , 2.2 and 2. 3) 463 

7.3 .3 - Causal Relationship between the KM Program and the Impact of the Study 

Tour Event in Cli ent' s Performance (Research questi ons 2.2 and 2 .3) 469 

XII 



7.4 - Know ledge Bank Cases 472 

7.4.1 - Analysis of KM Queries and the Bank Cases Records (Research questions 

2. 1 and 2.2) 472 

7.4.2 - Bank Knowledge Cases - Interview Results (Research questions 2. 1, 2.2 

and 2.3) 476 

7.4.3 - Causal Relationship between the Impact of the KM Program and Bank 

Users' Performance (Research questions 2.2 and 2.3) 481 

CHAPTER 8. Qualitati ve Analysis - Outcome Mapping Results 484 

8.1 Boundary Partner: Bank Staff at Large 490 

8.2 Boundary Patiner: Bank Senior Management 494 

8.3 Boundary Partner: Task Managers 497 

8.4 Boundary Partner: Bank Country and Sector Teams 502 

8. 5 Boundary Partner: Knowledge Coordinators and Advisory Services 505 

8.6 Boundary Partners : Partners in Development Work 509 

8.7 Boundary Pa1iners: Client Countries 512 

8.7.l Country Governments (Federal, State, and Local, National Coordinating 

Units) 

8.7.2 Boundary Partner: Schools and Teachers 

517 

528 

8.7 .3 Boundary Partner - Parent/Teacher Associations, NGOs, Citi zen Coalitions 
' 

and Unions 

8. 7.4 Boundary Partners - Parents 

XIII 

534 

536 



8.7.5 Bou ndary Partner - Commun ity in Genera l 537 

8.7.6 Bo undary Partner - Students 539 

8.7.7 Boundary Partners: Private Sector and Politic ians 540 

8.7.8 Boundary Partner: Public at Large 542 

CHAPTER 9. Conclusions 544 

9 .1 Effectiveness of the study methodology to answer the research quest ions 545 

9. 1.1 Quantitative Methodology (Phase 1) 546 

9. 1.2 Qualitative Methodology (Phase 2) 550 

9.2 Majo r [,'indings of the World Bank KM Program on performance and cl ient 

outcomes 

9.2. 1 Findings related to the KM Architecture Components 

9.2.2 Lmpact from the KM Program on Knowledge Cases 

9.2.3. Findings from the Outcome Mapping Stud y 

555 

561 

566 

573 

9.2 .4 Generalizable results that contribute to the development of KM programs in 

organizations 

9.3 General conclusions on Knowledge M anagement Architecture and business 

performance 

9.3. 1 Mainstreaming KM programs within organi zations 

578 

579 

581 

9.3.2 The character of the knowledge deli very vehi cles used to achi eve knowledge 

absorption 597 

9.3.3 Impact of knowledge delivery on client processes and its measurement 60 1 

9.4 Implications of the Study for the World Bank KM Program 605 

X IV 



9.4.1 KM Program Architecture Components 

9.4.2 Other Units and Senior Management 

9.5 Future Research 

9.6 Final Remarks 

606 

6 14 

6 16 

6 19 

APPENDJX I . KM Analys is Database - "Cataloging View" Guidelines for Cataloging 

KM Queries 

A 1.1 - Introducing the "Cataloging View" 

A 1. 1.1 Source Fie lds 

A 1.1.2 Cataloging Fields 

A 1 .2 Using the "Cataloging View" 

A 1.2. 1 Installing the CD-ROM 

A 1.2.2 Cataloging KM Queries using the "Cataloging View" 

A 1.2.3 Finishing the Categorization Process 

Al .3 . Cataloging KM Queries 

A 1.3 .1 "Requester Type" 

A 1.3.2 "Sector Type" 

A 1.3.3 "Categori es" 

A 1.3 .5 " Purpose" of the KM Question 

A 1.4.6 Bank Product Lines 

A 1.5 Background Information 

APPENDIX 2 . KM Analysis Database 

xv 

62 1 

623 

624 

633 

634 

634 

634 

638 

640 

640 

643 

643 

649 

658 

667 

668 



A2 . l Data Preparati on 668 

A2.2 The Raw Data 668 

A2 .3 The Final Schema 670 

A2.4 Co nversion to the F inal Schema 676 

APPEND IX 3. Automatic Categori zati on of K M Queries 702 

A3. 1 lntrod uction 702 

A3.2 Categori zation using the World Bank Thesaurus 703 

A3 .2. 1 Find ing Keyword Frequencies and ass igning "weights" 703 

A3 .2.2 Categorizati on Steps 705 

A3.3 Bank P roduct Line and Sector List Catego ri zation Steps 708 

A3 .4 Categori za ti on Program Des ign 709 

A3.5 Categorization Results 7 12 

APPENDIX 4 . Interviews Protocol , Coding Scheme and Outcome Mapping 713 

A4.1 Introduction 713 

A4.2 Preliminary Categorizat ion Scheme 7 14 

A4.2. 1 Base Data Coding. 7 14 

A4.2.2 Themes (Interview-level) Coding 7 18 

A4 .2.3 Interviews Guide 722 

A4.3 Comparison between KM Expected Outcomes and Interviews Res ult s 756 

A4.3. I Definiti on of KM Program expected M ission for Operationa l Work 757 

XV I 



A4.3.2 Definition of Expected Boundary Partners 

A4.3.3 Definition of Expected Outcomes for each Boundary Partner 

A4.3.4 Progress Markers 

A4.3.5 Definition of expected Strategies 

A4.3.6 Definition of expected Organi zati onal Practices 

A4.3.7 Design Worksheet: Program Framework 

APPENDIX 5. Knowledge Cases : Selection Process 

AS. I Country Knowledge Cases selection process 

A5.2 " Knowledge Instances" selection process 

A5 .3 Bank's Knowledge Cases selection process 

APPENDIX 6. Know ledge Management Program Outcome Mapping 

A6.1 Education Sector Strategy - KM Outcome Mapping 

A6.2 Nigeria UBE - Outcome Mapping 

A6. 3 Fundescola 3 - Outcome Mapping 

APPENDIX 7. Nud*ist Codes 

APPENDJX 8. Study Interviewees 

757 

758 

759 

760 

760 

762 

768 

768 

774 

776 

78 1 

791 

798 

806 

818 

824 

APPEND IX 9. Application for Review of Research using Human Or Animal Subjects 

826 

A9.1. Abstract 826 

XV II 



A9.2 S ubject Selecti on 

A9 .3 Procedure 

A9.4 Ri sks and Bene fits 

A9.5 Confidenti ality 

A9.6 In fo rm ati on and Consent Forms 

B IBLIOG RA PHY 

XV III 

827 

828 

837 

837 

838 

849 



UST OF TABLES 

Table 3. 1 - KMTRS Database Structure 

Tab le 3.2 - KM Analysis Database Reports 

Tab le 3.3 - Questions and Tools/Methods Used 

Table 4.1 Knowledge Management Program 

Table 4.2 - List of Advisory Services by Networks 

Table 4.3 - Thematic Groups by Sector and Networks (1999/2001) 

Table 4.4 - Summary of Attributes by Content Type 

Table 4.5 - Core Set of Metadata 

Table 4.6 - Excerpt from the WB Thesaurus 

Table 8.1 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Bank Staff (30, 61 , 62) 

Table 8.2 - Education Sector Strategy - Boundary Partner: Regional 

Management, Country Teams, and Bank at Large 

51 

56 

85 

100 

141 

148 

190 

201 

204 

492 

493 

Table 8.3 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Bank Senior Management 497 

Table 8.4 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Task Managers 500 

Table 8.5 - Education Sector Strategy - Boundary Partner: Task Managers 501 

Tab le 8.6 - Education Sector Strategy - Boundary Partner: Project Teams 502 

Tab le 8.7 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Sector Teams 505 

Table 8.8 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Knowledge Management 507 

Coord inators 

Table 8.9 - Education Sector Strategy - Boundary Partners : All KM 

Architecture Components 

XIX 

509 



Tab le 8.10 - KM Program - Boundary Partner: Partners in Development Work 512 

Table 8. 11 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: Development Community 512 

Table 8. 12 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: UNDP (150) 513 

Table 8. 13 - KM Program - Boundary Partners: C lient Countries 514 

Table 8. 14 - Ed ucation Sector Strategy - Boundary Partners: Co untry 517 

Governments and "Official Education Apparatus" 

Table 8.1 5 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: "State Apparatus" 

Tab le 8. 16 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: Ed ucation "Apparatus" 

(Government at all levels 

Table 8. 17 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: State and Municipalities 

Secretariats 

Table 8.18 - Fundesco la3 - Boundary Partner: Municipal Councils of 

Education (150) 

519 

522 

524 

526 

Table 8.19 - Fundesco la3 - Boundary Partner: National and State Coordinat ion 527 

Units (DGPs,COEPs) 

Table 8.20 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: Procurement Specialist of PJUs 529 

and PCUs 

Tab le 8.21 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: Schools and Teacher 530 

Table 8.22 - Fundesco la3 - Boundary Partner: Teachers and Principals 532 

Table 8.23 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: Primary Schools 534 

Table 8.24 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: PT As, NGOs, Citizen Coali tion, 536 

Teacher Union 

Table 8.25 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: Parents 538 

xx 



Table 8.26 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: Communities 

Tab le 8.27 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: Commun iti es 

Tab le 8.28 - Fundesco la3 - Boundary Partner: Students 

Table 8.29 - Fundesco la3 - Boundary Partner: Private Sector 

Tab le 8.30 - Nigeria UBE - Boundary Partner: Politicians 

Table 8.3 1 - Fundescola3 - Boundary Partner: Public at Large 

Table A2.1 - Field Names 

Table A2 .2 - The Final Schema 

Table A2.3 - Record Statistics 

Table A2.4 - F ields Available aper Derivation Phase 

Table A2 .5 - Maximum Content Lengths 

Table A6. I - KM Program Outcome Mappi ng 

Table A6.2 - Boundary Partner: Bank Staff 

Table A6.3 - Boundary Pa1iner: Bank Senior Management 

Table A6.4 - Boundary Partner: Task Managers 

Table A6.5 - Boundary Partner: Country Teams 

Table A6.6 - Boundary Partner: Sector Teams 

Table A6.7 - Boundary Partner: Knowledge Management Coordinators 

Table A6.8 - Boundary Partners: Advisory Services 

Table A6.9 - Boundary Partner: Partners in Development Work 

Table A6.10 - Boundary Partners: Client Countries 

Table A6. l l - Education Sector: KM Outcome Mapping 

Tab le A6.12 - Education Sector: Boundary Partner: Task Managers 

XXI 

539 

540 

541 

542 

543 

543 

670 

67 1 

678 

684 

686 

783 

784 

785 

786 

787 

788 

789 

790 

791 

792 

793 

794 



Table A6 . I 3 - Education Sector: Boundary Partners: Project Teams 794 

Table A6 .14 Education Sector: Boundary Partner: Regional Management, 795 

Country Teams and Bank at large 

Table A6 . 15 - Education Sector: Boundary Partners: all KM Architecture 

components 

Table A6.16 - Education Sector: Boundary Partners: Governments and 

"Official Education Apparatus" (i ncluding partners) 

Tab le A6. 17 - Nigeria: KM Outcome Mapping 

Table A6. 18 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: "State Apparatus" (Governors , 

Primary Education Boards, Local Government, Federal Government, 

UBEC) 

796 

798 

799 

80 1 

Table A6.19 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: Schoo ls and Teachers 803 

Table A6 .20 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: PT As, NGOs, C iti zen Coalition, 804 

Teachers Union 

Table A6.21 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: Communiti es 805 

Table A6 .22 - Nigeria: Boundary Partners: Colleges of Education 805 

Table A6.23 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: Procurement Specialist of PI Us and 806 

PCUs 

Table A6.24 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: Development Community 806 

Table A6.25 - Nigeria: Boundary Partner: Politicians 806 

Table A6.26 - Fundescola (Brasi l): KM Outcome Mapping 807 

Table A6.27 - Fundescola (Brasi l): Boundary Partner: Primary Schools 808 

Table A6 .28 - Fundescola (Brasil): Boundary Partner: Primary Indi genous 809 

XX II 



Schools 

Table A6.29 - Fundescola (Brasil): Boundary Partner: Teachers and Principals 810 

Table A6.30 - Fundescola (Brasi l): Boundary Patiner: Students 81 1 

Table A6.3 I - Fundescola (Brasi I): Boundary Partner: Parents 811 

Tab le A6.32 - Fundesco la (Brasi l): Boundary Partner: Communit ies 812 

Table A6.33 - Fundescola (Bras il ): Boundary Partner: State and Mun icipalities 812 

Secretariats 

Table A6.34 - Fundesco la (Brasi l): Boundary Partner: Municipal Councils of 814 

Education 

Table A6.35 - Fundesco la (Brasi l): Boundary Partner: Project Coordination 815 

Union (DGP) 

Tab le A6.36 - F undescola (Brasil): Boundary Partner: COEPs 8 16 

Table A6.37 - Fundescola (Bras il ): Boundary Partner: Education "Apparatus" 816 

(government at all levels) 

Table A6.38 - Fundesco la (Bras il ): Boundary Partner: UNDP 

Table A6 .39 - Fundescola (Brasil): Boundary Partner: Private Sector 

Table A6.40 - Fundescola (Brasil): Boundary Paiiner: Pub lic at Large 

Table A 7.1 - Hi gh Level Theme Codes 

Table A 7 .2 - High Level Question Codes 

Table A 7.3 - Base Data Codes 

XX II I 

8 17 

817 

8 18 

8 19 

82 1 

824 



LIST OF FIG URES 

Figure 1.1 -- Methodology Overview 9 

Figure 4. 1 - World Bank Organizational Chart 90 

Figure 4.2 - World Bank Organizational Chart and KM Governance 104 

Figure 4.3 - KM Governance and Operational Architecture 1999 114 

Figure 4.4 - Advisory Services 133 

Figure 4.5 - Advisory Services and Thematic Groups 136 

Figure 4.6 - Advisory Services Q/ A 140 

Figure 4.7 - Knowledge Management System Components 186 

Figure 4.8 - "Logical View of Infocl ient" and Corporation Warehouse 212 

Figure 5.1 - KM Requests by Requester Type 23 1 

Figure 5.2 - KM Request by Vice Presidency 233 

Figure 5.3 - KM Request by Location 234 

Figure 5.4 - Percent Sectors by Requestor Type 237 

Figure 5.5 _ Primary Purpose by Requester Type 238 

Figure 5.6 - KM Queries by Product Line - Member of Bank Network - Bank 241 

Staff 

Figure 5.7 - Primary Prod uct Line by Selected Bank Requestors 242 

Figure 5.8 - KM Request by Purpose 245 

Figure 5.9 - Number oflnteractions per Most Used Purposes (Percent of 247 

Total) 

Figure 5.10 - KM Queries By Primary Category, All Years 248 

XX IV 



Fi gure 5. 11 - KM Requests for Sub-Categories of Macroeconomics 25 1 

Figure 5.12 - KM Requests for Sub-Categori es of Environment 253 

Figures 5. 13 - KM Requests for Sub-Categories of Water Supp ly 255 

Figure 5.14 -- KM Req uests for Sub-Categories of Health & Nutrition 258 

Figure 5.15 - KM Requests for Sub-Categories of Education 258 

Figure 5.16 - KM Requests by Sub-Category of Private Sector Development 260 

Figure 5.17 - KM Requests by Primary, High Level Sector Code 262 

Figure 5.18 -- KM Requests by High Level Sector Codes, All Priorities 265 

Figure 5.19 - Percent Sectors by Requester Type 266 

Figure 5.20 - KM Requests by Primary Product Line 267 

Figure 5.21 - KM Request by Advisory Service 270 

Figure 5.22 - Frequency of Requestor Requests by Advisory Service 273 

Figure 5.23 - Advisory Services per Requester Type 272 

Figure 5.24 - Advisory Service Composition of High Level Sector (Percent of 274 

Total) 

Figure 5.25 - Advisory Services per all leve l sector codes 

Figure 5.26 - Advisory Service per Product Line 

Figure 5.27 - KM Requests by Most Frequent Advisory Service Defined 

Categories 

276 

281 

283 

Figure 5.28a - Interactions by Advisory Services 286 

Figure 5.28b -- KM Requests by Number oflnteractions Used to Answer 288 

Queries 

Figure 5.28c - Number oflnteractions per Advisory Service (Percent of 287 

XXV 



Tota l) 

Figure 5.29 - Number of Interactions per Most Used Purposes (Percent of 290 

Tota l) 

Figure 5.30 - Elapsed Time used by Advisory Services to answer KM Queri es 290 

Figure 5.31 - Elapsed Time for KM Answer versus the Sector ofK.M Query 

Figure 5.32 - Elapsed Time for KM Answer versus the Product Line of KM 292 

Queries 293 

Figure 5.33 - Elapsed Time of KM Answer versus the Purpose of the KM 

Query 294 

Figure 5.34 - Unique Users by Advisory Services 

Figure 5.35 - Frequency of Requestor Requests by Adv isory Serv ice 295 

Figure 5.36 - Most Frequent Databases Used to Answer KM Queries 296 

Figure 5.37 - KM Request by Answer Type 299 

Figure 5.38 - Total Monthly Unique Users - External Web ( 128) 300 

Figure 5.39 - Total Monthly Page Requests to Public Site From 1995 to 2001 303 

(128) 304 

Figure 5.40 - Comparison of Site Utilization - Bank Staff and External Users 

( 128) 305 

Figure 5.41 - Total Pages Requested From Developing Countri es (128) 

Figure 5.42 - Share of Traffic by Developing Country Region (2001) (128) 307 

Figure 5.43 - Distribution of Developing Country Respondents Business 308 

Areas (128) 309 

Figure 5.44 - Distribution of Type of Requesters/Users for Developing vs 

XXV I 



Developed Countries ( 128) 310 

Figure 5.45 - Sections of the External Website Used by Users in Developing 

and Developed Countries (128) 313 

Figure 5.46 - Share of Traffic by Major Website Section (200 I) ( 128) 

Fi gure 5.47 - External Web - Topics Used by Users From Developing and 314 

Developed Countries (128) 316 

Figure 5.48 - External Web Most-Frequent Keywords Used by External Users 

Figure 5.49 - External Web Most-Frequent Keywords Used by Internal Users 317 

Figure 5.50 - Regional Distribution of Email Newsletters Subscribers (128) 318 

Figure 5.51 - Top Newsletter and Number of Subscribers ( 128) 320 

Figure 5.52 - Intranet Visitor Sessions in 2001 (128) 321 

Figure 5.53 - Intranet Traffic by Region in 200 l (128) 323 

Figure 5.54 - Intranet Traffic by Sectors in 200 1 ( 128) 324 

Figure 5.55 - Knowledge Objects Growth During 1997-2001 (128) 326 

Figure 5.56 - Breakdown by Knowledge Objects Published in the Intranet 328 

(Top Level) (128) 330 

Figure 5.57 - Most Requested Categories of Knowledge Objects 1999-2000 

(128) 331 

Figure 6. 1 - Bank Staff 'Most cited Knowledge Dissemination Vehicles' 

(Across all Interviews) 344 

Figure 6.2 - Knowledge Dissemination Vehicles used by Bank Staff to 

transfer Knowledge to Cli ents (Across all lnterviews) 345 

Figure 6.3 - Most Used Knowledge Dissemination Vehicles by Affiliation 

XXV II 



Figure 6.4 - Knowledge Dissem ination Methods (Across All Interv iews) 348 

Figure 6.5 - Types of Know ledge (Across a ll Interviews) 349 

Figure 6.6 - Types of Knowledge Received (by order of citat ions) 353 

Figure 6.7 - Types or Knowledge Transferred by Bank Staff to the C li ents 354 

(Across a ll Interv iews) 355 

Figure 6.8 - Impact of Bank's Knowledge Delivery in the Co untri es 

(Across all Interv iews) 375 

Figure 6.9 - Top Problems with the Bank (Across all Interviews) 

Figure 6.10 - Top Failures of KM Process (Across all Interviews) 387 

Figure 7. 1 - Nigeria UBE - Project Team KM Queries/Answers 393 

Figure 7.2 - Nigeria UBE Experts and Reviewers ' KM Queri es/Answers 400 

Figure 7.3 - Example of a Simple Path (3 interactions) 402 

Figure 7.4 - Example of Compl ex Path (8 interact ions) 403 

Figure 7.5 - Nigeria UBE Proj ect - Records Analysis (149) 405 

Figure 7.6 - Most Cited Knowledge Vehicles by Affi li at ion 407 

Figure 7.7 - Top Types of Knowledge cited per Audience Type for Nigeria 412 

Case Jntervi ews 414 

Figure 7.8 - Causal Re lat ionships between KM Program Components and 

Impact of Nigeria UBE in the Country 

Figure 7.9 - Fundescola3 - Project Team KM Queries/Answers 

Figure 7.10 - Fundesco la3 - Records Analysis (150) 

Figure 7. 11 - Knowledge-Sharing Vehicles per Order of Citati ons 

Figure 7.12 - Knowledge-Sharing Vehic les by Affi li ation 

XXV III 

425 

429 

432 

439 



Figure 7.13 - Know ledge Vehicle Most Importa nt fo r Bank's Proj ect Team 440 

Members 442 

Fi gure 7. 14 - Fundesco la3 - Most Cited Benefits, by Affi liation 

Fi gure 7.15 - Impact of Bank's Knowledge Delivery Process on the 

Country' s Capacity 

Figure 7.16 - Knowledge-Sharing Probl ems 

445 

452 

Figure 7. 17 - Causal Relationship between the KM Program and Impact of 454 

Fundescola3 in the Country 458 

Figure 7.18 - Stud y Tour - Records Analysis (132) 

Figure A 1.1 - The KM Analys is Database Cataloging View 

Figure A 1.2 - "Requester" Window 

Figure A 1.3 - "Request" Window 

Figure A 1.4 - "Response" Window 

Figure A l. 5 - System Defin ed Fields 

Figure A 1.6 - Classi ft cation Notes 

XX IX 

462 

622 

625 

628 

629 

63 1 

633 



CHAPTER I . lNTRODUCTION 

The purpose of thi s d issertati on is to invest iga te the re lationship between knowledge 

management archi tecture and the effect of th is arc hitecture on o rgan izational 

performance and processes, eventuall y showing the relat ionship between such processes 

and the impact on their beneficiaries. I propose to use the case of the World Bank 

Know ledge Management Program for many reasons. First, it is a very comprehensive 

program; second it entered in a more mature stage after five years of its implementation 

and third , it is a part of the overa ll strategy of the organ ization. Tn add iti on, it 

impl emented a comprehensive information management strategy that changed the way 

the information now, repos itori es and processes were defined, implemented and shared, 

and finally it profits from the interest and support of the senior management of the 

organi zati on. 

1.1 Statement of Purpose 

Over the years different societies created processes and means to trans fer knowledge to 

foster progress, simplify processes and improve the economy. One wonders, therefore, 

about what makes the existing knowledge management programs special and how their 

impact differs from the past. The answer for many may seem very s imple. Without the 

current information management architectures and technologies infrastructures, the 

imp act of know ledge sharing was confined to smal 1 groups and enterprises, with 

re lative small capabilities of fast reach and re-use of such knowledge. The speed, 

maximization of exposure, and capability of different peopl e from different places to 

participate in problem reso lution permitted nowadays by the informat ion technology 



makes it possible for knowledge management programs to succeed and create 

measurabl e impact. 

One wishes that the answer were so si mp le. If so, the measurement of the impact of 

knowledge management programs could be extremely si mplified by following a 

straightforward path between knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, knowledge 

assimilation, and knowledge application in the resolution of problems. However 
' 

ex peri ence shows that this path is influenced by a number of additional factors that 

hinder or help the impact of the knowledge sharing. One such factor is the fact that 

human beings are the essentia l transfer means for knowledge sharing and therefore the 

intrinsic problems or controversies associated with the "human architecture" and 

"human socio logy" has to be added to the equation . 111 addition, knowledge sharing 

imp lies transmitting so lutions to groups of individuals therefore involving processes 

with an addit iona l level of complexity. 

In recent years organi zations have begun us ing the power of technology and an 

increasing awareness of the power of human interactions to establish knowledge 

management programs ai ming at improving effectiveness and efficiency and solving 

specific prob lems. Different organizations have fo llowed d ifferent paths of how to 

estab lish these programs. Some establish elaborate technology infrastructure and 

mechanisms to capture the tacit and explicit knowledge into databases that are availab le 

organization-wide using the web . Others start by establishing elaborate systems of 

incentives for the staff that invo lve mentoring, coaching, and merit "prem iums" 

2 



associated w ith sharing knowledge. Very few estab lished comprehensive programs that 

include all these components in e laborate layers of comp lex ity sp read across the 

organi zati on and tried to change its "culture". Almost none have been successful in 

measuring if such comprehensive programs really affected their culture and their 

organ izational performance and provides enough benefits that wo uld not otherwise, be 

achi eved by other means . 

In participating in a number of knowledge management program benchmarks J 

concluded that there are some factors always present in the few organizations that were 

ab le to achi eve relative success w ith such programs. These were organizations that had 

a del!ned probl em to solve, almost always associated with a financi a l " bottom-line" to 

the enterpri se. This expla ins why in large m ajority such programs started with industri es 

that were losing money in specific lines of production. 

Another type of organization where such programs seem to have succeeded is 

consulting companies that are in the business of selling their expertise and therefo re 

have knowledge sharing as a core competency. ln such cases staff has strong incentives 

to promote themselves and their work since they depend on their experti se to have 

clients to consu lt for. Strong information management polic ies and systems are in pl ace 

for captu ring and sharing knowledge as well as behavior guidelines favor ing the 

promotion of staff's expertise. 

3 



All cases have in common top-down support from the CEO or someone at the 

equ ivalent level, dedicated program and resources, a strong in formation manaoement 
b 

and technology infras tructure, intermediaries fun ctions defined in one way or another, 

and personnel incenti ves in some measure. More recently the existence of groups or 

"communiti es of practices" as focal point of knowledge sharing and innovation are 

recogni zed as fundamental to the success of knowledge management programs. 

Missing from the majority of the programs, however, are measures that ass ure 

conditions to validate their success and present effective proof of financial or other type 

of impact. In fact, the ex istence of indicators and its very definition is dubious and 

fuzzy. Unless an enterpri se has a clear identifi able mandate with concrete and specific 

prob lems, the re lationship between the investments and the impact are difficult to 

measure. In the absence of such indicators one has to use methods that present some 

"evidence" of the relationship between such programs and recognizable benefits fo r the 

enterpri se. Depending upon the complexity of the orga ni zation , its objectives and the 

comprehensiveness of its knowledge management program, the techniques used for this 

type of evaluation cou ld be largely anecdotal. 

My hypothesis is that there is a positive relat ionship between the Bank 's knowledge 

program and the impact on the Bank's processes and consequently on the quality of the 

assistance to its beneficiaries (Bank staff and / or countries). 

4 



At the end o f the resea rch I hope to: 

(a) Ga in some insight into the re lati onshi p between a know ledge 

management program and its impac t o n the organi za ti o n 's bus iness 

processes, new products and serv ices, if any; 

(b) the ro le of an integrated in fo rm ati on management architecture too ls in 

supporting the know ledge management architectures; 

(c) the impact o f the KM Program on the organi zation bene fi ciari es, if any. 

Due to the diffi culty o f ana lyzing on benefits of the Bank 's KM Program in the 

countri es, r tri ed to concentrate the research on the effect of the Bank ' s KM Program in 

its o rganizational processes, particularly looking fo r changes in o rganizational prac ti ces 

that allow for better knowledge shari ng and di ssemination. For som e standard 

organi za tional processes it is conceivabl e to imagine that these changes could be 

trac ked back to the KM Program . 

fn order to set the stage for this investigation, I had to document the Bank 's Knowledge 

Management Architecture. A lthough part of the architecture is studi ed and described in 

different papers, there wasn ' t at the time of the study, within the Bank any paper that 

provided a hi storica l description of the evolution of all its components. l intend to use 

the occasion and document the program and its components. Thus a by-product of thi s 

dissertation is the first fu ll description of all the histori ca l components of the World 

Bank ' s Know ledge Management Architecture as ex istent between l 999 and 2002. 

5 



1.2 Overview of the Methodology 

In order to carry out the ana lysis, I used as a starting point the Knowledge Management 

Tracking System; this system records the requests and answers provided to the users of 

the Program and is managed by the Knowl edge Management Advisory Services or 

"KM Help Desks" whi ch are retail information outfits that serve the Bank staff at large 

and support the activi ty of more than 140 "comm uni ties of practices" or "Thematic 

Gro ups" across the organi zati on. They are described on Chapter 3 of thi s dissertation. 

Ini tiall y I estab li shed an overall view of the types and purposes of the questions and 

issues dealt with by these Adv isory and Thematic Groups, defined th e demographics of 

the users of the KM Program and analyzed the means by which such knowledge was 

acquired, created and shared. Because the ex isting Tracking System lacks some of the 

essenti al data for the analys is, I created a cod ifi cation for the additiona l data needed and 

re-classified it using a separate database for the manipulation o[the data and the 

analys is required, us ing a c lass ification scheme created spec ifi ca ll y for the research as 

we ll as some of the Bank ' s standard taxonomi es. 

After an overall analysis of the demographics of the Program, I focused on two 

Advisory Groups (Education and Privatization) using the last two years of data. As a 

result of the initi al analysis, I created a limited number of "Knowl edge Cases" that I 

pursued tlu·ough the use the interviews with the participants involved in the provision of 

the knowledge so lution and also the benefici ary (e ither w ithin or outside the Bank) . I 

resea rched s ix cases tota l, one in each of the two beneficiary countri es (N igeri a and 

6 



Brazil ), one encompass ing the two benefic iary countri es and ana lyzing a Stud y Tour 

event and three at the Bank's Headquarters. The interv iews he lped to map the 

knowledge management process flow between the end users and the KM Program as 

well as changes in the Bank's Knowledge prov ision processes , if any. It a lso identified 

sources of information used, time expended in the knowledge provision, and most 

importantl y, the purpose and use of the knowledge obtained by the users . 1 focused on 

knowledge activities re lated to standard Bank products, such as projects, to veri fy if the 

KM Program made any contribution to the deployment of such activities. 

To establish the prec ise relationship between the knowledge management architecture 

and the impact of the know ledge provided, I verifi ed, for each case, which components 

of the KM program architecture as we ll as which systems and infonn at ion management 

infras tructures were involved in the knowledge provi s ion. This implied interviews w ith 

the information management area of the Bank to make sure I establi shed the correct 

understanding of the information and technology environment used for the knowledge 

provision . Because of the possibility of a number of other factors influencing the use 

and ass imil ation of the Bank's advice in the clients processes and solutions , the 

methodology a lso inc luded a detailed records tracking process analyzing the Bank ' s 

internal documents and exchanges between the Bank and the bene ficiari es of the advice. 

In order to create a framework to analyze if the country cases and stud y tour were 

creating the expected impact in tem1s of the knowledge sharing objectives defined 

broadly by the KM Program, I created a framework detailing these KM Outcomes 

7 



obj ectives using an adaptation of a technique called "Outcome Mapping" used by the 

IDRC for evaluation and monitoring of development projects (114). The Outcome 

Mapp ing technique is based on the Outcome Engineering technique developed by the 

staff of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (115) under the coordination of 

Dr BarTy Kibel. I decided to use this technique not as a mechanism for evaluation and 

monitoring (not the objective of this dissertation) but instead, as a mechanism to help 

make exp li cit the KM outcomes objectives against which we cou ld judge the interv iew 

results from the Knowledge Country Cases and Study Tour Case. 

The details of the methodology are described in Chapter 4 and Appendices 5 and 6. A 

diagram showing the main steps of the research is presented in Figure 1.1. 

8 



'-0 I 

,· 
,-

\ 

Analyzing the 
Environment 

~ ---~~ 

WB Objectives 

WBProgram" 

J 

' - - ~·,_.,,;-,, __ _..., 

WBKMS 
~·, . ,- ,·C.,~4✓ 

Figure 1.1 -- Methodology Overview 

I 
I 

L 

Q,uantitative 
Analysis 

KMTRS & WB Data 

KM Analysis DBMS 
- --

Cataloguing 

\ 

I 

I 

- -- ·------ ·•·~ 

IW Statistical DBMS 
I 

! - __ , -- ___,/ 

', 
ForumOne & Web 

I 
; 

f 

\ 

_r 

I 

Qualitative 
Analysis 

\"'------------

• K-Case Selection 
Nigeria UBE 
Fundescola 3 
Study Tours 
Bank Cases 

-• N 

Records Analysis 

f --

Interviews 

r --
Nud*ist-Based 

~ 

,· --., 

Outcome Mapping 



CHAPTER 2. LJTERATURE REVIEW 

2. 1 Introduction 

This dissertation covers two bodies of literature: some material from the bus iness and 

management literature analyzing the evolution, concepts, evaluation and results of the 

knowledge management "movement", and the information science literature regarding 

measures used in the evaluation of information systems to define its value. In addition, 

it covers participatory impact methodologies to ascertain their utility to the objectives of 

thi s research. The know ledge management review presented is far from an exhaustive 

analys is of the knowledge management evolution, but instead considers a set of 

concepts, themes and tools belonging to knowledge management and information 

science that helped in the evolution of this particular research. 

2.2 Knowledge Management - Concepts and Themes 

The literature agrees that the name is new but some concepts are old. The knowledoe 
b 

management "movement" started in the mid 90s promoted largely by companies that, 

having themselves reformulated in order to survive, discovered that the set of 

app lication and processes that they developed cou ld profitably be applied to other 

companies as well. The moment in time was adequate with the compan ies profiting 

from the expans ion of web techno logies and from the integration of and 

commoditization of hardware and software tools. 



Once the " movement" sta1ied, a number of players entered in the "game": consulting 

compani es trying to sell services, vendors trying to sell technologies that support 

knowledge sharing and describe knowledge processes, information content services 

providers, experts in establishing knowledge sharing environments, and organizational 

learn ing spec ialists trying to analyze tacit and explicit knowledge within organizations. 

The variety of these contenders show the diversity of points of view that drove and in 

many cases still drives the various definitions of what knowledge management is. 

Overall there still is a fuzzy understanding of what it is and a vague idea of what it is 

not. Generally it is associated with an amalgamation of earlier teclmiques, such as 

management information systems, business process reengineering, and information 

resources management, and has benefited from the lessons learned in those earlier, more 

limited initiatives. Although it has as many definitions as the different types of 

professionals that express them, in general, however, everybody seems to agree that 

knowledge management has to do with the identification, capture and sharing of 

organizations' expertise. 

J have not found any new illuminating definitions of knowledge management, other 

than different arrangements of the same components: simplistically speaking, people, 

process and techno logy. Authors seem to be repeating themselves and l can not but 

wonder why th is is so and conclude that maybe due to the fact that the institutions are 

not quite certain if they were successfu l in their knowledge management programs, they 

need to continue the search for the magic so lution or at least try to have a guarantee that 

1 1 



they are in the ri ght direction. Therefore they keep trying to combine these three 

elements in different proportions to sec if - like a food recipe - they will find the ri ght 

" taste". Recently introduced to this mix is the concept of "organi zational learning". 

I find a lack of detai led analysi s of the components of implemented knowledge 

management programs. Probably due to the fact that companies consider their internal 

processes as part of their competitive advantage, they are not interested in disseminating 

knowledge about the same processes that gave them such advantage. Therefore, unless 

one is part of the implementation of a knowledge management program, or has contacts 

in the consulting business "crowd", the public and practical knowledge of what works 

or not is very smal l. 

In addition, the body of literature tends to assume that there is a somewhat universal 

simil arity in organizations regardless of the business in which they are. Although some 

of the underlying components are the same: again people, process and technology, I am 

left to wonder what it means to work in an organization in which success would mean to 

abolish such organization. This is the case of international development institutions 

such as the World Bank, object of this research. The success of the Bank wi II be 

measured by the ab ility of the countries of not needing to use Bank 's serv ices in the 

future. ]n add ition, because some of the developmental projects are designed aiming at 

long-term solutions, many times these projects do not necessarily corTespond to the 

immediate wishes of their users. Therefore consumer satisfaction is tempered by the 

abi lity or not that the countries have to predict that some measures will be beneficial to 

12 



them in the future: measurement to be acc urate has to be done years after the adv ice was 

prov ided to the countries. 

Competition comes to mind as well. International deve lopment instituti ons are los ing 

consumers. The World Bank reduced signifi cantl y its business with developing 

countri es in the las t years. Other than an expl anation of Bank 's success in erad icating 

poverty, what docs thi s means to the analys is o f competition? Compani es organi ze their 

knowledge to become more e ffecti ve and overcome the competiti on. What happens to 

organizati ons fo r which the set of incentives that regul ates its ex istence works w ith a 

different set o f expectations? Should the components o f knowl edge management 

systems fo r such organizations be the same and work simil arly? Would the type of 

incenti ves that the literature so gladly adopts fo r the pri vate sector, of use? Are the gains 

in effi ciency more important than the slow process o f di alog w ith a co un try, many times 

ineffi cient but necessary for the "buy-in of an idea, a principle or even an id eal to 

prevail ? 

Parti cipatory approaches for analysis of knowl edge management systems are not very 

common either. Knowledge management theoreti c ians acknowledge the importance of 

communities and the knowledge sharing interactions however it does not seem to me 

that adequate coverage is being done on the importance of a parti c ipatory process fo r 

definin g and evaluating knowledge management programs within large organi zati ons. 

Probably difficulti es in dealing with parti cipatory methodo logies do not fit into current 

ideas of effici ency. However, they could be more successful in the future as an e ffecti ve 

13 



way of promoting organizational long-term change. Maybe Tam overstating the issues 

and the homogeneity of the existing body o f knowledge about knowledge management 

indicates that de facto it is the "balance" of same e lements men ti o ned before: people, 

processes and techno logy that makes the difference. 

2.2 . 1 Concep ts and Themes 

Srikanta iah and Koenig (59) described resul ts of extensive surveys w ith field spec ia lists 

and information profess ionals in wh ich they isolated three central themes dominating 

the fie ld of knowledge management today. These themes are organi zational learn ing; 

in fo rmation and document management; and techno logy. Organi zati onal learning 

spec iali sts focus on " tac it" knowledge and human behavior, including human emotions 

and values. They a lso analyze organizational practices in corre lation with the human 

behavior. Document management and information management fo ll owers tend to 

concentrate in "explic it" knowledge stored in orga ni zati ons' systems, such as E lectroni c 

Document Management Systems, Intranets, Archi ves, Libraries, Data Warehouses, etc ., 

and teclmologists tend to concentrate on systems analysis, design, "pull " and "push" 

technologies, customer analysis, etc. 

Regardl ess of the ir orientation, the groups tend to agree that the goa l of knowledge 

management is the organization improvement of productivity and effectiveness . They 

also seem to agree that knowledge management programs enhance co ll aboration and 

innovation and deals with the info1111ation "overload" by creating conditions to extract 

" insight" from the corpus of organized information the organizations have in their 

systems (83) . 

14 



The evo lution of knowledge management "wave" brought some concepts to the 

forefront of the productivity and effectiveness discussions. One of these concepts relate 

to "intellectual capital". The concept became very popular in the mid 1990s and relate 

to "the awareness that info1111ation is a factor of production, in the same category with 

land , labor capital and energy" (86) . Intellectual capital was first defined as having two 

components : information/knowledge capital and structural capital. Information and 

knowledge capital "is the organization's infonnation and knowledge (structured and 

unstructured) ; the structural capital are the mechanisms or processes put in place to take 

advantage of the information and knowledge capital, the mechanism to capture, store, 

retrieve, and communication that information and knowledge" (59). 

The intellectual capital movement was very successful in gaining publicity. Thomas 

Stewart authored a number of studies on this topic. (85 , 86). Together with the growth 

of the electronic means - such as Lntranets and the Internet - to share information and 

knowledge, the concept of intellectual capital was also expanded to include the 

organizations' "communities", that is, their customers. In addition, this concept has 

been linked to some measures of organizational performance, such as the "balance 

scorecard". The idea being that there are indicators other than financial performance 

affecting organizations and by collecting indicators of the level of intellectual capital of 

organizations, one would have more complete information that explains their market 

value (87). 

15 



Another concept that emerged on the early 1990s was that of "learning organizations". 

Scnge's work in thi s area (58) in my opinion was important because it estab li shed also a 

very practical linkage with the proper use or technology to simulate organi zation 

processes and lea rn through simulation. There is literature however, that argues that 

Senge's theori es include basically the knowledge creation, while the knowledge 

management practices include the acquisition, structuring, retention and dissemination 

of knowledge (59). Similar discussions are present in work by Nonaka (56). 1 find these 

distinctions senseless in which they do not take into account the way in which people 

work and think . Distinctions such as that ignore the "inter-relational" aspect of the 

human mind, the "browsing" and parallelism of human thinking and the 

acknowledgement that feeling, producing, assimilating, applying and learning are 

processes within the same cycle and that human beings handle these cycles 

simultaneously. 

An associated concept used nowadays is that of "faster learning organizations". This 

concept reinforces again the association of knowledge management and techJ1ology and 

adopt the thesis of Evans and Wurster about the so-called "rich and reach" (88). Their 

point is that, "until now, one has a choice ofrichness or reach in communication, but 

one cou ld not achieve it simultaneously. A face-to-face conversation for example was 

rich in content, nuance and interactivity, but its reach was small, touching one or at 

most a few persons. A mass mai li ng, or radio, or TV broadcast has great reach , but was 

thin in content, nuance and interactivity . .. . With the new collaborative techno logies and 

16 



the fnternet this situation radically changed , transforming not only what we think about 

communications, but also how we think about organizations" (88) . 

Discussions about " social capital" emerging from different corpus of literature and 

related to the knowledge movement are also impotiant. Social capital is operationally 

de fined as " those behavioral norms that lower transaction costs and enable cooperation" 

(59) . Prusak from IBM argues that "social capital is what has been added to intellectual 

capital to create knowledge management" (89). 

Current social capital discussions are influencing the new thinking about international 

econom ic development and social renewal. It draws attention to the importance of 

social relationships and values such as trust in shaping broad attitudes and behavior. 

Puttman defines soc ial capital as "the features of social li fe - networks, norms, and trust 

that enab les participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives" 

(93). 

The use of the word capital implies that it constitutes an asset. The word social means 

that it is an asset obtained through membership in a community. Tt is accumulated 

within the community through a process of interaction and learning. Peter Maskell 

exp lains, however, that "social capital is not a commodity for which trade is technically 

possible or even meaningful. Social capital is at the same time in part acc umulated as an 

unintended and even unanticipated consequence of economic activ ity as people often 

spend more of their waking hours "bowling" with their working col leagues than with 

17 



their fam il y and friends. Norms, codes, trust, solidarity and other vital elements of 

soc ial capital are built and reinforced when sharing a common goal or a m utual fate 

even in the most hi erarchical econom ic structures imaginab le, li ke the globall y 

operating multinational corporation, and not just when people mingle, organi ze and 

achi eve with peers in their spare time" (94). 

The concept of soc ial capital has a w ide appeal for the knowledge management field 

and substanti al amount of attention has been given to its three "features": networks, 

norms and trust. I find this discussion important because it gives a "gli mpse" of the type 

of phenomena one is dealing with in the development of knowledge management 

programs. 

Central to di scuss ions related with social capital, is the acknowledgement of the 

participatory nature of knowledge sharing and the consequent need fo r analyzing 

different types of participation environments to promote effectiveness and efficiency. 

Therefore the question that comes to mind is: " is social capital a new concept in 

community development?" 

Another resurgence that is interesting to pinpoint is that of "corporate asset". Although 

not a privilege of the knowledge document domain - as many of the concepts that I am 

listing here - 1 find significant that after the emergence of the knowledge movement, 

organizations started realizing that the convergence between their peopl e and their 

explicit assets, in a knowledge era, "is a strategic corporate asset that needs to be 

18 



generated , retained, updated , disseminated and applied to future organi zational 

probl ems" (90) . Normally applied to explicit knowledge, corporate assets of 

organi zations are represented by "knowledge repositories". Popular examples of these 

repositories are "Andersen's Knowledge Xcbange, Booz Allen & Hamilton's 

Knowledge On-line, CAO Gemini's Knowledge galaxy, Earnst & Young's Center for 

Business Knowledge, and Monsanto's Knowledge Management Architecture" (59) . 

Such repositories constitute the "visib le" manifestation of knowledge management 

programs and are expected to offer to staff means to learn what the company know and 

consequently use the lessons learned by the organization in the improvement of the 

quality of its products and processes. They also serve as enablers of access to company­

wide information at any time, place and in whatever fom1 (91 ). A lthough my analysis 

of these institutions let me to beli eve that in some cases there are major "flaws" 

preventing the achievement of this objective, these repositories do constitute a first step 

to, eventuall y, access the organizations' explicit know ledge. 

Koenig synthes izes well what he call s the "information-processing parad igm" of 

knowledge management programs (59). With the growth of these "repositories" and 

associated investments (people and money), they tend to fol low a prescriptive approach 

for knowledge management as if one cou ld easily translate a best practice every time 

that a problem with simi lar characteristics presents itself. That is not so, but the illusion 

of achieving this ideal as well as the investments that organizations made on their 

information infrastructures create rigidities and the perpetuation of such o ld logic, even 

19 



when the underlying assumptions are already changed . As Koenig states" 

institut ionali zation of best practi ces and other types of exp li c it knowledge by 

embedd ing them in in fo rmation technology mi ght fac ilitate e ffi c ient handling of 

ro utine, linear, and predi ctable situati ons during stab le or incrementa ll y changing 

environ ments. When the change is radi cal and disconti nuous, however, there is a 

pers istent need fo r continuous renewal of the bas ic prem ises underlying the pract ices 

archived within knowledge repositories" (59). 

One of the major points that one can take from thi s is that in fo rmation-process ing 

paradi gm of knowledge management may be "devo id of capabili ties that are essential 

fo r continuous learning and unlearning processes mandated by radica l and 

di scontinuous change" (59) . I found this an important point. Know ledge management 

theory seems to be clever enough to correlate the different fo cus of organi zational 

learning, technology and people. However, the implementation itself of knowledge 

management programs tends to polari ze in one of these three foc us areas. Instead of 

looking at the set of systems that the organizations already have and that "de-facto" 

refl ect the daily li fe of their staff, the knowledge management repos itori es many times 

are additional systems that artificially are superimposed to the other systems within the 

organizations. 

For instance, instead of have an organization al practi ce that is part of an ex isting 

business process to explicitly refl ect of the lea rning during that process, (fo r instance 

writing a key document), the institutions tend to ask their staff to write about the same 

20 



experience as an additiona l business process. Sometimes institutions even " fo rmali ze" 

the capture the knowledge as a special process. ln my op inion this is a recipe for 

disaster. Un less the organization invests a substantial amount of resources to maintain 

these repositories, they wil l not be maintained when created outside the "realm" of the 

critical business processes systems. Worse, even with these investments there is a good 

probability that they wi ll not be used because they are not intrinsically related to the 

systems where staff expends most of their ti me: word processors, e-mai I and 

transactional systems. 

In addition to the concepts above, either created by the knowledge management 

movement, or reinforced by it, I should emphasi ze a number of "themes" that also 

fo llow the knowledge "band wagon". Some of these themes I mentioned before and 

relate with the concept of "tacit" and "explicit" knowledge. Tacit knowledge relates 

with knowledge accumulated by people, is "highl y personal and hard to formalize . .. 

subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches, follow into this category of knowledge. 

Difficult to verbalize, it is deeply rooted in an individual's action and experience, as 

well as in ideals, values, or emotions, he or she embraces" (95). ln large majority of the 

cases, it relates with knowledge of processes, or "how to do" things, and many times it 

is a knowledge that it is so internal to the individual that many times they do not know 

they have it. Current knowledge management thinking tries to estab li sh the structure 

and climate to enable and encourage those who have tacit knowledge to share it. 

21 



Among the most important contributi on of the discuss ion about tacit knowledge is the 

acknow ledgement that only human bei ngs store certain types of organizat ional 

knowledge and that this knowledge in a substanti al amount of cases can never be made 

explicit. With thi s acknow ledgment, staff in organizations is again brought to the center 

of the eq uation and staff management, such as staff acq ui sition and distribution within 

the organization is identified as a crucial asset in itself for knowledge sharing programs. 

By contrast, exp li cit knowledge is associated with knowledge that is recorded and 

stored preferably in electronic means available for easy consumption and distribution. 

For information profess ionals the fact that the knowledge management movement 

"discovered" information systems is somewhat curious not to say disconcerting. 

Although this may reduce - in our eyes - the acuity of the knowledge movement, I 

suspect that in fact the movement helped in speed ing up the convergence and 

integration of the infomiation systems within organizations, such as what happened in 

the World Bank Knowledge Management Program studied in this research . The reasons 

for that is that for a knowledge manager these systems are only means to derive 

"insight"; therefore it is the set of derivations and relationships from the explicit 

knowledge repositories that is important, and not necessarily the individual information 

objects contained by them. This fact created the necessity of integrating previously 

isolated information systems in order for those to be abl e to provide such types of 

"insights". 

22 



Expanding on the concepts of tacit and explic it knowledge is the debate abo ut 

knowledge creation. There seems to be approaches to knowledge management tha t 

ignores the process of know ledge creation. Nonaka and hi s fo llowers have a substantial 

body of work in thi s area (56, 95). Their work points negatively to the tendency of 

restricting knowledge management programs to the management of the informati on 

now and informati on process ing. They affirm that this view fails to "capture the essence 

of the organization as a knowledge-creating entity" pointing out that organizations 

"create and defin e problems and then develop new knowledge to so lve the probl ems by 

interacting with their environments and reshaping the environments and even the 

organizations themselves. Hence, what knowledge management shou ld achi eve is not a 

static management of information or existing knowledge, but a dynamic management of 

the process of creating knowl edge out of knowl edge" (95). 

Nonaka argues that both types of knowledge are complementary for the knowledge 

creation process. He calls the convergence between these types of knowledge 

"knowledge conversion" and present four modes of such conversions : (a) socialization 

(from tacit to tacit knowledge); (b) externali zation (from tacit to explicit knowledge); 

(c) combination (from expli cit to explicit knowledge); and (d) internali zation (from 

explicit to tacit knowledge) (56). 

[n his recent work, Nonaka presents the definition of "ba" as the knowledge creation 

platform where knowledge is created, shared, and exploited . . . thus "ba" is a shared time 

and space for emerging relationships among individuals and gro ups to create 

23 



knowledge" (95) . He points out that the most important aspect of "ba" is interaction 

positioning the knowledge creation process as the process of creat ing a boundary for 

new interactions. 

I find Nanaka ' s concept very appealing in the study of knowledge management 

programs and fo r the understanding of the e lements that many times define the success 

or fa ilure of such programs. As I will discuss brieny in this C hapter, the cun-ent 

measurements fo r organization perfonnance and knowl edge management programs 

ignore these dim ensions - not vo luntarily but because no one reall y knows how to do it 

and [ wonder ifby largely ignoring the importance of organizational practices and 

knowledge interact ions we aren 't serious ly bias ing the results of our knowledge 

management eva luations. 

Nonaka's theories are also very useful to position the role of informati on technology 

within the knowledge management interactions. Taking his four " modes" as a 

fram ework, only the "combination" mode utili zes information technology. The other 

reason l find his work interesting is that it explains well the knowledge creation 

evo lution from individuals forming the "ba" of teams , teams formin g the "ba" of 

communities, communities forming the "ba" of organizations. 

Summarizing the set of concepts I presented so far, we see that they concentrate in three 

major areas: Knowledge resources (explicit and tac it knowledge), soc ia l capita l (culture, 

24 



trust, know ledge behav io r) and infras tructure (processes resources techno loay 
' ' C> ' 

metri cs). 

2.3 Info rmation Services Evaluati on o r Perform ance and Impact 

Many knowledge management programs arc too new to have s ignifi cant eva luat ions of 

its performance. However there is a signifi cant body o f scattered literature on the 

rela ti onship between the provi sion of informati on and organizati ona l producti vity. In 

genera l the literature is consistent in presenting a positi ve relationship between the two. 

The literature also identifi es characteristi cs of the informati on enviro nment conducive 

to the increase of productiv ity in organi zations. 

Koeni g (56) in a survey o f the literature in this area, points out that because o f the 

diffi culti es in establi shing a proven re lationship between such information 

environments and organi zati onal producti vity, mos t o f the literature in thi s area is 

"episodi c snapshot reporting" and "hi ghly suspect" s ince the fa ilures are never reported . 

In addition , he points out that their utility is temporary. In addition to the normal 

problems of measuring productivity and performance, thi s area is interdi sc iplinary and 

involves a number of different di sciplines that onl y in recent yea rs started to converge. 

Economi sts, in fo rmation sc ienti sts , social sci entists, organi za ti ona l behav iorists, etc are 

invo lved in these researches. 

The majority of the work in the infonnation science literature relates to the concept of 

value. Some of the initi al work of utility for current knowledge management programs 

25 



were published in the 19970s and 1980s and tried to assoc iate "i nformat ion events" or 

events of information transfer to benefits that cou ld be ca lcu lated quantitatively. 

Unfortunate ly some of these studi es are internal reports within compan ies and one does 

not find them as easy as one would think . 

2.3. 1 Va lue of In formation Services 

Exxon Research Center presented one of th e initi al works in this area by analyzing the 

relationship between logs of information-impact "events" and the quantitative benefit 

for their staff. During a twenty days analysis they were ab le to identify sixty- two 

beneficial information events, part of which (2%) cou ld be quantified. The results of the 

research showed that "bas ing the analys is on these 2% and subtracting the cost to that 

the research's tim e spent in gathering information from the benefits, the observable 

benefits were still eleven times greater than the cost of providing ex ternal literature 

services to the Exxon community" (96). 

In the late I 970s, NASA developed a broad study including seven of its informati on 

services aiming at measuring use and impact of th ese services within the organization. 

Respondents were asked questions about the "consequent uti lity of the use of the 

information source, what were the estimated benefi ts likely to be achi eved or costs 

likely to be saved, and the probabi lity of accompli shing these benefits or costs sav ings. 

For each of the seven services, the study reports: the probability of utility, the unit cost 

for NASA for the infonnation transaction, the cos t fo r the user, and the expected net 

benefit (likely benefit versus productivity) per transaction" (97). Other au thors 

analyzing the results ob tained by NASA concluded that the ration between ex pec ted 

26 



benefits and NASA cost was 13: I. A good thing about this study is that the 

methodology asks for both, an ti cipated benefits and the likelihood 01 achieving this 

benefit. 

Mason and Sassone in the late 1970s presented a study where they calculated the 

savings equivalent to the time saved from employees of an organization (ignoring all 

the other possible benefits) by using an information analysis center. "The net va lue of 

the time saved exceeded the net present value of the invested resources and operating 

cost by 4% percent" (98). They called this methodology "lower bound cost benefit" 

because "the calculations are based solely on the user's time and costs, and no attempt 

is made to est imate either any larger benefits to the organization or any soc ietal benefit 

(98). 

The World Bank conducted similar study internall y in the early 1990s. The Latin 

American Region made a study where they identified that 48% of the time of a Task 

Manager during the initial two years of a proj ect was devoted to identi fy, capture, filing 

and retri ev ing information . By analyzing the total time devoted by th e staff in thi s 

"information cycle" and using the Electronic Documents Management System as the 

information service analyzed, they were able to conclude that by instituting this serv ice 

the Bank could save 15 million dollars a year Bank-wide. Similar study conducted by 

the users of the East Asia Region, reached simi lar conclusions. The users of the services 

did both studies with help from the Document Management Unit of the Information 

Solutions Group Vice Presidency (99). 

27 



Marshall studi ed the impact o f a spec ial library on co rpo rate dec is io n-mak ing. The 

stud y was made w ith fin ancial serv ice firm s in anada. The results are summ ari zed in 

her arti cle ( I 00): "eighty four percent o f the respo ndents agreed that the in fo rmation led 

to better-in fo rm ed dec is ions, and seventy-three percent said that it gave them greater 

confidence in their dec ision or recommend ation. Ten percent said that had definiti vely 

impacted in their dec is ion and forty-four percent said that they probably handled the 

situati on different ly as a result of the information received. A lmost two-th ird s o f the 

respondents said that the info1111ation contributed towards the ability to ex ploit a new 

business opportunity. Of these, seven percent reported that the info rmati on helped them 

to a "great ex tent" . Comparable percentages fo r improving re lations with a c li ent were 

si xty-two percent, for improving a policy and procedure w ere thirty-nine percent, and 

for proceeding to the next steps on a project or task were seventy- three percent" ( I 00). 

A substantial amount of research was done in the last decade by Kin g Research, Inc. 

Koenig (59) synthesizes their research: " their methodology fo cus on va lue of the 

info1111 ation services in terms of the value of the time (measured through salary and 

overhead) the users are wi ll ing to expend in these services. This is taken as an 

indi cation of the organi zation 's willingness to pay for these serv ices. With thi s 

methodology, the cost to the user, as indicated by time the users spends in accessing 

information, is treated as an ind icator of implicit value, rather than a debit to savings or 

value achi eved. To be sure, such a measure is an indi cator of the moti vation to seek 

28 



information, but as King points out, it seems to be fair ly constant across organizat ions, 

and therefore, not likely to be very sensiti ve to the quality of serv ice prov ided" (59) . 

Koenig, stud ying five of King's studi es, found ratios of "willingness to pay" that vari ed 

from 2.5 to I to 26 to I . These ratio were wide spread but apparently in a ll cases the 

"va lue of the serv ice as measured by the time users were willing to spend using it was 

very substanti al" (59). Other authors, such as Poppel, studying business' organi zations 

managers, reached similar results in the proportion of time spent (twenty one percent) 

seek ing information (101). Poppel results also seem to show that the more competitive 

the type of industry the more the investment with information services. 

ln addition to studies that concentrate in analysis of time, there are other studies that 

associated value by calculating the additional cost that the organizations would incur if 

there were no in-house information services. The studies that use the cost-avoidance 

methodology found ratios from 2.6 to l up to 8 to I (59). Some of these studies 

calculate the amount of extra time a staff of an organization would have to expend if 

there were no in-house information service. From this figure the studies derive a value 

of savings that wou ld be lost or incuned if the information service did not ex ist. 

The World Bank adopted studies of cost avoidance to analyze its Document 

Management System and also to verify the possibl e benefits of the Bank' s Lntranet. 

These studies are not documented but they showed significant cost avoi dances mainl y 

29 



after integrating the Document M anagement System w ith the e lectronic co ll aborati ve 

spaces, word processo rs and e-mail. 

Again looking at the rat ios of cost avoidance to the nominal cost o f prov iding 

info rmation services calcul ated by Koeni g, they va ry fro m 4.8 to 1 up to 25 to l. 

Gri ffi th s and K ing using their various studi es, repo rt in the fo llow ing data fo r the value 

of read ing an item of info rmati on: "$385 for reading a journal arti c le; $ 1, 160 fo r 

reading a book; $706 for reading an interna l techni cal doc ument" (102). Tn an important 

analys is of the use by DO E users Kin g found that the "apparent va lue - the burdened 

sa lary cost of the tim e spent using the database - was approximate ly $500 million, out 

of a to tal research budget o f $5.8 billion . The estimated cost sav ings attributed to thi s 

use were approx imately $ 13 billion" (103) . "Thi s could be interpreted as an investment 

o f $5.8 billion, yie lding a return on investment of approx imately 2.2 to 1."(59). 

Analyzing these results Koenig infers that the use o f the EDP (Energy D atabase of the 

DOE) increases organizational producti v ity by fi fty-two percent (59). 

These cost benefits ana lysis of the use of information services incurred substanti a l 

criti c isms in which it is not c lear if organi zati ons make conscious dec is ions in thi s 

investment of if they refl ect a general behavior of organizations that are devoted to 

research (know ledge creation) or transfer of knowledge. However there is a consistency 

in these studi es that in average professionals spend around twenty fi ve percent of their 

time in info rmation seeking, regardless of the ori entation of their management, 

management va lu es and style. The interesting thing in these percentages is that, if that 's 

30 



true more investments in knowledge management systems may have a profound impact 

on the time staff expends looking for information. It is conceivable to imagine that if 

staff is go ing to spend company's money - in the value of twenty fiv e percent - if the 

company does a better job with its knowledge management system, there wil l be a 

tremendous opportunity for savings through cost-avoidance. 

In contrast to these analysis based on time, there have been attempts to calculate the 

overall impact of information in industrial prod uctivity. Braunstein (104) found that the 

marginal va lue product of information was "at least 2.34. That is, every unit of 

information service input yielded at least 2.34 units of output value". Braunstein argues 

that these results " indicate substantial under- investment in the purchase of information. 

A margin of2.34 marginal product results is unusually high" (104).This number is 

similar to the 2.2. to 1 ratio return value found by the King research. 

An important area of research on impact of infonnation services on health care has been 

developed as well. Results of these researches in general show that the majority of 

doctors treated patients different ly after receiving information from medical databases 

or libraries . In some cases this would mean different drugs used , less hospital stay, and 

avoidance in hosp ita l admissions. In some cases they document that the information 

received may have avoided patient mortal ity. In an analysis of such studi es, Koeni g (59) 

states that "these studies are not on ly important in the provision of library and 

information services but also because, from an administrative and political point of 

view, there is strong evidence that it resu lts in more cost-efficient pati ent care". 

3 1 



In add ition to these areas of research, there are a number of studies from the business 

literature regarding the characteristics of productive companies. Some studi es in the 

1970s and 1980s estab lish the re lationship between productivity and behaviors that arc 

typical to the in format ion environment. Orpen (105) found that in the more productive 

organizations (as defi ned by the rates of growth and return on assets) , the managers 

were perceived to be s ignifi cantl y more characterized by the fo llow ing behaviors: J. 

they ro uted literatu re and references to sc ien tifi c and technical staff; 2 . they direct their 

staff to use sc ientifi c and technical inforrnati on and to purchase STI serv ices; and 3. 

they encourage publication of results and supported professionals v is its and continuing 

educati on". 

Previous wo rk by Goldhar concluded that there are six characteristics of environments 

that are conducive to technology innovations. Of the six, four are related to info rmation 

environments : " 1. easy access to information by individuals; 2 . free fl ow of inforniat ion 

both in and out of the organizations; 3. rewards fo r sharing, seeking, and using, "new" 

ex ternall y deve loped information sources; and 4. encouragement of mobility and 

interpersonal contacts. The other two characteristics are: rewards for taking ri sks and 

for accepting and adapting to change" (106). 

A consistent theme is the relationship between productivity and divers ity of inform ation 

contacts. Koenig studi ed the relationship between productivity and the infomiation 

environment, using the pharmaceutical industry (107). He fo und that " the more 

32 



productive compani es are characterized by: I . greater openness to outs ide informati on; 

2. less concern with proprietary info rmation ; 3. greater in formation system development 

effo rt; 4. greater end-user use of information systems and more encouragement of 

browsing and serendipi ty; 5. greater technical and subject sophi sti cation of the 

in format ion systems staff; 6 . relative unobtrusiveness of manageria l structure and status 

indicato rs in the R&D environment". In hi s fi ndings he establi shed the contact with 

external info rmati on and d iversity of information sources as key facto rs in successful 

innovati on. There are also studies that show the re lationships between success ful 

innovators and the contact w ith the community mainl y the communities in their speci fi c 

area of research. 

Interesting enough, the authors in either area - business and info rmation sc ience - do 

not seem to cite each other. Mainl y in the business li terature, the co rrelation between 

producti vity and the informati on environments of organizati ons docs not seem to be 

stated clearl y in their conclusions. 

2.4 Knowl edge Management - Evaluation of Perfo rmance and Impact 

Although there are not yet many studies that evaluate impact knowledge management 

programs, the results of these studi es does not seem to indicate that methodologies used 

to measure use o f information services could be appli ed to these programs. In the case 

of the knowl edge management programs, the diffi culty is to have methodol ogies that 

cover all the dimensions of the KM program, that is, people, processes and technology. 

33 



lt seems to me, that the stud ies concentrate in one or two of these elements but are not 

comprehens ive enough to include them all. 

Recent literature analyzing the use of performance measurements of knowledge 

management programs in organi zations, seem to indicate that they have fai led 

systematicall y in finding the "right" set, the "right amount", and the "right" 

implementation of these measures (109) . A nu mber ofreasons are often cited, the most 

common being: measurements "contradict" the organizational practice; the use of the 

measurement is not clear; too much measurement, leading the staff to ignore them 

because they become so unfeasible to follow that becomes meaningless; measurements 

cover only part of the elements that influence performance; organizational-wide 

measurements are not necessarily meaningful for all parts of the organization, and may 

"mask" what is working well or what is not and measures are not conducive to action or 

problem resolution. 

Evaluations reviewed about the impact of knowledge management programs on 

organizational performance do not show positive results. Pfeffer ana lyzing results from 

a survey made by Ernst & Young of 431 firms conducted in 1997 concluded that most 

firm efforts in knowledge management are not likely to produce much good and may 

even be counterproductive regarding turning knowledge into action (109). Data from 

the survey indicates that the majority of organizations developing knowledge 

management program invest primarily in technology (such as knowledge repositories, 

data warehouses, building networks so people can find each other, and implementing 

34 



collaboration technologies) . The argum ent that Pfeffer has with these programs and 

findings is that they assume that knowledge can be treated as another type of resource, 

and success of KM programs relate only with capturing, storing and disseminating 

exp li cit knowledge. He points out that these studi es do not analyze what impact these 

programs have in the business processes, products and in the development of new 

services . 

Pfeffer work focus on why organi zations do not put into action what they know. His 

major conclusions of the impact (or lack of) of knowledge management programs are: 

"(a) knowledge management efforts mostly emphasize technology and the transfer of 

codifi ed knowledge; (b) knowl edge management tends to treat knowledge as a tangible 

thing, as a stock or a quantity, and therefore separates knowledge as some thing from 

the use of that thing; (c) formal systems can ' t eas il y store or transfer tac it knowledge; 

(d) the people responsi ble for transferring and imp lementing knowledge management 

don't understand the actual work being implemented; (e) knowledge management tends 

to focus on specific practice and ignore the importance of philosophy" ( 109). 

In addition to these findin gs, he points out that "evidence from various industry stud ies 

and from studies of firms in multiple industries, shows that knowledge of how to 

enhance performance " is not readily or easily transferred across firms" and that" there 

is ev idence that knowledge on how to enhance performance doesn ' t transfer readil y 

even within firms"( I 09). Part of hi s conclusions deal with the fact that organ izations do 

35 



not know how people use knowledge in their jobs and also because evaluatio ns do not 

pay enough attention to the importance of "working knowledge" or "knowledge in use". 

The concept of working knowledge is very famil iar in countries such as Japan in which 

managers do not differentiate "knowing" from "doing" and accepting the concept of 

" learning from doing". In such cases, the transformation of know ledge into action is 

relatively easy. Where this correlation is not embedded into the organizations processes, 

the knowled ge management programs are "artificial" to the organization processes. 

This findings make the case for measures of organizational perfonnance that use non­

quantitative techniques of observation on the organizations' processes and the inputs 

and outputs relationships with the existent "explicit" knowledge systems (in this case, 

the knowledge repositories and other stores of exp li cit knowledge) . They seem to 

indicate that unless one analyzes the use of knowledge within the organization' 

processes and practices, the impact of the KM programs in promoting performance is 

not measured. 

Additional findings also show that in many cases measurements can prevent 

transfonn ing knowledge into action (109). Some measurements that hinder knowledge 

sharing concentrate in short tenn financial performance and revolve around meetina 
b 

target budget results in order to meet quarterly expectations of the financial market. In 

companies using such measures the "casual" and "interpersonal" knowledge sharing 

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that is fundamental many times to the hea lth of the organization as wel l as its leve l of 

innovations and consequently good performance, are affected by these practices. 

Surveys done by the World Bank in the beginning of the knowledge management 

initi ative confirms the findings on the impact of the budget system in knowledge 

sharing and practices. Interviews with very experienced task managers confirmed that 

the Activity-base Costing and the Time Record ing Systems were seriously preventing 

the informal exchange of knowledge that used to occur within the organization. These 

budget procedures, together with the excessive use of standard forms to convey 

information, were preventing task managers to transfer knowledge that could not be 

recorded but was extremely important to the Bank's projects and the dialog with the 

countries. 

Problems are also reported with balance scorecards type of measurem ents . The balance 

score cards theory makes lots of sense since it means an evaluation of other dimensions 

that not just the company financial perfonnance: customer satisfaction, employee 

attitudes and development, new products and services and the "theory" or values of the 

business. Therefore, such measures would seem very appropriate to measure the "soft" 

and "hard" aspects of knowledge management programs. However, the problems that 

companies are finding with this measure are reported as: "(a). the measure is too 

complex, with too many separate measures; (b) the system is often highly subjective in 

its implementation; (c) precise metrics often miss important elements of performance 

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that are more difficult to quantify but that may be critica l to organizational success over 

the long term" ( I 09) . 

Interesting considerations in the business literature, relate with the conclusions that 

measures of outcomes do not present good results either. These end-of-process 

measures that tell how well a program has done are not good enough to provide 

indications of in-process success. These measures are too far remote from the processes 

in order to understand if the companies are really making a difference on things that 

transform knowledge into action . Questions about how tbe process is done and how the 

knowledge flows into the process are not asked. If one measures "end-of-process" one 

is not rea ll y measuring the things that can directly affect staff behavior and actions on 

the job. Pfeffer points out that "control and improvement comes from measures that 

prov ide information about processes, measures that give peop le immed iate and 

understandable information about how they need to act" ( I 09). 

Some measures of knowledge management program seem to be more successfu l when 

they use employee surveys on specific issues and informal feedback on specific 

processes that identify quickly the gaps between what is expected and what really 

happened. Another important lesson is that the measurement system has to be able to 

reinforce the behavior that the institution wants to propagate and cannot be seen as 

something isolated from the business processes. I imagine that an analysis of inputs and 

outputs in the business processes may be a more effective way to conduct these 

evaluations . 

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Measures that seem to work well to make knowledge into action are reported as: "(a) 

measures should focus less on trying to assess individual performance . .. and more on 

focusing attention on factors critical to organizational success; (b) measures focused on 

process and "means to end" and less on "end-of-process" that faci litatc learning and 

provide data that can better guide action and decision making; (c) measures that reflect 

the business model, culture and philosophy of the particular organization.(d) Even 

within organizations, "institutionalized" and generali zed measures are not helpful 

(contextuali zed measures); (e) measures should result from mindful, on-going process 

of learning or experience and experimentation. There is not a sense that the system is 

ever complete; (i) use of few metrics that are be li eved to support critical and special 

process shou ld be emphasized even at the expense of comprehensiveness and 

complexity". If they follow this approach, "organizations would be better in evaluating 

their capability or the capabi lity of their staff to turn knowledge into action than on 

knowing the right thing but not acting about it" (I 09). 

The measures that I have been describing tend to be organization-wide. However, there 

are a number of stud ies that analyzes aspects of the knowledge management programs 

and processes. Thi s is the case ofThomke that analyzes the impact of technology in 

knowledge creation for Integrated Circuit Design Companies. His study concluded that 

if a knowledge management program can affect the efficiency of the experimentation 

process this program can be considered successful. Technologies such as computer 

simulation and prototyping can provide substantial ga ins in efficiency. 

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2.4.1 Perfo rm