I'm posting my bio for two reasons: I've been on the list and have
occasionally contributed, but I've not yet introduced myself; and to let
people know I'm the same person that posted under the e-mail address
psue@inforamp.net.
My background is consulting in information and knowledge management, in
strategic and architectural contexts. My undergraduate degree in 1975 was
in mathematics and computer science.
I was first captivated by knowledge management (KM) when I read Nonaka's
paper "The Knowledge-Creating Company" in the Nov-Dec, Harvard Business
Review. It coincided with a project that I was leading to define the
information model for the Marketing Division of a utility that was just
entering the energy conservation business. Although I didn't fully
appreciate it at the time (and the business certainly didn't either)
understanding the new business required a radical shift from a mental
model in which the division was the marketing arm of an energy
distribution business, to one in which they were becoming a self-contained
business whose products were "energy conservation ideas". In fact, the
Division was becoming a competitor to the corporation to which they
belonged.
My experience in knowledge management has been two-fold. One in a
financial institution at which the knowledge of properly coding business
transactions was being dissipated, This was a result of the
responsibilities being spread over many different departments using
different coding "standards". While regulatory requirements were being
met (firm's and clients' books balanced), the resulting data yielded poor
quality of the information that the firm needed to meet it's operational
objectives. Key to the solution was a mental model of the relationships
between the transactions, the business events that triggered them, and the
downstream information requirements to be satisfied.
Other KM experience that I've been exposed to has been its implementation
within my consulting firm.
My interests on this list are primarily around the discussions about
knowledge management and mental models.
Regards to all on the list.
Patrick Sue
Toronto
416-222-3003 x323
--"Patrick Sue" <p.sue@home.com>
[Host's Note: The article Patrick mentions is Nonaka, I., "The Knowledge Creating Company," HRB Nov-Dec 1991.
Also I reocmmend Nonaka and Takeuchi's book with the same title. In assoc with Amazon.com, this link:
The Knowledge-Creating Company : How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation by Ikujiro Nonaka, Hirotaka Takeuchi http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195092694/learningorg
.. Rick]
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