KM Maturity

Introduction

• Maturity models have their roots in software engineering.

• The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute defines a maturity model as “a descriptive model of the stages through which organizations' progress as they define, implement, evolve, and improve their processes.

• There are a number of organizational and KM maturity models just as there are many definitions of KM.

Why should we measure KM?

• Track if efforts directed towards KM enable the organization and/or the individuals to meet their goals.

• Determine if improvements in the KM process are required.

• Understand where the organization is on the journey to fully embrace KM.

KM Maturity Models

The Capability Maturity Model (CCM)

• Useful for software development and also for describing evolutionary levels of organizations in general.

• The CMM can be extended to cover knowledge management processes that can in turn serve to assess the current level of readiness of an organization for knowledge management

• Is an organizational model that describes five evolutionary levels in which an organization manages its processes namely:

  1. Initial.

     • Processes are ad-hoc, chaotic, or not well defined.

  2. Repeatable.

     • Basic processes are established and there is a level of discipline to stick to these processes.

  3. Defined.

     • All processes are defined, documented, standardized, and integrated into each other.

  4. Managed.

     • Processes are measured by collecting detailed data on the processes and their quality.

  5. Optimizing.

     • Continuous process improvement is adopted and in place by quantitative feedback and from piloting new ideas and technologies.

• The maturity model shown below (Dalkir (2017) pg. 298) shows the major phases that an organization has to complete in order to integrate a new way of doing things, a new technology, or a new process. This is very relevant for KM initiatives as new processes and technologies will be introduced into the organization. These phases can help better track how well KM has been accepted as a way of doing business within the organization.

• Another maturity model based on CMM that has been adapted to consider the organizational change and corporate culture as shown below (Dalkir (2017) pg.299)

Infosys KMM Model

As previously mentioned, there are many KM Maturity models, one of the popular KMM Models is the Infosys Model which is based on the CMM approach and denoted as the KMM.

The 5 levels of the KMM namely:

1. default,

2. reactive,

3. aware,

4. convinced, and

5. sharing.

The model associates a number of key results for each of the five levels which are described in the below table (Dalkir (2017)pg. 299-300)

Knowledge Process Quality Model (KPQM)

• Proposed by Paulzen and Perc (2002) based on the major tenets of quality management and process engineering.

• The underlying premise is that knowledge processes can be improved by enhancing the corresponding management structures. The maturity model makes it possible to implement a systematic or incremental KM implementation.

• The KPQM is a modification of the CMM

• Consists of 5 phases:

1. initial,

2. aware,

3. established,

4. quantitatively managed and

5. optimizing

The KPQM Maturity phases are shown in the below table (Dalkir (2017), pg.300-301)

Forrester Group KM maturity model

• Describes the different stages of maturity in terms of how people are supported throughout the knowledge management cycle.

• Useful in determining the level of knowledge support that will be needed for effective KM to be established within a given organization.

• Consists of 3 phases namely:

  • Assisted

    • other people are needed in order for knowledge workers to find valuable content and connect with subject matter experts.

  • Self-service

    • employees are able to make use of KM systems such as knowledge repositories, in order to find content and link to experts by themselves.

  • Organic

    • knowledge management has ceased to be an “extra” burden but has instead become part and parcel of how the knowledge work gets done every day.

Forrester Group KM maturity model phases are shown in the below table (Dalkir (2017),pg.301):

CoP Maturity Model

A community of practice (CoP) maturity model can serve as a good road map to show what steps need to be taken to move communities to the next stage.

The CoP lifecycle model provides a good diagnostic to assess whether informal networks exist within an organization and if they do, whether they are recognized and supported by the organization.

The Model shows that a community needs to have attained the maturing and stewardship of knowledge levels in order to begin creating value for its members and for the organization as a whole.

The following roles are required for the CoP Maturity model:

1. Knowledge journalist

   • to help build identify and extract valuable content from community members;

2. Knowledge taxonomist

   • to help organize content once it is being produced at a steady rate;

3. Knowledge archivist

   • to help distinguish between content that should be stored or that is no longer considered active.

The CoP model is shown below from Dalkir (2017) pg.302.

Conclusion

• Each Model serves as a clear framework for understanding how change is introduced and eventually adopted within knowledge-based organizations.

• The current state an organization is in can be diagnosed in order to carefully anticipate how both the organization, as a whole, and individual knowledge workers within that organization will react to KM initiatives.

• A better understanding of the level or phase of maturity within the organization will assist in identifying the potential enablers and obstacles to the organizational cultural change(s) required for KM to succeed.