The Evans, Dalkir, and Bidian KM Cycle

Introduction

The Evans, Dalkir, and Bidian KM Cycle (KMC) is a holistic view of KM processes.

When to use?

When there is an existing knowledge base to ensure that the organization does not reinvent the wheel.

Model

The seven KM processes in the Evans, Dalkir, and Bidian KMC from Dalkir (2017) pg. 56

Stages

Identify and/or create

• Determine if the knowledge exists or needs to be created

Store

• Hold the knowledge in a sharing repository

Share

• The knowledge that was stored must now be made available to be shared within the organization and where applicable, outside of the organization

Use

• Once shared, knowledge can be used to solve problems, make decisions, improve on products and services, innovate etc.

Learn

• The knowledge assets that have been shared and used in previously could be the foundation for creating new Knowledge and refining existing knowledge assets.

• The use of knowledge, particularly in situations where experts provide contextual understanding, leads to employees gaining experience, as they interpret the impact of knowledge on their work environment (Evans and Ali, 2013). This phase involves deconstructing the knowledge blocks, integrating, connecting, combining, and internalizing knowledge. If knowledge assets are found to be valuable, based on the previously mentioned analysis and assessment criteria, they proceed to the improve stage

• Single-loop learning refers to incremental improvements

• Double-loop learning is a much more holistic review of the knowledge, which serves not just to improve (e.g., efficiency) but recast the knowledge (effectiveness). Improvements are then fed back into the KM process cycle.

Improve

• The learning that takes place in the previous phase leads to further refinement of the knowledge assets.

• New value is either identified or created from them and additions or updates are made to keep them current in the organizational memory and applicable to the organizational context.

• The knowledge assets are repackaged to be stored or referenced (in the case of more tacit forms) so that their value may be effectively leveraged in the future.

Conclusion

• There is clear distinction between identifying existing knowledge (typically in explicit form) and creating new knowledge

• Inclusion of double-loop learning to show the process of learning and improving as knowledge is moved through the process cycle