Concept paper for the promotion of Knowledge Management application in Botswana Public Sector to improve readiness for global knowledge society.

1. TERTIARY EDUCATION COUNCIL
____________________________________________________________
Transforming Tertiary Education in Botswana
Concept Paper
Application of Knowledge Management
to public sector service providers
with special emphasis on
Tertiary Education in Botswana
Dr. Reinhart J. Dreves
Advisor Financial & Institutional Development
Directorate of Knowledge Management
Tertiary Education Council
Botswana
15/10/2009

2. Tertiary Education Council
Fairgrounds Office Park
Tholo Building, Plot 50369
Gaborone
Botswana
Tel: + 267 390 1481
Fax: + 267 390 0679
Web: www. tec.org.bw
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3. Glossary:
NDP: National Development Plan
KPA: Key Performance Area
KPI: Key Performance Indicator
M&E: Monitoring & Evaluation
RbM: Results based Management
MDRF: Macro Development Results Framework
IDP: Integrated Development Planning
PBRS: Performance based Reward System
IMS: Integrated Management Information System
MFDP: Ministry of Finance and Development Planning
TEC: Tertiary Education Council
GICO: Government Implementation Coordination Office
PSRU: Public Sector Reform Unit
BEAC: Economic Advisory Council
TEP: Tertiary Education Policy
NHRDS: National Human Resource Development Strategy
CSO: Central Statistical Office of Botswana
NGO: Non Governmental Organization
MDGs: Millennium Development Goals
IMF: International Monetary Funds
OECD: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
KEI: Knowledge Economy Index
KI: Knowledge Index
NRI: Network Readiness Index
MOESD: Ministry of Education and Skills Development
MCST: Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology
NCE: National Commission on Education
RNPE: Revised National Policy on Education
TEMIS: Tertiary Education Management Information System
GDP: Gross Domestic Product
KM: Knowledge Management
R&D: Research and Development
DOKB: Distributed Organizational Knowledge Base
KLC: Knowledge Life Circle
KMCI: Knowledge Management Consortium International
SNA: Social Network Analysis
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4. Abstract:
Botswana stands at the threshold of a very challenging transition period. The
successful switch from a top-down planned development path based on reve-
nues from the export of primary goods, especially diamonds, to a sustainable
bottom-up accumulation and growth process based on the employment of
skilled and knowledgeable local human resources is the daunting task.
The situation is quite serious. Around 40% of government revenues and 70%
of exports is derived from mining activities, while the manufacturing sector
has been contributing with not more than 5% to the GDP. The second largest
economic sector is government itself with its dependency on export reve-
nues, followed by services (financial & business) and tourism & trade. Due
to the high capital intensity of the mining sector, employment effects had re-
mained constantly limited, while unemployment ranges between 17% to
35%. But now mining production has stagnated and is unlikely to further
contribute significantly to economic growth. General trends of growth rates
show a declining direction.
Since the middle of the last decade government has therefore focused on an
export-led economic diversification process primarily based on special incen-
tives in favour of the manufacturing sector. The results, however, remain un-
satisfactory and the approach lacks evidence of significant success. In effect
the broad idea of export-led diversification is now identified as growth from
a wider range of economic activities that can take the country beyond dia-
mond dependency. Indeed Botswana has no choice but to carry out a form of
diversification that is export-led and not only regional but increasingly inte-
grated into the whole globalization process especially given the small domes-
tic market.
Due to the weakness of the local private sector, the policy framework lately
also involves a central role for Foreign Direct Investments, improving com-
petitiveness and productivity, and boosting institutional efficiency. Interna-
tional competitiveness partly based on and supported by foreign capital in-
vestment calls for highly skilled human capital and top-level institutional
service effectiveness. Hence human capital represents the most critical pro-
duction factor in the modern knowledge based global economy.
In the foregoing context of Botswana’s development challenges, education in
general, but tertiary education in particular and capacity building and training
as well as dissemination of information and sharing knowledge to sustain
economic growth and encourage innovation plays a determining role for the
future success of the whole development process.
The purpose of this paper is to initiate discussion and conceptualizing of the
application of knowledge management to public service providers in Bot-
swana in general and to the Tertiary Education sector in particular.
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5. The arguments can be summarized as follows:
I. Macro level background: The emerging need for modern Knowledge
Management practices in Botswana.
The development process of Botswana is guided by a Vision for 2016, her
50th anniversary of independence. The particular Public Sector Strategic
Plan is contained in the tenth National Development Plan (NDP10) for the
period 2009 – 2016. As NDP10 ends with 2016, the Plan is different from
previous Plans, as it is for the first time an explicit results driven Develop-
ment Plan, converting the Vision goals into Plan results. To guarantee the
successful implementation of the new approach, a holistic results-based-
management monitoring & evaluation framework is being developed to en-
sure rigorous performance tracking and reporting. The high level vision
2016 goals were cascaded down to national and further to sector level key
result areas with particular targets, indicators and baselines for all pro-
grammes and projects conducted by Ministries, Departments or other im-
plementing entities / parastatals. This approach requires a high level of data
and information management as well as knowledge about the implementa-
tion processes seeking to transform planning into reality. In addition, the
Public Sector is expected to comply with procedures related to those identi-
fied for a learning organization, which is definitely a question of knowledge
management.
II. Sector Relevance: Human Resource Development as a strategic goal.
Botswana has identified the development of competitive and productive
human resource as the most important key result area for its transformation
into a knowledge based society.
In general terms, Botswana is amongst the top performers on the African
continent and at the top stage of developing and transition countries on their
way to be eventual global players in a competitive world. Nevertheless Bot-
swana’s productivity needs to improve substantially. With this regard, it has
to be emphasized, that Botswana’s impressive progress from one of the
poorest countries of the world in the 1960s to a middle-income one in less
than 50 years was achieved on the basis of revenues earned from the exports
of primary goods. Given the anticipated decline in mineral resources from
2021 on, future economic growth can only be expected from a human re-
source-led development model. Development and growth based on human
capital requires competitive and productive employment in diversified and
specialised economic sectors in a relatively high performing socio-economic
environment with well functioning institutional and support services. How-
ever, Botswana’s potential for economic diversification remains limited: ex-
actly education and innovation parameters indicate the country’s lack of
means to expand into higher-valued sectors.
Table of Indicators:
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6. Latest Information on Total Rank / Comments
Performance of Botswana Universe Position
Prosperity Index (1) 104 56 Conducive political
Environment for growth
Economic Fundamentals (1) 104 56 Weak in: mass education,
Trade agreements, comer-
cialising new ideas
Entrepreneurship & Innovation 104 92 Week communication
(1)
Infrastructure, ICT and high-
Tech Exports extremely low
Education (1) 104 80 Short at higher levels
WEF Global Competitiveness(2) 133 66 Low readiness & usage
Index of Political Rights 193 One of Political Stability
and Civil liberties (freedom)(3) 48 - SSA 11- SSA
Index of Globalisation (4) 72 49 Economic integration, connec
tivity, political engagement
Index of Democracy(5) 167 39 Stability, judicial indepen-
dence, absence of corruption
Public Institution Index 25 1 Good governance
Index of African Governance 48 4 Good governance
Status Index 125 19 Democracy, Market economy
Advanced category
Management Index 125 3 Reform activities, perfor-
mance, Successful category
Economic Freedom (6) 183 34 Security, access to money,
Regulations of credit, labour
etc. ,Highest with Mauritius
MDGs 189 Fairly 18 targets, 40 indicators
well
UN Human Development Index 179 126 HIV/AIDS, low Education
Digital Access Index SSA Amongst Good only at African level
Best 5
e-Government Readiness world 118 Urgent to improve
Knowledge Economy Index 134 85 Good for regime
Knowledge Index 134 93 Low education
Education Index 134 102 Low tertiary education
Innovation Index 134 76 Low research
ICT Index 134 96 Low Internet use
Connectivity Index 25 10 Value Zero: Government
Usage & skills
Network Readiness Index (NRI) 134 77 Well regard to environment,
But lack of individual and
business readiness
NRI Africa 5 Very well for Africa
Availability of research and 134 104 By far too little supply
training services
Supplier quality 134 118 Too low quality
Availability of scientists and 134 111 Lack of research and demand
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7. engineers For high-tech
Travel & Tourism 133 79 new opportunity for
Competitiveness Index (TTCI) growth
(1) Legatum Prosperity Index 2009, Dubai; (2) World Economic Forum 2009, Genève;
(3) Freedom House, 2008, USA; (4)AT Kearney/Foreign Policy (2007); (5)The Econo‐
mist Intelligence Unit, 2008; (6)Fraser Institute (CAN), Heritage Foundation (USA),
2009, (7) World Bank, Knowledge 4 Development, 2009; (8) Bertelsmann Transfor‐
mation Index, Munich 2009;
Message from the Table: excellent political and economical environment for further
and improved growth based on economic diversification; but very low individual,
institutional and business readiness as well as low education levels and lack of
technology applications; trends of most indicators are going down over the last 10
years and need urgent attention.
In view of this, a National Human Resource Development Strategy
(NHRDS) was developed to provide the necessary added value to assist indi-
viduals as well as the whole private and public sectors to realise the poten-
tials required for further economic growth and social development. Botswa-
na’s highest political levels acknowledged that achieving high income status
is only possible based on enhanced knowledge and skills profiles of the pop-
ulation. Hence the NHRDS was put at the core of Botswana’s development
strategy.
III. The mission of The Tertiary Education Council it is to plan, develop
and co-ordinate a well-resourced quality tertiary education system con-
tributing to Botswana becoming a knowledge-based society.
The functions of the TEC are similar to other “buffer” bodies around the
world: advising government on Tertiary Education policy matters, registra-
tion, accreditation and quality assurance of institutions and programmes,
funding of the public institutions and research, and planning for the sub-
sector in concordance with the needs of the private sector and the develop-
ment process. The Council has so far managed to position the sub-sector of
higher education at that critical point it deserves as a catalyst and transform-
er of human resources into valued added human capital. In particular the
Council has achieved the following results: successfully launched the first
tertiary education policy for Botswana, developed the new National Human
Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS), prepared the section on tertiary
education programmes of the respective sector as part of NDP10, developed
a new Funding Model for all public tertiary education institutions, registered
32 public and private institutions and initiated the development of a urgently
needed Tertiary Education Management Information System (TEMIS). Also
TEC strives to be, or to become, a learning organization, which calls for the
establishment of an environment and culture where the provision of ade-
quate Knowledge Management practices and processes first of all encour-
ages the creation of knowledge and then its later management.
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8. IV. Knowledge Management: Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom...
only the one who understands the underlying pattern and principles
might be able to achieve the desired results under given circumstances.
Knowledge Management is called a process, a collection of processes, a
range of practices, a developing body, a cultivation of an environment, a
framework and mind-set, a discipline, and a strategy; there is no universal
standardized meaning attached to what is called Knowledge Management.
But of course, all associated thoughts are revolve around understanding
what knowledge is and how to capitalize knowledge at organizational level.
The progression for a learning organization is: Data, Information,
Knowledge, Wisdom; Data and Information are gathered; Knowledge is on-
ly gained as a result of analysis and understanding based on particular asso-
ciations in a specific context. Data is meaningless without context. A col-
lection of data is not information as long as there is no relation between the
data. Information is quite simply an understanding of the relationships be-
tween pieces of data or other information, with great dependence on con-
text. Beyond the relationship there is pattern. When a pattern relationship
exists amidst the data and information, the pattern has the potential to rep-
resent knowledge. However, it only becomes knowledge, when the one who
observes a given combination of data and information is able to realize and
understand the patterns and the implications. Pattern embodies both, a con-
sistency and completeness of relations, which create its own context. Pat-
tern which represents knowledge also provide, when the pattern is under-
stood, a high level of reliability or predictability as to how the pattern will
evolve over time based on an underlying principle. Knowledge as an under-
stood pattern or principle has completeness that information simply does
not contain as it guarantees specific results under specific conditions. And
this is where the whole issue about Knowledge Management gets its dy-
namic from: the attempt to foresee, predict and plan the manner, that future
success is highly probable – Prognosis.
V. The organizational context: From early beginnings of simple data
collection and information management to guiding principles as a result
of free flow of information and “collective intelligence” in New
Knowledge Management.
Knowledge Management at organizational level is only important to the ex-
tent it enhances the ability and capacity to deal with and develop in the are-
as of (1) mission (what has to be accomplished), (2) competition (how to
gain a competitive edge), (3) performance (how to deliver results), (4)
change (how to cope) and (5) quality (how to organize the processes).
Knowledge Management starts at the level of Data and Information Man-
agement as a tool to support management decision making. As explained
earlier data doesn’t predict trends of data. What predicts trends of data is
the activity that is responsible for the data, respectively the action taken up-
on an informed decision. The value of Knowledge Management relates di-
rectly to the effectiveness with which the managed knowledge enables the
members of an organization to deal with today’s situation and effectively
envision and create future scenarios. This requires an analytical approach to
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9. translate the specific experience and understanding of one person into a
more general pattern or even principle so that others might apply the inbuilt
knowledge to a new situation. Managed (analyzed, assessed, adjusted)
knowledge only enables members of an organization when appropriately
captured (stocktaking), disseminated (sharing) and transferred into new ap-
plication areas; to create innovation through re-combination of particular
skills and knowledge. Knowledge Management differentiates between ex-
plicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge consists of anything that can
be documented, achieved and codified, often with IT; tacit knowledge con-
sists of know-how in the heads of people and covers also perceptions, expe-
riences, values, judgements, intuition, skills etc. – it is difficult to be identi-
fied, recognized, shared and managed. For both knowledge categories sev-
eral management tools have been developed to optimize organizational
benefits from Knowledge Management practices.
In a recent approach of “New” Knowledge Management, the position is
taken, that knowledge is something that is produced in human social sys-
tems through individual and shared processes. The framework emphasises
on knowledge processing as a two side process: the knowledge production
and the knowledge integration. Knowledge Integration covers what was
previously understood as (limited) Knowledge Management; it begins
sometimes after knowledge is produced: all what is needed to do is to cap-
ture it, codify it and share it. Ergo the purpose of initial Knowledge Man-
agement ignored to enhance knowledge production; rather the purpose was
to enhance the development of knowledge into practice (the right infor-
mation in the right format in the right moment to the right person - only).
Instead the new approach focuses on the organizational learning as
knowledge production and innovation.
VI. DKM at TEC: Strengthening the organizational capacity and guiding
the transformation into a learning organization as well as support the
sector capacity in Knowledge Management.
In June 2008 the Council decided to create the Directorate of Knowledge
Management. The specific goal and objectives of the Directorate of
Knowledge Management at TEC (DKM@TEC) were later (April 2009) de-
veloped and stated as follows. Goal: “To consolidate and strengthen the
Tertiary Education Council organizational capacity as well as to support
and strengthen the Tertiary Education sector capacity in Knowledge Man-
agement as a contribution to and in line with the Tertiary Education Policy:
“Towards a Knowledge-based Society.”
The identified objectives are:
 To develop and set up standards on methods and processes for the man‐
agement of data, information and knowledge of the TE sector.
 To facilitate a technically appropriate and efficient as well as user effective
ways of knowledge management at TEC and for the whole sector.
 To produce and manage comprehensive statistical and non‐statistical data,
information and knowledge related to the TE sector of Botswana.
 To coordinate and manage all sources and repositories of data, information
and knowledge relevant for Tertiary Education in Botswana.
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10.  To inform the public and all stakeholders in particular about results, ser‐
vices and administration of the Tertiary Education Council based on gen‐
erated information and knowledge at TEC.
It is the intention of the DKM@TEC to initiate and promote in Botswana
the application of Knowledge Management especially at the Tertiary Edu-
cation sub-sector but also in the broader area of public service management.
This paper should serve that purpose.
Gaborone, November 2009
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11. Stages from Data via Information Management to Knowledge Manage-
ment
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12. I. Macro level background: The emerging need for practical application of
modern Knowledge Management practices to public service providers in
Botswana.
2016 is a historic moment in the story of Botswana as a nation; 50 years of independ-
ence. In this period, the nation has evolved from a difficult situation as the 5th poorest
country of the world to a middle-income one, respected by its citizens, by the countries
of Africa and by the whole international community. Respected for its peaceful
democratic and economically successful development. “Prosperity for all”, the genuine
Vision for 2016 articulated in 1997 assisted this by setting the basic path and formulating
the envisaged results1.
In September 2008 the Vision 2016 Council2 presented its strategic plan 2009 – 2016 as
the road map of how to achieve the Vision 2016 goals. The Vision 2016 goals are a
limited number of goals which are composed by a small number (2-4) of targets for each
of the seven pillars of Vision 20163; these targets are the envisaged results of the since
then conducted development process and are still officially considered realistically
achievable by 2016, based on current levels of national performance.
The creation of a National Development Strategy composed of three sector strategic
plans for the Public (1) and Private Sector (2) as well as the Civil Society (3) as a top-
down planning process is intended to guide and drive the implementation of these three
sector plans. The implementation of the overall national strategy being a bottom-up
affair, the three strategic sector plans will make very clear what each sector promises and
commits to contribute by sector performance in order to help achieving the Vision 2016
goals.
One of these three strategic development sub-plans, that is the Public Sector Develop-
ment Plan is contained in the National Development Plan (NDP); for the period 2009 -
2016 it is called NDP10. The Public Sector includes three distinct groups: (1) the
Executive and Legislative Sections of the Government, (2) the Public Service of the
Government and (3) parastatal organizations; the Tertiary Education Council (TEC)
being one of them.
The role of the Vision 2016 Council is to “drive and monitor” the implementation of
Vision 2016 goals, where “drive” is meant as proactively influence progress on the
envisaged results, while “monitor” really refers to measure proven (or lack of) perfor-
mance on them. The Council therefore is collaborating with each of the sectors, so that
they first develop / elaborate and then implement strategies which are driving the nation
towards achieving the Vision 2016 goals in each of the seven pillars.
1
also look at: “legatum prosperity index” at: www.prosperity.com for actual country level
2
For further information see: www.vision2016.co.bw
3
The seven pillars are: 1. An Open, Democratic and Accountable Nation; 2. A Prosperous,
Productive and Innovative Nation; 3. An Educated, Informed Nation; 4. A Moral and Toler-
ant Nation; 5. A United and Proud Nation; 6. A Compassionate, Just and Caring Nation; 7.
A Safe and Secure Nation.
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13. These three key stakeholder sectors are not considered monoliths but recognized
composing by smaller groups as (i.e.) “education sector” under the general “public
service” and “Tertiary Education” as sub-sector of “Education”. Consequently the sub-
sectors have to provide the Vision Council with complete, final and accurate data
showing progress of their particular contribution towards each of those results or sub-
results (KPAs) and related indicators (KPIs) relevant for measurement of their perfor-
mance4.
As the Vision Council must not only “monitor” but also “evaluate” on basis of
measurements of indicators how Botswana is doing in relation to its Goals under Vision
2016 and report to the nation through “Botswana’s Performance”5, facilitation of the
development and the implementation of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) processes and
systems to provide data, the establishment and use access to technologies & processes
for delivering data required for monitoring and evaluating processes, as well as the
provision of related and relevant education and training programmes on M&E matters
through support bodies like the University of Botswana are critical projects for the
Council to achieve its own strategic results.
In response to tendencies and major new development in public administration world-
wide in recent years increasingly focussing on Monitoring & Evaluation as an inevitable
tool for successfully application of the new approach of “Results-based-Management”
(RbM). The Results-based-Management focuses on expected results to be achieved
through implementation of projects, programmes and policies; continuously monitoring
performance; and making adjustments to guarantee / improve efficiency and effective-
ness. It is an approach which perfectly fits with the needs of Botswana Government to
manage at least public service performance to achieve the Vision 2016 Goals. A holistic
RbM based M&E framework (Macro Development Results Framework (MDRF6) at
national level has been developed to be used for the implementation of all projects,
programmes and policies during this last development phase until reaching 2016, which
is NDP10.
“NDP10 is different from previous plans in three main respects. First, this Plan
represents a shift from the previous plan in that it is the first explicit results (outcomes)
driven National Development Plan. The Plan utilises the Integrated Development
Planning (IDP) approach, which is an essential part of the Integrated Results Based
Management (IRBM) framework. At the core of this approach is the concept of
outcome-focused planning, i.e., planning that gives special emphasis and consideration
to the outcomes the plan seeks to achieve. Second, the NDP 10 plan period spans over
seven (7) year horizon (2009-2016)... The implementation of the plan thus coincides
with the county’s Vision 2016 time horizon.... Finally, the national implementation
machinery for NDP10 will be streamlined and strengthened through enhanced imple-
mentation agreements and monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems...” 7
4
See: Chiepe, Goaba B.: Integrated Performance Management Systems, Performance Meas-
urement, Barbados 7-11 June 2004
5
The Vision Council developed a monitoring and evaluation system to facilitate effective
monitoring of sectoral performance, Taboka Nkhwa: Public Service Reforms - Botswana
6
See NDP10 appendix
7
NDP10, 3.8 and 3.9, pg.38
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14. The Integrated Results Based Management system requires that all key Result Areas
(KRAs) and NDP 10 goals and programmes be results-oriented. The accountability of
individuals and institutions for specific results will be established in a more systematic
and structured manner. During implementation, the structured monitoring and
evaluation mechanism will ensure rigorous performance tracking and reporting, leading
to improved accountability for achieving the desired results by the responsible individu-
als (project Directors / Managers) and entities (such as TEC).
The IRBM system includes the following components:
. Integrated Development Planning
. Integrated Results-Based Budgeting System
. Integrated Personnel Performance System (PbRS)
. Integrated Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) System
. Integrated Management Information System (MIS)
. Electronic Government Support System
The Vision 2016 goals are cascaded down into the NDP10 Key Result Areas, National
Goals and objectives. These goals are systematically further cascaded down from
National Goals to sector goals and then to programmes and projects of Ministries and
Departments or related parastatals for their respective implementation.
All the sectors have their particular goals, indicators, targets, and baselines for their
respective targets; these goals are the responsibility of the various implementing entities
(i.e. TEC). In line with the sector approach, there is additional emphasis on the
achievements of results in NDP10 through the parallel use of a programme-activity
approach. The sets of activities under a programme can entail one or more projects (i.e.
the Tertiary Education Policy Implementation Project covering also the Funding Model
Implementation Project and the Tertiary Education Management Information System
Project as part of the Tertiary Education Programme contributing to NDP10 goal:
adequate supply of ... human resources).
At national level, M&E will be the responsibility of Vision 2016 Council and the
Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP); Vision 2016 Council will
primarily monitor progress and evaluate against results at macro level, while MFDP’s
emphasis will be on the aspects of financial management (efficient use of financial
resources) of all related (and thereby limited) activities.
At the Sector/Ministry level, M&E will primarily be the responsibility of the Govern-
ment Implementation Coordination Office (GICO) within the Office of the President.
GICO will work with the Public Sector Reform Unit (PSRU) and Minis-
tries/departments. PSRU will be responsible for public service performance.
GICO will serve as a central agency to support the development, implementation and
maintenance of an effective and sustainable M&E capability across government. GICO
was established in 2007 as result of investigations and recommendations of the
Economic Advisory Council (BEAC), who noted: “one of the major shortcomings in
Botswana is that many projects are ... poorly conceived and carried out ... or fall below
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15. acceptable standards .... The shortcomings in project management and execution derive
from a lack of high level project management and implementation capabilities.”8
The roles and responsibilities of Ministries / departments in M&E are: (i) to ensure that
resources deployed for the implementation of programmes and projects (i.e. TEP,
NHRDS) are effectively and efficiently utilized; (ii) to set up internal mechanisms to
facilitate continuous monitoring of policies and programmes and projects for which they
are responsible; (iii) to carry out evaluations and provide resources for the establishment
or strengthening of internal M&E capacity.
Based on the experience of many countries, it typically takes several years to develop
and implement a workable M&E system. Botswana with its current low volume of M&E
expertise, will require a number of years to develop and implement its system, and to
train the people to use the system.
There will be also challenges in funnelling data and information to the Vision Council.
This is a massive undertaking, particularly given the current lack of data and the low
state of data systems and integrity at both the national and sub-levels.
In addition to the development and implementation of appropriate M&E systems at all
levels (macro, sector, sub-sector, programmes, projects), the development of a national
data and information management strategy is needed and the Central Statistical Office of
Botswana (CSO) should be a key player at least on massive data storage and data base
management (MIS).
Introduction of a “result based management” approach, which by its nature carries the
character of a “management by project” approach, as there is a clear defined scope given
through expected results and outcomes and also a fixed time frame, calls automatically
for introduction of a specific indicator based M&S system, which represents nothing else
but an information system to inform the project management about progress, quality,
cost implications, derivations and needed adjustments etc.
The application of result based development planes and monitoring the planned
development progress through a predefined indicator system to guarantee successfully
reach the envisaged goals implies a clear need for the introduction of basic or what is
actually called “first generation” Knowledge Management in its particular understanding
as Data and Information Management; it is for the same reason that it is already
conceptually inbuilt as Management Information System (MIS) in the Integrated Result
Based Management Framework (IRBM).
In conclusion; from the macro point of view Botswana represents a very impressive
success story with regard to the overall development process of the last over 40 years.
But now, at the given development stage and under the given circumstances, the
challenges to realize Batswana’s Vision for 2016 and the consolidation of already
reached development results, calls for a different methodological and more specific and
selective development planning and implementation approach based on a much more
intensive use of data, analytics and information to drive the development process as
efficient and effective as possible to the next higher level of quality of life and prosperity
8
NDP10, Chapter 16 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), 16.8, 16.9, page 403
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16. for the people of Botswana under growing demands for human capital competitiveness
in a more and more globalizing world.
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17. II. Sector relevance: Botswana has identified the development of competitive
and productive human resource as the most important key result area for its
transformation into a knowledge based society.
In general economic terms, Botswana has been reported to be relatively competitive
when compared with other countries in the region9. In terms of productivity, the country
is definitely more productive than the low income countries of Sub-Sahara-Africa,
although still less productive than upper middle income countries of the region like
South Africa and Mauritius. Now, to be fully competitive under global growth require-
ments, ...“Botswana’s productivity needs to be improved substantially”.10 So, in
reflection on the Vision 2016 goals, what are the remaining specific factors which needs
further attention to prepare Botswana for the next development stage understood as to be
globally competitive?
Since independence, the government has pursued policies generally regarded as sound
and fiscally conservative; as a result the state provides successfully for a considerable
average per capita income, basic health and education needs of almost all its people.
“Freedom House”, a US-based NGO, which undertakes annual comprehensive
assessments of political rights and civil liberties in 193 countries, considers Botswana as
one of only 11 “free” countries among the 48 states of Sub-Sahara-Africa, with high
scores for both political and civil rights.
The “Economist Intelligence Unit” developed an Index of Democracy in 2008 covering
167 countries. Botswana is ranked number 39, behind Mauritius and South Africa and on
par with Israel and Hungary; the ranking was dragged down by relatively low scores on
political participation and culture, but the country scored well in terms of the electoral
process and civil liberties.
Botswana is widely considered to be of one of the leading countries in Africa in respect
of governance. This reflects the general high quality of public institutions, an independ-
ent legal system, and low level of corruption, all of which have been sustained over a
long period of time. The “World Economic Forum” produced a Public Institutions
Index as part of its Growth Competitiveness Index, based on surveys of business leaders
and firms working in 25 African countries (48); 2004 Botswana was rated 1st in both the
overall Growth Competitiveness Index and the Public institutions sub-index.
In 2008, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance11, which measures the quality of
governance in Sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 states on the basis of safety, security, rule of law,
transparency, corruption, participation, human rights, sustainable economic opportunity
and human development, ranked Botswana as the 4th best governed country.
The Bertelsmann Transformation Index sheds light upon the political and economic
status of 125 developing and transition countries (the developed countries are NOT
included). It is divided into two: the status index and the political management
9
World Bank Report 2007
10
NDP10, Thematic Area description and Background
11
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is regarded as the world’s most comprehensive
ranking of African governance.
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18. performance. The status index ranks the countries according to their state of democracy
and market economy; the management index ranks them according to their leaderships
management performance. The management index reviews and evaluates the reform
activities of political decision makers, thus providing valuable information on the key
factors of success and failure for states on their way to democracy and market economy,
which is not yet the same as competitiveness.
In terms of status index, in 2008, Botswana was at position 19, just behind South Africa,
in the “advanced” category; for the management index, Botswana was at position 3, just
below Chile and Estonia, in the “successful” category.
Botswana also signed the UN’s Millennium Declaration in 2000 and subsequently
embraced the 8 goals that are now referred to as the Millennium Development Goals
(MDG’s). Numerical targets and appropriate indicators have been set for each goal to be
achieved between 1990 and 201512. A common list of 18 targets and more than 40
indicators corresponding to these goals has been prepared collaboratively by the UN,
World Bank, IMF and OECD to ensure a common assessment. Botswana is not a leader,
but doing quite well according to the last status report13.
Thus, Botswana is amongst the top performers on the African continent and at the top
stage of developing and transition countries on their way to be eventually a future equal
partner in a competitive globalized world.
It has to be noted, that all this impressive progress in less than 50 years was achieved on
the basis of investments coming out of export revenues of natural mineral resources. And
there is no doubt, that further progress would also be achieved along the same develop-
ment path.
However, as mineral resources are coming to an end14, the major difference for any
future development planning has definitely to be founded on a necessary shift from the
actual type of development path, financed through primary goods exports, to a new one,
based on human capital. The underlying understanding and recognition being, that more
than having financial resources, only the availability of human capital can be considered
as guarantee for future sustainable and successful development or growth. And this
alternative kind of development style has very famous predecessors in South-East-
Asia15, where exactly the lack of natural resources and revenues out of their exports
opened a way of sustainable development by forcing investment into human capital and
skills and knowledge, thus financing further development through return on investments
as a result of being better qualified instead of better “endowed”.
The need and rationale for a future human resource-led economy in the NDP10 is
without question underscored by the fact that given the anticipated decline in mineral
revenue from 202116 on, mining activities (diamonds and others) will no longer be the
12
The 8 MDGs:
13
See MDG status report:
14
Different sources report between 2020 to 2035 as the end of diamond mining as major
source for development financing.
15
See development analysis of Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea
16
NDP10 data
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19. main engine of development and growth beyond NDP10, but must shift to the sectors of
manufacturing and service industries.
As stated in NDP 10: “Human resource-led development has to be the main focus of
policy, not only because the economic growth in the future is expected to be based on
non-natural resources, but also that it will create more and better employment in the
different sectors of the economy. It is through more and better education to Batswana
and their competitive and productive employment in the different sectors that the Vision
goals and objectives will be achieved”.17
At the same time, messages and reports from the Globalization process informs that all
modern growth drivers are becoming increasingly more information and knowledge
based. In this understanding it might be of specific importance to review special sub-
indicators of the former cited indices to find especially those areas of weakness, which
need to be further improved.
The use of Information and Communication Technology is for instance an essential
component of modern economic activity, especially if the nation wishes to participate in
service industries. Although Botswana has one of the highest cell-phone usage rates in
Africa (61 subscribers per 100), computer and Internet use remains fairly low (5 per
100); this describes exactly the difference between only consuming technology and using
technology as a tool for production, business and further improvement.
Similar: in 2002, Botswana, with a Digital Access Index of 0,43, was ranked amongst
the top 5 Sub-Saharan countries, with Seychelles, Mauritius and South Africa coming on
top, but Botswana’s world ranking in e-government readiness has dropped from 90 in
2005 to 118 in 2008. “Therefore, [as NDP10 rightly points out] urgent action must be
taken to improve our competitiveness in this area”18
Also all internationally recognised knowledge related indicators are alarming. The
Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) from the World Bank Institute19 is an index
composed out of set of 83 variables, which represent (first) the overall performance of
the economy of a country plus additionally four major pillars, identified to constitute the
Knowledge Economy Framework of the Institute: (1) Economic Incentive And
Institutional Regime, (2) The Innovation System, (3) Education and Human Resources
and (4) Information and Communication Technology (ICT); on the KEI Botswana is
ranked 85 out of 134 countries for 2008.
The Knowledge Index (KI), which is a sub-index of the KEI, is composed only out of the
Education Index (3), the Innovation Index (2) and the ICT Index already drops
Botswana to rank 93, the ICT index to rank 96 and the Education Index even to rank 102
given the low Tertiary Education Enrolment Rate as one of its major components. This
relatively bad assessment appears even worse when compared with the situation of 1995,
when all indices had better scored. With other words, while the political, economic and
17
NDP10, Pillar: Educated and Informed Nation, 1.0 KRA: Competitive and Productive
Human Resource
18
NDP 10, Chapter 8: Knowledge Society, 8.10, 8.11 and table 8.1, page 137 f
19
World Bank Institute, Knowledge for Development (K4D), Knowledge Assessment
Methodology and Knowledge Economy Index, www.worldbank.org
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20. general institutional development process of more than the last decade still continued to
show positive figures of improvement, the capability of the country in its preparation for
its role as a knowledge based economy in a globalized world based on “well education
and informed” people has shrunk instead of growing. That is a very dangerous sign
and needs immediately attention.
An equal conclusion is drawn by the 2008 Prosperity Index20: “Botswana’s economic
achievements rest on a solid political foundation that earns the countries excellent scores
across all governance indicators... With an average annual growth rate since independ-
ence close to 10% Botswana’s economic performance is equally impressive... In the long
run however, Botswana’s reliance on extractive industries may be unsustainable. The
potential for economic diversification remains limited: with education and innovation
scores barely above the African average, the country lacks the means to expand into
higher value-added sectors”.
Thus more specific sub-indicators might give better light on the areas of immediately
attention: the Connectivity Index for 2009 reveals that “Botswana is best described as a
middling performer, as its scores is far closer to that of the median for the resource and
efficiency countries (Tunisia) than to the top-performing country (Malaysia)”[out of 25
“Resource and Efficiency driven” countries]. Apart from a serious notice regarding
limited amount of available data (caution!), the report also concludes, that “Botswana
may be well-advised to use its riches to invest in sectors as the ICT and telecom sectors,
and to continue paying utmost attention to factors such as education and health care that
can seriously affect the country’s capacity to develop human capital and fully utilise
technology”.
A broadly based international ICT comparison is contained in the Network Readiness
Index (NRI), which is defined as the “degree of preparation of an economy to participate
in and benefit from ICT developments”. The 2008-2009 ranking, showed Botswana only
at rank 77 out of 134 countries. Again it is the fifth highest rank in Africa after Tunisia,
South Africa, Mauritius and Egypt and proves a quite well developed environment for
ICT, but less well with regard to the individual and business readiness components. And
these seems to be the decisive factors for future successful development: improvements
on individual and project execution readiness, thus specific capacity building on
human capital to be more competitive in relevant areas.
Since the formulation of Vision 2016 in 1997 and more specific since NDP7, the
importance of developing the human resource capacity has been a development priority
from a wide range of perspectives (access, skills and training, quality of life, expansion
of the labour market) and considerable progress can be recognized. “However, the
absence of a national HRDS has been finally identified as [one] key impediment to
achieving the realisation of Botswana’s long term ambitions as a future knowledge based
society.”21
In February 2009 the Honourable Minister of Education of Botswana started his budget
speech with the recognition, that “the financial year 2009/2010 marks the beginning of
National Development Plan 10 (NDP10), which makes it an ideal time...to reflect on
20
The 2008 “Legatum” Prosperity Index: www.prosperity.com
21
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21. performance ...; to appreciate achievements and identify challenges, strength and
weaknesses with a view to make improvements for the future”. He further said, that
“NDP9 was the first plan which was aligned to the national vision, Vision 2016, as well
as the MDGs and other international conventions that put lots of emphasis on human
resource development issues”.
In NDP10, the human resource development and knowledge related Vision 2016 pillar
“Educated and Informed Nation” was cascaded down to two Key result areas (KRAs);
first: “Competitive and Productive Human Resources” with its respective NDP10 goal:
“to provide an adequate supply of qualified, productive and competitive human
resources” under the lead player MOESD with additional contributions from Public
Service, Finance, Labour, Youth and Agriculture. The second Key result area:
“Knowledge Society”, was translated into the respective NDP10 goal “Innovative &
Productive Creation and Use of Information and Technology” under MCST.
In the Knowledge Society related chapter, the NDP10 already states clearly: “The role of
Information and Communication Technology will be significant in the transformation of
the economy from government and mineral dependency to being a private sector and
innovation-led diversified economy. ICT, knowledge and innovation are expected to take
their place in the national economy not only as drivers for private sector competitive-
ness, but also for export of products and services in which data, information and
knowledge are the main tradable items”22
During NDP10, indicators that will be used to measure the performance of the goal on
“adequate supply of qualified, productive and competitive human resources” will include
the Global Competitiveness Index, The Human Development Index, the Knowledge
Economy Index, and the Employability Index.
Indicators for tracking performance of the goal on “provide globally competitive human
resources to drive economic growth” which focuses on Botswana to become a competi-
tive and innovative nation, will include the Unemployment Rate, Labour Productivity
Index, the Competitiveness Index, The Human Resource Development Expenditure as a
percentage of GDP, the portion of graduates absorbed into labour market, the percentage
of labour requirements met and the percentage of sector budget utilized for HRD.23
The mandate of the education sector is to produce skilled human resources through
provision of education and training opportunities. Such human resources are expected to
be both globally competitive and relevant to economic and social development needs of
the country. In view of this, a National Human Resource Development report was
produced during NDP9, which guided the development of a National Human Resource
Strategy (NHRDS) to provide the basis for matching skills achieved through education
and training with labour market demands as well as to realising individual potentials to
contribute to personal growth and social development.
“The NHRDS is [NOW] at the core of Botswana’s development strategy and has
received high-level commitment and support, as highlighted by President Khama, in his
Address to the Nation in November 2008: “There is a mismatch between our graduates’
22
NDP10, Chapter 7, Educated and Informed Nation, 7.3, page 106
23
NDP10, Chapter 7, 7.53 page 117 f and 7.55 page 119
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22. skills set and workplace demands, which further contributes to the challenge of
unemployment. A holistic Human Resource Development Strategy is being formulated
as achieving high income status will require an enhanced skill base”. The final National
Human Resource Development Strategy (NHRDS), “Realising our Potentials” was
subsequently presented to the Cabinet in January 2009 and approved for implementation
by the President.”24
The goal for the Public Service under the KRA “Competitive and Productive Human
Resources” is: to improve public sector performance. “It has been evident, that the
competency levels in the public service were lower than expected, as the 2005 Customer
Satisfaction Survey indicated that only 25% of the customer were satisfied with the
public service”. Competency based human resources management system must therefore
focus on modernising the public sector to support innovation, growth and globalization.
“The [sector] strategy will involve development of leadership into effective business
partners and change agents ready to venture into path breaking initiatives to support
service delivery of a growth-centric economy”.25
“Management of the public sector plays a strategic role in shaping the growth and
success of the economy. This role brings with it challenges in relation to knowledge and
emergent competency requirements. Therefore, the key issue confronting public sector
management is the need for the design and implementation of competitiveness strategies
and aligning the public sector human resource for increased value.”26
Thus, competency based human resources management systems, management infor-
mation systems, M&E and ranking systems based on the measurement of indicators and
variables, and increasing the value of human resources though improvement of
individual knowledge and emergent competency, points all in the direction of the need
to implement an appropriate application of knowledge management tools and instru-
ments in the public sector service provision.
24
Human Resource Development Advisory Council (HRDAC), Realising our Potentials,
Executive Summary, September 2009, page 2 including quoting the speech of President
Khama.
25
NDP10, Chapter 7, 7.98, page 128 and 7.102 as also 7.104 page 129
26
NDP10, Chapter 7, 7.85, page 126 and 7.97, page 128.
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23. III. TEC: The mission of the Tertiary Education Council is to plan, develop and
co-ordinate a well-resourced quality tertiary education system contributing
to Botswana becoming a knowledge-based society.
The Tertiary Education Council (TEC) is an outcome of the Report of the National
Commission on Education (NCE) of 1993 and the subsequent Revised National Policy
on Education (RNPE), passed by Parliament in 1994. The Tertiary Education Council
was then established by an Act of Parliament in 1999 as the entity responsible for the
promotion and coordination of tertiary education and for the determination and
maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in tertiary institutions.
The functions of the TEC are similar to those of other “buffer” bodies around the world.
They involve advising government on policy matters pertaining to tertiary education, co-
ordination of the long term planning and overall development of tertiary education,
liaising with both public and private sector of the economy on all matters relating to
human resource requirements and development, the development of plans and the
funding of tertiary education and research, allocation of funds to public tertiary
education institutions, registration of private and public tertiary education institutions,
and accreditation of programmes of study of private tertiary education institutions.
The members of the Council are drawn from government, the private sector, labour,
tertiary institutions, the academic community, students, and a representative of the wider
community. The Secretariat of The Council consists since 2003 of the Office of the
Executive Secretary27 (also covering the Human Resource Unit) and five directorates,
namely the Directorate of Policy and Planning, the Directorate of Institutional Funding,
the Directorate of Quality Assurance and Regulation, the Directorate of Knowledge
Management (since 2009) and the Directorate of Corporate Services.
The achievement of the following major milestones can be acknowledge so far:
1. In April 2008, Parliament passed the first ever tertiary education policy for
Botswana. The Policy titled “Tertiary Education Policy for Botswana: Towards a
Knowledge Society” marks the beginning of a comprehensive programme of reform of
the tertiary education sector.
2. In January 2009, Cabinet approved a new National Human Resource Develop-
ment Strategy (NHRDS) and asked for its immediate implementation. These two major
policy initiatives have been driven by the Tertiary Education Council as the advisor to
government on these issues.
3. NDP 10 has a detail section on tertiary education; the MOE has developed four
programmes on general education, teacher education, skills development and tertiary
education as components of its KRA. The TEC has assisted in the drafting of the section
on the tertiary education programme which involves sector reforms, research strengthen-
ing and other changes.
27
First “employee” of the council, appointed at the end of 2002
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24. 4. The Tertiary Education Council approved in March 2009 the Funding Model
which it had been working on over the past three years. This model adds to a number of
tools and regulations which the Council has since its establishment been producing as
part of the reforms and transformation of the tertiary education sector. It introduces a
more comprehensive and more predictable financing system for public tertiary education
institutions. The Model will be taken through the government system for approval during
2009/10 and subsequently used to allocate funds to public institutions during the period
of National Development Plan (NDP 10) and beyond.
5. To date 32 public and private Institutions have been registered with the Tertiary
Education Council and late 2008 the Minister of Education and Skills Development
published the long awaited accreditation regulations with the effect that TEC has started
using these to assess the quality of programmes in private tertiary education institutions
to be followed by accreditation of those, that fulfill the requirements.
6. The 2005 initiated work on the Tertiary Education Information System (TEMIS)
was passed on to the new Directorate of Knowledge Management in 2009 and an
analytical and conceptual design phase was initiated. Major stakeholders, among them
the Central Statistics Office, the Planning and Statistics Division of Ministry of
Education and Skills Development (MOESD) and the tertiary education institutions
themselves, were widely consulted on the project. The full development and implemen-
tation of TEMIS is expected to be finalized before the mid-term review of NDP10 in
2012. This database and information management system is critical for the successful
implementation of several projects including the funding model, planning for and
monitoring of the tertiary education sector, accreditation and registration of institutions,
and analysis and projections for national and international statistical requirements.
NDP10 states: “The Tertiary Education Council (TEC) completed preparation of the
following policy documents: the Tertiary Education Policy, the National Human
Resource Development report, and the Funding Strategy and Formula for Tertiary
Education Institutions. These policy instruments have laid the basis for reforming the
tertiary education sector, and will lead to the development of a coherent system that
allows for single supervision, better long term planning for enrolment and budget. The
National Credit Qualification Framework, which was also developed, will address
problems of quality, accreditation, articulation, co-ordination and management. … The
education and training system will, through implementation of the Tertiary Education
Policy, produce relevant competencies and skills of international standard as well as
individuals who are adequately prepared for the workplace…”28
Both TEC and the Public Sector as a whole claim to be - or at least to become during
NDP10 - a “learning organization”. But, from the management of “only” providing
individuals in a given organization the right information in the right format at the right
moment at a recognized knowledge level, which could be called the typical application
of first generation Knowledge Management strategies, to the management of creating an
environment and a culture where through the support of knowledge production in
addition to the provision of practices and processes the entire organization becomes a
learning one, which is addressed by what is called second generation of Knowledge
28
NDP10, Chapter 7, 731 and 747, page 113 f.
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25. Management, lies indeed a significant qualitative difference, which cannot simply be
attended by individual training programmes.
So, first things first: first introduction of first generation of knowledge management to
support decision making through information management and then further steps to
transform individual learning based on the provision of selected information for specific
tasks to organizational learning generated through free flow of information as knowledge
production in the environment of second generation knowledge management.
To attend to the emerging challenges on better management of data and information as
well as monitoring and evaluating progress of particular projects and the organizational
performance through learning, developing, application and use of state of the art
instruments, tool, practices and processes of knowledge management in the area of
Higher Education, the TE Council decided in March 2008 to establish the new Direc-
torate of Knowledge Management at the Secretariat of the Tertiary Education Council
(TEC).
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26. IV. Knowledge Management: Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom... only
the one who understands the underlying pattern and principles might bene-
fit to achieve the desired results under given circumstances
Organizations are complex organisms. For an organization to grow and prosper in this
information age, it must become a learning organization that is, understand and attend
both its original roots and purpose from the past and its future competitive position, and
how to successfully branch out into new endeavors.
TEC declares in its VALUES statement among others: “Learning and Innovation: We
are a learning organization and we share a commitment to engage in creative and
innovative ways to help transform the TE sector.” And in its MISSION statement TEC
declares to be committed to “contributing Botswana becoming a knowledge-based
society”29.
What does that mean?
Learning: “The role of learning is to easier assure assimilation of information; form
certain qualities; evaluate knowledge; assure practicing experiments. These are
important because they train [one’s] mind to systematize, analyze, and conclude.
Learning means are aimed at the following objectives: support thinking process;
stimulate research activity; develop creativity and imagination; build a basis of logical
thinking and acting; promote structural thinking activity and memory; etc.”30
Innovation: “Technically, "innovation" is defined merely as "introducing something
new." There are no qualifiers of how ground-breaking or world-shattering that some-
thing needs to be—only that it needs to be better than what was there before. And that's
where the trouble starts… The fact is, innovation means different things to different
people. It is critical to establish a baseline understanding of what innovation really
means…., so that the "innovation process" can be … tailored to address the specific
challenges and requirements of that organization. But getting this foundational
knowledge of what an "acceptable output of an innovation project" is...well, more
difficult than one would suspect.”31
Despite the above quotes, the question remains: what is this activity called knowledge
management, and why is it so important to each and every one of us?
One of the difficulties in mastering "Knowledge Management" is the understanding of
the terminology of the field. In any field one must have a common understanding of the
nomenclature of both the terms and concepts. People use the same words and phrases
but the meaning could be different based on gender, location, context, profession, etc. In
the following there can be found some definitions and terms, borrowed from other fields
such as computer science, business, psychology and education that may be applied to
knowledge management in organizations. All organizations share some of the same
needs for sound knowledge management practices.
29
Tertiary Education Council Strategic Plan 2005 - 2009
30
www.educative.info
31
www.core77.com
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27. The following definitions of what constitutes Knowledge Management has been found:
1. “Knowledge management can be perceived as being a process through which
organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets.”
2. “Knowledge management is the cultivation of an environment within which people
are willing to share, learn and collaborate together leading to improvement.”
3. “Knowledge management is a discipline that enables individuals, teams, and the
entire organization to collectively and systematically create, share and apply
knowledge to better achieve their objectives.”
4. “Knowledge management is a collection of processes that govern the creation,
dissemination and utilization of knowledge in an organization. It involves the
management of both tacit and explicit knowledge.”
5. “Knowledge management is the developing body of methods, tools, techniques and
values through which organizations can acquire, develop, measure, distribute and
provide a return on their intellectual capital assets.”
6. ”Knowledge management comprises a range of practices used in an organization
to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of insights and experi-
ences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in in-
dividuals or embedded in organizational processes or practices. This knowledge is
treated as a company asset of which procedures should be put in place to conserve
it – in terms of security and copyright.”
7. ”Knowledge management is a conscious, hopefully consistent, strategy imple-
mented to gather, store and retrieve knowledge and then help distribute the infor-
mation and knowledge to those who need it in a timely manner. The strategy in-
cludes rules, procedures, and cultural aspects in addition to the hardware and
software to help put the knowledge management strategy into action. The best
computers and software are not useful without the people and procedures for using
them.”
8. “Knowledge management is a framework and management mind-set that includes
building on experience and creating new avenues for exchanging knowledge. The
strategy includes both the technological infrastructure and the human aspects that
use the tools.”
In resume, Knowledge Management is called a process, a collection of processes, a
range of practices, a developing body, a cultivation of an environment, a framework and
mind-set, a discipline, and a strategy; there is no universal standardized meaning
attached to what is called Knowledge Management. But of course, all associated
thoughts are circling around understanding what knowledge is and how to capitalize
knowledge at organizational level. So, what should it be at TEC to best serve fulfilling
the mandates or even in the wider context of public service provision?
Excursion: From Data to Information to Knowledge…
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28. Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as (i) expertise, and skills
acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical
understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and
information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.
Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of knowledge as
"justified true belief". There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge
presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories.
Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning,
communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the
confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose if
appropriate. 32
The progression for a learning organization is: Data …. Information... Knowledge ….
Wisdom…33
“ …Data and information are gathered; knowledge is gained as a result of analysis. Data
can be viewed as an abundant, vital and necessary resource… With enough preparation,
[one] should be able to channel raw data into meaningful information. That information,
in turn, can then become knowledge …34 But: A collection of data is not information. A
collection of information is not knowledge. A collection of knowledge is not wisdom. A
collection of wisdom is not truth.35 So, it is not about simply colleting or collections.
Let’s begin with data. Data is just a meaningless point without reference to either space
or time (as we are all living and perceiving our universe only as a continuum of space
and time). It is like an event out of context, a letter out of context, a word out of context.
The key concept here is "out of context." Usually, when we encounter a piece of data,
our first action is to attempt to find a way to attribute meaning to it. We do this by
associating it with other things having been related to that kind of data in our personal
past life as experience, some more others less conscious. If, for example, we see the
number 5, we can immediately associate it with cardinal numbers and relate it to being
greater than 4 and less than 6, whether this was implied by this particular instance or
not. If we see a single word, such as "time," we have the tendency to immediately form
associations with previous contexts within which we have found "time" to be meaning-
ful to us. This might be, "being on time," "time never stops," “time management” etc.
The implication here is that when there is no context, there is little or no meaning.
So, we create context but, more often than not, that context is somewhat akin to
conjecture, yet it fabricates meaning.
That a collection of data is not information implies that a collection of data for which
there is no relation between the pieces of data is not information. The pieces of data
may represent information, yet whether or not it is information depends on the under-
standing of the one perceiving the data. We might even say that it depends on the
32
www.wikipedia.org
33
The following thoughts and conclusions are partly based on: Bellinger, Gene. Knowledge
Management: Emerging Perspectives. The Way of Systems. 2004
34
Alberthal, Les. Remarks to the Financial Executive Institute, Oct. 1995, Dallas, Texas
35
Fleming, Neil. Coping with a revolution: Will the Internet Change Learning?, Lincoln
University, Canterbury, New Zealand
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29. “knowledge” of the interpreter. The point is that the extent of the understanding of a
particular collection of data is dependent on the associations somebody is able to discern
within the collection. And, the associations somebody is able to discern are dependent
on all the associations somebody has ever been able to realize in the past. Information
is quite simply an understanding of the relationships between pieces of data, or
between pieces of data and other information.
While information entails an understanding of the relations between data, it generally
does not provide a foundation for why the data is what it is, nor an indication as to how
the data is likely to change over time. Information has a tendency to be relatively static
in time and linear in nature. Information is a relationship between data and, quite
simply, is what it is, with great dependence on context for its meaning and with little
implication for the future.
Beyond relation there is pattern.36 Pattern embodies both a consistency and complete-
ness of relations which, to an extent, creates its own context. Pattern also serves as an
Archetype37 with both an implied repeatability and predictability. And this is where
the whole issue about knowledge management gets its dynamic, suspense and excite-
ment from: the attempt to develop the ability to foresee, predict, beware, and plan in
such a manner that future success is highly probable. Prognosis.
When a pattern relation exists amidst the data and information, the pattern has the
potential to represent knowledge. It only becomes knowledge, however, when the one
who observes the specific combination of data and information is able to realize and
understand the patterns and their implications. The patterns representing knowledge
have a tendency to be more self-contextualizing. That is, the pattern tends, to a great
extent, to create its own context rather than being context dependent to the same extent
that information is (reflect on: macro and socio-economic growth models, behavior
relation between savings and investments, development of interest rates and salaries,
productivity and shareholder surplus forecasts).
A pattern which represents knowledge also provides, when the pattern is understood, a
high level of reliability or predictability as to how the pattern will evolve over time, for
patterns are seldom static. At this point however it has also to be recognized, that time
never repeats; models and patterns only guarantee repeatability and predictability when
a dynamic process or progress is only allowed for the evolving parameter, while “ceteris
paribus” is demanded for all other parameters; that means: under the same conditions
(what is not very realistic as time goes by). Patterns which represent knowledge have
completeness to them that information simply does not contain; they imply as by
definition a decision about their scope. But yes, a pattern which represents knowledge
converts data and information from being descriptive to becoming guidance when
understood.
Without going further for the sake of this exercise about Knowledge Management we
might conclude that patterns which represent knowledge are based on underlying
principles which guarantee specific results under specific conditions. In the case of
36
Bateson, Gregory. Mind and Nature: A Necessary Unity, Bantam, 1988
37
Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization,
Doubleday-Currency, 1990
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30. an unconditioned principle, which would mean a context independent pattern, the nature
of that kind of principle might be called universal, representing wisdom or even truth as
represented in Plato’s initial definition of knowledge as “justified true belief".
So, in summary and returning to our concern about Knowledge Management the
following associations can reasonably be made:
Information relates to description, definition, or perspective (what, who, when, where).
Knowledge comprises strategy, practice, method, or approach (how).
Wisdom embodies principle, insight, moral, or archetype (why).
We learn by connecting new information to patterns that we already understand. In
doing so, we extend the patterns. How can this now be applied to organizational
learning?
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31. V. The organizational context: From early beginnings of simple data collection
and information management to guiding principles as result of free flow of
information and “collective intelligence” in New Knowledge Management38.
According to Mike Davidson39, Knowledge Management, and everything else for that
matter, is important only to the extent that it enhances an organization's ability and
capacity to deal with, and develop in, the following four dimensions.
Mission: What are we trying to accomplish?
Competition: How do we gain a competitive edge?
Performance: How do we deliver the results?
Change: How do we cope with change?
(And one might add) Quality: How do we organize our processes?
In an organizational context, data represents facts or values of results, and information
can be represented by relations between these facts or results and other relations.
Patterns of relations of data and information and other patterns have the capacity to
represent knowledge. For any representation in the way of a pattern to be of any utility
it must be understood, and when understood the pattern represents information or
knowledge to those who understand that. Yet, what is the real value of information
and knowledge, and what does it mean to manage it?
As explained above, without associations we have little chance of understanding
anything. We understand things based on the associations we are able to discern. If
someone says that sales started at $100,000 per quarter and have been rising 20% per
quarter for the last four quarters, we are somewhat confident that sales are now about
$207,000 per quarter. We are confident because we know what "rising 20% per quarter"
means and we can do the math. Yet, if someone asks what sales are apt to be next
quarter, we would have to say, "It depends!" We would have to say this because
although we have data and information, we have no knowledge!
This is a trap that many fall into, because they don't understand that data doesn't
predict trends of data. What predicts trends of data is the activity that is responsi-
ble for the data, respectively the action taken upon a informed decision.
To be able to estimate the sales for next quarter, we would need information about the
competition, market size, extent of market saturation, current backlog, customer
satisfaction levels associated with current product delivery, current production capacity,
the extent of capacity utilization, and a whole host of other things. If we were able to
amass sufficient data and information to form a complete pattern that we understand, we
would have knowledge, and would then be somewhat comfortable estimating the sales
for next quarter. Anything else would be just fiction or fantasy!
In this example what needs to be managed to create value is the data that defines and
structures past results, the data and information associated with the organization, its
38
McElroy, Mark W. The New Knowledge Management – Complexity, Learning, and Sus-
tainable Innovation. 2002.
39
Davidson, Mike. The Transformation of Management, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1996
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32. market, its customers, and its competition, and the patterns which relate all these
items to enable a reliable level of predictability of the future.
Knowledge management would then be the capture, retention, and reuse of the
foundation pattern for imparting an understanding of how all relevant elements
and pieces fit together and how to convey them meaningfully to another person
(“Advanced Information Management”).
The value of Knowledge Management relates directly to the effectiveness40 with which
the managed knowledge enables the members of the organization to deal with today's
situations and effectively envision and create future scenarios. This requires an
analytical approach where outputs are transformed to describing and structuring the
specific individual way of understanding of one person into a more general pattern, so
that others might be able to apply the inbuilt knowledge to a different / similar situation.
Managed knowledge only enables members of an organization when appropriately
disseminated and shared. Without on-demand access to managed organizational
knowledge, every situation is addressed based on what a particular individual or team
brings to the problem (situation). With on-demand access to managed organizational
knowledge, every problem (situation) is addressed with the sum total of everything
anyone in the organization has ever learned about a situation of a similar nature and all
individually experienced solutions.41
Which are the knowledge assets to be managed?
Not all information is valuable. Every organization has to determine what information
qualifies as intellectual and knowledge-based assets. In general, however, intellectual
and knowledge-based assets fall into one of two categories: explicit or tacit.
Explicit assets includes: books, journals, documents, manuals, brochures, patents,
trademarks, business plans, marketing research, customer lists etc.. As a general rule of
thumb, explicit knowledge consists of anything that can be documented, archived and
codified, often with the help of IT.
Tools: libraries, databases, intranets, repositories and (Management) Information
Systems in general are recognized valuable methods and practices to collect explicit
knowledge.
Much harder to grasp is the concept of tacit knowledge, or the know-how contained in
people's heads. The concept covers also behavior, perceptions, experiences, values,
judgments, insights, intuition, skills gained through observation on the job, training,
mentoring, teaming up, and life. The challenge inherent with tacit knowledge is figuring
out how to recognize, generate, share and manage it. While IT in the form of e-mail,
groupware, instant messaging and related technologies can help facilitate the dissemina-
tion of tacit knowledge, identifying tacit knowledge in the first place is a major hurdle
for most organizations.
40
Bellinger, Gene. The Effective Organization. 1997
41
Bellinger, Gene. The Knowledge Centered Organization. 1997
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33. Tools: the most recognized valuable methods to capture tacit knowledge are: teamwork
(tandems), coaching, mentoring, discussions, storytelling, meetings, conversations,
conferences, “blogs”, maps (who does what where), yellow pages, “open spaces”, “field
visits”, communities of practice. Also shadowing and joint-problem solving are two
examples of best practices for transferring or recreating tacit knowledge inside an
organization.
With shadowing, less experienced staff observes more experienced staff in their
activities to learn how their more experienced counterparts approach their work. The
emphasize of this method must be on the importance of having the "protégé" discuss
their observations with the "expert" in order to deepen their dialog and crystallize the
knowledge transfer. Joint problem-solving by expert and novice means working
together to facilitate learning by observation. Since people are often unaware of how
they approach problems or do their work and therefore can’t automatically generate
step-by-step instructions for doing whatever they do, having them work together with
somebody else on a project who is willing to learn, might bring the expert’s approach to
light.The difference between shadowing and joint problem solving is that shadowing is
more passive. With joint problem-solving, the "expert" and the "novice" work hand-in-
hand on a task. Both approaches can be combined in a defined tandem work relation-
ship.
What benefits can organizations expect from Knowledge Management (KM)?
Some benefits of KM correlate directly to bottom-line savings, while others are more
difficult to quantify. In today's information-driven economy, organizations uncover the
most opportunities — and ultimately derive the most value — from intellectual rather
than physical assets.
To get the most value from a organization’s intellectual assets, KM practitioners
maintain that knowledge must be shared and serve as the foundation for collaboration
(teamwork). Yet better collaboration is not an end in itself. Without an overarching
business context, KM might be meaningless at best and harmful at worst. Consequently,
an effective KM program should be related directly to one or more of the following:
 Foster innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas
 Enhance employee retention rates by recognizing the value of employees'
knowledge and rewarding them for it
 Streamline operations and reduce costs by improving and/or eliminating
processes (quality management)
These are the most prevalent examples. A creative approach to KM can result in
improved efficiency, higher productivity and increased revenues in practically any
business function.
When embarking on a KM strategy, one should define from the beginning the value one
wants to achieve from ones KM initiative (like improved organizational learning) and
establish at the outset metrics (indicators) that will prove (M&E system in place)
success (what, when, where, who, how).
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34. Finally, a KM program should not be divorced from an overall organizational goal (like
strengthening organizational capacity). While sharing best practices is a commendable
idea, there must be an underlying business reason (i.e. the objective of any teamwork) to
do so.
What are the challenges of KM?
Culture42: The major problems that occur in KM usually result because organizations
ignore the people and cultural issues. In an environment where an individual's
knowledge is valued and rewarded, establishing a culture that recognizes tacit
knowledge and encourages employees to share it is critical (i.e. team performance
reward system). The need to sell the KM concept to employees shouldn't be underesti-
mated; after all, in many cases employees are being asked to surrender their knowledge
and experience — the very traits that make them valuable as individuals (and justify
their salaries).
Maintenance: As with many physical assets, the value of knowledge can erode over
time. Since knowledge can get stale fast, the content in a KM program should be
constantly updated, amended and deleted. What’s more, the relevance of knowledge at
any given time changes, as do the skills of employees. Therefore, there is no endpoint
to a KM program.
Like product development, marketing and R&D, KM is a constantly evolving business
practices. Organizations diligently need to be on the lookout for information overload.
Quantity rarely equals quality, and KM is no exception. Indeed, the point of a KM
program is to identify and disseminate knowledge gems from a sea of information.
(Analysis!).
Utilization: One tried-and-true way to build support for KM is to pilot the project
among employees who have the most to gain and would be the most open to sharing
their knowledge. This will vary depending on the organization. It’s also a good idea to
involve in the pilot a select group of influencers—employees who are well-respected by
their peers and whose opinions are highly regarded in the organization. If both groups
have good things to say about the KM effort, their positive attitudes will go a long way
toward convincing others of the merits of KM.
Participation: To get people to participate in a KM effort, has to build knowledge
collection and dissemination into all employees’ everyday jobs. In other words, it has
be made as easy as possible for everybody to participate. From more than 15 years of
experience in the developed world it is shown that a lot of early KM efforts failed
because they added cumbersome steps to the jobs of already overworked employees. So
when things got busy, workers just didn't bother with the extra steps.
Linking KM directly to individual job performance, creating a “safe climate” for
people to share ideas and recognizing people who contribute to the KM effort (especial-
42
Leidner, D. / Alavi. M. / Kayworth.T. The Role of Culture in Knowledge management: A
Case study of two global firms. Idea Group Inc. 2006
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35. ly those people whose contributions impact the bottom line) is a very critical tactic for
getting people to make KM a part of their day to day business.
Incentives: many companies create incentive programs to motivate employees to
share their knowledge. This can work in certain environments, but the danger with
incentive programs is that employees will participate solely to earn the incentives,
without regard to the quality or relevance of the information they contribute, which
would call for some kind of quality assurance to assess the value of the shared
knowledge, which itself might be very demanding and questionable.
Ideally, participation in KM should be its own reward. If KM doesn't make life easier
for employees, it will fail easily.
Unlike “first-generation” Knowledge Management, in which technology always seemed
to provide the answer, “second-generation” thinking is more exclusive of people,
processes and social initiatives. The so called “New Knowledge Management”, which
claims to be differentiated from all previous Knowledge Management understanding,
therefore re-titled by the authors as second-generation as opposed to the former, now
being first-generation, intents to make a distinction between the (a. and most important)
processes of how knowledge is initially produced, (b.) those of knowledge integration
(including sharing), and then (c.) all other business processing. In fact the new KM says
that the utmost purpose of KM is to enhance all knowledge processing (production and
integration) which then will have an positive impact on all other business processing.43
The New Knowledge Management concept entails ten key ideas:
1. The (advanced) Knowledge Life Circle
2. (limited) KM versus Knowledge Processing
3. Supply-side (production) versus Demand Side (utilization) KM
4. Nested Knowledge Domains
5. Containers of Knowledge
6. Organizational Learning
7. The Open Enterprise
8. Social Innovative Capital
9. Self Organization and Complexity Theory
10. Sustainable Innovation
The major distinction to “first-generation” of Knowledge Management is based on an
added focus on the organizational learning aspect. The New Knowledge Management
demands to enrich all previous approaches through including the way of knowledge is
produced at different stages and processes instead of taking knowledge as given and
therefore only to be managed by the already agreed and described processes. At the
same time the “new” approach tries to further align Knowledge Management with the
process based understandings of Quality and Project Management.
“Indeed, Individual & Group Learning, per se, is explicitly shown as a sub-process in
Knowledge Production since their learning contribute in material and often determina-
tive ways to the direction of organizational learning. What this means is that there are
really three levels of learning, or knowledge domains, in an organization: the top-level,
43
Firestone, J.M / McElroy, M. The New Knowledge Management, June 2003
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36. sub-groups and individuals. Organizational Learning, therefore, focuses on how to
create and foster effective Knowledge Processing Environments in human social
systems.”44
Knowledge Management Cycle
a. First generation
The processes to be executed under (first-generation) Knowledge Management or
Knowledge “Integration” in the terminology of second-generation Knowledge Man-
agement (see below) can be described as a cycle consisting of:
1. Stocktaking: Harvesting the existing information and know how
2. Management: Analyzing, Assessing value, Structuring, Saving, Providing, Adjusting
3. Sharing: Enlarging the knowledge basis
4. Transferring: into new regions, business areas
5. Innovation: through re-combining collected skills and knowledge
The following core elements and central factors for success of Knowledge Management
have been identified:
1. Permanent progress of knowledge: continuously and guided through well
developed tailor made methods and processes;
2. Access to and delivery of knowledge: at the right moment to the right person in
the right format, quality and quantity through appropriate communication and in-
formation technology;
3. Optimal utilization of knowledge: focuses, targeted and orientated at the
strategic goals of the organization and supported by a conducive environment and
culture.
The unspoken assumption behind this “limited” approach is – from the point of second-
generation KM –, that valuable knowledge already exists when this “type” of Knowledge
Management starts; all what is needed to do is capture it, codify it, and share it. The
practice of this KM understanding begins only sometime behind after knowledge is
already produced. “Ergo, the purpose of [this] KM is not to enhance knowledge
production; rather, the purpose of KM is to enhance the development of knowledge into
practice”45. With other words, the initial, early approach of Knowledge Management
must be considered as a “narrow” understanding, generally dealing with Information
Management and only touching on learning and innovation as an uncontrolled,
unpredictable and not steerable effect of Knowledge Management, while the “new”,
wider and more integrated approach not only includes but focuses on the more essential
aspect of learning, innovation or knowledge production in addition to the Knowledge
“Integration” aspect.
b. second-generation
44
McElroy, M. The NKM, 2002.
45
McElroy, M. The KNM, 2002.
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