MGMT 8005M: Organizational Perspectives and Implications for Leaders | Week 9

Perceived intrinsic knowledge quality is not adequate by itself and should be transformed into perceived contextual, actionable knowledge quality to produce innovativeness.

—Yoo, 2014, p. 534

With the exponential growth of data collected, organizations increasingly face challenges in controlling the information derived from the data. On the one hand, access to data needs to be secured in order to protect intellectual property. On the other hand, data need to be transformed into reliable information to be used by employees and customers. Without careful management of knowledge, consistent shared sensemaking in the organization could be jeopardized, potentially affecting the quality of goods and services. This week, you will focus on the relationship between sensemaking and knowledge management.

Learning Objectives – MGMT 8005M: Week 9: Making Sense Through Knowledge Management Paper

This week, you will:

• Compare the relationship between sensemaking and management of knowledge
• Explain how sensemaking can be integrated into a knowledge management system to enhance change and innovation

Skills

You will develop the following skills:

• Analyze sensemaking in organizations
• Apply theoretical concepts to practical cases

Resources

Note: To access this week’s library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Readings

Laeque, S. & Babar, S. (2017). Knowledge creation and firm performance: Is innovation the missing link? Pakistan Journal of Commerce, 11(2), 505–523.

Morgan, G. (2016). Commentary: Beyond Morgan’s eight metaphors. Human Relations, 69(4), (1029–1042. doi: 10.1177/0018726715624497

Salem, P. (2007). Making sense of knowledge management. RCA Vestnik (Russian Communication Association), 47-68.

Yao, L., Othman, A., Abdalla, A., & Jing, W. (2011). A novel sensemaking model of effective knowledge. African Journal of Business Management, 5(11), 4423–4431. Retrieved from http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380534461_Yao%20et%20al.pdf

Yoo, D. K. (2014). Substructures of perceived knowledge quality and interactions with knowledge sharing and innovativeness: A sensemaking perspective. Journal of Knowledge Management, 18(3), 523–537. doi:10.1108/jkm-09-2013-0362.

Document: MGMT 8500M Sense Making Diagram (PDF)

Discussion: Sensemaking and Knowledge Management

Sensemaking and knowledge management (KM) complement each other, providing a powerful resource for leaders to use in their decision making, strategic planning, and change management. During the past 8 weeks of the course, you have studied sensemaking, including the four frames of reframing and the use of metaphors. These are some of the tools to help a manager make sense of, and communicate about, an organization. Although new technologies and tools are available, managing information and knowledge is still challenging, and the effective flow of information is critical for success (Yao, Othman, Abdalla, & Jing, 2011).

In preparation for this Discussion, review the suggested reading and other sources to

• Define sensemaking and knowledge management (KM)
• Learn about the development of knowledge management during the past few decades
• Identify the differences, similarities, and relationship of sensemaking and KM.

Look for additional source to complement the suggested readings for this week. There is a great deal of research in the literature on KM and sensemaking.

Day 3: Initial Post

Post by Day 3 a proposal to integrate sensemaking into a knowledge management system that might be presented by a consulting firm to an organization of your choice.

Day 5: Response

Respond by Day 5 to at leat two of your colleagues’ postings. In your responses, be sure to address one of the following:

• Expand on your colleague’s posting.
• What insights did you gain from your colleague’s posting?
• Offer an alternative suggestion.

Note: Include proper APA citations to support all statements by referencing at least two sources from this week’s recommended readings as well as two additional sources from relevant peer-reviewed publications. MGMT 8005M: Week 9: Making Sense Through Knowledge Management Paper.

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Sensemaking and Knowledge Management

Introduction

Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences. It involves a shift from individual to group, or “collective” sensemaking where groups of people come together to solve problems and make decisions based on their shared understanding of what’s happening in their environment. There are two types of sensemaking: individual and organizational. Individual sensemaking occurs when one person creates meaning from his or her experience; organizational sensemaking happens when multiple people interact in order for something new to emerge—whether that’s an organization or just an individual person making sense of what’s going on around them (or both).

Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences.

Sensemaking is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences. It’s a way of making sense of things, and it can be applied to any situation that requires you to understand your environment better.

Sensemaking starts with asking questions about what is happening in any given situation. This allows you to gather information from all different sources, then combine that data into one coherent picture. The end result? You have a better understanding of what’s going on around you!

Individual vs group sensemaking

Sensemaking is a social process. It’s not just about you, it’s about the group as a whole and what happens in the room when you’re there. And that’s why I say individual sensemaking happens when people work alone; group sensemaking happens when people work together.

Sensemaking can be broken down into three phases:

• The Information Awareness Phase (IA) involves gathering information from multiple sources, analyzing it and making connections that enhance our understanding of complex issues such as climate change or lack of access to health care services for low-income populations.

• The Knowledge Management Phase (KM) involves organizing all this new information into meaningful patterns by using tools like mind mapping or storytelling techniques so we can come up with solutions faster than ever before!

Organizational sensemaking

Organizational sensemaking is the ability of a group to understand and make sense of its environment. It is about how an organization makes sense of its environment, and how it uses the information it gathers to make decisions.

Organizational sensemaking can be defined as ‘the process by which individuals within an organization develop an understanding of their roles, responsibilities, tasks and objectives; learn about new technologies; identify opportunities for improvement in existing processes; respond effectively when problems arise.’

Coping with sensegiving, sensegiving interactions, sensegiving and feedback

Sensegiving is an important part of knowledge management. It’s a two-way process that involves both giving and receiving feedback, but it can sometimes be difficult to do well.

Your first task as a sensegiver is to determine what you think the person needs from you and how they want you to give that information back. Once this has been established, then comes the second task: reminding yourself not only of their wants but also those of others (e.g., your boss). As for actually doing so…well…that depends on whether or not this person is someone whom you feel comfortable giving feedback about their behavior in front of others (and if so, whether or not that person has already received similar criticism from other sources).

Sensemaking can be applied to all aspects of information management.

Sensemaking can be applied to all aspects of information management.

Sensemaking is a way to manage knowledge, and it’s used in many different contexts. It enables us to understand our environment, make decisions based on this understanding, and communicate our results back out into the world. In addition to being useful for decision making and problem solving, sensemaking has been shown to have positive effects on individuals as well: improved performance at work or school; increased creativity; increased self-awareness; reduced anxiety levels (1).

Conclusion

I believe the next big thing in information management will be an awareness of the process of sensemaking. I look forward to seeing both an increase in research on this topic as well as a wider adoption of sensemaking practices by companies and organizations. It may take some time before we see widespread adoption, but I have faith that it will happen eventually because there are so many benefits associated with using this approach to learning about data and information from different perspectives.