Enterprise Applications and Solutions Are Critical To participate successfully in this e-know l-edge environment, each enterprise must c reate robust enterprise infrastru c t u res and a
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prises, professional societies and trade
asso-ciations, government agencies, and other
entities The level of transitive trust that
each individual places in these entities and
the re l a t i ve importance of their re s o u rc e s
will shape the re l a t i ve role they play in each
i n d i v i d u a l’s constellation of re l a t i o n s h i p s
Individuals will use personal portals or
other means to manage their re l a t i o n s h i p s
with the interactivity and re s o u rces ava i
l-able through Web and the significant
enter-prises, like colleges and universities, with
which they have trusted re l a t i o n s h i p s
Enterprise Applications and
Solutions Are Critical
To participate successfully in this e-know
l-edge environment, each enterprise must
c reate robust enterprise infrastru c t u res and
applications, accessed though their Web site
and enterprise portal, using a variety of
w i reless and wired devices These
infra-s t ru c t u reinfra-s and infra-solutioninfra-s re q u i re intero p e
r-ability and scalr-ability, meaning that
applications and knowledge can be share d
a c ross different enterprises and technology
platforms and scaled to enterprises of
dif-f e rent sizes These solutions also re q u i re
p owe rful security, authentication, and ve r
i-fication capabilities
U s e r-Centric, Intero p e r a b l e
I n f r a s t ru c t u re s
To m o r row’s infrastru c t u res will not just
be user-friendly; they will be user-centric
A wide range of stakeholders will engage
an enterprise’s products, services, and
k n owledge re s o u rces using powe rf u l
k n owledge tools They will be able to
shape the content, context, and nature of
their experience
To w a rd the Experi enc e Gatew ay.
Users will experience an enterprise’s
offer-ings through personalized interfaces that
constitute a sort of “experience gatew a y ”
Individuals will engage the gateway and
experience different “leve l s” or “d e g re e s”
of intimacy, personalization, and
cus-tomization The least intimate degree of engagement will be provided by the e n t e r-prise Web site, which will provide public access to anyone A range of portal capa-bilities that will serve “insiders” — members, learners, customers, suppliers, alumni, donors, sponsors, exhibitors, or
p a rtners—will furnish a richer level of engagement As the degree of “c u s t o m e r
i n t i m a c y” pro g re s s i vely advances, the experience gateway will also afford
“a m e n i t y,” a level of ease of use that makes the gateway recede into the
back-g round and makes the experience of usinback-g
it seem natural and familiar
The enterprise ICT infrastru c t u res of the
f u t u re will support perva s i ve interactivity
t h rough which users will personalize their interactions with all of the services and applications provided by the enterprise;
k n owledge re s o u rces of all kinds; and interactions with humans, know l e d g e agents, and other entities
The Ent erprise Applications A rr a y.
Instead of distinct, pro p r i e t a ry applica-tions, such as traditional ERP, LMS, LCMS, and community-building
soft-w a re, users soft-will experience a fully inte-grated array of seamless, intero p e r a b l e , and integrated capabilities Powe rf u l personalization tools will be integral
p a rts of these applications In a ve ry re a l sense, enterprise applications will be fused, not just integrated This will bring all of the components into a single, unitary service as far as the user
is concerned The user will addre s s needs and solve problems, unaware of which application she is using or which enterprise unit is serving her needs
Web services, Sh a red Se rvices, Co - s o u rc i n g
Easy-to-combine Web services will be made possible by innovations in standard s that enable applications to communicate with one another, providing seamless inte-gration Web services are likely to be the paradigm-busting instrument enabling enterprises to easily link ERP, legacy systems, and outsourced applications These will influence dramatically the evo-lution of the next generations of applica-tions and the roles and re l a t i o n s h i p s among vendors and users
The promise of Web services lies in its ability to resolve the differences among shared, networked applications Applications from different vendors, of various vintages, written in different languages, running on disparate platforms, easily communicate and cooperate, resolving their differences to act in concert Carl Jacobsen, June 2002
Web services are significant in another way: they offer the prospect of making it far easier for staff within an organization
to bypass knowledge silos and legacy IT systems that restrict access to internal information One consequence is that people in the organization or in part n e r organizations can develop processes and systems, built on Web services, that help them to become aware of the needs and capabilities of their colleagues and to work
as a community
Next Generation ERP and CRM In the
f u t u re, ERP will cease being a software solution and will morph into a bro a d -gauged combination of product, serv i c e s , and solutions Rather than writing RFPs for large systems acquisitions, enterprises will be “s o u rcing blended business
solu-t i o n s” wisolu-th solusolu-tions providers Jussolu-t as
k n owledge management has triggere d
b roader consideration of know l e d g e
e c o l o g y, “customer relationship
manage-m e n t” has evo l ved fromanage-m a standalone
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1 0 0
w a re application to an integral part of the applications array enabling enterprises to sustain personalized interactions and re l a-tionships with a wide range of stakehold-ers In the e-knowledge future, effective enterprises will develop indispensable re l a
-t i o n s h i p s wi-th -their s-takeholders.
Putting Kn owledge Management into
e-L e a rn i n g Aw a reness is growing of
eco-nomic ways to augment today's limited kinds of information about data elements and learning objects By adding semantic information, it becomes easier to share those assets and re-purpose them The next big thing in learning management is the incorporation of content management tools and practices that make use of semantics
These will make it easier to infuse just-in-time knowledge into learning experiences
Communities of Pr a c t i c e Communities of
practice will become an integral part of
K n owledge Age enterprises In learning enterprises, these communities will deal with learning and administrative serv i c e s and will invo l ve students, faculty, staff, alumni, suppliers, and other stakeholders
They will cut across organizational boundaries and connect to know l e d g e
e xchanges and marketplaces Communi-ties of practice will become much more intentional and part of active enterprise
k n owledge strategies
Knowledge Resources Utility.T h ro u g h the experience gatew a y, users will engage the enterprise’s knowledge re s o u rces T h e s e will include internal and external sourc e s and re s o u rces, not just databases “ow n e d”
by the enterprise Powe rful search engines and intelligent agents will be available as
p a rt of the enterprise’s solution to know l-edge management Knowll-edge re s o u rc e s will also include graphics, simulations, applications, community of practice
“ k n ow - h ow,” and a host of other know l-edge re s o u rces Knowll-edge management will be a key ingredient of both formal and informal enterprise learning experiences
Users will have less reason to concern
them-s e l vethem-s with the location and original them-sourc e
of knowledge re s o u rces, which incre a s i n g l y will function like a utility
Network and Ha rd w a re Resourc e s
Enterprises will deploy various levels of
p e rva s i ve, ubiquitous computing enviro n-ments in their own physical settings Bu t each enterprise’s knowledge re s o u rces will
be available anywhere, anytime, thro u g h
w i red and wireless interactivity Pe rva s i ve technology environments will be adva n c e d
by next generation Internet and the rise of nomadic computing and interactivity
S e rvices: The Tie that Binds All Appli -cations and Solutions.The e-enterprise
i n f r a s t ru c t u re of the future will depend
on a broad range of services, support i n g the experience gatew a y, applications array and solutions, knowledge re s o u rces, and
n e t w o rk and hard w a re re s o u rces T h e s e
s e rvices will be provided by enterprise staff and external sourcing re l a t i o n s h i p s that include both expert consultation and technical support dealing with imple-mentation, integration, co-sourcing and
s h a red serv i c e s
P rocesses, Communities of Practice, Capacities, and Culture
In addition to enterprise infrastru c t u re s , applications, and solutions, the successful
e-k n owledge enterprise needs to reshape the social elements of its knowledge ecology
• Business pro c e s s e s should be re i n ve n t e d
to produce e-knowledge-based re l a t i o n-ships that will be demanded by cus-tomers, learners, and other stakeholders;
• Communities of practice, linked to
business processes, need substantial
d e velopment to serve as the creators and
s t ew a rds of knowledge capital;
• Individual and organizational capacities
perpetually grow to assimilate and share
k n owledge far more effectively and effi-ciently than today; and
I n f r a s t ru c t u res, Processes, Capabilities, and Cultur e s
If you look today, very senior
people are making decisions
about technology, and they are
viewing it as mission critical
Carol Vallone
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Tomorrow’s Infrastructures:
User-Centric, Flexible, and Cost Effective
U s e r s
Members, Customers, Applicants, Suppliers, Managers, Students, Faculty, Friends and Family, Affiliated Organizations, Legislators and Policy Makers, Other Stakeholders
Experience Gateway
Interfaces through which users experience all of the organization’s applications, services, interactivity, and knowledge Web sites, portals, and specialized knowl-edge gateways will all provide these experiences Portal-based interfaces provide personalized, secure, and customized experiences, accessible via multiple devices Personalization capabilities also are available through individual or fused applica-tions in the enterprise applicaapplica-tions array
The Enterprise Applications Arr a y
Full range of enterprise applications, including a mixture of ERP and legacy systems (HR, finance, knowledge, and industry-specific applications.) Many will
be external to the institution and linked through Web services Users care about capabilities, not the means or provider
Knowledge and Learning—Knowledge Asset Management, Digital Rights
Management, Learning Management, Digital Rights Enforcement, Assessment
Industry-Specific—Course Management, Relationship Management, HR,
Finance, Financial Aid, Procurement, Applications/Admissions, Fund Raising, Library Systems, Personal Portfolio, Supply Chain
Communities of Practice—Prospective Students, Working Groups, Learning
Communities, Clubs, Alumni, Athletics, Associations, Intramural Sports
Shared Applications—Web services, Knowledge Management Utilities,
Messaging, Search, E-mail, Calendaring
Knowledge Resources Utility
Internal and external knowledge repositories of all kinds, organizational databases, communities of practice, directory server, e-mail, calendar
Network and Hard w a re Resourc e s
Computing—Servers, Desktops, PCs, wireless devices of all kinds,
embedded computing devices, the Grid, and technologies yet to be determined
Networking—LANs, wireless LANs, WANs, Routers, Hubs, Internet Access,
Broadband Infrastructure
• Cu l t u re re g a rding knowledge s h o u l d
be refashioned to reflect the emerging
needs of customers, learners, suppliers,
and other stakeholders
These social elements of the know l e d g e
ecology will re c e i ve greater attention in
the future
K n owledge is a social construct For
enter-prises to change their knowledge ecology,
they must understand the social
dimen-sion and make it simpler for people to use
k n owledge in their jobs Know l e d g e
re s o u rces and support must be fused with
w o rk in a manner that enhanced ease of
use and ultimately achieves amenity As
p a rt of this fusing, organizations should
adopt best practice on minimizing the
time and other re s o u rces needed by
indi-viduals to make what they know ava i l a b l e
to others Surprisingly few know l e d g e
-sharing programs re c o g n i ze the
impor-tance of this Yet by thoughtful pro c e s s
re i n vention and innovation, taking gre a t e r
account of the social elements of know
l-edge ecologies and the patterns of
interac-tions that exist in those ecologies, the
conscious effort needed to share know
l-edge can be reduced dramatically
Knowledge-sharing programs often
fail because they make it harder, not
easier, for people to do their jobs
Thomas H Davenport and John Glaser
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To m o r row’s user-centric intero p e r a b l e
e n v i ronments will place a premium on the ease and efficiency with which know l e d g e can be learned, shared, and flowed
In a nutshell, our basic KM philosophy is Learn Once, Use Anywhere.
V.P Kochikar
Enterprises have a long way to go in
d e veloping the knowledge ecology and
s u p p o rting infrastru c t u res necessary to succeed in the variety of likely e-know l-edge futures They have also learned a
g reat deal about the limitations of the early generations of ERP, LMS, LC M S ,
p o rtals, and community-building
soft-w a re The list of “soft-what has been missing”
f rom enterprise ICT has included
non-p ro non-p r i e t a ry anon-pnon-plications, intero non-p e r a b i l i t y, and transformative impacts on enterprise
p rocesses, dynamics, and culture T h e s e elements are being included in the next generation of enterprise applications being
d e veloped by solution providers Eq u a l l y
i m p o rtant, enterprise leaders are begin-ning to evaluate their investment in tech-nology based on the potential to cre a t e genuine competitive advantage and open
n ew relationships and mark e t s
In his book, From Good to Gre a t, Ji m
Collins assesses why some enterprises persist over time and become true leaders in their industries One of the central ele-ments in the saga of great enterprises is their shrewd use of technology as an “a c c e
l-e r a t o r” in thl-e attainml-ent of thl-eir mission
“(These enterprises focus on) what they can be the best in the world at,
a deep understanding of their economic engine and the core values they hold with deep passion.
They then use technology to enhance these pre-existing variables, never as a replacement.”
Jim Collins, 2001
And so it is with knowledge En t e r p r i s e s need to apply this same discipline to using
i n vestment in ICT to accelerate their attainment of their strategic goals for using e-knowledge to attain their mission, vision, and competitive position T h e emergent concept of VOI can be a useful
b e n c h m a rk for the enterprise’s strategic goals, which can be attained through use
of ICT as an accelerator
I n f r a s t ru c t u res, Processes, Capabilities, and Cultur e s
In moving forward into the
future, it is best to interpolate
between current conditions and
a compelling future vision,
rather than merely
extrapolating from the present
Robert Heterick
Closing the Gap Between Today and To m o rro w
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Enterprise Knowledge Ecology to Succeed in the e-Knowledge Future
To d a y ’s Capabilities To m o rro w ’s Vision and Require m e n t s
I n f r a s t ru c t u re ,
Applications and
S o l u t i o n s
P ro c e s s e s
Communities of
P r a c t i c e
K n o w l e d g e
C a p a b i l i t i e s
Enterprise Culture
L e a d e r s h i p
Moving beyond first-generation pro p r i e t a ry enterprise applications (ERP, LMS, port a l , community ware) in networked and early
w i reless enviro n m e n t s Business processes based on existing knowledge capabilities and relationships with members, learners, customers, staff, and other stakeholders Superficial conversion to Web form a t s
Developing communities of practice,
s u p p o rted by first generation interactivity and e-knowledge capabilities.
Capacity for managing and sharing knowledge
is underdeveloped in most enterprises for both individuals and org a n i z a t i o n s
Most enterprises are adapting their business practices to the Intern e t / Web, but have not
t r a n s f o rmed their knowledge culture s
Knowledge is not treated explicitly as a strategic asset.
Seamless, interoperable, and scalable enterprise application infrastru c t u res and solutions accessible through mobile, ambient technology enviro n m e n t s
Business processes are transformed to the
p a t t e rns and cadences of the Intern e t / We b
P rovide essential products, serv i c e s , knowledge, and experiences that are the basis for indispensable relationships with members,
l e a rners, customers, staff, and other
s t a k e h o l d e r s Communities of practice gain in capability,
f l e x i b i l i t y, and capacity to create and steward knowledge, seamlessly linked to business
p ro c e s s e s Competency and capacity development is a top enterprise priority Major human
re s o u rces challenges arise in cre a t i n g enterprises that are e-knowledge savvy.
To m o rro w ’s successful e-knowledge enterprise will transform its knowledge culture to re f l e c t the culture of the Internet This re q u i re s changes from top to bottom, from grassro o t s
to executive leadership.
Knowledge is explicitly treated as a strategic asset through the enterprise's knowledge strategy and business plan.
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1 0 4
Ga rtner introduced the concept of va l u e
on investment, d r i ven by its observa t i o n
that in the Knowledge Ec o n o m y, intan-gible assets such as knowledge, network s , collaborations, and communities of prac-tice are the source of most new pro d u c t s ,
s e rvices, and experiences Consequently, managing and leveraging these so-called intangible assets will become an
impera-t i ve for all kinds of organizaimpera-tions Bu s i-ness and governmental organizations
h a ve been early adopters of these con-cepts Ga rtner (2001) predicts that “by
2005, 50% of Fo rtune 1000 companies will identify an owner for workplace
ini-t i a ini-t i ves, formally ini-track and manage inini-tan-
intan-gible assets, and measure investment vs value creation on these initiatives (0.6
p robability).” Other learning enterprises
a re likely to be following close behind The intangibles tracked by VOI are roughly the same elements that are needed to change enterprises’ e-know l-edge ecology This suggests that most organizations can turn their existing
p rocesses for developing ICT infrastru
c-t u re inc-to a far more effecc-tive change agent by expanding the measure m e n t
s t a n d a rds from ROI to VOI The follow-ing table compares the re l a t i o n s h i p
b e t ween ROI and VOI concepts
I n f r a s t ru c t u res, Processes, Capabilities, and Cultur e s
Knowledge-based initiatives are
often unfocused and not linked
adequately to business outcomes.
Leveraging knowledge assets
effectively requires well focused
initiatives clearly linked to
business performance
Marianne Broadbent
ROI is the measure of the value of
“ h a rd,” tangible benefits fro m technology initiatives.
“ R e t u rn” is generated by tangible, traditional outcomes such as conventional enhancement of
p ro d u c t i v i t y, cost reduction, enhanced revenues, and opening new markets.
ROI focuses on traditional measure s
ROI is objective, based on concre t e
m e a s u res, although the assumptions driving ROI may be highly subjective and
j u d g m e n t a l
VOI is the measure of the total value of
“soft” or “intangible” benefits derived
f rom technology initiatives ROI is part
of VOI.
“ Value” is generated through outcomes that enhance pro d u c t i v i t y, build collaboration, and enable innovation Value-building initiatives change the
o rg a n i z a t i o n ’s dynamics by:
• s u p p o rting business pro c e s s reinvention and innovation;
• f o rmalizing knowledge management;
• enabling collaboration and incre a s i n g the capabilities to learn and develop communities;
• i n c reasing individual and
o rganizational competencies; and
• enabling new leadership capabilities
M e a s u rement of VOI typically uses non-traditional measures in combination with the traditional measures of ROI VOI is subjective and judgmental It is also contextual, depending on the perspective and position of the evaluating part y — p resident, pro v o s t ,
V P, CIO, manager, or steward of
o rganizational pro c e s s e s
R e t u rn on Investment (ROI) Value on Investment (VOI) Value on Investment (VOI)—A New Benchmark
Adapted from: Gartner, 2001.
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ROI is still an important component of
VOI In some tactical applications, RO I
may be sufficient justification, by itself, to
p roceed with a technology inve s t m e n t
Consider the following examples fro m
higher education settings:
• Rensellaer Polytechnic In s t i t u t e’s
deploy-ment of an e-pro c u redeploy-ment solution was
justified on an ROI basis alone It
dra-matically improved the productivity and
efficiency of the purchasing process and
i n c reased the level of on-contract buying,
p roviding a solid RO I
• Many Web applications at the Un i ve
r-sity of De l a w a re and other
leading-edge institutions have reduced the cost
and increased the convenience of
a d m i n i s t r a t i ve processing These We b
applications will soon be extended by
the new generation of Web services In
their article, “Your Next IT St r a t e g y, ”
John Hagel III and John Seely Brow n
h a ve cited corporate applications of
Web services by the likes of Ge n e r a l
Motors, Merrill Lynch, and Dell that
yield substantial ROI savings Some of
these examples include applications
combining disparate databases and
k n owledge re s o u rces which
dramati-cally reduced costs
• ERP can be implemented to increase the
efficiency of existing processes, using
w o rk f l ow and productivity tools, better information flows, and improvement of individual performance This can yield a reasonable ROI But significant VO I will not be re a l i zed without an emphasis
on achieving strategic direction, collab-oration, and innova t i o n
So ROI is an important metric when ICT can be used to improve productivity and efficiency of existing academic and/or
a d m i n i s t r a t i ve processes But VOI is
nec-e s s a ry to assnec-ess thnec-e stratnec-egic potnec-ential of changing organizational dynamics and
i n n ovating better ways of doing things
VOI is a new benchmark for the strategic use of technology
VOI is key to understanding the real strategic pay-offs fro m technology to enterprises over the next decade.
What are some examples of the value of intangible technology assets? And how will the new generation of enterprise applications solutions and systems facili-tate the attainment of these values? Fi ve elements contribute to the new va l u e
p roposition for ICT infrastru c t u re, solu-tions and applicasolu-tions:
• s u p p o rt process re i n vention and
i n n ova t i o n ,
• f o r m a l i ze the management of know l-edge and intellectual assets,
• enable co llaboration and incre a s e
th e capacity to learn and deve l o p
c o m m u n i t i e s ,
• i n c rease individual and organizational competencies, and
• implement new leadership methods and
c a p a b i l i t i e s Not coincidentally, these elements are also fundamental to preparing enterprises for success in the e-knowledge future The
fol-l owing descriptions discuss these efol-lements and provide examples of how enterprises
a re discovering these elements today
Investment in technology must
be part of an overall strategy to improve academic performance and achieve institutional goals.
Carol Twigg
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S u p p o rt Process Reinvention and Innovation
Process re i n vention and innovation are the most widely applied component of VO I Enterprises have been using new enter-prise application infrastru c t u res and solu-tions to change what they are doing and
h ow they are doing it To achieve such
re i n vention, howe ve r, enterprises must get past memories of past experiences of busi-ness process re e n g i n e e r i n g
Limitation of Business Process Reengi
-n e e r i -n g The knowledge management
lit-e r a t u rlit-e is awash with analyslit-es of thlit-e
f a i l u res of the round of business pro c e s s reengineering (BPR) in the 1990s, which was supported by first-generation know l-edge management tools and philosophies
Early BPR focused on productivity gain (efficiency), treated knowledge as a
“thing,” failed to re c o g n i ze the richness of
e m p l oye e s’ tacit insight and undere s t i-mated the importance of the social ele-ments of knowledge ecology BPR failed to take a systemic perspective The personnel reductions and reallocations of energies made by first-generation BPR helped enterprises trim costs, but many enterprise
p rocesses suffere d
To d a y’s approach to process re i n ve n t i o n begins by taking a systemic perspective and understanding the importance of all elements of the knowledge ecology Mo re-ove r, the focus is on not just enhancing
p ro d u c t i v i t y, but on changing the dynam-ics of enterprise processes through collab-oration and innovation Experience has
s h own that process re i n vention can yield a wide range of advances, ranging from the
i n c remental to the transformative
I n c remental Business Process Reinven -tion The emergence of early examples of the next generation of enterprise applica-tion infrastru c t u res and soluapplica-tions prov i d e s many opportunities for process re i n ve tion Te c h n o l o g y - d r i ven process re i n ve n-tion is enabling colleges and universities to
refashion their processes, policies, organi-zational stru c t u res, and relationships with stakeholders of all kinds For example, in the 1990s, the Un i versity of De l a w a re used technology-enabled process re i n ve n-tion to create its gro u n d - b reaking “s t u d e n t one-stop shopping” facility and to re s h a p e the dynamics of its relationship with stu-dents This process of continuous re i n ve n-tion has continued through today, using
p o rtal technology and Web services Even today, many enterprises have made
p rocess re i n vention a fundamental element
of their selection and implementation of
E R P They have discove red that pro c e s s
re i n vention and measurement of the resulting changes in performance continue
t h roughout the entire ERP project life
c ycle process Some early successes in
p rocess re i n vention are possible during the planning, acquisition and deploy m e n t phases Howe ve r, experience has show n that the full potential of incre m e n t a l
p rocess re i n vention will only be achieve d after the enterprise has experienced the best practice processes embedded in
m a t u re ERP products The full benefits of
p rocess re i n vention will come thro u g h continuous improvement during the expe-rience and improvement phases Me a s u r-able improvements can be re a l i zed during the first two years of the process and can continue at significant levels for seven or eight years—or even more
The Un i versity of Minnesota has used the
d e velopment of its portal as a vehicle for
re i n venting its ERP-based processes In the
p rocess, it has reshaped its re l a t i o n s h i p s with students, faculty, and staff Mi n n e s o t a used portal-based e-business to simplify the ways in which users “e x p e r i e n c e d” the Un
i-ve r s i t y’s core processes and services Fo c u s-ing initially on essential core serv i c e s (admissions, registration, communication, and the like) the Un i versity has pro g re
s-s i vely extended its-s re i n vention to include other academic and administrative pro d-ucts, services, and functions These innova-tions have changed the dynamics of how
I n f r a s t ru c t u res, Processes, Capabilities, and Cultur e s
Knowledge often walks out the
door during downsizing.
Thomas Davenport and
Laurence Prusak.
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users engage university products, serv i c e s ,
and knowledge, enabling individuals to
“s e l f - s e rve” more of their needs for know
l-edge and serv i c e s
e-Business is first and foremost about
improving service to create enduring
relationships with clients.
Robert Kvavik, 2001
T h rough this process, Minnesota also
con-cluded that it could become its students’
Internet Se rvice provider (ISP) after
grad-uation, extending the use of the
experi-ence gateway to which students had
become accustomed during the period of
their enrollment This could lead to an
enduring, daily relationship with alumnae
Other universities, like Virginia Tech and
Weber State Un i ve r s i t y, have art i c u l a t e d
their aspirations to use port a l i zed
experi-ences to transform their lifelong re l a t i o
n-ships with alumni and their ongoing
relationships with students, faculty, staff,
donors, and other key stakeholders
P ro g ressing From Incremental to Tr a n s
-f o rmative Process Reinvention. In the
f u t u re, the enterprise’s stakeholders will
expect to experience a level of personalize d
c o n venience that Carl Berger of the Un
i-versity of Michigan calls W I N W I N I
(What I Need, When I Need It) This is
the next “killer app” in higher learning
and is being evo l ved today through the
experience gateway provided by the
enter-prise portal, shared tools, integrated
appli-cations, and process re i n ventions in
learning enterprises across the globe
The next killer app is a ubiquitous
system for students, faculty, and
support staff to carry out learning,
instruction, and research.
Carl Berger, 2001
The continuing incremental deve l o p m e n t
of these enterprise experience gatew a y s
will become truly transformative only
when we change our perspectives on how stakeholders must access, assimilate, and
s h a re knowledge Leaders at all enterprise
l e vels, from CEO to grassroots, are begin-ning to articulate new visions of tomor-row’s knowledge re s o u rce utilities and
h ow they will be experienced by users of all kinds
Over the next five years, enterprises will experience cascading cycles of reinvention in their best practices, business models, and strategies for
e-l e a rning and knowe-ledge
m a n a g e m e n t
F o rmalize the Management of Knowledge and Intellectual Assets
Of all the processes requiring re i n ve n t i o n ,
k n owledge management may hold the
g reatest promise For example, while col-leges, universities, and training organiza-tions are learning enterprises, they do not
t ruly manage the knowledge and intellec-tual assets resident in individual faculty and re s e a rchers Just like most courses or classes have been “cottage industries,”
c reated in the image of their faculty
c re a t o r, knowledge re s o u rces have been
t reated like cottage industries as well Pu b-lishers have organized and managed these
re s o u rces, but not colleges and unive r s i-ties, acting on behalf of themselves, their
f a c u l t y, and re s e a rchers At least for now
Knowledge asset management will be a central element of content and knowledge management systems, which will supersede today’s generation of
c o u r s e / l e a rning management systems Knowledge and content management tools will be
accessible through the
e n t e r p r i s e ’s Web site, port a l s and within content management
a p p l i c a t i o n s
Example is not the main thing influencing others It is the only thing
Albert Schweitzer
Trang 10Tr a n s f o rming e-Kn owled ge
1 0 8
K n owledge management is becoming a key issue in enterprises that are success-fully engaging in e-learning and in the
a rchiving of re s e a rch Over the past few years, educational and training pro g r a m s
h a ve made substantial pro g ress in digitiz-ing course materials for use in their learn-ing management systems, aided by learning management system prov i d e r s like WebCT and Click2learn Su c c e s s i ve
a d vances in e-learning standards have been reflected in the intero p e r a b i l i t y
f r a m ew o rk for reusable content (SCORM) developed through the ADL
In i t i a t i ve and the ADL Co-Labs T h e s e
a d vances are making it possible to deve l o p institutional data repositories that will enable the repurposing, combination, reuse, and exchange of data These enter-prise repositories will evo l ve from basic learning objects to include re s e a rch, pre-sentations, white papers, tradecraft, and other tacit knowledge These re p o s i t o r i e s
a re part of the emergence of new, cro s s -cutting channels for sharing learning content that will be an important element
in the re i n vention of current models for publishing, textbooks, trade books, and other off-the-shelf content These chan-nels will enable the combination and repurposing of content held by differe n t
enterprises, publishers, learning content management systems and digital content repositories in general
Such initiatives are the precursors of
m e t a - m a rketplaces that will span
indus-tries—education, publishing, learning management, associations, and pro f e s-sional societies—to create bro a d - b a s e d
e xchange of e-content and tacit know l-edge through communities of practice These meta-marketplaces will be drive n
by the aggregate power of consumers who will be empowe red to support the busi-ness models and practices needed to serve their needs
This is not just an issue for major re s e a rc h
u n i versities, R&D driven corporations, and re s e a rch laboratories Digital asset management and knowledge management will be important contributors to value for most enterprises as they develop their
i n f r a s t ru c t u res They will enable enter-prises to personalize and enhance learning experiences, reduce the cost of digitize d content, leverage e-knowledge re s o u rc e s , access previously unavailable sources of content and context, open new mark e t-places for the enterprise’s e-content, and establish their competitive position
I n f r a s t ru c t u res, Processes, Capabilities, and Cultur e s
Perhaps most importantly,
institutions and their
constituent groups would be
empowered collectively as
consumers in the digital content
market
Patrick McElroy