Untangling the Knowledge Management Dilemma at TPA
Case Analysis
Untangling the Knowledge Management Dilemma at TPA
Sometimes individuals, teams, big and small companies, and other entities try to ‘reinvent the wheel’. These occurrences happen too often because many simply do not realize that what they are trying to do has already been done by someone else in some other venue, and more importantly they do not know where or how to access that knowledge. In addition, managers are overloaded with a constant stream of data daily. This overload of data is making knowledge management (KM) increasingly more difficult, but also more important, even necessary, for a business leader to have to lead his or her organization successfully. Since, leaders of successful organizations are consistently searching for better ways to improve their performance and results, many organizations implement KM to support at least critical business process, and many have to adopt more comprehensive KM programs in some cases. However, sometimes it is hard to create and implement these procedures, but more importantly, hard to identify and then use a new “sharing system” in a company or organization that previously didn’t have such a system. Technology Project Authority (TPA) was no exception.
TPA is a state level governmental agency in the United States that was started in 2000 by the state governments to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across governmental agencies and thus creates a more efficient government through the innovative use of technology. In 2001 TPA decided to lead by example using its own departments of Finance, Project Planning and Operations to demonstrate that collaboration between agencies was both important and possible with better Knowledge Management. In addition, the implementation and promotion of KM within and across TPA divisions would help improve its work practices and thus sustain its expertise in IT project management and technology development.
The first step in the process was for
Untangling the Knowledge Management Dilemma at TPA
Sometimes individuals, teams, big and small companies, and other entities try to ‘reinvent the wheel’. These occurrences happen too often because many simply do not realize that what they are trying to do has already been done by someone else in some other venue, and more importantly they do not know where or how to access that knowledge. In addition, managers are overloaded with a constant stream of data daily. This overload of data is making knowledge management (KM) increasingly more difficult, but also more important, even necessary, for a business leader to have to lead his or her organization successfully. Since, leaders of successful organizations are consistently searching for better ways to improve their performance and results, many organizations implement KM to support at least critical business process, and many have to adopt more comprehensive KM programs in some cases. However, sometimes it is hard to create and implement these procedures, but more importantly, hard to identify and then use a new “sharing system” in a company or organization that previously didn’t have such a system. Technology Project Authority (TPA) was no exception.
TPA is a state level governmental agency in the United States that was started in 2000 by the state governments to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing across governmental agencies and thus creates a more efficient government through the innovative use of technology. In 2001 TPA decided to lead by example using its own departments of Finance, Project Planning and Operations to demonstrate that collaboration between agencies was both important and possible with better Knowledge Management. In addition, the implementation and promotion of KM within and across TPA divisions would help improve its work practices and thus sustain its expertise in IT project management and technology development.
The first step in the process was for