A Framework for the Implementation of a Knowledge Management System for a Water Utility Company; Special Focus to Tacit Knowledge

Abstract

Water Utility Johor Holdings (Syarikat Air Johor Holdings – SAJH) is a Malaysian company interested in creating a Knowledge Management System (KMS) first as a pilot project for its department at Batu Pahat and then for the whole of Johor . Unlike other KMS so far researched, the KMS proposed will have its input tacit knowledge from its Subject Matter Experts. The KMS researched is aimed at improving the competitiveness of SAJH in view of the restructuring of water utility agencies by the Malaysian Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication ( Kementerian Tenaga Air dan Komunikasi - KTAK) The research aims at deriving a framework which can be used to design an optimum Knowledge Management System which is capable of storing Tacit Knowledge have already captured in Knowledge Capsules System. Tacit Knowledge is of particular importance for those who are interested in looking at how to manage Knowledge Organizations or those involved in Intellectual Capital. Although the research is in principle ICT based, however, it has to tackle some of unsolved paradoxes on the Information Markets. If one regards the dynamic properties of knowledge the most material, the notion Process-of-Knowing probably gives a better description than the word "knowledge". The lowest level of knowing is to follow rules which can be controlled by the subject itself, Skill The next level is to follow rules which are established by a social context outside the individual, Know-How The highest level is to be able to (and be allowed to) change the rules, competence or perhaps better in on temporary English expertise. Each level contains both tacit and focal knowing. This research will use the hierarchy of knowing as stipulated by Polanyi [1] and Bertil Rolf [2]