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Putting it All Together: The Strategic Framework
Knowledge, Relationships, Context, and External Environment
The Overseas Development Institute has found that knowledge management tools are more effective where the specifi c knowledge, relationships, and context of development agencies such as ADB and the external environment they face are dealt with in an integrated and coherent manner.20 Key questions relate to
- how knowledge is understood and applied within an organization;
- how knowledge interfaces with the existing structure of the
organization;
- how knowledge management activities link to existing core functions of the
organization;
- how do knowledge management activities link with the existing support functions of the organization;
- how connective physical and electronic infrastructures support knowledge management strategies;
- how organizational vision, leadership, and management impact the effectiveness of knowledge management strategies;
- what ways there are of measuring the costs and benefits of learning or of not learning; and
- how knowledge management activities address external aspects of knowledge work.
Figure 3 demonstrates the importance of using knowledge management tools with respect to the specific milieu in which ADB operates.
Based on the framework, a process of gap analysis and priority setting can be set in
motion as follows:
- predesign, comprising knowledge management pilots;
- strategic development, in which the specific organizational approach to
knowledge management is developed in structured fashion and priorities are
established;
- implementation and roll out of knowledge management initiatives; and
- alignment, during which refinements and adjustments to knowledge management
initiatives are made in accordance with the strategic vision.
Interfaces
Inter- and intra-organizational relationships encompass OED itself, other departments,
21 DMCs, and the international evaluation community. Figure 4 shows these interfaces with the
specific knowledge, and the relationships of OED and the external environment it faces to
structure entry points for lesson learning.
Architecture
Knowledge management must be embedded into all of an organization's business
processes. It is not an activity delivered by a distinct department or a particular process. An
architecture must be built to initiate and implement organization-wide knowledge management
initiatives. Four pillars are critical to success:
- leadership,
- organization,
- technology, and
- learning.
All must be addressed. Table 1 outlines the core functions, typical activities, and
implementation elements of the architecture for lesson learning.
Operating Framework
Drawing the elements of knowledge, relationships, context, external environment,
interfaces, and architecture in a conceptual structure generates the operating framework within
which decisions on knowledge management initiatives can be taken and implemented. Figure 5
depicts the operating framework within which knowledge management tools can be leveraged
for lesson learning in ADB. The operating framework and the performance regime that will drive
it will be reviewed every three years.
Annual Business Planning
Learning is a process, not an attainment. Hence, OED's knowledge management
business plans should be aligned against ADB's to set in train the drive for continuous
improvement that is at the heart of strategic frameworks. The strategic priorities of ADB are
guided by the
Medium-Term Strategy II, 2006–2008. Table 2 summarizes the annual business
planning process that OED will follow in support of its work program for 2007–2009. Knowledge
management pilots will be congruent with ADB's knowledge management framework and,
where information technology is leveraged, with the Information Technology Strategy and
Capital Expenditure Requirements, 2004–2009.
22 Especially in large organizations, knowledge
cannot be managed in isolation. Knowledge management pilots need to be informed by, and in
harmony with, knowledge management initiatives launched elsewhere in ADB and to draw
broadly on all available resources.
Resources
Learning Lessons in ADB: Strategic Framework, 2007–2009 is ambitious, but it is
flexible and adapted to the needs perceived over the period considered. In 2006, OED
formulated plans for establishment of a Knowledge Management Unit in 2007. It is operated by
one international staff, soon to be assisted by one analyst-level national staff position with plans
for a second analyst-level national staff position in 2008. Inputs from national consultants for
writing and development of OED's website and the OED Lessons database were provided in
OED's 2007 budget. OED international and national staff regularly volunteer help, too.
Requirements for more diverse and intensified resources may become apparent as progress is
made, notably regarding expert facilitation.
Next Steps
Learning Lessons in ADB: Strategic Framework, 2007–2009 provides a direction for
knowledge management in OED over 3 years. To operate the framework, a number of discrete
steps need to be taken. The annual business planning process specifies that regular annual
knowledge audits linked to annual business plans will deliver outputs steadily against each
interface based on operational needs and priorities but also resources, with flexibility and
adaptability.
OED has resolved to pilot the annual business planning process in 2007 and to repeat it
thereafter, each time building on accomplishments and embedding lessons learned from the
previous iteration. In 2007, the annual business planning process will be informed by analyses
conducted in 2006. Table 3 outlines the provisional knowledge management work program for
2007. Other knowledge management pilots for 2007 will be confirmed in consequence of the
first knowledge audit.
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20 Ramalingam, Ben. 2005. Implementing Knowledge Strategies: Lessons from International Development Agencies. Working Paper 244. Overseas Development Institute.
21 Primarily these are operations departments. But OED also interacts with non-operations departments and offices including the Asian Development Bank Institute, the Economics and Research Department, the Regional and Sustainable Development Department, and the Strategy and Policy Department.
22 ADB. 2004. Information Technology Strategy and Capital Expenditure Requirements, 2004–2009. Manila.
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