Managing Business Intelligence in a Virtual Enterprise Model: A Case Study and Knowledge Management

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Managing Business Intelligence in a Virtual
Enterprise Model A Case Study and Knowledge
Management Lessons Learned

• Mitja Jermol
• Perenic Consulting, Ljubljana, Slovenia,
• Nada Lavrac, Tanja Urbancic
• Department of Intelligent Systems, Joef Stefan
  Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

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Outline of the talk

• Sol-Eu-Net project
• Basic information about the project
• A Virtual Enterprise
• Analysis from a Business perspective
• Business Model and Cognitive Authority, NQ and
  enterprise culture
• Analysis from a Management perspective
• The role of Knowledge Map in Organisational Model
  and Management
• Sol-Eu-Net Knowledge Map
• Model and information gathering protocols
• Agents knowledge, expertise, competencies
• State of the art and future developments

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Sol-Eu-Net Data Mining and Decision Support for
Business Competitiveness A European Virtual
Enterprise

• EU funded project
• 12 partners
• 8 academic and 4 business, from 7 countries
• Scientific coordination IJS (D.Mladenic,
  N.Lavrac)
• Administrative coordination GMD (J. Reuters)
• 3 years 2000-2002
• 3 MIO EURO

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Main Sol-Eu-Net project objectives

• synergetically merge European expertise in two IT
  areas Data Mining (DM) and Decision Support (DS)
• find a model for successful cooperation of
  academic and business partners in offering DM and
  DS solutions to the market
• enhance competitiveness of project partners in
  the global market

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Main Sol-Eu-Net project activities

• Research
• advances in DM, DS and their integration (over 25
  papers)
• Development
• prototype solutions for end-users (6 finished, 9
  develop.)
• Educational activities
• internal education, education of market, ... (10
  seminars)
• Development of the network model
• operational and effective link between network
  partners
• operational and effective link between experts
  and clients
• Infrastructure
• group work support, open information source on
  the Web, ...

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A Virtual Enterprise

• A virtual enterprise is a temporary alliance of
  enterprises, interest groups and individuals that
  come together to share knowledge and resources in
  order to better respond to business opportunities
  and whose cooperation is supported by ICTs.

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VE in knowledge intensive services - SolEuNet
experience

• There is no business without the right business
  model and business thinking. (KM, Cognitive
  Authority)
• VE is not a democratic institution. (KM)
• Value chain or value network is the main driving
  force. (KM, K-Map)
• Success critically depends on recognizing
  partners expertise, tools and skills as
  marketable knowledge assets. (K-Map)
• Find solutions for efficient storing, updating,
  sharing, promoting and transferring knowledge.
  (KM)
• Be aware of non-technological success factors.
  (NQ, Cognitive Authority)
• Be careful with IPR issues. (NQ, Cognitive
  Authority)

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Analysis from the Business Perspective

• Business Model (Cognitive Authority)
• distributed marketing
• from small implementations to large systems
• long-term co-operation based on partners trust
  and confidence
• Commmon and shared Vision, Strategy and Goals
  (Cognitive Authority)
• Changing the enterprise/partners culture
• in networked economy related to the NQ
• Partners motivation is a position in a value
  network
• in VE is managed by K-Map

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Analysis from the Management perspective

• Knowledge Management represents a basis for
• Enterprise Resource Management
• Project planning and project management and
• Total Quality Management
• in VE
• and it affects the complete enterprise from
  strategic to operational level
• where planning is based on K-Map and
  implementational success on NQ

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The Sol-Eu-Net experienced organisation models
A VE where all partners are marketing agents
(Cognitive Authority, K-map)
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What seems to be important?

• Knowledge map (management, planning, control)
• Knowledge carrier maps
• Knowledge asset maps
• Knowledge structure maps
• Knowledge development maps
• Knowledge flow maps
• Connectivity map
• Cognitive Authority as a system (strategic
  management, marketing, RD),
• NQ (VE funcionality)
• IQ individual, cognitive, complex, reasoning
• EQ self awarenes and empathy
• NQ connecting, integrating, sharing

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Organisation

• Management supervisory board - KM
• Programme commitee cognitive authority
• Project management teams K-Map

(CRISP-DM Cross-Industry Standard Process for
Data Mining)
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Three level DS-DM VE as a cybernetic model
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Complexity problem

• Complexity on the knowledge level (fuzziness in
  knowledge map)
• Complexity on the organisational level (dynamic
  and unpredictable nature of VE)
• Complexity in business level (complex global
  business environment)

Introducing complexity management on all levels
by using non-linear dynamics, chaos theory,
self-organisation, complex adaptive systems,
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Building a Knowledge Map
Indirect methods (Si, So) Implemented project
analysis Implemented function analyses Expertise
detection according to published
works Direct methods Interviews (Brief,
In-depth) Observations (Lessons
Learned) Questionnaires (Broad,
Detailed) Directory of used Tools, Methods,
Techniques
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Implemented protocols

• Gathering info. on tools and methods (CTU - WP3)
• via a Web form, accessed from ZENO

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Implemented protocols

• Web information on tools and methods (CTU - WP3)

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Implemented protocols

• Web information on tools and methods (CTU - WP3)

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Implemented protocols

• Gathering info. on education modules (IJS - WP4)

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Implemented protocols

• Gathering info. on Sol-Eu-Net publications (BRI
  WP3)

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Implemented protocols

• Gathering info. on Sol-Eu-Net publications (BRI
  WP3)

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Implemented protocols

• Sol-Eu-Net On Line Glossary of Terms
• (UOXF.BL WP5)

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Partners knowledge

• sociological data group and team effectiveness,
  sociological type, network intelligence NQ,
• psychological data personality type, creativity
  level, basic motivation, values and beliefs,
• partners cultural and organization knowledge
• group and team knowledge (functional, group
  dynamics,)
• partner/group/individual background knowledge
  (core, additional, specific), learning styles and
  communication characteristics
• partner/group/individual connections to others
  knowledge
• processs knowledge and object type knowledge
  (tools, methods, techniques performances)
• personal lessons learned

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Agents
According to Metasystem Transition Theory (MSTT)
a Cybernetic system has some knowledge if it has
a model of some part of reality as it is
perceived by the system
Building appropriate model by using different
techniques is defined as learning.
We defined agent as a type of a learning
system Society, Organisation, group, individual,
(process)
knowledge
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Types of knowledge to be gathered

• Goal-Setting or Idealistic Knowledge Vision and
  Paradigm Knowledge or Knowledge WHY
• Systematic Knowledge System, Schema, and
  Reference Methodology Knowledge or Knowledge
  THAT
• Pragmatic Knowledge Decision Making and Factual
  Knowledge or Knowledge HOW
• Tacit Automatic Knowledge Routine Working
  Knowledge or KNOW-HOW
• Tacit Subliminal Knowledge Emerging or
  Not-Yet-Understood or Glimpsed Knowledge by
  WIIG

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State of the art

• SolEuNet s.r.l. database
• Protocols for information gathering on project
  partners
• Protocols for information gathering on individual
  and institutional experts partners, and
  value-added partners
• General information (free access)
• Tools and methods
• Real-life applications
• Research and technical reports
• Key members (CV, bibliography, ...)

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State of the art

• Repository of successful
• and failed solutions from
• the Sol-Eu-Net project
• DM descriptors

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Future developments

• Building a comprehensive questionary to access
  agents knowlegde
• Preparing additional protocols
• Implementing DM and TM methods for as a direct
  method
• Implementing visualisation techniquest to present
  the K-map
• Introducing complexity management