Teaching Knowledge Management through a Learning Game : KITS

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Teaching Knowledge Management through a Learning
Game KITS

• Anne Monceaux
• EADS CCR

ISMICK01 Compiègne, October 23, 2001
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General FrameworkGeneral Description of the
Game Learning environment Functions tools
KITS Models
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Starting points

• Knowledge management is difficult in practice.
• There are no good training systems for learning
  about knowledge management principles nor
  learning how to apply knowledge management
  procedures.

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The KITS project

• 5th framework IST (Information Societies
  Technology) project
• Feb 2001 - Dec 2002
• Partners
• University of Twente (NL)
• University of Amsterdam (NL)
• CIBIT (NL)
• EADS CCR (FR)
• TNO (I)
• ECLO (UK/BE)

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The goal of the KITS project
To develop and evaluate a learning
environment for knowledge management
based on a learning game with situated problems
using collaborative learning
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Learning relevant Games aspects

• real situation simulated / simplified view of
  reality
• Give (part) access to information
• unexpected events confront students with
  situations they may not be prepared to tackle in
  the reality

Situated (put learning into a context)
Reaching goals Competition

• invite to actively solve problems involve
  collective interpretation and decision making
  processes

Communication / negotiation

• provide students with a framework of rules and
  roles through which they can learn interactively
  through a live experience

Constraints and rules
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General FrameworkGeneral Description of the
Game Learning environment Functions tools
KITS Models
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General Description of the Game

• The situation
• The players are confronted with a general
  description of a fictitious organisation, a
  Business Case.
• Their role in the game and the context of this
  organisation is specified (see next slide).
• They are asked to play their role for three
  consecutive virtual years.

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Task description (role)

• The board of directors of the company has
  recognized that knowledge is a key asset. To
  develop a better understanding of the role of
  knowledge in the organisation, and the ways it
  should be managed, a special knowledge management
  task force has been put together. Your team is
  this special task force. Your task is to initiate
  specific activities that improve the efficacy of
  the knowledge household of the company. You are
  expected to propose both pro-active and re-active
  actions/interventions (triggered by certain
  events that will be introduced while playing the
  game).

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Constraints

• Time
• no time limit to play the game teams set their
  own pace. When they think they have acted
  sufficiently they can go on the end of the
  quarter.
• Budget
• the team receives a budget at the beginning of
  the game, which can be used to
• buy (additional) information
• implement certain actions
• The team receives each virtual year a new budget
  for the coming year, the amount of which is based
  on the profit the organisation has made in the
  year before.

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Game goal

• General goal is to optimise the level of the
  general business indicators that are described in
  the underlying business model market share,
  profit, customer satisfaction index, etc.
• There is no competition between teams.
• Teams try to reach the highest score possible

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Events

• Unexpected events are introduced into the game to
• trigger actions from the players,
• make the game more realistic, and
• introduce the elements of uncertainty, surprise
  and chance.
• Ex. a key-researcher leaves the company...
• Events can be negative or positive, affect the
  situation inside or outside the company.

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General FrameworkGeneral Description of the
Game Learning environment Functions tools
KITS Models
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The learning environmentA collaborative game
with integrated learner support

• Collaboration scenarios
• Teams of 3 players
• Players are geographically dispersed / internet
  game
• synchronous or asynchronous access to the KITS
  environment
• Collaboration VS cooperation
• players work together to reach a common goal and
  share both tools and activities.
• there is no division of labor or resources
  between team members.
• players have comparable knowledge, capacities and
  status.

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The learning environmentA collaborative game
with integrated learner support

• GroupWare tools to support collaboration
• Chatbox (synchronous communication)
• Bulletin board (important notes)
• Whiteboard (graphical facility)
• Forum (asynchronous communication)
• Collaborative workspace (store documents, reports
  etc.)
• Voting system
• No e-mail (only used by the system to send
  activity reports to the players)

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The learning environmentA collaborative game
with integrated learner support

• Learning Support
• explaining / demonstrating
• introduction training phases before playing
• KM model visible for expository instruction
• glossary
• hints
• articulation of ideas argument construction
• fill-in forms / report templates prompts
• monitoring facilities
• dynamic annotation facility (individual notebook)
• history file (logbook kept by system)
• feedback
• status of BM indicators visible at the end of
  each quarter
• closure debriefing after playing

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Kits game environment (overview)
Game status Year 1, 3th quarter Budget left
100.000 Practice phase
Bulletin board for important messages/notes
Case info
History
Predefined variables
Latest event(s)
Sub goals in progress
Inspect variables
Set goals
Actions
Documentation
People to interview
Advise/support
Normative model
Help
Go to collaborative workspace
Forum
Whiteboard
Annotation (DAF)
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General FrameworkGeneral Description of the
Game Learning environment Functions tools
KITS Models
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Layered domain knowledge management and
business models
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Business Type Models

• Three Business cases covering different
  organization types
• ( M.Treacy and F. Wiersema Fortune
  Magazine February 6, 1995)
• Product Leadership Organisation
• products that have a higher quality
• Operational Excellence Organisation
• products that are cheaper
• Customer Intimacy Organisation
• products that are tailor-made

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The Business model Business variables

• Business related variables
• Market share
• Profit
• Customer satisfaction index
• Total number of employees
• Training expenses to other expenses

• Business process related variables
• Marketing
• Level of sales
• Average time for a product to reach the market
• RD
• Ratio of pending patents to all company patents
• Production
• Performance efficiency level

ETC.
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The business model K related variables

• Knowledge related variables
• average level of competence in marketing
• average level of competence in RD
• average level of competence in production

• Knowledge process related variables

gaining development utilization retention
diffusion / transfer
in from
M RD P RD to P M to RD

• speed
• effectiveness
• efficiency

• of knowledge

ETC.
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KM Model
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The KITS KM model
FOCUS
MONITOR
ORGANISE
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Basic processes in KITS KM
MONITOR
ORGANISE
FOCUS
KM Actions
KM Bottlenecks
Indicators
Implementation
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KM bottlenecks

• Insufficient knowledge at point-of-action
• Knowledge transfer is narrow
• Unnecessary division of tasks and decisions
• Limited re-use of knowledge over business
  processes
• Only a few agents have knowledge
• Knowledge is very heuristic and not well-defined
• Agents are not qualified for the job
• Knowledge is only available a limited amount of
  time
• Knowledge is not available at the appropriate
  location
• Knowledge is not available in the right form

ETC.
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KM Actions - categories

• Acquisition
• Development
• Utilisation
• sharing and distribution
• combination
• consolidation
• Retention

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KM actions

• Hire an expert with new knowledge on a temporary
  basis
• Install Internet connection
• Conduct in-house training programmes
• Subscribe employees to professional alliances
• Create database with information about current
  and past research projects
• Etc.

gt 100 actions
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What can players do?

• KM actions
• Inspect variables
• Ask for additional information
• Set goals
• Choose KM actions
• Set up a measurement system

• Collaborate
• Exchange info
• Make representations
• Work on documents
• Discuss ideas
• Decide upon actions

• Support
• Ask for explanation
• Ask for hints/ assignment
• Inspect and reflect
• Consult normative KM model

System actions Decay Events
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What they can not do ...

• Reverse actions that have been taken.
• Reorganise the company.
• Inspect variables at the level of specific
  departments, products, or persons.
• Implement actions at the level of specific
  departments, products, or persons.

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The KITS learning scenario
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KITS the project

• Specifications February 2001
• Prototype 1 September 2001
• Evaluation with different types of users
• Final prototype December 2002

More information anne.monceaux_at_eads.net
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