Tim Wood Powell     The value of knowledge

Building epistemic ROI with Knowledge Resources Management

Epistemic resources — data, information, knowledge, and intelligence — are the lifeblood of the modern enterprise.  How can we increase their value and ROI? Our approach is to apply business metrics and analytics, linking these resources to the value of the overall enterprise — its goals, strategies, and performance.

We see epistemic resources as an investment, not a cost.  We call our approach Knowledge Resources Management (KRM) — amplifying the insights and methods of traditional Knowledge Management by blending them with Strategic Intelligence and Data Analytics.

What are the benefits?

Many organizations gather lots of data — then try to figure out what to do with it.  Too often they haven’t asked the right questions in the first place, or structured them effectively.  This is because they don’t know what they need to know in order to compete most effectively.  The majority of AI adoptions are currently failing for just this reason, as shown in the slide below.

In enterprise — business, government, or nonprofit — we seek knowledge, not as an end in itself, as might be the case in an academic context. Rather, knowledge is a catalyst for agency, the decisions and actions based on that knowledge.  This in turn empowers us to:

• identify and capture opportunities faster
• anticipate and avoid threats more adroitly
• improve performance
• manage risk more effectively
• achieve results, outcomes, and impact
• enable a range of other outcomes-based enterprise goals.

Knowledge Value Chain®:  the DNA of intelligence

The Knowledge Value Chain®

The Knowledge Agency® (TKA) has developed a range of KRM tools and methods to help our clients rapidly visualize, diagnose, and improve the quality, value, and performance of their epistemic resources. At the core of these is our Knowledge Value Chain (KVC), shown here.

The KVC framework identifies the stepwise transformations from data to value within the context of your competitive ecosystem. We find where the chain is broken, and fix it. The result is that you assess and amplify the value of your existing knowledge resources — and deploy new ones where needed.

The KVC is, in effect, the DNA of information-based enterprise knowledge and intelligence.  It graphically depicts the workflow that most organizational intelligence — whether human, machine-based, or a hybrid — follows.

How does the KVC help us in practice?

Quality assurance is as important for data as it is for manufacturing.  As our enterprises — and our entire global economy — rely increasingly on a bedrock of data, our trust in that data becomes especially critical.

The importance of data provenance and quality increases significantly as AI-based human-machine hybrid approaches are deployed throughout the enterprise and the global economy. Much of TKA’s current work serves to ensure that the business case and value proposition drive the deployment of AI and other technologies — not the other way around, as shown here:

Mapping the value of AI applications to organizational needs and challenges.

How can we use the KVC?

The KVC helps anyone — in any industry — who produces, manages, and/or uses information in helping an organization to achieve its strategic and tactical goals. TKA has applied it in a range of client situations since 1996,  most often in our work with professionals in:

The KVC product line fits within any budget (including zero.)  It consists of articles, videos, books, coaching, clinics, and consulting provided by our sole global licensee The Knowledge Agency®, a wholly-owned division of TW Powell Co., a New York corporation.  Knowledge Value Chain and Knowledge Agency are registered trademarks of TW Powell Co.

How can we learn more?

Three easy steps will get you started:

1. Start by watching this short intro video.
2. Then buy the KVC Handbook listed on the front page.
3. Even better, contact us and we’ll tell you more.