Tim Wood Powell     The value of knowledge

Epistemic resources are investments – KRM manages them for ROI

The Knowledge Value Chain® – the DNA of intelligence

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

We treat 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 capture lots of data — then try to figure out how to use it productively. This is backwards — too often they haven’t asked the right questions in the first place, or structured them effectively.  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 Agency® (TKA) has developed a suite 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).

Two primary approaches to building value

The KVC process framework describes the seven-stage transformation from data to value within the context of your competitive ecosystem. This enables us to locate where the chain is under-performing or disfunctional, and fix it in two complementary ways: process optimization and strategic relevance.  The result is to amplify the enterprise value of your existing knowledge resources — and engage new ones where recommended.

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-based, 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 products.  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:

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 none.)  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?

These four easy no-obligation steps will get you started:

1. Start by watching this short intro video.
2. Then download our original KVC whitepaper.
3. Then buy the KVC Handbook listed on the front page.
4. Even better, contact us and we’ll schedule a Zoom to tell you more.