Integrated Analysis and Design of Knowledge Systems and Processes

Although knowledge management has been investigated in the context of decision support and expert systems for over a decade, interest in and attention to this topic have exploded recently. But integration of knowledge process design with knowledge system design is strangely missing from the knowledge management literature and practice. The research described in this chapter focuses on knowledge management and system design from three integrated perspectives: 1) reengineering process innovation, 2) expert systems knowledge acquisition and representation, and 3) information systems analysis and design. Through careful analysis and discussion, we integrate these three perspectives in a systematic manner, beginning with analysis and design of the enterprise process of interest, progressively moving into knowledge capture and formalization, and then system design and implementation. Thus, we develop an integrated approach that covers the gamut of design considerations from the enterprise process in the large, through alternative classes of knowledge in the middle, and on to specific systems in the detail. We show how this integrated methodology is more complete than existing developmental approaches and illustrate the use and utility of the approach through a specific enterprise example, which addresses many factors widely considered important in the knowledge management environment. Using the integrated methodology that we develop and illustrate in this chapter, the reader can see how to identify, select, compose and integrate the many component applications and technologies required for effective knowledge system and process design.