Preparing
for Conversations
with Jack Vinson
Knowledge
Management in Academia
Jack
Vinson, PhD
President,
Knowledge Jolt
Evanston,
Illinois, US
 Introduction
Jack Vinson goes
back almost to the beginning of AOK (2000) and we like to think
we've played a significant role in his KM journey. At the time
we first "met," Jack was at Searle (later to merge
with Pharmacia, and later still acquired by Pfizer) working in
process development and biotechnology but clearly looking beyond
the science to the art of research and development. Although
there was a strong KM program in those companies, it was not
in Jack's unit and he injected KM, starting as a Stealth KMer
and finally getting support from his immediate supervisor to
establish a KM program as knowledge manager for the biotechnology
unit.
Throughout his journey
Jack has been a learner. And learn he has! He took every opportunity
to link up with the experts, and AOK helped him do that. And,
he was not a passive learner! He waded into the conversations,
unintimidated by the early gulf between him and the "STARS."
When AOK had several newsletters going, he was the volunteer
editor of one, learning even more through reporting.
Unfortunately, when
Pfizer took charge, it eliminated Jack's home-grown KM program.
Jack wasn't eliminated, but his passion was. He could have remained
an engineer in the biotech unit with a regular paycheck. But
he decided instead to become an independent consultant, dependent
on himself alone for income. A gutsy move for a young married
with child on the way (now children).
The rest is in his
biography, but I am pleased to introduce Jack Vinson who needs
no introduction because he has earned a prominent place in the
world of knowledge management. But now you have the story behind
the story. Jack will never stop learning - doing it now at the
head of the class, adjunct professor, knowledge management, Center
for Learning and Organizational Change at Northwestern University.
I'm proud of Jack
. . . not on account of AOK's treasured part, but on account
of what Jack has done and is doing. It is the dedicated and committed
who will ultimately decide whether knowledge management grows
and organizations prosper.
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Biography
The following
is a bit longer than the typical STAR Series bio, but here's
what Jack has to say about himself.
Jack's Bio
I am an adjunct
faculty member in the Center for Learning and Organizational
Change at Northwestern University. I teach a course on knowledge
management and advise several master's students in their final
capstone projects.
I spent eight years
in the pharmaceutical industry at Searle / Pharmacia / Pfizer,
initially working in process development and biotechnology, putting
to use my Ph.D. in chemical engineering. In that role, I was
primarily an expert at modeling and simulating chemical processes
to optimize the processes and troubleshoot problems. I also worked
with industry-university collaborations at Purdue, the Technical
University of Denmark, University College London and Imperial
College to develop and test new computer-aided process engineering
methodologies.
In the last several
years at Pharmacia / Pfizer, I was the knowledge manager for
our biotechnology unit. I had the responsibility for developing
knowledge strategies and fitting them into the overall strategies
of the organization as the organization wrapped up several high
profile drug development projects. I was also responsible for
ensuring smooth connections between the biotech organization
and supporting technology as well as with the larger corporate
directives around compliance (21 CFR Part 11) and budget control.
Continuing my industry liaison role, I worked with Collaborative
Electronic Notebook Systems Association (CENSA ) around developing
standards for electronic lab notebook systems.
Since starting my
own business in 2004, I have focused on helping organizations
understand how they use their information. I worked with an insurance
company and its call center to implement a content management
vision as part of a large group of technology and business people.
I have also worked with small firms to start the discussion around
how they want to use their knowledge and the ever-changing horizons
of technology on the offer. I continue to evangelize the importance
of personal knowledge management to build individual and group
effectiveness.
Prior to my industry
work, I did a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of
Pennsylvania with a strong focus on the intersection of artificial
intelligence and chemical engineering. Following the PhD, I had
a post-doctoral research appointment at the University of Massachusetts,
working on an expert system for chemical process synthesis. My
undergraduate studies were at Ohio State University.
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Pre-Dialogue
Remarks
Knowledge
Management in Academia
- KM in academic
programs
- How the academic
context influences the KM that is taught
- What / How should
it be taught
- KM applied to academia
(physician heal thyself)
- Certification
How is knowledge
management taught at the university? When KM started moving up
the awareness charts of academic publications in the 1990s, it
started to be a topic of academic instruction. Since then, the
topic has come in and out of favor in various academic programs
around the world. There are many current programs in North America,
and I'm familiar with programs in Australia and Singapore.
In a survey of the
programs that are teaching KM, what you find is that the home
departments for these programs are quite varied. There is the
technological link into computer science departments; there are
programs that emphasize the science of information in library
schools; and there are some business schools that teach classes
in knowledge management. There are other programs that incorporate
knowledge management, such at the Learning & Organizational Change program
at Northwestern, where I am an adjunct faculty member teaching
KM.
Each of these disciplines
brings its own context to the instruction of knowledge management.
They may all talk about definitions of knowledge or what it means
to be share knowledge or any of the other familiar topics in
KM circles. But the results of the discussion and the lenses
that they use all depend on the context of their academic focus.
Programs that focus on technology will tend to focus on how to
create or use tools to support a KM initiative. Library and information
science programs will focus on how to design and organize knowledge
repositories. Organizational design programs will look at KM
from the lens of how it can help influence the design of high-performing
organizations. Business schools, given their own breadth, have
many different views on KM, one of which will be a process-centric
view of using KM to make the business operate more effectively.
While it is obvious
that each program brings its own lens to the field of KM, I wonder
if there are some key elements that should always be taught in
knowledge management? Are there common elements that a "knowledge
management" course or program should have? What should students
be able to discuss coming out the other end of a program in knowledge
management?
Not only am I interested
in the "root" of knowledge management, if it exists,
but also how do people instruct in KM? Is this also something
that is dependent upon the lens of the home academic program?
Do you drive KM into the program by asking people to apply the
concepts in businesses? Is the preference to go heavy on case
studies? Do you create an environment of immersive learning,
where the students are asked to learn-by-doing?
I am looking forward
to your experiences and thoughts on this topic. Most AOKers are
not academics, I know. I ask those who are in academics to speak
up and air their views on the subject. But I also encourage those
practitioners and other KM thinkers to throw their thoughts into
the ring as well.
Link
Here's a discussion summary from last year with three
local universities that teach knowledge management:
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PDFs
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