Special Theme of Research in Information Systems Analysis and Design - I. Unraveling Knowledge Requirements Through Business Process Analysis

Abstract

Organizations analyze their business processes in order to improve them. Business processes are also considered retainers, users and creators of organizational knowledge. Thus, they can be analyzed to identify the knowledge used, created and embedded in them. A process analysis approach that focuses on redesign does not necessarily capture the knowledge used and created in a process. Choosing a knowledge-focused approach should lead to understanding knowledge needs but might not lead to improved business processes. This paper describes an approach for Knowledge Requirements Analysis (KRA) that combines process analysis with identifying knowledge used and created during the process. KRA is the process of identifying and analyzing existing organizational knowledge and prescribing improvements to it. The KRA methodology presented in this paper combines two methods: a knowledge engineering method (CommonKADS) and a process modeling method (EDPDT). The EDPDT constructs are used to operationalize the organization and task models of CommonKADS and thus create the KRA methodology. The methodology was applied successfully to the process of ethical reviews of grant applications in a university. The main advantage of the proposed methodology is that it enables organizations to keep track of their knowledge resources embedded in various business processes. Knowledge that is not shared or used can be detected and new knowledge can be identified to support and improve existing processes better. This approach can lead to improved knowledge management in organizations

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