96 Zyngier, Burstein, and McKay
Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
research, their task, or their job. The activities that are seen as achieving these goals are
to improve information governance, to develop an overall architecture and an IMKM
Plan, to create the digital delivery of library services, to improve the intranet, and to
develop a knowledge improvement program.
The goal of the Client Program was to ensure that the STDO has the right information
for and from its clients to support research programs, further providing a coordinated
approach to support the organization’s activities. The activities that are seen to achieve
these goals are the improvement of the programmatic aspects of the Management
Information System (including both hardware and software issues) and to develop STDO
research programs to support the organization’s activities and research programs.
The goal of the External Relations aspect of the plan was to leverage the STDO
information capability to undertake interactions between STDO and external, nonclient
agencies. The activities planned to achieve this are through improving current Internet
publishing, to further investigate external KM relationships with similar research and
development agencies, and to extended the international defense research document
repository (scheduled for 2005-2006).
The goal of the Strategic Positioning is to improve the information management
capability required to adapt STDO for the future. This is seen as being achievable through
the implementation of an automated Balanced Scorecard (scheduled for over the next four
years).
The goal of the People facet of the plan was to ensure that STDO managers have
the information tools to effectively manage people, to support strategic people initia-
tives, and to support workforce planning and full-time employee management.
The goal of Resource Management is to continuously improve STDO resource
management information systems by improving the financial aspects of management
information systems and to maximize the take up of defense resource information systems
tools.
The goal of Information Systems Infrastructure planning was to improve the quality
of STDO networks and information systems. There are a number of activities that are
planned to achieve this. These are the use of a better-coordinated approach to informa-
tion systems planning, the implementation of a Document and Records Management
(next phase in the next two years), and through continued input into the “Operations”
Applications Register. The “Operations” Applications Register is a register of hardware
and software owned and operated in the Department of “Operations” and its wholly
owned operations.
The components of the IMKM Plan were divided up into tasks with individuals
charged with the achievement of the goals of each task according to the tacit or explicit
nature of the knowledge resources being harnessed. As described earlier, this task format
is standard work practice for the STDO in its R&D work for the “Operations” staff.
Managing Tacit Knowledge Transfer
The organization has also developed a research task to specifically address tacit
knowledge. This dates from 2002 and is ongoing. This tacit knowledge transfer is
recognized organizationally as “the really hard stuff, individual bench-scientist experi-
ences and things like that” (Informant 5). Progress to date has comprised a great deal of
reading about the theoretical aspects of KM and its application to R&D environment of