Knowledge management system and method

• US 20060015481A1
• Filed: 09/21/2005
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Caterpillar Incorporated
• Inventors: Jeanblanc, Anne H., Coffey, James M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,209,909 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/00 Electrically-operated teaching apparatus or devices working with questions and answers mechanically operated G09B3/00; computing arrangements G06F

Abstract

A method is provided for establishing a community of practice including a plurality of users, one or more experts, and one or more community of practice managers. A need for a community of practice is identified. The roles and responsibilities of participants in the community of practice are identified. One or more goals are identified for the community of practice based on the identified need. A plurality of the participants in the community of practice collaborate to achieve the identified goals.

Claims

1-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A method of managing a community of practice, comprising:

establishing a community of practice including as participants at least a community of practice user, a community of practice expert, and community of practice managers, the community of practice having a community of practice goal;

receiving, at a knowledge management system, knowledge associated with the community of practice goal;

accessing, by each of the community of practice managers, the knowledge received at the knowledge management system;

determining, by each of the community of practice managers, whether the knowledge is to be included in the community of practice; and

storing the knowledge in the knowledge management system as information included in the community of practice based on the determination by at least one of the community of practice managers.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the receiving knowledge includes:

providing, by the community of practice user, the knowledge to the knowledge management system over a communication network.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the determining includes:

reviewing, by each of the community of practice managers, the knowledge using the knowledge management system; and

providing an indication, by each of the community of practice managers, whether the knowledge is approved as information to be included in the community of practice.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the storing includes:

storing the knowledge in the knowledge management system when one or more of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the knowledge is not stored in the knowledge management system as information to be included in the community of practice when one or more the community of practice managers provide an indication reflecting disapproval of the knowledge.

31. The method of claim 26, further including:

providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when each of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

32. The method of claim 26, further including:

providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when at least one of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

33. A method of managing a community of practice, comprising:

establishing a community of practice including as participants at least a community of practice user, a community of practice expert, and community of practice managers, the community of practice including a community of practice goal; and

managing the community of practice by the community of practice managers using a knowledge management system, such that the knowledge management system maintains knowledge for the community of practice that is used by one or more of the participants to achieve the community of practice goal.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein managing the community of practice includes:

reviewing knowledge received at the knowledge management system by the community of practice user; and

determining, by each of the community of practice managers using the knowledge management system, whether the received knowledge is to be included in the community of practice.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein managing the community of practice includes:

providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when one or more of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein managing the community of practice includes:

providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when at least one of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

37. The method of claim 34, further including:

storing the knowledge in the knowledge management system as information included in the community of practice based on the determination by at least one of the community of practice managers.

38. A system for managing a community of practice in an organization, the system comprising:

a knowledge management system including a database storing information associated with a community of practice including as participants a community of practice user, a community of practice expert, and community of practice managers, the community of practice having a community of practice goal; and

a network interconnecting the knowledge management system with each of the participants,

wherein the community of practice managers collectively manage the community of practice using the knowledge management system such that the database maintains knowledge used by one or more of the participants to achieve the community of practice goal.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein at least some of the knowledge is received at the knowledge management system by the community of practice user, and the community of practice managers manage the community of practice by reviewing the knowledge and determining whether the knowledge is to be included in the community of practice.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein the community of practice managers manage the community of practice by providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when one or more of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

41. The system of claim 38, wherein the community of practice managers manage the community of practice by providing the knowledge to at least one of the community of practice user and community of practice expert when at least one of the community of practice managers approve the knowledge as information to be included in the knowledge management system.

42. The system of claim 38, wherein the at least some of the knowledge is provided by the community of practice user over the network to the knowledge management system, and the provided knowledge is stored in the database as information included in the community of practice based on approval by the community of practice managers that the provided knowledge is information to be included in the community or practice.

43. A system for managing a community of practice, including:

a plurality of computers, each operated by a respective user;

a knowledge management system including a database storing knowledge associated with a community of practice including as participants, a first user operating one of the computers, a community of practice expert, and community of practice managers;

a network interconnecting the computers and the knowledge management system,

wherein the knowledge management system receives a request to join the community of practice from a second user not included in the community of practice in response to a solicitation sent over the network by the knowledge management system for membership into the community of practice, and wherein the community of practice managers collectively manage the community of practice to achieve a community of practice goal based on knowledge stored in the knowledge management system and shared by the participants.

44. The system of claim 43, further including means for monitoring the progress of the community of practice in achieving the community of practice goal.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein once the community of practice goal is achieved, the knowledge management system provides access to the knowledge stored in the database associated with the community of practice to other users who are not members of the community of practice.