Knowledge elicitation in unstructured business processes : the preliminary findings from a case study

Abstract

This paper presents a knowledge audit methodology for unstructured processes, addressing on the phenomenal increase in the number of unstructured knowledge work. The implication of such trend is that organizations are no longer mechanistic entities but networks of complex and interdependent communities whose knowledge cannot be discovered and visualized using the traditional knowledge elicitation and representation techniques. With such argument, the authors developed a knowledge audit methodology exploring on narrative-based knowledge elicitation methods and pattern-detecting knowledge representation methods. The methodology was conducted in an unstructured process of an Information Technology Department (ITD) of a Hong Kong-based company. The results elucidate the complex activities in the studied unstructured process; its associated knowledge flow amongst stakeholders is also revealed for pattern detection. This paper contributes in opening gateway to the investigation of knowledge audit in unstructured processes.