Leveraging Organizational Knowledge with Decision Modeling

Author(s)

VP Consulting & Principal Consultant, Decisions Management Solutions
Gagan is an experienced CIO and an expert in implementing Decision Management Systems - automation of high volume operational decisions using Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Business Rules and Optimization Algorithms. He helps organizations in developing Big Data Strategy, Integrated Consumer Experience Design, Technology Roadmaps and Business Cases that align with current business goals; and with implementation challenges including Business Analysis, Business Process Management, Technology Selection & Acquisition, Project Management, Solution Design, Implementation, Training and Change Management. Gagan conducts workshops and training on Decision Management Systems. He has spoken at various events including IBM’s IMPACT, SAP’s Blueprint to a Billion, Building Business Capability (BBC) Conference, TDWI, Cloud Security Alliance, Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), CIO Executive Summit, Hospitality Technology Expo (HITEC), CIO Forum & Executive IT Summit. He also lectures at a number of graduate and post graduate classes. Gagan blogs at StructuredThoughts.com

Organizational decisions are not as effective because we have not been able to explicitly connect organizational Knowledge to decisions. Formal decision modeling helps deploy existing knowledge and highlights knowledge gaps that need to be filled.

Knowledge is diffused across the organization

How do we know if we are making good decisions? When we are confident that we have used all available knowledge in making that decision.

How can we tell if our knowledge is good or bad? There is no clear measure of knowledge but its value is understood and appreciated. We know that there is a lot of effort and investment in increasing organizational knowledge. Procedure Manuals, Training Programs, Collaboration Sites, Intranets, Portals, Share point and others are all geared towards making organizations better through pooling and managing the communal knowledge.

Decision makers are supposed to become knowledgeable on their own

Traditionally we have sought to impart knowledge to our decision makers through formal training programs, on the job training and mentoring. We have given our decision makers elaborate procedure manuals and handbooks. We have buried our decision makers under mountains of paper reports. We have created black-box systems with a mind of their own. And lately we have been mystifying our decision makers with analytical models and optimization algorithms that are cool but difficult to apply to day to day decisions.

The ground reality is that we have accumulated organizational knowledge that we are fervently hoping our decision makers will somehow absorb; and then desperately wishing that this absorbed knowledge will somehow get applied to the daily decisions important for success and viability.

Don’t you think this is rather inefficient?

More knowledge leads to better decisions

Managing and applying organizational knowledge is a good idea and makes sense at a gut level. The big assumption is that the organization will be that much better because of ’smart’ people. They will do a better job and everyone will benefit. This is fine at an abstract level but if the process has to be managed and improved, we need to delve deeper into the mechanics of how this occurs.

What if we evaluate the quality of decisions being made as a stand-in for the quality of organizational knowledge?

We can’t describe the Knowledge needed if we haven’t described Decisions

But wait, no one has formally defined what the decisions are that need to be made well for success. There are a very large number of operational decisions being made every day in every organization, along with quite a few tactical and strategic decisions. All of these decisions just happen and influence organizational performance metrics, but there has been no formal effort at listing or describing these decisions. If decisions cannot be described, they cannot be improved systematically.

Discovering Decisions

The first order of business is then to discover and describe the decisions that matter. In most cases you can find them in the daily processes and also by inspecting daily reports and metrics. Since something is being done (activity) every day to achieve a performance level (metrics), there must be a bunch of decisions being made at every step. Some of these decisions may actually be embedded within our systems, like calculating a discount for a customer’s order. These automated decisions are every bit as important as ‘manual’ or human decisions within the organization. A combination of all of these decisions being made in a collaborative fashion dictates the organization’s destiny.

Now how are these decisions made? If we can describe the decision making with some rigor it would be possible to improve the overall decision by improving individual components.

Decision making components: Information and Knowledge

What are the components of decision making? We need a suitable set of information coming into the decision that needs to be evaluated against all available knowledge at that point in time — then going on to pick the best choice from a finite set of options.

There you have it — making a decision requires information and knowledge.

Managing Information and Knowledge without Decisions is futile

Getting good, trusted information is a challenge of course. There are many data quality and data management initiatives underway to make sure that we have the best data available for making decisions. And it is a moving target because we have not described the decisions first. Despite all that we do have a reasonable handle on where the data is.

On the knowledge front, the situation is much bleaker. Most organizations have not realized that organizational knowledge is a business asset that can be curated and brought to bear systematically towards making organizations better. The few organizations that do appreciate the strategic nature of knowledge are also making heroic efforts for collecting, tagging and deploying organizational knowledge — similar to the brave souls organizing data for data’s sake. Information Sources and Knowledge Sources in most organizations are either not being governed or being governed too much — with no clear purpose in either case, apart from the basic instinct for reporting ‘everything’.

Linking decisions explicitly to required Knowledge: DMN Models

Formal decision modeling using the Decision Model Notation (DMN) is the new powerful technique not only for a sharp focus on decisions, but also for clarifying knowledge requirements. The visual, simple notation for decision modeling is easily understood by all users and gives a degree of structure to how we would describe decisions in a natural language.

The overall structure makes it simpler to identify just the right type, quantity and quality of knowledge required to make specified decisions. All efforts and investments can then be focused on curating the knowledge sources that are already accessible, and on procuring the knowledge that is not yet available.

Decision modeling uncovers and structures the organizational knowledge for success.

 

Similar Resources

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Enhancing Your Team’s BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Enhancing Your Team's BPM Capabilities: The Value of External Expertise In today’s dynamic business environment, managing and improving business processes is critical for any organization aiming to maintain a competitive edge. Many companies consider handling Business...

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Exploring Shared Data Model and Notation (SDMN) and Its Role in BPM+ Introduction In the evolving landscape of Business Process Management (BPM), the introduction of Shared Data Model Notation (SDMN) marks a significant advancement. As businesses increasingly seek to...

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+

Author(s):

Editor & Founder, BPMInstitute.org, BAInstitute.org and DBIZInstitute.org

Article: Embracing the Future: Low-Code and No-Code Platforms in BPM+ Introduction In the realm of business process management (BPM), low-code and no-code platforms have emerged as transformative tools, reshaping how organizations develop applications and manage...

Featured Certificate: BPM Specialist

Everyone starts here.

You're looking for a way to improve your process improvement skills, but you're not sure where to start.

Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will give you the competitive advantage you need in today's world. Our courses help you deliver faster and makes projects easier.

Your skills will include building hierarchical process models, using tools to analyze and assess process performance, defining critical process metrics, using best practice principles to redesign processes, developing process improvement project plans, building a center of excellence, and establishing process governance.

The BPMS Certificate is the perfect way to show employers that you are serious about business process management. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you'll be able to take your business career to the next level.

Learn more about the BPM Specialist Certificate

Courses

  •  

 

Certificates

  • Business Process Management Specialist
  • Earning your Business Process Management Specialist (BPMS) Certificate will provide you with a distinct competitive advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. With in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management, you’ll be able to take your business career to the next level.
  • BPM Professional Certificate
    Business Process Management Professional
  • Earning your Business Process Management Professional (BPMP) Certificate will elevate your expertise and professional standing in the field of business process management. Our BPMP Certificate is a tangible symbol of your achievement, demonstrating your in-depth knowledge of process improvement and management.

Certification

BPM Certification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Process Management Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Operational Excellence Specialist
  • Earning your Operational Excellence Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.
 

 

OpEx Professional Certificate

  • Operational Excellence Professional
  • Earn your Operational Excellence Professional Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving organizational excellence and achieving sustainable improvements in performance.

Courses

Certificate
  •  

  • Agile BPM Specialist
  • Earn your Agile BPM Specialist Certificate and gain a competitive edge in driving business process management (BPM) with agile methodologies. You’ll gain a strong understanding of how to apply agile principles and concepts to business process management initiatives.  
 

Business Architecture

 

Certificates

  • Business Architecture Specialist
  • The Business Architecture Specialist (BAIS) Certificate is proof that you’ve begun your business architecture journey by committing to the industry’s most meaningful and credible business architecture training program.

  • Business Architecture Professional
  • When you earn your Business Architecture Professional (BAIP) Certificate, you will be able to design and implement a governance structure for your organization, develop and optimize business processes, and manage business information effectively.

BA CertificationCertification

  • Make the most of your hard-earned skills. Earn the respect of your peers and superiors with Business Architecture Certification from the industry's top BPM educational organization.

Courses

 

Certificates

  • Digital Transformation Specialist
  • Earning your Digital Transformation Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. 
 

 

  • Digital Transformation Professional
  • The Digital Transformation Professional Certificate is the first program in the industry to cover all the key pillars of Digital Transformation holistically with practical recommendations and exercises.

Courses

Certificate

  • Agile Business Analysis Specialist
  • Earning your Agile Business Analysis Specialist Certificate will provide you with a distinct advantage in the world of agile software development.

Courses

Certificate
  • DAS Certificate
  • Decision Automation Specialist
  • Earning your Decision Automation Certificate will empower you to excel in the dynamic field of automated decision-making, where data-driven insights are pivotal to driving business innovation and efficiency.