Johnson Space Center (JSC) has been directed to establish new innovative programs in engineering while continuing to fulfill the requirements of its current programs. As a result, the Space Shuttle Program is transitioning to a new innovative program called Constellation which is expected to become just as, if not more, critical. To aid in this transition while retaining and preserving institutional knowledge and expertise for the next generation of engineers, program managers and leaders, the center needed mechanisms in place to manage the sharing and acquisition of knowledge throughout the entire knowledge lifecycle. First, the CKO sponsored a Knowledge Management Assessment Project (KMAP) to determine the knowledge management maturity of the center. This was the first step in developing and implementing a KM roadmap. To accomplish the KMAP, SAIC used a mixed methods approach to assess the approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors across the center. First, focus groups and interviews were used to understand JSC's as-is environment. Utilizing the qualitative Global Knowledge Management Maturity Model (G-KMMM) developed by Pee, Teah, and Kankanhalli (2006), a quantitative instrument (Q-Assess) was developed by SAIC and tailored using results from the qualitative analyses. Implemented online, the Q-Assess represented 12 sub-assessments for assessing levels of maturity across the KPAs (key performance areas) of people, processes, and technology. Using the Q-Assess results as the condition and the G-KMMM itself as the criterion, a multi-unit gap analysis was produced. As JSC's KM maturity was identified within each unit, recommendations were than developed to facilitate the attainment of the next level of maturity. These results fed the development of the roadmap. This roadmap contained the implementation of knowledge and technology audits leading to the development of an organizational knowledge architecture and enterprise architecture in support of knowledge management, ensuring shareability, compatibility, and preservation.
Assessing Knowledge Management Maturity within NASA's Johnson Space Center
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