MKSM
From Auroville Wiki
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Introduction
The MASK method has been created in order to manage kwnoledge of Nuclear Activities in France. This method is based on two points of views of the vision of the life which are the systemic view and the semiotic view.
With the systemic view, a car has a physical structure which is the main body, the motor for instance. The function of this car is to move people from a point A to a point B. Then the evolution of the car is that it has to be repair sometimes to work and it has an approximate life of 10/15 years.
With the semiotic point of view the sign of a car is a typical structure with a main body which can moves. The sense of the car is to move from a point A to a point B. The context of the car can be very different. It can be for instance, to see your mother or to buy some fruit.
The MKSM method is based on these two point of views in order to describe a knowledge. This method mixes these two points of views in order to describes models. It takes each dimension of the semiotic view which can be describe with the systemic view. For instance, the context has a structure (Domain with concept), a function (activities) and an evolution (history). In this way, we have 9 points of view for knowledge. The diagram just bellow shows what each dimension represents. In the MKSM method each dimension has its own model in order to represent this reality (one knowledge dimension).
The MKSM method explains also an organization from a macroscopic view to a more detail view of the organization. In fact, knowledge inside any organization is a very difficult problematic. A macroscopic view of an organization permits to go little by little in the details of knowledge of the organization. Then step by step, knowledge can be discovered with all the different detail processes or activities. Models permits to explain this macroscopic view of the organization before to go inside the details with the models of the 9 others dimensions.
In this way MASK/MKSM method has many different interesting values which are:
-Training of people
-Publication of knowledge, processes, activities (document, online help, building web site)
-Decision system help
-Communication
-Transfer
-Computerized processes
-Extract/Formalise know-how
-To management
-Identify expert
-Conceive a strategy
-To fallow, to do modification, to legislate
-To innovate, to develop
This is not exhaustif but MKSM/MASK method can put in ligth a lot of aspect of an organization.
MASK Knowledge models
From all the different dimensions presented before, models has been developed in order to capture knowledge. The three different models about information are not described here because it is in the area of classical information design (data, data processing, versioning with UML or MERISE method). Diagrams for history or lineages aren't take into account for l'Avenir d'Auroville.
OIDC: Operating system, Information system, Decision system, Knowledge system
There is another first diagram which has to be used in first time. It's called OIDC (Operating system, Information system, Decision system and Knowledge system). This diagram permits to have a macroscopic view of an organization. This diagram is just bellow. It permits to list all the agents for the operating system (day to day work), for the information system (all the information sources of the organization) and for the decision system (all the agent/people who take decision for the organization). There is another system which is the knowledge system. This is the most important system which explains the different knowledge which permit that the operating system, the information system and the decision system can work in order to start with the input and to give the output (to make the work of the organization).
Agent
An agent (information source, human resource, other organization linked with the organization, …) can be described as an agent with have different caracteristics:
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Produced information |
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Produced Knowledge |
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Consumed information |
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Consumed knowledge |
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Activity and phenomenon models
From the context diagrams, two kinds of diagrams can be design:
-Phenomenon model
This kind of diagram permits to describe phenomenons. This kind of knowledge has the particularity to have a trigger event. Then a source system capture this event and some flux leave this source in order to go to a target system. Then from this target system, consequences appears from this phenomenon. An example of phenomenon is a “Burn fire starts inside the forest”. The model just bellow shows the way to describe a phenomenon.
-Activity model
The activity model describes the activities of the organization. An activity is a kind of general process in order to understand what is done in a situation. For instance, the activity of networking of l'Avenir d'Auroville is kind of activity which fallow some general process.
Concept and task models
From the context point of view, there are sense models. Sense models describe concepts and tasks of the organization. These two models are on the next picture:
-Concept model
The concept model explains all the different concepts used by the organization. For instance, most of the concept are inside the Master Plan for l'Avenir d'Auroville.
-Task model
The task model is the work/step which are effectively done from an activity. This model takes into account condition, the step of the task, if the task has to be repeated. It is a more detail model that the activity which is more general.
From the macroscopic view and all the models which has been described, most of the knowlede of the organization are listed. All these models are published in a support called a knowledge book. This is the result of the MKSM/MASK method.
