Explicit Knowledge in Web-based Export Trading

Lisa Soon, Yi-Ping Phoebe Chen, Alan Underwood Centre for Information Technology Innovation Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434 Brisbane 4001 Australia Email: {l.soon, p.chen, a.underwood}@qut.edu.au

Abstract

Knowledge management is critical to sustain business viability in a competitive global environment. In a knowledge-based economy, having the right knowledge simply possesses a power to monitor situations, act and react wisely. In previous research, it is mutually agreed that technology is used to store and retrieve information in a form of explicit knowledge. However, there is no research exploring the types of web information available to and required by the export trading organizations. This paper is an exploratory study of web information available to the specific export trading community. In this paper, the relations between data, information and explicit knowledge are first investigated and redefined. We proceed with examining how the web technology stores and retrieves information. We also conduct some empirical studies to explore the types of information or explicit knowledge required specifically for export trading. As knowledge is discovered and formed with some critical rules, the rules in web information gathering for seeking valuable export information are investigated. A framework of web knowledge discovery processes is therefore produced for the targeted audience in export trading. The findings indicate that an effective web knowledge discovery contributes to an essential knowledge repository vital for export traders to make informed strategic decisions.

Introduction

Knowledge management involves many important management processes (Abell, 2001; H. T. Davenport, & Volpel, S.C., 2001; Zack, 1999a, 1999b). Building a knowledge repository with mined knowledge is a crucial undertaking in order to create a competitive advantage for an organization. This paper therefore focuses on the process to discover useful essential knowledge on the web particularly in export trading arena. With Internet, there is an exponential increase in web sites and information on the web (Kobayashi, 2001) . The web is a rich knowledge premise with an enormous volume of information store for web users. Web information gathering is made possible in several ways. It is achieved commonly through search engines and browsing of websites. Web application software allows on-line business practices. Web information services are the intentions of service providers. Such providers provide information on the services required to their targeted users. This modern web technology has advanced so rapidly that the traders are able to collect data and information electronically instead of manually.

Technology helps process data electronically. The processed data informs users and let them know how to decide and act. (Nonaka, 1997) therefore states that the relevant knowledge has been captured and represented in a virtual world using information technology. Several researchers hence maintain that the information stored and retrieved over technology is a form of systemized and explicit knowledge (Wiig, 1999 ; Voss, 1999) . Unlike former research working on search algorithms or search patterns for search results (Belkin, 2000; Kobayashi, 2001; R. Kohavi, 2001; R. Kohavi, & Provost, F., 2001; Piatetsky-Shapiro, 1999; Vakkari, 2000) , this paper focuses on what export trading information traders search over the web. We also explain that the discovery process of web-based knowledge is part of the knowledge discovery process in export knowledge management.

In this paper, the export trading community referred to consists of members of exporting organizations and export service providing organizations. The main target audience of this paper is the export trading community members and government authorities involved in export trading. This paper concentrates on how export trading members can effectively use the web for information gathering to obtain the essential explicit knowledge in export trading for their knowledge management. In turn, they can manage the knowledge to make better decisions. The major contributions are the types of information and explicit knowledge the export trading community is interested in, the rules to find information and a new framework to guide traders to seek web information effectively. All this make up an important knowledge discovery process in export trading arena. The rules and framework, if adopted, will help traders create a valuable knowledge repository (in addition to other electronic or traditional methods) as a basis of vital information imperative for business strategic decisions, actions and planning.

This paper adopts the following structure. Section 2 examines what knowledge is. It analyzes the epistemological aspects of knowledge by explaining the relations amongst data, information, knowledge and wisdom. Section 3 explores the phenomenon of web-based information needed and used by some exporting and export related organizations using case study method. Section 4 investigates the types of information and explicit knowledge available on the web particularly for export traders. Section 5 investigates some rules in the knowledge discovery process. Section 6 further reports the findings through the constructed framework of information seeking and knowledge recovery. Section 7 provides a conclusion and a future work plan.

The Formation of Knowledge

To affirm anything needs an art of knowing (Polanyi, 1962). Humans hence decide and act based on some known facts cognitively processed. The cognitively processed knowledge reduces dubious and possibly misleading impressions. This is of particularly significant importance to export trading as there is a great deal of uncertainties in trading with overseas clients than with clients domestically. Many scholars also highlight the importance of using the method of information gathering to create business intelligence (BI) and competitive advantage (CA) for strategic decisions and planning (Abell, 2001; Burrill, 1999; Cleland, 1975; Davenport, 2000; Hawryszkiewycz, 1999; Miller, 1999; Nonaka, 1995) . However, what makes up knowledge in the first place? Are there ways we can collect facts or information on the web to gain export-related knowledge? What is the major difference between information and explicit knowledge on the web? We develop figure 1 to explain ‘useful knowledge’.

  Figure 1: Relationships amongst Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom
　

Data (level 1 in figure 1) shows up as raw figures and texts. Humans encounter different types of data on the web. Related data are woven together to form information. Data apply in various export trading subject areas. Data items on a web purchase order form provides the detail of any export item for purchase. Data are massive. However, data are facts without meaning (Tiwana, 2000) . All related data are put together based on relations.
　

Information (level 2 in figure 1) informs by delivering meanings (Prusak, 1977). The value of information resides in the relationship between the information and the seeker’s knowledge (Stenmark, 2002; Tiwana, 2000) . Information exists through electronic, textual means and human contacts (Burke, 1998; Choo, 1995) . It is important to stress that people interpret information differently due to their different educational, work, cultural, professional background and levels of talents, skills and experience.
　

Knowledge (level 3 in figure 1) is obtained after some cognitive processes (i.e. classification, indexing, understanding and application) have taken place in the human minds. Knowledge is either tacit or explicit (or codified). Explicit knowledge is knowledge expressed and made transmittable in formal and systematic language (Nonaka, 1995) . It is easy to articulate, capture and distribute in different formats. Explicit knowledge can be disseminated within and across organizational borders (Stenmark, 2002), on documents, through human contacts or via technology. We focus on explicit knowledge in this research. Tacit knowledge is personal, context-specific, and is hard to formalize and communicate (Nonaka et al., 1996). It is not in the scope of this research. Knowledge is learnt after a person interacts formally or informally by receiving information. Learning only takes place when similarity in concepts and patterns of knowledge is recognized, understood and utilized. Like information, knowledge has different subject areas.
　

Wisdom (level 4 in figure 1) occurs in a much more complex state of mind. Wisdom is a highly cognitive skill turning knowledge into an intellectual capital (Davenport, 2000; Drucker, 1998; Nonaka, 1996; Porac, 1999) after synthesizing sufficient types of useful and relevant knowledge. Wisdom is required in reasoning and problem solving. The human mind creates wisdom by adopting principles. The essential principles are to sufficiently pull the relevant and useful types of knowledge in the same domain (e.g. export trading) together and evaluate, justify, analyze, synthesize and synergize them to create wisdom. Wisdom always supposes action, and action is directed by it. Wisdom always finds a means to an ends. The more knowledge domains one explores, the greater the wisdom for advanced problem-solving.
　

A grey area of the previous research is whether the collection of data and information helps create knowledge or knowledge is codified to provide information and data. Which order should come first? Previous research also fails to distinctively differentiate information from explicit knowledge.
　

We argue that figure 1 can be read bottom-up (level 4 to 1) or top-down (level 1 to 4). We place two unidirectional arrows on the right side of figure 1 to show the two ways of interpretation. We advocate that the learning process is the bottom-up arrow in figure 1. In a learning process, cognitive processes such as relating, pattern recognizing, conceptualizing, analyzing, synthesizing and synergizing are involved. The first cognitive process of relating helps transform data into information. Pattern recognition and conceptualization process information to produce knowledge. Only by sufficiently acquiring various types of relevant useful knowledge, analyzing, synthesizing and synergizing them do we create wisdom. We argue that the bottom-up arrow approach is the internalization process that Nonaka et al.(1996) has not investigated in their research.
　

The top-down arrow in figure one shows a teaching process. It is either documenting the teaching content or orally communicating concepts (knowledge). The wisdom owner must have the domain knowledge (e.g. with various export trading knowledge) to have knowledge codified. His communicative knowledge can be presented through electronic, textual means or human contacts. When the explicit knowledge is presented, all information has already fallen in the same concept area shows recognized patterns. The information presented is totally related in the same subject area. Such meaningful information can be presented with supporting facts and figures. We therefore argue that the top-down arrow approach is the externalization process that (Nonaka et al, 1996) has not further explored in their research.
　

We also explain that information is different from explicit knowledge. As the top-down arrow approach is taken, explicit knowledge is merely an elaborate expression of knowledge (level 3 in figure1) while information is simply each insignificant part of a fully elaborate expression (level 2). For example, the explicit knowledge of an export cargo declaration procedure is the full explanation of all declaration procedures on a web page or pages. Each sentence on the web page tells an insignificant part of the declaration with little meaning (information level). Traders have to read through the entire article to conceptualize the procedures (knowledge level).

Case Studies

To explore what the export trading community needs as information or knowledge in their trade, faces as troubles or difficulties in information seeking and what else they expect from the web information provided, some interviews are arranged with various members in export trading organizations. These empirical studies adopt case study method (Gillham, 2000; Gummesson, 2000; Yin, 1994). It involves face-to-face interview, observatory interview and documentation. There were approximately thirties subjects involved in the empirical work from freight forwarding organizations, shipping companies, export logistics and management companies and a learning institute conducting export courses. The four groups of organizations empirically studied are located at Brisbane, Australia. The majority of subjects are working in the management positions in their organizations.
　

Through the information obtained from such interviews, a comparison of factors in the use of web technology is produced in the table I. Table I captures the reported information and compares the web technology as the subjects’ uses of intranet, extranet and/or extranet. The comparison depicts the advantages and disadvantages of the types of network in web technology. The table is constructed after examining the types of technology used, technology made available to them from the opinions of their technical staff. The technical personnel are involved in the empirical investigations and are also the subjects in the four groups of export trading organizations. Table I informs us some important factors involved in the use of the web technology through the internetworking connections of intranet, extranet and Internet.

Table I. Comparison of Factors on the Use of Web Technology
 
The more important investigation is however what information and explicit knowledge each specific group of subjects think are useful to the group of export trading organizations. Having evaluated, consolidated, analyzed the information gathered through discussions and validated them through some obtained document, we have also summarized some essential information on and draw a table up on the group-specific knowledge or information required by the subjects. To concisely capture the types of knowledge required and the types of websites accessed, we also construct table II to explain what were indicated as needed information and knowledge from the interviews with the representative members in organizations. Table II basically bring up to our attention that different export trading community members have different needs of information and knowledge for their decision makings, planning and their trading activities.
　

Table I and II have formed a foundation on what explicit knowledge on the web is of interest and useful to the four groups of organizations. It also reveals what advantages and disadvantages the web technology can do for the traders. To reflect what the subjects have related to us and they expect from the information and explicit knowledge obtained from the web and their experience over the web information gathering, we will also discuss their views not captured in tables I and II. Nevertheless, the four groups of subjects did bring up some useful points which will be described in the next few paragraphs.

Table II. Web Information Required by Different Export Trade Community Members
 
A general view from members of freight forwarding organizations is information search through search engines and web page browsing is a tedious task. Web information accessed usually involves recurring displays of massive and great amount of information presented in different formats. They agreed upon the importance of human information processing processes to sieve through, filter the information, organize and make sense of the information in order to obtain and retain the useful knowledge required for their trading interests. A consensual point several subjects from freight forwarding organizations brought up is the knowledge they needs is too diversified as it involves too many types of knowledge for them to perform at work. They also commented that knowledge and information required in export trading also change from time to time. For the vast majority of them, there is no website putting all the information any freight forwarding company requires together on the same web site for some reasons. They pointed out that banking, insurance, transportation, government authorities and many various types of export related information are of greatest interests to the freight forwarders. They agreed that they have to access all such information from different websites.
　

As for the group of subjects in shipping organizations, many of them have intranet and Internet in their organizations. The intranet that they access does have essential information and information of general interests to the fellow members within the organizations. To many of them, their intranets also extends to extranet and Internet. Some of their organizations also have advanced internetworking facilities to connect their organizations with representative offices and/or branches overseas and/or branches at various locations in Australia. They mutually agreed that albeit having the commonly required information plugged into their intranets, the staff however needs to search through Internet for more information.
　

The subjects from export logistics and management group commented that they need various sorts of information and knowledge in export trading area on the web. They shared a view that the entire body of export trading knowledge is affected by local and global changes constantly. Changes occurring range from the domain of legal regulations, economic situations, politics, government, country, to society. They pointed out that new knowledge is to be built by accessing new information put up on the web and through other sources from time to time. Other information sources they recommended are through direct human contacts with business associates, professional associations/societies, government seminars, business workshops/conferences and from traditional means such as books, journals or magazines. However, they were aware that a lot of government and private organizations place information on the web these days.
　

Subjects from a learning institute also discussed the internal central database that his organization built for a common access for staff within the organizations. They however saw that web information searching activities over Internet are necessary for external information. For this institute, it is run at various locations in Australia. With the central database, staff in their institution gain access to internal information through a common intra-institutional sharing of database. They see the importance of gaining external information locally and overseas that helps in their planning and decision making. One strategic management personnel voiced out a warning that some useful information will however not be placed on the web due to the protection of confidentiality and privacy of certain types of information.
　

On a whole, the subjects in the four groups share the following views. When excessive information searching consumes a great deal of people’s time, many of them agreed that information searching sometimes leads to unfruitful searches. Some remarked that as export trading involves a lot of uncertainties in its operation, sometimes they felt that they do not know what they actually need in time of uncertainties in export trading. Many however voiced out the common concern for a planned and structured information search. They however agreed that it is essential to know what to search before starting the information searching. Throughout all the various types of discussions, some important common points are revealed as follows. The users of information, the retrieval skills, the cognitive ability to relate, make sense, understand and organize the values of the information play an important part in obtaining the relevant and useful information. They mutually agree that such an access to web information is required for a wider pool of untapped information beyond that available in organizations. The subjects also remarked that ‘information need’ is an ongoing issue in export trading due to the constant changes in the trading world humans live in. To obtain the frequently accessed information, they mutually agree that it is useful for a personalized or customized website making links to the frequently required sites. Such a personalized website can help them reduce the spending of valuable business time on unnecessary searching of web information.
　

The types of information export trading community are by and large through search engines, web application and web information services. We will further discuss them in the next section.

Creation of Knowledge Using Web Technology

It is essential to apply the epistemology of knowledge in relation to data, information and wisdom over the web information gathering. Davenport, Volpel and Beck (H. T. Davenport, & Volpel, S.C., 2001; T. Davenport, & Beck, J.C., 2001) emphasize the importance of attention in the knowledge economy highlighting a focus of obtaining the correct and appropriate information for effective usage. We focus the attention on web information gathering. That is only achieved with the relevant and useful information retrieved, used, synthesized and synergized. The amazing characteristic of the web is that some data previously difficult to collect manually is now accessible easily and inexpensively. More and more individuals and corporations place information on the web.
　

Soon et al. (L. Soon, & Chen, P, 2002 ; L. Soon, Chen, P., & Underwood, A., 2002) indicate that the useful knowledge identified in export trading for the export traders is in the governmental, legal, environmental, political, technological, economical, societal, general business areas. The research team has explored the services and functional activities of Australian Customs Services, a seafood section in the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Australian Trade Commission and some export trading organizations in a previous segment of the research. This paper focuses on what web information is sought and used as export knowledge to help in decision making. Combining both previous and current research findings, we further construct figure 2 to explain web-based explicit knowledge.
 

 Figure 2: Discovery of Export Trading Knowledge over Web Technology
 
In figure 2 the useful knowledge is denoted in box 1. We explain that three methods in boxes 2, 3 and 4 will help obtain web information. Box 2 (Web Engines) allows search algorithms to match keywords with that in information content (Vakkari, 2000) . Box 3 (Wed Information Services) shows that various companies or authorities also provide information services over web pages. Box 4 (Web Application) indicates that some applications (e.g. the web order form) are placed on the web for users. Each application works with data and information like fields and records. Using such an application creates knowledge. For example, a web-based export cargo declaration application is performed online with the Australian Customs Service authority. All three methods provide information or explicit knowledge. Web information gathering requires work done to gather a certain amount of web information with the work involving cognitive processes.
　

In figure 2, the vertical axis shows the amount of work required from a web information seeker to analyze, synthesize and synergize information. The horizontal axis shows the amount of work required for an information seeker to gather web information. The entire figure aims at showing that the more the export traders need wisdom to act or solve their problems, the more their work to analyze, synthesize and synergize (cognitively process) the data, information and knowledge obtained. The confined area 6 on the right side of the diagonal line shows that a great amount of work is involved to gather data on the web. The smaller confined area 5 on its left however shows that a small amount of ‘relating’ work is required to make it meaningful for use. Areas 7 and 8 are about the same size. Area 8 shows that information comparatively requires less work to gather compared to data (since they appear as information on web pages for websites). In area 7, conceptualizing is required to organize information into knowledge areas. Area 7 is bigger than area 5 because conceptualizing needs more cognitive work than relating. In area 10, explicit knowledge can be discovered on the web identifying the patterns of knowledge and having concepts recognized. However, wisdom requires much more brain work. We explain with a small area 12 that wisdom is the essence requiring work of all data, information, knowledge and more (areas 6+8+10+12). We argue that wisdom is an opportunity obtainable from the web.
　

Another argument is illustrated by the triangle made up of areas 6,8,10 and 12. The triangle shows the substantial amount of web information gathering work required to acquire the wisdom for export trading decisions, actions and planning. The reverse triangle made up of areas 5, 7, 9 and 11 is however the substantial amount of cognitive processing in the human mind required to arrive at export trading decisions, actions and planning.
Thus, export trading members, being the web information seekers, should gather information wisely on the web. Having understood that, we will further investigate the rules in information gathering.

Rules for Information Seeking

Through the results of the case study, we also observe that export traders search for information over the web with search engines, web applications and web information services. Checking through with the export traders, we mutually derived some rules that export traders have to observe when conducting web information gathering:
　

Define a clear purpose for finding specific export trading information. There must be a very clear and specific focus or scope for searching. Clarity and specification require the search question to be articulated and then refined. E.g. To ascertain a wine competitor’s product price or a new product’s place in the market, one only searches the competitor’s website and/or any web application the competitor makes available.

Determine the exact types of information wanted. E.g. A wine exporter needs to know the laws restricting their wine export. The information type must be exactly on laws restricting wine export. The source can be any authority or corporation, whether governmental, societal or corporate providing wine export control regulation information.
　

Select search method(s) from the following three options

o the URL sites that provide information if they are known
o the search engine to get help E.g. altavista, google, hotbot and etc.
o web applications that provide information E.g. sales information from shopping mall does tell pricing and product details about an opponent organization.
　

Recognize limitations in findings E.g. government or private companies only publish things to be privatized but have confidential information withheld.
　

Determine the usefulness of the relevant information

o It must serve the search purpose E.g. if it is to find out control on 1000 litres of Australian wine to be exported, it is only the information from the relevant permit issuing authority, the Australian Wine Council, that is useful.
o The information must be current E.g. if the web page shows a last updated date that is two years ago, do suspect that the information may not be accurate anymore.
o The information must be validated. Caution that the published truth is distorted due to suppression or inaccurate reporting. A website of an individual may not present solid and truthful information as compared to a government statistical report on the web. Note that various related web sites can be used to justify each other’s stories. E.g. Different authorities report a similar way of export cargo declaration. Always reason and evaluate truth.
　

Recheck the search scope to ensure expected results E.g. if it is on Australian wine export and the countries that Australia can export wine to, the search should not divert to wine consumption domestically – stay within search scope.
　

Such rules are to be kept in mind before and during the web browsing activities to gather information. After exploring the basic rules, we will now investigate how web information gathering applies in a knowledge discovery process in knowledge management.AusWeb papers contain two types of references.

Framework of Information Seeking and Knowledge Discovery

Combining the understanding from sections 2, 3, 4 and 5, we perceive that web information gathering is an important knowledge discovery process in knowledge management. We further develop figure 3 as a framework of information seeking and knowledge discovery on web technology.
　

In figure 3, box 1 shows the rules of web information gathering. As explained in section 4, boxes 2 to 7 encapsulated within box 1 are the basic rules to keep in mind before and during gathering of web-based information in export trading. In box 4, a seeker decides on search methods (leading to options in boxes 8, 9 or 10). They choose one, combine them or take all of them. Where the information seeker browses the web endlessly, sometimes searching outside the boundary of work, box 6 is a checkpoint to focus back on work. At boxes 3 and 7, the seekers need to observe the limitations such as restriction on confidential information and work within a limited scope. Having clearly understood the steps to be taken in box 1, an information seeker then proceeds with web information gathering. Box 11 shows that there are two essential cognitive processes to perform when searching for information. At box 12 the information seeker builds the relations of web data, information, and knowledge that lead to wisdom. While the web displays text, figures, charts, and tables, it is the important role of the seeker who can piece all the jumbled pieces together to form a picture.

Having interpreted meaningful information leads to further work in integrating the information in similar patterns to form knowledge. Combining sufficient amounts of required knowledge together by following the principles can therefore create the needed wisdom. Therefore, web information seeking/gathering is important as it helps gather useful and essential explicit knowledge. At box 14, information sought needs to be evaluated (doubting and confirming the quality and validity), analyzed (higher level of thinking and reasoning), synthesized (understanding and transforming data to information and so on), and synergized (realizing the effect and creating values in results).
  
 

Figure 3: Information Seeking and Knowledge Discovery
 
In figure 3, a horizontal line above box 11 with four arrows across it depicts that all processes in boxes below the line contribute to the web-based knowledge discovery. Box 14 therefore denotes knowledge management requiring the input from the knowledge discovery process. The four arrows going across the horizontal lines basically explain that all explicit knowledge formed will be used as knowledge input in the knowledge management.

Conclusions and Future Directions

This paper first explains and redefines the relations amongst data, information, knowledge and wisdom. In a nutshell, data are simply facts. Using case study method, it explores the export traders’ see as knowledge they need to search and obtain from the web and their experience over the use of the web technology. It investigates the types of information and explicit knowledge on the web in relation to how knowledge forms wisdom the export traders required to solve the trade problems. It explores some rules the export traders need to follow to obtain the required knowledge. There is also a developed framework of information seeking and knowledge discovery for the specific export trading community. In brief, without weaving all related facts together there will be no meaningful information to inform the traders. Integration of information within a same/similar concept and patterns forms knowledge. When the required relevant types of knowledge are amalgamated in principles, wisdom takes place. Wisdom tailors solutions for trading problems and helps a trader decide how to act or plan. To be able to use explicit knowledge requires the cognitive skills to relate, conceptualize, evaluate, justify, analyze, synthesize and synergize.
　

Some main contributions of this research include the following. There is a fact-finding of how export trade community see as useful information searches adopting the rationale of relations of data, information and knowledge. There is a discovery of what they actually need on the web. There is finding of what they see as knowledge obtained through web information gathering and how it contributes to trading needs and allows them to manage their knowledge. Other contributions are the important rules that export traders can follow for web information gathering and a framework of information seeking and knowledge discovery. In concluding, we emphasize that the mined knowledge over the web is essential for strategic decision-making, action and planning in export trading arena. Web information gathering is also a method of knowledge discovery as required in the knowledge discovery process in knowledge management.
　

Future research is required to examine how explicit knowledge will be used in knowledge management processes such as knowledge creation, knowledge transfer and knowledge review. For future work, it is envisaged that some case studies will be piloted in other related exporting organizations, export service providing organizations and government authorities in this respect.

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