Device and method for simulating knowledge utilization effect, and program for calculating knowledge utilization effect by simulation

The present invention is a device, a method, and a method for simulating a knowledge utilization effect, which is suitable for combined use with a management simulation that simulates a financial numerical change from a change in an evaluation index of organizational ability and supports a manager's decision making. And about the program.

The importance of knowledge utilization in corporate management is recognized. As one aspect of knowledge management, utilizing knowledge is to accumulate, share, and analyze unorganized information to turn it into knowledge that is effective, or it is the act of producing the effect. .. By utilizing knowledge, individuals and organizations can continuously create added value and create new knowledge, so knowledge utilization is regarded as a source of competitive advantage in companies.

Questionnaires are a means of objectively recognizing whether or not knowledge is being utilized. Quantitative analysis of individual employee awareness through questionnaires is routinely practiced in corporate practice. Business owners take improvement measures after objectively measuring knowledge utilization through such questionnaires. At this time, the concern of many business owners is what kind of financial impact the improvement measures will have.

However, in the past, it was difficult to predict such effects before implementing the measures, and there was no choice but to evaluate them in a way that depended on the peculiarities of individual cases. On the other hand, performance evaluation simulations related to corporate management are based on financial figures, and it is common practice to obtain various financial indicators by performing various calculations on them.

Therefore, although the importance of knowledge utilization is recognized, the current situation is that no simulations have been provided to improve actual knowledge utilization and link it to financial figures.

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is an integrated management method for corporate strategy and performance evaluation indicators. Card) has been used more and more in recent years. The Balanced Scorecard is a type of management tool that develops visions and strategies as actions (activities) from the company-wide level to the department level. The outcome of the activity must be evaluated appropriately, and an evaluation index is indispensable for that purpose. Therefore, the Balanced Scorecard develops visions and strategies into goals and performance indicators from the following four perspectives. That is, (1) customer's perspective-how the customer sees it-, (2) financial perspective-how the shareholders see it-, (3) internal business process perspective-in which field of internal business excels. Should-, (4) Learning and Growth Perspectives-Is there room for improvement or value creation in organizational capabilities and infrastructure? By assembling performance evaluation indicators from these different perspectives, it is possible to evaluate whether or not the activities of each organization match the direction of corporate strategy without biasing to financial evaluation. On the other hand, in recent years, a method of explaining the relationship between performance indicators by the causal relationship between individual viewpoints has been used, and the causal relationship between business indicators and financial indicators is particularly convincing.

However, knowledge utilization, which is said to support organizational capabilities, belongs to the perspective of learning and growth, and the most difficult thing to explain in the causal chain of the Balanced Scorecard is internal work from the perspective of learning and growth. Relevance to the perspective of the process. In addition, an activity cost calculation system is known as an example of a technique for analyzing fluctuations in financial indicators by business analysis (for example, Patent Document 1). This method is a method of analyzing the amount of work by using the method of Activity Based Costing (ABC) used for cost accounting and the like, and can be used for the purpose of business improvement and the like. However, it cannot be used for the purpose of analyzing the quality of business behavior from the viewpoint of knowledge utilization. It is also difficult to think about the abilities of organizations and members in relation to their work.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-3389</text></patcit>

<p> The present invention can analyze the amount of work from the viewpoint of knowledge utilization, preferably explain the effect as a financial numerical value, and support a company's performance evaluation simulation and decision-making for subsequent measures. With the goal.</p>

<p> The knowledge utilization effect simulation device according to one aspect of the present invention has a first template that defines the degree of knowledge utilization behavior required for utilizing knowledge in association with an index having a variable index level, and for performing business. A second template that defines the composition ratio of related knowledge utilization behavior in relation to the amount of work, and a change in the impact rate (impact) on the work and the index level corresponding to the degree of the knowledge utilization behavior. By setting means for setting the fluctuation rate of the influence rate as a simulation condition and multiplying the work amount according to the composition ratio of the knowledge utilization behavior, the work amount after the index level change can be obtained. It is provided with a simulation means for calculating.</p><p> The first template includes a knowledge utilization action template, and the second template includes a business flow template.</p>

<p> According to the present invention, it is possible to quantify the effect of qualitative improvement of knowledge utilization behavior from the evaluation index from the viewpoint of learning and growth representing the organizational characteristics and the amount of work from the viewpoint of business process, which is preferable. Can be supported in decision making by expressing the financial value.</p>

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a simulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is a server system in which the business server 100 and the simulation server 200 are connected via the communication line N.

The business server 100 includes a business analysis result storage unit 10, a communication unit 11, a business result storage unit 12, and an information input / output unit 13. The person in charge of business, etc. 14 can input the actual value of the work (quantity) performed in the daily work through the information input / output unit 13. The business result storage unit 12 stores the input actual value in the same format as the business flow template described later.

In the present embodiment, the function of the knowledge utilization effect simulation according to the present invention is realized as computer software on the simulation server 200 (hereinafter, referred to as "knowledge utilization effect simulation system"). The simulation server 200 includes a communication unit 20, a simulation unit 21, a knowledge utilization action template 22, a business flow template 23, a strategy / goal / evaluation index storage unit 24, an evaluation index template 25, an information input / output unit 26, and a difference analysis unit 27. And has a simulation result storage unit 28.

The management system administrator 29 is a client for the knowledge utilization effect simulation system built on the simulation server 200, and can input strategies, goals, and evaluation indexes necessary for strategic communication through the information input / output unit 26. .. The strategy / goal / evaluation index storage unit 24 has a function of accumulating the input strategy / goal / evaluation index for each organizational hierarchy and for each Balanced Scorecard (BSC) evaluation axis.

The configuration and operation of the simulation unit 21, the knowledge utilization template 22, the business flow template 23, and the evaluation index template 25 will be described in detail later.

The difference analysis unit 27 has a function of referring to the actual value of daily work stored in the work result storage unit 12 and the simulation result (predicted value) stored in the simulation result storage unit 28 and calculating the difference. .. The value calculated as the difference is stored in the business analysis result storage unit 10.

The simulation result storage unit 28 has a function of accumulating numerical results obtained through a series of simulations.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the basic screen of the knowledge utilization effect simulation system. Knowledge utilization effect The main function of the simulation system can be executed by a user 29 such as a management system administrator through the basic screen 300. The basic screen 300 has a button 30 for activating the strategy / goal / evaluation index input / edit screen, a button 31 for activating the business flow template input / edit screen, and a knowledge utilization action template input / edit screen. Button 32 is arranged to start. In addition, a button 33 for instructing the execution of the knowledge utilization effect simulation, a button 34 for activating the input / edit screen of various simulation conditions, a button 35 for instructing the execution of the difference analysis, and a knowledge utilization effect simulation system. Buttons 36 for instructing the end of are arranged respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the evaluation index template. The evaluation index template 25 defines various evaluation indexes in association with the strategy for the learning and growth perspective of the Balanced Scorecard. The evaluation index is a means to express the concrete numerical value of the goal, and links the organizational characteristics to the strategy and the goal from the viewpoint of learning and growth. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the evaluation index 42 is linked to the specific strategy and goal in the viewpoint 41 of learning and growth for each of the different organizational hierarchies 40. In this case, the user 29 such as the management system administrator can select and link an appropriate evaluation index from the evaluation index template 25 shown in FIG.

The definition information as shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the strategy / goal / evaluation index storage unit 24.

The organizational hierarchy 40 is a classification unit (level) of an organization according to the scale, and all organizations are classified into any level represented by this organizational hierarchy. The tissue hierarchy 40 generally has a pyramid-shaped structure as shown in FIG. The pyramid structure may be assigned additional tissue (not shown) such as the so-called task force.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a business flow template. The business flow template 23 defines the frequency / number of times of the business and the time per business for each business level 60, and has a standard value of the business volume and information to be a point. The actual measurement of the evaluation index is based on the collection of business data, but assuming that there is no data input at the initial startup of the system, it is desirable to prepare a template with a certain standard value. Therefore, in the business flow template 23, the average business hours 61 per month is input in advance as the standard value of the business volume. In addition, type 63 of actions for information shows the composition ratio of knowledge utilization actions related to business execution, and numerical values of six actions of "collect", "examine", "answer", "learn", "make", and "tell". Define the ratio of each action so that the total is 10.

In the business flow template 23, the standard value of the business volume (average business hours 61) is defined in association with the composition ratio of the action type for the information. The composition ratio of knowledge utilization behavior related to business execution is defined in action type 63 with respect to information 62. In the example of Fig. 6, the standard value of 20 hours for "office work-information acquisition-email check" can be interpreted as 4 hours for "collecting", 6 hours for "examining", and 10 hours for "telling". .. Information 62 is knowledge related to the performance of the business (for example, information called "business weekly report" in the business of "weekly report" in "regular report"). The action type 63 defines the composition ratio of the action types required to utilize the information 62 for the business. The composition ratio of actions is the ratio of individual actions to the total actions, where the entire action (total knowledge utilization action) is set to, for example, 10. For example, in the business of "weekly report", information 62 is "business weekly report", and the actions that utilize this "business weekly report" are "collect" and "tell", and the composition ratio is 5: 5. Also, in the "mail check" business, the actions that utilize information 62 (which is unspecified in this business) are "collect", "examine", and "tell", and the composition ratio is 2: 3: 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the knowledge utilization action template 22. The knowledge utilization action template 22 is a template that defines the (evaluation) index 70 in association with the gist 71 of the index and the action 72 necessary for utilizing knowledge. As the index 70, the one defined in the evaluation index template 25 described above is used. Index 70 has a variable index level in the knowledge utilization effect simulation.

In the case of the example of Fig. 7, the actions 72 required to utilize knowledge are "collect", "examine", "answer", "learn", "make", and "tell", and the degree of these actions (in this embodiment). One of the three levels 1, 3, and 5) is defined.

It is necessary to set the simulation conditions when carrying out the knowledge utilization effect simulation. In this embodiment, the impact rate (impact) on the work corresponding to the degree of knowledge utilization behavior is set as the knowledge utilization behavior simulation condition. Impact corresponds to operational efficiency (%). In addition, as a business simulation condition based on the business flow template, the volatility (%) of impact corresponding to the fluctuation of the index level is set.

These simulation condition setting screens can be activated by the user 29 pressing the condition input button 34 on the basic screen 300 shown in FIG. When inputting / editing the conditions of impact of behavior necessary for utilizing knowledge, for example, the interface screen 80 as shown in FIG. 8 is used. When inputting / editing the condition of the volatility of the impact on the knowledge utilization behavior due to the fluctuation of the index level, for example, the interface screen 90 as shown in FIG. 9 is used. An interface for setting these simulation conditions is associated with the information input / output unit 26.

I will explain in a little more detail the perspective of actions necessary to utilize knowledge. Conventionally, when it comes to work volume surveys, methods such as ABC have been used from the perspective of subdividing daily work and measuring and managing the subdivided behavior. However, because there is a lack of perspective on how the subdivided behaviors position with respect to knowledge utilization, the cause and effect of how measures that promote knowledge utilization lead to improvement in the quality of behaviors. The relationship was not clear.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, by using the knowledge utilization behavior template, it is possible to analyze the amount of work from the viewpoint of grasping the influence of the knowledge utilization behavior on the work. Here, "knowledge utilization behavior" is a summary of behavior types from the viewpoint of what kind of behavior is required from the viewpoint of utilizing knowledge, and each type of knowledge utilization behavior is a thesaurus. Expanded to compose the entire knowledge utilization behavior template. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the Knowledge Value Chain (KVC), which shows the relationship between the knowledge utilization scene and the actual business scene. According to the knowledge value chain, regarding the relationship between the performance indicators of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), the evaluation index 1001 from the viewpoint of learning and growth is at the bottom, and the ripple effect is from the viewpoint of business process 1002, the viewpoint of finance. Flow up to 1003.

The target company aims to improve the quality of actions that occur when employees conduct surveys in their work by implementing measures that increase the effectiveness of knowledge utilization. Here, the business is, for example, general office work in sales as shown in the business flow template 23 in FIG. 6, specifically, office work such as mail check, circulation confirmation, and regular meeting. .. Needless to say, the content of business is not limited to any particular one.

The target company simulates the financial value by increasing the utilization effect. Generally, such a simulation is performed when making a decision on whether or not to actually implement a measure by grasping in advance the magnitude of the effect (profit) on the cost of the measure. The timing of performing the simulation is usually before the implementation of the measures.

Figure 11 is a flowchart showing a series of processes from the definition of strategy to the execution of knowledge utilization effect simulation and business operation. First, the target company defines its own strategy (step S1 = YES, step S2). In step S2, first, the corporate strategy and the organizational hierarchy are defined. Next, for all the defined organizational hierarchies, texts and the like of free description of strategies and goals are input, and evaluation indexes are associated with them. These input information are stored in the strategy / goal / evaluation index storage unit 24. Here, the BSC also drills down the evaluation index.

Next, we move on to the execution of the knowledge utilization effect simulation (step S3 = YES, step S4). The procedure for simulating the knowledge utilization effect will be described later with reference to FIG. Knowledge utilization effect In the business operation (step S5 = YES, step S6) following the execution of the simulation, the actual value is collected and accumulated by the actual business operation. In addition, the difference analysis between the simulation result and the actual value is also performed. The procedure for business operation will be described later with reference to FIG.

If a strategy change occurs, you can go back to step S2, redefine the information, and then repeat the above steps (step S7 = YES), and you can continue to repeat the simulation without changing the strategy. Yes (step S8 = YES). When the end of the simulation is instructed in step S9, the simulation results obtained so far are accumulated and saved in the simulation result storage unit 28.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of knowledge utilization effect simulation.

The procedure for knowledge utilization effect simulation is step S10 for inputting knowledge utilization behavior simulation conditions, step S11 for inputting business simulation conditions based on business flow templates, step S12 for executing simulations, and step S13 for executing financial numerical difference analysis. It has step S14 to control the restart and end of the simulation, and step S15 to save the simulation result.

In the knowledge utilization action template 22 shown in Fig. 7, it is displayed under each column of actions necessary for utilizing knowledge ("collect", "examine", "answer", "learn", "make", and "tell"). The numbers 1, 3 and 5 correspond to the degree of knowledge utilization behavior as described above. Then, in the knowledge utilization behavior simulation conditions shown in FIG. 8, the impact value is input for each degree of knowledge utilization behavior. For example, 20% (efficiency) is input for degree 1 (weak), 40% is input for degree 3 (medium), and 60% is input for degree 5 (strong).

Business simulation conditions show how much impact this improves on the behaviors needed to utilize knowledge as the metrics from a learning and growth perspective improve. The level of the evaluation index from the viewpoint of learning and growth is expressed by discrete numerical values from 1 to 5. For example, 1 is the lowest rank and 5 is the highest rank. To enumerate the fluctuations of the evaluation index level, the upward fluctuations are 1 to 2, 1 to 3, 1 to 4, 1 to 5, 1 to 5, 2 to 3, 2 From to 4, fluctuations from 2 to 5, ... fluctuations from 4 to 5. On the other hand, downward fluctuations are fluctuations from 5 to 4, fluctuations from 5 to 3, fluctuations from 5 to 2, and so on. Under the business simulation conditions shown in Fig. 9, for example, assuming that the volatility when the fluctuation of the evaluation index level is 1 is 100%, the fluctuation rate is 120% for 2, 140% for 3, and 160% for 4. And so on, the volatility of impact is entered.

In Fig. 7, if the index level of awareness of knowledge assets that are important in the future rises from 1 to 3, for example, there is a strong degree (60% efficiency improvement) in "collecting", and the impact of fluctuations in the index level. Since the volatility of is 120%, it is considered that the work volume can be improved by 72% by multiplying these. Similarly, it is possible to quantitatively calculate the efficiency of work volume for knowledge utilization behaviors such as "examine" and "answer".

In actually performing the performance evaluation simulation in the simulation step S12, the performance evaluation is calculated according to the input values of the above simulation conditions. Specifically, the simulation conditions input based on the knowledge utilization behavior by the above processing are associated with the simulation conditions input based on the business flow template 23, thereby providing an evaluation index from the viewpoint of learning and growth. It is possible to simulate an increase or decrease in the amount of work due to rising.

For example, if the effect of knowledge utilization increases from the viewpoint of learning and growth means that the recognition of important knowledge assets in the future will increase from 2 to 3, "collect", "examine", "answer", and "answer". The volatility of impact on behavior required to utilize the knowledge of learning, making, and communicating is 100%, resulting in 60%, 40%, 40%, 60%, 60%, and 60%, respectively. It can be regarded as promoting the efficiency of.

Here, simulating the impact on the business of "office work," "regular report," and "minutes" shown in the example of business flow template 23 shown in Fig. 6, the average business time per month is 2 hours. Therefore, from the viewpoint of knowledge utilization, the actions related to information have a composition ratio of 5: 5 for each of the actions of "collecting" and "transmitting". It is one hour.

Improving the evaluation index from the viewpoint of learning and growth was related to improving the quality of behavior, so if you calculate with this, work efficiency improvement of "collecting" 80% x 1 hour 0.8 hours, work efficiency improvement of "communication" 80% x 1 hour is 0.8 hours, which is shortened to 1.6 hours in total. That is, the difference from the standard work volume (average work hours per month) is (2-1.6 =) 0.4 hours, and assuming that the standard unit price of the worker is 5000 yen per hour, the financial value is about 2000 yen. It can be seen that there is. Furthermore, it is possible to simulate the financial value of the entire organization by multiplying the number of workers (step S13). These conditions can be entered / edited on the financial parameter input screen as shown in FIG. 14, for example.

The above series of simulation results are displayed on the screen as an output as shown in FIG. By pressing the simulation result save button 151, the simulation result is given a time stamp and stored in the simulation result storage unit 28.

As explained above, the amount of work can be analyzed from the viewpoint of utilizing knowledge. It is also possible to explain the effect as a financial numerical value, and it is possible to effectively support the decision-making for the corporate performance evaluation simulation and the subsequent policy decision-making. Specifically, it is possible to quantify the effect of improving the quality of knowledge utilization behavior from the evaluation index from the viewpoint of learning and growth, which represents the organizational characteristics, and the amount of work from the viewpoint of business processes. The qualitative improvement effect of knowledge utilization behavior can be expressed by financial value, and financial numerical management can be easily linked to performance management.

The advantage of the Balanced Scorecard that has been used in the past is that performance indicators can be evaluated in an integrated manner by systematically arranging seemingly contradictory performance indicators, and that performance indicators are based on corporate strategy. , It can be used not only as a performance evaluation but also as a strategic communication tool. However, the means to show the relationship between various performance indicators largely depends on each operation, and especially about the concrete means to show the relevance of the performance indicators from the viewpoint of learning and growth to the viewpoint of internal business processes. Was often based on ambiguous subjectivity.

On the other hand, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it becomes possible to immediately observe how the improvement in the quality of knowledge utilization affects the change in the amount of work. Therefore, whether or not measures should be taken to promote the improvement in the quality of knowledge. It becomes possible to make an objective judgment. Furthermore, it is possible to provide useful information for decision making by comparing the predicted value of the amount of work and the corresponding actual value.

(Difference analysis) The target company aims to actually implement measures to improve the effect of utilizing knowledge and analyze how the workload of employees differs from the predicted value. For this purpose, the difference analysis unit 27 can be used. Difference analysis is not essential in knowledge utilization behavior simulation and is performed as an option.

As shown in Fig. 13, the procedure during business operation is step S20, which captures the business log to acquire the actual value (actual time) of the business volume from the business server 100, and the estimated business execution time and actual time based on the simulation. It has a step S21 for performing a difference analysis by comparing the above and a step S23 for reviewing the simulation conditions.

The target company is executing the above-mentioned knowledge utilization behavior simulation, and the simulation result is stored in the simulation result storage unit 28. The actual value of the business volume accumulated in the business result storage unit 12 of the business server 100 is the actual value of the average business hours (standard business volume) per month shown in the business flow template 23 of FIG. The time stamp at the time of saving the result is saved as a key.

The user 29, such as the management system administrator, specifies one arbitrary time stamp to be compared from the simulation results stored in the simulation result storage unit 28, and stores it in the business result storage unit 12 of the business server 100. Specify the time stamp of the actual value that has been set. The specified actual value is taken into the simulation server 200 from the business server 100 via the communication units 11 and 20.

The difference analysis unit 27 calculates the difference in the average work volume for each month, and displays the difference analysis screen 160 as shown in FIG. 16 together with the average work volume for each month. On the difference analysis screen 160, the predicted value (simulation result) 161, the actual value (business result) 162, and the difference 161 are displayed at the same time. Based on such difference analysis, user 29 can confirm the effectiveness of measures that improve the effect of utilizing knowledge. By pressing the save button 164, the difference analysis result is given a time stamp and stored in the business analysis result storage unit 10.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and at the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied within a range that does not deviate from the gist thereof. In addition, various inventions can be formed by an appropriate combination of the plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiment. For example, some components may be removed from all the components shown in the embodiments. In addition, components across different embodiments may be combined as appropriate.

<figref num="1">Block diagram showing a simulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention</figref><figref num="2">Diagram showing an example of the basic screen of the knowledge utilization effect simulation system</figref><figref num="3">Diagram showing an example of evaluation index template</figref><figref num="4">Diagram showing an example of strategy / goal / evaluation index information</figref><figref num="5">Diagram showing an example of organizational hierarchy</figref><figref num="6">Diagram showing an example of business flow template</figref><figref num="7">Diagram showing an example of knowledge utilization behavior template</figref><figref num="8">A diagram showing an example of an input / edit screen for knowledge utilization behavior simulation conditions</figref><figref num="9">Diagram showing an example of the input / edit screen for business simulation conditions</figref><figref num="10">Conceptual diagram showing the knowledge value chain</figref><figref num="11">Flow chart showing a series of processes from strategy definition to knowledge utilization effect simulation execution and business operation</figref><figref num="12">Flowchart showing the procedure of knowledge utilization effect simulation</figref><figref num="13">Flowchart showing the procedure during business operation</figref><figref num="14">Diagram showing an example of the financial parameter input screen</figref><figref num="15">Diagram showing an example of the knowledge utilization effect simulation result output screen</figref><figref num="16">Diagram showing an example of the difference analysis screen</figref>

Code description

10 ... Business analysis result storage department, 11,20 ... Communication department, 12 ... Business result storage department, 13,26 ... Information input / output department, 14 ... Business staff, etc. 21. .. Simulation Department, 22 ... Knowledge Utilization Behavior Template, 23 ... Business Flow Template, 24 ... Strategy / Goal / Evaluation Index Storage Department, 25 ... Evaluation Index Template, 27 ... Difference Analysis Department , 28 ... Simulation result storage department, 29 ... Management system administrator, etc., 100 ... Business server, 200 ... Simulation server