Master in Knowledge Management

Leaders Believe Nothing is Impossible

Master of Knowledge Management (MKM) is designed to graduate qualified professionals who are seeking a multidisciplinary degree. The Program offers integrated curricula that expose students to diverse disciplines and the theory and practice of Knowledge Management

Program Mission

The mission of the Program is to prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of the information management era, which they will face as knowledge management professionals. Students will be taught and trained in the latest trends in knowledge management. This is done by equipping the students with the necessary skills, research capability and ethics, which can provide excellent services and solutions to the community. In addition, the program is a unique graduate program that can further assist students to pursue their higher education.


Program Goals

Goal 1: Fill the domestic and regional market necessity of competent specialists in the field.

Goal 2: Support contemporary and contextual research topics in the field

Goal 3: Establish a specialized Knowledge Management clinic that advances the region’s knowledge and best practice

Goal 4:  Enable graduates to perform effectively in the Knowledge and information professions.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

For further information, please click here

ACCREDITATION

The American University in the Emirates is accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education | caa.ae

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Courses 30 Credit hours

Students may choose one of the following tracks:

FEE STRUCTURE

  • Tuition (One Semester)

    Approx. 41,000 AED
    One academic year is two semesters

  • Admission (One Time)

    3,500 AED

For more information about detailed fees and tution Find here

CORE COURSES

5 COURSES | 15 CREDIT HOURS

It was not till the late 1990’s that Chief Executive Officers began discussing Knowledge Management.  Since Knowledge Management as a practice is relatively young, many executives have struggled with successful models that could be used as guides. In this course, you will gain an understanding of several key issues that knowledge workers deal with.  We will also review current trends in Knowledge Management including but not limited to:

Organizational focus and investments in knowledge management.

A company’s knowledge strategy and how it reflects the competitive strategy.

The role and impact of automation on knowledge workers.

 

This course uses readings, case studies, personal projects and discussion to expose students to the field of Knowledge Management.  The course introduces you to the historical roots, theories, beliefs and frameworks in the field of Knowledge Management.  You will also learn to determine the infrastructure requirements to manage intellectual capital. Additionally, you will learn about the role and skill set of today’s knowledge professionals.

 "If we only knew what we know, we'd all be a lot smarter." -  Lew Platt, Former CEO, Hewlett Packard

It would be very challenging to understand where an organization needs improvement without establishing a baseline. You learn the purpose of a knowledge audit. This includes the steps involved with identifying, evaluation and rating critical process knowledge, the various audit methods available, and how to audit and analyze a company's existing knowledge. You will understand and practically apply the formulation and planning, human capital mapping, internal knowledge markets and incentives. 

 

You will build upon the foundation of Knowledge Management to apply knowledge principles and peer perspectives to current state as we begin developing knowledge strategy.  You will then conduct a complete knowledge audit aimed at assessing the knowledge needs of your department/organization/institution.  You will further understand the infrastructure requirements to manage information and tacit knowledge at an organization/institution.  Your assessment should follow a holistic approach and apply the principles of Knowledge Management as they relate to enterprise wide information and knowledge services.   

In this course, you will learn about organizing and presenting information to ensure it is easily accessible and relevant. The first part of the course focuses on metadata and metadata standards. You will review readings, case studies and gain a better understanding of taxonomies and search.  You will then explore search, search tools, standards and look at traditional and innovative ways to use metadata.   

 

In the latter part of the course, you will learn how to create a taxonomy including the logic, tools and processes that help drive productivity within an organization. Course activities will include weekly interactive lectures, readings, case studies and discussions.  You will be assessed on participation and the quality of the discussion.  Additionally, you will complete two group assignments and a group presentation.  

In this course, you will explore collaboration and communities of practice from a theoretical and practical perspective.  This course will review personal networks and social networks, the natural lifecycle of communities and best practices for cultivating and sustaining communities. You will also gain extensive insight into the latest trends on the web and a range of methods from predictive analysis to social marketing.  You will learn how to facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer within and across organizations. 

 

In the spirit of collaboration, this interactive course will provide you with opportunities to work in a group and participate in a peer review.    

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”- Peter Drucker

How do effective leaders influence organizations and individuals to move in a direction?  How do knowledge managers shape individual behavior and drive adoption and engagement?  Successful KM Leaders must work with Leaders to drive change.  They are often the catalysts in initiatives towards operational excellence.  

In this course you will gain theoretical and project based learning of organizational change and leadership styles that support change.  You will gain an understanding of the complexities of work cultures and how they impact a knowledge organization.  Culture impacts and influences the way people work, decision making, communities of practice and knowledge sharing.  Then, you will explore change management strategies and tactics for different types of change, aligning stakeholders behind the vision and understanding and overcoming resistance to change.  

 

You will gain practical skills in leading interventions, change management frameworks and maximizing opportunity, measuring and realizing value throughout change initiatives aimed at making your organization more agile.  Throughout this course, the objective will be to prepare Knowledge Management professionals to meet the challenges of organizational change successfully.

ELECTIVE COURSES

CHOOSE 3 COURSES | 9 CREDIT HOURS

Information and data are growing at an exponential rate.  Analytics allows us to explore science and human behavior. Businesses and governments require effective strategic intelligence to track competition and manage and disseminate knowledge. For example, Capital One Bank uses analytic capabilities to match credit card offerings to customers more accurately than their competitors.  Walmart uses analytics to monitor and update its inventory in a way that allows it to serve its customers at an exceptionally low cost.  Companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Walmart, Netflix and many other leading-edge companies are highly successful because they make very good use of the data they collect.  In this course, will you explore how to turn data into information and then into knowledge, which in turn translate into actionable insights.  You will learn to identify and evaluate business analytic opportunities that can create strategic value for your organization.  Additionally, you will learn basic analytic methods and analyze case studies on organizations and institutions that have successfully developed these techniques. Finally, you  will review challenges that arise in implementing analytical capabilities and gain practical skills to help drive knowledge initiatives that enable organizations to be more data driven and impacting effectiveness.   

There is no such thing as Knowledge Management; there are only knowledgeable people. Information only becomes knowledge in the hands of someone who knows what to do with it.  Peter Drucker

 

This course will examine how knowledge services are designed, developed and implemented with sound governance and knowledge culture considerations.  We will build on the knowledge audit that you developed in course KM 601- Knowledge Assessment and Evaluation. This course will draw on examples from various organizations on strategies for building a successful knowledge strategy and services for an organization or institution.   

This course is designed to introduce to nature, scope and the significance of research methodology. The course includes primary and secondary research methods with application to specific problems.  You will use methods that are employed in both qualitative and quantitative research methods for individual investigation on current problems in knowledge management.  You will complete an individual research proposal based on a topic in knowledge management, using the course’s assigned textbooks and select peer reviewed sources.

In this course you will study introduction to enterprise wide applications such as intranets, content management systems, search and social media.  The course will also explore Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems. Off the shelf systems are often expensive and very complex. Organizations must make decisions about whether to buy off the shelf systems or customize and adapt and in some cases, build from scratch.   It is important for knowledge managers to understand the options, complexity of these systems and organizational goals.  

 

In this course, you will examine case studies in this key area as well as feature guest speakers related to the digital workplace.  You will further explore how CRM systems interact with other knowledge systems, roles and responsibilities. Additionally, you will gain insight into implementing single projects and portfolios of enterprise tools.   By examining case studies on actual implementations of these key systems, you will have focused discussions on what these systems are, how they work and key Knowledge Management considerations.   You will also work in a group combining individual projects to develop a roadmap for the implementation of an enterprise wide portfolio.

Today's complex systems often produce complex information needs that require new technical communication methods and tools.  This course surveys Knowledge Management systems that enable the access of knowledge assets. There are several categories of Knowledge Management systems semantic networks, content management, groupware systems and KM 2.0, intranets, extranets, document management system, data warehousing systems.  You will also look at implementation of a Knowledge Management system. The business and system issues associated with the analysis, design, construction, deployment, management and evaluation of Knowledge Management systems are addressed. 

A Knowledge Management system can enable your business to make better decisions.  A Knowledge Management system focuses on both explicit and tacit knowledge.  Many publishers use content management systems (CMS) to constantly update web pages and properties with fresh content to engage web visitors. In your role as a knowledge professional, it is quite likely that you will be involved in the implementation of a new tool and it is important to think strategically about this tool and the enterprise architecture.

There is a growing need in the labor market for experts who with the ability to recognize and understand the needs of a Knowledge Management system and skills to implementation and organize content in such a system.

 

You will use Knowledge Management technologies, review case studies and analyze knowledge processes and systems.  Additionally, you will learn the implementation planning process of a knowledge system for an organization and the role of the Knowledge Management.

Knowledge of Document Management and Records Management are key processes for anyone working in Information Management.  This course covers the principles and application of document management, records management and their associated systems.  Student will examine principles, frameworks and the relationship with information policy and industry standards.  The course will also introduce students to the records lifecycle, ensuring students can reconcile the physical and intellectual considerations related to curating, managing and preserving digital materials from a Knowledge Management perspective.

With the growth of big data and internet records we will further explore how we manage social media, Web 2.0 and instant message records and also understand the role of knowledge managers in this key area.

 

The course will involve lectures, case studies and insight into key practices related to managing and procedural frameworks in implementing a document and records management solutions.

Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage in today’s environment requires organizations and institutions know how to innovate.  The ability to think creatively and turn ideas into action helps organizations stand apart from their competitors.  As a Knowledge Management professional, it is important to foster innovation in knowledge initiatives.  The goal of this course is to help develop your skills and teach you tools and techniques to create innovative products and services in your organization.

In this course, you will examine three main phases: exploring and discovery, executing and design and leveraging and renewing innovation through delivery. You will focus on developing new ways of thinking and opportunities to apply these ways of thinking through a course project and various class exercises.  

 

During this course, you will go from idea to reality. Collectively, we will start with about 500-750 rough ideas and, through a variety of structured techniques, you and your smaller team will then refine them into approximately a dozen finished concepts. The purpose of this exercise is to give you a "live case" example of an innovation process that can be used to explore how to boost innovation in your organization. Additionally, throughout the course you will examine and learn through lectures, case analyses, visiting experts, relevant readings and student presentations.

Structuring online content is essential so that people can easily find what they are looking for. This course introduces you to concepts and practices in Information Architecture as well as basic elements of user experience design (UXD).  Students will learn the broader context of Enterprise Architecture and develop practical skills to compare, analyze and design information architectures.  The focus of Information Architecture is the structure and organization of content in an intranet, knowledge hub, website, mobile app, or other knowledge system with the goal of improved findability.  Information Architecture is essential as it provides consistent taxonomies, metadata, search functionality and structured vocabulary with the user in mind.  

 

The course will have a group and individual component.  For the group component, students will analyze a website from an Information Architecture perspective in a small group as well as conduct user research. For the individual component, you will select a target intranet or website for design, create the Information Architecture design and develop a presentation showing the process and workflows. 

CAPSTONE TRACK

2 COURSES | 6 CREDIT HOURS

The Capstone project provides student the opportunity to demonstrate mastery across the curriculum. You will be expected to apply your cumulative learning and experiences working on a real-world knowledge management challenge with a sponsor organization.  It is intended to provide you with real value and is an opportunity to develop solutions and deepen your knowledge in the field of Knowledge Management. Our carefully selected capstone sponsors will benefit from research, analysis and insights from students and learned faculty and knowledge management professionals.

THESIS

6 CREDIT HOURS

This course and all prerequisite courses are required for the Masters in Knowledge Management.  The purpose of this course is to complete all required courses culminating your experience in the Masters of Knowledge Management program and validating them as a practitioner.  This course requires detailed research and practical application demonstrating critical thinking and uses the knowledge you have acquired during the program.  This course is only offered after all your core classes have been completed.

ATTENDANCE

WEEKDAY CLASSES

Course A | sun –tue | 5:00 pm –8:00 pm
Course B | mon –wed | 5:00 pm –8:00 pm
If one course is registered, one timing would be selected

WEEKEND CLASSES

Course A | fri –sat | 9:00 am –12:00 pm
Course B | fri –sat | 2:00 pm –5:00 pm
If one course is registered, one timing would be selected

JOINING THE PROGRAM

Students can join anytime during the year and at the beginning of any block.

September

FALL SEMESTER

JANUARY

SPRING SEMESTER

MAY

SUMMER SEMESTER

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