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Knowledge Management Implementation Strategies: Case Studies Benjamin Adesola PhD ACADeMY tHE [email protected]
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Page 1: Km Implementation Strategies Case Studies V2 1 March2011

Knowledge Management Implementation Strategies:

Case StudiesBenjamin Adesola PhD

ACADeMY

tHE

[email protected]

Page 2: Km Implementation Strategies Case Studies V2 1 March2011

Presentation Outline

Background & Methodology Concept of Knowledge Management (KM) Integrated Knowledge Management Model (IKMM) Implementation of Knowledge Management Strategies Case Studies:

Analysis of KM Projects Practitioner KM Approaches & Strategies Practitioners KM Implementation & Measurement Interpretation of Results

Case Study Summary of Lessons Learnt Discussion : Questions & Answers

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Background

MOTIVATION This research area needs to fill current gap in thinking, by clarifying what

knowledge management really appears to be about and how best to do it.

The goal is to investigate “knowledge management projects, implementation strategies and demonstrate its application in

practice with case studies”.

At the outset, it is necessary to discuss:(a) what is meant by knowledge and knowledge management? (b) what may be called knowledge management projects and the key issues underlying knowledge management implementation strategies? (c) Are KM methodologies special, ordinary or borrowed?

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Methodology

APPROACHES TO DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS Combination of semi-structured interviews, workshops and focus

group exercises, group discussion and brainstorming sessions with practitioners.

In-depth interviews of senior management consultants in three major management consultant practices were carried out.

Three global non-management consultant practitioners were interviewed including chemical, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

Target audience included Chief Knowledge Officers, Chief Information Officers and Client-Facing Knowledge Managers.

The interview subjects were guaranteed anonymity in order to promote an open discussion.

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The Concept of Knowledge Management

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE? The key issue is how to manage knowledge. Before this can be explored, it is necessary to ask some fundamental

questions: What is knowledge, and how do we define knowledge management?

“Knowledge is information that changes something or somebody – either by becoming grounds for actions, or by making an individual (or an institution) capable of different or more effective action.”

Peter F. Drucker in The New Realities.

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The Concept of Knowledge Management

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?

There is no single generally accepted definition of knowledge management – Drucker writes that “knowledge has become the key economic

resource and the dominant – perhaps even the only – source of comparative advantage.”

This meant that the issue of managing knowledge is a core activity of any business as it is imperative in gaining sustainable competitive advantage. Ruggles states that knowledge management is more than a sales-

pitch. He argued that “it is an approach to adding or creating value by more actively leveraging the know-how, experience, and judgement resident within and, in many cases, outside of an organisation.”

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Integrated Knowledge Management Model

ELEMENTS CONSTITUTING KM The three elements constituting an Integrated KM Model (read my Blog on KM Implementation Strategy @ EMA International ) http://ema-i.org/Default.aspx?pageId=869482

The Learning Organisation, Innovating and Intellectual Capital

As shown in Figure 1, these are three overlapping and complimentary approaches derived from literature survey and practitioners’ experience.

Figure 1 Integrated KM Model (IKMM)

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Formulating a Knowledge Management Business Strategy There are fundamental questions to consider:

What is our business formula?What is our competitor business formula?How do we compete and in what market?How long have we got?What are the risk and reward?What is the right approach?Where do we start? How long will it take?What are the barriers to entry? What are alternative strategies?

These questions will help link current business issues to knowledge activities.

Implementing Knowledge Management Strategies

WHAT IS A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT BUSINESS STRATEGY? The purpose of strategy is to create mechanisms for competitive advantage.

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Formulating a Knowledge Management Business Strategy

Successful implementations will depend on understanding the art and skill necessary to develop enablers and reduce blockers in the sharing and learning processes.

The drivers for success are: winning the hearts and mind of key stakeholders, the right people to lead the project; sufficient resources to deliver well-proven performance, having logical sequence for rolling out programs and an appropriate measurement system.

Implementing Knowledge Management Strategies

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Case Studies

WHY CASE STUDIES? The case studies are used to answer the following questions:

What is considered a knowledge management project? What methodology are practitioners using? How are practitioners’ implementing knowledge management?

The case studies validated requirements for an Integrated KM Approach.

analyse responses to case study interview questionsexamine six organisations that are KM practitioners demonstrate how three of the organisations undertook KM initiatives to

varying degrees of success; demonstrate how three of the organisations provide management

consultants services to other practitioners.

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Case Studies

DISCUSSION OF CASE STUDIES QUESTIONS Data collection was by unstructured interviews with practitioners, this

encouraged detailed discussion. The interview was divided into four sections.

Section 1: The objective of questions asked was to build up some background to what has led organisations to implement KM

Section 2: The questions asked were to identify what practitioners consider KM projects

Section 3: Five questions were asked, to establish whether practitioners’ differentiate between KM strategy & business strategy.

Section 4: The questions asked were to establish the process used to implement KM initiatives.

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Case Studies (Section 1)

Company Background, Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company A Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company B Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company C Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

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Case Studies (Section 1)

Company Background, Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company D Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company E Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

Case Study: Company F Background Business Issues and Service Offerings

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ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS “When people talk about km projects, What do they really mean?”

This question is important because it will determine the extent to which knowledge management is being used as a branding opportunity for selling existing products.

Some of these products in the repertoire may be knowledge-driven or oriented but there is a danger that the branding of projects as knowledge is a means of selling modernity, which may be a distraction from creating value.

Qualifying StatementAlthough some of the knowledge management project categories

look disappointing it is important to remember that the projects within the categories were all believed to be knowledge management projects.

Case Studies (Section 2)

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ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTSSummary of Results

Case Studies (Section 2)

Case Study Project Categories

COMPANY A COMPANY B COMPANY C COMPANY D COMPANY E COMPANY F

Learning Organisation:Sharing Best Practice

A.1,A.2,A.3 (3)

B.1,B.5, B.11, B.13 (4)

C.1,C.2,C.4,C.6 (4)

D.1,D.3(2)

E.1(1)

F.1,F.10,F.12 (3)

Learning Organisation:Systemic Thinking

B.2(1)

Learning Organisation:Change Management

B.3(1)

D.2(1)

F.5(1)

Learning Organisation:Available Methodology

B.10(1)

Innovating:New Product Idea

E.4,E.5(2)

Innovating:Process Innovation

F.9(1)

Table 1 Result of Practitioners KM Projects

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ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS Summary of Results

Case Studies (Section 2)

In all there were 38 projects considered as KM projects, 22 of which are classified as ‘team learning’, (the learning organisation type project).

17 out of 22 projects were about sharing best practice (reuse database) using technology enablers, the most common of which is the Intranet, to prevent reinventing the wheel.

In all, only 3 out of 38 projects can be defined as ‘systemic thinking’, with only one of each ‘change management’ and ‘methodological projects’.

There were 3 innovating projects, 2 of which are product innovation and 1 of process innovation. There is nothing new here.

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PRACTITIONER’S KM APPROACHES & STRATEGIES Q.1 How do you differentiate between KM strategy and

business strategy?Q.2 What is the relationship between KM strategy and business

strategy?Q.3 Are you Knowledge strategy-led or business strategy led?Q.4 What are the typical steps in implementation?Q.5 What are the key issues in successful implementation of

KM strategies?

Case Studies (Section 3)

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PRACTITIONER’S KM APPROACHES & STRATEGIES Q.1 How do you differentiate between KM strategy & business strategy?

Case Studies (Section 3)

SN Case StudiesCompany

Practitioners Response to Questions

1 A No. There is a knowledge-enabled strategy, which is the basis of KM business strategy

2 B Yes. KM strategy is a level down. Business strategy is product and market focus. Knowledge strategy deals with how knowledge is used to progress the business

3 C Will not differentiate between KM strategy and business strategy. Business strategy is not informed by factors of IC. KM is the term applied to the tools and techniques to manage intellectual capital

4 D To say that KM strategy is separate from the business strategy will be to create an artificial separation.

5 E The KM strategy and the business strategy are complimentary.

6 F KM forms part of business strategy, there is difference between the two.

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PRACTITIONER’S KM APPROACHES & STRATEGIES Q.5 What are the key issues in successful implementation of KM strategies?

Case Studies (Section 3)

SN Case StudiesCompany

Practitioners Response to Questions

1 A Quick wins realisable . Early benefits business case powerful and well communicated vision. Powerful and well communicated vision.

2 B Picking the right project in terms of mixing quick wins with long term benefits. Senior level sponsorship strategic believes in KM

3 C Create an environment for knowing what is known, opportunity for sharing tacit knowledge. Recognise that it is people issue.

4 D Make people feel they have asked for something & they have got what they want. Know what information people need.

5 E Get the people comfortable at exchanging and sharing information. Have the right measures of performance

6 F Top management support. Having people with the right basic skills. Time to measure result and setting attainable standards .

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PRACTITIONER’S KM IMPLEMENTATION & MEASUREMENTS Q.1 How do you implement KM? Q.2 What methodology do you use? Q.3 What are the top three obstacles? Q.4 Are you developing novel methodology for KM? Q.5 How do you measure and quantify benefits of KM?

Case Studies (Section 4)

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PRACTITIONER’S KM IMPLEMENTATION & MEASUREMENTS Q.1 How do you implement KM?

Case Studies (Section 4)

SN Case StudiesCompany

Practitioners Response to Questions

1 A Use a framework not a methodology. Each framework is customised to the client environment.

2 B Implement KM through cyclical programme management What will add value, start with smaller projects of iterative cycles.

3 C Mapping and creating knowledge teams. We need a diverse team, we need to create a co-dependent community of people.

4 D KM implementation process, identify the need for knowledge management by talking to the teams. Develop a framework.

5 E Start with the general scene setting by senior management. Ensure the CEO’s publicly endorsed the learning organisation approach.

6 F Use planning and visualisation approach. Question based process. Assess readiness – where is the business now in terms of its KM and its enabling conditions?

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PRACTITIONER’S KM IMPLEMENTATION & MEASUREMENTS Q.5 How do you measure and quantify benefits of KM?

Case Studies (Section 4)

SN Case StudiesCompany

Practitioners Response to Questions

1 A Through the competencies and performance measures. “If you don’t measure KM they become less sustainable”.

2 B Reduced Risk – “By capturing some of the experience of past projects and lessons learnt we are able to measure risk in new assignments.”

3 C “You have to create a measure. If you cannot measure it you can’t manage it. It’s very difficult to create measures in abstract, it’s very easy to create a measure once you know what to measure.”

4 D Measure KM by number of connections leading to specific business benefits. Difficult to know whether connections would have been made without KM.

5 E Reports the value of intellectual capital in its balance sheet. It is generally accepted that financial measures are not the best way of measuring how well an organisation knowledge is managed.

6 F Not big into measuring the value of business knowledge particularly valuation of intangibles. Historically the company value patents, copy rights, intellectual property via specialist institutions.

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INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS

Case Studies Results

They are all using different approaches to do the same thing All practitioners are doing best practice project, capturing and codifying tacit

knowledge, making them explicit and storing them on database for reuse in order to prevent reinventing the wheel.

Company D is interesting, it doesn’t use the word or talk about KM in any knowledge initiative, this form of disguise has enabled motivation from all staff.

The use of Biological model and Anthropological by Company C is special. Knowledge Community Network

An inclusive approach that covers all bases instead of inflating the intellectual pre-KM experiences of the consultants.

KM Project - a new approach to ‘work’ Explicit use of Scenario Learning as a new form of work Quantifiable measure of “what is a knowledge work?”, in a knowledge

intensive organisation.

Q.2 What is Special?

Q.3 What is Missing?

Q.2 What is Common?

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SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNT

Case Studies Summary

The consultants’ approach is typical problem solving approach used in BPR and Change Management.

There seems to be a gap where they ought to have a KM strategy but they continue to use borrowed methodology.

The failure to create a distinctive methodology suggests that consultants do not really believe knowledge management is new.

Only Company C regarded knowledge management as something special and it s developing a new methodology for delivering its service.

If practitioners are not consciously innovating to create new knowledge products, then it is arguable that they are not knowledge organisations themselves.

They are merely disguised consulting factories selling branded commodities.

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Discussion

Questions & Answers