Book Review for Knowledge Management :Knowledge Management Tools and Techniques

Book Review

Title: Knowledge Management Tools and Techniques

Edited: MadanMohan Rao

Dr.Madanmohan Rao is a leading knowledge management consultant and the author of Leading with Knowledge.

I read three selected chapters from the book.

Knowledge Management at Accenture by Svenja Falk

Hewlett-Packard: Making Sense of Knowledge Management by Bipin Junnarkar and Joan Levers

From e-Learning to e-Knowledge by Jon Mason

The chapter “Knowledge Management at Accenture” by Svenja Falk covers key lessons learned from 10 years of knowledge management at Accenture. Accenture is one among the top global leading management consulting and technology services company. Accenture collaborates with its clients and help them realize their vision and create tangible value. I wanted to read this chapter as I have worked there for two years and I know how importance they give for Knowledge and its transfer across the company.

The majority of knowledge workers in leading consulting firms today are well versed with IT tools in the work place and have expectations of a “one-stop shop” solutions for their knowledge needs. Accenture’s KM system evolved through   four phases: early enabling infrastructure, knowledge as byproduct, actively managed knowledge, and knowledge-enabled enterprise.

                The knowledge repository called Knowledge Xchange (KX) hosts content ranging from proposals and client deliverables to white papers and links to experts. On a monthly basis, 400000 orders for knowledge capital are generated and over 2000 contributions for knowledge capital are made. KX is well managed and updated that the database includes proposals, links to experts, client deliverables, Methodologies, white papers etc. The web-based intranet portal KX also provides access to Accenture`s research wing to incorporate the data part of the business questions and solutions. It also offers firm-wide training opportunities and fosters communities. Looking beyond the numbers, KM at Accenture has helped increase the rate of innovation, decrease the time to competency and improve productivity. Falk has cited an example of a German utility company which faced challenges of a deregulated market. The client team was able to sort out the problem from another team`s solutions. Thus Accenture was successful to make its employees learn from each other`s solutions and mistakes. A key observation is that the information quality management will emerge as an important competitive differentiator in the future. Knowledge Management evolves as a business discipline rather than an application. Today 300 people globally coordinate activities to ensure that the right knowledge is brought to the right people at the right time. They focus on the systematic progress of achieving organizational goals through the capture, synthesis, sharing and the use of information, insights and experiences.

The chapter Hewlett-Packard: Making Sense of Knowledge Management by Bipin  Junnakar and Joan Levers takes into account the changing face of Knowledge Management in HP after its merger with Compaq. Both the companies had successful premerger KM programs. Collaboration is now seen as one of the key priorities for the company. A company- wide KM group has been formed to define the company KM strategy and robust processes for KM implementation. They used an “adapt and go” approach to quickly evaluate and select the processes and systems that can be used in the combined company. The interesting fact was that even though both the companies had KM programs it was not a differentiator at all for them.

 The KM team also participates in the definition of HP`s enterprise architecture. The KM tools and Technology Forum defines the standard tools and processes for KM within the company. The KM leadership framework aims at modeling a positive KM culture and behaviors so that other groups within the company can learn from us.KM technology building blocks include Data mining, groupware, knowledge repositories and expertise locator systems. I could see how all the aspects of KM which we have learned has been incorporated in KM building blocks of HP. The HP “Community of Practice Handbook”, a collection of instructions, tools, and templates, to help organizations form communities of practice was released by mid 2000s. A building block approach is being used to devise KM solutions efficiently. Seminars about KM conducted by world-renowned experts are Webcast on the intranet. HP`s education department is developing an online curriculum about KM.

Collaborative knowledge networking to join the “power of many”- the knowledge of the employees-with the power of now”-instant access to information- to speed up the decision making process is another major milestone the KM group has achieved. To elaborate on the same, the author has cited an example of HP`s enterprise software group ‘s KM attempt in their customer support area. They first conducted interviews to understand the current state- how were things working, what tools were used, how satisfied the employees were with their tools and so on. Then they came up with the future state to determine how everything would be in an ideal world. This helped them identify the gaps and develop a plan of action to address those gaps.

Towards the conclusion the author has come up with a question of why so many decisions go astray. The answer to the problem is person`s subjectivity and the mind`s inability to process more than a handful of details at any moment. It is actually adding to the problem and it becomes harder to process the data. Here comes the importance of KM implementation i.e. the ability of a company to use effectively the knowledge of their people. The chapter ends with the recommendations for KM practitioners. Key learning and recommendations include the importance of striking a good balance between tangible and intangible measures, aligning KM strategy with the business strategy, couple the efforts with the business metrics and  sharing credit for KM success.

The last chapter I read was “From e-Learning to e-Knowledge “by Jon Mason. It starts with an interesting quote by Peter Drucker.”A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.” This thought provoking chapter focuses on yet another emerging frontier: the growing synergies between knowledge management and e-learning and the convergence of work and learning. E-learning  is gaining importance as knowledge scaffolding in the 21rst century ,where home, work, and entertainment environments are becoming increasingly Internet enabled and seamlessly mobile.

Content management and workflow management tools are infrastructural commonalities between e-learning and KM. Despite early growing pains, standards will play a pivotal role in shaping the internet-enabled future of teaching and learning, thanks to organizations like IMS Global Learning Consortium, the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee, and CEN/ISSS WS- LT (The committee leading learning technology standardization in Europe).The author avers that the convergence of work and learning has been a hot topic for a decade. It can be seen to be taking place in the delivery of services like education and training sectors moving towards an integrated service delivery.

E-learning is been maturing moving away from its cottage industry phase. “Content is King” can be seen as an outdated slogan and it just forms the “I” of the new buzz word “ICT” where “C” stands for connectivity, community etc. The chapter also discusses about the failure ventures of e-learning which include Fathom, whose design was with little understanding of sustaining online culture. Early heady days of dot com boom proved that failed business models don`t necessarily equate with any failure of e-learning as a driver of change. 

Learning, especially on-the-job learning has now become a key competency in knowledge-based economies. Such learning in KM driven organizations can take place via mentoring in face-to-face CoPs, e-learning in digital environments, or blended learning. Further on down the road, Web Services and next generation Internet technologies will further enmesh knowledge and learning processes. Standardization is proceeding on other fronts as well, thanks to consortia like Workflow management Coalition, the HR-XML Consortium, OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of structured Information Standards), and GKEC ( the Global Knowledge Economics Council).

Knowledge is a word that has rich semantics despite its linguistic status as a noun. It is a subject to continual change in the same way as consciousness changes from moment to moment. Jon has drawn a knowledge model with seven facets. They are Know what, Know who, know how, Know when, Know why, Know where, Know if. He describes every facet based on a web based perspective and concludes that the progression from e-learning to e-knowledge is not a linear history. Today’s world demands the development of e-learning and the convergence of knowledge-based systems with e-learning systems. But all these are conditioned by uncertainties as is the world. Knowledge is conditional as is learning. As a last point, John Brown`s question “ What do we know that we didn`t know ten years ago? That learning and knowledge are the result of multiple intertwining forces: content, context and community”

These 3 chapters enable the reader to understand and evaluate the vast offerings of KM solutions in the three areas of technology, content and services. The focus was mainly on how KM and IT practitioners actually use these tools and techniques.