Sharing Know-how at BP Amoco The development focus at this international oil producer rests on a framework for sharing knowledge that starts with a business objective and ends with business results David C. Barrow

Sharing Know-how Name for Knowledge Management program at BP Example.. About 30 people in a peer group called Group Technology work within a corporately supported unit who provide coordination and guidance to many technology activities of BP business units.

Peer Groups These peer groups are a distinctive part of the organization. They are relied on as the fundamental unit for managing capital. Examples….. Five business units around the world who do on- shore production could form an On-Shore Oil Production peer group. Two or three convenience store operations may for a peer group.

Role of Peer Groups Manage capital Performance reviews Idea and information sharing These peer groups do not rely on a corporate functional department to share knowledge which allows the corporate center to focus on policy.

Generating and Sharing Knowledge Starts with the business objective and ends with business results The idea is that learning and knowledge transfer must not be an end in itself Portrays leaning as a cyclical process that takes place around the execution of business plans with separate activities to be taken up before, during and after a project The idea that business units draw on shared knowledge assets and rely on human networks

Generating and Sharing Knowledge BP views its members as not only a part of the business units but also support the federal welfare BP is a complex, mature industrial enterprise with global reach

Connecting People and Forming Networks…. BP uses a voluntary corporate Yellow Pages system, dubbed Connect Connect serves as a directory to BP’s knowledge workers and associated networks Has web-based personal profiles of more than 18,000 knowledge workers and more than 250 networks

Connecting People and Forming Networks…. Allows individuals to build web pages for themselves in which the describe their skills and experiences and what they have to contribute Connect is transparent and allows everyone to see what everyone else is doing Networks in Connect range from 3 to 650 members

What is "Visualization Technology"? HIVE - Highly Immersive Visualization Environment - a floor-to-ceiling, 25 foot wide curved screen with multiple projectors 3D stereo visualization with stereo googles, enabling the examination of a physical system from any angle, "fly-in" for closer look Allows for relative appreciation of the physical challenges (offshore drilling in this example)

Planning Benefits of HIVE HIVE used to help interpret seismic data, used to estimate the quality and extent of potential oil and gas reservoir prospects Geoscientists, drilling engineers and drillers all collaborated using the HIVE After establishing drilling objectives, it was determined that drilling a certain way and reusing parts of the wellbore, multiple objectives could be accomplished from a single surface location

Execution Benefits of HIVE Company was spending an average of $30 million per well In one "planning" day, they were able to reduce the number of wells by 2, saving time and money, $60 million in this case Facilities Engineers - "don't need much of a facility on the surface, we don't have to consider as much steel...“

Overall Benefits of HIVE Geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers, pipeline engineers, drilling and facilities engineers were able to document a savings of more than 10% total development costs HIVE is being implemented in multiple BP locations Resulting in a breakthrough that has facilitated better teamwork through the sharing of perspective and know-how, resulting in demonstrable reductions in investment and cycle time

Core Process and Know-How BP Group Technology focuses on capital efficiency and operational efficiency

Capital Value Process BP Group Technology promotes stage-gate approach Organize project activities and control their sequence with decision gates

Steps…. Appraise, Select, Define, Execute, Operate Learning before: Connect, peer assist, knowledge bases, network search Learning during: Enabling systems, after action reviews, networking Learning after: Peer review, retrospect learning after: Peer review, retrospect

Benefits… Clarify appropriate timing of resource and material loading for project Facilitates abandonment of poor performing projects early

Operational Value Process “Plan, do, check, act” Assess performance and aspiration against 26 parameters defined Examples include moral, motivation, communication, reliability Illustrates where units can share their strengths and improve weaknesses

In Conclusion… BP has demonstrated value through pilot programs in recent years. Implementation of these programs throughout BP’s corporate system promises productivity gains of 4 percent per year.