Sloan Management Review, Summer 2004 KM Articles KM Process, Experience, and Experiments Global Knowledge Innovation KM Technologies in E-Businesses

Why Don’t We Know More about Knowledge

Outline Introduction Focus on Process ( Michael Hammer ) Seek Out “Deep Smarts” ( Dorothy Leonard ) Learn from Experiments ( Thomas Davenport )

Introduction For 15 years, to increase workers' productivity, companies have invested large sums in databases, content repositories, mobile technologies... However, some helped, much a waste of resources. the knowledge-worker era: companies still have much to learn about what makes such workers tick. Views from three leading management thinkers

Focus on the Process The dichotomy between manual and knowledge workers: not meaningful. "How do we increase knowledge-worker productivity?“: the wrong question. Focus on process instead of isolated individuals. The key: eliminate non-value-adding work Redesign Remove the misconception: process specifies the steps and requirements, but also keep the freedom for how you do it.

Seek Out “Deep Smarts” Dilemma: technology improves access and transmission, but creates no shortcuts to most valuable knowledge Manager mistakes: overlook “deep smarts”, protect “shallow smarts” Deep smart (like a satellite): can grasp overall situation and zoom in critical details and potential problems How to capture and transfer the wisdom of deep smarts? – guided learning by experience.

Learn From Experiments Established consensus about knowledge work Definition of knowledge worker Knowledge workers need to be segmented Autonomy of knowledge work Knowledge work is work practice What we know and do not know Learn by experiment Apply experiment design principles in organizations

Discussions “IT-for-KM investment, some helped, much a waste” Do you agree? Can you do without? Productivity vs. process? How to improve process? BPR all over again? Learn from experience or experiments? What’s the difference? How to apply experiment design principles in organizations? From small to large? Slow to fast?

Is Your Innovation Process Global

Introduction Few companies have global innovation processes Global innovation process (metanational innovation): sourcing and integrating knowledge from dispersed geographic locations For companies, more innovations of higher value and lower cost

The Strategic Advantages Motorola vs. Nokia Being Co. vs. Airbus CA vs. SAP AG McDonald vs. Starbucks Intel metanational innovation: a decisive source of competitive advantage Not only new product and services, but also valuable business models, strategies and capabilities

Harnessing the Potential of Diversity Companies can improve flow of innovation by assembling the best combinations of technical know-how and market expertise The probability of successful innovation constrained by the weakest source of knowledge Therefore, accessing sufficient diversity of knowledge is the key challenge

Relationships between Geography and Knowledge The relationship is important but not immediately evident (e.g. Finland, Germany, Japan) Innovation process globalization is an important way for accessing the great diversity of knowledge For example, pharmaceutical industry

Benefits A greater number of innovations of higher value Cost reduction How to reap the benefits?

Tapping Into the Benefits Prospecting: find the relevant pockets of knowledge from around the world Know where, how and what (e.g. Shiseido Co. Ltd. from Japan) Keep an open mind Assessing: decide on the optimal "footprint" for a particular innovation Similar as in trade-off in global supply chain Keys: necessity, company strategy, history …

Tapping Into the Benefits (Cont’d) Mobilizing: use cost-effective mechanisms to move distant knowledge without degrading it Two types of knowledge: technological and market Mobile strategies Classify by type (simple versus complex) and nature (technical versus market)

Mobilizing Knowledge

A New Imperative New organizational forms such as virtual teams Metanational innovator view diversity as opportunity, not problem

Discussions How to develop Global Innovation Chain, akin to Global Supply Chain? Technologies, culture, and process? As a knowledge worker, how to leverage the global innovation opportunity? Oversea assignment? Local learning? International experience? Language and cultural challenge and opportunity?

Learning From the Internet Giants

Introduction The problem: lost productivity as employees fail to find knowledge and waste time on searching or recreate knowledge Challenge: help employees find what they want and need Opportunities: Google, eBay and Amazon provide experiences that can be learned

Frustrated Employees Three common frustrations Finding: multiple repositories, time consuming Browsing: incomparable formats Qualifying knowledge: redundant and outdated content To overcome the problems: three actions One stop access to content Dynamic classification approach and consistent content formats Entice employees to easily find the knowledge

One-Stop Access to Content Google: simple one-stop search functionality & existing experiences on using Google An integrated repository and one single portal Content meta-data and tags help search too

Dynamic Classification, Consistent Formats Good taxonomy and classification are important Ebay Dynamic navigational taxonomy Classification system based on what customers want to buy and sell Standard and consistent formats Organizations: identify common format as first step

Comparative Techniques Amazon Proper tools (e.g. multiple search criteria and product snapshot) A lot of useful information (e.g. customer review) Companies Should provide tools & categorizations to help employees determine the relevance and quality of the knowledge E.g. Relevance rating, quality rating, display of first few sentences, snapshot, links

In Summary

Discussions Do Amazon, Google, and EBay succeed because of IT or fancy search techniques? Business models and first-mover effect What are other new technology opportunities and how to apply them in other killer-apps?