small business knowledge management success story—this stuff really works!

& Case Study

Small Business Knowledge ManagementSuccess Story—This Stuff Really Works!

Robert S. Frey*

RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS), USA

Knowledge management (KM) is the sustained, integrated enterprise-wide application andoptimization of intellectual capital to achieve organizational mission and goals. It providesprivate-sector and government organizations alike with the ability to anticipate and adapt tounpredictable change quickly and appropriately. As measured in direct benefits to your com-pany or organization, KM:

* Improves enterprise-wide decision quality and agility through just-in-time intelligence* Enhances mission performance* Facilitates informed business development actions such as Bid/No-Bid decisions* Fosters rapid prototyping of proposals and technical solutions for clients* Encourages improved client support* Supports organizational risk-mitigation initiatives.

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

KM¼ [(PROCESSESþTOOLS) �VISION]PEOPLE

At the most fundamental level—that of a mathe-matical equation—KM is a dynamic combinationof structured processes and automated tools multi-plied by executive-level leadership and vision—and in turn leveraged exponentially by passionatepeople and Communities of Practice (CoPs) or user

groups. Passion, with proper focus, in the form ofa KM champion is absolutely critical for KM initia-tives to be sustained, successful efforts.

Major corporations in Europe, Japan, and theUnited States have led the way in introducingand implementing knowledge management busi-ness processes and repeatable, structured meth-odologies. But small companies in particular willbenefit from the application of KM for enhanceddecision support, expanded human performance,and sustained competitive advantage. It is increas-ingly imperative for small companies to leveragetheir collective intellect for business developmentachievement and superlative, long-term client sup-port. Providing work environments that are con-ducive to the generation, exchange, and respect ofknowledge and ideas will pay dividends in morale,staff retention, and financial revenue and profitmargins. Pleasant physical facilities; progressivehuman asset policies; an ‘open door’ managementculture; articulated, achievable incentive programs;and a culture of genuine partnership and collabora-tion all participate in inspiring and harnessing thebest in and from knowledge employees.

Knowledge and Process Management Volume 9 Number 3 pp 172–177 (2002)Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/kpm.147

Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

*Correspondence to: Robert S. Frey, RS Information Systems, Inc.(RSIS), 1651 Old Meadow Road, 5th Floor, McLean, VA 22102,USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Robert S. Frey, M. A., is Vice President for Knowledge Manage-ment and Proposal Development with RS Information Systems,Inc. (RSIS1), an Inc. 500 minority-owned information technologyand engineering firm in McLean, Virginia. He is the author ofthree editions of Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses(Boston and London: Artech House, 2002, 1999, 1997). Mr Frey’sKM articles have appeared in the Journal of Business as well asthe Journal of Management Development. Currently, Mr Frey iscompleting a full-length KM book entitled Practical KnowledgeManagement for Technology-Driven Organizations: Gaining GlobalBusiness Advantage (Boston and London: Artech House, 2002).

Knowledge management evolved in part frominformation management and the increase incomputerization since the 1970s. To those impor-tant IT activities and developments must be addedthe fields of artificial intelligence, expert systems,semiotics (the study of symbols, signs, and theirmeaning), complexity theory, cognitive science,library science, and document management aswell as organizational psychology theory anddynamics, operations research, human resourcedevelopment, and technical writing. Significant,however, were the contributions of managementtheorists and practitioners in Europe, the PacificRim, and the United States to our collective under-standing of how knowledge is produced, used, anddisseminated throughout organizations. Amongthem were Everett M. Rogers and his ground-breaking work on the diffusion of innovations,and Thomas J. Allen’s (of MIT at the time) researchon information technology and technology transfer.

SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS STORY—KMAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A METEORICGROWTH CURVE

Three years ago, my employer, RS InformationSystems, Inc. (RSIS1), in McLean, Virginia,initiated and now continues to fund and proac-tively support the RSIS Business DevelopmentKnowledge Base as an integral part of itsenterprise-wide KM initiative. At the time in late1998, the company stood at 120 staff professionalsand $15 million in annual revenues. Incredibly,we closed the financial books on CY2001with 1200 staff members nationwide and $142million in revenue. That’s quite a meteoric growthcurve!

Incorporated in September 1992 and certified bythe US Small Business Administration (SBA) as an8(a) small disadvantaged firm through February2003, RSIS is focused on mission-critical informationtechnology (IT), engineering, and scientific servicesand solutions for US Federal Government defense,civilian, law enforcement, and intelligence agen-cies. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia (USA),and built upon a foundation of integrity coupledwith technical and programmatic excellence, RSISis an African-American-owned firm whose diverseprofessional talent base includes 60% minorities,women, veterans, and handicapped individuals.Many of our employees hold Microsoft, NetWare,and other industry certifications in systems engi-neering, network administration, and relevant dis-ciplines. This large, well-educated and experiencedtalent pool allows RSIS to respond rapidly to emer-

ging and surge technical support requirements,thereby guaranteeing high-quality and timely pro-ject execution.

During these same 3 years, RSIS has become oneof the premier small businesses in the country asmeasured by its national ranking in Inc. magazineand #62 standing in Washington Technology’s Top100 Federal Prime Contracting Firms, as well asthe dozens of quality, performance, and leadershipawards the company has received. In 2000, RSISwas selected as NASA’s ‘Minority Contractor ofthe Year’. The Society of Financial Service Profes-sionals selected RSIS as the recipient of its 2001American Business Ethics Award in the Mid-sizedCompany category at the US national level. Inaddition, RSIS is one of 15 companies named ‘Bestof the Best’ of minority-owned companies in theCommonwealth of Virginia in 2001 by the VirginiaDepartment of Minority Business Enterprise, a partof the Virginia Department of Commerce. As ahighly successful prime contractor with a fundedcontract backlog of $800 million, RSIS has demon-strated an enviable history of meeting the quanti-tative demands of metrics-driven, performance-

based contracting. The company supports 80 primecontracts and 125,000 users from Korea and Hawaiito Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and fromWashington, DC, to Colorado Springs. RSIS isclearly an example of a successful small businesson a positive trajectory to become a stable, long-term Fortune 1000 company.

Are the knowledge management initiatives integral to

the very tangible successes the company has enjoyed?

Absolutely! We’re able to develop more high-impact, client-focused winning proposals thanever before and do multiple proposals concurrently.Direct-charge technical staff are able to stayfocused on their client support activities ratherthan be required to spend days at corporate head-quarters writing proposals. This practice translatesto enhanced customer satisfaction because peoplestay on their primary job. And importantly, RSIS’Bid & Proposal (B&P) costs are contained. Inaddition, RSIS technical staff are able to harnessthe best-of-breed and lessons learned from the com-pany’s 80þ prime contracts and apply these innova-tive and proven solutions quickly to address theirclient’s technical and programmatic requirements.RSIS’ ‘Birds of a Feather’ (BOF) program facilitatesthe near-real-time sharing of industry-standardbest practices among RSIS projects nationwide.This program is conducted through our firewalledintranet and email systems. Technical staff aregrouped into ‘flocks’ that include database adminis-trators, help desk specialists, applications develo-pers, and network engineers, Web developers, and

Knowledge and Process Management CASE STUDY

Small Business Knowledge Management Success Story 173

telecommunications specialists. When an indivi-dual encounters a technical or programmatic chal-lenge on the job, they query the BOF system andoften receive multiple responses from around thecountry within 1–3 hours.

Let’s say that Ms Smythe has just been asked byher National Weather Service (NWS) customer toinvestigate automated, commercially availablehelp desk software packages. She sends an emailto the members of the Help Desk Birds-of-a-Featherflock, asking for their experience with commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) help desk software applica-tions. RSIS Headquarters Management InformationSystem (MIS) Team replies that they are also inter-ested in getting copied on the responses becausethe Team is considering using a help desk softwarepackage at RSIS Headquarters. Ms Jones replieswith her experience with the Support Magic toolat the General Services Administration (GSA). MrScott also replies with the Department of theInterior’s (DOI) Support Magic experiences,including their use of the Escalation Server. MsMurphy replies with her experience at the US AirForce Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Headquarterswith Heat, and Mr White weighs in with his experi-ence using Lotus Notes at the Department ofEnergy in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a few hours, theoriginal requestor, Ms Smythe, is able to providevaluable feedback to her NWS governmentcustomer, and the Corporate MIS Team is able toprovide an educated recommendation to RSISExecutive Management. That is the value, speed,and efficiency gained from proactive, grassrootsknowledge-sharing processes, which are aidedby automated computer and telecommunicationstools such as the intranet and email servers androuters.

SMALL-SCALE, PILOT KM INITIATIVESAPPLIED TO PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Small-scale pilot KM initiatives are critical tolaunch and sustain, and then to leverage andpropagate their success throughout the organiza-tion. Successful pilots become proofs of concept

that can be transplanted and adopted in other partsof the organization. Importantly, knowledgeinitiatives focused on measurable and achievablebusiness benefits will have a higher probability ofacceptance and sustained success.

RSIS’ Business Development Knowledge Base isa robust Web-based, password-protected interac-tive tool that RSIS staff professionals can accessremotely to qualify marketing opportunities anddevelop proposals and presentations. Currently,

approximately 35 RSIS staff access the KnowledgeBase on PC workstations and laptop computers,although the system can serve more than 1000end users. Using the Inforouter search enginemanufactured by Active Innovations, Inc., in asecure networked Windows NT 4.0 environment,company employees can browse thousands ofindexed files or perform keyword searches to iden-tify relevant files in multiple application formats,including MS-Word, Corel WordPerfect, HTML,XML, Rich Text (rtf), and PowerPoint as well aspdf (Adobe Acrobat), Excel, and MS Outlook emailfiles. Queries result in lists of files prioritized by rele-

vance and presented to users in the familiar formatof a Yahoo or Google.com search result. The RSISKnowledge Base captures the domain-specific tech-nical knowledge as well as programmatic andclient-specific expertise of the staff. In addition,the repository archives current best-of-breedproposal narrative, graphics, and oral presentationslides. Currency is a critical parameter of thevalidity and value of the Knowledge Base.

The direct business development benefits of theBusiness Development Knowledge Base have beenrapid proposal prototyping as well as informed Bid/No-Bid decision making. By leveraging the Knowl-edge Base, RSIS Proposal Managers can generatefirst-draft proposal documents quickly with mini-mal Bid and Proposal (B&P) expenditure and littleimpact on billable technical staff. The proposalresponse lifecycle can then be used to enhanceand polish the proposal documents, rather thanexpend the time and resources tracking and locat-ing resumes, project summaries, and other com-pany information assets. By September 2000, wehad progressed to the point where three peoplecould and did develop a 50-page technical andmanagement proposal, including resumes andproject descriptions, to the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geophysi-cal Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at Prince-ton University within 24 hours from RFP releaseto delivery to the client! Without the KnowledgeBase, that proposal would have required thosesame people at least a week. And RSIS marketingstaff and Capture Managers use the BusinessDevelopment Knowledge Base as one importanttool to make informed determinations of the feasi-bility of pursuing a given procurement opportu-nity. This is done by assessing past and presentcontractual experience and technical skill sets ofprofessional staff.

Table 1 provides a cross-section of the types ofknowledge assets that a company should considerinventorying, capturing, and leveraging in itsknowledge base.

CASE STUDY Knowledge and Process Management

174 R. S. Frey

BALANCE OF TOOLS, DISCIPLINEDMETHODOLOGIES, AND A SUPPORTIVEBUSINESS CULTURE

Structured processes for knowledge transfer andcapture ensure the sustained value and validity ofthe RSIS Knowledge Base Best practices, lessonslearned, client commendations and awards, perfor-mance metrics and standards, emerging technol-ogies, staffing success stories, incumbent capture

Table 1. Cross-section of company knowledge andinformation assets

Company assetsCompany core competencies (technical discussion)Company bonding, registrations, and certificationsLicensesMaps (office locations, project locations, number ofprojects by state or region, etc.)Customer basePatentsTrademarksCompany organizational chartsCompany best practicesIndustry certifications and accreditations (e.g. SoftwareEngineering Institute (SEI), Capability Maturity Model(CMM), ISO 9001:2000, and IEEE)Facility and personnel security clearancesIndustry and business community awards,commendations, and recognition (e.g. SBAEntrepreneur of the Year, Ernst & Young)Customer endorsements and commendationsSmall/minority business involvement; HUBZoneinvolvementCorporate-sponsored community service andoutreach activitiesCompany videosFacilities diagramsBest Management Practices (BMPs)Technical and business articles and books authoredby company staffInterview guidesVendor manualsContractual resourcesProject/product descriptions or summariesProject performance metricsAward fee statistics per projectProject success storiesHuman resourcesResumesPersonnel diversity data (minorities, women,veterans, handicapped individuals)Incumbent capture ratesEmployee turnover ratesEmployee recruitment plan and metricsEmployee retention metricsStaff by project, office, technical discipline, degreeBusiness development and proposal development assetsStrategic plans and benchmarking dataMarket segmentation analysesCompetitor informationBid and Proposal (B&P) spending patternsWinning proposalsMultimedia presentations to clientsTeaming agreementsTeaming agreement statements of work (SOWs)Proposal templates (e.g. executive summaries,cover letters, etc.)Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documentsProposal lessons learned (from client debriefings)Sales volumes by client sector, line of business (LOB),and geographic areaTactical business plansCorporate infrastructure and process assets

Continues

Table 1. (Continued)

Documentation capabilitiesBusiness processes (procurement systems andmechanisms, financial systems, invoicing procedures,cost accounting, scheduling, automated tracking tools)Project-specific assetsCustomer Evaluation Reports (A/E Contract AppraisalSystem Support (ACASS), CPARS, PPAIS, andPPIMS ratings)Contract deliverablesEarned Value Analysis (EVA) Results by projectWork breakdown structures (WBSs)Project management plansComputer-related assetsSoftware development capabilities and practicesSoftware source codeNon-operational hardware and software testbedenvironmentsComputer equipment and resourcesFinancial assetsBudget forecastsCapital expensesAnnual revenuesRelationship assetsCooperative agreements with colleges anduniversities, particularly HBCUsStrategic business alliances (with organizationssuch as Microsoft Solutions, Lotus, Dell, and Oracle)Public relations assetsAds placed in professional and trade journalsTradeshow modules (text and graphics)External news releasesEngineering/manufacturing assetsEngineering ‘white papers’ (position papers)Manufacturing defect rate dataEngineering drawingsEngineering Change Proposals (ECPs)Test proceduresRequirements dataPolicies and plansMake-or-buy policyManagement plansHealth and safety plansTechnology transfer plansProfessional compensation plansDesign control plansSoftware quality assurance (SQA) plansPhase in/Phase out and transition plansSubcontractor management plansConfiguration Management (CM) Plans



statistics, and information regarding rapid contracttransitions are routinely funneled into the RSISProposal Development Department. Sources ofthis information span executive management,monthly technical progress reports for projectsnationwide, division-level leadership, and directinterviews of select subject-matter experts andother technical staff. The direct knowledge transferand sharing expertise and experience of RSIS pro-fessional staff are also captured annually as an inte-gral part of the corporate resume update process.These knowledge transfer processes are reinforcedregularly by all levels of management. SuccessfulKM at RSIS results from the dynamic integrationof supportive, forward-looking executive leader-ship; a business culture of and organizational com-mitment to mutual trust and sharing; the passionof people at all levels of the organization, andtechnology-based, user-driven solutions and tools.

DEVELOPMENT DRIVERSAND CHALLENGES

The RSIS Business Development Knowledge Base,and indeed the company’s entire KM initiative,began 3 years ago. Given the reality of 120 totalcompany staff in 1998 and only 2 full-time profes-sionals in Proposal Development at the time, theneed to do more with limited resources wasimmediate and critical. We had no centralized,electronic repository of information. There wereno institutionalized or even ad hoc processes inplace to identify, audit, collect, archive, and lever-age key knowledge within the company. On theother hand, we had a significant number of electro-nic directories and files of proposals, presentations,resumes, and project summaries. One individualprior to 1998 had actually attempted to extract, cat-alogue, and organize proposal-related informationinto some semblance of order, but that initiativehad never been completed. After having developedand received management buy-in for the architec-

ture of the initial proposal system, one of my staff(a full-time Proposal Manager) and I began thearduous task of manually sorting through scoresof proposal directories and hundreds of relatedfiles. This was done in addition to a full-time pro-posal development workload. Within 7 months,5 years’ worth of electronic files for proposals,presentations, resumes, project summaries, awardsand commendations, white papers, public relationsmaterials, and other information had been revie-wed, purged as appropriate, and organized intothe pre-approved architecture. The initial searchengine selected was dtSearch1, manufactured by

dtSearch Corporation, which is incorporated in Vir-ginia. Unfortunately in late 1999, dtSearch requiredfrequent, time-consuming, and manual indexingand re-indexing. Server space demands were sig-nificant as the number of proposal modulesincreased. Search results were not as user-friendlyas they needed to be for our requirement.

Concurrent with our efforts to architect andpopulate our fledgling Knowledge Base, I workedclosely with RSIS executive management to securetheir support to institute knowledge transfer andcollection processes in a disciplined and repeatablemanner nationwide. Monthly technical progressreports now were being sent to me as well as tothe technical managers. Those reports were thencombed for relevant technical innovations, lessonslearned, staffing successes, best practices, and soforth. Resumes were generated for every newhire, and annual resume updates were linked tothe performance appraisal process. Eventually,‘Knowledge-Sharing Experience’ was a key elementincorporated into each RSIS resume for all staffnationwide. Project summaries are now createdaccording to a structured, consistent, and compre-hensive templates when contracts phase in. Thesummaries are then updated when major new tasksare added and then again upon contract comple-tion. On a regular basis during business develop-ment review meetings and strategic planningmeetings, critical knowledge is shared from acrossthe many defense, civilian, and law enforcementcontracts that RSIS supports. The culture of knowl-edge sharing with the company has extended to theestablishment of technical Centers for Excellence(CFEs) and our ‘Birds-of-a-Feather’ program.Through these institutionalized programs, domain-specific technical knowledge and best practices canbe applied rapidly to provide our clients withproven solutions in near-real time. Recently, animportant, relevant development in CorporateCommunications/Public Relations was integrateddirectly into a civilian agency proposal within 1hour of notification.

SUSTAINMENT AND FUTUREENHANCEMENTS

By mid-2000 one of my Proposal Managers, who isalso our Knowledge Engineer, along with one Webdeveloper and I migrated the prototype KnowledgeBase from dtSearch to Microsoft Index Server. Withthis application, and ‘fed’ continuously by theestablished knowledge transfer processes, the cur-rent RSIS Business Development KnowledgeBase was fielded in the Fall of 2000. In November

CASE STUDY Knowledge and Process Management

176 R. S. Frey

2001, the system was migrated seamlessly within 1week to the Inforouter search engine (Active Inno-vations, Inc.) It is now maintained by our Knowl-edge Engineer and one Web developer. Of note isthat RSIS paid for my Knowledge Engineer to com-plete the Knowledge Management Certification pro-gram. This program is conducted under theauspices of the Knowledge Management Certifica-tion Board (KMCB), an independent, non-profitorganization whose mission is to set professionalstandards and provide certification for KnowledgeManagement professionals. KMCB is a member ofthe National Organization for Competency Assur-ance (NOCA). Importantly, KMCB also follows thedraft standards set by the ISO Committee on Con-formity Assessment. KMCB works with the GlobalKnowledge Economics Council to co-developANSI and ISO standards for KM competency.

The system maintenance requirements are mod-est at present. Incoming information is evaluatedduring the course of several days, and thenindexed into the Knowledge Base rapidly. AsVice President of Knowledge Management for thefirm, I provide both oversight for the KM initiativeenterprise-wide as well as hands-on collection andanalysis of various knowledge assets.

As part of our KM continuous process improve-ment (CPI) program, we envision the followingenhancements to the maturing RSIS BusinessDevelopment Knowledge Base by the middle of2002:

* Additional structured categories to facilitaterapid retrieval of select full-text proposalmodules

* Linkage with photographic ‘lightboxes’ forbrowsing the current inventory of stock andcompany photographs

* Monitor and report performance metrics (timeand B&P cost savings) associated with the KM

processes at RSIS for use in future planning andfunding decisions

* Further integration of RSIS’ Process Asset Library(PAL), which contains Performance EvaluationMetrics; Project Management Plans; SoftwareDevelopment Plans; Standard Operating Proce-dures (SOPs); and SEI CMM, ISO, and IEEEstandards and practices with the RSIS Knowl-edge Base

TRANSFERABLE LESSONS LEARNED

There are four key ingredients in the RSIS KM suc-cess story. First was a KM champion, an individualwho understood and articulated the tangible bene-fits of knowledge management to executive man-agement as well as Business Development andtechnical staff. Second was executive leadership,support, and vision necessary to grasp the valueof KM and then fund the processes and clear theinternal impediments to knowledge sharing. Thirdwas the disciplined and repeatable processes put inplace enterprise wide within the company to funnelknowledge and information into one central pointin near-real-time. And fourth was the Web-basedknowledge management tools.

Experience has demonstrated the value of start-ing your own company’s Business DevelopmentKM initiative as soon as possible in the corporatelife of your firm. This approach does two things.First, there will be less raw information and datato review, purge, and categorize. Second, thesooner that your staff develop and hone theirknowledge-sharing skills and behaviors, the morequickly that your firm will emerge as a learningorganization—one that adapt and prosper in abusiness environment of fast-paced and unpredict-able change.



small business knowledge management success story—this stuff really works!

Documents