what’s your strategy for managing knowledge1

7/31/2019 Whats Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge1

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Whats Your strategY for

Managing Knowledge?

Gaurita Satam.

PG-A(40)


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Whats your strategy for Managing Knowledge?

1990s chief executives started talking about knowledgemanagement and foundation of industrialized economy shifted fromnatural resources to intellectual assets.

Rise of networked computers

Codify, store and share certain kinds of knowledge more easily

Executives lacked successful models

Study knowledge management in different industries

Management Consulting Health Care Industry

High Tech Industry


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Management Consulting Firms

Knowledge is the core asset of consultancies

First to pay attention to and invest in KM

Aggressively explore use of IT to capture and disseminate knowledge

Experience relevant to companies that depend on smart people and flow ofideas

However, consultants do not take uniform approaches to managing knowledge


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Strategies used for managing

knowledge

Knowledge is carefully codified and stored indatabases, where it can be accessed and used

easily by anybody in the company

Codification

Knowledge is closely tied to the person whodeveloped it and is shared mainly throughdirect person-to person contacts.

Purpose of computers: help communicateknowledge

Personalization


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Codification Vs Personalization


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Different Strategies, Different Drives

Dealing with similar problems over and overagain.

Customers gain because consultants can builda reliable, high-quality info system faster forlower price

Codification

Tackle problems that dont have clear solutionon the outset.

Create a highly customized solution to aunique problem.

Charge high fees for their service.

Personalization

1. Create Value for Customer


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Rely on the economics of reuse.

Reuse of knowledge saves work, reducescommunication costs.

Allows a company to take on more projects.

Codification

Rely on logic of expert economics.

Offer clients advice rich in tacit knowledge

Time consuming, expensive and slow.

Charge higher price for service.

Personalization

2. Turning a profit:


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Hire implementers

Train using knowledge management repositories.

Recruit in large numbers

Work through different scenarios during training.

Codification

Hire inventors

Recruit very few, very carefully.

Mentor to use analytical and creativeskills on unique business problems.

Personalization

3. Managing People:


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KM in different industries -

Healthcare

Codifica

tion

Nurse uses clinical decisionarchitecture to assess callerssymptoms.

Knowledge repository containsalgorithms of more than 500illness and symptoms.

Initial investment was high

Algorithms used about 8,000times every year

Charges low price per call.

Has captured 50% of call-center market

Growing 40% each year

P

ersonaliza

tion

Provide the best, mostcustomized advice andtreatment to cancer patients

Variety of experts consult andcollaborate to treat eachpatient.

Intensive face-to-facecommunication to ensureknowledge transfer betweenresearchers and clinicians.

Pays high salary to itsemployees.

Consistently ranked as the topcancer research and treatmentcenter in the country

Access Health Memorial Sloan-KetteringCancer Center


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KM in different industries

Computer industry

Codifica

tion

Assembles inexpensivePCs and sells directly tocustomer

System drives theoperation

Invested heavily inelectronic repository

Does not deliver highlycustomized orders.

In 1997 - shipped 11million PCs

Sales - $12.3 billion

Has grown 83% annuallyover the past 5 years.

P

ersonaliza

tion Develops innovative

products

Technical knowledge istransferred to productdevelopment teams in atimely way throughperson-person exchanges.

Engineers routinely visitdifferent divisions andshare ideas about possible

new products. Extremely successful in its

field.

Dell Hewlett Packard


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KM in different industries consulting

industry

Codific

ation

Invested heavily incodification process

250 people at theCenter for BusinessKnowledge managethe electronicrepository and helpconsultants find and

use information Service offering is very

clear

Hires undergrads fromtop universities and

train them

P

ersonaliza

tion

Focus on dialoguebetween individuals,

brain storming sessionsand one-on-oneconversations.

Use informationtechnology mainly toconnect people.

Highly customizedsolutions

Hire top-tier MBA grads

Anderson Consulting

/ Ernst & Young

Bain, BostonConsulting Group/

McKinsey


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Choosing the Right Strategy

Ask the following questions:

Why customers buy a companys products/services rather than

those of its competitors? What value do customers expect from the company?

How does knowledge that resides in the company add value forcustomers?

Assuming answers to these questions are clear, the

following questions need to be addressed

Standardized or customized products?

Mature or innovative products?

Do employees rely on explicit or tacit knowledge to solve problems?


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Conclusion

Never isolate Knowledge Management may risk losing its benefits.

Do not isolate in departments like HR or IT.

Benefits higher if coordinated with HR, IT and competitive strategy

Only strong leadership can provide the direction a company needs to

choose, implement, and overcome resistance to a new knowledgemanagement strategy.

Strong leadership = benefit of customers and company


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what’s your strategy for managing knowledge1

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