A Successful Knowledge Management Project
- Dr. Moria Levy
- Jan 1, 2003
- 4 min read
Many organizations have started knowledge management projects without success. The reasons are numerous and varied: some invest most of their energy in technology, but users don't come; in other places, an intranet system is used, but examining the content reveals sparse materials; many places have investments but no return on investment (ROI); and the list goes on.
The story of Tata Steel – a steel manufacturing plant that sells its products to approximately 5,000 customers worldwide – is similar. The company has 48,000 employees and an annual revenue of $1.5 billion.
The concept of knowledge management within the company originated when employees recognized the need to integrate technological and intellectual assets through effective knowledge management. This feeling was reinforced when, in 1999, a technology consultant was hired by the company to help solve a particular problem, and he noted that he had already dealt with this problem a year earlier and solved it.
In other words, it appeared that despite the company having a sophisticated information systems infrastructure, it lacked the "knowledge" of problems it had encountered in the past and their solutions.
Knowledge management implementation in the company began in the 1990s with the acquisition of various technologies, including a corporate intranet, SAP, an ERP system, and a portal, as well as the establishment of special interest groups focused on various operational and industrial topics. In the lead-up to the millennium, the company declared itself a learning and knowledge-management organization. At this stage, no steps were taken to capture knowledge as an organizational asset, nor was a systematic way defined to make the portal helpful in solving business problems.
In 1999, efforts began to launch the knowledge management initiative. During the year, a 5-member knowledge management team learned from global developments, characterized knowledge taxonomies, created knowledge repositories, established knowledge communities, and began educating employees on the culture of knowledge management.
In implementing knowledge management, they encountered several problems: the company's communication system was still weak, and a technological approach was not ingrained. The content contributed to knowledge repositories was irrelevant and unnecessary. Additionally, cultural problems were accompanied by a fear of technology and attitudes such as "why would I want to share my precious knowledge?"
In light of all this, in 2000, a new strategy was adopted that included participation in knowledge management seminars, providing external consulting to knowledge communities, and recognizing and crediting successes in knowledge management. Twenty-one knowledge communities were launched, integrated into business processes and strategy. Each community was assigned a sponsor, manager, and community leader.
The new strategy provided solutions to some of the problems, but the content problem remained.
In 2001, several key steps were taken: a complex knowledge management index was developed, knowledge management activities were included in performance evaluation criteria, golden pages - experts were identified, a formal recognition and bonus system was established, and knowledge management seminars were conducted.
But then new problems arose. Management noticed that the budget for supporting knowledge communities was not adequately planned, and no ways were created to manage and maintain content in knowledge repositories.
Key questions began to surface: Does this knowledge management approach encourage growth? And how can the public also be involved in this?
In response to these problems, the company began focusing on promoting growth while encouraging experimentation and recognizing even intelligent failures in 2002. Closer supervision of knowledge management activities began. As a result, the number of knowledge management users grew from 1,000 to 3,000 within about a year; during the same period, the number of knowledge items viewed grew from 200 to 2,000 per day.
The number of products manufactured grew significantly, response times were reduced, and costs decreased. In financial terms, with the help of the knowledge management system, $725,000 per day was saved. At the cultural level, employees' approach shifted from "I'm an expert, I don't need new knowledge" to a continuous search for knowledge, from simply "I need help" to "I can also help." The scope of organizational knowledge expanded from narrow and superficial information to broad and deep.
Funds were allocated to strengthen knowledge management activities, and Tata Steel began providing training and guidance to other companies in the Tata group. Additionally, company representatives are invited to lecture at knowledge management conferences worldwide, including the KM Asia 2002 summit.
In conclusion, Knowledge management activity is an ongoing journey. Releasing one bottleneck improves things, but often the next weak link is revealed.
Implementation and expansion of use are active activities that require preparation. The amount of resources required for these issues is by no means small.
Continuous control and supervision of knowledge management activity is important. It's essential to connect knowledge management goals to business and organizational outcomes (measures of results, not just activity measures).
Based on an interview in Destination KM magazine.
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