Course : Knowledge Management
Assignment outcomes:
1. Identify the problems and make strategies to cope with thecritical situation.
2. How organization use IT tools to implement the KnowledgeManagement system.
3. Understand the initial step in implicit knowledge and Howto convert technical implicit knowledge into explicit.
Case Study
This assignment is a case study about knowledge management.Read it carefully and answer the
questions given at the end.
Note:
Ø Each question carries 2 marks
Ø Be very specific and focused on the issue while answering aquestion
Ø No marks will be given for extra/ irrelevant details
KM THE BOYGUES TELECOM WAY
Knowledge Management
“Knowledge Management is a business model embracing knowledgeas an organizational asset to drive sustainable business advantage.It is a management discipline that promotes an integrated approachto create, identify, evaluate, capture, enhance, share and apply anenterprise’s intellectual capital” writes a consultant. “KnowledgeManagement is not a shrink-wrapped functional solution, it is acombination of technology, methodology, and corporate belief in thecompetitive advantage to be gained from
KM” explains another consultant.
The discussion on the concepts of Knowledge Management is veryintense between consultants.
Actually, there are many definitions of the KnowledgeManagement and, may be, it’s due to the lack of operationalexperiences. So, for a lot of professionals the KnowledgeManagement is still a concept.
The case underneath presents the approach of the KnowledgeManagement adopted by a well known French company.
The Bouygues Telecom way
With more than six million customers and a network covering 98per cent of France, Bouygues
Telecom, created in 1994 as a subsidiary of the Bouyguesglobal industrial group (turnover : 19
billion euros in 2000), has established itself as one of themost dynamic and innovative players in the French mobile telephonymarket. But size can be a challenge – as with most large companies,Bouygues Telecom was struggling to manage the flow of informationand know-how across the organization. At times, departments andindividuals were unable to collaborate effectively with employeesin many parts of the business. At the end of 2000, Bouygues Telecomlaunched an initiative aimed at maximizing the value of itsbusiness and employee intelligence. More than discussing about theKnowledge Management and the way of implementing it, the idea ofBouygues Telecom is to define and develop short and practical KMprojects. But research into the solutions available at that timeproved disappointing. They were difficult to implement, hard tomanage and far too expensive. So the company issued an invitationto tender. Following careful research of the market, Microsoft’sSharePoint Portal Server solution was selected because it is easyto implement and flexible enough to meet the various requirementsof the Bouygues Telecom business. Described as a single knowledgeportal, SharePoint Portal Server is based on a document managementserver which enables organizations to manage all of the workflowprocesses associated with the publication of documents and to sharethem in dedicated spaces.
Speed to market was also essential. Bouygues Telecom defined abrief which specified that completion of the first project shouldnot exceed three months. In order to meet this challengingschedule, Bouygues called on Valtech, a company specializing inmanagement consulting and enterprise IT. Valtech was chosen becausethe project required the rapid delivery of effective knowledgemanagement solutions and its experience in this field is wellestablished.
In just a few months, the company has implemented fourknowledge management systems that are enabling the organization toleverage and extend its current IT systems andinfrastructure.
SAP best practice
The pilot project – tested in north-east France – deliverssupport to one hundred staff using SAP.
The aim of the project was to provide online assistance toend-users and ensure that they could share best practice of thissolution.
The knowledge base manages the publication and theclassification of documents and provides users with a singleknowledge portal. Users can add their own advices and experiencesrelating to
SAP via their browser. Results were immediate and impressive.Users need immediate and accurate information to get the most outof this relatively complex software and make a real contribution tothe bottom line.
The knowledge base has helped Bouygues Telecom to leverage andextend the value of its SAP investment. Knowledge management in atechnical reference system
Initially designed for maintenance technicians from the sameregion, the second project involved about thirty people in itspilot phase before being extended to a further 200 staff. It givestechnicians online access to a company knowledge base of technicalinformation. Technicians frequently work on site. From theirportable computers, they can connect to the technical knowledgebase on the portal and access technical files and recommendationsmade by their colleagues in similar situations. If a file is not100 per cent relevant, they can improve it and make their expertiseavailable to others.
In a matter of months, Bouygues Telecom has built acomprehensive online library of technical knowledge. Techniciansnow have rapid, real-time access to the sum total of the company’sexpertise. It is also highly versatile. Technicians can search theknowledge base according to various criteria including full text,and their specific areas of interest. End-user feedback is alsoextremely positive. Technicians now have all the information theyneed to make better decisions more rapidly than ever before. Beforethe portal they spent far too much time searching for right personwith the right information – now all they need to do is look on theweb. They can resolve networking issues quickly and with minimumfuss helping the company to further increase the overall quality ofcustomer service.
Using knowledge management to innovate informationsystems
CPS (Computer Planning Strategy) Division is responsible forresearching new technology and then ensuring rapid implementationof the solutions that best support the company’s businessobjectives. It was formed to track and research new technologiesand then validate them before they go live in any part of thebusiness.
The knowledge base was used for accelerating the movement ofnew technology from the CPS management to operational divisions.All technical documents are classified, and each event in theknowledge base can be traced. No time is wasted searching fordocuments and the CPS can make full use of acquired knowledge todevelop innovative new information system strategies.
Keeping track of new technologies
The success of the CPS project has generated interest inadditional knowledge management solutions. The CPS team andoperational management would like to access a knowledge base on thelatest technological developments. Such a tool is to help themcollect and validate new information and leverage knowledge.
Like the earlier projects, it will only take a few weeks tocomplete.
Bouygues Telecom has overcome the main obstacle to knowledgemanagement success – enduser resistance with a light use of changemanagement. By setting up focused, effective projects that deliverimpressive and immediate results, Bouygues Telecom has managed tomake its knowledge management vision reality.
The best approach for implementing Knowledge Management
In the Knowledge Management as in many other subjects thereare two kinds of approach: top down and bottom up. The top downapproach of the Knowledge Management is currently defined as anapproach with two main objectives: identifying the whole knowledgemanagement needs of a company, defining the knowledge bases forcovering these needs and establishing a portfolio of projects forimplementing the knowledge bases.
It’s a study in a strategic and general management point ofview, not an implementation approach.
On the other way, the bottom up approach of the KnowledgeManagement is an implementation
approach. It’s positioned as an incremental deployment of theKnowledge Management and focalized on unit realization of knowledgebase.
With this approach, the job is registering and qualifying theneeds for knowledge bases rose from the ground floor.
To qualify the needs Valtech usually integrate all the aspectsof the implementation of a knowledge base: Return on investment,Process, Modelisation, Information System, Human
Resources, Change Management and OrganizationalLearning.
Actually, implementing the top down approach is impossible fora company without any practical experience in KnowledgeManagement.
If the company doesn’t have any operational knowledge base,the Knowledge Management still stay a concept. Like BouyguesTelecom did, the best approach for implementing KnowledgeManagement, can be split in the major following steps:
· Identify needs for a Knowledge Management application
· Qualify the opportunity of realizing a knowledge base
· Define the knowledge base
· Implement the knowledge base
· Develop a focused change management
· Obtain a practical success
This approach has to be reproduced until the company hasimplemented with success a sufficient number of knowledgebases.
At this time, the company can introduce the top downapproach.
Key Points for implementing Knowledge Management
· Focalize efforts on results not on concepts
· For the beginning of the KM implementation in your companystart by the ground floor
· Define value added KM projects
· Identify measurable and non measurable gains to obtain byprojects
· Choose a tool easy to implement and use which can readilymeet all the company’s
professional requirements
· Obtain staff adhesion by a good utilization of changemanagement
· Design, develop and implement the projects quickly
Questions:
1. What is the reason of discussions on the concept ofKnowledge Management given in this
case? In your opinion, what could be other reasons of suchdebates on knowledge
management?
2. Analyze the situation and identify what problem was facedby Bouygues Telecom. What
strategy was adopted by Bouygues Telecom to cope thesituation?
3. How Bouygues Telecom incorporated IT tools to implement theKnowledge Management
system?
4. Which initial step Bouygues Telecom took to share implicitknowledge?
5. How did Bouygues Telecom convert its technical implicitknowledge into explicit
knowledge?
