Five Steps To Effective Knowledge Management

Abstract

Intangible assets, such as knowledge and intellectual property, play a critical role in a company's ability to generate and sustain a competitive advantage. Thus it comes as no surprise that Knowledge Management (KM) is a key ingredient in successful R&D organizations (1). has received considerable attention in the business and research literature, as well as in Dilbert cartoons. The latter reflects the fact that has been used to describe a broad range of techniques across several fields of management and information technology, with benefits that are sometimes difficult to quantify. KM is everything and nothing. What is it? To answer this question, the Master of Management and Manufacturing Program at Northwestern University asked me to develop a course on from the perspective of a global technology company, based on my experience as a researcher and manager in Motorola Labs. In 15 lecture hours, we address as the integration of people, processes, tools, and strategy, to create, use and share knowledge, to accomplish an organization's goals. A key challenge for business leaders is the selection of initiatives that fit their organization and leverage available resources. A recent survey of 2,073 practitioners and managers identified the top 20 issues in developing activities (2). These fall into four categories: executive/strategic management, costs/benefits/ risks, operational management, and standards. The essence of my course and its recommendations for R&D managers can be summarized in the following five steps: 1: Stay Out of Jail initiatives must comply with existing legal standards for information disclosure or confidentiality. In an R&D environment, export controls require special attention because knowledge export is defined as transmission of knowledge to a foreign country or sharing of knowledge with someone in the country who is a foreign national. Multinational companies must follow the rules of each country in which they do business. Documentation and compliance with non-disclosure agreements is another area of concern. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has also affected R&D organizations with specific guidelines for increased transparency and financial record keeping. On the flip side of legal compliance (avoiding lawsuits) is intellectual property management. It is necessary to have systematic processes in place to document and protect proprietary information in order to gain rights to patents and trade secrets. 2: Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit Organizations should take advantage of practices that are easy to adopt and known to give good results. Mentoring is one of the best ways to facilitate transfer of tacit knowledge. For scientists and R&D engineers this includes techniques for selling ideas, finding resources and motivating teams. A directory of expertise can help connect knowledge users with knowledge sources, and coordinate existing communities of practice. This requires more than a database, though, since lack of trust of peers and/or shared knowledge can be a major roadblock. Problem-solution repositories, e.g., lessons learned databases, capture cycles of learning but require diligent updating and validation. Such databases are beneficial for multi-year R&D programs and should be complemented with face-to-face sessions, e.g., Lunch and Learn, or Web-based seminars. Data mining was identified as one of the most useful yet least used tools in new product development (3). 3: Build Synergies with People, Process and Tools Understanding knowledge transformations within an organization can help identify synergies for initiatives. For example, the need to socialize tacit knowledge about R&D project selection might suggest that junior researchers review plans with senior team members. Conversely, tacit knowledge about program reviews can be externalized via formal written procedures. …