1 knowledge and knowledge management at accenture
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Knowledge and Knowledge
Management at Accenture
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1. Why Knowledge and Knowledge Transfer?
2. Accenture.
3. What Are We Managing?
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Agricultural
Agricultural
•The Cobbler
•The Farmer
Indust
rial
Indust
rial
Land
Labor
Intellect
Changing Values -Three Economies
The Knowledge Economy...
Land
Capital
1. New basis of competition --- routinization matters less than rapid learning.
2. New basis for management – not looking for compliance but innovation.
3. New basis for offerings – not more product but value added through knowledge
Knowledge
Prof Services
Advertising
Pharmaceuticals
Software/Electronics
Clothing
Consumer Products
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Organizations are looking to leverage their knowledge in the form of adding value-added services to their products
Source: Corporate Strategy Board, 2001
GE integrated into the airlines’ value chain and found more and more things to do
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Improving an organization’s ability to manage knowledge can positively impact a number of factors
Responsiveness by giving people access to the information they need when they need it, they can solve customer problems more quickly, make better decisions faster, and respond more effectively to changing market conditions.
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Improving an organization’s ability to manage
knowledge can positively impact a number of factors Innovation by finding and nurturing new ideas, bringing people together in "virtual“ development teams, creating forums for brainstorming and collaboration.
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Improving an organization’s ability to manage
knowledge can positively impact a number of factors Efficiency by capturing and sharing best practices and other reusable knowledge assets organizations can shorten cycle times and minimize duplication of effort.
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1. Why Knowledge and Knowledge Transfer?
2. Accenture.
3. What Are We Managing?
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Class Discussion Questions
Accenture is an early mover and a classic example of a data-base oriented approach to KM.
Count off to five and give me a few minutes of thought on the below.• Team 1. What benefits does accenture hope to get from KM (innovation,
efficiency and effectiveness)? Give an example.
• Team 2. In the vignette on page 2-3, what was the issue and how did it get solved?
• Team 3. How does knowledge exchange help? What is it composed of and what does it do?
• Team 4. Knowledge Management Roles? How many? What do they do?
• Team 5. Challenges going forward and problems with posed solutions.
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Knowledge Xchange at AccentureContents Core Methodologies. Best Practices/Reusable Work Products. Discussion Databases. External Info.
Challenges 3,000 databases (5-65,000 records in each).
• How do you find things (e.g. search engines, agents)? What does this assume? • How do you organize things?
Several hundred servers for 35,000 users. How do they maintain quality in the system?
• Formally: Pre-filtering by experts.• Informally: People rely on networks.
Do you assign knowledge managers to each team?
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Knowledge Roles at Accenture
Supporting Organizational Infrastructure CIO organization
• Create global Lotus Notes applications• Set standards for contribution format, structure and location.
Over 200 full-time knowledge managers.• Sponsors – Partners responsible for creation & maintenance.• Knowledge Integrators – Content specialists.• Knowledge Base Admins – Administrative and technical D-
base work.
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Were They Successful?
(A Vote)
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1. Why Knowledge and Knowledge Transfer?
2. Accenture.
3. What Are We Managing?
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We all have too much information to be efficient, responsive or innovative
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Knowledge Is Complex and Multi-DimensionalExplicit and Tacit Knowledge
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So why not just dump ideas into databases?
Give me three minutes of thought on the following question:With a year under your belt, you have learned a lot about what it takes to succeed here at McIntire. In particular, you learned a lot last year about getting internships and jobs.
Rather than let the incoming class re-learn these lessons, you have decided to share your collective wisdom to save them grief. Your job is to identify what you have to know to be successful in an interview.
Think broadly and create a list of 8 items for me in the following format:
Exactly what knowledge do these third years need?
How can you get this to them?
Company Facts…… Build a Database……
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• Company Company FactsFacts
• Current Current EventsEvents
• Personal Personal ValuesValues
• Creative Creative SolutionsSolutions
• Problem Problem SolvingSolving
• Financial Financial CalculationsCalculations
• Interpersonal Interpersonal SkillsSkills
• Sense an Sense an InterviewerInterviewer
EXPLICIT TACIT
Know What(Know the rules of
tennis)
Know How(Know how to play
tennis)
Types of Knowledge in Interviewing
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DocumentsDocumentsDatabasesDatabases
ReportsReports
• FactsFacts• IdeasIdeas• TheoriesTheories
• IntuitionIntuition• BeliefsBeliefs• ValuesValues
• RoutinesRoutines• ProceduresProcedures• InstructionsInstructions
• ExpertiseExpertise• InstinctsInstincts• Informal Informal
PracticesPractices
EXPLICIT TACIT
KnowWhat
KnowHow
ManualsManualsEngineering Engineering
MethodsMethods
DialogueDialogueConversationConversation
MentoringMentoring
ExperienceExperienceApprenticeshipsApprenticeships
CoachingCoaching
Types of Knowledge
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Knowledge Transfer(From Working Knowledge)
Lack of Trust Different Cultures, Vocabularies and
Frames of Reference Lack of Time and Physical Space
Status and Rewards Go To Knowledge Owners
Lack of Absorptive Capacity Belief That Knowledge Work Occurs
Only in Certain Groups and NIH Intolerance for Mistakes
Build through face to face. Create common ground through
education, discussion, rotation. Create time and places: Fairs,
Brown Bags, etc. Incent to Share
Educate/hire for learning Encourage non-hierarchical
approach to ideas/knowledge Accept and reward creative errors
Frictions Solutions
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Information Versus Knowledge in Retail Banking
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General Case Questions: McKINSEYCome Prepared to Discuss
• What strategically differentiates McKinsey? How does KM (repositories, collaborative technologies and employee development) play into this?
• What does the policy that McKinsey not accept routine assignments do for them strategically and organizationally (e.g., 1945 engagement guide & 1971 Commission on Firm’s Goals)?
• What were the key elements of the knowledge management project launched in 1987?
• Be prepared to discuss the Jeff Peters vignette. Specifically, how did he solve his problem?
• What challenges does McKinsey face as evidenced in the case and vignettes?