key note for repsol 2006
DESCRIPTION
Improving business excellence with Knowledge Management; internal seminar on KM at Repsol Madrid 2006TRANSCRIPT
© 2006 CIBIT
Improving business
excellence with knowledge
management
Rob van der Spek
Managing consultant
Workshop on knowledge management Repsol YPF
18th of October 2006
+31-6-54781900
Disclaimer:
CIBIT has been acquired by DNV in 2006 and KM
services are delivered by DNV since 1st of Jan
2010.
For more information: see
www.dnv.com/knowledgemanagement
© 2006 CIBIT 2
CIBIT Consultants | Educators
Active in Europe in the area of knowledge management since 1988
Consultant and topic expert to Several multi-national companies (Corus, Siemens AG, Shell, Unilever, British
Nuclear Group, SKF, Sara Lee / Douwe Egberts, Heineken, FIAT)
Governmental agencies
European Commission
European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
Master classes in the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Italy and Taiwan Core: building the business case for knowledge management
For more information: see
www.dnv.com/knowledgemanagement
© 2006 CIBIT 3
Agenda
What are the objectives of knowledge management?
What are critical success factors?
How to organize knowledge management?
© 2006 CIBIT 4
No 1 asset in a knowledge based economy
Employees which learn as fast as possible,
apply learning’s in action, improve their skills and
continuously improve the performance of the company
© 2006 CIBIT 5
Achieving business excellence through
effective knowledge management
Learn from the things you do and improve your operations
fast and effective
Learn from your customers, partners & competitors and
innovate in a smart way
Share your knowledge across operations and leverage your
performance globally
Ensure that your employees have the right skills and can
access all available people and information they need to
build these skills
© 2006 CIBIT 6
Costs of ignorance?
1. Costly mistakes are duplicated because earlier ones were not
recorded or analysed
2. Good ideas and best practices are not shared which raises overall
costs in the company
3. 1 or 2 key employees hold crucial knowledge and continuity of
operations is at risk
4. Work is redone because people are not aware of activities, projects
in the past
5. Customer relationships are damaged because knowledge is not
available at the point of action
6. The company learns too slowly which results in delayed product
development or missed opportunities
7. Employees become frustrated because they cannot find
information or knowledgeable people
© 2006 CIBIT 7
KM in action? Three types of initiatives!
Create
Corporate Memory
(content)
Create Communities
of practice and
networks
Create
capabilities
Knowledge
management
© 2006 CIBIT 8
Key Success Factors of knowledge
management initiatives
Clear focus:
Which capabilities are crucial to our business strategy?
Which costs of ignorance should be avoided?
First-class infrastructure
ÍT and processes that enable
your employees to work together and share information
Leadership:
Stimulate and recognize contribution of employees in
sharing and re-using experiences
© 2006 CIBIT 9
Knowledge management is not a goal in
itself!
KM is a instrument to achieve business excellence
It should create bottom-line results
The leaders in the field of Knowledge
Management:
Use KM to improve Key Performance Indicators
(financial results, client satisfaction, added value)
Use structured approaches to identify crucial knowledge
areas, their strengths and weaknesses
Integrate business planning and knowledge
management
© 2006 CIBIT 10
Drivers for benefits
Revenues
Market share
Time to market
Continuity
Reduced avoidable
failure costs
Enhanced quality of
decision making
Pro-active capability
planning
Corporate
performance
Process and product
improvements
KM actions
and instruments
11
Core Questions: given our strategy…
What should be our core capabilities?
Do we ensure and safeguard our core capabilities in our company or value chain?
Can we still deliver in the future?
Where are our main risks in capabilities?
Is our core knowledge codified?
Do we have protocols, best practices, standard ways of working, frameworks, templates?
Are these resources available and accessible for all?
Do we have networks that take care for knowledge development and sharing?
Do we involve people across our operations?
© 2006 CIBIT 12
First-class Infrastructure
Processes
Connecting people across the company
Content management
(ICT) -tools
Communication tools via Intranet
Search facilities to find communities, people, documents and
other relevant sources
Structure and roles
People who facilitate teams and individuals in building
capabilities and improve their ways of working
© 2006 CIBIT 13
Communities of Practice
Communities of Practice are a major tool for
companies to create knowledge sharing platforms
between people
Companies use Communities of Practice for:
Cross-operational sharing of knowledge and good practices
Solve local problems by tapping in global knowledge
Create new knowledge
Develop tools, methods and frameworks
© 2006 CIBIT 14
Role of IT
Though many authors argue that IT is not the most
important enabler for KM,
When the best efforts are taken into account it shows that the
majority of best efforts make strong usage of IT.
Good IT-tools are no less then expected but not
enough.
Now hot: web-blogs, Wikipedia
It is much easier to deliver good results with
passionate and committed people and sub-optimal IT-
tools then the other way around.
© 2006 CIBIT 15
Leadership and motivation
What makes employees learn
From their own experiences?
From the lessons from the past?
From other disciplines?
From other communities?
From other cultures?
What stimulate employees to make their learning’s
accessible?
For the future?
For their peers?
For other communities?
© 2006 CIBIT 16
Cultural and motivational issues
The main cultural and motivational barriers are:
Pressure on short-term results
Governance model which emphasises on local results instead
of company-wide performance
KM is perceived as a corporate initiative and not a tool which
can help local operations to improve
Not-invented-here syndrome
‘Knowledge is power’
© 2006 CIBIT 17
Tactics to deal with cultural and
motivational issues
Demonstration of impact on performance at the work
floor (what’s in it for them?)
Involvement of employees (what do they need?)
Good ICT-tools which really help employees
Repeated communication what the company would like
to achieve
© 2006 CIBIT 18
Competency building
People should be trained and coached in applying KM
principles as part of their job
How to collaborate in a multi-national company?
How to participate in global communities?
How to use the corporate intranet?
How to perform an effective Brainstorm, sharing session,
After-Action Review, evaluation meeting?
How to transfer learning’s to peers in other operations, other
communities, other cultures?
© 2006 CIBIT 19
Organisation of KM
Most KM initiatives were started
By a small team of pioneers creating awareness, starting
pilots and convincing management.
Successful pilots are used to communicate the “business
case’ and potential benefits.
Companies who have expanded their KM activities
Have a core team which is multi-disciplinary, networked within
the company and strongly business oriented.
They facilitate local operations, share their insights within the
network of ‘knowledge managers’, and act as internal
consultant and change agents.
© 2006 CIBIT 20
Clear communication
Be clear on costs and benefits of KM
State what you would like to achieve and how it fits in the
strategy
Do not sell cheap
Real KM activities, which create sustainable benefits, require
investments.
Theories on KM should be limited,
Focus should be on the success stories, anecdotes and
personal impressions of managers and employees.
Show the employees that their contribution is
important for the company.
© 2006 CIBIT 21
© 2006 CIBIT 22
Summary
Knowledge management can help Repsol YPF to
reduce the costs of ignorance and improve its
performance
Requires:
Clear focus on your core capabilities and opportunities / risks
involved
First-class infrastructure for employees to share information
and collaborate across operations
Leadership and commitment to employees who are willing to
share their experiences with others