This report discusses a knowledge strategy in the communications profession in IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa. The focus of that report is to reveal the reshift from a replication- orientated organisation which excels in functionality onto a communicationsintensive consultant organsiation in which the active management of both tacit and explict knowledge does play an active role.
In the previous Intellectual Capital assessment, it has been discovered, that intellectual capital in this communications organization is rather unorganized and disperse. Here, it is
further looked into and found out that one of the reasons for this dispersed intellectual capital the missing accumulation and conversion of knowledge in that organization. Reasons for this are: few or very unuseful joint tools for personal use, no expert
professions to grow into and thus no personal reward to accumulate real market or media knowledge, and last but not least a culture that does reward the quick shot and not sustainability.
The underlying technology - is not used suffieciently and only in a dispersed way. As a consequence, lots of intellectual capital is lost constantly. Customer satisfaction - thus expressed through IBM employee attrition rate internally and through favourability level of journalists and number of strategically focused media imprints - could be increased significantly.
To gain a strategic advantage through a knowledgeable communications organization that brings value add to the business, it is recommended in this report to
* Setup a knowledge officer in the organisation, closely aligned to the VP of Communications.
* Setup communications knowledge hubs at strategic sites who act as key knowledge accumulators de-alllocation of professionals from non-strategic knowledge hubs
* A pervasive and user-friendly Lotus Notes / Web Notes / Domino database infrastructure to enable group work, together with the production deployment of sametime communications tools
like VPBuddy. Here, the focus is not so much about technology but about content, pervasiveness and persistence in its useage and reward. In a next step, explicit expert professions within the communications career path should be fostered to gain and reward expert and tacit knowledge and thus attract and retain the world-class communications professionals, a company like IBM needs to have.
This knowledge initiative should be aligned with IBM’s strategic priorities, especially Priority 1, Priority 5 and Priority 6
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Identification of Issues
- Ruggle's Intellectual Capability dimensions
- Knowledge identification
- Knowledge codification
- Knowledge interchange
- Knowledge creation
- Knowledge Issues in specific detail
- Selection of One Issue: Human Resources
- Human Resources - Management Skills
- Human Resources - Learning and Employee Turnover
- Human Resources - The Aging Pyramid or Rookie rate and no available explicit knowledge
- Personal growth through knowledge gain - rather missing
- Knowledge generation - a Human Resource selection and growth problem?
- Human resource selection process as a knowledge gathering process
- No focus on novel problems - where is the collective endeavour?
- Human Resource aspect - the tip of the iceberg
- Recommendations
- Knowledge as resource and Capability - filling the gaps
- Resource/Capabilites
- Strategic Fit
- Strategic/Competitive Advantage
- Resource Gaps
- Applying Nonaka's and Takeuchi's framework for filling the gaps of a knowledge strategy
- Enablers for knowledge management
- Leadership
- Vision
- Structure
- Culture
- Levers for a Knowledge Management Strategy
- Nodes and Networks
- Processes
- Measures
- Market leverage
- Foundations of knowledge management
- Establishing a community of practice
- Tools and Techniques
- "Hard" infrastructure - Intranet, Groupware, etc.
- "Soft" infrastructure - Roles, skills, Development, Rewards.
- Skills and expert Knowledge
- Bottom-line Benefits of knowledge strategy
- Problems, Challenges
- Critical success factors to overcome problems
- Drawing a clear link to business priority
- Knowledge crossing boundaries, executive sponsor
- Implementation as evolution, not as a revolution
- Knowledge management strategies are not a "wishlist"
- Selecting the right pilot - if at all a pilot is doable
- Knowledge transfer problems around different locations
- Process problems
- Technocentrix problem
- Sustaining the effort
- Final remark
- Management of knowledge as a resource
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This report investigates the implementation of a knowledge strategy within IBM's communications organization in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). It aims to understand the existing knowledge landscape, identify knowledge gaps, and propose solutions for transforming the organization from a functional to a communications-intensive consultant model.
- Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital in Communications
- Knowledge Codification and Interchange
- Human Resources and Knowledge Acquisition
- Strategic Fit and Competitive Advantage
- Implementation Challenges and Success Factors
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The report starts by defining the scope of the problem, outlining the current state of knowledge management within IBM's communications organization. It then dives into the concept of intellectual capital and explores Ruggle's intellectual capability dimensions. The author analyzes the lack of knowledge codification and interchange within the organization, emphasizing the need for a more structured approach to knowledge acquisition and sharing.
The report focuses on human resource management as a key challenge, specifically the need for attracting and retaining skilled professionals. It highlights the lack of structured knowledge acquisition during the recruitment process and the absence of clear career paths for expert knowledge development.
The author proposes recommendations for bridging these knowledge gaps, suggesting the establishment of knowledge hubs and leveraging existing tools like Lotus Notes and Sametime. He emphasizes the importance of fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and incentivizing expertise. The report also explores enablers for knowledge management, including leadership, vision, structure, and culture, and outlines the necessary levers for a successful knowledge management strategy.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The report centers on knowledge strategy, communications organization, intellectual capital, knowledge management, human resource management, strategic fit, competitive advantage, knowledge acquisition, knowledge sharing, and cultural change.
- Quote paper
- Dipl.-Ing. Christoph Frhr. von Gamm (Author), 1999, A Knowledge Strategy for a Communications and PR practice of a large firm, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/144886
