denotes premium content | Oct 8 2008 Inside Knowledge Magazine /Knowledge Management Magazine Archive
Volume 7 Issue 9
KM and marketing
While an enterprise-wide KM programme may be the end goal of forward-thinking organisations, taking the time to address the specific knowledge needs of each internal function is critical. Many marketing departments, especially within the business-to-consumer sector, are hives of creativity but have so far failed to develop a corporate memory of what works and what doesn’t. Our special focus this month examines how the application of knowledge-management techniques and principles to marketing activities can sharpen any company’s competitive edge.
By managing customer knowledge strategically, gaining sharper insights into market intelligence, deploying digital-asset-management technology and employing collaborative-working techniques, marketers have tools and techniques at their fingertips that can revitalise future initiatives. In our Your Say piece, starting on page ten, I speak to experts in the field to uncover how it is not only the marketing department that will benefit from knowledge-focused working practices, but how customers can also gain from more valuable relationships with companies, and tailored products and services. Indeed, if companies truly make the effort to understand our needs and behaviours as customers and consumers, we may never want for anything again!
June’s Knowledge Management also welcomes the arrival of KM UK, Ark Group’s newest addition to its calendar of networking and learning events. As the UK is firmly placed at the front of the KM field, this forum promises to bring together some of the country’s, and the industry’s, leading thinkers, practitioners and solution providers. For a round-up of KM’s evolution in the UK, see our Country Focus on page 34.
I write this month’s Inside Knowledge piece with a touch of sadness as it will be my last contribution as editor of the magazine. Following three years at Ark Group, working on CM Focus and almost a year editing Knowledge Management, I will be taking the leap into the industry itself by joining the KM team at insurance and risk-management firm, Aon. Rebecca Cavalôt has joined the magazine’s team as our new deputy editor and will introduce herself to you next month. Before signing off, I’d like to thank Ark Group for letting me loose on its flagship publication, especially Simon Lelic and Jason Schofield for their unfailing support. And, of course, a huge thank you to all the case-study and article authors that continue to make this magazine the success that it is.
I hope our paths will cross again in the future.
Sandra Higgison
Editor
Features
Just-in-time knowledge sharing
For knowledge-sharing efforts between project teams to be successful they must take issues of timing, group psychology and documentation into account. Victor Newman describes his experiences with and the principals behind the baton-passing technique that aims to capture and share knowledge while it is still ripe.
PKM: The starting blocks for KM
Individuals lie at the core of any organisation or knowledge-management initiative, yet traditionally, most KM programmes focus at the broad, enterprise-wide level, which fails to address personal knowledge needs. Daniel Myint draws on his experiences to discuss the value of personal-knowledge management in the workplace.
SAB shares knowledge
In 2001, SAB Ltd recognised the importance of collaboration among its employees and launched its knowledge-management programme. Hein van Eck explains how SAB has approached and implemented a knowledge-sharing process, and its development of a supporting KM infrastructure.
Outsource services not knowledge
Of the most hotly debated trends of recent years, business-process outsourcing and offshoring have generated much controversy and discussion. Aside from the projected cost savings and streamlined operations such initiatives promise, Mike Burtha, Mike Barr and Kathy Hagen examine the often ignored risks associated with losing knowledge, intellectual property and the ability to innovate and learn.
Clearing the culture hurdle at DuPont
Based on his experiences creating knowledge-sharing cultures within large organisations, Alan Herd describes his tried-and-tested methods for ensuring KM initiatives meet their goals.
Procter & Gamble boost innovation processes using KM
For a company famed for its ability to continuously offer products that match customers’ most current needs, Procter & Gamble takes pride in the success of its innovation processes. Mike Addison describes the essential role knowledge management plays in P&G’s Open Innovation strategy that looks internally and externally for new ideas and opportunities.
Regulars
Five minutes with…
James Renton, project manager with the Knowledge Management events team, speaks to Ron Donaldson, senior knowledge ecologist at English Nature.
Country focus: UK
Sandra Higgison talks to Tom Knight, managing consultant at Fujitsu Services, about the evolution of knowledge management in the UK.
Book review: Knowledge Management Lessons Learned
Mohamed Taher reviews Knowledge Management Lessons Learned: What Works and What Doesn’t, edited by Michael Koenig and T. Kanti Srikantaiah.
Your say: KM and marketing
The marketing function is waking up to the impact knowledge-management practices can have on its investments by harnessing and sharing existing customer and market knowledge, accurately targeting prospects, and enhancing innovation opportunities. Sandra Higgison speaks to practitioners, analysts and experts in the field to examine the developments, opportunities and challenges facing organisations looking to tap into this often ignored source of wealth.
Put it to the board: Ethnography in the workplace
Over the past 15 years, technology change has swept across our workplaces. The way we were and how we work has undergone significant shifts. The promise of ubiquitous computing has been delivered, but not as expected. If we were to time travel from a meeting in 1989 into a typical meeting today, we would face a technological tidal wave of ‘futureshock’.
The knowledge: Elizabeth Lank
As head of the Mobilising Knowledge Programme at ICL (now Fujitsu Services), Elizabeth Lank successfully instilled knowledge-sharing practices into the firm’s culture, people and processes. Today, she continues to facilitate collaborative working in companies across industries. She speaks to Sandra Higgison about her introduction to the field, her current work, and the challenges and opportunities facing knowledge-focused organisations.
