Inside knowledge

We are all working longer hours and are under more pressure than ever before and I for one believe it’s time to generate some positive energy in the workplace. Unsurprisingly, I'm not alone in this. The Business Energy Survey, conducted by the Chartered Management Institute, recently questioned over 1,500 UK managers and found that employees need to feel proud of their organisations if they are to give their jobs their all. Praise not pay and a positive working environment are key to unlocking human potential, according to the survey. Organisations are taking note and are beginning to introduce flexible working and involving workers in decision-making processes to keep them motivated.

It seems that KM practitioners worldwide are also preoccupied with human capital, as illustrated by the presentations from keynote speakers at Ark Group’s KM Europe 2004, which takes place in Amsterdam this month. John Seely Brown, Dan Holtshouse and Richard Cross will be fighting the knowledge worker's corner and suggesting ways to improve the creative productivity of the next-generation workforce through knowledge sharing and social networking. It’s a time of global change and transition for knowledge management and KM Europe promises to be at the cutting edge of all that’s new and improved (see page 6).

This global flavour is apparent in the November issue of Knowledge Management this month, with case studies that have wide-reaching appeal. Highlights include an insight into the public sector’s wariness of KM, as illustrated by Niall Sinclair’s experience of working for the Canadian government (see page 16). On page 20, Novo Nordisk has been stretching its international wings by implementing a stakeholder innovation programme that links customers to stakeholders worldwide, thus enabling better diabetes care. InBev take a slightly different approach on page 26 with a look at how the longstanding natural and informal social networks inherent in the beer brewing industry have inspired the formation of formal communities of practice.

The personal highlight of my month was meeting Melissie Rumizen for a chat about her work in the KM field. ‘The knowledge’ profile on page 10 offers an insight into her work at Buckman Labs and a refreshingly jargon-less take on the field that is nothing less than inspirational. So now it’s your turn – inspire us by sharing your KM stories and experiences with Knowledge Management readers by contacting me at rcavalot@ark-group.com.

Features

Keeping the law in order (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati ) Free
In global organisations, work product repositories are used to help employees deliver better results to the customer faster. Chris Boyd and Christine Hodson explain the business case for a brief bank at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and provide insights into how the system is maintained, marketed, measured and improved to the organisation’s advantage.

Brewing up a successful CoP (InBev) Free
In the beer industry, brewing expertise has long been passed from generation to generation, and personal, informal networks are the norm. Marnix Catteeuw considers how these knowledge-sharing tendencies can be harnessed and used to an organisation’s advantage through the creation of formal communities of practice.

Developing leaders under siege Free
A well structured development programme can turn employees into successful leaders. But when a pharmaceutical company attempted to implement this type of scheme, it was not expecting to find itself in the middle of a hostile take-over bid. Stephen John explains how the dream of creating a change-agent community was kept alive by employees who refused to stop networking and knowledge sharing.

Dawn of a new era (Novo Nordisk) Free
A stakeholder-innovation programme implemented at Novo Nordisk, a pharmaceutical company, aimed to link customers to other external stakeholders and employees to enable better diabetes care. Søren Skovlund explains how the programme has led the organisation to form new partnerships and mindsets, and how it is helping to sustain competitive advantage worldwide.

A stealthy approach to KM (Canada) Free
The private sector has been implementing successful KM initiatives for years, but many organisations in the public sector have been slower to adopt the discipline. Niall Sinclair explains the reasons for public sector wariness by looking at the Canadian government’s take on KM, and suggests a non-threatening approach to introducing the discipline.

Developing a holistic KM framework (ODI) Free
When ODI, an independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues, received sponsorship to fund an internal knowledge-management initiative, it was determined to capitalise on its staff’s extensive knowledge. Ben Ramalingam and Mikko Arevuo take us behind the scenes of the project and explain how ODI decided how knowledge should be managed to best enhance competitive advantage.

Regulars

Book review: Knowledge Economics: Emerging Principles, Practices and Policies Free
David Skyrme reviews Knowledge Economics: Emerging Principles, Practices and Policies, edited by Debra M. Amidon, Piero Formica and Eunika Mercier-Laurent.

Knowledgeworks: winning the war Free
The principles of knowledge management are often misunderstood and KM practitioners can become preoccupied by the debate over who should actually be managing knowledge. Jerry Ash steps into the breach to examine the conflicts the discipline is facing, and suggests winning the war, not by surrendering, but through compromise and collaboration.

The knowledge: Melissie Rumizen Free
Renowned for her work as knowledge strategist at Buckman Laboratories, Melissie Rumizen has been instrumental in transforming theory into pioneering practice and is happy to share the lessons she has learnt along the way. She speaks to Rebecca Cavalôt about facilitating cultural change and nurturing the individual, and offers her personal take on the future of KM.

Put it to the board: Yogesh Malhotra Free
In a recent issue of CIO Insight, it was noted that many IT executives said the term KM left a bitter taste in their mouths. This bitterness, however, is of their own making as IT vendors re-label old data-management solutions. Executives have been led to believe that relabelling solutions as KM tools gives them magical powers.