Knowledge: When not to share?

Knowledge sharing is widely regarded as ‘a good thing’. In an exchange of knowledge, both parties benefit. That, at least, is the theory. But there are many times when it is important to protect certain knowledge – from competitors, especially. But what about potential competitors?

Outsourcing the manufacturing of products to specialist companies in lower-cost countries has always been a feature of modern market-oriented economies – manufacturing moves to where the lowest-cost pool of labour is located.

But are companies endangering themselves in the process? Some argue that they are and say that venerable companies risk losing their valuable tacit and explicit knowledge that is – often unknown to management – the very essence of their existence.

They can cite plenty of proof to support their arguments, but it is a two-way street and the movement isn’t just from the US and Europe to Asia, but within Asia and, frequently, from Asia to the US and Europe, too. Most notably, with Japanese car and consumer electronics companies setting up facilities in those continents.

But would knowledge of how to make a car as reliably as Toyota have saved the defunct car-maker MG Rover? Or have helped Ford and General Motors (GM) avoid their current financial difficulties? It might have helped, but there is a lot more behind those companies’ problems than any amount of knowledge about manufacturing processes could overcome.

Team working

For all the talk of ‘virtual meetings’ and ‘online collaboration’, there really is nothing better than a well-focused, face-to-face meeting. You can read an example on page five. Originally, Richard Cross had planned to write about the increasing cross-fertilisation between knowledge management (KM) and Six Sigma methodology.

But after a long discussion (encompassing KM in such places as Russia and China, Xerox and Japanese-derived manufacturing methods), Cross decided that the lessons to be learnt from the Gordon Ramsey school of management were simply more interesting. However, we will be tackling Six Sigma and KM in the near future.

Finally, a new year is always a good time for re-assessment – to ask, what are we doing right and what could we do better? That’s as much true for publishing as it is for anything else. I therefore extend an open invitation to all readers to send me their opinions on Inside Knowledge, what we could be doing better and what you would like to see more of in 2007.

Features

Case study: Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria This article is for subscribers only
Capturing tacit knowledge as part of a broader KM strategy can be challenging, but videoing key sessions can help. By Linda Page.

Masterclass: KM implementation This article is for subscribers only
Persuading staff to open up to knowledge management requires a change in attitude and corporate culture. But that can be a long and arduous task. Nick Milton and Tom Young explain how it should be approached.

Cover story: Knowledge transfer This article is for subscribers only
When companies outsource, they have to make a crucial decision that could affect profitability: what knowledge should they share and what should they protect?

Case study: Royal Mail Group This article is for subscribers only
When Royal Mail Group’s losses reached £1.5m a day, it launched a renewal plan intended to return it to profitability – and its HR department was one of many to face major upheaval. It therefore used KM to support the re-organisation – to retain knowledge that might otherwise walk out of the door.

Case report: American Power Conversion This article is for subscribers only
When Rick Wallace joined American Power Conversion with a brief to develop its learning and knowledge management, he probably hadn’t banked on the company merging with a rival just six months later – and a KM pioneer as well.

Regulars

Knowledgeworks: Grab the wheel Free
Mergers and acquisitions are much like bumper car rides – chaotic and over all too quickly. By Jerry Ash

Thought leader: What Gordon Ramsay taught me about KM Free
Some people can write almost as naturally as they breathe – regardless of their profession – and some people cannot. Likewise, some people simply ‘do’ knowledge management (KM) as if it were an integral part of the way they work. It’s simply the way they are. Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is one such person.

The knowledge: Ken Thompson This article is for subscribers only
Taking time out from his career as a software engineer, Ken Thompson is bringing the lessons learnt from nature’s ‘biological teams’ into the workplace. Sandra Higgison finds out what we’re doing wrong and what makes ants, bees and geese interact so successfully.

The Gurteen perspective: Avoiding jargon Free
At a conference recently, I noticed a participant had written on her feedback form that one of the speaker’s sessions was “nerdy”, but then as an afterthought she had written in brackets that the speaker wasn’t. I found this rather amusing, as the speaker had done his best to tone down the techie aspects of his talk for the audience.

Book review: Killer Web Content Free
Putting up a website – even one intended to conduct e-commerce – is easy, these days. However, putting up a website of any complexity does take a lot of thought and planning beforehand if its purpose is to be met. Does Killer Web Content help organisations overcome such challenges?