Knowledge at work: How to get the most from your corporate portal

With the final line-up of keynote speakers confirmed, the countdown to Global KM eXchange, one of the year’s most exciting knowledge management events, has truly begun.

As reported in last month's issue, Dave Snowden, Debra Amidon, Hubert Saint-Onge and Steve Denning will all be hosting a keynote presentation, and they will be joined by Karl Wiig, Scott Cooper and Tom Stewart. A full conference featuring the likes of Richard McDermott, Scott Hawkins and Bob Bauer will support the keynote programme, together with a free exhibition showcasing the knowledge technologies and products of more than 50 companies.

Global KM eXchange will be the first event to look forward to the next generation of knowledge management, placing the discipline in a context in which success is measured by real, practical business gains. The combined conference and exhibition will focus on how to develop a truly holistic approach to KM, striking the right balance in terms of people, processes and technology.

The event is the first in a series of three major exhibitions planned by Ark Group and Knowledge Management this year. KM Asia 2002 is set to take place in July, while the third event in the KM Europe series will follow in November. Global KM eXchange represents the first time the magazine has been involved with such a large-scale project in the US, however, and is really shaping up to be something special.

Full details about how to reserve your place are available on www.globalkmexchange, and a special ten per cent discount is available to Knowledge Management subscribers. Hurry though, as over 1,000 people are expected to attend, and places are limited. I hope to see you there!

Features

Country focus: Israel Free
Simon Lelic talks to Eli Oren and assesses the impact of knowledge management in Israel.

FROM THE ARCHIVE: Driving organisational change Free
ABB is applying a systematic process for driving organisational process improvement by means of goal-oriented stories, derived from the experiences of the firm’s domain experts and recorded in a ‘storybase’. Peter Fröhlich and Harsh Karandikar describe the work undertaken so far and reveal some of the key lessons the company has learnt.

Inside knowledge Free
This month’s editorial comment. By Simon Lelic.

Look before you leap: An exploration of the practical issues surrounding portal technology Free
The corporate portal has moved on from its humble origins as a collection of links and is well on the way to replacing the graphical desktop as the employee’s gateway to the organisation. Tom Knight and Arif Azar explore the evolution of the technology and offer some insights into how to get the most from portal implementation.

Portals and the knowledge value chain: Combining an off-line approach with web-based knowledge management Free
Despite the excitement surrounding the evolution of portal technology, even the most advanced application is destined to fail unless the appropriate cultural and behavioural issues are also addressed. Paul Louis Iske explores how a portal can tie in with an organisation’s knowledge value chain and offers some advice about how to strike the right balance in your change management initiative.

Real-world taxonomy development: Creating a taxonomy that makes sense to your employees Free
Corporate taxonomies aim to empower employees by allowing them to access the knowledge they need to overcome the problems they face in their day-to-day work, yet many implementations fail to even consider the needs of their end-users. Bonnie Cheuk draws on Brenda Dervin’s Sense-Making methodology in describing an approach to taxonomy development that takes into account real-world business needs.

The collaborative advantage: Managing content to enable knowledge sharing Free
One of the ways to ensure that a content management solution supports and enables knowledge sharing is to have as much content as possible voluntarily home grown by the community being served by the solution. Dan Holtshouse shares his experiences at Xerox, where he has helped to pioneer and develop this concept.

Towards a knowledge-based economy: The Hong Kong experience Free
In most economies, knowledge management has long been recognised as a source of competitive advantage, but companies in Hong Kong have been slow to fully accept and embrace the discipline. Trevor Lui describes the evolution of KM in Hong Kong and outlines the role the Hong Kong Productivity Council plays in fostering awareness of the benefits knowledge management has to offer.

Regulars

Book review: Knowledge Management: Best Practices in Europe Free
Mikko Arevuo reviews Knowledge Management: Best Practices in Europe

The 60-second interview Free
Jacquie Bran, project manager with the Knowledge Management events teams, talks to Chris Hancock, who directs the Knowledge Network project for the Office of the e-Envoy in the UK Cabinet Office. In February 2002 the Knowledge Network was awarded the Management Consultants’ Association award for the best IT project of 2001. For more information, visit: www.e-envoy.gov.uk