GROUP 4:

RAMESH RAMAN SINDHU PAARKAVI NOOR MOHAMMAD MOHAMMAD ISMAIL MD.BASHIRUDDIN QURAISHY

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT(KM)
Range of strategies / practices used in an organization

to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Insights and Experiences are either embodied in individual(s) or embedded in organizations as processes or practices. Focussed on organizational objectives like improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, sharing of lessons learnt, integration and continuous improvement of the organization.

KM SYSTEM(KMS)
Refers to a system (generally generated via or through

an IT based program/department /section) for implementing KM in organizations. Enables employees to have ready access to the organization's documented base of facts, sources of information, and solutions E.g: An engineer could know the metallurgical composition of an alloy that reduces sound in gear systems. Sharing this information organization wide can lead to more effective engine design and ideas for new or improved equipment.

FEATURES OF A KMS
Purpose: E.g. Collaboration, sharing good/best practices etc. Context: Information should be meaningfully organized, accumulated and embedded in the context of creation and application. Processes: E.g. creation, construction, identification, capturing, acquisition, selection, valuation, organization, linking, structuring, formalization, visualization, transfer, distribution, retention, maintenance, refinement, revision, evolution, accessing, retrieval and application of knowledge - Knowledge Life Cycle.

FEATURES OF A KMS
Participants: Knowledge is developed collectively and that the distribution of knowledge leads to its continuous change, reconstruction and application in different contexts, by different participants with differing backgrounds and experiences.
Instruments: Capture, creation and sharing of

the codifiable aspects of experience, the creation of corporate knowledge directories, taxonomies or ontologies, expertise locators, skill management systems etc.

ABOUT ACCENTURE
Global management consulting, technology services

and outsourcing company. HQ in Dublin, Ireland. Largest consulting firm in the world. As of September 2011, the company has more than 2,36,000 employees across 120 countries. Accenture's current clients include 96 of the Fortunes Global 100 and more than 3/4th of the Fortune Global 500. In 2004, ranked on S&Ps top 100 list(invested capital).

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
CEO Bill Green
Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Don Vanthournout Global KM Head Tom Barfield 5 Operating Groups Financial Services, Products,

Resources, Govt., Communications, High Technology 18 Industry Groups 5 Operating Groups + 8 Capability Groups (like Strategy, Business Architecture, CRM, SCM, Technology and Human Performance etc.)

IMPORTANT EVENTS
Accenture had a long history of focusing on

Knowledge Management (KM), especially since 1990.

Formally adopted a knowledge-oriented strategy under its Chief Information Officer(CIO). In 2000, KM responsibility was shifted from the CIO to the Training & Learning Organization at

Accenture. In 2001, Learning & Knowledge Development were combined into a Capability Development group.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
In 2002, the economy was in a downturn Resulted in significant budgetary pressure and cut in the training budget for all employees. Shift towards e-learning and lesser travel. Many senior managers left - 30% of all KM managers left or were laid off. Pressure to offshore KM functions, to countries like India and Philippines, to reduce costs.

EXISTING KM SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

Each group had built thousands of knowledge

repositories using Lotus Notes (IBM). This KM system was inefficient. Finding information on Accentures many decentralized portals was difficult and confusing, leading to duplication of information . Same document stored in many different Lotus Notes databases . No accountability on the management of information.

TABLE-1: DOCUMENT INVENTORY

Knowledge Category Description / Examples No. of Docs. (approx.)

Contributions / Accenture developed content

Discussion postings

Proj. exec. material, vendor profiles, client experience, demos, mkt. intelligence etc.
Stored in experts.accenture.com

2,65,000

25,000

Expert Profiles
Topic Pages Learning Assets Methods Assets Accenture Portal Content Ext. Purchased Content Other ext. content

Stored in experts.accenture.com
Key strategic areas offerings & assets Various courses thru myLearning Methods accessed via Methodology Finder Internal processes & communication Purchased/Managed by Accenture Accessed via the internet

10,000
6,000 15,000 6,000 35,000 10,00,000 Infinite

DRIVERS FOR NEW KM INITIATIVE

Developed from end-users perspective.
Efficient navigation to reach the right content and resources. Search Quality Topic Pages helps users who cant immediately find what they need or need broader information on the topic. Collaboration Capabilities helps users working on an area that requires specific expertise(s).

NEW KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

Leveraged Accentures strong relationship with Microsoft

(CEO Steve Ballmer on Accentures B0G). Shift towards using Microsofts KM product, SharePoint . According to Mr.Barfield would Provide a consistent , standard enterprise knowledge sharing platform and save Accenture time and money in development, deployment and management of KM tools. Address many traditional KM challenges and be the benchmark for next generation KM tools.

ADVANTAGES OF NEW KM
Reduce duplication caused due to de-centralized applications.
Improved visibility of intra-group innovation(s). Consistent user experience. Consistent archival processes. Less dependence on manual archiving processes.

2004 STRATEGY SESSION

Re-inforce the benefits of training to the employees

and thus to the company. Determine the future of KM at Accenture. Only 20 persons critical to the delivery of the new KM capability were invited. KM Mission:
Drive value from knowledge to enhance revenue,

reduce cost, and foster innovation

KM Vision: To create a world class knowledge-sharing culture and environment that contributes to Accentures success

CHALLENGES IN NEW KM ROLLOUT

The way in which content was to be added to the

system - solved by the SharePoint templates ( for document type & layout). Adherence to the templates was voluntary compromise on document quality. Need for topic coordination within the system solved by business process-wise classification of documents. Employee resistance. Transfer of documents from old system to new system.

POST STRATEGY SESSION GOALS

Using vision as a benchmark, and additionally through brainstorming & prioritization sessions, 5 critical goals were arrived at: Enabling & fostering a knowledge-sharing culture. Improving the time to competency for new hires. Enhancing Accentures sales capability. Ensuring & Improving the RoI for KM. Improving on existing standards for margins and quality delivered to clients through the best practices achieved by the new KM system.

HIGH LEVEL VIEW OF NEW ARCHITECTURE

Single and centralized knowledge store. Content from other sources (E.g.. myLearning, Methodology Finder, Marketing Credentials etc.) Accenture Web Portal - Single point of entry Knowledge Resources Channel page simple user interface offers the user multiple ways to access the required content. Search page Enhanced find.accenture.com Browse page - for content , managed content pages and other sites etc. Collaborate page provides users with direct access to peers and experts or involve themselves directly in discussions. Managed Topics page for topics managed by KM and governed by subject ownership. Intention page Bring in/ suggest links aligned with users intentions.

ALTERNATIVES FOR ACCENTURE

Continue with improved Lotus Notes
Adopt the new Knowledge Exchange System Do Nothing (Use the existing Lotus Notes System)