Post on 31-Mar-2015
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Knowledge Strategy:
Aligning Knowledge Programs to Business Strategy
KM World Workshop
Peter H. Jones, Ph.D.Origin Technology in Business
KM World 2000Tuesday, September 12, 2000
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The Knowledge Strategy Game
UnderstandingKnowledge
Strategy
FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONSON TOP CARD
The ResourceStrategyModel
Managing Knowledge
Strategy
PRICE $200
StrategyMethods
&Applications
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A Knowledge Strategy …
Got One Already?
Copyright 2000 – Origin
Understanding Knowledge Strategy
Tierney, (1999) “A company’s KM strategy should reflect its competitive strategy.” With focus on creating value for customers, turning a profit, and managing people. (HBR)
Zack, (1999) “… the most important context for guiding knowledge management is the firm’s strategy. Knowledge is the fundamental basis of competition. Competing successfully on knowledge requires either aligning strategy to what the organization knows, or developing the knowledge and capabilities needed to support a desired strategy.” (CMR)
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Types of Strategy
Survival vs. Advancement (von Krogh, Roos, Slocum, 1994)
Survival – maintaining current level of success, mastering current markets and competitors
Advancement – Future success based on new markets, nonreplicability – requires knowledge creation
How do you plan/design strategy? Formal strategy and planning – Traditional
strategy sets positions, targets, measures. Alignment means “follow the leader.”
Learning and emergence – New thinking (not always in practice) shows strengths in org learning and preparing for conditions.Alignment means “Learn and collaborate.”
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Strategic Drivers
MarketGrowth
OperationalEffectiveness
CustomerIntimacy
Growth through share, market strength, distribution – external market focus
Forging long-term, deep relationships with customers – external focus, growing with customer success
Profit through productivity and cost control – internal development focus
Traditional KM driver, but should not be the only one!
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Strategic Drivers
BusinessStrategy
Market Growth
KnowledgeStrategy
OperationalEffectiveness
CustomerIntimacy
Product InnovationKnowledge CreationIntellectual Capital
Product SalesTime to MarketDistribution NetworksPricing StrategyPatent & Product Leverage
Process InnovationKnowledge SharingDeveloping Learning Culture
Business InnovationCustomer Knowledge IntegrationBranding Knowledge
Process streamliningSupply chain mgt Accounting & Financing
Customer retentionCustomer product needs
Revenue growthPartnering / Alliancing
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What Drives Knowledge Strategy?
Business Strategy What knowledge does it take to compete?
What are your critical knowledge gaps?
Product Innovation Can you design breakthrough products?
“Spark innovation” through a participatory culture?
Organizational Complexity How can you adapt to speed & information overload?
Build a quick-learning organization?
Customers and Markets Profound customer understanding
Radically improved time to market
Knowledge leverage in the marketplace
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Potential Entrants
Industry Buyers
Substitute Products
Suppliers
Resource Strategy Model
KnowledgeResources
Firm’s KnowledgeStrategy
Customer(A firm’s resource)
Strategic Resources(Partners, External Network)
Organization, Capabilities,
Core Competencies
Porter’s 5 Forces strategic model (SWOT approach) breaks when applied to leverage of specific firms. Chaotic business dynamics now require we leverage unique strengths, not look at external industry trends.
A resource strategy addresses firm’s only competitive differentiation - renewable resources of knowledge, skills, and capabilities (Penrose, Zack, Teece, Quinn, Grant, Kogut).
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Resource-View of Strategy
Uniqueness of firm gives it competitive strength Diversification exploits imperfections in markets
Development of dynamic capabilities based on knowledge
In turbulent business environment – Focus on what we can know – Strengths and Weaknesses
Organizational culture as an inimitable strength (Barney, 1991)
Beliefs, values, shared meaning
Culture cannot be exported or replicated
Social communities prevent overdependence on individuals
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Resource Strategy...
Knowledge-based Intangible, intellectual assets and renewable resources
Unique advantages, competitive knowledge
Innovation and renewal Knowledge used to recombine traditional capabilities
Accelerates rate of new learning Learning speed most significant competitive advantage
Integrates customers & suppliers New webs of knowledge resources
Strategic planning differs from traditional Knowledge SWOT, Scenarios, Internal/External
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Managing Knowledge Strategy
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Four Enabling Dimensions
What do we know and where is it ?
How do we participatewith this know-how?
How do we support this know-how?
What processes leverage that know-how?
Collaborative Technology
Practices
Knowledge Resources
Culture andLearning
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Linkage to Balanced Scorecard
Financial Goals
Customer Goals
Internal Business Process Goals
Learning & Growth GoalsOu
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Perfo
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ce Drivers
Business Strategy
Knowledge Strategy
Desired Outcomes
Desired Behaviors
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Planning from Knowledge Perspective
Cultural Assessment ….Readiness assessment
Knowledge Framework to embed Business Plan
Portfolio of Knowledge Management Projects
Champion for each project
‘Value from Knowledge’ Plan
Business steering team review and presentation
Phased Implementation
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Knowledge Strategy Methods
“Delegated Strategy Integration”
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Knowledge Strategy Methods
Knowledge SWOT
Business + Knowledge
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
1. Establish or affirm current Business Strategy
2. Evaluate internal drivers - impacts of current knowledge by:
Resources
Practices
Culture and Learning
Technologies
3. Use these as basis for Strength and Weaknesses.
4. Evaluate external drivers – impacts on knowledge
5. Use these for Opportunities and Threats
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Knowledge Strategy Methods
Strategic Scenario Planning
Create shared models of potential future conditions to guide dynamic strategy.
Why? Scenarios provide robust tools for integrating very complex business conditions applicable to strategy.
Also – people are good at remembering stories; SWOT chart points fall away quickly.
How? Team workshop approach, with broad participation. You want new ideas, dissension, “out in leftfield”
Strategy as “serious play”
Source Scope of this workshop can’t cover scenarios. See: Schwartz,The Art of the Long View
Ringland, Scenario Planning
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Knowledge Strategy Methods
Strategic Scenario Planning
Developing scenarios for adapting organization to potential future trends and changes.
1. Establish participatory scenario team- Future workshop, Team Design, other workshops
2. Set scope for scenarios
3. Generate sources for scenarios
4. Develop initial categories
5. Build miniscenarios as small groups
6. Group review of miniscenarios
7. Pull together themes and design 3 scenarios
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Aligned Knowledge Management
Business strategy guides your knowledge assets
Linking knowledge requirements to: Resources:
Making information accessible to point of need
Info usability with common categories & process
Culture: Enabling, rewarding teams & experts for cross-sharing
Developing culture of knowledge creation
Practices: Embedding new best practices in organization
Transparent leveraging of expert knowledge
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Leading to Technology Solutions …
Scale and Accessibility
Organizational Enterprise Inter-Enterprise
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ApplicationStrategy
Knowledge Management e-Community
Content Management Systems Information Portal
Communities of Practice
AllianceExtranets
Strategic KnowledgeManagement
Online KnowledgeCommunities
InformationIntegration Portal
Internal Application
Portal
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Strategic Knowledge Resources
Collaborative Technology
Knowledge Resources
Core and complementary competencies
Organizational capabilities
Structured and unstructured information
Personal knowledge and unique skills
Customer relationships
Intellectual property
Infrastructure and standard systems
Groupware and email applications
Web-enabled portals and Internet applications
Process management systems
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Strategic Knowledge Resources
Practices Business processes
Organizational routines
Embedded and specialized processes
Practice communities
“How things are done”
Culture and Learning
Core organizational values
Personal values and leadership
Organizational environment
Hiring and enculturation
“How we see ourselves”
Individual and group skill development
Organizational learning
Style of management, work, engagement
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Conclusions
Good strategy is dynamic and adaptable - Knowledge Strategy is ongoing as well.
Requires leadership and will – organizational change always requires focus on vision.
Traditional management may require education for integrating knowledge into business strategy.
Other firms’ KS processes may not apply to yours - No knowledge advantage can be claimed “out of the box”
Understand what’s worked for others, experiment, listen to your people, your culture.
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Exercises
1. Knowledge SWOT - Group Exercise Create groups by industry and strategic thrust
Discuss current initiatives and strategic drivers
Select ONE business initiative to work on as group
Identify SWOT drivers for this initiative
Develop Knowledge and Business SWOT
2. Identify Application Areas for SWOT: Knowledge Resources
Culture and Learning
Practices
Technology
3. Informal Presentation and Discussion Each group present SWOT analysis to group
Show applications/alignments per 4 dimensions
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Four Knowledge Enabling Areas