VICIOUS AND VIRTUOUS CIRCLES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE: THE CASE OF INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES

Raghu Garud and Arun KumaraswamyMIS Quarterly 2005

K6213 Reading Topic20-Sep-2011

Aravind Sesagiri RaamkumarNirmala Selvaraju

AGENDA

• Objective of the article• Key KM topics• Infosys trivia• KM in Infosys• Virtuous and Vicious Circles• Conclusion• Key takeaways from the article

Objective of the article• To showcase the diverse and dynamic nature of

KM in an organization– Through a longitudinal study conducted using a system

perspective approach

• To highlight virtuous and vicious circles formed as a result of KM processes and the strategies for steering away from virtuous circles

Key KM Topics - Dynamics

Infosys Trivia

2004• US 1 billion dollar company• 23000 employees• Global development centers• NASDAQ listed• 30 % growth YOY• Asian and Global MAKE AWARD winner

Research group conducted 56 interviews over a period of 3 years between 2001 and 2004

KM group were primarily selected for repeated interviews during the period

India’s 2nd largest IT company

Philosophy of KM in InfosysMotto - ”Learn once,use anywhere”

• Knowledge = Currency of new millennium

• Employees recruited with learnability skills

• One among the few companies in the world that values and reports its human capital on its balance sheet

• Knowledge Maturity Model

• Asking Culture

• Rich Informal Social Networks

KM through the years in Infosys

Virtuous and Vicious Circles in totality

“The very same mutually causal processes that have the potential to generate a virtuous circle can just as easily generate a vicious one”

Virtuous Circles

Reflect-in-action Learning-by-doing Single and Double Loop

learning

Communities Different Epistomologies Shared Division of

Labour Innovative Solutions

Increased Contributions Collective Intelligence Adaptive Structuration

Dynamic Balance Pre-defined templates Dynamic Capabilities

Individual Group

‘K’ Initiatives CMM

Vicious Circles

Market for Knowledgeo Extraneous contributionso Less number of reviewerso Information overload

Reduced Knowledge Re-use

o Codification becomes counterproductive

o Abstract Knowledge

Archetype Employeeso Too much of emphasis on

Knowledge Creationo Knowledge reusability

impaired

• Vicarious effect between levels 1

• Symbiotic relationships across levels amplifies process effects

2

• Impairing effects from specific initiatives are not immediately visible

3

Vicious Circles can be inherent in KM systems

Steering out of & around Vicious Circles

Steering out of Vicious circles Deviation Amplifying feedback• Identify and decoupling process (ex: KShop and

incentives scheme )• Deviation counteracting feedbacks (ex: KM prime

and Knowledge Champions)

Steering around Vicious circles• Awareness towards intangible effects of KM • Distribution of roles & responsibilities between

Knowledge Managers within KM group• Knowledge of diverse functions across the organization

Implications and Conclusion• An organization’s knowledge system comprises mutually causal

processes that unfold at and across different organizational levels.

• These mutually causal processes generate opposing forces that need to be balanced dynamically to generate a virtuous circle

• An organization’s knowledge system contains seeds of its own destruction, as the very initiatives that the organization undertakes to generate

• A virtuous circle have the potential to generate vicious circles as well

• Knowledge managers must intervene processually to steer their organization’s knowledge system around and out of vicious circles that are bound to emerge

Key Takeaways from the article• Unique in terms of its study method – systems perspective

and longitudinal study

• KM is an evolving process which needs constant monitoring

• Clear distinctions should be made between the objectives of KM at individual, group and organisational levels

• Socio-psychological and Socio-technical effects need to be taken into consideration

• Methodologies suggested by KM academicians and practitioners need to be referred before starting a KM implementation

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU