Knowledge Management Case study report: Putting theory into practice

Professor : Chengter Ted Ho Student : Nguyen Trung Kien Student ID : 1100629213

Outline
Introducing the situation:

Introducing Coalblack Industries company. Developing knowledge cultures in Coalblack Industries company: Building strategies and applying it in practice. The results of building knowledge culture in three divisions. Questions and answers.

Introducing Coalblack Industries company

Coalblack Industries have operated in resource sector for

50 years. Location: some main divisions are located in Sydney, Australia. Besides, it also have some regional offices across Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Activity fields: exploration, development and mining activities, sector development, chemicals, national infrastructure building in the Third World, and any other form of resource expansion which seems profitable.

Company tries to develop a strong knowledge culture, and encourages those who are willing to share and collaborate.

Developing knowledge cultures in Coalblack Industries company I- Building strategies and applying it in practice
Collaborative and innovative culture

The firm core values

Communicati on across divisions and teams is strongly encouraged Using everyones knowledge for the public good

Structural support: Company is now in fourth system,

with each increasing in technological sophistication and user friendliness.

Two key types of emloyees:

Core employees: employees are employed long term.

Contract employees: committing to work for company

in short term.

Strategies to building knowledge management

The organisations core value is displayed in all divisions in wall charts.

Strategies to building knowledge management

New employees are provided with a pocket guide when they start their duties.
New staffs are provided 3 days training and return for refresher in 6 months. New employees are given a detailed introduction about the structure of organisation.

II- The results of building knowledge culture in three divisions

Company is very concernd at the lack of

follow-through in knowledge sharing.

Only Exploration Division has achieved significant in

knowledge sharing.

Knowledge sharing in Exploration Division

Members meet regularly, and use the

organisations knowledge systems extensively.

New members are sponsored by experienced

members, and are encouraged to see that their fresh insights are both beneficial and useful to other members
Members are also committed and motivated.

Knowledge sharing in Chemical Division

A consultant identified that the scientists, who

constitute most of the employees, was reluctant to share their knowledge.

Members of this division argue that the sharing of

knowledge would result in lost productivity, rather than gains.

There are a high retention in this area. Most staff

had been employed for 20 years.

Knowledge sharing in Engineering Division

Staff work on project basis.

Members may vary across different projects.

Some learning were transferred across project

managers. (Eveden: some errors were repeated) Managers does not easily access information on past projects. Staff who travel off-shore to work on projects often hand their local projects over to another staff member. Others hold two jobs. The work pressure is very high in this division

Questions and answers

Question 1: Do you feel that knowledge management is necessary in the Engineering and Chemical Divisions? Why? Answer: Knowledge management is necessary in the Engineering and Chemical Divisions because:
o These two divisions are lack of knowledge sharing.
o Both divisions are highly pressured environment. Therefore,

knowledge management is necessary to manage time and job.

Question2: Review the three divisions and analyse the existing factors which contribute toward the development of a knowledge culture. Using figure 4.1, consider which elements are evidence in the Exploration Division but appear to be absent from the other two divisions.

Answer: The existing factors which contribute toward the development of a knowledge culture in three divisions: Exploration Division: Members share their knowledge positively. Its membership is diverse. The producivity is noticeably high Members are highly committed and motivated. Chemical Division: Most of staffs in this divion are experienced. They had been employed for 20 years. Engineering Division: There is little of learning transferring across project managers. Significant expertise is hired to meet short- term need. A new director has been appointed to develop a strong knowledge focus.

Regurlar communication across levels and organisational units is demonstrated Knowledge sharing is actively encouraged by supervisors and leaders Collleagues invite sharing and learning

Employees are kept informed of events, issues, and innovations

Working together is seen as a core activity

Collaborative knowledge cultures

Openness, honesty and concern for others is encouraged

Learning is incorporated into the work community and practice

Innovative ideas and solutions are developed thrrough combined efforts

New ideas are welcomed and explored

Figure 4.1

People prefer to work together

Question 3: If you were asked to advise organisation on its diagnosis of the culture and knowledge barriers, what strategies might you suggest?
Answer: Strategies to diagnose the culture and

knowledge barriers of organisation: Interviews Trend analysis Observation Questionnaires Action research

Question 4: Imagine you are the new director of the Engineering Division. Review the stages of orgnisational development and consider how you would plan to improve the knowledge culture. Answer: Plan to improve knowledge culture in Engineering Division: After a project team is established, members will gather to discuss about the way to finish the project. Encouraging the project manager in past project share the information with the new project manager. Minimizing to hire new experts, using experts who have worked in some past project. Staff who travel off-shore to work on project have to hand their local projects to another staff and share all of the informaion about the project for them. Reduce the work pressure by adding some staffs.

Question 5: Communities of practice play an important role in knowledge environments. How would you encourage their development in this type of organisation? Answer: Encouraging the CoPs development in organisation: Organizations can support communities of practice by recognizing the work of sustaining them by giving members the time to participate in activities; and by creating an environment in which the value communities bring is acknowledged. Introducing the term "communities of practice" into an organization's vocabulary. Facilitate the identification of potential members Support key members. Provide opportunities to interact across CoPs. It help to find out the common interest between various group and identify the potential members.