Interesting 2001 article from Oilfield Review, Managing Knowledge Management (pdf) is a discussion with KM leads from Shell (Lesley Chipperfield), Statoil (Erik Åbø), Texaco (John Old), BP (Chris Mottershead), Chevron (Jeff Stemke), Petróleos de Venezuela (Rodulfo Prieto), and moderated by Reid Smith of Schlumberger (where the article is housed).
The article covers how these companies got started in their KM efforts, primarily in the mid-1990's, and where they have gotten to today. All of them appear to have seen value in KM, and at the same time realize that they still can achieve more. They covered a range of topics: communities of practice; trust; funding the projects; best practices; technology; e-business; metrics & ROI; intellectual capital and the future of KM.
- Insights:
- "We reached a plateau because knowledge management wasn't embedded in our business." - Stemke
- "In a knowledge-sharing organization, you would think that various groups would pool their knowledge, but that didn't happen right away. It took some time." - Stemke
- "Through knowledge management, leaders not only share experience and knowledge, but move ahead to create what I call 'contamination centers' where people infect each other with ideas." - Prieto
- "We have a slogan, 'Knowing who is as good as knowing how.'" - Chipperfield
- "If you have a major role in these areas and you're not in a network, someone may pointedly ask, in terms of accepted practice, why you don't participate." - Mottershead
- "... the only sustainable advantage a company has is how people work together." - Old
- "What's in it for the individual has a strong influence on network success. If the people themselves don't personally get a lot out of a network, it's almost always unsuccessful." - Old
- "Our experience is that we frequently have to persuade new communities to address other issues instead of jumping into technologies before the needs are clearly defined." - Chipperfield
- "What Shell is trying to achieve with e-Learning is impressive. It is not based on reducing training costs and shared practices of the moment, but rather on building a competent workforce for the future when that workforce is increasingly global..." - Mottershead
- "Systematic knowledge management, done properly, enables knowledge to emerge and flow to the right people within an organization at the right time, so that they can act more efficiently and effectively." - Old
- "People need to be able to join in where their expertise is best deployed. You really start getting to the bottom line when people are working where they can uniquely add value." - Chipperfield
- "Competition will not be over data, but over ways to use data faster and develop solutions more quickly." - Prieto