Interpersonal Knowledge Sharing:

1. Interpersonal Knowledge Sharing: The Low-Tech, High-Touch Side of Knowledge Management

2. FV Objectives • To present one perspective on the theory and practice of knowledge sharing, a humanistic counterpoint to mechanistic knowledge management. • To illustrate how knowledge sharing can be encouraged (not managed). • To open a discussion of best practices in this area.

3. Agenda • Overview of NCR • Status of Knowledge Management at NCR • Two Models of Knowledge Management • Sharing Knowledge Over Mail Lists • Impact on NCR’s Business • The Art and Science of Fostering CoPs • Discussion

4. NCR Corporation • Revenue: $6 billion • Employees: 32,000 in 80 countries • Headquarters: Dayton, Ohio • Key Offerings: • Relationship TechnologyTM Solutions built on • Teradata® Warehousing (TD) • Automated Teller Machines (FSD) • Retail Point-of-Sale Systems (RSD) • Consumable Media and Supplies (SMD) • Comprehensive Service and Support (WCSD)

5. NCR Corporation • Strategic Challenge: Transition from a product manufacturer (1880-1990) to a solution provider (1990-2000+). • New Environment: The virtual workplace • KM Implications: ?

6. HV NCR Corporation • Strategic Challenge: Transition from a product manufacturer (1880-1990) to a solution provider (1990-2000+). • New Environment: The virtual workplace • KM Implications: • Legacy knowledge is both asset and liability • New knowledge and skills needed throughout company • Much (most?) innovation occurs in the field, not at plants or headquarters • Field personnel are physically more isolated

7. NCR’s Initial Approach to KM • Corporate KM Champion Assigned (1995) • Initial Focus - Capture/re-use of knowledge gained in professional services engagements • Parallel efforts in several business units, particularly customer services • Corporate team sponsored KAM - the Knowledge Asset Manager (based on Notes)

8. NCR’s Knowledge Asset Mgr.

9. KAM “Communities”

10. Status of KM at NCR • Business Units are driving requirements and projects • Informal cross-BU collaboration • New cross-BU initiative for Professional Services Automation using Changepoint™ • Growing awareness of importance of communities of interest and practice • New KM Community of Practice founded in January 2002

11. Knowledge Sharing Culture Managed Knowledge Assets • Knowledge Management is NOT • Managing the capture of explicit knowledge • Knowledge Management IS • Connecting the right people, to the right knowledge, at the right time. KM Evolution

12. KM Lessons Learned • The value proposition must start with your people • A knowledge-sharing culture is critical to embracing knowledge management • KM best practices must be integrated with business processes • Collaboration is key to knowledge transfer • Recognizing, rewarding and measuring KM best practices must be balanced and consistent. • Technology serves only as an “enabler”

13. X Justice X Wisdom X Knowledge Information Data Chaos Today’s Starting Point Knowledge exists only in human heads.

14. Information Processing Model Corporate Knowledge Resources Two Ways to Transfer Knowledge

15. FV Personal Communication Model 1 Interpersonal Knowledge Sharing Information Processing Model 2 Corporate Knowledge Resources Two Ways to Transfer Knowledge

16. FV Access Method System Interface Human Interaction A KM/KS Comparison Matrix

17. Canonical Knowledge: Theoretical knowledge gained through reading and formal instruction. Also the approved information and procedures by which associates are expected to serve customers. Non-canonical Knowledge: Practical knowledge gained from personal experience or from other people and not yet accepted into the official (canonical) knowledge of the company. C N S Skills: The means by which associates express or apply* their canonical and non-canonical knowledge. * “Express” and apply” are different skills. The former is related to communication, while the latter is focused on implementation. A Model of Associate Competence

18. N C C N S N S C S Professional (Graduate/Postgraduate Degree) New College Hire Technician (High School Diploma) Competence Stereotypes Others?

19. EXAMPLE: Telephone Fault Diagnosis On-Site System Installation Enterprise Information & Resolution & Maintenance Architecture Design CONTEXT: CCC PS Field CE Structured Knowledge On-line Databases & On-line Databases & STRATEGY: Capture and Guided Practitioner Knowledge Practitioner Knowledge Rediscovery Exchange Exchange TOOLS: · · Databases Databases Databases · · Internet access Internet access On-line Manuals · · Guided Search Interface Communities of Practice Communities of Practice ( CoP) ( CoP) METRICS: · · Time-to-solve Time-to-solve Win/loss ratio · · Escalation levels No. of visits Billable time ratio · · Customer sat. Customer sat. Customer sat. Knowledge Transfer Strategies KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN: NARROW MODERATE BROAD · · · · · ·

20. Knowledge Transfer Strategies KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN: NARROW MODERATE BROAD EXAMPLE: Telephone Fault Diagnosis On-Site System Installation Enterprise Information & Resolution & Maintenance Architecture Design CONTEXT: CCC PS Field CE Structured Knowledge On-line Databases & On-line Databases & STRATEGY: Capture and Guided Practitioner Knowledge Practitioner Knowledge Rediscovery Exchange Exchange TOOLS: · · · Databases Databases Databases · · · Internet access Internet access On-line Manuals · · · Guided Search Interface Communities of Practice Communities of Practice ( CoP) ( CoP) METRICS: · · · Time-to-solve Time-to-solve Win/loss ratio · · · Escalation levels No. of visits Billable time ratio · · · Customer sat. Customer sat. Customer sat. APPLICABLE MODEL: Personal Communication Information Processing

21. Applying the KS Model - Professional Services - Design Spec’s N N C S Internet Technology Field Experience C S Mentored Practice New College Hire Professional Consultant Community of Practice Customer Information & Communication

22. C N S Applying the KM Model - 1997 - Worldwide Remote Services - Design Spec’s N C CBR Technology Field Experience S Dialog Prompts Para-Technical Call Taker Technical Diagnostician Comprehensive Knowledge Solution

23. C N S Applying the KM Model - 2002 - Customer Care Center - Design Spec’s N C CKS Technology Field Experience S Guided Search Para-Technical Call Taker Technical Diagnostician CoP Comprehensive Knowledge Solution

24. Mailing Lists Mailing Lists Supporting the KS Model • Continuous Knowledge Sharing • Mailing Lists • Periodicals (external and internal) • Regular Symposia • Communities of Practice • Just In Time Knowledge Sharing • Mailing Lists • Expert locator (e.g. AskMe.com)

25. NCR’s Web-Archived Mail Lists • Released in late 1995 • Target users: Field practitioners • Design bias: Field-to-field communications • Uneven management sponsorship • Pilot (‘95 - ‘96) • Production (‘97 - ‘99) • Orphan (‘99 … )

26. Mailing List Architecture

27. Mailing List Architecture

28. Mailing List Architecture

29. Mailing List Architecture

30. Mailing List Architecture

31. Mail List Statistics • Released: November 1995 • Total Lists: 525 • Active Lists (<90d): 78 (15%) • (<30d):53 (10%) • Current subscribers: 13,000 • Current subscriptions: 50,000 (4/subscriber) • Cumulative Postings: 62,000 • Contributors: 9,000 • Author Distribution: [51|23|15|7|3|.8|.1]

32. Keys to Successful KS • Start with existing relationships • Provide simple, unobtrusive communication support (participation must be optional) • Support de facto community leaders • Publicize (but don’t hype) successes • Do not impose formal objectives on participation and contribution • Do not introduce new processes and procedures • Allow good things to happen...

33. Mailing List Study - “ATR” • Created: October 1996; 30 subscribers • Initial Name:Advanced Tech. Research • Purpose: News alerts from ATR director • Signal Event: “Reply All” in December 1996 • First Discussion: 13 Jan 1997 (4 replies) • Renamed: A Terrific Resource (Jan. 1999) • Current subscribers:940 • Cumulative Postings: 13,000+ over 5 years • Contributors: 1,000+

34. Geography USA: 24 Austria: 2 Pakistan: 2 Canada: 1 China: 1 Denmark: 1 Hong Kong: 1 Hungary: 1 India: 1 New Zealand: 1 U. Arab Emir.: 1 Total: 38 Problem -> Solution: 14 Request for Tip/Experience: 11 Competitor/Partner Info: 4 General Information: 4 Customer References: 2 New Application: 1 Providing New Advice/Tool: 1 Miscellaneous: 1 Total: 38 A Week In the Life of “ATR” Content New Messages: 19 -> Replies: 19 Total: 38 (ca. 7/day)

35. FV Given a choice, 13,000 busy NCR associates from 50 countries around the world would not continue their subscriptions to and participation in the mailing lists if they did not provide useful information and services. Business Impact 1 - Prima Facie The statistics on the previous slides suggest a strong prima facie case for the business value of the mailing lists:

36. Business Impact 2 - War Stories • Supporting new sales “I presented [our CRM solution] to the decision makers of a bank in Hong Kong. We won that deal due to some key messaging and positioning of our product compared to our competitors. I posted my presentation on the CRM List. A number of responses indicated it would help them position us against our competitors in the future.” [Australia - Value: Not disclosed] • Solving customer problems “In Dec 01 we upgraded a large Teradata site. A hidden problem popped up all of a sudden which was a very critical issue for business users at the site. A quick shot to ATR revealed a known issue elsewhere in the world and 24 hrs later a patched version could be deployed.” [Austria - Value: $1.8M annually] • Improving NCR solutions “The ss-fbd-emv mailing list was fundamental during the development of the FBD EMV Application Kernel and in obtaining the first EMV Level 2 approval for an ATM Application in the world.” [Europe - Value: US$ 5 million over 3 years.]

37. Σ = $ 5 M (.01% of NCR’s revenues over six years) Business Impact 3 - ROI • Initial cost: $75 K + $15 K (HW) • Ongoing costs: $60 K ($10 K/yr.) • Value of: • Deals won $ 1 M • Time saved $ 1 M • Deals influenced $ 1 M • Customers retained $ 1 M • Competitors thwarted $ 1 M

38. Σ = $ 5 M (.01% of NCR’s revenues over six years) Priceless Business Impact 3 - ROI • Initial cost: $75 K + $15 K (HW) • Ongoing costs: $60 K ($10 K/yr.) • Value of: • Deals won $ 1 M • Time saved $ 1 M • Deals influenced $ 1 M • Customers retained $ 1 M • Competitors thwarted $ 1 M • Pro Forma ROI: 33:1 • The “MasterCard analysis”:

39. Definition of Community A Community of Practice is an informal network of people engaged in a particular profession, occupation, or job function who actively seek to work more effectively and to understand their work more fully.

40. Formal Organization Communities and Organizations

41. Community Orientation Formal Organization Communities and Organizations

42. Community of Practice Community Ecosystem

43. Personal Networks Community of Practice Community Ecosystem

44. Formal Teams Personal Networks Community of Practice Community Ecosystem

45. The Invisible Key to Success “Communities of practice are the shop floor of human capital, the place where the stuff gets made. … “They're like professional societies. People join and stay because they have something to learn and to contribute. The work they do is the joint and several property of the group--cosa nostra, ‘our thing.’" - Tom Stewart Fortune 5 August 1996

46. Reflections on Community - 1 The problem is that corporate types don't know from community. They think network. They think conference. They think in safe, gray office metaphors that don't rock the boat. Their only question is, "So, how are you better than NetMeeting, Microsoft's conferencing software?" - Chris Tacy, Underdeveloped NYT Cybertimes 2 July 1997

47. Thereby increasing communications and knowledge sharing effectiveness Reflections on Community - 2 • Learning is social, but not all groups learn • It is possible to: • Seed new communities • Enhance existing communities • Link formal and informal learning • Align community and organizational objectives

48. Developing Established Nascent Reformed 1 4 2 5 3 Potential The Community Life Cycle

49. Developing Established Nascent Reformed 1 4 2 5 3 Potential The Community Life Cycle

50. FV Conclusions • Knowledge sharing is essential to KM • Knowledge sharing is a natural part of natural community behavior • Communities can be seeded, fostered, guided, and supported, but not managed • Successful communication technologies are simple and convenient • Knowledge sharing is incomplete and messy • The ROI on simple technologies can be very high