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To: Managing Director
From: A Consultant
Recent product launches and the role of knowledge management
in organisational learning
Audit of present planning systems and decision-making processes
To understand exactly what the problems are within Widget plc will
require a review of each product launch to establish what factors
are contributing to the problems. It might be that vital data is
not being gathered from inside and outside the company before and
during the planning phase. It could be that the management information
system is not capable of processing this data and making meaningful
reports available to the right people at the right time. Perhaps
the Information Technology and software is outdated. Greater use
of the internet might help in collecting information on competitor’s
products.
Possible problems
Once the more mechanical aspects of the information systems have
been examined the company should look at how it uses all the information
available to it. From the scenario it would appear that only a single
loop process of learning being used. This may be because much of
the experience about previous product launches is tacit knowledge,
which management is aware of, but which nevertheless gets forgotten
when planning commences for subsequent products.
Alternatively it could be that key information is being swamped
by copious amounts of low level statistics, or may be that the wrong
conclusions are being drawn from the available information. Perhaps
information takes too long to produce or is confused by jargon and
unfamiliar formats.
Even if the amount and quality of knowledge available within the
company is adequate, there may be other, human, factors involved.
For example, staff turnover may be high or people might be moved
between jobs and departments regularly, in which cases knowledge
and understanding are being lost. Perhaps Widget could examine their
executive training regime and facilitate a culture whereby information
is communicated between individuals and teams more freely. It may
be that reward schemes reduce mangers’ willingness to co-operate.
Knowledge is probably seen as a weapon in the battle for personal
success and recognition.
Possible solutions
Widget should attempt to create a culture whereby co-operation
and communication is seen as a virtue, where teams swap information
in a less competitive climate. In other words, an orientation to
learning is adopted across the company. Perhaps there are physical
and psychological barriers to communication which need to be removed.
A company intranet may help to make more information available to
everyone within the firm but this will need to be backed up by others
means of communication such as formal and informal meetings, even
structured team bonding sessions. Perhaps, someone could interview
key managers after each launch and record their individual feelings
in a way that would be useful to colleagues in the future. It may
be that training in organising and recording such interviews and
meetings will help the process of codifying such information.
Signed: …………………..
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