Large-Co. Execs Say KM and BI Are Most Important Strategic Technologies

I just received a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit that they have published the results of a survey showing that executives at large companies feel "unable to exploit large volumes of corporate information." Since the report was sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services, it is perhaps no surprise that the survey finds that "67% of companies cite knowledge management/business intelligence solutions as important to achieving their strategic goals" for the next three years. But in all fairness, one could certainly argue the value of KM and BI in their own rights.

The report is called "Know How: Managing Knowledge for Competitive Advantage," and is available on the Tata Web site from this page:

http://www.uk-tcs.com/news-130705.htm

See today's press release on TMCnet at this page:

Companies turn to knowledge management to solve information overload

As with CRM, I've always been annoyed at the characterization of knowledge management as primarily a technology problem. Knowledge resides in the living minds of people, and managing and sharing knowledge in an organization is at least as much about human processes and corporate culture as it is about technology.

According to today's announcement, Tata's CEO, S. Ramadorai, would evidently agree with me on that. It quotes him as saying that "knowledge management is about more than effective IT. It has three critical and complementary components: people and culture; infrastructure and technology; and processes and information flow. Without addressing corporate culture as well as IT, or using technology to make information actionable, knowledge management projects are likely to fail."

Today's press release includes some key findings that are worth noting -- I quote them below:

• Too much information impedes decision-making. Over half (55%) of executives say that IT’s failure to prioritise information is the main barrier to effective decision-making. Consolidating information and providing consistent performance indicators are regarded as the most important step firms can take to improve the speed and quality of decision-making.

• Good customer information remains elusive. Knowledge about customers, their preferences and their behaviour is the overwhelming focus for improving the quality of information in large organisations over the next three years. The focus of CRM initiatives is now shifting from automating processes and collecting data to enabling more sophisticated analysis of customer requirements and buying habits.

• For managers, relevant information is more important than “information anywhere”. When asked where IT needs to improve most to help managers make better decisions, the top two priorities are to make it easier to analyse and drill down into information (40%) and improve the quality of data (31%). Only 12% of executives see ensuring access to information anywhere as a priority for improvement.

• Corporate culture is as important as IT for effective knowledge management. The biggest obstacles to knowledge sharing in large organisations are organisational, rather than IT-related. Half of executives say that internal barriers between departments hamper information sharing. Ignorance of what knowledge exists, or of where to find it, is another major barrier according to 41% of respondents. In some cases, a simple solution such as keeping a regularly updated record of who knows what can be more effective than throwing IT at the problem, according to the report.

• Effective knowledge management pays. Executives increasingly see knowledge management as a vital tool for competitive advantage. One case study in the report shows how Schlumberger, an oil services company, achieved a return on investment of $200m in a single year from a recent knowledge management initiative.

AB -- 7/13/05