Case study

MINI CASE

Knowledge Management at Acme Consulting

“So I guess you’re our new ‘knowledge czar’!” one of his colleagues teased in passing. Josh Stein, Acme Consulting’s new director of knowledge management, flinched inwardly as he laughed dutifully at the joke that he’d already heard sev- eral times over the past couple of weeks. Going along with her, he replied pompously, “Yes, and I will soon be the fount of all wisdom at this firm!”

As if! For one of the world’s most presti- gious strategy consulting firms with more than a thousand employees, Acme was a real mess from a knowledge perspective. It had great peo- ple who worked hard—much harder than they should. It was not uncommon for consultants to work seventy to one hundred hours, or even pull all-nighters. Often they were based at client sites for weeks on end. But it seemed that every- one had forgotten that old maxim, “Work smarter, not harder.”

The managing partner, Jeff Oulton, had raised the alarm about the lack of productivity and increasing burnout among junior staff. “Knowledge is our lifeblood,” he had told the partners and principals a few weeks before. “We’re not doing what we should to reuse what we know and to shorten the learning curves of our juniors. Our goal is to add value for our clients. They’re beginning to complain that we aren’t building on top of our previous work.”

Josh, an Acme principal and a respected se- nior consultant, had been asked by Oulton to take on the job of harnessing Acme’s knowledge resources more effectively. In his first two weeks of working on the task, Josh was shocked to learn just how much information wasn’t being used. Because most consultants worked directly on their laptops wherever they were, almost all the information they needed—reports, requests for proposals (RFPs), technical specifications, background information on customers—was available digitally somewhere in the firm. It was all supposed to be on the intranet, but not all of it made it there.

Usage of the intranet had fallen to a rate of about thirty hits per day. Clearly, consultants did not perceive value in what they were get- ting from it. “I don’t bother with the intranet anymore,” one consultant told Josh. “I just find someone who’s worked with my client before and get them to send me whatever they’ve got on their personal computer. From these docu- ments, I can usually find other people who can tell me what I need to know. Trust me, it’s easier and faster than that dumb intranet.” Usage among junior consultants, who would benefit most from learning from the company’s previ- ous experiences, hovered around 5 percent. “I can’t find anything on it when I do sign on,” one complained. “My security clearance is so low, the system won’t let me see most of what’s there anyway.” Another remarked, “I’d use it more if it were easier to get around and find things, but I have to sign on and off so many databases, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

The company’s intranet consisted of a dozen loosely organized Web sites, each re- quiring a separate login. Each site served a dif- ferent purpose. As a result, most consultants were unaware of the full set of knowledge re- sources. Information was often misfiled on the wrong Web site. Some sites had higher security provisions than others, and it was often un- clear which types of information had to go where. A recent memo on protecting client pri- vacy meant that consultants were dumping everything into the “top security” site, which only partners could access without permission. Even within a Web site, search and navigation features were limited, meaning that you really had to know what you were looking for before you could find it. At Acme it really seemed that the most effective knowledge access was based on who you knew—a big problem for junior consultants.

Many consultants also complained about the lack of up-to-date technology for their use.

200 Section III IT-Enabled Innovation

M14_SMIT6319_01_SE_C14.QXD 12/26/07 5:44 AM Page 200

Knowledge Management at Acme Consulting 201

“My computer is so slow!” one moaned. “It’s at least five years old. I feel like it should have a big key in the back to wind it up! Can’t they get me something faster? It takes forever to down- load things. Besides, I’m only in the office once every week or so.” As Josh knew from his own experience, consultants spent most of their time on the road, working from client sites. Because Acme’s intranet could not be accessed remotely, everything had to be done during precious time in the office. Hence, the need to plan their infor- mation access discouraged consultants from using or updating the intranet site.

In his next meeting with Oulton, Josh re- ported, “We could be doing a lot more with the knowledge that we have, but we need a knowl- edge management strategy and we’ll have to in- vest more in technology to do it properly.”

Oulton winced. “The partners don’t like spending money on technology unless it’s ab- solutely necessary. And we’re going to need a pretty good business case to justify it.” With a grin, he added, “But I think you can probably do that.”

“I agree,” Josh said enthusiastically. “But that’s just the beginning of what we need to do to use what we know! I’ve been reading some books and articles on knowledge management, and they say that we need to change how our people work and collaborate with each other.

Our ‘every man for himself’ culture doesn’t en- courage people to use and share knowledge.”

“You may be right,” said Oulton with a sigh, “but that airy-fairy ‘culture’ stuff isn’t going to fly with the partners either. Technology, they’ll understand. But culture? No way! What we need to give them is a concrete plan for this stuff that makes sense to them. I suggest that you focus on some very pragmatic and easy-to-implement steps that will demonstrate the business value of knowledge. If you can do that, it will be eas- ier to implement a broader knowledge manage- ment strategy in the future. Why not focus first on what it takes to get intranet usage up?”

Back in his office, Josh flipped through the knowledge management books and articles he’d accumulated. “Where’s the beef here?” he asked himself. “You’d think with all the high-powered brains behind this stuff, there would be some simple plans we could adopt.” It was clear that there was a big gap between the ivory tower and the real world when it came to using knowledge and that no one was going to make his job easy for him. “I guess I’ll have to do this myself,” he said to no one in particular. “Let’s go back to the beginning.” As he worked on analyzing the knowledge problems facing the firm, a plan began to develop in his mind. Josh turned to his computer and began to outline what was needed to bring Acme into the information age. ■

Oulton says to Josh that he should “focus on some very pragmatic and easy-to-implement steps that will demonstrate the business value of knowl- edge. If you can do that, it will be easier to imple- ment a broader knowledge management strategy in the future. Why not focus first on what it takes to get intranet usage up?”

1. Develop a strategy for increasing intranet usage across Acme.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

2. What additional elements would a “broad knowledge management strategy” require?

3. How should Josh address the cultural as- pect of knowledge management?

M14_SMIT6319_01_SE_C14.QXD 12/26/07 5:44 AM Page 201