Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Building on Knowledge
The companies primarily use two tools for the transfer and reuse of knowledge: The white book and the database. None of them works satisfactory. Why?
An IT-tool that stores for example technical and process information.
- Is done at the end of the project: - a big part of the project team is exchanged - when working for several years it is hard to remember everything - it is difficult to have an objective mind afterwards - the next project is often already started - it does not contribute to the current project - There is no convincing need of the written report, which is unmotivating - It is perceived as a time consuming extra task
DATABASE
- It is hard to get the knowledge available. It must be fast and the information acquired should be relevant and in the right amount. - Is the information up-to-date and reliable? - Vicious circle: If no or little effort is put on the information going into the database, it might lead to a non-satisfactory output, which further lessens the effort of putting relevant and good back into the database. (Also applies to the white book)
FORMAL BARRIERS
PROJECT FOCUS (A focus on here and now, to deliver according to time, cost and quality) EMPLOYEE TURNOVER (The fact that people leave the organisation and leaves gaps of knowledge) PROBLEM SOLVING (To not understand the root cause of the problem makes it reappear again and again) TRANSFERABILITY (Products and projects might be more similar than what is generally believed)
The potential barriers for knowledge transfer identified in the study can be divided into two groups: formal and informal barriers
INFORMAL BARRIERS
CULTURE (Example: A feeling that learning is someone elses job and that it is isolated from other tasks. It might be used as a tool of power, it might also be perceived as soft from an engineers point of view) RESPONSIBILITY (Engineers lack the feeling of being part of the whole process and the responsibility for the product all the way to the end user) MANAGEMENT SUPPORT (Managers do not encourage learning/knowledge initiatives and does not set a good example for others to follow)
Key concepts Explicit knowledge: knowledge that can be documented, knowing about Tacit knowledge: knowledge embedded in peoples experiences and skills, knowing how
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Technology roadmap
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overcome the iers. Structure and organisation that tified a need to manage both of the barr barriers. The tools and methods iden with knowledge transfer there is To succeed rcome the informal managers and co-workers that ove to believe that there s us formal barriers, and openness from part of the first category which lead ies perceive as problematic, are both in the thesis and that the compan is not enough focus on the second.
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Development project
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CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions formulated as six bullet points are directly connected to the barriers described above. 1. Move the focus from specific product development projects to a continuous development of customer value, for example functionality or performance. The project leaders strive to balance time, cost and quality within projects implies that the long perspective is neglected. 2. Make the coworkers fully responsible for their work. Command and control leads to low motivation for learning. 3. Identify and engage knowledge owners Make sure that there are one or more persons that feel the personal responsibility . for the use and development of knowledge in each of the companys key knowledge areas. 4. Establish a substantial introduction program for new employees. It is important to get new employees to work in a desired way. Additionally, its crucial to understand all the aspects of a product and its production and commercialization, even if you are working only with design. 5. Make learning a corporate goal. To see learning and continuous improvement as a must for the companys success is crucial. It is also important that leaders of the organization are active supporters and drivers of initiatives for learning. 6. Lean product development offers mindsets and tools that address the barriers for knowledge transfer. Lean product development is about developing knowledge through standardization and clear responibilities and spreading it through visualization and a learning mentality.
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Development project
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USER
TACIT
Checksheets
EXTERNALIZATION
A3 reports, Obeya
EXPLICIT
Databases
EXPLICIT
Nonaka and Takeuchi have developed a theory based on the transitions between tacit and explicit knowledge. The four transitions illustrated to the left are all crucial to effective knowledge transfer. Placing the LPD-tools (blue ellipses) into Nonakas picture shows that LPD have activities throughout the entire circle. This can be compared to the tools identified as the ones mainly used by the companies in the study (red ellipses), focusing primarily on the transfer of explicit knowledge.
THANKS TO: The companies for time and commitment. Lars Trygg at Chalmers och Stefan Bkk at Swerea IVF for advice and feedback
COMBINATION