Knowledge Management Handbook

Hands-On Knowledge
Co-Creation and
Sharing:
Practical Methods and
Techniques
Abdul Samad Kazi

Liza Wohlfart
Patricia Wolf
A book by the KnowledgeBoard Community

for the Global Knowledge Community
Hands-On Knowledge
Co-Creation and Sharing:
Practical Methods & Techniques
Edited by:
Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
Liza Wohlfart
Dr. Patricia Wolf
Copyright 2007 KnowledgeBoard

Some rights reserved. This book (and its digital version that is available online through
http://www.knowledgeboard.com) is released under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDeriativeWorks license. Under this license, you are free to copy, distribute,
and perform the work presented in this book under the following conditions:
you must give the original author credit for the work; you may not use it for commercial
purposes; you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work (for more details on this license,
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/). For other permissions, you should
contact the auhor(s) of the method/technique in question.
Although all care is taken to ensure the integrity and quality of this publication and the
information contained herein, no responsibility is assumed by the publishers, editors, or the
authors of individual methods/techniques for any damage to property or persons as a result of
operation or use of this publication and/or the information contained herein.
Cover, images and icons by Reinhold Weber, electricity Bildwerke, Kassel.
Published by: KnowledgeBoard in collaboration with
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Fraunhofer IRB Verlag.
ISBN: 978-951-6350-0 (Print)
ISBN: 978-951-6351-7 (Electronic)
Printed in Stuttgart, Germany
Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Techniques
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
iii
Preface
vii
Share and Collect

Method/Technique 1:
Visual Power Networking
3
Patricia Wolf, Peter Troxler & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
Method/Technique 2:
Using Cognitive Edge Methods for Knowledge Creation and

Collective Sense-Making
17
Sonja Blignaut
Method/Technique 3:
Exploration Tours Connecting Past, Present & Future
41
Ron Dvir, Hank Kune, Paolo Martinez & Arye Dvir
Method/Technique 4:
Appraisal Interviews as a Tool for Organizational Knowledge

Sharing
59
Marinita Schumacher, Corinna Flck & Mounib Mekhilef
Method/Technique 5:
Group Analysis of Knowledge Test Results as a Knowledge

Sharing Method
73
Ma gorzata Grabus & Katarzyna Grunwald
Method/Technique 6:
91
Leveraging Interaction Through Cooperation

David Kato & Devanildo Damio
Method/Technique 7:
109
Building a Global Online Community

Cneyt Budak
Method/Technique 8:
Social Software Tools for Personal Knowledge Management
135
Swaran Sandhu
Method/Technique 9:
Finding the Fire between the Nodes - Contactivity Events
147
Ron Dvir, Ed Mitchell & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
iii
Table of Contents
Measure and Analyse

Method/Technique 10:
An Integrated Approach to Enabling More Effective

Knowledge Flows in an Organisation
167
Christine van Winkelen & Jane McKenzie
Successful Innovation from Effective Knowledge Management
183
David. W. Birchall & George Tovstiga
Co-creation Methodologies to Identify, Select and Maintain

Knowledge Value Indicators
197
Paolo Petrucciani
Social Network Analysis: A Practical Method to Improve

Knowledge Sharing
219
Tobias Mller-Prothmann
To Know What You Know at the Right Time: Knowledge

Visualisation and Sharing Via a Cartographic
Process-Oriented Approach
235
Alexandra Mller-Stingl, Waltraud Grillitsch & Robert Neumann
Redesigning Communities of Practice using Knowledge

Network Analysis
251
Remko Helms
Getting Stakeholders Involved in Regional Strategy

Development: Basis-SWOT-Workshops
275
Patricia Wolf, Christoph Hauser & Simone Schweikert
291
Multi-stage Analysis for Knowledge Reflection

Jens O. Meissner
iv
Plan and Improve

Improving the Facilitation of Organisational Knowledge

Creation
311
David. W. Birchall, Jean-Anne Stewart & Mike Pedler
The Power of Disruption: Understanding the Unexpected
327
Patricia Wolf, Albert Vollmer, Peter Troxler & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
Collect and Share Existing Knowledge on Collaborative

Multidisciplinary Scientific Research Processes
347
Ayalew Kassahun, Huub Scholten & Adrie J.M. Beulens
Developing, Nurturing, and Sustaining Communities of

Practice
365
Rony Dayan & Yossi Pasher
391
Mediation and the Mediatory Approach

Markus Hess
Defining, Instituting and Sustaining a Knowledge

Management Program
407
Gurbans S. Chatwal & Srinivas P. Jagannath
CABD - A Complexity Science-Based Method for Robust

Business Development
429
Liza Wohlfart
Learning and Performance Support for Effective Innovation

and Improving Engineering Processes at IAI
443
Rony Dayan, Ron Algor, Daniel Naor & Avi Kedem
Strategic Role of Physical Settings for Creating and Sharing

Knowledge
463
Mustafa Kurt
Future Workshops - The Unthinkable and How to Make It

Happen
481
Peter Troxler & Beate Kuhnt
Table of Contents
A People Centric Approach to Creating Taxonomies and

Knowledge Artefacts
497
Shashi Kadapa
A System-based Approach to the Introduction

of Knowledge Management
519
Mark Hefke
Strategic Roadmapping and Implementation Actions

Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
vi
539
Preface
Background and Introduction
The content management team of KnowledgeBoard launched its first book entitled Real-Life
Knowledge Management: Lessons from the Fieldin April, 2006. This book was a collection of
eighteen industrial case studies from twelve different countries. What differentiated this book
from others lay in the fact that most of the case studies were a recording of the vast experiences
of knowledge workers: the real people on the field. The book was and continues to remain a
success and is used in numerous large and small organisations to solve real-life problems today
based on learnings from and adaptation of the case studies to the operational norms of these
organisations. It is furthermore used as valuable teaching, training and reference material, at
different universities and training centres.
During a Contactivity event in 2006, participants of the event mentioned the need for a set of
practical methods and techniques for effective knowledge co-creation and sharing. The initial
idea was to prepare a list of existing methods and techniques in the form of a short article.
During this process, we noted that while existing methods were reasonably well-documented,
there existed several undocumented methods and techniques that were developed and used for
specific organisational contexts by knowledge workers. Through further requests from different
KnowledgeBoard community members for a new book on practical methods and techniques for
knowledge creation and sharing, the content management team of KnowledgeBoard launched a
call for KnowledgeBoards second book. Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing:
Practical Methods and Techniques, the book you now hold in your hands, or browse on your
screen is the result.
This book presents thirty different hands-on methods and techniques for knowledge co-creation
and sharing within collaborative settings. It showcases a wide range of moderation, facilitation,
collaboration, and interaction mechanisms through the use of different face-to-face and online
methods and techniques. Each presented method/technique is augmented with real-life cases on
its use; provides directions on what needs to be done before, during, and after the use of each
method/technique to achieve tangible and measurable results; provides a set of tips and tricks on
the use and adaptation of the method/technique for different contexts and settings; and provides a
list of potholes to avoid when using the method/technique.
The prime audience of this book is industry practitioners, event moderators, facilitators,
consultants, researchers, and academia with an interest in the use and development of effective
techniques and mechanisms to foster knowledge co-creation and sharing. This book is expected
to equip them with a set of usable practical methods and techniques for knowledge co-creation
and sharing.
vii
Preface
Method/Technique Structure
All thirty methods/techniques presented in this book have been purposely organised around a
common content structure to provide you with a quick overview of the method/technique
followed by the pre-requisites, the method/technique itself, the post-requisites, real cases, and
some key dos and donts. The table below lists the main sections within each method/technique
and what you can expect to find/learn in each section.
viii
Section
What to Expect
Snapshot
(Quick Learning)
This section provides a quick overview of the method/ technique that is

presented containing brief information on the types of situations where the
method/technique may be used, what the method/technique is, and what are
the expected results from its use.
Context
(Where & What)
This section describes the different contexts and situations where the
method/technique may be used. It should provide information on the
purpose, duration, number of participants, and main goals of the
method/technique.
Preparation
(The Checklist)
This section presents what needs to be done before the method/technique is

used in terms of invitations for participation, specific reading or working
material, planning, selection of support facilitators/moderators, configuration
of any online tools, etc.
Toolkit
(The Essentials)
This section elaborates on what is required for the method/technique in terms

of the required interaction space (room, open air, etc.), and specific materials
and tools (flipcharts, post-its , whiteboards, laptops, projectors, large sheets
of papers, etc.).
Making it Happen (The

Approach & the Action)
This is the main section that describes in detail the approach that is used to
exercise the method/technique/tool that is presented. It contains information
on how to start, work through the different stages, and end the
method/technique.
Results & Next Steps

(The Follow-Up)
This section describes what typically happens once the method/technique

has been used in terms of results, follow-up actions, next steps, further
interaction, consolidation, after action reviews, and who does what, why,
when, how, and where.
Real Cases
(As it has Happened)
This section concentrates on the presentation of one or more real cases /

situations where the method/technique has been used. Its aim is to provide
proof of how the technique has been used and what adaptations have been
made for a given context.
Tips & Tricks

(To-Do)
This section provides a list of tips and tricks in terms of to-do items to ensure
the method/technique works effectively.
Potholes
(Not-to-Do)
This section contains a list of some "potholes" that need to be watched out
for and provides hints on how can they be avoided.
Acknowledgements
This section is an acknowledgement to other persons or organisations that

have in some meaningful way contributed to the development or use of the
presented method/technique.
Resources (References)
This section lists key references and resources that may provide more
information on the method/technique.
Author Biographies
This section provides brief biographies of the authors who have presented
the method/technique. It presents the background and main areas of interest
of the author(s) of the method/technique.
How to Navigate through this Book

The methods/techniques presented in this book have been structured based on a set of
perspectives (lenses) to ease the identification of a method/technique for a specific context. As
an example, one may be looking for a particular type of method such as a workshop, to be
used within a specific time frame for a particular aim. All the methods/techniques in this
book have therefore been broadly categorised by aim, type, and time.
Aim
Type
Time
This book contains three main sections based on the main aimof the method/technique. The
sections are:
"Share and collect"

"Measure and analyse"
"Plan and improve"
As all of these aims are of course highly inter-related, the categorisation only provides a general
hint as to where the main focus of a method/technique is. Overall, each method/technique
essentially covers two or more aims.
Time
While placed within a particular section (aim), each method/technique has been assigned one of
the following typeand timecategories:
Methods/techniques that can be

realised within days.
Methods/techniques that need

months or years to be realised.
Type
Methods/techniques that can be

realised within hours.
Software tools
Networking
Communities of Practice
Workshops
ix
Preface
Most methods/techniques and their possible variations/adaptations may span several aim,
typeand timecategories. For ease of understanding and structuring purposes though, a given
method/technique has been associated with only one aim, type and time category. The
table below is an indication of how the different methods/techniques have been categorised in
this book. It should serve as a starting point to identifying the method(s)/techniques(s) that you
may require for a particular purpose.
Method / Technique
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Aim
Share and Collect
x x x x x x x x x
Measure and Analyse
x x x x x x x x
Plan and Improve
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Type
Software tools
Networking Events
x
x
Hours
Days
Months/Years
x x
x
x x x
x x
x
x x
x x
x x
x x x x
x
x x
x
x
Workshops
Time
x x x
x x
x x
x
x x x x
x
x x
x
x x
x x
Let us now explore what we may learn from each of the methods/techniques presented in this
book.
Share and Collect
Method/Technique 1:

Patricia Wolf, Peter Troxler & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
Visual Power Networking is a facilitation technique best suited for the

early phases of a conference, when delegates should get to know each
other and initial contacts should be made amongst delegates. It requires
typically just under an hour of time and guarantees that every delegate
would meet at least three other delegates with similar or complementary
interests and expertise.
Keywords: networking, information visualisation, disruptive moderation and facilitation
Method/Technique 2:
Using Cognitive Edge Methods for Knowledge

Creation and Collective Sense-Making
Sonja Blignaut
The methods integrate knowledge and insights from a range of disciplines,

including Complexity Science, Naturalistic Decision Making, Social
Complexity, Anthropology & Cognitive Psychology. These methods are
bottom-up, emergent and collaborative; and have proven to be extremely
effective for knowledge sharing, extraction, and innovative solutioning.
Keywords: disruptive, emergence, complex facilitation, knowledge management, innovation
Method/Technique 3:
Exploration Tours Connecting Past, Present &

Future
Ron Dvir, Hank Kune, Paolo Martinez & Arye Dvir
Exploration Tours are an exciting, fun and yet purposeful alternative to

the ordinary methods of conferences or short courses. They are vehicles to
explore the past, present and future of the concepts people work with. A
good Exploration Tour is a springboard for multiple follow-ups, some
which are concrete and some less tangible.
Keywords: exploration, future centers, contactivity, knowledge tours
xi
Preface
Method/Technique 4:
Appraisal Interviews as a Tool for Organizational

Knowledge Sharing
Marinita Schumacher, Corinna Flck & Mounib Mekhilef
Appraisal Interviews stand mainly for management by objectives,

wherein objectives are set, plans determined, performance reviewed and
rewards given. They focus on the work results of a certain period of time
and help both superiors and subordinates to clearly identify and define
responsibilities and aims.
Keywords: performance appraisal, knowledge sharing, organisational learning
Method/Technique 5:
Group Analysis of Knowledge Test Results as a

Knowledge Sharing Method
Ma gorzata Grabus & Katarzyna Grunwald
The group analysis of the test results method (GAKTR) is particularly

useful for services based on legal knowledge. This includes legal
consulting services, i.e. insurance companies, tax firms, legal advisors or
any other consultants whose activities are based on frequently changed
laws, acts or regulations.
Keywords: knowledge collection and sharing, knowledge sharing culture, workshops, learning
Method/Technique 6:
Leveraging Interaction Through Cooperation

David Kato & Devanildo Damio
Nurturing connections between individuals from different backgrounds

and disciplines can support efficient knowledge management within
organisations. The method presented is a moderation framework based
upon a theoretician-empiricist approach that can be used for any virtual
community characterized by the physical distance of its members. It
supports networking, and the sharing of best practices and innovations.
Keywords: : knowledge management, communities, share knowledge, moderation
xii
Method/Technique 7:

Cneyt Budak
This method/technique outlines the design process for a thematic web

portal targeted at building an online community involving all the
interested people in the world. The aim in such an initiative is to publicize
and promote creative contributions from all around the world, and provide
an open and useful database for all presentations and related resources. A
case of an online showcase of world architectures is presented.
Keywords: web-based communities, global social networks, web portal design
Method/Technique 8:
Social Software Tools for Personal Knowledge

Management
Swaran Sandhu
Social software tools are easy-to-use and encourage the sharing of

knowledge. These tools usually consist of Weblogs, Wikis and a Tagging
service, often combined into one application. This method/technique
highlights how organisations can harness the power of social software
tools.
Keywords: social software, weblogs, wikis, rss, tagging
Method/Technique 9:
Finding the Fire between the Nodes - Contactivity

Events
Ron Dvir, Ed Mitchell & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
This method/technique introduces the contactivity fringe events approach

that is a collaborative and constructivist alternative to the traditional
conference model. It can be applied in various contexts and acts as a
refreshing approach to stimulate dialogue, knowledge sharing, and
innovation within a joy zone.
Keywords: contactivity, fringe event, wiki, joy zone, networking, multi-domain facilitation
xiii
Preface
Measure and Analyse
An Integrated Approach to Enabling More Effective

Knowledge Flows in an Organisation
Christine van Winkelen & Jane McKenzie
This method/technique allows you to build an integrated picture of the

major knowledge flows affecting an organisation and to diagnose what
enables them to be more effective. It supports information gathering and
structuring and is intended to be a diagnostic step within the process of
developing and implementing a Knowledge Management strategy.
Keywords: knowledge management, learning, collaboration, coherence, value
Successful Innovation from Effective Knowledge

Management
David. W. Birchall & George Tovstiga
This method/technique presents a toolkit for KM experts engaged in

innovation projects. The toolkit includes an introduction into innovation
management within organisations, case studies illustrating the interface
between KM and innovation at different levels, and a check list for the
degree to which an organisations KM approach supports innovation.
Keywords: innovation strategy, innovation process, knowledge management audits
Co-creation Methodologies to Identify, Select and

Maintain Knowledge Value Indicators
Paolo Petrucciani
This method/technique presents several instruments for facilitating project

work-paths based consensual and co-created roadmaps. These dynamic
roadmaps gather and visualise insights of participants on what KM
processes may imply for the companyand on how some knowledge
indicators may be explained and utilized for organization benefit.
Keywords: co-creation roadmap, consensus techniques, knowledge mapping
xiv
Social Network Analysis: A Practical Method to

Improve Knowledge Sharing
This method/technique outlines the necessary steps and applications of a

social network analysis and provides suggestions for practical
interventions and follow-up activities to influence network actors, their
relationships, and network structure to improve knowledge sharing
between individuals, groups, and organisations.
Keywords: communities, knowledge management, innovation, social network analysis
To Know What You Know at the Right Time:

Knowledge Visualisation and Sharing Via a
Cartographic Process-Oriented Approach
Alexandra Mller-Stingl, Waltraud Grillitsch & Robert Neumann
This method/technique demonstrates the use of knowledge visualisation

and sharing techniques for knowledge transfer within Competence
Centers. Different contexts in which the method is used and the important
contextual framework required before the initiative are described.
Keywords: knowledge sharing, visualisation concept, strategic road-mapping
Redesigning Communities of Practice using

Knowledge Network Analysis
Remko Helms
The Knowledge Network Analysis method/technique is intended for

practitioners responsible for the development and support of communities
of practice. It is typically applied to the members of a single community.
It helps to identify and visualise communities within a push network
and the bottlenecks for knowledge exchange within the communities.
Keywords: knowledge networks, knowledge network analysis, social network analysis
xv
Preface
Getting Stakeholders Involved in Regional Strategy

Development: Basis-SWOT-Workshops
Patricia Wolf, Christoph Hauser & Simone Schweikert
The Basis-SWOT-Workshop methodology can be used in bottom-up

strategy development processes with different and heterogeneous
stakeholder groups. Its main objective is to stimulate discussions among
the participants on the main objectives for the future development of their
innovation strategies and systems.
Keywords: facilitation, interaction modalities, knowledge identification, adaptation, sharing

Jens O. Meissner
The presented multi-stage analysis method/technique is a powerful tool to

visualise partly hidden and implicit knowledge of organisations that is
embodied in everyday interactions and knowledge practices. It consists of
a series of problem-centred interviews conducted with relevant actors in
the field of interest and performed by a group of interested participants.
The subsequent analysis helps to sustain processes of cultural learning.
Keywords: narrations, qualitative interview, social construction, cultural learning, landscape
xvi
Plan and Improve
Improving the Facilitation of Organisational

Knowledge Creation
David. W. Birchall, Jean-Anne Stewart & Mike Pedler
The effective facilitation of group processes, including task groups,

management teams and large group meetings, is increasingly recognised
as a key organisational competence. This method/technique is aimed at
those engaged in the facilitation of knowledge management initiatives;
either as facilitators or as commissioners of facilitation.
Keywords: facilitation, group processes, competency, communities of practice
The Power of Disruption: Understanding the

Unexpected
Patricia Wolf, Albert Vollmer, Peter Troxler & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
This method/technique outlines a special facilitation method for an

unusualinnovation management workshop. Power of Disruptionaims
at enabling participants to understand the nature and potential of
unexpected events in innovation processes and at empowering them to
make use of such events in a productive way.
Keywords: disruptive moderation and facilitation, innovation management, disturbances
Collect and Share Existing Knowledge on

Collaborative Multidisciplinary Scientific Research
Processes
Ayalew Kassahun, Huub Scholten & Adrie J.M. Beulens
A collaborative knowledge-based system to support multi-disciplinary

research is presented. The system provides a glossary of terms, process
definitions, support for different user types, a knowledge base, and a
knowledgebase editor.
Keywords: co-creation, communities, knowledge artefacts, ontologies
xvii
Preface
Developing, Nurturing, and Sustaining Communities

of Practice
Rony Dayan & Yossi Pasher
A set of methods/techniques that have been developed and used in a large

aerospace organisation for developing, nurturing and sustaining
Communities of Practice are presented. The need to adapt existing
methods/techniques to the specific needs of an organisation is
demonstrated.
Keywords: CoP, Community, practice, industry, aerospace

Markus Hess
Usually, managers call mediation experts and ask for help in evaluating
and settling a conflict within their team when internal channels for
resolving conflicts were tried but have failed and thus been abandoned.
Mediation is an approach that supports identification and dealing with
conflicts in teams. It is a way of working with others in difficult situations
in a manner that is democratic and saves face for all parties involved.
Keywords: mediation, moderation, group facilitation, conflict solving
Defining, Instituting and Sustaining a Knowledge

Management Program
Gurbans S. Chatwal & Srinivas P. Jagannath
This method/technique serves as a reference for organisations aiming to

create a sustainable Knowledge Management program. It provides a
generic checklist on the steps that have to be processed while initiating
the project and identifying, implementing, institutionalising and
improving the selected Knowledge Management solution.
Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge measurement, strategies, knowledge
xviii
CABD - A Complexity Science-Based Method for

Robust Business Development
Liza Wohlfart
Complexity Science is a promising discipline for business development,

as it builds on the conviction that it is visions people should focus on and
lessons learned from natural systems. The CABD method/technique tries
to incorporate complexity ideas, with a focus on practical applicability,
instead of theoretic disputes.
Keywords: robust business development, complexity science, brainstorming
Learning and Performance Support for Effective

Innovation and Improving Engineering Processes at
IAI
Rony Dayan, Ron Algor, Daniel Naor & Avi Kedem
The use of an e-learning system for capturing lessons learned and

conclusions from previous experience and reusing them for current and
future developments is presented. Its use in the elimination of design
errors hidden in engineering products and activities is demonstrated.
Keywords: CoP, community, practice, industry, aerospace
Strategic Role of Physical Settings for Creating and

Sharing Knowledge
Mustafa Kurt
An organisational culture that supports knowledge sharing between

employees is characterised by intense interaction and communication.
Offices, meeting rooms and cafeterias play an important role in supporting
this culture. The presented method/technique highlights the basic
principles of physical space management that supports knowledge sharing.
Keywords: knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, physical settings, arte-facts
xix
Preface
Future Workshops - The Unthinkable and How to

Make It Happen
Peter Troxler & Beate Kuhnt
Future Workshops is a method/technique to develop a vision of the future

shared by the participants. It is best suited for solving problems in
organisations such as factories, co-ops and unions, schools and youth
centres, pressure groups and voluntary organisations, neighbourhoods and
communities.
Keywords: action planning, participation, social inclusion, disruptive, empowerment
A People Centric Approach to Creating Taxonomies

and Knowledge Artefacts
Shashi Kadapa
Key issues to be addressed when building a knowledge management

portal include: how to create a taxonomy, what type of documents to keep
in the KM portal and how to create a knowledge capture mechanism in
the organisation. This method/technique presents how to create a KM
portal that is well organized, does not confuse people, and is in line with
an organizations need for knowledge capture and sharing.
Keywords: taxonomy, knowledge artefacts, knowledge capture mechanisms, templates
A System-based Approach to the Introduction

of Knowledge Management
Mark Hefke
This method/technique presents a toolkit that has been developed for

supporting consultants in Knowledge Management (KM) consulting
processes by providing them with previously captured best practices from
other KM consulting projects. With the help of the toolkit, best practices
are structured through the systems ontology-based case base in which
they are also stored.
Keywords: knowledge management, case-based reasoning, semantic web, ontologies
xx

To continuously evolve and innovate, organisations and industrial sectors

need to set clear evolutionary paths facilitating a transition from a
current state to an envisioned future state. This method/technique
presents a simple and visual approach for developing strategic roadmaps
supplemented with a set of well-defined implementation actions that
support realisation of the elements of the roadmap.
Keywords: strategic roadmapping, implementation actions, time to industry, thematic priorities
xxi
Preface
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge and appreciate the enthusiasm and
contributions from the numerous authors that have contributed to this book. They have shared
their experiences and lessons learned from their reservoir of methods and techniques for
knowledge co-creation and sharing. This book would not have been possible had it not been for
them. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the European Commission and in
particular its IST programme for their financial support for KnowledgeBoard.
We would like to thank you, the reader, for taking the initiative and time to explore and learn
from the vast experience presented in the methods/techniques and their respective cases in this
book. We certainly believe that this will aid you in your efforts to create and share knowledge
within collaborative settings.
Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
Liza Wohlfart, IAT University of Stuttgart / Fraunhofer IAO, Germany
Dr. Patricia Wolf, Hochschule fr Wirtschaft (HSW) Luzern, Switzerland
KnowledgeBoard, July 2007.
xxii
Visual Power
Networking
Patricia Wolf, Peter Troxler &
Keywords:
Networking, Information Visualisation, Facilitation of Meetings and
Workshops, Disruptive Moderation and Facilitation, Overcoming
Communication Problems

Dr. Peter Troxler, UnBla (peter@unbla.org)
Dr. Patricia Wolf, Lucerne School of Business, Institute of Management and Regional Economics,
(pwolf@hsw.fhz.ch)
Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Sami.Kazi@vtt.fi)
Snapshot (Quick Learning)

Visual Power Networking is a facilitation technique best suited for the early phases of a
conference, when delegates should get to know each other and initial contacts should be made
amongst delegates.
Visual Power Networking requires typically just under an hour of time and guarantees that every
delegate would meet at least three other delegates with similar or complementary interests and
expertise.
Visual Power Networking creates a buzz amongst the audience. It leaves delegates in an
energetic and open state of mind. They are positively activated, easily interested in new topics
and they engage readily in some hands-on activities.
Visual Power Networking establishes connections between delegates that can be further built
upon in break out groups and other small-group activity during the conference.
Finally, Visual Power Networking creates links between delegates that have the potential to last
longer than the conference itself, because they are not randomly generated but purposefully
created based on the understanding of every single delegates interests and needs.
Keywords: networking, information visualisation, facilitation of meetings and workshops,
disruptive moderation and facilitation, overcoming communication problems
Context (Where & What)

At the beginning of conferences, workshops, meetings, etc. quite often people from different
contexts gather and are supposed to work and network together for a few days. However, most
conference organisers dont address this purpose specifically, but leave it to the delegates to get
to know each other. Hatcher, Wiessner, Storberg and Chapman (2006) argue that conferences are
typically organized to share and report information, but rarely purposively designed to generate
new learning. Particularly if it is not normal, accepted behaviour to talk to new people
delegates remain stuck in their own circles; thus the potential of meeting new people is not put to
good use.
The Visual Power Networking is designed for all these environments as where people who dont
know each other have to be stimulated to talk to each other, but where there is very limited time
available and people tend to be shy.
A Visual Power Networking session can take anything between 30 and 90 minutes, with an
optimum duration of just under an hour for a conference size of up to 100 delegates. The method
does not scale particularly well to accommodate for lager audiences.
Through Visual Power Networking delegates get to know each other, they know who is in the
room and they get a picture of the different topics that are there to talk about.
Visual Power Networking works well as an icebreaker; it creates an atmosphere of interest in
other delegates and it stimulates the sharing of knowledge and experience.
Visual Power Networking is a method that does not focus on gurus or experts. Delegates are less
likely to establish themselves as dominant in front of the plenary in an early stage of a
conference since everybody gets the chance to talk to everybody else on a basis of equality.
Particularly for smaller groups Visual Power Networking produces a visual diagram of potential
connections between delegates. This diagram can stay visible during the whole conference so
delegates or facilitators can easily refer back to it.
Preparation (The Checklist)

In preparation of a Visual Power Networking session it is advisable to collect delegatesprofiles
beforehand. Typically such a profile would include names, affiliation, fields of expertise or
experience of the delegates and an indication which topics they are interested in or what
expertise they are looking for. Ideally a recent photograph of the delegate can be added to the
profile. This information can easily be collected when delegates register for the conference. This
is particularly easy when delegates register online.
For the actual Visual Power Networking Session two sets of these profiles need to be available in
printed format on individual A4 sheets. One set of profiles is handed back to the delegates, e.g. at
check-in, with the instruction to have it ready for the Visual Power Networking session.
A second set is put up in the room where the session will take place. Since several people will be
trying to read these profile sheets simultaneously it is a good idea not to cram them into a too
confined space but to be able to leave some space between individual sheets when put up on a
wall next to each other. Ideally, the walls can be covered with an extra layer of wallpaper before
putting up profiles so participants are able to write down notes or messages directly on the wall
next to the profiles.
Optionally, a third set could be handy as a backup if delegates appear at the session without their
printed profile. Alternatively an easy way to print out profiles could be provided since profile
sheets have a tendency to go AWOL.
An interesting variation would be to include the profile information on the delegatesbadges.
Another variation would be to hang two sets of profiles on the walls and have delegates find their
own profiles at the beginning of the session. Additional time would have to be allowed in this
case.
Toolkit (The Essentials)

For the Visual Power Networking session, an open plan space is required. The space should
provide enough pin boards or plain walls where profile sheets can be put up. Chairs and tables
should be removed from the room.
Delegates will need pens to make notes and to write down delegatesnames, also on the sheets
that are put up on the walls. Therefore ball pens are not best suited, so it is best to have pencils
available. Ideally this would have been considered when putting together the delegates pack.
Every delegate gets three pieces of post-it notes, either pre-printed with their name and
affiliation, or blank ones on which they would write their names and affiliation.
Additionally a large (2 x 2 meters) sheet of paper is needed for the visualisation of the network.
Making it Happen (The Approach & the Action)

In preparation
1. Delegates have to fill in their profile before the conference: Name, organisation, topic
interests and fields of expertise or experience, and expertise they are seeking for.
2. Facilitators write delegatesnames on the large sheet of paper, e.g. in a circle. This sheet of
paper will later be used for the visualisation of the connections between participants.
3. Facilitators put up delegatesprofiles on the pin boards or on the walls of the room where the
session takes place.
Visual Power Networking Session
For the Visual Power Networking Session, delegates gather in the room where the session will
take place. The profiles are already hanging on the walls, and there is no seating available. A
small stage, chair or ladder is provided for the lead facilitator to be clearly visible in the crowd.
Before the session begins, the facilitators have to make sure that all delegates have their own
profiles, pens and Post-its ready.
If people have to find their own profiles on the walls and take one copy while leaving the second
on the wall, they now can be instructed to do so. Note that this can consume a considerable
amount of time. Also if additional profiles have to be handed out or printed, the impact on the
schedule might be considerable. Delegates who already have their own profiles ready will easily
be able to spend their time reading other peoples profiles.
The session proper
Step
Duration Activity
Introduction
5 min
The facilitators present themselves to the audience. The lead

facilitator briefly explains the purpose of the session and outlines
the 3 steps of the session:
1. Exchange: Get to know each other in pairs.
2. Marketplace: Search 3 potential contacts for partner.
3. Greeting: Find and meet the 3 potential contacts, add a
face to the name.
Now the facilitators launch the Exchangephase by encouraging

7
Step
Duration Activity
people to get into pairs with somebody standing next to them who
they dont already know. Facilitators have to be a bit pushy in this
phase.
Exchange
5 min
Delegates get together in pairs and have 5 minutes (in total) to

explain their own profiles to their partner. In the case of an uneven
number of delegates, either one group of three can be formed.
Everybody tries to understand, what their partner is interested in
and what contacts they would be looking forward to making at this
conference.
At the end of this phase, delegates exchange their profile sheets
and the three post-its with their names and affiliation, i.e.
everybody should now have the profile sheet of their partner and
the post-its with the names of their partners in their hands.
Then the facilitator launches the Marketplacephase.
Marketplace
15 min
Everybody searches through the profiles on the walls to find

potential contacts for their partner.
A potential contact could either be someone who shares the same
interests and expertise as their partner or it could be somebody
who has the specific knowledge, experience or expertise their
partner is looking for at this conference.
Once they have found a suitable profile, they note down the name
of this delegate on the profile sheet of their partner. Also, they
stick one of the post-its on the profile sheet of the potential contact
on the wall. They might also want to make a note of the reason for
selecting this contact.
Then they go on to search for the next potential contact, then for
the third.
Once they have completed the search they return to their partner
and hand back the profile sheet. Equally they get their profile sheet
back.
After 10 minutes, the facilitators give an indication of the time
passed and that there are only 5 minutes left to accomplish the
task.
Then the facilitator launches the Greetingphase.
8
Step
Duration Activity
Greeting
15 to
20 min
Delegates start searching the crow for their

potential contacts, meet and greet them,
establish that they indeed share common
interests and express the wish to meet again
during the conference.
In the meantime, facilitators start to draw the
Visual Network. For each connection
suggested by the delegates (and as indicated
by the post-its on the profiles on the wall)
they draw a line connecting the two names
on the large sheet of paper. Since time will
probably not be sufficient, this is only the
start of the Visual Network, and the
facilitators or support staff should complete
the picture after the end of the session.
Alternatively the network could be captured electronically in a
spreadsheet or drawn by the partner who suggested the
connections.
After 10 and 15 minutes the facilitators give an indication of the
time passed.
End
5 min
The
facilitators
show
the
(beginning of) the Visual Network
to all delegates (and if appropriate
explain that the drawing will be
finished later on), or they refer to
the
electronically
captured
network.
The facilitators once more stress the purpose of the session and
highlight how many interesting and content-rich connections have
been made in a comparatively short amount of time and that
everybody has met at least four people who were new to them,
who would share their interests or who would have that particular
expertise the delegates have been looking for. The connections
established are not randomly generated but purposefully created
based on the understanding of every single delegates interests and
needs, thanks to the collective power of the audience.
Afterwards
The resulting Visual Network, if drawn up properly, can remain in the meeting space or
anywhere else for delegates to remind them of the session. Also the profiles can be used further
as some kind of a message board. On occasions delegates have found it appropriate to stick their
business cards on the profile sheets of delegates they would have liked to meet or to scribble
small messages to other delegates. If that is the intention, the facilitators should mention that
explicitly so delegates actually do check back with their profiles to find out if there is a message
waiting for them.
Results & Next Steps (The Follow-Up)

The immediate result and main benefit of a Visual Power Networking session is that it generates
a real buzz among delegates, it does energize them, and it creates an atmosphere where people
do want to do something together.
This is particularly important to notice for conference organisers and has to be taken into account
accordingly when scheduling a Visual Power Networking session: The session immediately
following Visual Power Networking can benefit from that thriving energy in the audience or
destroy it completely. Hence you would want that next session to require a positively activated
audience that easily is interested in the topic and readily engages in some hands-on activities.
Far more difficult, it seems, is to keep the connections between delegates alive. Ideally the
conference schedule would allow coming back to these connections at several points over the
course of the event. For example small-group activities could be held in break out groups that
reflect similar interests as identified in the Visual Power Networking session. Lunches or
receptions are other opportunities where delegates can take up the Visual Power Networking
contacts again.
After the conference electronic contact details could be sent out to delegates to remind them of
their connections, ideally combined with the respective delegatesprofiles. However, eventually
it is the delegatesown responsibility to keep these contacts alive.
Real Cases (As it has Happened)

Contactivity
The Contactivity Conference 2006 in London Greenwich was a very practical two day
gathering of 64 Knowledge Management (KM) practitioners, academics and consultants,
modelled within a Community of Practice (CoP) framework across both the virtual and physical
worlds (Mitchell, 2006). The aim was to familiarize participants with a number of different
knowledge sharing methods, Visual Power Networking being one of about five methods.
Participants came from all over Europe; most of them didnt know each other. However, there
was a core group of the KB community that did know each other very well. In order to make
people talk to each other beyond existing contacts, the organisers decided to have a Visual Power
Networking session in the morning of the first day.
Before the conference, participants registered on a wiki and filled in their profiles online. These
profiles were printed out by the conference organisers (two copies) and brought to the
conference. For participants who did not fill in their profile online beforehand, empty templates
were available. The facilitators prepared the room and started the session as described above.
10
The process went very well and participantsfeedback was excellent. They especially liked that
they were forced to check the profiles of everybody in order to find interesting people for their
partners and that the session stimulated a lot of communication with people they didnt know
beforehand. People e.g. said I had many useful conversations and some would not have
happened without the event designand got to see connections with people I wouldn't have
thought of otherwise.One third of the participants voted the Visual Power Networking as the
best bit of the Contactivity event. Asked what methods participants would want to use
themselves Visual Power Networking ranked second (after Open Space).
However, one of the participants tried to abuse the networking exercise as marketing
opportunity; instead of searching contacts for his partner, he was putting his own business cards
next to the profile of people he was interested to meet. While one might think that this could be
an interesting extension to the Visual Power Networking exercise, participants did not respond at
all to his advances. Therefore we would suggest that such behaviour would best be actively
discouraged.
After the conference, participants were sent the list of connections they had made (presented in
an excel sheet).
Masters Course on Knowledge Management
The masters course on Knowledge Management at ETH Zurich, provided by the research
group Psychology of Work in Organisation and Societyat the Center for Enterprise Sciences, is
an integral part of the studies for the master of advanced studies in management, technology, and
economics (MAS MTEC). In June 2006, 32 Students participated in this course.
Apart from providing participants with an overview on Knowledge Management theory, the
objective of the course was to teach participants several methods for knowledge sharing and to
let them try out these methods (learning by experiencing). A third objective was to create an
atmosphere of trust among the participants who mostly did not know each other as most of them
did not follow the same courses since they were coming from different industrial backgrounds.
In its second part of the course, the participants were to simulate a Community of Practice and to
exchange quite sensitive information on how their companies practiced the sharing of
knowledge. To be able to do this, students had to explicitly know the background of everybody
in the room in order to feel safe.
Thus, a variation of the above-described Visual Power Networking was introduced. At the
beginning, everybody had to talk to everybody for two minutes and exchange information on
professional background and hobbies. This was done in two groups. The students took notes
about the person they were talking to. After having talked to everybody, the students had to
indicate which of the other students would be most interesting for them to exchange experiences
with. To do this a large sheet of paper had been prepared beforehand which had the names of all
students written on it along the edges. The students then had to draw lines between their own
name and the name of their most interesting partners. This visual network remained visible for
everybody during the whole rest of the course and was re-used for group building and the CoP
simulation exercise.
At the end of the course, students had to review all the methods that had been presented.
Particularly the feedback on Visual Power Networking was very positive. One student told the
story how he some weeks later he was participating in a team project with several other students
whom he did not know, except one from the KM course. In this team, he said, cooperation with
the one student he knew from the KM course was much better that with the others. He explicitly
concluded that this was due to the Visual Power Networking exercise where he got a broad
overview on the experiences and background of the other student.
11
UnBla 2007
At the first UnBla event on regional innovation held in Luzern, Switzerland, a variation of the
method was used. Noting that the audience constituted locals (Swiss), and travellers
(delegates from abroad), the idea was to introduce locals to travellers, and what better way to do
so than by sharing gifts. Before the event itself, each delegate was asked to bring a gift from their
homeland, to put their business card or a name tag in the gift, and to then gift wrap it.
At the event, the gifts from the localswere put on one table, and those from the travellerson
another table. Delegates were then asked to pick-up a random gift from the table other than
where their gift was placed. After opening the gift, their task was to find the person who had
provided the gift, to thank them, learn about their background, and identify their main interest
areas related to regional innovation. Each person thus, met at least two persons: one whose
provided gift they took, and one to who took the gift they had provided.
After meeting their new colleagues and learning about their background, interests, and needs,
participants participated in creating a visual network connecting different people with each other
based on background, interests, and needs.
Gifts: The Trigger for Networking
Rush: What will I get and who will I thank?
Thanks: Thanking & learning about each other Connections: The people to meet J
This variation of the method proved to be quite fun and beneficial to participants, as not only did
they meet people and share interests, but also got a gift each to remember.
12
Tips & Tricks (To-Do)

Do give delegates the opportunity to prepare their profile beforehand, and provide some
examples of good and useful profiles. Maybe think even of giving a bad profile as an
example of how not to fill in a profile.
During the session, give clear instructions to the audience what exactly to do in each step. It
might be helpful to demonstrate what delegates are required to do.
Dont worry, if the 20 minutes of the Greetingphase are not sufficient to finish the Visual
Network diagram. This can be done during the next session by a facilitator or support staff.
Do make good use of the potential connections created during the Visual Power Networking
session, e.g. when splitting up the audience for break-out sessions.
Do make good use of the profiles on the walls, be it as message board or for delegates to give
feedback or make announcements.
Potholes (Not-to-Do)
Dont let the experts (or worse: the self-elected gurus) dominate the networking session, e.g.
by abusing their profile for personal marketing, or by adding their business card to the
profiles during the Visual Power Networking session. There is plenty of opportunity to do
that afterwards.
Dont force delegates into selecting topics or areas of interest from a pre-defined list only.
This limits the expressive power of profiles.
Dont rely only on capturing the network electronically. The physical and omnipresent
manifestation of the many connections created during the Visual Power Networking session
is the best way to remind delegates of the value of this particular exercise.
13
Acknowledgements
The pictures in this chapter were taken by Ron Dvir, Martin Roell, Ton Zijstra, Carol Webb and
Tanya Emashnova during Visual Power Networking sessions at KnowledgeBoards KM Fringe
in Amsterdam (Nov. 2005), the Contactivity meeting in Greenwich (April 2006), and the UnBla
Conference in Luzern (Jan. 2007).
Hatcher, T., Wiessner, C., Storberg, J., Chapman, D. (2006) How a research conference created
new learning: a case study, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 30, No. 4, pp.
256-271.
Mitchell, E. (2006): KB event report: Contactivity 2006, 10, 11 April 2006,
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2700 (date accessed: 31 October
2006).
14
Author Biographies
Dr. Peter Troxler works as a management consultant in

Europe. He supports organisations in the private and public
sector building management systems for the knowledge
economy. Peter has worked in academia at ETH Zurich,
Switzerland and at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His
main interests are cross-disciplinary issues at the interface of
psychology, IT and engineering, and management science. He
is said to be a passionate facilitator, and he has a second life as
an arts producer and manager.
Dr. Patricia Wolf works as lecturer, researcher and consultant
at the Lucerne Business School in Switzerland. In the
meantime, she writes her habilitation on individual orientations
in collaborative intercultural actions at the ETH Zurich,
Switzerland. Prior to this, Patricia worked for three years as
Researcher and Consultant at the Institute of Human Factors
and Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart,
Germany, on consulting and research projects in the areas of
Knowledge Management and Innovation Management. Patricia
obtained her PhD in Business Administration at the University
of Witten-Herdecke, Germany. Topic of her doctor thesis was
Success Measurement of Communities of Practice.
Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi is a Chief Research Scientist at
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. His research
experience spans more than twenty large scale international
industry-driven research projects. Dr. Kazis expertise and
interest areas include inter-enterprise collaboration, knowledge
and innovation management, disruptive facilitation, and mobile
applications. He has been the lead editor of eight books in the
subject areas of knowledge management, construction IT,
systemic innovation, and open building manufacturing.
15
ands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Technique
Using Cognitive Edge

Methods for
Knowledge Creation
and Collective
Sense-making
Sonja Blignaut
Keywords:
Disruptive, Emergence, Complex Facilitation, Knowledge
Management, Innovation
Using Cognitive Edge Methods for

Knowledge Creation and
Collective Sense-making
Sonja Blignaut, Centre for Complexity Studies South Africa, (sonja@cfcs.co.za)

Cognitive Edge (previously Cynefin) is an international network of researchers, consultants and
practitioners who apply Open Source methods developed by Prof Dave Snowden. These methods
integrate knowledge and insights from a range of disciplines, including Complexity Science,
Naturalistic Decision Making, Social Complexity, Anthropology and Cognitive Psychology.
The methods discussed in this document are bottom-up, emergent and collaborative; and has
proven to be extremely effective for knowledge sharing and extraction as well as innovative
solutioning.
In the described project instances, multiple parallel workshop processes were run
simultaneously, and many different, but complementary outputs were produced over a two-day
interactive workshop. This process is completely scalable, in Australia it was run with several
hundred participants, in South Africa with 30.
The power of the Cognitive Edge methodology and approach comes from ..
The use of narrative as a key component of collecting and understanding knowledge in

context
Sense making and meaning being socially constructed by those involved in and impacted
by, the issue under consideration
Allowing multiple perspectives to be visible and recognised
Valuing dissent without requiring attribution of blame
Providing perspectives and frameworks that enable people to take action in addressing
complex issues
Complimenting and working in conjunction with existing normative tools and processes,
and
Consultants and facilitators facilitating process but not being involved in content in the
initial stages
Cognitive Edge methods are highly adaptable and can be used in a multitude of diverse contexts.
The case studies discussed in this article primarily cover short narrative enquiry interventions
aimed at understanding complex issues, culminating in open-space type sense-making and
strategic solutioning workshops. Applications are diverse, ranging from innovation and strategic
planning, new product development to knowledge mapping and cultural change interventions.
19
Using Cognitive Edge Methods for Knowledge Creation and Collective Sense-making
From an Organisational Development (OD) point of view, these techniques are also extremely
valuable, especially because it views the organisation as a complex entity that needs to be
respected and treated as such. In contrast to many quantitative OD techniques, the Cognitive
Edge methods do not claim to be able to exactly measure pre-defined organisational constructs in
order to make predictions or diagnoses. It allows (and thereby empowers) the system to diagnose
and treat itself. It moves participantsthinking away from problem, quantityand certitude
towards mystery, quality and assurance. This allows the system to explore its own
imagination and to see new possibilities for the future.
Keywords: disruptive, emergence, complex facilitation, knowledge management, innovation

Objectives differ according to context, but measurable outcomes of these processes include
comprehensive sets of cultural indicators, knowledge objects (comprising both codified and
experiential knowledge artefacts), and large volumes of tangible suggestions to address complex
issues. Another key objective of these processes is to increase the levels of interaction and
dialogue between key stakeholders whether internal to an organisation or external, thereby
establishing new social networks, or increasing the cohesiveness of existing social networks.
This methodology can be used as a short term workshop based intervention e.g. strategic
planning or as the culmination of a longer term pre-hypothesis research project to understand a
complex problem. It has been used successfully for conflict resolution, and ensures that the
voices of all stakeholders are heard.
The actual workshop is usually conducted over one or two days, with the number of participants
varying between 12 and 300 (the ideal number of participants is usually around 36). In some
circumstances, a number of identical workshops can be conducted, with the data integrated for a
final activity. The critical variables for participation and effective outcomes is a shared context,
and diversity of perspectives,

Although not a pre-requisite (as the methodology is open source) it is strongly recommended that
the facilitator attends a Cognitive Edge accreditation training course before applying any of these
methods. A further recommendation is to be mentored through the first couple of workshops i.e.
to observe how experienced Cognitive Edge facilitators run these workshops before facilitating
one yourself. The approach to facilitation of complex processes differs markedly from
traditional facilitation techniques, and these differences need to be understood. For example,
ambiguous instructions are intentional, not assisting participants to find the right answers
fundamental, and any interventions into group process happen at a system, not individual level.
20
Due to the highly disruptive nature of this methodology, a capable facilitator is a critical success
factor in the process.
Participants need not do any preparation prior to the session typically we find that the less
prepared they are (and the less they know about the session and the process) the better. A
detailed invitation is therefore not necessary. Agendas only indicate timing of breaks etc, but no
detail is supplied as to the process and specific activities.
If emergent cultural indicators are required as output of the workshop, it is beneficial to collect
the narrative material that serves as input to the process in advance. This will allow the
facilitator to prepare the anecdotes, print them out on A4 sheets and prepare a story wall in the
workshop space (cover an entire wall with printed anecdotes). Workshop participants usually
find these walls irresistible, and simply reading through about the real experiences of others has
a tremendous impact on them.
An adequate number experienced and well briefed facilitators must be arranged to run the
session. The number of facilitators depends on the number of participants, smaller groups (12
and less may require only 1 facilitator), larger groups (more than 36) may require more than 3.
A guideline would be to have a 1 facilitator for every 12 participants. Not all facilitators have to
be equally experienced though 3 strong facilitators with a couple of assistantsshould easily
be capable of successfully guiding the workshop. Given the emergent nature of the process,
facilitators must be adaptable, and prepared to quickly modify processes.
Facilitators and assistants should be well briefed and reach agreement before the workshop as to
how the workshop outputs will be markedbetween steps. It is important to know for example
which wall which data item originated from, which hexies belonged to the same clusters etc.
Usually we assign a number to each group and a letter to each cluster all hexies are then
marked accordingly with a ball point pen between activities. Timelines need to be marked so as
to indicate their order.
A skilled cartoonist although this requirement is often ignored, it adds tremendous value to the
process. In addition to bringing an element of novelty that keeps the participants engaged, visual
representation adds a deeper dimension to the outputs that has significant value to the
interpreters of the output. Cartoons also aid communication efforts after the workshop (e.g. to
communicate a newly formulated strategy to staff who didnt attend the workshop), as images
can convey complex meaning in a simple fashion, and people relate to cartoons differently than
to text or Powerpoint presentations.

For the workshop the following are required:
A large open workshop venue with ample open wall space which you are allowed to
paper. It is best if the venue is off-site to ensure minimal distraction of participants by
operational crises and other activities such as email etc.
21
The workshop venue should be set up banquet style i.e. participants seated around round
tables (between 6 and 10 per table)
Large sheets of paper to cover the walls in the workshop venue(unprinted newsprint or
flip chart paper that come in rolls work well for this purpose)
Hexagonal post-it notes (hexies) in at least 6 different colors (if not available, square
notes can be used, but it is not recommended as it has a detrimental effect on clustering
as people tend to think in categories when presented with square notes also, the clusters
require a lot more wall space when squares are used)
Fine tipped permanent markers to write on the hexies it is important that the text
written on the hexies is visible from a distance of about 2m away to aid the clustering
exercises.
Flip charts (1 for each table)
A high resolution digital camera to capture workshop outputs after each step e.g. to
document clusters before they are broken up and taken off the walls.
During the process participants need to come up with various actions or suggestions. In
order to facilitate this process at least 200 A5 action forms need to be prepared (it works
well if 3 or 4 different paper colors are used for this). These forms typically have the
following headings: Activity (which activity produced this action); what? (describe the
action); Who can do it (i.e. ourselves, our direct management, the executive); By When
(estimated timeframe); How can success be measured?

Overview
The main premise of these workshops is to facilitate multiple concurrent streams, each busy with
a different (and sometimes unrelated) task. Most of these streams use anecdotal narrative
material as input. The larger group is typically broken into smaller sub-groups, either in a
random fashion or according to role, level etc. It also works well to allow smaller groups to selfform according to interest in a specific topic that will be discussed at a specific table. The
composition of the group working together is also constantly changing. The intent is to ensure
that multiple possibilities and opportunities are created, with the convergence into preferred
positions or actions being deferred as long as possible.
Initially the entire group is given one instruction (although they may be given different topics) to
be complete in the smaller groups. Once theyve settled into this activity, various people are
taken from their respective groups and tasked with another (often unrelated) activity performed
on the walls. An effective way of doing this is to ask the groups to nominate one or two people
to participate in a new task. These new groups remain busy with their tasks for a short time;
theyre then sent back to the tables and asked to send two other nominees back to their wall. In
this way, 3 or more tasks can be completed simultaneously.
22
Because of the emergent and disruptive nature of some of the methods we employ, it is very
difficult for participants to influence the outcome to their benefit. Complex facilitation and
disruption reduces opportunities for dominant personalities to influence the results. The social
construction aspect of the process makes it difficult for those engaged to deny the results and at
the same time, difficult for executives to challenge, as these results were created by the
environment itself, not by an external consultant or expert.
When facilitating such a workshop, emergence is encouraged and premature convergence
discouraged through disruption and very vague instructions. Many participants find the process
uncomfortable, especially those preferring highly structured workshop environments with fixed
agendas and predictable results. It is not unusual for some participants not to return to the 2nd
day of the workshop, but fortunately they are in the minority. Most participants find the process
highly engaging and different, and once they manage to overcome their discomfort, they are
usually energised at the end of the workshop.
The process is highly adaptable, and any of a multitude of components can be used in the
different work streams. There are no recipes and no one best way of conducting such a
workshop, so it will therefore probably be most effective to discuss some of the process
components weve combined in the past and present the detail of an actual workshop under real
cases, rather than attempting to explain the various options. Once the guiding principles are
understood, facilitators can customise the process and plan their own workshops according to the
context and need.
Possible process components
1. Anecdote circles
This component can be included in the actual workshop, but we find that is most beneficial to
conduct these sessions well before the workshop in order to have the narrative outputs
transcribed.
During these informal facilitated sessions, participants are stimulated to share real experiences
(their own, or someone elses) that pertains to the issue under investigation. An example of a
probing question we could use to stimulate experiences around job satisfaction or culture would
be: If you run into a very good friend of yours and they tell you theyve been offered a job in
your company similar to your own, what experiences would you share with them to encourage
him to join, and what experiences would you share to discourage him to join? This is very
different from normal survey questions where the hypothesis of the researcher is already
contained in the questions, and therefore the results typically indicate only what the researcher
thought to find.
The anecdotes collected in this fashion is transcribed (verbatim), printed out and pasted on one
wall of the workshop venue walls. At various times throughout the 2 day workshop, groups will
be asked to review the anecdotes and find various elements in them. We will discuss this in
more detail later.
One point to note here when transcribing and editing the anecdotal material, be sure to retain
the authenticity of the stories i.e. dont correct grammar, remove uhmsetc. The messierthe
stories, the more obvious their authenticity and therefore the more trust worthy they are to
23
participants. The only editing we do is to remove names and identifying word patterns, and to
remove chatter and unsubstantiated opinions from the transcribed text.
2. Identifying knowledge disclosure points and ASHEN
ASHEN
Over the last couple of years, Knowledge Management theory has focussed on the differences
between tacit and explicit knowledge. To our mind, this is a gross over simplification, as
Knowledge in itself is a complex phenomenon that transcends such simple classification. (Dave
Snowden, 2000)
Knowledge is also highly contextual; we only know what we know in the context of needing to
know it. In order to provide this context, we make use of Knowledge Disclosure Points (KDPs)
(Snowden 1998a) which comprise decisions, judgments, problem resolution and learning. They
are the points at which we use or create knowledge. People find it easier to remember using
knowledge than to answer the question What do you know. A more meaningful question
would be: When you made that decision, what knowledge did you use?
It is at this point where the ASHEN framework is utilised to provide a more complete picture of
the applied knowledge, provide a language to make sense of what we find, and provide a
mechanism to move directly to action. ASHEN is a mnemonic term that represents the
following:
Artefacts: all the existing codified information (or explicit knowledge) currently held in the
organisation. Examples include: processes, documents and databases; essentially every
constructed knowledge object that exists external to a person.
Skills: In this context, a skill is something that I can tangibly measure whether someone has it or
not. For example, you can either create a Word document, or you cant. Skills can be taught,
whether through study, or by on-the-job training.
Heuristics: Guidelines of rules of thumb. We use heuristics to make decisions when we dont
necessarily have all the facts we need. In people with deep expertise in certain areas these
heuristics manifest as gut feelreactions.
Experience: Experience is largely self explanatory, although it is worthwhile to note that
experience may collective, rather than individual which makes it difficult for organisations to
manage.
Natural talent: By definition a natural talent is a special ability or gift that makes someone better
at doing something than most other people. It cannot be managed, but we can improve our
ability to identify and nurture it.
Therefore by asking the ASHEN question in the context of a KDP meaningful answers can be
obtained e.g. When you made that decision, what artefacts did you use, or would you like to have
had? What skills did you have or need and how are they acquired? What heuristics do you use
to make such decisions quickly, what is the range of their applicability? What experience do you
have and what experience do the people you respect in this field have? What natural talent is
necessary? How exclusive is it? Who else has it? (Snowden, 2000). Once weve obtained
24
these insights it is relatively easy to move to action, i.e. how can we protect key artefacts or
obtain ones were missing? How can we make sure our people have the necessary skills?
In the workshop groups are asked to read through the narrative material on the wall and are
tasked to find Knowledge Disclosure Points (KDPs). Each identified KDP is written on a
hexagonal post-it note (hexie) and pasted on an assigned wall. The group is then tasked to
cluster these according to likeness and to identify the ASHEN elements associated with each
KDP cluster e.g. when you make these type of decisions, what Artefacts, Skills, Heuristics,
Experience, Natural talent do you use. These elements are written onto different colored hexies,
pasted around the KDP clusters, and later clustered for likeness themselves.
The groups are then tasked to come up with specific actions based on the ASHEN outputs e.g.
How do we address skill/artefact gaps? How do we gain the necessary experience etc? These
actions are captured on action sheets and pasted on another dedicated wall.
3. Decision information flow map
This process stimulates the group to identify all the decisions that they make, or are aware that
other people make related to the field of study. These are produced by brainstorming,
challenges, reviews of narrative material etc, and once complete are clustered and grouped.
Once this is complete, for each decision point cluster three things are identified: (i) information
currently used; (ii) information that, if it was available, would improve the decision; (iii) how the
decision is communicated. Finally information inis matched to information outbetween the
various decision clusters.
The DIFM is produced bottom up and once complete provides the following:
The basic input needed for an improvement plan to create mechanisms for gathering and
making available the information needed
Contrasting the bottom up this is how it is map with the process map of the
organisation this is how it should be, the differences can often explain failure in, or
inefficient operations planning improved information flow to improve decision
effectiveness
4. Emergent cultural indicators
Participants are tasked to look for characters in the stories, to copy them onto hexies and paste
them on a dedicated wall. Others are similarly tasked to look for behaviours or beliefs and
others for topics. A different color hexie is used for each of these, and a specific wall is assigned
to each. Once enough items have been identified for each of the walls (characters, behaviors and
topics) participants are told to start clustering these according to likeness. Throughout this
process participants are continually disrupted, they are sent to join groups busy with other tasks
and send back volunteers etc. There is therefore no cohesion in the groups working on this task.
New participants check the clusters and change them where necessary. Once they are satisfied
with the clusters, they are asked a perspective question e.g. on the character wall wed ask: If
you were this character clusters best friend or worst enemy, how would you describe it i.t.o.
character traits. These are written down on hexagons with a contrasting colour and placed
around the cluster. Once theyve exhausted the attributes they can think of, participants are sent
25
back to their respective groups and once again asked to send fresh participants to these walls.
The attributes generated by the first group are marked (to indicate which cluster they were
assigned to), removed from the wall and scattered on another wall. Each new group of
participants repeated this process, until the facilitator feels that enough attributes have been
generated for each of the 3 walls.
The attributes are clustered and named, and these named clusters represent emergent Archetypes,
Themes and Values that represent the culture of the group that created them.
See Figure 1 for a graphical representation of the process
1
Distribute the hexies randomly on a brown

paper wall (1 wall each for characters, issues
& behaviors)
Cluster for likeness
Name the clusters
Place the attributes around
Remove attributes to another
Cluster the attributes for
the cluster
wall and distribute randomly
Using a ball point pen, mark
while repeating the process
Name the new clusters
the attributes, so they are
with other participants
These names represent
likeness
linked to the original cluster
emergent properties i.e.
(this is a tracking element
Archetypes, Themes and
used for later analysis)
Values
Figure 1
26
Figure 2 shows an example of an archetype. In this case what is particularly interesting is the
high correlation of this archetype to the client character cluster. This seems to indicate that
people in this environment expect their clients to act like this before even engaging with them,
and therefore treat them accordingly. This has high negative implications for customer service in
this organisation.
Made up by character:
Associated attributes:
Scientists (22.2%)
The Couch Referee is a

know-
Client (44.4%)
it-allwho believes things would
Achiever (11.1%)
have worked out if only they
Innovator (11.1%)
were listened to in the first

place.
They
Analysts (11.1%)
are
perceived
as
demanding,
insensitive
and
arrogant people with unrealistic

expectations.
The Couch Referee on the
other hand feels that no one
listens to them or values their
inputs enough.
Figure 2
5. Ritual dissent
The entire group is given one task, to be completed in table format, e.g. each table is told to
construct a story utilising anecdotes on the story wall. Each group is told to nominate a
spokesperson (with a robust personality who doesnt bear a grudge!). After a limited period of
time, the spokespersons rotate to another group to present their outputs. This group is instructed
to simply listen while the spokesperson presents, they are not allowed to ask questions or
comment. The spokespersons are then asked to turn their chairs around and sit with their backs
to the group. The groups are tasked to be as critical as possible about what was presented to
them, the spokesperson is only allowed to listen and take notes, they are not allowed to
comment, ask questions or defend. The spokespersons return to their groups and share the other
groups comments. Each group then has the opportunity to re-work their outputs before the
process is repeated.
27
This process of presenting and critiquing is called Ritual Dissent. It introduces dissent in a
ritualised and non-threatening fashion and is a good way to prevent the group from converging
on a solution (in this case a story) too quickly. It serves as a challenge and encourages
divergence and creative thinking. This method can be used very effectively during strategic
planning sessions as well as while designing business cases etc as it ensures robustness in the
produced output.
6. Future backwards
The future backwards is a group timeline based technique that breaks entrained thinking patterns
and provides insight into the current top-of-mind issues, aspirations and fears that are present
within a group.
Once again the groups work on walls (not tables). The first step is to brainstorm their current
reality around a specific topic e.g. in terms of knowledge sharing in your environment, what is
currently working well, what is not working well etc. These ideas are written onto hexies (one
color) and placed in one big cluster (Today) on the wall. Throughout the process it is important
to emphasize that it is not necessary for groups to gain consensus. Every group members view
is valid, and therefore should be captured and placed on the wall.
Once theyve completed the Today cluster, the groups are tasked to build a real timeline (using
different color hexies) made up of key events that they feel led to the current state. The key here
is that they have to work backwards, i.e. start with the most recent event and work backwards
into the past. Participants often find this difficult, but this is a necessary step as working
backwards starts breaking their entrained patterns of thinking.
After completing the timeline, theyre asked to build a second cluster below Today that
represents to them the worst scenario they can possible imagine (Doomsday or Hell). They use a
different colored hexie for this cluster. Once complete theyre tasked to come up with a fictional
timeline (once again working backwards) of made up of fictional events that caused Doomsday
to occur. This fictional timeline must intersect with the actual timeline at one of the real events
and can contain an accident (event no-one had any control over). Once complete, they group is
similarly tasked to create a Heaven or Golden Age cluster above Today, once again with a
fictional path back to the real timeline.
Once the groups have completed the exercise, they are given a short break. During this time, the
facilitators mark the outputs according to which group they belong to. The hexies are then
removed from the walls, combined and re-distributed to 4 different walls (today on one, the
actual timeline on another and one each for heaven and hell).
Participants are divided into 4 combined groups and tasked to cluster the hexies for likeness on
each of the walls. These clusters are named, and represent themes that were present in multiple
group outputs. Typically themes in today represent top of mind issues, themes in heaven
represent aspirations and themes in hell represent fears.
A final step would be to engage a cartoonist to sit with the various groups and create a visual
representation of what heaven, hell and today would look like, based on the emerged themes.
28
7. The Cynefin framework

The Cynefin framework is a sense-making framework with two ordered and two un-ordered
domains, all four of which are considered valid in context. There is also the domain of disorder
in the centre which is used where there is no agreement about the nature of the system or issue.
A system may have different aspects present in more than one domain.
Groups map their issues onto the Cynefin framework using hexies. This provides a basis for
agreed action and decision making. It ensures that the appropriate intervention strategy is chosen
for the particular issue or system under consideration.
Complicated
Complex
Cause and effect are only coherent in
and space complicated but
Pattern management\ Complex adaptive
discoverable
systems
Domain of the expert and methodology
Every time we think weve solved the
Scenario planning, systems thinking,
issue it returns in a different form

Infinite range of possible outcomes that
learning organisation
aren
t possible to predict up front
No cause and effect relationships
Issues are not transparent but become

clear through analysis resemble familiar
Cause and effect relations repeatable,
perceivable
perceivable and predictable

Stability-focused intervention action is
required
Crisis management
Issues are unexpected catch you
Legitimate best practice
Standard operating procedures ; process
Ordered Systems
Un-ordered systems
Cause and effect are separated over time
retrospect and do not repeat
re-engineering
Issues are familiar and obvious
completely off guard
No stable solution - outcome is never
Chaotic
Simple
1. Ordered domains:
Context free can learn from other organisations/situations and apply lessons directly
Most traditional management planning and analysis tools assume order and are
appropriate for these domains
(a)
Simple Order
In this domain, relationships between cause and effect are self evident, and therefore it is
possible to define best practice. Simple order may be a result of social convention or legislation
rather than some pre-given norm; for example which side of the road we drive on.
Decision making process: Sense Categorise Respond
29
Problem solving: identification of the rules, procedures, that needs to be changed.

Implementation through direct command from the centre; no variations are tolerated; domain of
best practice.
(b)
Complicated Order
While there are repeatable relationships between cause and effect for issues/systems in this
domain, they require analysis and research to uncover good practice. This is the domain of
systems dynamics, scenario planning and comprises the bulk of standard management
consultancy techniques and management science research.
Decision making process: Sense Analyse Respond
Problem solving: agree which group of experts will be tasked with determining the best
approaches. Domain of good practice usually more than one way of achieving desired
outcomes so as long as experts agree can become part of embedded practice. Some element of
judgement is needed.
2. Un-ordered domains
In these domains we are not able to manage the whole system - therefore we need to
intervene in the ordered elements of an unordered system (the things that people agree can
and should be changed)
Un-ordered domains are contextual options must emerge from a specific situation not
copied
Critical importance of social construction
(a) Complex Un-order

For issues and systems in this domain, the relationship between cause and effect is only ever
understood in retrospect, making this a domain of probes and pattern management. Narrative
techniques are powerful tools to use to make sense of the system, as they convey complex
knowledge in context. There are multiple outcomes or options that are possible and preferred
options emerge in response to probes and multiple experiments.
Decision making process: Probe Sense Respond (explore)
Problem solving: domain of emergent practice; contextually specific; design
probes/experiments to test what will make a difference; those that are successful are moved to
ordered domains and embed (exploit), those that arent are disrupted.
(b) Chaotic Un-order
The level of turbulence experienced in chaotic situations results from a lack of any perceivable
relationships between cause and effect except at a very micro level. With no precedent, and no
way of identifying patterns or opportunities for probes, the only available option is to act to
stabilise the situation and move the issue close to the boundary of another domain.
Decision Making Process: Act sense respond
Problem solving: domain of novel practice if crisis is managed effectively and an innovation
team shadowsthe crisis team to capture ideas. Action is the only way forward either attempt
30
order through edict (moving to simple domain) or immediately try multiple probes to shift to
complex domain.
Additional information on these and other components are available on the Cognitive Edge web
site (http://www.cognitive-edge.com)

What differentiates the outcomes of these workshops from other techniques is that in addition to
tangible outputs such as knowledge artefacts and decision information flow maps, cultural
indicators are also produced from pre-gathered narrative. Archetypes, themes and values are
extracted from gathered stories through an emergent process. Future Backwards has current topof-mind issues, aspirations, fears as output. These two techniques are excellent diagnostic tools,
and because of their emergent nature arent open to gaming. The Future Backwards also has as
an output actual timelines with key events and turning points that led to the current state and that
inform collective and individual decision making (corporate memory). Often we forget what we
know until context reminds us, and these timelines offer an excellent device for further
knowledge disclosure, as the events provide context for people to recollect and share their
knowledge.
During these events participants are tasked to define possible solutions for issues that were
identified during the workshops. In all cases the number of suggestions, as well as the quality
and level of practicality of these suggestions were much higher than those from more traditional
planning workshops. Due to the bottom-up and emergent nature of the process, participants have
a sense of ownership of the outcomes and buy-in is therefore more likely.
Another key benefit of the bottom-up narrative approach is the natural resonance it creates
within many different cultural groupings. In contexts where cultural diversity often inhibits
communication and knowledge flow, we found that narrative and story provided a translation
mechanism between western and indigenous cultures. The process is also non-threatening,
everyone has a voice, and the facilitator does not get involved in a leadershiprole.
Indirect questions and narrative disclosure proved to be remarkably effective at preventing
camouflage behavior amongst participants. Using anecdote circles to gather narrative material
proved to be a very effective mechanism for the extraction of knowledge, even items that would
be considered highly sensitive. The depth of knowledge gathered in a very short time span was
astounding.
The cultural indicators (archetypes, themes and values) that emerge from the process contain
within them a rich and powerful potential for organisational transformation. Work teams
throughout the organisation can, for instance, have follow-up workshops around these
metaphors. The power of making sense of ones reality in terms of metaphors, allows not only
for much deeper insight, but also for creative and imaginative visions of new futures that were
previously hidden to the group. Allowing this metaphoric re-envisioning process to unfold can
lead to results and decisions that the expert-consultant would never have been able to imagine.
31

1. South African Government Agency
This workshop was the culmination of a bigger project conducted in a government agency in
South Africa. The objective of the project was to understand experiential knowledge and how
knowledge sharing could be enabled between newer employees and experienced expertsin a
highly pressurised environment. Another objective was to investigate the feasibility and benefits
of using narrative as a vehicle for knowledge transfer. See figure 3.
The workshop ran over 2 days and what was especially significant was the level of engagement
of all the participants. Although we lost a couple of participants at the end of day 1, those that
remained all contributed 100%, unlike other traditional workshops where a small group of
people ends up doing the bulk of the work.
Prof. Snowden was the lead facilitator at this workshop, with Sonja Blignaut and Jean Cooper as
co-facilitators. Internal staff members were trained and assisted in the process when required.
Diagnosis / Discovery
Intervention
Anecdote
Design
Gather narrative
Emergence
Workshop
Generate emergent
QQE
Workshop
Intervention design
Question
Transcription & QA
Circles
Impact
Figure 3
Prior to the workshop, several anecdote circles were held with approximately 10 participants in
each. Participants were stimulated to share real experiences (their own, or someone elses) that
pertained to their jobs and specifically times when experiential knowledge (manifested as gut-feel)
were utilised.
The anecdotes collected in this fashion was transcribed (verbatim), printed out and pasted on one
wall of the workshop venue walls so that it was entirely covered with A4 anecdote sheets. What is
interesting to note is how much of an attraction the story wall was to the participants. Throughout
the 2 days, whenever they had spare time or during breaks, there were always people at the wall,
32
reading the stories and many conversations were happening around these stories. This in itself had
a tremendous impact on the workshop participants.
Workshop specifics:
The walls of the workshop facility were effectively used to display the stories, record, build, and
cluster various emergent properties during the multiple exercises. Figure 4 shows diagram of the
facility illustrates the outputs produced. At the end of the workshop, these combined work
displayed on the walls made a powerful impact that conveyed the value received far more
effectively than a documented report.
Figure 4
On the first day the participants were asked to (in their table groupings which were randomly
selected) come up with knowledge items they frequently use during their day to day activities.
All the participants found this to be a difficult exercise (this was intentional), and it brought
home one of the key rules of Knowledge Management it is very difficult to know what you
knowwithout proper context.
Prof. Snowden then introduced and explained the ASHEN Knowledge framework. Up to this
stage of the workshop, all the groups were focussed on the same tasks. After explaining
ASHEN, the group was split into 3 concurrent streams, groups were allowed to self-organise
around the activities they wished to work on:
33
Group 1 Knowledge disclosure points and ASHEN:

One group of participants was sent to the story wall to review the anecdotes and use them to
provide the needed context for knowledge disclosure. Participants were tasked to identify
Knowledge Disclosure Points (KDPs)
Later during the day, this group was split into 3 sub-groupings (one group looking at Artefacts
and Skills, another at Experience and Natural Talent, and the last one at Heuristics), adding more
ASHEN elements and clustering them for likeness. After clustering, they were asked to identify
specific actions that could enhance knowledge transfer in their environment, based on the
ASHEN clusters e.g. How can the agency go about acquiring new artefacts or better utilise
existing artefacts? Which training interventions and strategies can be put in place to ensure
people have the necessary skills to perform their job roles? What strategies can be put in place
to allow people to gain the necessary experience? How can the company better identify and
nurture natural talent? It was emphasized to the groups that these actions should have tangible
and measurable outcomes, and that they had to focus on actions that could reasonably be done
by them or their managers. The reason for this was to keep them from platitudes, they should
actions aimed at the executive, and to get them to think about things they could take
responsibility for and that could lead to positive change in the environment.
Group 2 Decision Information Flow Map (DIFM):

The second group started working on a Decision Information Flow Map (DIFM).
Producing the DIFM is an involved process that kept this group busy for most part of the 2 days.
The DIFM map was produced within the workshop, but the comparison with formal process was
left for post workshop processing.
Group 3 Emergent Cultural Indicators:

6 to 8 of the participants who initially joined either of the other two walls were asked to form this
3rd group after about 15 mins spent at the previous walls. We allow them to become engaged in
the other tasks, so that they feel that the initial task is the main task, and that they feel that is
more important. We do this to make sure that they dont over analyse and spend too much time
thinking about what they are doing while participating in this third task, as this is where the
emergent cultural indicators are produced.
The initial group of 8 participants continued with the task for a while, looking for characters,
topics and behaviours in the stories and starting the clustering. They were sent back to their
tables and asked to send back other group members. This new group continued with the task.
This process repeated until the process neared its end and Dave asked for volunteers (who hadnt
been involved in this task yet), who would form the final group of participants at these walls and
would continue to work with the cartoonist.
Towards the end of day 2 the group was tasked to look at all these outputs, record their
interpretations of the outcomes (what does it mean to them that these archetypes, themes and
34
values are present in the environment) and to select one or more stories that they feel are relevant
to their interpretation.
While the three groups were busy with their main activities (as described above) they were
interrupted at various times to participate in sub-activities such as constructing teaching stories
from the actual anecdotes, selecting stories on the wall they felt were most surprising, most
inspiring and most typical etc. (here the entire group participates in the same activity, in table
group format)
At the end of the workshop, the outputs included:
A complete Decision Information Flow Map
A knowledge map (ASHEN) and associated actions
Emergent cultural indicators (Archetypes, Themes and Values)
Constructed Stories
More than 100 practical actions and suggestions
Participant reaction
I think this process has given me a much broader view and understanding of what other
members challenges are within the organisation
By sharing experiences during this workshop, I've realised that sharing experiences with
colleagues at the workplace can be beneficial
This is an eye opener and very interesting workshop which teaches a person a lot of
knowledge
An excellent 2-day seminar with a very unique approach. One worth talking about and
not just another consultant trying to fix what is broken but rather we (employees) telling
what is broken and how to fix it
2. South African banking client

A division of a large financial institution was about to embark on a new strategic planning
process and wanted to understand the current perception of their employees. Multiple Future
Backwards processes were run, and the combined themes were drawn by a cartoonist. These
cartoons were widely used in the subsequent communications around the new strategy. Figure 5
shows an example of the cartoon that was created to describe the heaven state:
35
Figure 5
3. A state based education and training department in Australia

This department conducts an annual leadership forum. A recently appointed Chief Executive
wished to explore the current culture as they prepared for major change resulting from new
Government directions and initiatives.
What was done:
The Cognitive Edge data base Sensemakerwas used to capture stories from all staff in
the Department (see the Cognitive Edge website for further information)
Three Cognitive Edge facilitators were supported by 20 internal boundary riders, who
were introduced to the tools and processes the day before the Forum. This group assisted
in distributing resources, identifying process problems and other issues
The forum was held in a basketball stadium, involving around 300 people; the mezzanine
was used to distil meaning from the stories as well as providing a whole of systemview
for facilitators to monitor
The activities undertaken were

o Future Backwards a process that is an alternative to scenario planning. By
Initially undertaking this in stakeholder groups at a Big Picture level,
differences in perspective become visible
36
o Future backwards at a strategic issue level. Participants were invited to choose

which issue to work on and therefore work groups were self-selecting
o Mapping of the issues on the Cynefin Framework, providing the basis for
developing recommendations based on the decision rules that underpin the
framework
o Development of recommendations for action (some 70 recommendations in the
four domains of the framework were developed for 6 complex strategic issues)
o Ritual dissent was used to test the robustness of proposals by peers
o In parallel, distillation of values, themes and archetypes from the stories in
stakeholder groups
Outcomes:
In addition to the specific recommendations, other outcomes were
The capacity to examine different stakeholder perspectives
The transfer of capability all participants are able to use the tools and processes in their
own workplace (feedback has been received that some have done this)
For each of the stakeholder groups, an understanding was gained through the Future
backwards process of
o Corporate memory
o Aspirations
o Fears
Endorsement of the process by the minority indigenous representatives, in their own words
This is the first time we have felt able to participate equally in any department activity
An understanding of current critical cultural issues (from the stories that had been
collected)
37

Always make sure that the sponsor understands that the process is emergent, that neither you
nor they can control of influence the outcomes
If using the Cynefin framework, use the butterfly stampingexercise (see web site) so that
people become familiar with the framework before applying it to their own data
Have a number of back upactivities that can be introduced if necessary
If collecting stories to use, make sure that people telling the stories know how the material
will be used
When conducting an anecdote circle, try to find as informal a venue as possible avoid
conference rooms
Always make sure to mark hexies as to which wall and if applicable which cluster they
belong to before removing them
Take pictures of outputs before removing them off the walls
Try to avoid mixing levels of seniority in groups as less senior group members will often not
feel free to contribute
Diversity should be maximised, but always ensure that there is enough shared context
between group members dont put completely unrelated people in the same group
Dont tell participants what the process will entail in advance
Facilitators should never get involved in the content or give examples as this will put their
own perspective on the results and dilute the authentic voice of the people
Dont become anxious if the group seems confused. Trust the process.
Dont agree to predetermined outcomes no matter what a client might request or expect
Dont leave dysfunctional groups operating intervene by introducing additional activities
for those who have contributed the most so far (as determined by the groups themselves)
Do not edit published narrative material in any way, except to remove identifying names
38
Acknowledgements
Prof. Dave Snowden Founder, Cognitive Edge http://www.cognitive-edge.com for ongoing
mentoring and support
Jean Cooper, Dialogue, (jean@dialogueafrica.co.za) and Vivienne Read, Crosstech,
(vivread@crosstech.com.au) for their contributions to this article and their support throughout the
writing process.
Brueggemann, W (1989) Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation
Snowden, D (2000) The ASHEN Model: an enabler of Action; Part 1 of Basics of Organic
Knowledge Management, Knowledge Management (www.ark-interactive.com) April
2000 Vol 3 Issue 7
Snowden, D (2001) Archetypes as an instrument of narrative patterning, ARK: Knowledge
Management Story Special Edition November 2001
Author Biography
Sonja Blignaut is an experienced business consultant with many

years strategic consulting experience in large corporate
organisations. Around 3 years ago, she found her niche when
she was introduced to Dave Snowdens Cognitive Edge
methodology whilst employed by IBM Business Consulting
Services. She has since focused her career on the application of
complexity-based methods on seemingly intractable business
issues such as Culture change, Customer Experience and
Innovation. She has completed many successful projects, both
locally and international and has been appointed as the only
approved Cognitive Edge accreditation provider in South
Africa. She has delivered accreditation training courses to
(among others) the global Knowledge & Learning division of
IBM in Atlanta. Sonja is a director of Dialogue, a small
consulting firm in South Africa as well as the Centre for
Complexity Studies affiliated to the Potchefstroom Business
School, University of North West in South Africa.
39
Exploration Tours
Connecting Past,
Present & Future
Ron Dvir, Hank Kune,
Paolo Martinez and Arye Dvir
Keywords:
Exploration, Future Centers, Contactivity, Knowledge Tours
Exploration Tours
Connecting Past, Present & Future
Ron Dvir, Innovation Ecology, (ron@innovationecology.com)
Hank Kune, Educore, (educore@euronet.nl)
Paolo Martinez, Firenze Tecnologia, (paolo.martinez@tin.it)
Artwork by landscape architect Arye Dvir (tsard@netvision.net.il)

How can a group of people explore an important question, address a complicated challenge, or
learn about an emerging domain together?
This chapter offers the Exploration Tour as an exciting, fun and yet purposeful alternative to the
ordinary methods of conferences or short courses. It is a vehicle to explore the past, present and
future of the concepts people
work with.
The Exploration Tour can take
many forms and may vary in
length, scope, pace and format.
We
describe
here
our
experiences with three-day
tours, involving some 50-60
participants exploring four or
five
destinations,
and
addressing one or two "big
questions". Two cases are
presented: a tour in the
Netherlands that explored five
Dutch Future Centers, and a
tour in Tuscany that asked:
"what can we learn from the
innovation secrets of Leonardo
da Vinci"?
Artistic impressions from the Leonardo Exploration Tour (spring 2006).
Preparing a tour is a long and complex process, which addresses many issues: creating the tour
"story", planning the path, working with local stakeholders, planning the exploration activities,
dealing with the logistics, preparing the explorer kits, building a fascinating group of explorers,
and much more.
Our experience is that this pre-tour process just as much as the tour itself - becomes a most
satisfactory adventure, which results in effective learning, strong community, surprising
perspectives, new friendships, and tangible outcomes.
Viva explorers.
Keywords: exploration, future centers, contactivity, knowledge tours
43

Bring 50 or 60 inspiring people from all over the world together many of whom have never
met before and ask them to exchange ideas and experiences about how to create added value in
their work. Whats the best way to organize the work processes in order to get maximum benefit
of the collective intelligence of the people attending? You can organize a conference, with
keynote speakers, research papers and presentations, and a social programme in the evening.
This approach may work well in some contexts; but when the people you invite are themselves
innovators, creative people involved in developing and running innovation labs, creativity spaces
and future centres, you can choose an approach more suited to the passion of the people
participating and the nature of their work. You can create a future center experience a series of
dynamic, inspiring and surprising future spaces designed to bring out the creativity and
playfulness of the participants. You can set people in motion, figuratively and literally, moving
them around amongst ideas and idea-enabling workspaces, creating environments to enhance
idea generation, learning and knowledge sharing. You can create an exploration tour to explore
the past, present and future of the concepts people work with, and in this way create
collaborative workspaces for knowledge co-creating and sharing.
Future Centres: an international development
The idea of a future center, which had one of its first practical realizations at Skandia
(Sweden) in the 1990s, has since spread to a number of different countries. Both in the public
and private sector there are many initiatives that have been inspired by future center concepts;
they operate under names such as future centers, innovation labs, mindlabs, academies, and
solution spaces. Many practitioners working with these concepts know only a few of their
colleagues and, because the various centres operate under a large variety of names, people often
dont realize that others working with similar concepts under different names are actually direct
colleagues with whom they can actively exchange knowledge and experience.
The Future Center Exploration Tours have been organized so that a broad cross-section of
practitioners can meet each other, physically experience a number of future spaces, explore
mutually interesting concepts and provide a basis for learning together in the future.
What are the main goals this method can achieve?
Exploration tours are activities designed to achieve a wide range of objectives. These include:
Inspiration. Exploring new ideas from a broad range of initiatives and new directions for
thinking about and acting on future center concepts now and in the future.
Learning. How others translate future center concepts into actual projects: what works, what
does not work, and why?
Social innovation. How can these centres and their underlying concepts contribute to social
innovation?
Networking: What is the basis for personal and organizational cooperation, consortium
forming and community in the future?
Leveraging. What is the leveraging potential for helping to launch new centres?
How many people can participate?
The method is suitable to groups of up to 60 people. A group of up to 60 people can meet and
interact with each other in the course of three days, creating the spirit of community which is
important to the Exploration Tour method. It is also possible for a group of this size to travel
together in one or two touring cars, which enhances the interaction while on the road.
Of course, the number of participants for a tour depends on the possibilities of the places to be
visited, and the number of people they can accommodate.
44
Here we present a systematic process for preparing an Exploration Tour. Please be aware: in
reality the proess is more chaotic, less linear and full of surprises. We started the preparation
process 6-8 months before the event. In your case it might require a shorter or longer lead time.
Kick-off
Check options and agree on a location and (preferably local) organizer. Agree tentative
dates.
Establish a steering team. Typically 3-4 people, committed to invest lots of time, talent,
contacts and imagination in the tour. Trust, as well as complimentary skills, is critical.
Planning
Build the "story" what is the focus of the tour? What is the narrative? What kind of
places we would like to visit?
Communicate with local stakeholders who might hosts parts of the tour leaders of
organisations, city officials, managers of interesting sites, etc. Whats in it for them?
Create the tour path rough timing and routing to the various sites. Plan the optimal size
of the explorer group, based on physical and other constraints.
A pre-tour will help in the fine tuning of the planning, identifying how unique features of
each location can be used, and building relationships with the local stakeholders.
Make a detailed plan, hour by hour. Specify logistical issues e.g. transport,
responsibilities (who facilitate which session) etc. Make the plan diverse and exciting.
Include surprises.
Plan the tour budget. Calculate costs, and plan revenues of cover them think about fees
for participants as well as fundraising (usually for covering specific costs e.g. hosting a
specific dinner) with local stakeholders. Plan the logistics (hint: this is a time consuming
task).
45
Participants:
Invite potential participants based on members of the targeted community, personal

contacts etc. Send an attractive invitation, and follow up with telephone calls when needed.
Interact with the participants send an initial event plan, ask for their ideas, seek issues
they want to focus on, identify workshops they propose to run during the tour.
Invite participants to send some information about themselves send them a profile
template 6 weeks before the tour. Invite them to send relevant material papers &
presentations.
Package the participant profiles, papers, the tour programme, and information about the
locations in the form of a guidebook (we use both hardcopy, CD and tour website media).
Initial route planning
46
Guidebook (CD version)
Pre-tour

The following chart shows the building blocks of a good Exploration Tour. The two case studies
will provide you with concrete examples of how to create and use each of them. The best advice
we can give you is: look at this list, but then create your own depending on the opportunities
and constraints of your own tour, the special features of the participants, location, routing,
community, and of course your imagination.
The Story
Plan the tour around a
compelling and
important question
and/or challenge. Create
a story-board which
connects the question,
path, specific locations,
activities and
participants.
The Organizers
The People
Up to 60 participants.
Diversity background,
expertise, 3 generations,
multiple disciplines.
All with passion for the tour
subject.
A tour leader.
Small planning
team.
Involve local
stakeholders.
The Documentation
The Route
The Exploration
Activities
Interactive, engaging all
participants.
Diverse set of learning
and exploration
workshops (see
Leonardo case: poolshop, walk-shop, caveshop).
Fascinating destinations
which highlight different
aspects of the tour subject.
Typically 1-2 destinations per
day.
Have one base camp (hotel) if
geographically possible.
The bus time is a good
opportunity for informal
interaction.
Use all or some of

the following
channels:
Video, film
Photo (+web album)
Illustrations (+web
illustrated tour
diary)
Report by a writer,
journalist
The Social Activities

Good meals, long dinners, good
things to drink
The Explorer Kit

Small backpack.
Music, dancing
Notebook, pen, post-its,

hat, exploration guide
book, etc.
The Back-office
Deals with logistics
(accommodation,
transportation, finance)
special needs,
unexpected problems
And some free time (for

shopping, individual exploration)
The Exploration
Guidebook
The Organizers Kit
Tour map, program,

participant profiles and
photos, information
about the destinations,
relevant papers by
participants, etc.
Lots of workshop
materials white and
brown papers, flipcharts, markers, postits, masking tape.
Megaphone.
Charm, charisma and

leadership.
47

Each Exploration Tour is unique. Here we suggest a generic three-day agenda which shows some
of the typical elements of an Exploration Tour.
Day AM
1
PM
Participants arrive at the base camp. Spontaneous encounters.

Registration. Providing the explorer kit.
Official opening by the tour leader (+ logistical notes, "rules of the game", brief agenda).
Meet at the base camp (hotel) and travel to the 1st destination (or meet directly at the 1st
destination).
Initial round for "getting to know each other".
Explore tour theme through workshops and other interactive learning activities.
Even Long dinner, music, dancing etc.

ing
Back to the base camp.
Day AM
2
PM
Travel to the 2nd destination. Consider running a bus-shop (workshop at the bus).
Explore tour theme through workshops and other interactive learning activities
Travel to the 3rd destination.
Two free hours shopping, leisure, individual exploration, etc.
Even Long dinner, music, dancing etc.

ing
Back to the base camp
Day AM
3
Travel to the 4th destination.

Run a concluding session: identify follow-ups and feedback
PM
End of official programme.

Interested participants are invited to explore the places individually, at their own pace.
At the tour destinations, many exploration, interaction and active learning methods can be used,
and many of them or described in this book. For example, we used the following methods:
Knowledge Caf's, Open Space workshops, sessions for the co-creation of future images, garden
walks, computer-aided brainstorming workshops, and more.
The objective is always the same: to enable opportunities for deep reflection, exposure to new
perspectives, and for conducting meaningful - and sometimes also purposeful - conversations.
Variations:
Your own tour will probably be completely different you may choose for a one-day tour or
perhaps a two week tour, focus on only two locations or possibly on four places a day. Also, you
may consider splitting the group into smaller subgroups that will visit different destinations,
meeting each afternoon to share insights and learning.
48
Contactivity Constellations
The explorers can use diverse interactive constellations, exploring some issues and sites
individually, in pairs, in small groups or collectively as a whole. We recommend mixing
conversation and exploration modes in order to maximize the experience and the learning, and to
create deeper relationships and better collaboration amongst the exploration tour participants.
The following figure shows the constellations used in the two cases described later in this
chapter.
Site A
Welcome + introduction to the tour
Pair conversations - getting to know each other
Site B
Parallel exploration paths

e.g. Cave-shop e.g. Walk-shop e.g. Pool-shop
Wrapping up insights from the paths
Sharing the insights
Full group discussion
Site C
Individual exploration
Knowledge Cafe
Sharing discoveries + local expert speakers
Legend
Full group activity
Site D
Group exploration of the site
Small group discussions
Individual exploration
Pair activities
Large group workshops
Open Space discuss future collaboration
Concluding session action plan and farewell
Small group workshops
49

A good Exploration Tour is a springboard for multiple follow-ups, some which are concrete and
some less tangible. Expect surprises probably in your Exploration Tours new types of
outcomes will emerge as a result of the unique combination of participants, social constellations
and experiences during the tour . Here we list some of the results that emerged from our tours:
v
Contactivity: New contacts, friendships, business relationships and

even partnerships were established.
Inspiration: Participants reported that they went back to their

normal life and work "charged with energy", "fresh ideas" and "new
perspectives".
Local Impact: the local stakeholders e.g. the hosts at the various
tour destinations were given some good ideas and concrete
suggestions by the participants. It is good practice to package those
ideas in a form of report.
Next Tour: Each tour resulted in initial ideas and/or concrete steps
towards the next one.
Community: Initial steps to create a community of practice for the

participants and additional players were taken. An internal online
collaborative working environment was created after the second
Summit to facilitate on-going contactivity. 1
Result: illustrated
diary of the Tuscany
Exploration Tour
(presented in
flickr.com).
Result: the
OpenFutures EC
project initiated on
the Dutch tour
(open-futures.net)
Business, Academic or Social Initiatives: ideas for concrete

projects to be carried out by the group were discussed and kicked-off.
Documentation: an electronic photo album (we used www.flickr.com) and illustrated

tour report were created and used to prolong the enjoyment, re-experience the tour, and
share part of the experience with other people.
Lessons Learned: the tour organizers accumulated a long list of lessons learned and
transferred them to the organizers of the next event.
Follow up process
The final session, typically about two hours, should be dedicated to looking back and looking
forward. Different forms of conversation can be used. For example, in one of the tours we used a
Open Space workshop format. In another tour we used a computerised brainstorming system
(Zing). The following questions can be asked: What was good and not so good about the tour?
How would you make the next event more exiting and more relevant? Where could we have the
next tour? Who would like to host it and who can help organize it? What joint initiatives can the
group undertake (and what are the concrete next steps)?
Follow-up process:
Explorers at an
Open Space session
about the created a
community, at the
end of the 5 Dutch
Future Centers tour
Follow up process:
Explorers
at
an
electronic
Brainstorming
session , at the end
of the Leonardo
Exploration tour.
For more information on the collaborative Future Center Community space: contact paolo.martinez@tin.it.
50
The Dutch Case: An Exploration Tour of Five Dutch Future Centers

Context
The first international Future Center Summit, in the form of an Exploration Tour, was held in
The Netherlands on 19-21 May 2005. The tour lasted three days and included visits to five Dutch
Future Centers for the public sector, situated in different parts of the country. The event was
attended by 54 Participants from 12 countries on four continents.
This Summit & Exploration Tour was organized so that a broad cross-section of practitioners can
meet each other, physically experience a number of centres, explore mutually interesting
concepts and provide a basis for learning and possible collaboration in the future. It was an
opportunity to meet and work with people from all over the world who are actively putting
Future Center concepts into practice, as well as with people in the process of creating new
concepts and methodologies for future centers, innovation workspaces, and labs for social
innovation.
What was the programme
The five Dutch centres provided a unique setting for bringing people and ideas together, and for
active reflection on both the practical application of these concepts and on the future of future
centers. During on-site visits there were keynotes, knowledge cafs, demonstrations, dialogue,
experiential parks, and virtual visits to a broad range of international initiatives.
The programme was very full and people were kept busy from early morning to well into the
evening each day. Every morning the group was brought by bus to one the centres. In the
afternoon the bus brought the group to another centre. The activities at each of the Future
Centers were different, organized around the themes relevant to the participants and according to
methods and techniques characteristic of how the centres work. These activities included
sandwich-board meeting spaces, creative walks in gardens, human power pointsessions,
electronic brainstorming, and dance demonstrations. The atmosphere was informal, inviting and
inspiring; with ample time for meeting people, opportunities for sharing experience, co-creating
new ideas, and having fun. In the words of Leif Edvinsson, the exploration tours was a joyzonein which participants could think together about the state-of-the-art and the future of
future centers.
Follow-up
Developing a wider network of practitioners was one of the aims of the session. And this is what
happened. People left the Summit & Tour with a network of like-minded practitioners with
whom they could share experiences and help each other to improve working practice in the
months which followed.
In addition to the broader network which was created, the Exploration Tour created the basis for
developing a European Commission project around Future Centres. A group meeting on the last
day of the Summit created the first contours of a plan, which was later developed by a
consortium of 12 partners into the OpenFutures project. This project was submitted to the
European Commission, which accepted it in early 2006. OpenFutures officially began in May
2006 and will run for two years (www.open-futures.net).
51
Exploration tour steering team: Hank Kune, Ron Dvir, Leif Edvinsson, Edna Pasher.
The tour photographic report
Day 1, AM: SZW

Welcome by the tour leader
Day 1, AM: SZW

e-Brainstroming
Day 1, PM: the Country House

Conversation
Day 1, PM: the Country house

The Sandwich workshop
Day 1, PM: the Country house

The Sandwich workshop
Day 2, AM: the Shipyard

The group welcome
Day 2, PM: The Shipyard

The explorers
Day 2: Castle Groeneveld:

Workshop at the garden
Day 2: Castle Groeneveld

Instead of powerpoint
Day 3, AM: Mobilion

The illustrations gallery
Day 3, AM: Mobilion

Concluding workshop
Day 3, AM: Mobilion

Human PowerPoint
Day 3, AM: Mobilion

Exploring
Day 1-3: Dutch Roads

The Exploration bus
Day 1-3: Dutch Landscapes
52
The Italian Case: Leonardo Future Center Exploration Tour

At the final session of the Dutch Future Centers exploration tour, in spring 2005, Paolo Martinez
from Firenze Tecnologia offered to host in Tuscany the next Summit of the emerging Future
Center community. 12 months later, on 17 June 2006 12:00 AM, a group of 55 people started out
on their own three-day journey.
The preparation process is roughly described in the planning checklist section presented earlier
in this paper. We would like to focus here on few aspects of the preparation phase.
Perhaps the most important step was the creation of the tour narrative. It emerged gradually to
include two interwoven issues:
1. What can we learn from Leonardo and his time? Which methods and approaches we can
adopt to modern innovation system?
2. How can we apply the concept of Future Center anytime, any place? Are there not less
expensive, more temporary and dynamic alternatives to the fixed location future centers
which were visited in the Dutch Exploration Tour a year ago?
In the background there was a third question how can we use Future Center methods to help
citizens and local leader to renew their regions, cities and towns?
The second interesting aspect was the planning of the exploration route. We chose locations that
provided an interesting opportunity to explore the above questions, while at the same time acting
as excellent settings for good personal and group experiences. At each location we planned
sessions which made the best use of the unique characteristics of the place. The final list
included four locations:
v
Montecatini (an aging tourism town) and the spa resort of Grotta Giusti (Monsummano
Terme) where we used three exploration methods a Walk-shop, Pool-shop and Cave-shop
(see illustrations below).
Piaggio Museum in the factory at Pontedera we looked at innovation past and present in
the museum, and used the Knowledge Caf method to bring our ideas together.
Vinci the town of Leonardo. Here we drew inspiration from the Leonardo da Vinci
museums, organized a "drawing the future" workshop with local children in the town
kindergarten, and developed innovative prototypes at the Leonardo da Vinci library.
Villa Celle open-air Gori Collection here we explored serious issues through a tour of
the gardens, exploring art, landscape, sculpture and installations with a magician who told
us the stories about the place and the art there. The tour was concluded with an electronicbrainstorming session, followed by an Open Space workshop to reflect on the tour, discuss
possible follow-up and create action plans.
A third interesting aspect was the interaction with local stakeholders. The tour organizer
communicated extensively with the hosts of the tour at the various sites to ensure that both
explorers and hosts benefited from the tour. The interaction took place at many moments during
the long preparation period before the event, including the pre-tour which the organizing team
took about six weeks before the actual event, and during the tour itself. For example, at a pretour workshop with city officials in Vinci, we explored ideas about how Leonardo would renew
the town if he were active today. Similar discussion took place with officials and interested
people in Montecatini, and in the harbour city of Livorno.
One of the outcomes was that an American participant discovered the concept of Future Centers
and now applies it in America. The group also initiated several steps to strengthen the sense of
community initial talks about the next summit, the planning of a community website, a
nomadic art exhibition between centres. The tour itself was documented in a photo album and an
53
illustrated diary (see: References section). As one of the lessons learned, we understood that the
next Exploration Tour should visit fewer locations and offer more time for in-depth discussion.
Exploration tour steering team: Paolo Martinez, Ron Dvir, Hank Kune, Leif Edvinsson
Illustrated report: Human moments and special methods.
Pool-shop
Terme
at
Montecatini
Cave-shop
Terme
at
Montecatini
Reporting about the walk-shop

at Montecatini Terme
Knowledge Caf at the Piaggio

factory
Virtual exploration of 14
Future Centers (the Work in
progress film)
"Drawing future Images" in a

workshop with Vinci children
Prototyping workshop at Vinci

Library
Exploring some of Leonardosl

inventions
Art workshop at the Villa Celle

open air museum
Concluding workshop at the

Villa Celle presenting ideas
for follow-ups
The future bus improvisation

on the Exploration Tour bus
The tour leader: "It is difficult

to herd creative people" (PM)
Source: the Illustrated diary, Ron & Arye Dvir see References lists.
54

Identify a motivated and capable local organiser able to engage local actors, resources, and
logistic/organisational support.
Make sure there is one clear leader for the tour and that he or she can provide both a
welcoming atmosphere and a sense of direction.
Engage the internal team that will take care of organisational and logistic support at least
three months before the event. Make sure that all budgetary requirements are covered
through sponsorship and/or by the participant fees.
Involve local stakeholders, and add some local touch and context to the tour.
Organise a pre-tour which includes some seminars or knowledge cafs. This will prepare the
ground, inform and involve local stakeholders, by making them aware of the activities and
aims of the event.
Make good use of the tour time, but also ensure that the schedule has enough space to
accommodate surprises, and provides enough time for contemplation, relaxation, and
socializing.
If the tour is successful, organize a series of subsequent similar events, perhaps on an annual
basis. Make sure that there is a sense of continuity but also enough fresh thinking. A balance
of 50% newcomers and 50% repeaters has worked for us.
If you go for a series of tours, keep renewing the methods, style, focus, and issues.
Create a balance between three elements: social experience, tourist experience and content
creation, through the mix of fast activities, deep conversation, and various interactive
methods.
Create a sense of group with a special hat, a backpack, a special notebook, pen or other
object.
On the last day, conduct a conversation about "next steps" and "action items" for the group;
talking clearly about responsibility (who does what and when) is important.
Engage the organisers of the previous tour to learn from their experience, and provide
support in the organisation of the next event.
Participating in the tour is an emotional experience. People who meet on the tour often want to
remain in touch and co-create new futures together. Take steps to facilitate the community that
develops, providing tools like a website or other shared spaces for exchanging contacts and
ideas, and providing feedback after the tour.
Dont make the plan too ambitious leave enough time for relaxed interaction and reflection.
Always understand that you will take a lot more time than you could ever imagine in the
organisation and running of the event.
Dont be stingy when it comes to eating and drinking. The atmosphere that you create will be
fed by nurturing all the senses, and of course good food and drink is an excellent way to do
so.
55
Acknowledgements
The two exploration tours which are describe in this paper were highly collaborative events
involving many people and organisations. We must thank the following individuals and
institutions:
Leif Edvinsson, future center pioneer, member of the organizing team of both Future Center
Summits, and an inspiration to people all over the world who organize and take part in
knowledge exploration tours.
The Dutch Future Center Exploration Tour, May 2005:
The management and personnel of the five Dutch Future Centers: The Country House, The
Academy SZW, Mobilion, Castle Groeneveld, and The Shipyard.
Leonardo Exploration Tour, June 2006: the European Commission, Interreg IIIC Project
RKMnet and Innodec and the EC IST project OpenFutures, Gori Collection, Terme di
Montecatini, Terme di Grotta Giusti, Fondazione Piaggio, Comune di Vinci, The Chambers of
Commerce of Florence, Pistoia and Prato, Pratofutura, Proloco di Vinci, Valter Bartolini,
Gaetano Cascini, Romano Nanni, Italo Mariotti, Antonio Mariotti, Claudio Pucciani
A special mention should be made of the Firenze Tecnologia team that, like future angels,
managed to support all the complex organisational and logistical activities: Lucilla Cinelli, Elisa
Tachis, Francesca Romanelli, Rossella Cortesi, Alessandra Modi. A special thanks for the
visionary suggestions of its Managing Director, Giovanni Nebiolo.
Finally, we thank the participants of the two tours they took the risk, came from four
continents to experience, enjoy, discover new perspectives, co-create new initiatives and
contribute in so many ways. Keep exploring.
Dvir, R., Shwartzberg, Y., Avni , H., Webb, C., Lettice F. (2006), The Future Center as an Urban
Innovation Engine, Knowledge Cities special edition of Journal of Knowledge Management,
Vol 10 Number 5, November 2006
Dvir, A. and Dvir R. (2006), The Leonardo Future Center Exploration Tour an Illustrated
Diary, at http://www.innovationecology.com/ (Virtual tours section).
Dvir, R. and Kune, H (2005). (Eds.), Guide to the Dutch future Center Exploration Tour, at:
http://www.xpin.nl/materiaal/fc/index.htm
Dvir, R., Martinez, P, M and Kune, H (2006) (Eds.), Guide to the Leonardo Future Center
Exploration Tour, http://www.innovationeoclogy.com/leonardo.htm
Kune, H. (2005). Future Cenrters: Ruimte voor Innovatie. XPIN, The Netherlands (English title:
Future Centers: Space for Innovation)
Kune, H.(2002). Future Centers, een verkenning naar mogelijkheden voor de overheid. XPIN,
The Netherlands (English title: Future Centers: Exploration of Possibilities for
Government)
Martinez, P. and Modi, A. I Future Center. Gli ambienti di collaborazione partecipativa. In
Paola Capitani (ed.) (2006) Scuola domani. Franco Angeli, Milano. Italia
56
Author Biographies
Ron Dvir is the Founder and CEO of Innovation Ecology. He is planner and
integrator of innovation systems in general, and of innovation engines and
Future Centers in particular. Ron has an engineering degree, a M.Sc. in
Computer Integrated Manufacturing, and a Ph.D. in Intellectual Capital
Management.
Before founding Innovation Ecology, Ron was Chief
Knowledge Officer in a large high-tech organization, and developer of quality
infrastructures. He is a developer and implementer of innovation concepts,
methods and tools. He likes to embed artwork in business and research work,
and to plan new forms of events and contactivity channels. Ron is a member
of the planning team of the Future Center Exploration Tours.
Hank Kune is director of Educore, a consultancy specialized in advising
government organisations on user-centred innovation processes. Hank studied
Educational Technology at the University of Wales, and has put this systemic
perspective on personal and organizational change to use in a great variety of
projects in the past 35 years. His expertise lies in developing and guiding
hands-on processes of participative policy-making and implementation, in
organizing processes of organizational learning, and in furthering the future
orientation of government and its stakeholders. He works extensively with
various governmental organizations. His work has played a central role in
introducing the concept of future centers in the Netherlands, and in furthering
the practical application of this concept in Europe.
Paolo Mario Remo MARTINEZ, born in Brazil, from Italy, as social
scientist (sociologist and geographer) he is the head researcher of Interactive
Innovation and collaborative methodologies at Firenze Tecnologia, the
innovation agency of Florence's Chamber of Commerce. With 20 years of
experience he is currently working for public and private organisations to
create environments favourable to innovation through interaction and
creativity, and by involving stakeholders and end users in awareness, fastprototyping and decision making processes. He is the coordinator of the IST
OpenFutures proejct, and leader and co-organiser of the second International
Da Vinci Future Center Summit in June 2006. Author of numerous articles on
interactive innovation, networking and competence based innovation.
Arye Dvirs nickname, as a child, was Picasso. Arye studied Landscape
Architecture and Environmental Planning at the University of California,
Berkeley and the University of Pennsylvania. For many years he was the
Chief Architect of the National Parks Authority of Israel, responsible for the
planning of some major world- known national parks, such as Massada, Old
Jerusalem Walls National Park, Mount Carmel, and the Roman old town of
Caesary. In whatever he is involved with, Arye applies his artistic talent to
communicate ideas by means of friendly and cheerful illustrations. In the
recent years he has been collaborating with his son Ron, in multiple
knowledge visualization projects.
57
Appraisal Interviews
as a Tool for
Organizational
Knowledge Sharing
Marinita Schumacher, Corinna Flck
and Mounib Mekhilef
Keywords:
Performance Appraisal, Knowledge Sharing, Organisational
Learning, Organisational Development, Human Resource
Management
Appraisal Interviews as a Tool for

Organizational Knowledge Sharing
Marinita Schumacher, Ecole Centrale Paris (marinita.schumacher@ecp.fr)
Corinna Flck, Ecole Centrale Paris (corinna.floeck@ecp.fr)
Mounib Mekhilef, Ecole Centrale Paris (mounib.mekhilef@ecp.fr)

Appraisal Interviews stand mainly for management by objectives, wherein objectives are set,
plans determined, performance reviewed and rewards are given. They focus on the work results
of a certain period of time and help both, superiors and subordinates, to clearly identify and
define responsibilities and aims. For subordinates, appraisals include the chance to measure their
own skills and performance and to document accomplishments and identify areas for
improvement. As a superior, it gives an insight into the subordinates view of his own strengths
and weaknesses and helps to gauge his understanding of expectations and standards. In this way
it reminds of forgotten accomplishments and helps to develop ways to overcome obstacles and
barriers.
This chapter gives an overview of the utilisation of Appraisal Interviews and demonstrates why
they are an important tool for organisational knowledge sharing. Above all it provides practical
guidelines to help implementing and using the instrument in organisations.
Keywords: performance appraisal, knowledge sharing, organisational learning, organisational
development, human resource management

Mainly developed in the USA the history of performance appraisal roots can be traced to
Taylor's pioneering time and motion studies (Steinmann, H./ Schreygg, G., 2005). Nowadays
Appraisal Interviews as a tool for performance appraisals are strongly embedded in the
organisational strategy and organisational philosophy of numerous large enterprises as well as in
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and in research institutes.
Appraisal Interviews are often meant to analyse a past working period based on milestones that
have been set to identify progresses and developments as well as deficits of the employee. Based
on these results future goals and milestones are set together on mutual agreement.
The overall aim of the instrument is to realise potential and increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of the organisation. Although Appraisal Interviews can be defined as a periodical
measurement of the employees progress towards the objectives of the organisation the focus lies
on the organisation itself. Therefore Appraisal Interviews can be described as an important tool
to support organisational learning, knowledge management implementation and knowledge
sharing.
61
Appraisal Interviews as a Tool for Organizational Knowledge Sharing
More specifically, the purpose of the organisation is to identify organisational or operational

changes which are meant to enable individuals to maintain and thereby improve their
performance and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisations management.
Individuals and organisations stand in a sequential reciprocal interaction and learn from each
other by an active exchange of their knowledge (Hagehlsmann, H./ Hagehlsmann, U., 1998, p.
268. This process of the interdependency is called organisational learning and leads to an
enhancement of the knowledge basis of the individual and the organisation (Probst, G.J.B. et al.,
2000 p. 46). While the process of learning produces new knowledge, knowledge impacts future
learning. The fundamental challenge of a learning organisation is the linkage of individual
learning with the learning process of the organisation. To establish the change organisations have
to invest in shared thoughts and actions. Appraisals must therefore address the development of
the whole person and the whole organisationand not only some of their skills that are
required for a next working period. By translating organisational goals into individual objectives
Appraisal Interviews should thus not only focus on job performance and job skills training but
should always be embedded in the context of supporting the individual and the organisation to
grow and attain fulfilment.
According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997) the creation of knowledge within organisations is the
result of a continuous cycle of dynamic interactions between tacit and explicit knowledge. By
diagnosing and articulating individual and organisational problems tacit knowledge which is
according to Polanyi (1974) unarticulated, intuitive and non-verbalized is converted into explicit
verbalised knowledge and becomes collective knowledge.
Nonaka and Takeuchi defined four processes called Externalisation, Internalisation,
Combination, and Socialisation which are mutually complementary and interdependent.
Figure 1 Knowledge spiral (based on Nonaka, I./ Takeuchi, H., 1995)

Organisational knowledge is converted from explicit to tacit, from individual to collective and
back again through these four processes which are briefly explained in the following.
62
Socialisation (tacit to tacit)

Socialisation includes the shared information and communication of tacit knowledge between
individuals. Knowledge sharing in the socialisation process takes place without producing
explicit knowledge through face-to-face communication or shared experience.
Externalisation (tacit to explicit)
Through conceptualisation and ultimate articulation, typically in collaboration, some proportion
of the individuals tacit knowledge is captured in explicit form.
Combination: (explicit to explicit)
Explicit knowledge can be shared in meetings, via documents, e-mails, etc., or through education
and training. Usually this is well established in organisations.
Internalisation (explicit to tacit)
In order to react on information, individuals have to understand and internalise it, which involves
creating own tacit knowledge. Closely linked to learning by doing, the explicit knowledge
becomes part of the individual's knowledge base and becomes an asset for the organization
(Nonaka, I./ Takeuchi, H., 1995, p.70).
In our context, Externalisation and Internalisation processes can be understood as aspects of
organisational learning
It is important that all members of an organisation are willing to share their knowledge in order
to foster the organisational learning process. Beside this, they are supposed to know how they
should perform, which states the need for superiors to inform subordinates about their
performance. In this context, it is necessary that subordinate and superiors share responsibilities
in order to build the knowledge basis. Some superiors avoid this crucial task, while others
experience anxiety and discomfort doing it. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi the interchange
of knowledge and learning processes takes place at four different ontological levels: the
individual, the group, the organisational and the inter-organisational level. This points out that it
is rather necessary to create a structural and cultural frame of the organisation which encourages
the individual, the group and the organisation as a whole, to learn from each other by sharing
their knowledge (Schwarz, G./ Beck, R., 1997, p. 123).
Although, collective knowledge is more than the sum of the individuals knowledge,
organisational learning is not only the process of sharing knowledge. Knowledge sharing has to
be conceptually interlocked to initiate organisational learning (Thiel, M., 2002, p.104).
Appraisal Interviews offer these conceptual frames of knowledge sharing and thus support the
process of organisational learning. They can be seen as an instrument for the realisation of the
learning organisationwhich offers specific starting points to integrate individuals, groups and
organisations into learning processes to create an organisational knowledge basis.
In order to achieve these aims it is important that Appraisal Interviews take place in a positive
and supportive spirit which recognises good practice and acknowledges contributions that
individual employees have made in the course of their work. Appraisals Interviews should be a
positive experience. The appraisal process provides a platform for development and motivation.
Organisations should thus foster a feeling that they constitute a positive opportunity to get the
best out of their staff and the processes (Lamberti, M.-A./ Sommerfeld, V., 2003, p.100). Once
Appraisal Interviews are an established part of the organisational structure, they support the
implementation of continuous and open communication and foster the process of knowledge
sharing.
63
As a matter of fact, Appraisal Interviews cover a wide range of knowledge management

processes which go beyond the process of knowledge sharing. As they aim at clearly defining
roles and responsibilities within the organisation, and make them transparent for colleagues, they
can support the members of the company or unit to identify experts. They also allow identifying
synergies between employees within the same unit and across the company which is an
important basis for the establishment of communities of practice and for knowledge exchange.
According to Grote and Grote (1996) can Appraisal Interviews at the same time be seen as a
method for Personal Knowledge Management as they permit the employees to analyse his own
performance and to make him aware of his competencies and deficits.
They usually address a pre-defined set of subjects which allows to easily comparing results and
progresses and are based on semi-structured interview guidelines.
The following chapter provides a detailed structure for the usage of Appraisal Interviews and
presents an Interview guideline which can be used in organisations.
Remember: This is just a general proposition for the structure of the process - the content
and the direction are as flexible as your organisation allows, or can be persuaded to allow.

In this section we focus on giving guidelines for the implementation and execution of Appraisal
Interviews into the organisational context. Based on our personal experience and following
suggestions given by Grote and Grote (1996) we have developed an approach consisting of 6
steps. The approach is explained in a general and simple way and can be easily used in almost
any organisational setting.
1. Establish performance standards for each position and the criteria for evaluation As a
basis for your evaluation, each position in the organisation should be clearly described. If you
want the employee to do something, you must tell him exactly what you want. This means that
both sides are supposed to have a clear understanding about which tasks are most important to
perform the job, which skills and behaviours are required and acceptable, which goals should be
accomplished, and which result are expected.
The successful performance of a task is thus based on a clear understanding of what is expected
from the employee. He should therefore be provided with a detailed job description. It is
recommended to communicate the job description in written form as well as during a
conversation with the employee. Once this is ensured, a basis for successful performance
appraisal is established, which permits to identify goals and performance expectations.
Remember: Initiating and maintaining positive communication about work expectations
and work performance is managements responsibility!
2. Establish performance evaluation policies on when to rate, how often to rate and who
should rate
This task is important in order to ensure coherence amongst all employees. The supervisor
should hold an appraisal interview with each subordinate in order to discuss his appraisal and to
set objectives for the upcoming evaluation period. Be aware, that experts advise that the
employees development and salary discussions should not occur in the same interview.
When Usually all employees of a company or department are rated on the same date or during a
certain time period. These dates should be communicated well in advance to give each employee
64
the possibility to prepare himself and implement the performance interviews in the daily work
schedule.
How often In most companies appraisal performance is held once per year. However, more and
more organisations shift to 6-monthly or quarterly evaluations. This is convenient especially in
fast moving organisations, as it permits a more frequent up-date of the aims and objectives
according to the current developments in the field.
Who should rate The most common evaluation is the appraisal by the superior. In large
organisations usually the line manager is in charge of the evaluation as he is closer to the job and
the employee as a general manager would be. But the organisation can for example also appoint
a committee of several superiors who perform the evaluation or even hire an expert or a team of
experts from outside the organisation.
3. Prepare Your Interview Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria
Preparation is the key to success!
Always keep in mind that the appraisal you write will be in the employees personnel file for
years to come. You have a responsibility, therefore, to write an evaluation that is accurate,
objective, fair, and free of exaggerations about the employees performance. Therefore it is
extremely important to be well prepared for the interview. You should beforehand develop a
frame for the guided interview. In fact, Appraisal Interviews are effective if they are conducted
properly. An even better result can be achieved if the appraisal process is clearly explained to
and agreed by all people involved.
The following questions can be used as an orientation for the preparation of your interview and
should be adapted according to your personal work situation1.
Where have you been?
Where are you now?
Where do you want to go?
How are you going to get there?
What do you need to do this?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
The performance interview should ensure that the following points will be addressed:
Review of overall progress
Discussions of problems that were encountered
Agreement about potential performance improvement possibilities
Discussion how current performance is in line with long term carrier goals
Specific action plans for the coming year
Bear thus in mind when preparing your interview guide that your aim is to analyse the past
period and to set goals and standards for the employees job performance. You should use open
questions whenever possible which will give room for mutual agreements upon objectives.
Beside this, you should also use a proper documentation scheme, which gives you the possibility
to make additional comments. Complete the appropriate appraisal form, providing space for
ratings, rating justifications, development plans, etc. Then review the appraisal guidelines and
the evaluation form with your supervisor/manager and obtain his agreement prior to the
performance phase.
65
Beside the above mentioned general advice there are a few more points that you should consider
in order to prepare the individual meetings. Before each meeting you should take some minutes
time to valuate the subordinate's performance, your interactions and the employees history. It is
important that you have a clear picture of the person and the related job profile. Make sure that
you have input from all relevant sources and try to identify the assumptions and blind spots you
may have concerning the employee. If you identify any problems try to find their roots. You
should be critical regarding your own performance and reflect if your own actions could be a
source of the employees problems.
4. Schedule the Interviews
Some guidelines should be also followed when setting time and date for the personal meeting
between you and the employee. Your interviews should be scheduled beforehand, to permit you
and the employee to get prepared for the meeting and to avoid time pressure. Notify the
employee of the date and time and give him the possibility to agree or disagree. You should also
allow enough time to assure a relaxed atmosphere. Choose a private place for the personal
meeting that, if possible free from distractions and/or interruptions. If you use your own office
make sure that you are not disturbed by visitors and/or your telephone.
5. Conduct the Face-to-Face Performance Appraisal Meeting
This is the most important phase of the Performance Appraisal. After all preparation is done and
dates are fixed you can finally start with the actual interviews. In this section we will give you a
brief introduction to the possible procedure and give you some guidelines how to behave in the
different stages of the interview.
During the interview you should always bear in mind that your mission is to evaluate the
employees performance and to set aims and milestones for the next working period. In setting
objectives to be followed by the employee, the principles are to be met SMART which means
according to Lamberti and Sommerfeld (2003):
Specific.
Measurable.
Attainable.
Realistic.
Time-limited.
There are three generally used approaches to these interview situations: tell and sell, tell and
listen and problem solving the using of which depends mainly on the experience level of the
employee.
First of all welcome the employee by putting him at ease and setting a positive tone. You can
offer coffee or tea to loosen up the situation. Use the first minutes to introduce the topic of the
meeting by explaining the process and reasons for discussion. Stress that this is an opportunity to
help the employee grow and invite his questions and remarks. At this point you can also
encourage the employee to present his own view concerning the appraisal process in general and
tell him that all aims and objectives will be set mutually. During the whole interview you should
listen actively and be objective, honest, non-judgemental and consistent in your reaction towards
the employee. Let the employee talk about his own appraisal of his performance and/or any plans
for further development and act whenever possible as a guide.
66
Share your view of the employees performance by calmly presenting your points. Review key
performance categories and the employees performance against established organisational goals
and standards, using specific examples whenever possible to prove your statements and to make
them more comprehensive. Recognise the employees contribution, describing major
accomplishments and/or improvements. Correct any new or on-going performance problems. If
you consider it as necessary to solve problems immediately always involve the employee in
developing solutions.
Whenever you take additional notes try to be as concrete as possible and use examples to support
your ratings.
During the interview your shared aim is to set objectives, goals and milestones for the future
working period. Mutual agreements upon goals and priorities are an expected outcome of the
interview. You should write down any occurring agreements, action plans, timeframes and target
dates, etc.
At the end of the interview it is important to summarise what has been addressed. Allow time for
questions and/or concerns to be asked and communicated. Address any points raised by the
employee and be honest, but tactful if you disagree with his assessment.
Close the meeting by scheduling a date to obtain the employees signature on the review.
6. Summarise the decisions and agree on the evaluation
After the end of the interview all relevant results and milestones have to be summarised. This is
gain part of the person who conducted the interview.
Decisions have to be clearly described and if necessary underlined with examples. Try to be as
detailed as possible, without putting to much pressure in your wording. Then the filled appraisal
form is presented to the employee. If possible take some time to sit down together again and go
through the appraisal. In case of disagreements you should re-discuss this with the employee and
maybe change the wording according to this.
Once both of you have agreed on the evaluation your signature concludes the performance
appraisal. You should provide the employee with a photocopy of their completed, signed
appraisal, so he can at any time, have a look at it and act according to the set aims and objectives.

In this part we want to present you a sample interview guideline. The questions are very general,
so that they can be used in almost every work environment. We suggest you to organise the
Appraisal Interviews around the following 8 basic questions and propose for each of them a set
of sub questions which can be used to deepen your conversation. The presented interview
guideline is mainly based on our own practical experience in several German organisations.
1) Follow-up from previous appraisal interview (unless this is the first):
Has the agreement been implemented?
Why not?
2) Which tasks or type of tasks went particularly well?
Why did they go so well?
67
3) Which tasks or type of tasks did not go well?
Why did they not go well?
4) How do you feel about the content of your work/your area of work?
Do the distribution and prioritising of tasks work well?
How are your qualifications, skills and experiences employed at work?
5) How could your current job be further developed?
Do you have any suggestions for new tasks you would like to undertake?
Are there any current tasks you would like to be exempted from?
Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
What are your objectives or suggestions for the next year as regards professional
development and training?
6) What is your opinion of the working relationship between you and your colleagues?
Are there any conflicts that disturb the working climate?
Do you feel that responsibilities are clearly defined?
7) Are your physical working conditions satisfactory?
Do you have any suggestions for improvements?
8) Any other relevant circumstances?
Are there any other circumstances you would like to mention which influence your work
situation?
Domestic circumstances?
Circumstances at your work place not covered by previous items?

Based on the results of the interview the employee and leader decide together on an action plan
and set milestones for the next period.
Usually the agreed appraisal is signed by both parties and then handed out to the employee. This
is important to give him the possibility of keeping track of his aims and objectives. If one of the
objectives is to perform any advanced trainings or further education those will usually be
arranged as soon as possible after the performance interview, to motivate the employee. As
multiple factors are analysed within the interview they allow identifying future prospects.
Considered as an investment in the future, organisations use Appraisal Interviews as an
important instrument to support organisational learning, KM implementation and knowledge
sharing.
It is possible to have additional meetings during the next performance period if one or both
parties feel a necessity. This could for example be the case if the employee faces unexpected
problems related to domestic or work related circumstances or if the overall situation in the work
environment changes.
68
As figure 2 shows, the process of Performance Appraisal is ongoing. Once goals and objectives
for the next period have been defined they act as a basis for the next evaluation period. This loop
helps to make progresses and developments transparent and thus foster organisational knowledge
sharing.
Plan the Performance Identify
Performance Goals
Communicate Goals
Establish Performance Criteria
Determine: Responsibility for
Appraisal Period
Appraisal Method(s)
Computer Software
Anticipate and Consider

Effective Performance Appraisal
Systems
Examine Work Performed
Management Support
Coaching
Appraise the Results

Conduct Appraisal Interview
Discuss Goals for Next Period
Figure 2 Steps within the Performance Appraisal

DO assure the employee that individual performance development is the primary goal or
purpose and the appraisal review is just one part of the total process
DO develop people in the way they want to go, not just the way the organisation thinks it
needs people to be
DO let the employee know you are really interested in making the interview productive.
DO motivate through agreeing in helpful aims, targets, achievement
DO give useful feedback
DO admit your mistakes when you are at fault
DO show appreciation of the employee's success
DO be frank and tactful in discussing the employee's short comings
DO direct criticism at the employee's work rather than at him personally
DO aim for simplicity, fairness, objectivity, openness, usefulness
DO record in writing the minutes
DO evaluate and refine your appraisal interview system as necessary
69
DON'T fail to review past errors, but do not dwell on them
DON'T dominate the conversation
DON'T talk down to the employee
DON'T discuss any other person for the purpose of comparison
DON'T imply in any way the interview was arranged for warning or reprimanding the
employee
DON'T feel obliged to agree on everything
DONT get lost in detailed discussions
DONT compare interpersonally
DONT refuse in receiving feedback
DONT see the Appraisal Interview as wasted paperwork
DONT fear the emotions that can be unleashed
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge their colleagues from the Industrial Engineering Department of ECP
for their inputs and helpful comments.
Grote, Dick and Grote, Richard C. (1996): How to conduct an Appraisal Discussion, in: The
Complete Guide to Performance Appraisal, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, S.147170
Hagehlsemann, H. / Hagehlsemann, U. (1998): Der Mensch im Spannungsfeld seiner
Organisation: Transaktionsanalyse in Managementtraining, Coaching, Team- und
Personalentwicklung, Paderborn: Jungfernmann
Lamberti, M.-A. / Sommerfeld, V. (2003): Strategische Personalentwicklung, Weinheim, Basel,
Berlin: Beltz Verlag
Nonaka, I / Takeuchi, H. (1997): The knowledge creating Company: How Japanese Companies
Create the Dynamics of Innovation, New York, Oxford University Press, 1995
Polanyi, M. (1974): Personal Knowledge. Towards a Post-critical Philosophy, University of
Chicago Press/ USA
Probst, G. J. B. / Raub, S. / Romhardt, K. (2000): Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for
Success, John Wiley & Sons, Sussex/ England
Schwarz, G. / Beck, R. (1997): Personalmanagement, Alling: Sandmann Steinmann, H. /
Schreygg, G. (2005): Management Grundlagen der Unternehmensfhrung, Wiesbaden/
Germany
70
Thiel,
M. (2002): Wissenstransfer in komplexen Organisationen. Effizienz durch

Wiederverwendung von Wissen und Best Practices, 1. Aufl., Wiesbaden: Deutscher
Universitts-Verlag GmbH
Author Biographies
Dipl. Pd. Marinita Schumacher studied Organisational

Pedagogy at University in Hildesheim (Germany) where she
graduated in 2005 in the fields of human resources management,
organisational development and knowledge management.
During her studies she was working as junior consultant from
2002 - 2005 where she acquired profound knowledge in the field
of quality management. She has written her diploma thesis in
collaboration with Volkswagen AG concerning the
implementation of a skill management system. Currently
Marinita Schumacher is preparing her PhD at Ecole Centrale
Paris where she is involved in several EU-funded research
projects which are focused on knowledge management and
community building.
Dipl. Pd. Corinna Flck is a researcher at the industrial
engineering department at Ecole Centrale Paris. She is currently
involved in several EU-funded research projects and focuses on
knowledge management and community building. Corinna Flck
gained a university degree in pedagogy from the University
Hildesheim (Germany) in 2005, focusing on the obtainment of
profound knowledge in the fields of human resources
management, organisational development and enhancement of
the acquisition of social attitudes. She has written her diploma
thesis in collaboration with a German energy supply company,
doing a feasibility study of the implementation of knowledge
management. Corinna Flck is currently preparing her PhD.
Mounib Mekhilef is associate professor at the Industrial

Engineering Department of Ecole Centrale Paris. He is in charge
of the EU research programs and the international issues in the
area of Design and Knowledge Management.
71
Group Analysis of
Knowledge Test
Results as a
Knowledge Sharing
Method
Ma gorzata Grabus and
Katarzyna Grunwald
Keywords:
Knowledge Collection and Sharing, Knowledge Sharing Culture,
Workshops, Learning, Personal Knowledge Management
Group Analysis of Knowledge Test

Results as a Knowledge Sharing
Method
Ma gorzata Grabus, University of Gda sk, (m.grabus@wp.pl)
Katarzyna Grunwald, University of Gda sk, (catgrun@wp.pl)

Group analysis of knowledge test results (in particular the one repeated on a regular basis) may
be successfully applied to the organizations that seek their competitive advantage in using
continuously updated knowledge of the employees (all of them or the majority) and count on
positive synergy effect when this knowledge is shared.
This is exceptionally important in areas that require regular renewal of formal codified
knowledge available in overwhelming profusion from outside of the organization, and
subsequently need to use that knowledge in a creative manner based on broad associations, as for
example the legal companies.
Generally, organisations that test frequently the legal knowledge of their employees are more
likely to be competitive in the market. However, what is of great importance is the follow-up
with in-depth group discussions between employees and the facilitator together with thorough
examination of all questions.
Technically, initially the method involves external sources monitoring, trainings, test
preparation, learning, test execution, scoring and finally an open discussion - actual group
analysis of the test results that facilitates effective sharing of the gathered knowledge. A highly
professional and respected moderator leads the meeting, and the discussion refers to every
question of the test, going deep down to details and presenting the issues in wide contexts.
Moreover, the motivating factors are of great importance. They include moderate
competitiveness, task assignments with the positive influence of a spirit of co-operation for
common objectives. Also, test results influence positively socio-psychological aspects such as
individualsrespect, self-image and employees position within the group.
Tangible and measurable objectives of using group analysis of test results differ depending on
domain specifics. Among others, it could indicate that employeesknowledge is maintained at a
high level despite the changes in the relevant body of knowledge and a decrease in employees
mistakes. In addition, all parties involved feel stronger when working in a team.
Keywords: knowledge collection and sharing, knowledge sharing culture, workshops,
learning, personal knowledge management

The group analysis of the test results method (GAKTR) is particularly useful for services based
on the legal knowledge. This includes legal consulting services, i.e. insurance companies, tax
75
Group Analysis of Knowledge Test Results as a Knowledge Sharing Method
firms, legal advisors or any other consultants whose activities are based on frequently changed
laws, acts or regulations.
This is the type of knowledge that primarily determines the usefulness of the method. It is a
combination of the following elements:
Highly variable explicit elements that are in force and binding such as laws, claws, acts,
regulations, verdicts, which are clearly codified, and produced out of the organisation.
These elements are available in the official list of sources that are not limited, and can
potentially change. For example, the official verdicts or cases and their binding
interpretations which need to be continuously updated.
Tacit elements such as possible application to real cases, ideas for further use in the
organisation. They constitute potential resources that add value to the organizations
activities. These elements are often personalized, although it is expected and highly
probable that in course of dynamic and creative exchange the co-creation will take place
and new knowledge can emerge, as it has been described by Nonaka & Takeuchi (2001).
To some extent, the state and the local administration may have similar needs, namely transfers
of strictly codified knowledge. This method is based on rational-legal knowledge and fits the
bureaucratic requirements described by Max Weber. However, what lacks in the Weberian
model is the absence of the emotional dimension. The method that we present needs to include a
positive relation between the facilitator and the employees. (See also below).
It is interesting to note however, that it seems that good results of this method can be achieved in
non-legal domains as well. Particularly sectors of new economy experiencing dynamic
development such as in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or even in HiTechnology in general. Even though the knowledge in ICT and HT is not defined in legal terms,
but the rules of building the legal language and IT language are based on the same roots and
follow the same formal thinking principles. We argue that the system of legal knowledge and IT
knowledge are similar in their structure, and that the method may be adopted there just with
minor adjustments.
Instead of revolving laws, there should be tested general and generic knowledge (including
newest research results), product knowledge (solutions offered by competitors, or even by other
departments of the own corporation), or eventually knowledge on tools and methods improving
the processes. This may prove that sometimes there is more need for inspiring role of the group
analysis of test results than for simple sharing of the knowledge that has been gathered
individually.
Another important factor is the size of the company or rather the size of the focus group. The
method has been developed and implemented in small and medium size enterprises. It is
primarily recommended for SMSs because of the close relationship, which exist between
the moderator, mostly a superior and employees. This is an important factor for the
effectiveness of the presented method. Moreover, since all participants in the focus group are
professional with knowledge form a relationship based on mutual respect with slightly superior
knowledge of the moderator.
Recommended number of people taking part in a group analysis session ranges from 10 to 18
people, although fewer participants are also acceptable as long as the discussion offers enough
heat due to various points of view. However in case of more than 15 people it might be better to
consider dividing the group in two. If the group counts so many members the level of emotional
engagement into the discussion significantly decreases, as it is easy to hide behind more active
colleagues. Also if the room becomes crowdy some impediments to communication may be
observed. Nevertheless it is possible to use the same test for more than one group.
76
In case of large corporations the method may be applied locally by managers of individual
departments (or teams, but not multispecialized project teams) provided that their relations with
employees are close, and based on trust (both in terms of professional respect and friendship).
For the same reasons the use in administration structures may be limited. Recommended use is
summed up and presented in the table below (Table 1).
Table 1. Recommended use of the method
Aspect
Knowledge kind
Kind and number of participants

Organization size
Moderator / group relationship
Additional features
Description
Composite of explicit and tacit elements. Where:
Explicit knowledge is highly variable, in force and binding
(laws, codes, regulations, verdicts, clauses, cases and
interpretations), clearly codified, and produced out of the
organization, and available from a limited official sources,
and which need to be continuously updated and verified
Tacit knowledge includes prospective resources of adding
value to the organizationsactivity (e.g. possible application
to real cases, ideas for further use)
Professionals specialized in the same domain (best 12-15
per session, possible less but not more than 18)
Best SMEs, or individual mono-specialized units
(departments) of big corporations
Emotionally positive, based on real professional supremacy
Moderator possessing high level of professional knowledge,
interpersonal skills, basic practical skills for leading the
group analysis sessions
The method results in:
Increase in knowledge of individuals (measured with test scores, and subsequently with
task completion efficiency),
Increase in employees productivity,
Reduction in number of professional mistakes,
Motivating effects,
Building a cooperative culture.
For the above reasons the method is considered to be primarily a tool facilitating the managerial
work (not a system tool). It might be combined with reward system or with the evaluation
system.

The whole cycle of the GAKTR method takes approximately half a year and consists of five
main stages:
1. Initial preparations (list of sources, gathering materials, trainings)
2. Learning
3. Test preparations
4. Test execution and scoring
5. Actual session of group analysis of the test results.
The first four stages are of extreme importance for the effectiveness of the actual analysis
session.
77
Determining the scope

of knowledge and the
list of relevant sources
Trainings
Learning
Gathering the
materials
Test preparation
Test execution and scoring
Group analysis of
the knowldge test results session
Figure 1. Stages of the GAKTR cycle

The activities involved partly take part simultaneously and they are interdependent as pictured in
Figure 1. For example the initial rough list of relevant sources is continuously updated both by a
moderator and by participants, who may discover new media (e.g. starting up magazines,
WebPages) or new knowledge in them in course of their studying process.
It is important that learning includes individually conducted research and studying as well as
participation in provided by the organization lectures and trainings (offered by internal or
external agents).
The detailed elements that constitute successful application of the method are presented in form
of the checklist in the following table (Table 2).
78
Table 2. Preparations checklist

1.
Establish the scope of interest.
2.
Establish the rough list of reference resources that have to be taken into consideration
in order to cover entire scope of needed knowledge
3.
4.
Inform on test and analysis session dates.

(This starts building the tension).
Inform participants on the scope of interest and on the rough list.
Establish a communication platform
5.
(This might be an intranet tool in form of wiki, or a simple Lotus based table, or any
other tool facilitating knowledge sharing even as simple as a mailing list. You may
also rely on non-computer tools, like a board, or printouts that are updated on various
other occasions. Make sure the chosen platform is the one the majority of the
participants are well used to in their everyday activities. Keep it simple and reduced
just to the verified sources. Remind about updated in regular intervals).
6.
Start gathering materials; encourage the participants to add their findings.
7.
Provide participants with every necessary means on-line access to databases,

literature, subscriptions, etc. but first of all provide a variety of suitable trainings.
8.
Let the participants learn, start learning yourself and better be faster in it than they are.
Prepare the test and a score card.

9.
(Approximately covering 12-15 of multiple choice questions, a couple of open

questions (4-5) and 2-3 cases to be analysed. Make sure that it fits into 30 minutes
long test session. The test form are best to be printed out and filled during the test
session; an on-line version is possible, but less recommended, as scoring should sum
up to a full 100%).
Execute the test. Score the results, but do not announce them instantly wait 3-5 days.
10.
(Make sure the testing does not last longer than 30, max 45 minutes. Limited time is
useful as you do not want anyone to score a 100%, and it hells the participants to
highly concentrate due to a little stress. The delay is recommended as the days between
the test session and the scores announcement are the time of high involvement and
concentration of participants who willingly search for correct answers and easily
remember their findings made at that time.)
Prepare:
-
Sources necessary to present correct answers or to indicate the reasons for the
mistakes;
Blank version of subsequent test questions, in form which facilitates focusing

the group attention (preferably as PPT slides);
The information on the scores in per cent (the overall results, the average, the
median, the lowest and the highest). The results should be informative and
appealing, preferably presented as attractive graphs;
List of issues you consider particularly worth being noticed and remembered
by participants.
11.
Having completed the above list you may execute the group analysis of the test results session.
79

For the actual session of group analysis of the test results requires the following facilitations
should be provided.
A room large enough to contain the whole group of tested employees.
The seating arranged in a way allowing for undisturbed communication among

participants, preferably in a semi circle with some opening for a moderator positioned in
a way helping to focus peoples attention and also allowing for case presentation on the
screen (subsequent projection of questions, and proper answers).
Multimedia equipment (laptop, projector or eventually just flip-charts).
Test sores graphs, blank test questions to be presented for all to see.
Reference sources (including an on-line access to subscribed resources).
Water, coffee & tea, perhaps crackers (for participants).

General approach is based on common teaching method, where group work has proved effective
in knowledge development, in particular when this is the case of group analysis of previously
individually processed issues [Miku a & Potocki 1997, Potocki 2001]. The test technique is
rather simple, however it plays a significant role not only as a control and evaluation tool but
also as the one having a certain didactic value itself [Komorowska 1974] the important factor is
the test enrichment by group analysis. Such a procedure is successfully used in language
teaching, although the content is usually less complex than in case of professional knowledge
update. The actual analysis session of the proposed method resembles the AAR (After Action
Review) technique as it is described by Dixon and Kaplan [Dixon & Kaplan 2006], group
techniques of creative thinking, and group problem solving techniques as well as CoPs and to
some extent Knowledge Fairs [Davenport & Prusak 1998]. The method supports not only the
increase in individual knowledge resources but also results in synergy effects and as such is seen
both with a Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Co-creation lenses.
The important distinction in case of test results analysis is the narrowed output field the session
aims to finding just one good idea in each case, which will be advantageous and obligatory for
subsequent activity of the organisation, and which also fits into the law in force. Therefore it
seems that the method is original and has not been used in such a shape before although it uses
well-known techniques.
Besides that, there have been incorporated motivating factors based on moderate
competitiveness, task assignments and positive influence of cooperation atmosphere
supplemented with common objectives. Also social issues as individuals respect, image and
position are directly affected by test results.
80
Table 3. A course of the GAKTR session

A
Introduction
B
Step by step
test analysis
C
Scores
presentation
D
Support
Warming up
General evaluation of the test
Encouragement
Open and closed questions (Q 1, Q 2, .Q n)
Case analysis and solving
Mistakes list
Key issues list
Practical application
Correct answers exposition
Average group scores presentation in %
Individual scores announcement
Remainding the previous tests
Brief pointing out what has been achieved and where the results can be found
Emotionaly positive conclusion
Emotions are count among crucial factors of effectiveness of a process of learning [Kurcz 1992].
The role of attitudes and emotions was an object of research conducted by P.I. Zinczenko [Kurcz
1992] as well as R.M.Yerkes and J.D.Dodson [Strelau 1992]. Classical research on the role of
punishments and awards conducted E.L. Thorndike [W odarski 1989]. And it is best when these
emotions are mixed negative (as perhaps being a little stressed with ones mistake possible
exposure) with positive (a supportive, friendly atmosphere of a group aiming at the same
direction). In case of the presented method positive emotions are vital to en extreme degree.
They should dominate in the whole knowledge sharing process. Finally the old truth that people
remember what they have an opportunity to say is another component of the success.
The main and final stage of the procedure i.e. the GAKTR session lasts approximately 60 - 120
minutes. If it is longer than 60 minutes it is wise to make a 5-10 minutes break.
The session may be broken down as presented in the table above (Table3.). The detailed
description of the subsequent stages may be presented as follows.
STAGE A
INTRODUCTION
Objectives:
to create good atmosphere, focus everyones attention on expected efforts, and
to support mental capabilities of participants.

Recommended duration:
no more than 3 minutes

Warming up
General evaluation
of the test
Encouragement
A facilitator explains the further proceeding in particular if the session

takes place for the first time or if there are new employees in the group. If
there is any tension some ice-breakers may help.
A facilitator expresses his opinion and compares the results to previous
occasions in general terms (better/worse).
It is recommended that facilitator expresses his trust into participants
capabilities, gathered knowledge, sharing willingness and creative
thinking necessary to go over the test once again.
81
STAGE B
STEP BY STEP ANALYSIS
Objectives:
to go through every detail and share knowledge gathered on them,
to make everyone familiar with correct answers,
to have these answers repeated for better remembering.
to built on the gathered knowledge and conclusions
to co-create practical application ideas
Important:
A facilitiator takes the role of a moderator.
Scores remain unknown to maintain the interest.
Everyone should take part and speak up (including shy and reserved ones who should be
helped). Activity of participants should be balanced.
Participants are encouraged to offer their answers and substantiate them with relevant
sources. Doubts are cleared.
Participants should not be over criticised even if mistaken.
A moderator makes sure that correct solution is found.
Pointing out people, who were mistaken should be avoided - the procedure aims at
finding good solutions not the scapegoats
The general rules of creative work techniques (brain storming, group problem solving,
etc) should be remembered and obtained.
Recomended duration:
82
40 to 60 minutes
Open and closed Each participant is provided with a blank paper version of the test they
questions
made or this is exposed by any other means (projetctor) for everyone to
see.
Subsequently moderator exposes each question and it is discussed over.
Participants volunteer their answers, discuss and establish the right one.
Correct answer is highlighted on the screen and presented together with
the source that it is based on; and then written on the flip-chart (table)
and left visible for later use.
The same procedure is applied to every next question, but moderator
should control the time consuption.
Moderator makes sure that everyone can contribute.
Output: A written list of correct answers (and their sources).
Case analysis and
The moderator presents (on the screen or flip-chart) the solutions that
solving
were provided by participants during the test.
The proposals are discussed and their advantages are written down
separately.
The group decides which solution is the most advantageous for the
company objectives fulfilment and writes it down also separately.
Moderator makes sure that no more than one idea is approved in each
case.
Output: A written best-case solution that is approved as the guideline for
the company.
Mistakeslist
Moderator helps making the list of issues that made most of the
participants mistaken. The list of mistakes is created temporarily.
Output: A list of issues that were mistaken
Key issues list
As quickly as possible the group attention should be drawn to pointing out
the key issuses resulting from the knowledge that has been shared, which
are important. The key issues are considered to be potentially profitable or
dangerous for the organization performance.
Output: Listk of key issues to remember.
Practical
Participants offer their ideas on every possible practiacal application of
application
the commonly gathered knowledge.
Possible template drafts product ideas are formed and people assigned for
further improvement of them.
Output: Possible further applications clearly stated; drafts of templates or
products.
STAGE C
SCORES PRESENTATION & SUMMING UP
Objectives:
Reaching the emotional climax
Providing precise and idividualised feedback
Important:
No one should feel disregarded due to his results.
Recommended duration: max 10 minutes
83
Correct answers
exposition
Average group
scores presentation
in %
Individual scores
announcement
Remainding the
previous tests
Gentle conclusion
Any flipcharst or wirtings created previously are removed from the sight.
Both lists of correct answers are exposed again. Using projector or
flipcharts moderator makes sure that everyone can both SEE and HEAR
the correct versions.
This is when prepared earlier graphs are presented revealing subsequently
the average, the median, the lowest and the highest scores. They should be
compared with previous results (if they are available).
The moderator distributes the test scores and allows 2-3 minutes for
reading them.
Anonymous individual ranking is presented.
The results might be discussed if the participants fill like doing so.
Each participant receives his individual scores, position in ranking,
previous tests results and 2-3 sentences long conclusion.
Moderator offers his time to talk indiviually with participatns later on.
Brief reference to previously gathered knowledge resources should be
made, and their validity checked.
Output: Corrections made on previous summing up lists.
Brief pointing out what has been achieved and where the results can be
found (on the platform for everyone to keep learning and improving
them).
STAGE D
SUPPORT
Objectives:
Let the people go back to their work with the sense of appreciation and self-esteem.
Emotional support is of an utmost importance
Recommended duration: max 1 minute.
Emotional support
Thanks for effective work.

Emotionaly positive conclusion.

The method application, in particular as a regularly repeated full cycle, will help to maintain
sustained high level of employeesknowledge nevertheless the changes in the relevant body of
knowledge. Also this is a convenient way for building a knowledge sharing culture, for team
integration, and also for effective product offers improvement.
The measures for progress monitoring will vary depending on individual organization needs. The
main responsibilities at this stage are again assigned just to one person a facilitator/moderator,
who was described earlier as a person particularly respected for his/her professional supremacy.
A facilitator (who is usually a superior as well) should elaborate a customized set of parameters
that are important for the organization performance. These usually include:
Number of new products or product improvements
Positive reductions in error or faults statistics
Shorter time per task needed
84
Recommended follow-ups include also regular checking the bottlenecks that were identified in
course of the procedure. These might be:
Products checks, whether they indeed have incorporated the knowledge shared and
developed,
People checks - those who scored low, should be check and perhaps helped
Path-holes avoidance - the list of mistakes made during the test and difficulties during the
group discussion should be used as a guideline indicated what should be avoided and
particularly precisely checked.

The method can be presented based on the case study of a project designed and implemented by
the president of a medium-sized insurance brokerage company. Group analysis of knowledge test
results has been implemented there as a crucial part to Knowledge Improvement System aiming
at continuous increase of knowledge resources and more effective use of possessed intangibles.
The system covers also regular trainings (internal ones every month, and other taking place
approximately every 3 months), meetings with suppliers (every fortnight) and workshops (case
analysis) that facilitate initial gathering of required knowledge. The trainings are presented in the
following table (Table 4).
Table 4. Trainings offered by the brokerage company
Name
Source
Trainings
Internal
Product
trainings
External or Internal
Case study
analysis
Internal
Professional
trainings
(law, formal)
External
Frequency
Description
Every month for

everyone
Most experienced employees teach

others on current issues,
plus everyone shares their insights
on new readings
Every 2 weeks for Meetings with suppliers - i.e.
everyone
insurance companies inform on
available kinds of property
insurance, and on product logic;
Alternatively most experienced
employees teach others
Every 2 months
Led by a company lawyer;
for everyone
Mostly cases on liquidation of
damages
Irregular,
ca. each person
according to the market offer
once every 3
available
months
In last three years there have been introduced regular knowledge tests followed up with group
analysis of their results. These sessions take place twice a year and exploit the trainings outputs
significialntly.
85
Every few months there were prepared professional knowledge tests that covered law
amendments and laws that have not been changed together with a few special cases. The
reference sources included:
a/ Insurance act, and amendments,
b/ Obligatory insurance act and amendments,
c/ Insurance Brokerage Act and amendments,
d/ Civil Law,
e/ Prawo Asekuracyjnequartely and other magazines,
f/ General Insurance Conditions of various insurance companies,
g/ Insurance companies Bulletins,
h/ commercial analysis (audits, opinions) and their conclusions.
Company president, who is also a leader in terms of knowledge and competences, developed the
questions. His leading position in terms of personal knowledge and professional respect is
considered a substantial feature of the method.
The test date was announced well in advance, at least 5 months before. Since that moment the
employees worked individually on preparations, which included research, studying and learning
by heart. They were provided the hints which resources are relevant.
The test took place in a conference room and lasted approximately 30 minutes. Paper forms with
multiple choice questions were filled. Then the president scored the outputs, and the results were
presented no sooner than 3 days after the test.
The test results were scored by the president and they reveal a noticeable improvement of the
lowest scores level, with sustained highest ones (Figure 2). Similar presentations were prepared
for presenting individual achievements.
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
I 2003
II 2003
I 2004
II 2004
I 2005
II 2005
I 2006
median
86%
88%
82%
84%
84%
95%
90%
highest
91%
94%
94%
96%
97%
97%
95%
lowest
77%
68%
62%
74%
77%
77%
84%
average
83%
84%
81%
85%
86%
90%
90%
Figure 2. Test scores in the brokerage company
86
The actual group analysis of the test results took place on a separate day, and offered the
participants some comforts like fresh morning mind or no additional duties to help high
concentration. The results and particular issues were group discussed and analysed aiming at
their practical use.
This has resulted in a significant increase in employees motivation to their knowledge
development, in the strengthening of knowledge sharing culture, and also in the organization
improved financial effectiveness.
Main motivating factors seemed to consist of: ambition, friendly competition, prospective
influence on periodical performance appraisal system results, comparison of previous test results,
as well as the increasing company performance observed by stakeholders and measured by
means of insurance policy records (viewed within the range of a couple of years) or the services
quality level verified under the implemented ISO system. A synergy effect has been achieved in
the course of discussion, knowledge and opinion exchange. The method efficiency has been
measured:
Directly by participants evaluation, and superiors evaluation;
Indirectly by product offers enrichment with solutions transferred from other segments,
and by quality level monitoring (no complaints reported).
The method resulted in:
Increase in knowledge of individuals (measured with test scores, and subsequently with
task completion efficiency),
Increase in employees productivity,
Less time consumption per client,
Less claims or complaints from clients,
New products development,
Motivating effects,
Building a cooperative culture.

Before the group analysis session
Be extremely supportive and help your team to gather the knowledge beforehand: supply
them with books and publications, magazines, on-line access to relevant resources; also
mention difficult cases and provoke discussion.
Make sure they know that you approve their learning all year long (not only right before the
test).
Make sure they are aware that their permanent knowledge update is important for you not
less then the test scores.
Make sure you learn faster then they do.
Make them compete with you not each one with another.
The best results are achieved when the team members aim at high group results (more than
at individual scores) try to pass this attitude on them.
87
During the group analysis session

Make sure they feel comfortable (no other obligations on that day).
Search for right answers, not for mistakes.
Make people speaking about the issues they are good at.
Allow some time for reading individual scores and accepting them emotionally, and do not
move forward untill you have peoples attention and eyes back on you.
Moderate the discussion so that everyone has his opportunity.
Make sure everyone receives possitive feedback and fills good after the session.
During the group analysis session
Dont be strict and official.
Dont disclose the results too early, you might loose a significiant part of interest.
Dont over expose mistaken answers.
Dont chase the people who gave wrong answers.
Dont allow discussing the individual results, you aim at finding good solutions.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge Mr Piotr Grny for his cooperation in gathering data and
research for the herewith article purposes.
Bock G.-W., Zmud R.W., Kim Y.-G., Lee J.-N., Behavioral Intention Formation in Knowledge
Sharing: Examining the Roles of Extrinsic Motivators, Social-Psychlogical Forces, and
Organizational Climate, MIS Quarterly Vol. 29. No. 1 pp 87-111 / March 2005
Dixon N.M. and Kaplan B. (2006), Peer Assist and After Action Review - Making it happen,
http://commonknowledge.org/page.asp?id=33, (date accessed: 24 Oct. 2006)
Dixon N. (2000), Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know,
Boston Harvard Business School Press, ISBN 08-75849-04-0
Komorowska H. (1984), Testy w nauczaniu j zykw obcych, Wydawnictwa Szkolne i
Pedagogiczne, Warszawa, ISBN 83-02-02305-1
Kurcz I. (1992), Pami , uczenie si , j zyk, w: Psychologia oglna pod redakcj :
T. Tomaszewskiego, t.III, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa, ISBN 83-01-10211X
Miku a B. (2006), Organizacje oparte na wiedzy, Wyd. Akademii Ekonomicznej w Krakowie,
Krakw, ISBN 83-7252-302-9
88
Miku a B., Potocki A. (1997), Metody zarz dzania innowacyjno - partycypacyjnego, Wyd.
Antykwa, Krakw, ISBN 83-87493-10-4
Potocki A. (2001), Komunikacja wewn trzna w przedsi biorstwie, Wyd. Akademii
Ekonomicznej w Krakowie, Krakw, ISBN 83-7252-071-2
Nonaka I., Takeuchi H. (2001), Kreowanie wiedzy w organizacji, Poltext, Warszawa, ISBN 8386890-99-1
Strelau J. (1992), Temperament i inteligencja, w: Psychologia oglna pod redakcj :
T. Tomaszewskiego, t.IV, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa, ISBN 83-01-102101
odarski Z. (1989), Psychologia uczenia si , Pa stwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa,
ISBN 83-01-08157-7
Author Biographies
Malgorzata Grabus is a psychologist and she has just defended her PhD
thesis on organization and management science at the University of
Gda sk (Poland). She specializes in organisational culture, organisational
behaviours and human resources management. She also works for
business companies as a HR consultant and a trainer.
Katarzyna Grunwald, is a PhD student at University of Gda sk

(Organization and Management Faculty). Previously she studied Cultural
Knowledge and Human Resources. She has also some experience from
teaching and editorial fields. Now she works on her thesis focused on
knowledge transfers in Polish IT organizations..
89
Leveraging
Interaction through
Cooperation
David Kato and Devanildo Damio
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Communities, Share Knowledge,
Moderation
Leveraging Interaction through

Cooperation
David Kato, TerraForum Consultores, (david@terraforum.com.br)
Devanildo Damio, University of So Paulo, (devan@usp.br)

Factors such as high competitiveness and profound changes demand that organizations manage
their knowledge efficiently. Traditional methodologies used on majority of companies dont
allow managers to assess the huge benefit leveraged by the interaction of people with different
and complementary knowledge. Nurturing connections can bring important results to the
organization, such as best practices sharing and innovations. Fostering an environment that
motivates people to collaborate and being innovative demands new organizational arrangements,
amongst which, the Communities of Practice (CoP) are distinguished, a concept that comes from
two sociological streams of study: social structure and situational experience (Piper, 2003). The
first deals with the study of norms, institutions and rules, focusing on the discourse, social
system and history. The second, studies the dynamics of the daily life emphasizing the agents
and its intentions (Wenger,1998).
CoPs appear from the interactions and situations that involve people in the day-by-day.
Communities had always existed, professional unions from the classical Greek and the guilds
from the medieval ages are historical examples of its existence (Wenger and Snyder, 2000).
They exist in all traditional organizations, in an explicit form or not, they form a social grouping
independent of the formal organizational structure defined by organizational charts and they are
a good social arrangement for knowledge management, organizational and individual learning.
One of the biggest challenges of a community is to leverage interaction among the members. A
community of practice is a complex form of human organization and demands different
approaches from those used to the traditional management to crop its results. This chapter is
based upon a theoretician-empiricist approach and focus on the role of the community
moderator. The moderation framework presented here can be used on any virtual communities
characterized by the physical distance of the members, it is verified by the case study presented
on this chapter that the obstacles had been surpassed, and the communities had gotten great
success for the motivation and engagement of the participants.
The case study presented is based upon ABIPTIs communities of practices, a major project of a
Management of Technology Portal, an outcome of a partnership of the Brazilian Ministry of
Science and Technology, the Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP) and the ABIPTI.
Keywords: knowledge management, communities, share knowledge, moderation
93
Leveraging Interaction through Cooperation

The techniques presented here can be use on any virtual community of practice. To understand
the techniques presented here, it is important to understand the concept of communities of
practice, group of people who share concern or passion about something that they do and interact
on a regular basis to learn how to make it in a better way (Wenger,1998; Wenger e Snyder, 2000;
Wenger, McDermott e Snyder, 2002).
According Lenz and Peter (1998) apud Floriano Jr. (2004), CoP are groups of people who posses
similar objectives and interests and use common practices, work with the same tools and express
themselves with a similar language to reach a specific goal. Through the common practices,
these people develop and share the same beliefs and values.
According Terra and Gordon (2002), CoP consists of people who are informally and
contextually tied up through a common interest on learning and practical application of a body of
knowledge and they are based on strong trust relationships and on contributions that each one
brings to the community.
CoPs are interesting because, they create value to the organization and to the individuals on the
short and long term. Wenger articulates these benefits around those variables to show the value
for each one (Table 1)
Table 1: Benefits for the organization and for the individuals.
Short Term
Members
Long Term
Help in the challenges
Personal development
Access to experts
Reputation
Self-esteem
Professional identity
Fun with the colleagues
Networking
Meaning to the work
Better professional chances
Organization Solution of problems

Economy of time
Knowledge sharing
Synergies between units
Reuse of resources
Leverage strategic
capabilities
Remain up to date
Innovation
Retention of skilled
professional
New strategies
Source: Wenger, McDermott e Snyder, 2002.

Wenger and Snyder (2000) had elaborated a comparative table (Table 2) to explain the
differences among others forms of social grouping that exists inside the organizations:
94
Table 2: Difference between CoPs and other forms of organization

Type of
Group
What is the
purpose?
Community To develop the

capacities of the
of practice
members; to
construct and to
share knowledge.
Who are the

members?
What keeps
them together?
How long does it

last?
Members are
chosen among
themselves.
Passion,
engagement and
identity with
expertise of the
group.
While there is
interest for the
group to keep it.
Formal
Group of
Work
To deliver
products or
services.
All the people

that reports to
the manager of
the group.
The working
group necessity
and shared goal.
Until the next

reorganization.
Project
Team
To complete a
specific task.
Employees
selected by the
managers.
The projects
milestones and
objectives
Until the project

is completed
Informal
Network
Collect and
distribute
information
about businesses.
Friends and
fellow workers.
Reciprocal needs.
While there is
reason for the
person to
participate
Source: Wenger and Snyder,2000

Beyond theses differences, the CoPs can be viewed by the organization in different forms,
varying in accordance with the degree of acceptance or legitimacy in front of the formal
structure. In a lower degree they are unknown and could go illegal, legitimized, supported and
finally, institutionalized (Wenger, McDermott e Snyder, 2002). One possible way to
institutionalize a CoP is to assign a formal moderator.
The moderation is critical to a CoP. It gives rhythm to the community, energizing the
participation. But moderating a CoP is a real complex activity. The next sections of this article
try to summarize some techniques and advices collected from the field to help people facing this
challenge. Figure 1 presents how the article is organized:
95
Figure 1: Moderation Process

1. Preparation (The Checklist): Groups 1 (Identify) and 2 (Create Structure).
2. Toolkit (The Essentials): Group 3 (Nurture Moderation Process)
3. Making it Happen (The Approach & the Action): Group 4 (Lead the Moderation Process)
4. Results & Next Steps (The Follow-Up): Group 5 (Review the Moderation Process)

Before getting in to action, the practitioner must identify three elements (domain, practice and
community) that differentiate the CoPs of other social groupings (Wenger, 1998; Wenger,
McDermott and Snyder, 2002).
Domain: the body of knowledge that gives the sense of common identity. When clear-cut,
it legitimizes the community, enforcing its values and its goals for the members and
stakeholders (Wenger, McDermott e Snyder, 2002; Kimieck, 2002 e Floriano Jr., 2004).
Communities: it creates social factories of learning. Around a specific domain, the

community becomes a central element of the interaction, learning, knowledge sharing
and construction of strong trust relationships, enabling a sense of belonging and
engagement (Wenger, McDermott e Snyder, 2002; Kimieck, 2002 e Floriano Jr., 2004).
96
Practice: this element differentiates CoPs from simple groups of interest (linked to an
area of the knowledge, without an related practice). The practice is based on frameworks,
ideas, information, styles, language, histories and documents that are shared. If the
domain deals with the topic of the community, the practice is the specific knowledge that
the CoP develops, share and nurtures.
Identified those elements, the practitioner must understand the dynamic of the participation.
Wenger (1998) uses the term participation to mention relationships and social experiences on a
broad sense. The participation is a complex process that combines making, thinking, felling and
belonging. Wenger emphasizes the importance of the structural elements, since they give sense
and motivation to the participation.
Beyond the participation concept, we must highlight the non-participation, since it is an
inevitable part and interact with the participation to create richer experiences. If a person cant
participate of a discussion due his lack of knowledge, this situation makes him aware, motivating
the search of new knowledge.
Wenger (1998) differentiates in two types of relationships. The first one is the peripheral, which
the non-participation is necessary to allow a type of complete participation. The second one is
the marginality, where the non-participation does not allow the complete participation. The
Communities of Practice do not possess homogeneous levels of adhesion. They can vary in
accordance to the engagement of the member with the activities of the CoP:
The nuclear group is the one that heats the community existence
The complete adhesion is defined by the member that are recognized as practioners
The peripheral participation is formed by people who belong to the community with
specific contribution and engagement
The transactional participation is defined by people who interact with the community,
without being a member.
The passive access is the one where the person enters in contact with the artifacts created
by the community.
CoPs, as organics social events, follow a life cycle, passing through diverse stages during its
existence. Each moment must be followed by specific actions to nurture the participation and
development of the community, bring positive results to the organization and to the members.
The table that follows (Table 3) suggests actions to the development of the CoPs (Wenger,
McDermott e Snyder, 2002) according to each of the stages of life of a community.
97
Table 3: Stages of a CoP.

Potential
Expansion
Maturation
Activity
Pinpoint the main

goal
Create a case of
membership
Institutionalize a
community voice
Define the domain

and identify questions
of engagement
Launch the
community
Identify gaps of
knowledge and create
a learning agenda
Develop a case for

action
Identify coordinator
and potential
intellectual leaders
Connect the members
of the community
Develop a
preliminary design:
create models and
ideas on how the
community will work.
It helps the
communities to deals
with hard situations
on the initial stage.
Start the events and

spaces
Legitimate the
communitys
moderator
Build connections
among the member
that will take part of
the nuclear group
Find knowledge,
ideas, insights and
practices that should
be shared
Define the CoP role

inside the
organization
Redefine the frontiers
of the community
Create routines to
membership and
processes
Renew the
community
Create groups of
work to renew
Call new members to
be part of the nuclear
group
Develop new
leaderships
Measure the
communitys value
Follow the new

member
Keep the focus
Search new
relationships and
benchmarks outside
the organization
Create and maintain a

knowledge base
Create a routine to
write and organize
documents
Identify opportunities
to create value
Receive the managers
recognition
The last stage in a CoP lifecycle is called dispersion or transformation. The community can take
several paths. It can be finished, become a club of friends, restart an expansion, become two or
more communities, join in another community or become a recognized center of excellence to
the organization.
It is important to emphasize that results of a Community do not appear randomly, but are
outcomes of intense work of sowing, nurture and harvest. To accomplish the goal, it is necessary
to:
Construct a good structure to receive the community,
This structure includes managing resources.
In Virtual Communities, the most dynamic process of knowledge exchange takes place in the
discussion board. So its critical to construct a strong structure, when we are talking about
structure, two critical aspects must be highlighted:
Taxonomy: that allows to cross and recover information;
Governance: community rules that structuralizes relations of responsibilities, rights and

duties of the participants.
98
These facts lead for the necessity of an effective administration and its classic planning activities,
organization, direction and control, creating, then a propitious environment for the development
of the CoP. Moreover, a Community needs to manage diverse resources, they are:
Content,
Technology,
Reports, statistics,
Synchronous and asynchronous communication,
News articles and others.
The background provided by identifying the CoP (domain, community and practice), the type of
participation, the life cycle and the strong structure allow the moderator to prepare himself to be
a good moderator.

A moderator must assume different roles, according to the situation he is facing:
Coordinator: to organize the interactive space. The information must have a logical and
friendly organization, allowing easy access. The contents must be concise, without
duplication of subjects. The subjects must possess notes on the problem, justifications
and objectives.
Host: to receive the participants. The new participants must receive special attention,
being assisted and receiving instructions for use. The incentive is essential.
Motivator: to stimulate the participation. The moderator must monitor the discussions
and verify the participation level, leveraging the participation using of contacts and
provocations. The doubts must readily be directed to the possible specialist.
Judge: to solve the conflicts. As in any environment that involves people, in the
communities some conflicts between the participants occur. The moderator must act
based on the politics to nullify the conflict. When he detects possible sources of conflict,
he must act quickly and with discernment.
To assume those roles, he must have some skills. The challenge considered in this work implies
in a reflection on some empirical moderator experiences of Communities, and revision of
literature, highlight the main skill for a good performance:
Leadership Skills: the moderator must open communication channels with the
participants, allowing to absorb its demands and to construct a vision that reflects the
thought of the Community. The members will feel that their objectives had been
considered and will support the mission of the leader.
Negotiation Skill: the moderator must constantly negotiate the demands related to the
participation with the members; the moderator must have in mind the scarcity of time and
to show good point to engage people in order to participate. The negotiation is not only
limited to the internal participants, sometimes the moderator will have to negotiate with
external organizations, representing the Community.
Communication Skill: it involves the good communication with the different members of
the Community, some recognized as experts and others with little experience. The
communication of the rules and limits must be clear to them all. He must possess good
99
writing to prevent misleading interpretation and easiness of oral communication to

represent the community in events.
Conflict Management Skill: some conflicting subjects, competitions between

members/institutions and personal characteristics of the participants lead to conflicts. The
moderator must understand the characteristics of the participants and prevent that conflict
become constant in the environment of the Community. The moderator must be a great
fire fighterand, above all, to use positively this kind of situations that can exist.
Technical Skill: the virtual environment demands adequate use of specific tools, so the
moderator must have technical skill to transit freely in this environment. The technique
does not mean to dominate programming skills, but know how to interact, without
problems, within the virtual environment and how to obtain the best results of the
technological resources.
It can be affirmed that the main function of a moderator is know how to deal with people. He
must possess good perception of the individual necessities to motivate them to share knowledge.
Its important to know that the abilities presented here do not deplete all characteristics necessary
to find an ideal moderator, since this set of abilities is not easily found, but require a lot of
preparation.

The moderation must be aligned with the background information gathered on the preparation
part of this chapter. Some actions are specific according to the CoP characteristics, but empirical
evidences show some actions that delivers high value to any community:
Teaching how to use the tool and constantly collect feedbacks of the participants. To be
togetherwith the people (actually or virtually), divulging the Portal and also helping to
use the tool.
Monitoring constantly, mainly the new participants. Any anomaly detected in the tool
must immediately be addressed to the technical support, therefore the perfect functioning
of the forum is a key success factor of the community, since the unsatisfied will hardly
return or recommend the forum. The insertion of content together with the participants is
also important to help to create critical mass.
Sensibility to diversify the subjects under different perspectives, to know the people and
to engage them to participate. In the beginning, it is indicated to select a few subjects and
to deepen discussions. Many subjects can cause dispersion. To select the subjects, it is
essential to search and to conciliate diverse opinions.
Dynamism to keep the rhythm of the questionings and doubts that appears. They must be
directed for users with capacity to answer them. The one that answers the questions must
be thanked with high impact.
Shelter each new participant with welcome followed of tips that stimulate the
participation. Each new participant must receive an email with a welcome message.
The dynamics of the forums will allow the moderator to create different profiles of participants,
amongst which: the active participant, the capricious one, receptive and the specialist. Using
those profiles, he can use different models of treatment in accordance with them (Table 4).
100
Active: he participates on a spontaneous and continuous form;
Capricious: he is registered, but he rarely participates and disappears for long periods;
Receptive: He constantly access the community and he observes what it is happening;
Specialist: he rarely participates in a spontaneous form, but it reacts when necessary

Table 4: Characteristics of different groups of actors.
Active
Capricious
Receptive
Specialist
Participation
Frequent
Rare
Frequent
Sporadical
Importance
High
Low
Average
High
Treatment
suggested
Special Care Supervision
Provoker
Special Cares
Low
Average /low
High
Impact of the Average

participation
Position
Pro-active
Reactive
Accomodated.
Active.
Main action
To
participate
Not defined
To observe
To answer
The negotiation with other entities will make possible the collaboration, access and share of
information. The contribution must be stimulated in different levels, with the goal to promote
initiatives that promote growth. The developed partnerships must be explored, mainly to promote
events and generation of contents.

To ensure that the moderation process is giving true results, its important to use some metrics,
using metrics to access the CoP results its a complex and controversial subject that deserves a
full chapter and its beyond the scope of this chapter. Measuring the results provide some
background information to the moderator who can reconsider his actuation. Below we list some
possible metrics:
Access / Participation
Creation of Content
Events
New Members
Stories of Success
Interaction between geographically disperse members
101

The ABIPTIs 1 communities of practices are part of a major project of a Management of
Technology Portal, the project is a result of a partnership of the Ministry of Science and
Technology, the Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP) and the ABIPTI.
Specifically in the ABIPTI, the project is concerned with actions to stimulate the knowledge
sharing among the professionals of the 15 institutions affiliated to the ABIPTI. It was decided to
develop Communities of Practice as the main action to nurture the collaboration, initially, the
communities domains were: Quality Management (QM), Intellectual Property (IP), Geological
Risks and Feeding Security. Those communities (Figure 2) were created because the knowledge
flow is better when there is a specific theme to the community. The domain of the community
was chosen by professionals of the institutions during ABIPTIs meeting, those themes are
important to a broad range of institutions and there are teams of experts to deal with questions
related on the communities. This case study deals with two communities (IP and QM) during the
year of 2004.
Figure 2: ABIPTIs Communities Portal

There are a lot of cases of communities that enabled huge financial results. This kind of results
come, in general, from specifics economics scenarios and value chains, so, its very sensible to
changes.
Research institutes, our research object, are less sensible to changes then other kinds of
organizations, because there are well defined technological lifecycles and structured processes of
changes. The essence of a research institute is defined by limited resources and strict financing
scenarios. Thus, it would be improper, an analysis that emphasizes the success of a Community
based on immediate financial returns.
The criteria to be considered while assessing the results of the community must be aligned with
the main goals of the Management of Technology Portal project, it is possible to identify that one
of the main objectives is the integration and interaction among the institutes.
Considering the context presented, an important criteria is the range of the institutes in the
communities. To answer this criteria, its important to see that the institutes are from different
1
ABIPTI: Its a Brazilian association of institutions that research new technologies
102
parts of Brazil (Fucapi Amazonas; SENAI Cettind Bahia; Tecpar Paran; Cetec Minas
Gerais; Fiocrus Rio de Janeiro; Cientec Rio Grande do Sul; etc). Other important questions
that show the results of the communities are the outputs created by the members. The experience
with the community provided events of great success (Figure 3)
Figure 3: Tecpar - November 2004 /Paran

The table below (Table 5) presents information about the events:
Table 05: CommunitiesEvents
Themes
Local
Date
Quality Management
IPT So Paulo
September - 2004
Intellectual Property
Tecpar - Paran
November 2004
The community also enabled the development of researches and academic papers, with
prominence for the monograph carried through with focus in the Community of Practice of the
Abipti (Priscilla Alves, Instituto de Educao Superior de Braslia - Comunidades de Prtica)
To renew the membersengagement, its important to show the moments of interaction with
success experiences (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Experience of Cooperation2
Welligton requested some models of contracts. Vnia and Zanon answered the request and helped Welligton to
face this challenge.
103
One indicator of the operation of a community is the capability to create interaction and show the
importance to internal and external members. The ABIPTI community stimulates relationships
with external actors with great success with organizations such as ASPI (http://www.aspi.org.br
Associao Paulista de Propriedade Intelectual), Rede Tecnologica REPICT from Rio de
Janeiro (http://redetec.org.br) and, with the help of Angela Puhlmann (IPT), responsible by the
nucleus of Intellectual Property of the Institute, the events are divulged on a crossed form.
(http://www.ipt.br)
To follow (Table 6), detail some statistics of the Community of Intellectual Property (used as
reference), demonstrating the evolution in the use. The result shows a substantial improvement in
all factors.
Table 6: Evolution Intellectual Property Community
February 2004
Abril 2004
November *2004
Accesses
650
1072
2630
Documents published
58
42
100
Number of downloads in
the Library
165
221
230
Participation in the Forum
96
117
316
Participation in the P&R
17
20
Participants
60
98
108
It is important to stand out that the great contribution in publications is the fact that allows the
community access highly qualified digital knowledge base validated by a public of experts on
the subject.
Another important aspect is the growth in the number of participants. It makes possible to infer
the alignment of the culture to share knowledge between the diverse institutes. The increase of
participation in the forums reflects the dynamism of exchange of information and knowledge
between the participants (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Testimonial of Interaction in the Communitys Forum
104

To identify the main actors and subjects that can awake the interest of the Community;
It is advisable to create at least one part of the forum especially destined to the presentation
of new participants;
To promote the participation of the members of the forums identifying the motivational
factors for each group of participants;
To stimulate that each participant post a first message in the forum;
To consider and to open new subjects to prevents that the discussions turn aside from the
subject originally considered;
To present and to foment the discussion of the norms and behaviours of the forum.
Publication of photos of the participants is an excellent resource to be used in the forums
The propagation of photos next to the messages is indicated
The creation of formswith photo and some basic data of identification of the participants
of the Community
Synchronous tools of communication such as chat will be useful to promote bigger
interaction between the people. Whenever it is possible, invite specialists for moderated
chats.
Not to organize and co-ordinate the process of presentation of new members of the forums;
Leave messages of new participants without reply;
Leave new participant of the forum alone;
To allow conflicts between participants;
To take the decisions without consulting the group.
Acknowledgements
David Kato: Family (Joseir, Tiyaki and Tarsila). Friends (China, Abdiel, Bigode, Dani,
Rolando, Emylli, HU, HC, people from Bandeirantes and FEA/USP) I know Ive been a distant
friend, but I keep you all at my heart. Andr Fischer (thank you masters). Guys (and Girls) from
TerraForum (the best KM / Innovation /Portals team in the world).
Devanildo Damio: Family (Jos, Incia, Simone, brothers and sister) You are very important.
Friends (Mauro, Gimenes, Machado, Rita and people from Unimesp, Famosp and Impacta) I`ll
pay the next lunch.Masters (Barroso, Letcia, Desire, Terra, Plonski) I wait that it is good,
because I learned with you.
105
Amidon, D. (2002) The Innovation SuperHighway: Harnessing Intellectual Capital for
Collaborative Advantage, Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN: 0750675926.
Floriano Jr, P. (2004) Gesto do Conhecimento em Comunidades de Prtica: Estudo de Caso na
Comunidade da Construo da Grande Florianpolis. Florianpolis: Trabalho de
Concluso de Curso.
Hernandes, C., and Fresneda, P. (2003) Fatores crticos de sucesso para o estabelecimento e a
operao de comunidades de prtica virtuais. So Paulo: KM Brasil (Anais).
Kazi, A.S., Koivuniemi, A., and Mksen, P. (2005) Use of Social Processes for Good Practice
Capture in Project Based Industries, Proceedings of the CIB W102 Conference on
Information and Knowledge in the Global Economy, Lisbon, Portugal, 19-20 May, 2005,
pp. 45-54.
Kimieck, J. (2002) Consolidao de Comunidades de Prtica: um estudo de caso no PROINFO.
Curitiba: Dissertao de mestrado.
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Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nonaka, I., and Konno, N. (1998) The Concept of Ba: Building a Foundation for Knowledge
Creation, California Management Review, Vol. 40, No.3, pp. 40-54.
Nonaka, I., and Takeuchi, H. (1997) Criao de Conhecimento na Empresa: como as Empresas
Japonesas Geram a Dinmica da Inovao. So Paulo: Campus.
Piper, S. (2003) Comunidades de Prticas e Sistemas de Informao: Um exemplo na rea
ambiental. Curitiba: Dissertao de mestrado.
Terra, J.C.C. (2005) Comunidades de Prtica: conceitos,
http://www.terraforum.com.br (date accessed: 02 april, 2005).
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Terra, J.C.C. and Gordon, C. (2002) Portais corporativos: a revoluo na gesto do

conhecimento. So Paulo: Negcio Editora.
Tsang, E. (1997) Organizational learning and learning organization: a dichotomy between
descriptive and prescriptive research, Human Relations, Vol. 50, No.1, pp.73-89,
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E., McDermontt, R., and Snyder, W. (2002) Cultivating communities of practice.
Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
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http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/119281 (date accessed: 14 July, 2005).
106
Author Biographies
David Kato is graduated on administration at FEA/USP and has acted

as consultant for the TerraForum in projects dealing with Knowledge
Management, Corporate Portals and Innovation in large organizations
such as Aracruz, CVRD, Dell, Brazilian Treasury Department,
Syngenta, TAM, Votorantim.
Devanildo Damio is Master on Technology Management. He is an
associated consultant at TerraForum and worked at Abipti community
of practice. He has acted as teacher on knowledge management and
quality management. He is specialized in innovation, habitats of
innovation like business incubators and technology parks.
107
Building a Global
Online Community
Cneyt Budak
Keywords:
Web-based Communities, Online Communication, Global Social
Networks, Web Portal Design
Building a Global Online

Community
Cneyt Budak, Dept. of Visual Communication Design, Yeditepe University, Turkey
(cbudak@yeditepe.edu.tr)

This chapter outlines the design process for a thematic web portal targeting to build an online
community involving all the interested people in the world. The aim in such an initiative is to
publicize and promote creative contributions from all around the world, and provide an open and
useful database for all presentations and related resources. In order to become global,
practitioners and scholars from all countries should be invited to submit or nominate new work
or research to be featured on this portal for the appreciation and evaluation by an international
community.
"New social software technologies can support the conference experience, and perhaps go
beyond." (Suter, et al. 2005) We can even predict that a global online community, collaborating
at a portal with an adequate design for a specific content, being easily accessible for a much
wider public anytime can be much more effective than many international conferences.
As Kevin Kelly (2005) has wonderfully described, There is only one time in the history of each
planet when its inhabitants first wire up its innumerable parts to make one large Machine. Later
that Machine may run faster, but there is only one time when it is born. You and I are alive at
this moment. The future of the "Semantic Web" will converge all our of diverse efforts for
online collaboration on a ubiquitous platform. (Shadbolt, et al. 2006) But still "Provenance -that
is, the when, where, and conditions under which data originated- has become a key requirement
in a range of applications. We might well need the help of researchers in areas as diverse as
social network analysis and epidemiology to understand how information and concepts spread on
the Web and how to establish their provenance and trustworthiness."
Crompton and Murchland (2002) have attempted to identify the Critical Success Factors in
online community building as good leadership, strong relationships and effective environment.
They categorized the key features of the effective community environment, i.e. the portal, as
follows (although they regard them not as critical as the former two factors):
Identification of the author, time, topic and keywords for each contribution;
Capacity to edit contributions for a nominated period;
Search facilities based on forum, keywords, text, date ranges and authors;
Capacity to contribute files / documents and images to supplement text;
Facilities to organise / index these supplementary objects;
Ability to determine what members had last read in order to determine whether they have
had a chance to read recent contributions;
Tools for monitoring participation, enabling leaders to contact those who withdraw to
seek feedback and encourage participation; and
Tools for survey, polls, or other mechanisms for determining opinions or making
decisions.
111
The ideas that are discussed in this chapter draw from our recent experience in designing a
global community portal for knowledge creation in a specific field, i.e. architecture. Formulating
a generic description of the characteristics encompassing all the possible Online Knowledge
Networks would be a too ambitious task for this study. But it also appears to be true that the
model we have developed can easily be adapted for other global community portals each one
focusing at a different theme and content. In our globalizing world, all professions or disciplines
artistic, technical, literary, or scientific- share similar concerns for international collaboration.
And the mechanisms required for the online sharing and discussing of designs, artworks, articles,
or other products of creativity and scholarship are basically the same. Thus the guidelines
explained in the following sections can be helpful in building different global communities for
sharing thematic content as diverse as music, fashion, poetry, industrial design, or agricultural
practices.
The BETA version of the The World Architecture (WA) Community Portal will be fully functional
on March 2007 so that the readers of this chapter will be able to examine online all the
described processes and watch the growth of the community. We will also try to implement
experimental new features suggested by the KB community members during 2007.
Keywords: Web-based Communities, Online Communication, Global Social Networks, Web

Portal Design.

When you approach the online communities from the perspective of conventional CoP
experiences you might be disappointed with the results of most experiments for online
cooperation (SCHWEN and HARA, 2003). Facilitating existing real world communities with
online instruments poses a completely different set of problems than those when one is trying to
create in cyberspace a community from scratch. The very existence of such a project depends on
the achievement of a certain "critical mass" in terms of contributing members, the size of which
varies according to the scale of expectations -mainly determined by the "focus" of the projectwhich is hard to quantify. (Preece, 2003: 16)
This condition requires a special attention to "the five dimensions of usability" as defined by
Quesenbery (2003): a product should comply with the 5 E's creating usability goals by being
Effective, Efficient, Engaging, Easy to Learn, and Error Tolerant.
One main issue to be considered here is the "Digital (and Cultural) Divide" because a basic
premise of our approach is that the contributions from all parts of the world will have equitable
chances to be represented, promoted, reviewed and criticized at this international arena. This
implies a special emphasis on the countries that are not sufficiently covered by international
media. If the core content of the website is visual, it mainly addresses a visual literacy that all
professionals and enthusiasts are expected to share. But the language barrier will remain as a
major drawback against a truly transcultural collaboration until translation software become
more plausible.
The specific objectives of a thematic portal can be defined as follows:
provide a guide to related contemporary practices in all countries.
facilitate access to THEORYfor all scholars, students, and enthusiasts;
stimulate public interest in the related field to overcome the introvert character of the
disciplinary discourse and make it a issue of general intellectual culture and gossip;
112
help responsible professionals and interested clients meet each other at a global scale;
provide an opportunity for local practices to become internationally recognized and

discussed by prominent scholars;
make the expertise and experience in the related industries of all countries globally
available;
enable professionals from diverse conditions to confront their ideas and concepts, share
their experiences, broaden their knowledge, and learn from their differences;
discuss the role of the profession in developing conditions by questioning the established
paradigm of the discipline;
question issues of modernism, globalization, identity, inequality and development;
use the Internets potential for transforming educational theory and practice in the
specific field of study by linking the resources and talents of a global community
IN SEARCH OF NEW PARADIGMS AND REVOLUTIONARY OUTLOOKS

New paradigms in the evolution of a discipline, in general, can best emerge from the new
information networks that are inclusive. This pattern is most plausible for art and design
practices of our concern, in particular. Basically, local practices have available only an
established abstract notion of their discipline and a closed local community of professionals and
scholars from a similar background to have their work evaluated. Our claim here is that these
conditions can only be overcome through a rich dialogue within a transnational community.
If we consider the established paradigm of a discipline as a well-defined and well-fortified
territory, the Internet provides free territory to form new communities outside its hegemony.
What is primarily a "public domain" in the internet might easily turn into a "communal domain",
develop away from abstract discourse to an agora for "communicative action," embrace
diversity, and reveal contradictions present in the established discourse.
GIVING VOICE TO THE VOICELESS
If we return to our specific case for a dramatic
example, anyone familiar with architectural
websites is aware of the domination of the prevalent
paradigm of architecture throughout the world. You
may find excellently designed websites from South
America or throughout Asia promoting the same
few European architects as representing
contemporary architecture. It is true that perfection
or high aspirations in architecture may not be a
priority in backward conditions. But there is large
building activity everywhere, the architecture of
which remains deprived from any public or
professional criticisms that are essential for their
development.
One of them is in Ethiopia, an experimental
dwelling in Addis Ababa by Ahadu Abaineh. This
dwelling, by good chance, won an award from The
Architectural Review magazine in Britain in 2002.
A HOUSE FROM ETHIOPIA
113
This "ar+d" award is conceived to discover and celebrate the work of architects and designers
not necessarily well known and usually at the start of independent careers.
After this particular publicity, the building became one of the scarce references from countries in
backwards conditions for Western scholars. In 2004 it became one of the few examples from
Africa in The Phaidon Atlas Of Contemporary World Architecture. In 2005, this building again
appeared in another international publication, The New Modern House by Will Jones
published by Princeton University Architectural Press.
HIGHLIGHTING BEST PRACTICES
One of the main objectives of a global CoP portal should be the surveillance of recent
professional activity that does not have easy access to international media (or does not have a
determined urge to be publicized widely) and bringing those efforts to the attention of the global
community. The exploration of local and individual efforts can provide a great impetus to the
development of the professional discourse.
One major problem is the design of a mechanism through which quality can be recognized
among the high quantity of mostly uninteresting submissions. Actually, democratization goes
hand-in-hand with the devaluation of merit whether in works related to art, science, philosophy,
or journalism. As we have explained elsewhere, the modernist notion of the artistic genius
evaporates in the mechanistic creativity of the multitude(Aydin and Budak, 2005). The same is
true for linguistic creativity, academic and scholarly authorship. Quantity and equality, by
definition, override quality in egalitarian and popular social networks. The memberssupporting
votes or ratings for submissions by other members will provide a context:
to identify and publicize those humble efforts of local practices that embody a remarkable
mastery and creativity;
to promote those individuals who may already be revered by a restricted community but
whose work is not yet recognized by the international community;
to choose from the work of promising young masters anywhere in the world who need a
context for their experiments to be reviewed and criticized;
to highlight specific projects and practices by well-established offices or individual

professionals which might otherwise go unnoticed by the extraordinary abundance of
information due to the acceleration and globalization in communication.
Diversity plus freedom of choice creates inequality, and the greater the diversity, the more
extreme the inequality. (...) power law distributions tend to arise in social systems where many
people express their preferences among many options. We also know that as the number of
options rise, the curve becomes more extreme. The established star system that reigns in any
professional scene, especially in the creative industries, is inevitable and will be reproduced in an
online rating system. Freedom of Choice Makes Stars Inevitable (...) Reversing the star system
would mean destroying the village in order to save it.(Shirky, 2003a)
The solution is simple: David Sifry, creator of the Technorati.com, has created the Technorati
Interesting Newcomers List, in part spurred by this article. The list is designed to flag people
with low overall link numbers, but who have done something to merit a sharp increase in links,
as a way of making the system more dynamic.(Shirky, 2003a) This is why a community portal
should encourage the members to concentrate on the latent potential of controversial experiments
in the ordinary, almost anonymous practice or production at every unexpected spot worldwide
when they are nominating or rating.
114

A generic web address is a good starting point for a global initiative. Otherwise, you should
manage to create a global brand name with an extraordinary product as YouTube did. In our
specific case, for example, the web address <www.worldarchitecture.org> was first registered in
March 2000. During the following years it was on-line as a static link directory referring to
online resources on contemporary architectural practice in each country of the world. With this
feature alone, where only 800 links could be provided, Encyclopedia Britannica Online
mentioned the World Architecture website among "The Web's Best 10 Architectural Sites"
during 2002, and this was the result of the policy that guided the selection of links at the start:
namely a positive discrimination for the favor of peripheral positions.
The directories at a community portal that really aspires to become global should mainly
function as a "Surfer's Digest and Guide", a directory providing links to websites representing
the contemporary scene of all countries in the world. One of the tasks of the editorial team
preparing the seed directory during the preliminary phase is critical as a reflection of the future
direction for the portal. They have to collect basically links from each country to the main
institutions, periodicals, and articles, and individual efforts that offer online material reflecting
the contemporary practice in that country. Personal websites of professionals and commercial
practices can be omitted if their sites do not contain valuable research material. An important
advice related to this kind of preparation is not to neglect recording the contact e-mail addresses
for each link during the initial search efforts. This database is the main tool for announcing and
promoting when launching the website.
A thematic portal should be launched with a directory of initially prepared links and then ask the
concerned contact persons and country editors to improve the content with original material.
This process provides a continuously updated directory of annotated links arranged in an
extensive catalogue of separate information pages.
INVITED EDITORIAL BOARD AT THE OUTSET
In order to accomplish its mission, a global community portal has to establish an editorial
structure that allows the managing and control of the community participating in the various
processes and providing the content. Through initial correspondence, a considerable group of
"Associate editors" including leading critics, writers and academicians selected from every
country should be determined from the start. They will join voluntarily upon invitation by the
leading team and will have the privilege of nominating new members, and other editors to be
invited. Editors are expected to comment on submissions and other issues, rate them, submit
tidbits, news, links, articles and reviews. They should be systematically notified of the recent
submissions, designs, articles, news, tidbits, best of the week and best of the month awards
through a specialized interface. They should also be notified about the contributions from their
native countries via e-mail.
INTERNATIONAL STARS
Personal pages for the most famous names, the celebrities in the profession, or internationally
respected scholars can also be created in advance utilizing material already available online.
Then, during the Beta-Phase, these stars can be invited to revise the content of their pages if they
wish.
The Stars list should basically comprise contemporary masters of international reputation and
with commissions from diverse countries. New names can eventually be added to this section
upon the suggestions of the editors. Avancini and Straccia (2005) have developed related
algorithms of "user recommendation for collaborative and personalised digital archives."
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The software integration and development of the Knowledge Management System (KMS) for a
large portal can take several months. At the beginning, the project should be discussed with
successive groups of programmers and designers integrating their suggestions. Detailed
requirements of the system and the database architecture have to be articulated parallel to the
graphic design of the various pages, which can require 3-5 months even for a dedicated team.
Final integration requires one or two months. However, the KMS can be continually improved
over a much longer period.
During the Beta-Phase the incompleteness of the design may be a virtue to make people get
involved as concerned community members: The application's lack of generality or
completeness communicated something -We built this for you- that the impersonal facade of
RateMyProfessors.com doesn't have and can't fake.(Shirky, 2004)
DIRECTORIES
Directories should provide a continuously updated directory of annotated links arranged in an
extensive catalog of separate information pages about:
contemporary professionals in ALL countries
internationally famous masters of the profession (~200)
Works / best practices submitted by members and arranged by various categories
theoretical issues related to the discipline with reference to online resources / books /
articles
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NEWS and TIDBITS

Editorial news in a community portal is a remnant of printed media habits: they can principally
be in the form of links to other sites, each with a short description. It can be a useful feature if
News can be browsed by various categories such as Design News, Competitions, New Books,
International Events, etc.
Tidbits should be conceived as similarly selected links that are not news but resources that are of
great interest to the majority of community members. Categories of Tidbits can include Design
ideas, Theory related, Fun, Adversary - Opposition, and Convenience
A Bulletin that contains recent news and 1-3 most interesting Tidbits can be sent to the members
with a variable periodicity of their own choice. This choice might range from daily to monthly.
All Visitors and Editors should be invited to submit News and Tidbits.
CONTENT PAGES
Information Pages for each item constituting the content of the directory (Country profile /
member or master profile / artwork or project profile / theoretical or historical concept) should
basically contain:
Very short info (Keywords, place, date, explanation of significance, etc.)
Hyperlinks to other items within our database
Annotated off-site links
MEMBER PAGES and PROJECT PAGES: All professionals or amateurs can be invited to
submit their work and create a portfolio at the community portal. Students / professionals can
also be invited to submit unrealized projects (drawings, sketches of utopian or fantastic ideas,
student projects and exercises, rejected proposals, competition entries, etc.)
COUNTRY PAGES: should be initially prepared by the portal's in-house team utilizing already
available material of previous research. These pages provide a general framework for online
resources that reflect the professional scene in every country.
THEORY & ISSUES PAGES: An interesting feature that can be developed for the discussion of
most diverse issues related to the general theme of the portal is a growing collection of entries
interlinked by cross-referencing among related issuesthat can be introduced and developed by
voluntary members who will eventually become Issue Editors. This extensive Thesaurus of
Ideaswill easily guide the visitors to articles either in the portal's database or elsewhere on-line.
Theoretical issues, research areas and subjects can be discussed as encyclopedic entries in
separate pages providing links to relevant online resources, recent books and other related issue
pages in the portal's database. During the Beta-Phase, academicians can be invited to revise the
content of their areas of interest.
Content pages for many entries can be created in advance, utilizing material that has been
compiled by the portal's in-house team of editors. This section can be developed eventually with
contributions from Members and Associated Editors.
HIGHLIGHTING SUBMITTED WORK
An editorially selected collection of "Recent Citations", "Spotlights of Recent Weeks" and
"Earlier Months" featured on the main page can promote those works and projects that are shortlisted by the Editorial Board regarding Memberssupporting votes. Being selected to stay under
the "Spotlights" on the main page for a long time means an opportunity to set the agenda for the
Community to discuss and develop the ideas embodied in these works that would remain
unnoticed in existing communication channels.
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VIP LOUNGE: AN EXCLUSIVE FORUM (~150 MEMBERS)

Forums in community portals are usually spoiled by the multitude and heterogeneity of the
participants. As an alternative to forums open to all community members an exclusive VIP group
of invited members can be formed to commence a moderated and exciting forum. These
members can be chosen as an exclusive group of famous professionals, acclaimed critics,
academics and theoreticians, editors of professional magazines, curators and other experts from
cultural centers and other organizations, authorities from various institutions and governmental
bodies especially interested in issues related to the general theme of the portal. The VIP lounge
can provide an arena in which VIP members may convene to discuss their shared interest in
contemporary issues. The discussion can be stirred up through news edited by associate editors
who are admitted to enter the lounge and bring up issues to discuss. This Forum is not accessible
by other users; but every active community member has an opportunity to be assigned in the
forum according to the intensity of his/her contribution to the portal. Polemics and hot debates
from the VIP area can then be occasionally reported to the whole community as news stories.

Bouras et al. (2005) have utilized for webbased communities a classical 4-tier user hierarchy
(Visitor, Administrator, Member, and Group leader) and analyzed their roles and relationships in
detail. Key roles and respective activities in effective CoPs and online forums has been
differentiated as follows: Thought Leader, Facilitator, Mentor, Participant, Legitimate Peripheral
Participant (LPP who are also described in the literature as vicarious learnersor lurkers,
(Thomson, et al. 2004: 3-4) Leuchter, et al. (2003: 960) have categorized the roles in an open
software developing technical community as "anonymous (who can read), pseudonymous
(anonymous identity, who can create, modify, rate), category moderator (who can structure) and
super moderator (who will communicate)" and visualized them as concentric groups. In
structuring the role models in a global community portal you have to empathize with the various
kinds of potential users specific to the theme, aim, and context of your project. But research on
the behaviour of users in substantially different types of communities can provide invaluable
insight by analogy.
Protecting the privacy of registered members through pseudonymity is almost a naturalized
tendency in web-based communities where balancing individual's privacy and society's security
becomes a critical issue. (Perik, et al. 2005: 20) Demchak and Fenstermacher (2005) analyzed
user modeling through a policy lens, known as the behavior-identity knowledge (BIK)
framework and offered suggestions on how to protect user privacy. In the conception of a
community portal for professionals where they can submit their work you have no other choice
than requiring the real identities for registration and all members are expected to behave
accordingly taking full responsibility of their contributions. This will also discourage excessive
illegitimate activity.
Deciding on the details of registration membership procedures is an important policy matter.
Grohol (2006) tried to summarize commonsense basics of registration and membership issues in
six steps. His point regarding the absurdity of e-mail validation procedures is worth considering.
A community portal brings people together to build community-maintained artifacts of lasting
value (CALVs). Motivating people to contribute is a key problem because the quantity and
quality of contributions ultimately determine a CALVs value. Cosley, et al. (2006) posed two
related research questions: 1) How the intelligent task routing -matching people with workaffect the quantity of contributions? 2) How does reviewing contributions before accepting them
affect the quality of contributions?An extension of dynamic user modeling techniques (see also
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Kobsa and Cranor, Eds. 2005),Intelligent task routing is a rather technical issue beyond our
scope here but it is a tool that will define the future of online communities.
Questions related to filtering and reviewing contributions, on the other hand, are vital in
shaping the nature of contributions, hence, a major issue in design decisions: Pre-Review
systems may increase peoples willingness to contribute or deter people from damaging the
system compared to Wiki-Like. Here, the PreReview group had more editors and total
contributons, while prior work showed that review before acceptance reduced antisocial behavior
compared to a system with no review. Designers might use the model to reason about trade-offs
between short-term speed and long-term quality. Fielding a Wiki-Like system until contributions
taper off and then switching to a higher-equilibrium Pre-Review system may let designers have it
both ways." (Cosley, et al. 2006) At a community portal, you have also developed a check point,
where all postings will be checked and obviously irrelevant material is vetoed at inception.
One reason Wikipedia works is that it highlights recently changed pages so members can
review others contributions. However, Wikipedia gets thousands of contributions per day,
making it hard for people to find contributions they might care about. By intelligently routing
changes to people who are most likely to care about checking them, we can increase motivation
to contribute and the quality of our database while reducing contributorsworkload.(Cosley,
2005a) At a global community portal, Country editors and Associate Editors should be provided
with personal message boards in their MyPage space where they can track recent postings
concerning their specific tasks forwarded to them by administrators. This feature can further be
enhanced by intelligent task routing.
MEMBERS AS EDITORS
A rather self-evident feature of virtual communities, which is still significant for understanding
the potentials of mobilizing collective action, is that there is no practical limit on the size of the
community. As a result, communities can grow very large in scale, and can enjoy input and
feedback by many contributors (although, in all likelihood, as the scale goes up the cohesiveness
of the community declines). For example, when a member posts a query to the community
website or requires assistance, a large audience is available to supply an answer. Just due to the
sheer number of members, it is likely that some expertsor members with private information
would contribute comments or references. If the comments are made public but are deficient or
incomplete, other members can provide corrections and feedback. (Lev-On, 2006) All
registered members of an online community should be called "Editing Members." They can
include professionals, students, and people from various occupations related to the discipline.
They should be invited to comment on submitted works and introduced issues, rate them, submit
their projects, designs, articles, tidbits, news and links. Their contributions, corrections and
feedback should be considered essential for the community portal as a many-to-many medium.
Abundance of user contributions does not necessarily indicate sustainability of an online
community. On the contrary, excessive contributions in the systems may result in information
overload and user withdrawal." Cheng and Vassileva (2005a) propose an adaptive rewards
mechanism aiming to restrict the quantity of the contributions, elicit contributions with higher
quality and simultaneously inhibit inferior ones. Cheng (2005b) developed this incentive
mechanismto take into account the quality of user contributions, i.e. to reward the contributions
with high quality, inhibit inferior ones and restrict the contributions. Such a mechanism should
definitely be integrated to the portal of a large community because there are too many editorial
tasks to be performed and members are expected to compete for higher editorial status.
Cosley, et al (2005), advises use oversight in helping members maintain their communities.
Oversight improves outcomes and increases contributions. Use oversight mechanisms to

improve quality, reduce antisocial behavior, and help reduce the risks of membermaintained communities.
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We found no differences between peer and expert oversight in quality or quantity of

contributions. Take the burden off of community owners and share it with the members.
Some of them really want to help.
Major differences in quality can be attributed to individuals. Increase the quality of

contributions by selecting for the best contributors, and by improving the capabilities of
individual users, e.g., through training.
Telling people about oversight may increase their motivation to contribute. Tell them
about oversight to encourage good contributors and discourage bad ones. (We do not
recommend lying about oversight. Users will find out.)
A number of users surveyed said they did not see our invitation link. Make opportunities
to contribute obvious. Do not assume that ignoring an offer is intentional."
When completing the registration form users can be asked to express their intention to become
an Associated Editor. All contributions are then recorded and traced by in-house editors and
members will be noticed when they are assigned to an editorial position of greater responsibility
and privileges. There can be mainly two types of information pages that should be maintained by
editors: Country Pages and Issue Pages. A third type that requires volunteers' care is a past
Master's Page. There can be several editors representing each country or responsible of a issue or
the page for a past master and the only measure to be chosen as a page editor will be the degree
of the member's editorial activity. Below are details of the scenario:
COUNTRY EDITORS: Representing a country requires that the delegated editors should
occasionally verify and edit all the recently submitted links to the respective Country Page. Your
Names of these editors should appear at the header to that page. Country editors will also be
expected to submit new names for invitation to membership and verify those names nominated
by other members. All project or artwork submissions, news, tidbits and proposed links related to
a country should be forwarded to the mailbox of responsible Country Editors who can check
them for any fraud or misinformation, and edit or veto if necessary. Once checked by an Editor
each entry will be published as edited by that name, except being vetoed by another Editor
consequently. Otherwise, all Editors can comment or discuss all submissions on respective
pages.
RECOGNIZED PROFESSIONALS OR MASTERS FEATURED IN COUNTRY PAGES:
Country editors can be assigned to decide which masters should be highlighted as representing
the professional scene in their country. Young talents could be nominated, too, but all members
should be invited to create Content Pages for older masters of the profession and contribute to
already created ones by simply providing relevant links or posting images of the specific works
they admire. All such efforts should be honored at the header of respective pages.
ISSUE EDITORS: If a system of THEORY & ISSUES PAGES is provided, members will be
invited to relate their submissions to already available Issue Pages or create pages for new issues
when they are submitting articles or links. Eventually other community members will be
referring to these entries from other issue pages, too.
Members will then recognize that there are many issue pages in draft form waiting to be
developed by them when they are submitting links of related resources. They should be invited
to begin editing these issue pages or creating new ones. A member should become the exclusive
editor of a page if her contributions to it reach a certain level. For each member, her special areas
of academic interest may be a good starting point to create and edit Issue Pages. Consequently
each member's editing activities should also define her authority on specific subjects.
MOTIVATIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
The basic rationale of contributing to a global community is self-promotion either for academic
or professional recognition worldwide. Professionals are usually too busy in their productive,
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creative work and do not bother to struggle for publicity or do not like to spend time and energy
for popular presentations. Most of them are too shy for that but they need to be recognized and
criticized for personal development. If a global community portal can create a sense of
community despite its large size, it will be a novel and exciting experience for professionals or
artists in their solitary commitment to their discipline.
On the other hand, all professionals or artists like their works to be discovered, recognized, and
appreciated by critics. If they are nominated for a global community and invited to submit their
portfolio, it will be a honorary development to be included in a global database. This will
definitely be a win-win situation rather than pure benevolence. This is also true for contributions
to theoretical issues and essays that discuss submitted works because all of these efforts can
create an international reputation or a wider appraisal for those who are already recognized in
their relatively smaller circles.
Professionals or artists are also eager to criticize different approaches that may appear as an
insult to their craft. This might cause heavy disputes and even flaming but all kinds of
controversy will actually be useful for inciting further contributions.
Cheng (2005b) proposed a motivational strategy that might also encourage members' posting,
reviewing, and rating activities. "The basic idea is to introduce a set of hierarchical memberships
into the online community and assign different memberships to the users depending on their
levels of participation in the system. Higher memberships are associated with certain rewards:
higher visibility in the community, more power, or better quality of service. The underlying
hypothesis is that such rewards would motivate users to actively participate and contribute to the
community.The suggested mechanisms for citing and highlighting remarkable submissions at a
Portal is based on the same line of reasoning, and can further be developed as an incentive for
more sensitive nominations and ratings by the members.
A community portal should try to organize user contributions by assigning various levels of
editorial roles to all visitors. Thus it is also essential to analyze the behaviour of ordinary users.
Tamura, et al. (2003: 1015) have classified the users by the strength of their commitment to Listservers and suggested to restructure community space taking potential users as well as actual
users into consideration. They differentiated between:
Lead Users who lead the communities and play vital roles by providing information and by
organizing such information,
Silent Users who regularly collect information in particular online communities and utilize such
information for developing their own knowledge, but they rarely provide information
Bargain hunters who frequently use the internet but access online communities only when they
need information in there. They are not accustomed to observing any particular community and
rarely provide information.Tamura, et al. 2003:1015)
In all online communities the majority of visitors is and will always be the free riders or lurkers.
This pattern in general is ultimately a social phenomenon that we inherit from the mass media of
the twentieth century.
However, not everyone free rides. Many experiments have shown that people contribute to
public goods under some conditions. In other words, people sometimes do not maximize their
own individual utility. Economists have responded by modeling factors in addition to the value
and cost of a contribution. For example,
Reciprocity: people make or withhold contributions to others based on how others treat
them (Rabin 1993).
Inequality aversion: people adjust their effort based on their perception of what others
contribute on average.
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Increasing social welfare: people sometimes make decisions that increase the welfare of
all, especially those who are worse off.
This line of research holds promise for building member-maintained communities. (Cosley,
2005a)
"One key insight from the collective effort model is that people will be more likely to contribute
to a group task if they think their contribution does not duplicate what others can provide and is
thus needed for accomplishing the groups goal. Many online communities provide feedback on
the number or assessed quality of their contributions, like the top reviewerdesignations given
to some contributors on the www.epinions.com website. However, we know of no online
community that provides feedback to contributors about the uniqueness of their contributions.
Similarly, the key insight from Lockes theory of goal-setting is that people work hard to achieve
specific, challenging goals, but online communities rarely provide potential contributors with
specific, challenging goals to reach" (Beenen, et al, 2004)
In a global community portal, the various tasks that are classically assigned to moderators in
forums, will be performed by the administrators but also editors should be encouraged to share
the excessive load of care-taking and safeguarding. Having rules is fine but how should they be
enforced? There is no point making rules if they are not enforced. Moderators perform one of the
best known roles in online communities, but the extent of their roles may not be so well known.
Moderators performed many different tasks including:
Facilitating so that the group is kept focused and on-topic.
Managing the list, e.g. archiving, deleting and adding subscribers.
Filtering messages and deciding which ones to post. Typically this involves removing
flames, libelous posts, spam, inappropriate or distracting jokes and generally keeping the
ratio of relevant messages high, which is often described as the signal/noise ratio.
Being the expert, which involves answering frequently asked questions (FAQs) or
directing people to online FAQs, and understanding the topics of discussion
Editing text, digests or formatting messages.
Promoter of questions which generate discussion.
Marketing the list to others so that they join, which generally involves providing
information about it.
Helping people with general needs.
Being a fireman by ensuring that flaming and ad hominem attacks are done off-line.
(Preece and Maloney-Krichmar, 2003)
The work of Leuchter, et al. (2003: 960) supports many of the ideas that we try to advocate in
our aproach. They proposed a novel framework for online communities, which could facilitate
silent users, who have long been regarded as non-contributors to the conventional online
communities, to turn into active information providers: Special effort has to be made to
motivate users to act as content producers. Online community building is addressed by social
functions: registered users may adopt moderator roles; by design: rating is especially easy to
fulfil and is graphically emphasized; by technical functions: an interface proxy permits for easy
incorporation of new external web information into the catalogue; by organization: privacy and
security are important factors that we paid special attention to.
The activity of free riders or lurkers, the time spent or the links clicked by non-contributing
visitors is actually a measure of the usefulness or infotainment value for a knowledge-sharing
website. If we succeed in inciting them to rating -and also commenting eventually- they will
constitute an essential part for the functioning of the website and the existence of the community.
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The community success relies on activity of its users. They only engage if they gain a benefit.
Their avail is the content offered by other users so they have to accept it and thus have to trust
the content. Quality assurance is central because every registered user is allowed to place new
information in public readable sections of the portal.(Leuchter, et al. 2003: 960)
In an experiment with controlled groups, Fontaine and Millen (2004) tested the "change in time
spent" depending on intensity of use: active members showed significantly more improvement
then their less active counterparts. One interpretation of these results is that increased interaction
and coordination time is the voluntary price that active members pay for the benefits of
decreased information searching and processing time." These findings support our expectation
that experienced members can be more effective in fulfilling editorial functions than more lazy
Associated Editors.

An online community initiative is an open ended project that will not end but only start after
launching the website. If it is cultivated on an original concept fertile and versatile enough it has
a chance to evolve into an adaptive organism capable of taking into consideration the feedback
from experimental action. This is why the Beta phase after launching the web portal should be
regarded as very critical for the future success of an online community. Evaluation / criticism /
advise / reflexive and reactive adaptation constitute a process that an online community initiative
has to be prepared or even program beforehand.
Response to initial invitations will be critical to measure the reaction of the international
community to the project at large.
The traffic after the targeted announcements, the trend in the number of registrations,
contributions, uploads; views and comments will demonstrate the relevance of the
scenarios underlying the design of the portal.
The number of uploaded and linked articles as well as issue pages created by editing
members will provide a measure for the credibility of the team and the effectiveness of
initial statements.
Analyzing the number of hits following various types of announcements and mailings
will be instructive for their relative effectiveness.
Since the content is expected to be developed by the On-line Community the basic routes
expected to function seamlessly and need to be observed are that:
Preliminarily provided links are edited by related contact persons following invitation
mails.
Each visitor can easily upload content into the database (Easy registration - list of
categories / keywords to select from)
New entries are continuously tracked, evaluated (ranked / criticized) by an international

group of committed editors.
Recent citations are so interesting that they incite all visitors to engage in rating.
Many articles are uploaded by invited scholars and viewed, read or downloaded by most
of the visitors.
Strmer (2005: 106-108) provides a very useful and extended table concerning the promotion of
community building based on eight interviews with committed representatives of successful
open source projects.
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COLLABORATION WITH THEMATIC BLOGS

Thematic weblogs created and maintained by enthusiasts and amateurs in every field of study
provide invaluable resources for news and tidbits. The problem is that they are too many and
scattered in cyberspace. Global community portals that organize selected annotated links to their
updated content can act as useful reference points for surfers looking for fresh content in a
specific field.
If we again return to our specific case for an example, literally thousands of personal blogs can
be found that are rich resources about local news and issues related to architecture. Technorati
Blog Search Engine reports 847 Architecture blogs. Google Blog Search Engine reports 59,425
blogs that contain both the words architectureand architect, 200 of them posted in the last
week. A successfully global portal can collaborate with these blogs and ask them to announce
interesting postings at their site as links at the portal to reach a wider audience. They can also be
invited to place a Special Counter to their Blog page that will display how many times their blog
has been mentioned by a popular portal.
Blogs are islands that are not interlinked. Our suggestion to organize them in a central portal
through editorial intervention is a further step but "Ontologies and Semantic Web technologies
offer an upgrade path to providing more complex services. Fusing information and inferring
links between the various applications and types of information provides relevant insights that
make the available information on the Internet more valuable.(Breslin, et al. 2005) Compiling
RSS feed from carefully selected sites at thematic blogs was the primal form of automated
semantic interlinking.
"Today the problem of semantic interoperability in information search on the Internet is solved
mostly by means of centralization, both at a system and at a logical level. This approach has been
successful to a certain extent. Peer-to-peer systems as a new brand of system architectures
indicate that the principle of decentralization might offer new solutions to many problems that
scale well to very large numbers of users. The peer-to-peer system architectures can be applied
to tackle the problem of semantic interoperability in the large, driven in a bottom-up manner by
the participating peers. Such a system can readily be used to study semantic interoperability as a
global scale phenomenon taking place in a social network of information sharing peers." (Aberer,
et al, 2004) But to exorcize this kind of networking we have to wait for the ripening of a further
generation of Web applications.
COLLABORATION FOR IMPROVING THE PORTAL
The interactive architecture of a global portal can also be developed in collaboration with
dedicated members who have the required skills and expertise as it is a usual practice in the
development of Open Source Software: The new developers can learn their skills and work
practice by developing code that extends the systems functionality but does not interfere with its
core functionality. Gradually, the novices can then earn a reputation as reliable developers, and
become masters and gurus in the project communities. This process of social integration and
skills development is closely related to the architecture of the technical system that is being
developed.(Tuomi, 2005: 437, quoted in Bacon and Dillon, 2005)
Ontologies that are initially developed for the different parts of the portal can also be improved
with the intervention of members. This can be very useful to construct a flexible ontology for the
Theory and Issues Pages discussed above. Zhdanova (2006) in her Doctoral Dissertation
developed "an approach to ontology construction and its application to community portals" (See
also Zhdanova and Shvaiko, 2006)
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Since the background for this study is constituted by the design of an architectural portal in
particular, all the following cases are chosen from the same area of focus to compare their
respective approaches and performances.
World Architecture Community (http://www.worldarchitecture.org)
The basic concept underlying The World Architecture (WA) Community Web Portal is to create
an "Online Showcase of World Architectures." WA provides an opportunity for all architects to
present their work globally. Projects that are highlighted through ratings draw the attention of the
Associated Editors who are expected to write comments that stimulate further discussion on
these projects.
WA expects to collaborate from the start with 150+ Associate Editors from all countries of the
world and 150+ famous architects representing the international intelligentsia of architecture.
Professional and educational institutions and grassroots organizations (3000 in total) already
selected from each country and linked in the open directory will similarly be invited to contribute
to the growth and development of this initiative.
WA will also provide a practical guide into theoretical resources online for researchers and
students of architecture who feel perplexed in the growing body of globally available
information. This is especially felt in issues related to architecture that reflect an enthusiasm for
most diverse disciplines like philosophy and cultural studies.
ArchitectureWeek (http://www.architectureweek.com/media_kit.html)
is the leading architecture magazine online, covering new buildings worldwide and a spectrum of
design, technical, and cultural issues, with 350,000 monthly unique visitors, plus a weekly email
newsletter subscriber-ship of 100,000 and growing. This publication is completely designed as
the online version of a printed magazine following the genre of professional magazines in the
mass media notion without interactive features.
Emporis Buildings (http://www.emporis.com)
is the world's largest publicly available database on architectural and building data. The site is
maintained by Emporis, a multinational real estate research company, and is designed as an open
platform. It has succeeded to build an enthusiastic international community, but formerly being
"skyscrapers.com" it focuses mainly on the construction sector as an international business area
without any reference to theoretical, aesthetic, or academic issues.
Usage Statistics
Month
Pageviews
Unique
First Time Visitors
November 2005
11,513,909
1,168,948
1,067,291
December 2005
11,157,841
1,165,738
1,050,927
January 2006
12,127,563
1,365,648
1,225,556
February 2006
10,399,716
1,309,729
1,172,231
March 2006
14,234,567
1,972,433
1,763,674
April 2006
14,321,595
1,921,334
1,708,427
Arch Net (http://archnet.org/lobby.tcl)

ArchNet is an international Online community developed at the MIT School of Architecture and
Planning and the University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture, in close cooperation
125
with, and with the full support of The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan
Development Network. ArchNet is a growing global community of scholars, students, and
professionals concerned with architecture, planning, and landscape design. (Images 47599;
Publications & Files 3780; Members 38123)
Since its inception in 1977, the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture has been very influential in
extending the established horizons of what we conceive as "architecture".
Primarily, it provided a context for architectural endeavors from the contemporary Muslim world
to be recognized, evaluated, criticized and promoted as bearers of the universal qualities of
architecture: being a prestigious institutional effort, the awards put an end to their exclusion. The
program also initiated a major paradigm shift in architecture by awarding environmental
upgrading projects or similar socially engaged efforts side-by-side with conventionally
modernist performances.
The ArchNet website seems to extend the mission of the Awards to the Internet medium. The
goal was to create an Internet community mutually sharing expertise, local experience, resources,
and dialogue.
An important obstruction hindering the universalistic mission of the website seems to be its
association with Islam, a major drawback especially in the present course of international affairs.
If the international media excludes most of the world, the Aga Khan Awards had been excluding
non-Muslims. Since it lacks an explicitly stated keynote discourse it is easily perceived as just
another context of cultural studies in the established center/periphery pattern. Its geographical
location at the MIT might be a last clue of this asymmetry, the project submits to the elitism of
the Western academic outlook as reflected in many details. On the website, the detached tone of
discourse and dialogue; the formalism pervading design, content and structure; the many
procedures required to get involved; the perfectionist attitude in the selection and presentation of
projects: all of them are details that would repel or shy away the participation of the not
experienced, non-academic voices, instead of infecting excitement.
126

ONLINE COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE CRITERIA
The main principles that should guide the design and management of a community portal:
Proactive
provoke ambition & competition
stimulate response
encourage criticism & objection
Interactive
provide for variable configurations
respond to all reactions
reward all contributions
(by privileges and gifts)
Reactive
improve usability
consider all user expectations
develop new innovative features
HELP FOR NEWCOMERS
Lampe, and Johnston (2005) examined three explanations for how new users learn to participate
in a digital community: learning transfer from previous experiences, observation of other
members, and feedback from other members. They find that new user behavior is affected by a
combination of their viewing behavior, the moderation feedback they receive, and replies to their
comments. Hence it advisable to invent and implement a liaison service organizing volunteer
members to guide newcomers eager to communicate.
OCCASIONAL JAM SESSIONS
A global community portal can also organize a JAM event during a special date relevant to its
theme and content. The Habitat JAM <http://www.habitatjam.com> can provide an exciting
example: During December 1-3, 2005, the Habitat JAM gathered the inputs of thousands to turn
ideas into actions for the Vancouver World Urban Forum agenda and influence the Forum's
content.
On December 3, 2005 there were JAMMERs registered from all 191 UN-member countries.
With a total of 459,402 page hits, the most popular forums were: Forum 1 ("Slums"), which
remained in the lead with 2,842 posts. Forum 4 ("Environment") and Forum 7 ("The Future")
continued to battle for the second spot. Forum 4 remained in second place with 2,710 posts and
Forum 7 came in at 2,562 posts.
The most active countries in this reporting period were Canada, the United States, India,
Kenya(!) and the United Kingdom.
The Habitat JAM was about adding your ideas into the global conversation about the future of
our cities. It was about having your say on important issues that affect you. It is about building
new global networks of people who would not have connected before.
127
We articulated the following points in another paper where we discuss "the editorial function" at
Community Portals in detail (Aydin and Budak, 2007):
Many features in Web 2.0 Portals still bear the potential of imposing the content to be
contributed. The editor in online communities should only watch for the main theme to be
followed, encourage alternative approaches, and highlight all new ideas. This requires "a new
approach for understanding and applying effective leadership principles to large groups by
leading from behind." (Storck and Storck, 2004: 243)
Erickson (2005) draws our attention to an important point when he shifts the focus from
interactions between a human and a computer, to interactions amongst people that are
mediated by a digital system.We should never let our mind forget that a community of real
people requires delicate tactics when compared to the strategic decisions characteristic for
interface design or system architecture.
In a collective production process, famous "names" may become unexpectedly disastrous to
the advent of uninhibited creativity. As being already established, "names" not only represent
but also constitute the authority. Fame, like any indexing, easily distorts objective perception
and causes the overestimation of any dull or diverting performance. This kind of misleading
is often witnessed in the forking treads of discussion groups. Editors or older members of a
group, well familiar with the sphere of issues around which the discussion rotates, may
characteristically ignore the novel dimension in the elaborate message of a newcomer and
divert the discussion to the good old and established issues.
Acknowledgements
The World Architecture Community Portal is the main source of my ideas expressed here.
Without Sefik Onat, the wise and diplomatic mentor of that project, and Ayca Beygo, my sole
fulltime companion, the WA portal would still remain as another good idea. Suha zkan, the
leader of the project, has actually been WA in flesh and blood for all his life and an inspiration
for most of my visions. Evren Yantac designed the graphic interface, which also guided the
conceptualization of many features, and zgr Kckoglu is still trying to implement our ideas
to digital language.
128
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132
Author Biography
With a graduate background in architecture Cneyt Budak

designed many buildings until 1997 as a freelance architect. He
worked as the Executive Editor for several Turkish architectural
journals since 1992. In 2003, he finally finished his Doctorate
Thesis at Middle East Technical University titled "World
Architecture: Local Practices And Their Global Context."
Presently he is Assistant Professor at the Visual Communication
Design Department of Yeditepe University, Istanbul. His main
areas of interest are New Media, Philosophy and Theory of Art,
Architecture and Design, Semiotics and Cultural Studies.
133
Social Software
Tools for Personal
Knowledge
Management
Swaran Sandhu
Keywords:
Social Software, Weblogs, Wikis, RSS, Tagging
Social Software Tools for

Personal Knowledge Management
Swaran Sandhu, University of Lucerne, Switzerland

Social Software Tools like Weblogs, Wikis and RSS are revolutionizing the way ICT can
support knowledge management processes. Although ICT support is a regular feature for
knowledge management processes the ease of use and implementation of social software tools
many open source out-of-the-box solutions are available is the biggest advantage.
The use of social software tools is especially beneficial for distributed working groups but also
for personal knowledge management. For this article I am focussing on the internal
organizational usage of social software tools. Social software is a generic term to describe easyto-use software tools that encourage the sharing of knowledge. These tools usually consist of
Weblogs, Wikis and a Tagging service, often combined into one application. Additional
integration of multimedia tools is widespread. Because of the over- and misuse of e-mail
applications, these new technologies offer a road to a more holistic approach to sharing
knowledge. The toolset is usually based on open-source technology can be easily implemented.
The benefits and impacts of the tools are covering most aspects of social software applications.
Extremely easy implementation and usage

Explosive learning curve
Expandable with plug-ins and new tools.
Keywords: Social Software, Weblogs, Wikis, RSS, Tagging

Some of the worlds largest companies like IBM or Microsoft are successfully employing social
software toolkits, especially Weblogs, for their employees. One of the challenges of modern
organizations is to utilize the knowledge of their employees. By delegating the process directly
to the employees (bottom-up approach) knowledge can be activated and published. Some call
this collaborative approach Enterprise 2.0(McAfee 2006).
Employing social software tools is a chance for every knowledge intensive industry that already
has a computer network installed. There needs to be some backing by the computer department
to install the basic packages if the tools are being used internally only. However, many
applications can be streamlined for Intranet usage quite easily.
The best start for a roll-out is a rather small project team as a seeding bed for the technology.
After an initial phase the technology can be made available for the whole organization. One of
the most interesting aspects is that the technology is totally scalable; this means that the number
of participants does not matter, since each participant can subscribe individually to the most
interesting feeds and therefore reducing information overload.
137

Most social software tools are readily available on the Internet as open-source software. Most
software is hosted for free and can integrated into a personal knowledge network.
However, from an organizational point of view it makes sense to host those applications directly
on an organizational platform. Most applications rely on readily available software packages like
Apache (www.apache.org) for hosting purposes: MySQL (www.mysql.org) as a database and
PHP (www.php.net/) as programming language. The IT department should be helpful for
installation services.
Most applications like Wordpress (Weblogs, www.wordpress.org) or Mediawiki
(http://sourceforge.net/projects/wikipedia) can run on standard servers with minor tweaks. Please
ask your IT department for their specific usage scenarios.
For personal usage it is possible to install all software mentioned above on a personal PC or rely
on readily available online solutions.

Almost any organization with a computer network and Internet access can harness the power of
social software tools. It is important to keep in mind that the systems you are choosing fits into
the IT landscape of your organization. Most organizations rely on a strong server backbone with
a strong open source platform. Make sure the necessary software is up and running before
starting a rollout. The tools should be scalable and can be easily integrated into already existing
Intranet solutions. Some specific knowledge management platforms do already offer the same
functionality.
Basically Social Software tools consist of various components. The most common and bestknown are Weblogs and Wikis.
Weblogs are instantly publishable websites that are continuously updated with a strong personal
touch. The noun Weblog is a combination to World Wide Weband Logbook. A person
running a weblog is called a bloggerand the process of updating a Weblog or writing for a
Weblog is called blogging. Weblogs are based on simple content management systems and are
very easy to use and to implement. Since 2000 Weblogs are widely discussed in both practice
and academia. Typical first usages were online diaries capturing snapshots of ideas, so a kind of
personal knowledge management tool. However, others were able to read and comment on the
entries and this made Weblogs so powerful. From a technical point of view Weblogs are very
easy to implement and are lightweight content management systems. Having reached a more
mature stage, Weblogs have become a multimedia tool, incorporating text, images, video and
audio elements on every topic possible. This makes Weblogs perfect repositories for storing and
sharing knowledge more easily.
138
Screenshot: Writing a Weblog (http://codex.wordpress.org/Image:write1.png)
Screenshot: Weblog at IBM (http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/Turbo)
139
Tagging
Each entry can be attributed a certain tag. A tagdescribes the category the content belongs
to. Tagging is the practice of assigning tags to content. The whole process is described as
folksonomy as opposed to taxonomy. Taxonomy is the process how experts describe for example
vertebrates and invertebrates and use a certain set of rules. So the experts define what belongs to
a group and what not. In folksonomies ordinary people (folks) express their own categorization
scheme. Therefore this bottom-up approach represents a new way on how knowledge is being
represented without a large scale taxonomy or keywording process involved. All tags of one site
combined can be visualized in a tag cloud: the words of the tags are scaled in size
proportionally to their usage on the site. This is a very easy way to map and illustrate complex
knowledge. The best-known tagging service is called del.ici.ous(http://del.icio.us).
Screenshot: Tagcloud (http://www.jeffhester.net/photos/tagcloud.png)
Wikis are well-known by collaborative knowledge processes like the wikipedia. Basically wikis
can be used in any open-ended knowledge structuring process. The word Wiki is Hawaian,
means fastand describes a small shuttle that connects the islands. A wiki is a simple website
that consists of various articles. As soon as an article contains a similar word the articles can be
linked. Wikis use a specific syntax that is very easy to learn and very fast to implement. The
most important aspect is however that every article can be edited by every participant. This
means as soon as somebody can add his or her specific knowledge to a certain topic he or she
can edit the site. All changes are being tracked. The concept relies on the benevolence of people
working together in a certain setting. Destructive behaviour is very seldom and usually the rapid
growth of wikis and their benefits outweigh potential dangers. However, the larger the project
becomes the more important it is to secure the overall quality of the wiki.
140
Screenshot: Wiki
(http://ws2006.wikisym.org/space/Keynote%3e%3eHow+and+Why+Wikipedia+Works)
Finally, RSS is the abbreviation of Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication (sources
vary) but is a very simple subscription service to a certain website. This means by subscribing to
a certain feed(this is how those services are called) we are moving away from the paradigm of
pullinginformation to pushingthe information to the user. In a very simple way this means
that the raw content of the site can easily be customized to the specific needs of the audience.
This method is extremely time-saving, because specifically the content you are interested in
becomes delivered to you without the need to visit websites or wikis. The subscriptions are
managed in a so-called feed-reader, that is a little program very much like any e-mail
program that manages subscriptions and allows you to read the content. Modern E-Mail
applications offer plug-ins for e.g. Microsoft Outlook to have a feed-reader installed right next to
your E-mail. Most modern content management systems include RSS feeds already in their
custom package.
141
Screenshot: RSS Reader (http://www.zdnet.de/i/et/sw/2006/05/office_2007/ms_office_2007_46ig.jpg)
These tools individually or in combination allow an increased knowledge sharing without big
technological hurdles. Most importantly they are very easy to implement. Additionally, there are
some options to use these tools without any programming knowledge at all, because the basic
tools like Weblogs and Wikis or Feedreaders are hosted by professional companies. That means
you can create an account and use the service without further costs.

There are several case studies on the implementation of social software tools in knowledgeintensive organizations. Most of them are based on anecdotal evidence. Obviously organizational
culture is a key determinant for the success of the initiative.
Usually the implementation of social software tools starts with a small group. It is helpful to
have top management support but also department or project group are good starting points. It is
also beneficial to have the backing by the IT department and a tech-savvy person in the starting
group. Otherwise it is also possible to use standard hosted software solutions with any tools
described above this approach however should be chosen only if you are dealing with nonsensitive data.
First of all it is important to motivate the seeding group. New technology is only as good as those
persons working with it. It might be helpful to try to come up with a mission statement for the
group and the technology that is being used. Secondly, leave enough leeway for experimentation.
142
If you have one or two drivers in the group who are selfstarters and push the project forward the
benefits are easy to see.
After an initial introduction phase review the usage or the technology. What worked and did not
work? What where the reasons for that? Best would be to form a small focus group of users and
gauge their experiences with the systems.
As soon as you have a grasp of the potential of the system make your case for a next-level rollout of the technology in your organization. Try to secure the support from the upper echelons
and present some of the key facts and results in top management speak, e.g. hard numbers like:
number of published articles, number of blogs, personal stories by participants, cut costs, etc.

Social software tools have the potential to turn an organization upside-down if fully accepted.
But that also means that hierarchies might feel endangered and threatened. Try to show the
benefits of the tools however. If the organizational culture stresses knowledge creation and
sharing the tools will be accepted as well.
Make sure to evaluate the processes as you go along. Which tool works best? Why? Try to get
satisfied users to tell their story with their experiences.
Case 1) Using social software tools in investment banking

Professor Andrew McAfee (2006) describes how the introduction of Social Software Tools
changes the way the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DKW) manages
knowledge.
First of all, DKW has had already a reflective and adaptive culture with a strong commitment by
its workforce towards the company. E.g. the CIO of the company remarks I am not sure if wikis
would work in a company that did not already do 360-degree performance reviews.
Second, the DKW team chose a common platform that integrated all aspects of collaboration
mentioned above. Specific groups can have their own private space within the architecture, but
basically everything I connected with each other.
The rollout of the new technology was informal and gradual, focussing on a few groups and
individuals as catalysts for the whole organization.
Top managers did support the initiative. E.g. one of the managing directors, Darren Lennard,
became an advocate of the technology when he saw a live demonstration of the Wiki: I was
getting 300 internal e-mail messages a day. The great majority of them were completely
irrelevant to me, but I still spent hours each day going through them. I saw that Wikis were a
better tool for a lot of our collaborative work, and I wanted my team to start using them.He put
on a wiki with a mission statement and told his desk (specialized traders) that he will not read emails on a certain topic anymore.
143
Case 2) Introduction of Weblogs and Wikis at the Central Intelligence Agency

Calvin Andrus is the Chief Technology Officer of the Center for Mission Innovation at the
Central Intelligence Agency and has introduced Weblogs and Wikis at the CIA.
The analysts business is information driven. But because of the rapid changes in computer and
telecommunication real-time information sharing and knowledge building is important. The
success of Weblogs and Wikis and their fast reaction time after events like 9/11, the Tsunami
from Christmas 2004 or the London Bombings from 2005 motivated Andrus to implement the
collaborative tools from the outside world inside the CIA. So the intelligence community must
be able to change rapidly in ways we cannot predict(Andrus 2006). Most importantly for him
is the fact that Weblogs and Wikis can working almost in real-time and can adapt as fast as
person can enter information.
The CIA created around 500 weblogs as testbed and a few-dozen remain actively maintained.
But the internal wiki produced around 10.000 pages within a year. It is mostly used for notetaking, floating ideas, drafting papers and finishing pieces.
Technology can only be an enabler, culture is the main solution to sharing information.

Check IT-Governance
Start with a small, interested group
Create a sandbox, e.g. a place to try out things
Concentrate on content, not technology
Make sure the technology is easy to understand
Talk only to the tech-savvy geeks
Try to steer the process from top-down
Bring in too many rules
144
Andrus,
Calvin
P.
(2006):
The
wiki
and
the
blog.
Presentation,
http://events.fcw.com/events/2006/KM/downloads/KM06_1-5_Andrus-CIA.pdf
(date
accessed 27 October, 2006)
Mathes, A. (2004): Folksonomies - Cooperative Classification and Communication Through
Shared
Metadata,
http://www.adammathes.com/academic/computer-mediatedcommunication/folksonomies.html (date accessed: 27 October 2006).
McAfee, Andrew P. (2006): Enterprise 2.0: The dawn of emergent collaboration, MIT Sloan
Management Review, Vol 47, No. 3, pp. 21-28.
Picot, A., and Fischer, Tim (Ed.) (2005) Weblogs professionell. D.punkt, ISBN: 3-89864-375-1
Scoble, R., and Israel, S. (2006): Naked conversations. John Wiley, ISBN: 0-471-74719-X
Zerfass, A., and Boelter, D. (2005) Die neuen Meinungsmacher, Nausner & Nausner, ISBN: 3901402-45-4
Author Biography
Swaran Sandhu works as researcher/lecturer at the University of

Lucerne, Switzerland. He studied communication science,
management sociology and public relations at the Universities of
Stuttgart-Hohenheim (Germany) and Syracuse (USA). Before
coming to Switzerland, he worked as head of research and
innovation management for a German think tank in Stuttgart. His
main research fields are strategic processes in organizations,
public relations and social software and qualitative methods.
145
Finding the Fire

between the Nodes:
Contactivity Events
Ron Dvir, Ed Mitchell and
Keywords:
Contactivity, Fringe Event, Wiki, Joy Zone, Innovation Ecology,
Networking, Multi-domain Facilitation
Finding the Fire between the

Nodes: Contactivity Events
Dr. Ron Dvir, Innovation Ecology, (ron@innovationecology.com)
Ed Mitchell, Community consultant, (ed@edmitchell.co.uk)

In this chapter, we present a collaborative and
constructivist alternative to the traditional conference
model which is based on many short broadcasted
presentations, supported by PowerPoint slides with
some informal networking eeked out in the corridors by
the attendees, somehow rushed and guiltily. Does that
sound familiar?
Our alternative method, which we call "Fringe" or
"Contactivity" events can, and is being applied in many
situations: e.g. a track in a large standard international
conference, a method to organise a gathering for a
Community of Practice, or a refreshing approach to
internal company events looking to invent something,
enhance connection, develop new, bottom up strategies.
The creative objective is presented in our Contactivity
poster: these events nurture new connections between people, but also between concepts,
disciplines and ideas. The fire of inspiration is the most important part of any gathering and that
can only be found in the network. Therefore the network must be nurtured first and foremost;
this method involves not only physical meetings we suggest online pre and post event
interactions, and will analyse those in this chapter.
We propose and continue to improve upon a process designed to co-plan with all stakeholders an
event replete with a wide range of formal and informal interaction methods, colours, art, tastes,
human moments but also to dive deeply into rich content, theoretical and practical issues in
real world contexts in such a way as to send participants home with not only solutions, but
methods to solve future issues themselves; handing them the confidence and knowledge and
network to improve their working and living lives.
The name "Fringe" implies that in such events the participants are expecting and invited to deal
not only with mainstream subjects but also (or perhaps mainly) with the emerging and
controversial issues which relate to their professional world.
We believe that creating a welcoming and stimulating social and physical "Ecology for
innovation" for the event space and time enables contactivity, deeper conversations and out of
the box thinking. In this chapter we suggest how to create a JOY ZONE which is the prefect
ground for fertile collaborations.
Keywords: contactivity, fringe event, wiki, joy zone, innovation ecology, networking, multidomain facilitation
149
Finding the Fire between the Nodes: Contactivity Events

The main goal of "Contactivity Events" is well manifested by the title of this method: to provide
the environment and opportunities for meetings of minds, interaction and creation of new
connections, knowledge, ideas and sometimes also joint initiatives which take these ideas into
action.
The term "contactivity" was coined by Leif Edvinsson who explores various ways to enhance the
intellectual capitals of organisations. We think that Contactivity event can enhance the
intellectual capital of the group of participants, be it a Community of Practice, a group of
employees from a specific organisation or any other loose of formal organisational form.
In some cases contactivity meetings are organized as "Fringe" events. This shows another
objective of some of these events to challenge the current mainstream thinking in a particular
domain, to disrupt the existing concepts and explore emerging ones.
Thus, there are several good tangible and intangibles reasons to use the method:
1. New personal friendships as well as enhanced business/academic connections
2. Creation of tangible joint outcomes and initiatives e.g. a layout for a new joint book of
the community, a new joint research or business project.
3. Disruption of current thinking and creation of new concepts.
4. Prototyping new interaction methods.
5. Fun, joy, personal and group renewal, recharging the batteries of employees and teams.
The method can be used in many contexts, as an alternative to traditional conferences or internal
company days:
v A contactivity track in the framework of a larger traditional conference (see the example
of Amsterdam KM event, described in this chapter).
v An independent event of a Community of Practice specialising in a specific domain (see
the example of Greenwich Contactivity event described in this chapter)
v An internal event (e.g. "company day") of a commercial or public organisation.
150

From our experience in organising several contactivity events, we are happy to report that the
preparation phase is a creative and satisfactory period. The checklist is very long, therefore
teamwork and responsibilities sharing is needed for this ambitious project.
The program
v
Partner with some people you trust and value to collaborate with you on various aspects of
the project.
Define the specific theme of the event (avoid general theme like "Knowledge
Management" focus the event on specific dimensions or challenges or the general
domain.
Invite ideas for unique activities from the target participates group as well as from well
known experts. Explore the expectations of the participants. Look at feedback reports from
previous events they are valuable!
Set some design criteria, e.g.: "at least 60% of the sessions should be interactive", "at least
3 controversial issues should be dealt with", "at least two new facilitation methods should
be prototyped".
Based on the suggestions and the team imagination, create the program. Recruit facilitators
for each session most of them will be the people who suggested the session idea.
v Brand the event copyright interesting title, visual representation (e.g. poster or logo).
Logistics
v
Plan: accommodation, catering, registration process, accessories and supporting

technologies, budget and fees.
The participants
v
Publish an attractive invitation it should clearly demonstrate the fringe-y and contactivity
spirit of the event.
In addition to the public invitation, invite personally particularly interesting participants.
Involve the participants at the event planning invite ideas for methods, suggestions for
focus areas, material for the event web etc.
Take active steps to ensure diversity participants from different generations, cultures and
disciplines will create more interesting event.
The Virtual Space
v
Create a web space for the pre-event interactions between participants. It can be a wiki,
discussion form or another virtual form (some event organisers are using Drupal). Provide
continuous and active facilitation for the space, and ensure that activity in the virtual sphere
is carried across to the physical meeting.
The Physical Space
v
Explore the available space and its possibilities, unique features and constraints.
Plan the event place sitting configuration, decoration, the small things which will make
the participants smile.
Prepare the accessories and art work according to the physical space plan.
151

The following chart, based on a photo from the Amsterdam KM fringe event, provides a map for
planning a contactivity event. It shows the four main dimensions of the event:
v The program which should be rich, diverse, seriously interactive (examples follow).
Focus on both stimulating methods and highly relevant content (big questions that
matter). Try to include several sessions that generate concrete outcomes and follow-ups.
A joint night activity is a must. Examples of methods that are used in contactivity events:
Open Space, Mapping the network and profiles of participants, Co-authoring of a book
and journal paper, Simulation/Management games, Knowledge Caf, Knowledge Safari,
Art Safari. Always conclude with a "what are the next steps" session.
v The physical space a rich, stimulating and colourful Joy Zone or Ecology for
Innovation (Dvir et al., 2006).
v The virtual space a pre and post event sessions, using technologies such as Wikis and
Blogs. It would be interesting to use the technology to enlarge the circle of participants,
and run some of the session during the event days also at the virtual space.
v And most importantly the human dimension. Try to enhance diversity by inviting
people from the three generations (very young, mature and seniors), professionals from
different disciplines, diverse geographies different society sectors etc. Invite people that
are already part of the community but also new comers.
Pre and post event
web (e.g. Wiki), to
complement the face
to face interaction
Walls covered with

relevant art
drawings, photos
etc. (some by
participants, some by
artists)
Walls covered with

white/brown paper
for interactive
work
Monday
Xyz
Xyz
xyz
Night: we go to .
Tuesday
xyz
Program:
mostly
interactive,
some fringy
content
People: go for
diversity
On the tables:
sweats, drinks,
flowers, workshop
materials, toys
Caf Setting
small round
tables
(3 generations,
multi disciplines
etc.)
The two cases presented later in this chapter provide concrete examples of how these dimensions
can be applied.
152

The preparations phase and the physical and human setting of the contactivity events are
described in the previous sections. Here we suggest a typical agenda for a contactivity event.
You are invited to borrow ideas from it but probably your own contactivity event will have a
different agenda, length, style based on the unique combination of the contextual and human
aspects.
Pre-Event virtual activities (e.g. discussions at forums, wikis).
Day 1
09:00 No formal agenda
Human Encounters and introductions
10:00 A facilitated session:
Mapping the particpants profiles
11:00 Drawing the community network map
Day 2
Workshop: e.g. co-authoring
Of a joint book, co creation of
a new concept etc.
Artistic Coffee break:
Coffee networking session:
Co-creating an art gallery
12:00 exploring the community map, peer

and small group conversations
1-2 Presentations by really

Interesting people
13:00 Lunch (e.g. picnic)
Lunch (e.g. brown bag lunch)

with a local guest speaker
14:00 Workshop: e.g. knowledge caf,

Simulation game, etc.
15:00
Next steps: exploring big

question(s), identifying
opportunities for joint actions
and kicking-off joint initiatives
16:00 Tea time

Guided tour:
17:00 Exploring the event area
Fair-well party wine (or

champagne)+personal statements
Attractions, stories etc.

18:00 Free time
Or time for member-led groups
19:00
20:00 Social evening together, pub,
Dinner, pub, bowling etc.
Stop before midnight
Post-Event virtual activities (e.g. reports, discussions at forums, wikis).
153

The outcomes of a contactivity event can be presented along a two dimensional continuum. The
horizontal axis represents how much the outcomes are tangible. The vertical axis shows that
while some of the outcomes relates to the individual participants, other applies the group of
participants. We have seen all of these outcomes materialized in contactivity events.
Group
Joint group
initiatives
New concepts
Sense of community
New friendships
Event
documentation
New collaborations
Joint initiatives
(few members)
New ideas
Inspirations
Individuals
Learning
Personal Renewal
Intangible
Tangible
Using the theoretical model of intellectual capital (e.g. Edvinsson et al, 1998) a good contactivity
event increases all four types of intangible capitals: the human capital of the participants, as well
as the structural, renewal and the relationships capital of the group of participants many times a
Community of Practice.
The intangible outcomes listed above emerge naturally, as a result of the connections created
between the participants during the sessions and at breaks and joint social evening activities. The
diverse interaction methods as well as the stimulating environment catalyze their emergence. The
more tangible outcomes such as joint research project or a joint book, are born at dedicated
workshop (e.g. a "co-authoring" session) or at the final session of the event. This session is
typically dedicated to an after action review and to a brainstorming about possible joint actions
of the participants.
Other tangible results which document the experiences and knowledge created at the event are
typically dependent on the commitment of individuals who agree to carry them forward at the
weeks after the event. These might be a detailed event report, summary of new concepts,
networking map or an electronic album of the event photos, for example.
Electronic event photo album (on

flickr.com)
154
Electronic network map

Case I: The Knowledge Management Fringe Track, Amsterdam 2005
The annual central European Knowledge Management conference took place in November 2005
at Amsterdam. Hundreds of participants were exposed to the normal conferencing style a large
formal exhibition from which three doors led to three parallel tracks. Choosing the first and
second would have take you to a large lecture room where you would meet perhaps 100 black
suits professionals listening to 20 minutes PowerPoint presentations. However, the curious
people who opened the third door entered a completely different world full of colours, music,
strange actions and intensive interaction, art and yes also serious KM related content.
Six months earlier, when KnowledgeBoard was invited by Ark group to organize a track at the
conference, we had only one condition "we want to run it as a Fringe event. Nothing will
resemble the normal way". A small group started to plan the event involving at certain phases
to potential participants, using the KnowledgeBoard website as a communication platform.
What was fringy?
Firstly, the event stage. we created for two days what we call "an ecology for innovation", i.e.
designed the physical space as the most welcoming, warm, sensual and thought provoking as
possible. It was in complete contrast to the traditional conference world outside the door. We
thought that art would have interesting impact, and created the first Knowledge Management art
gallery in the world, composing of some 150 relevant art works from the last 2,000 years,
presented on 18 large posters. Some worked were created by artists like Dali, Rafael and
Leonardo, others contributed by the participants responding to the "call of your KM art works"
led from the website.
The following table shows some of the artefacts we used:
Preparing the KM Art

gallery
Preparing the KM Art

gallery
Tulips on each table
The third door which led

to the fringe world (left side
the visual agenda)
A general view of the space
Tables covered with

candies, drinks, cookies,
workshop accessories
155
Secondly, the program & methods: We designed a

program which includes only one frontal
presentation leaving 90% of the available time for
interactive sessions each used a different method.
We had some unplanned surprises. For example, a
colleague from London Knowledge Network saw
the big yellow Contactivity map and spontaneously
created a statistical experience around it.
The agenda, like many other aspects of the event,
tool a visual form as well (see figure).
The table below demonstrates some human moments at some of these sessions:
A workshop on outsourcing
Building together the

community network map
Knowledge Safari at the art

gallery
A simulation game
An electronic version of the

community network
Final session discussing

follow-ups and drinking
Champagne.
Thirdly, the content: At the pre-event online communication, we invited the participants to
suggest the most controversial issues related to Knowledge Management. All of the workshops
were from members' suggestions - we the organisers let them decide on what to talk about.
After the fringe event
Judging by the feedback from the participants as documented in the feedback forms, as well as
by looking at their faces at the event photo album, show that they felt like "Alice at wonderland".
It became evident that the KM world need more and six months afterwards the next KM fringe
was organized, this time in Greenwich (see next case in this chapter). Indeed, the impact was
strong enough to create a trend, and now the third contactivity event is planned in Tel Aviv
(November 2006) and a fourth one in Luzern (UnBla conference, January 2006).
We know of new partnerships and friendships that were created, and assume that some joint
initiatives were kicked off. And finally, at the co-authoring workshop, the group took the first
steps towards a joint KM book (Real-Life Knowledge Management: Lessons from the Field).
[Full event report: www.knowledgeboard.com/item/216]
156
Case II: The KnowledgeBoard Contactivity Event, Greenwich 2006

Contactivity was an experimental conference at The University of Greenwich Business School in
March 2006. It was run by KnowledgeBoard and supported by Martyn Laycock, Jack Martin
Leith, David Gurteen and The London Knowledge Network. There was neither an agenda, nor a
theme. It was an exploration into the concept of multi-domain facilitation for community
development, knowledge transformation, and trust building. We were also keen to learn how to
use wikis and encouraged all potential attendees to take this attitude as well; a secondary
learning opportunity.
It was designed around a multi-domain facilitation model created to explore how to best share
knowledge between distributed groups. By considering a meeting as a process in three stages,
and working with a multi-domain attitude, it is clear that we can optimise the knowledge-sharing
opportunities afforded to us in the physical domain (which is the most expensive bit) by
assessing the meeting's requirements in advance and applying a suitable social architecture from
the beginning:
The first to the two days was a 'knowledge sink'; designed to help the attendees bond and build a
shared understanding of the event, while launching the first KnowledgeBoard book, as well as
experiment with some new facilitation techniques. The second day was free of theme (more on
this below), and simply structured with three facilitation techniques:
The structured approach of Narrative enquiry (Martyn Laycock)
The inclusive approach of Open Space (Jack Martin Leith)
The intimate approach of the Knowledge Caf (David Gurteen)
Theoretically, having agreed a theme in advance, attendees could then 'workshop' said theme in
three different ways. This would provide them with not only a broad understanding and
actionable approach to the theme, but also a clear idea of the differences in facilitation
techniques and how and when to use them in their own organisations.
Thus Contactivity was a deliberate excursion into exploring whether the early technical adopters'
development of the 'unconference' (lesblogs, reboot etc.) could be translated across to the world
of organisations in a 'constructivist' manner. We were not keen on the apparent reactionary
feeling of the 'unconference' word, hence the peer approved references to proven facilitation
techniques, facilitated by experts in their fields. It had a two loose research enquiries and one
action based goal:
157
1. Pre and during event networking

With the support of Dan Dixon (senior lecturer, University of West England, working at
Headshift at that time), we set up a free to access wiki. As well as the normal event organisation
elements, we encouraged everyone to register themselves publicly and set up a page for them to
provide the other participants with some background information about themselves.
Take up was very popular. Asides to some technical issues (logins, editing etc.), almost every
attendee simply added a few paragraphs about themselves and their expectations for the event.
The first serious workshop at the physical event

was a 'power networking' session run by Dr
Wolf and Dr Troxler. All of the attendees'
networking information from the wiki was
pinned to a large board, and attendees were
asked to find other attendees who would share
interests.
The session was a great success. Like the more traditional networking sessions (e.g. Gurteen's
Speed Networking) there was a great deal of high energy networking and conversation, but at
Contactivity, people had already registered their interests so the noise and busy-ness was focused
on directly relevant peer to peer knowledge sharing rather than the more round-about
conversations one can experience in normal networking.
The formal launch of the book with a short Case study signing and discussion on key
presentation of each case study.
learnings from case studies.
One of the salient features of the event was the long awaited launch of KnowledgeBoards first
book on Real-Life Knowledge Management: Lessons from the Field. What differentiated the
launch of this book of cases studies from others was that many of the case study contributors
were present to not only autograph their case studies in the book, but to also discuss with
participants the key learnings from the case studies.
158
2. Pre-event agenda setting

As well as the networking concept, the wiki supported our second stream of research - can a set
of distributed attendees set the theme of a conference in advance? If so, they would have
significantly more ownership of the debates and thus be more focused, generating a higher level
of participation and optimised knowledge sharing.
In advance of the event, in line with many of the traditional consensus-focused facilitation
techniques, we invited the attendees to enter keywords of issues they wished to discuss into the
wiki. Having done that, we invited them to group the keywords into loosely banded subject
headings for further development.
Take up of this was less popular than the networking; but there was some high quality input from
a constructive minority. What emerged was that there were many possible routes the physical
gathering could take - the attendees had hundreds of ideas, all of which were worthy of a full
day. This happened a few days before the gathering, by which time we were in full event
preparation mode and had to decide to discuss it at the event itself.
Thus, setting the agenda was not as successful as the networking; with no shared social
architecture and experience of using new social software (wiki), creating the cohesion required
to reach shared decisions, and thus co-ownership of the theme was not possible. In fact, there
were so many issues for discussion that it was impossible to find a common thread and the
physical facilitators were not given a theme to work around.
From conversations at Contactivity, we learnt that some Communities of Practice (e.g. our
friends at Cogneon.de) had started reaching consensus on event themes, but only after three or
four cycles of physical meetings. This was a critical moment in identifying the need for a multidomain facilitator - to carry the community's experience from one domain into the other - and the
concept of building trust within a group to help it reach pure self-organisation. [Full event report:
www.knowledgeboard.com/item/2700]
159

Take risks try new methods which were never done.
Make the space welcoming flowers and sweats on each table, for example, can make a
difference.
Use art relevant pieces of art help to create a different state of mind and make new
associations. Are can be used at the event web site, invitation, documentation, cover the
walls and flours.
Keep renewing, keep inventing each event should introduce some surprises to people who
predicated in the previous events.
Balance serious conversations and fun activities. Content is critical and the stimulating
environment has to support knowledge sharing and creation.
A major part of the event should be based on various forms of interactions but it is OK to
have few traditional frontal presentations if they are of exceptional quality.
Invite the participants to suggest interesting activities this is the best way to ensure
innovative agenda.
Welcome your participants as they arrive - they are the most valuable part of the event
Actively introduce your participants to each other - networking is the most important part of
any gathering of people
If you choose to pre-energise your event with virtual engagement tools (wikis, blogs) be
prepared to facilitate them
If you pre-energise your event with virtual tools make sure that the energy and knowledge
gathered on the tool is carried over to the physical event - otherwise it is a waste of
everyone's time
Share the creative and logistic responsibility of the event and have regular team meetings
during the event
Avoid a too intensive agenda fewer and longer sessions and activities as well as longer
breaks will ensure better use of the participants' time.
If you do not reach topic consensus virtually before an event - have a plan B!
If you use new technologies (wiki), keep the necessary interactions as simple as possible attendees will have a range of experience in the area and new users can be very intimidated
by new technologies.
Do not underestimate the amount of facilitation you may need to do in advance of the event attendees are, as yet, not familiar with this emergent practice and may need significant
support
If you are using a pre-event virtual platform, ensure that there is only one sign-on procedure
and it is exceptionally easy
160
Acknowledgements
We would like to sincerely thank the organisations and people that shared the enthusiasm and
risk with us and contributed to the contactivity events described in the case studies section:
KnowledgeBoard, The London Knowledge Network, Jack Martin Leith, David Gurteen, Martyn
Laycock, University of Greenwich, Simon Lague and the Intetek team, Dan Dixon and
Headshift, Sift, The Ark Group and Ed's mum. Thanks to Ron's dad, Arye, for preparing the
artwork for the events.
We are grateful to all participants ALL contributed activity to the action, conversations,
excitement, good atmosphere and outcomes with good humour and disposition - Thank you all.
161
Dvir, R. (2006), Contactivity event and fringe event photo albums at:
http://www.innovationecology.com/contactvity.htm (date accessed 5 December 2006)
Dvir, R., Shwartzberg, Y., Avni , H., Webb, C., Lettice, F. (2006), The Future Center as an
Urban Innovation Engine, Knowledge Cities special edition of Journal of Knowledge
Management, Vol 10 Number 5, November 2006
Kazi, A.S., and Wolf, P. (2006) Real-Life Knowledge Management: Lessons from the Field,
KnowledgeBoard, ISBN: 952-5004-72-4, 352 pages.
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/knowledgebank/book.html (date accessed 5 December
2006)
Mitchell, E., Dvir, R. et al (2005) KnowledgeBoard event report: KM Fringe, KC Europe, 2005
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/216 (date accessed 5 December 2006)
Mitchell, E, and Dixon, D. (2006) Supporting mixed physical and virtual knowledge
communities: when and how to effectively change modes. Proceedings of the Online
Information Conference, London, UK. http://www.edmitchell.co.uk/blog/?page_id=4 (date
accessed 5 December 2006)
Mitchell, E, Wolf, P., Kazi, S. (2005) Learning from each other; Online and face to face
Communities of Practice. Proceedings of the eChallenges conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/lib/3102/ (date accessed 5 December 2006)
Mitchell, E. (2006), KnowledgeBoard event report: Contactivity
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/2700 (date accessed 5 December 2006)
Policy unplugged, http://www.policyunplugged.org/ (date accessed 5 December 2006)
White (2005), Weaving between blogs and lists on language and meaning.
http://www.fullcirc.com/weblog/2005/01/weaving-between-blogs-and-lists-on.htm (date
accessed 5 December 2006)
Wilcox, D. (2006), Digital divide in the era of social networking
http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2006/11/digital_divide_.html (date accessed 5
December 2006)
162
Author Biographies
Ron Dvir is the Founder and CEO of Innovation Ecology. Planner

and integration of innovation system in general, and Innovation
engines and Future Centers in particular. Ron has an engineering
degree, M.Sc. in Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Ph.D. in
Intellectual Capital Management. Before founding Innovation
Ecology, Ron was Chief Knowledge Officer in a large high-tech
organisation, and developer of quality infrastructures. Developer
and implementer of innovation concepts, methods and tools. Likes
to embed artwork in business and research work and to plan new
forms of events and contactivity channels. Was member of the
planning team of the future Center exploration tours.
(www.innovationecology.com)
Ed Mitchell is a professional community analyst and multidomain facilitator. This means that he specialises in helping
groups optimise their knowledge sharing potential using both the
internet and the physical world. He has been working in and
around the internet since 1997 when he helped set up a community
music webcasting outfit in a warehouse in Hackney, London. Ed
was Editor of KnowledgeBoard from 2004-2006. Before that he
completed his masters degree (distinction) in Information Systems
and Knowledge Management, specialising in the strategic use of
website
metrics
in
organisational
decision
making.
(www.edmitchell.co.uk)

industry-driven research projects. Dr. Kazis expertise and interest
areas include inter-enterprise collaboration, knowledge and
innovation management, disruptive facilitation, and mobile
163
An Integrated
Approach to Enabling
More Effective
Knowledge Flows in
an Organisation
Christine van Winkelen and
Jane McKenzie
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Learning, Collaboration, Coherence,
Value
An Integrated Approach to
Enabling More Effective
Knowledge Flows in an
Organisation
Christine van Winkelen, Henley KM Forum (Christine.vanWinkelen@kmforum.co.uk)
Jane McKenzie, Henley Management College (Jane.McKenzie@henleymc.ac.uk)

Value is generated when knowledge flows, in other words, when it is transferred from where it is
generated to where it is needed to make a short or longer-term difference to something that
matters to your organisation. Your organisation is only one element in an industry-wide system
of knowledge-based activity that involves individual employees, customers, suppliers,
competitors and other institutions. The value generated from knowledge depends on how well
connected your organisation is within that system and how effectively nine critical knowledge
flows within the system work together.
What follows is a method that allows you to build an integrated picture of these major
knowledge flows affecting your organisation and to diagnose what enables them to be more
effective. The approach is based on a two level framework. The top level outlines the
knowledge flows that can contribute to business value (these describe the measurable objectives
that can be achieved from adopting this approach). The second level outlines the common
influences on each of the top-level flows. It is at this level that practical initiatives can be
identified that will make the most difference.
Keywords: knowledge management, learning, collaboration, coherence, value

This method was designed in conjunction with private sector multi-national organisations
representing many industries, and major UK public sector organisations and it is intended to
have widespread applicability. The principles underlying it are generic rather than sector
specific.
The method is intended to be a diagnostic step within the process of developing and
implementing a knowledge management strategy (see for example McKenzie and van Winkelen,
2004 for an approach to strategy formulation). It is primarily a way of gathering and structuring
information.
Whether the method is used to structure interviews with a range of key managers and individuals
across the organisation, or is used as part of a workshop format with groups of people depends
on the situation. The objective of the method described here is to gather information. If there is
also a need to engage groups of people to gain buy-in to change, then a workshop format is likely
169
An Integrated Approach to Enabling More Effective Knowledge Flows in an Organisation
to be best.
workshops.
Experience suggests that 15-20 people are about the right number for these
Whether you adopt an interview or workshop approach, you will need to ensure that a
representative sample of people is involved. This should include people who have a strategic
perspective on what knowledge makes a difference in the industry and how investment in
knowledge-based activities can help organisational performance.
It is advisable to identify specific organisational groups or divisions which have their own clear
purpose and outputs and work with each of these in turn, following this with an integrating
review of all of the information collected to identify important knowledge flows across
boundaries.

In addition to becoming familiar with the two-level framework, you will need to produce copies
of the diagnostic survey (see table 2) for each group / division of interest.
Interviews or workshops will need to be arranged with managers, team leaders and individuals at
the front line of the activities in each group / division.
It is helpful to have a clear understanding of the main processes undertaken in each part of the
organisation of interest. Such process mapping is not the subject of this method and needs to be
undertaken separately. Particularly in process-oriented organisations, it is expected that
knowledge flows will need to be mapped onto these. The purpose of applying this method in
these situations is to identify alternative sources of knowledge and to explore the blockages to
effective knowledge flows in relation to key processes.

The main requirements are time and attention from the interviewer and interviewee. At least an
hour of uninterrupted time is needed for each interview. The survey (see next section) provides a
checklist to structure the interview the intention is to collect detailed information about how
the nine key knowledge flows work in practice and to compare this with how they ought to work
together to deliver maximum value to the organisation.
If workshops rather than interviews are being used to collect the data, then at least half a day
should be allocated to each workshop.
170

The method is based on developing an integrated picture of nine knowledge flows associated
with the organisation and what enables these to be effective. It is a development of the model
proposed by Karl-Erik Sveiby (2002) and consists of a two level framework corresponding to the
two principles of coherence and alignment (McKenzie and van Winkelen, 2005). Coherence
relates to how well nine knowledge flows work together to support performance in the first level,
and alignment at the second level is about how to reduce inefficiency.
In the first level of the framework, nine different value generating routes along which knowledge
can flow are identified within and between three knowledge domains: the individual people
working for the organisation (sometimes called human capital), the systems and processes of the
organisation (sometimes called structural capital), and the external relationships of the
organisation (sometimes called relationship capital). This is illustrated in figure 1.
External
relationships
(E)
3
7
8
9
Individual
People (I)
1
5
2
4
Internal
Organisation (O)
Figure 1: First level of the framework - value generating knowledge flows

The purpose of each flow and its potential to generate value for the organisation is explained in
table 1. This can be used to create a common language about the knowledge flows during the
interviews or workshops.
171
Table 1: Purpose and value of the nine value generating knowledge flows (first level of the
framework)
Route of
knowledge
flow
1. Between
Individuals
2. From
Individual to
Organisation
3. From
Individual to
External
stakeholders
4. Around the
Organisation
5. From
Organisation to
Individual
Purpose of flow
Value to business
Conversations between individuals enable them to solve problems faster
and more effectively
Stimulates individual learning, enables better use of existing knowledge,
potential source of innovation
Converting individual knowledge to resources everyone can use expands
the IC of the business
Stops re-inventing the wheel. Builds the capabilities of the organisation that
are hard to copy.
Individuals share knowledge with customers and partners to strengthen
value generating relationships
By improving quality, customer responsiveness, and loyalty, organisation
protects competitive position
Organisation saves time and money through integrated KM systems and
processes
More efficient knowledge sharing extends use of investments in knowledge
assets, organisational learning, cuts costs, encourages more informed
decision making
Making organisational knowledge accessible improves peoplesability to
learn more quickly and relevantly
Faster more focused individual learning improves productivity and
increases the potential to innovate
6. From
Organisation to
External
stakeholders
Making knowledge available to customers suppliers and partners to improve

competitive performance
7. Between
External
stakeholders
Knowledge sharing between players drives advances in the industry
8. From
External
stakeholders to
Individuals
Individual employees access to knowledge from external partners keeps

them abreast of market opportunities and ideas
9. From
External
stakeholders to
the
Organisation
Accessing knowledge through external partners helps the organization

better exploit its current knowledge or innovate more quickly
172
Influences market conditions in favour of the business, protects existing

competitive position
An organisation that influences this process can be a first mover and gather
more power in the industry
Fuel for innovation. Provides early warning signals for external change
Allows organisation to concentrate on what it does best, respond more

quickly to market changes, or spread risk.
At the second level of the framework, we rely on research that suggests that there are some basic
factors that affect an individuals responses in a situation so that they work without confusion,
internal conflict or unproductive stress (Bateson, 1972, Dilts, 1990). They need to be motivated
to achieve the purpose (they understand why it matters), have the skills to do the task (they know
how to do it), be comfortable with and able to take the necessary actions (they know what to do)
and do so in an environment that is conducive to such action (where it takes place is
appropriate). If these four factors are in alignment, the process of achieving the outcome tends
to run smoothly and efficiently because there is nothing blocking it. For individuals, motivation
comes from their beliefs and values. We have assumed this applies equally to organisations
(through culture which is a set of collective beliefs and values) and external stakeholders (the
industry expectations of what is acceptable and achievable).
These factors are illustrated in figure 2. Like a dam in a river, each factor can act as a blockage
to the flow of knowledge (illustrated as obstructing the flow), or can allow the flow to proceed
and generate value (illustrated as raised out of the flow). Value is generated most effectively
when all four factors are raised out of the flow. This raised state is conceived here as
representative of alignment. Understanding the nature of these four factors and whether they are
blocking or enabling a knowledge flow requires four questions to be asked (why, how, what and
where) in relation to that flow.
The interviews should be used to understand each flow in turn. There are three components to
the gathering information from each interviewee (or in a workshop):
Collecting detailed information to describe the nature of each flow from the perspective
of that interviewee (or the participants).
The interviewees (or participants) rating of the effectiveness of each flow, both in terms
of current practice and desirable performance. Table 2 is the survey template to be used
to collect this data.
The interviewees (or participants) view of the enablers and blockages to each flow using
the four questions shown on figure 2.
Why: why is this flow important, and
What: what do those involved
do those involved understand that this
actually need to do in practice and
knowledge is valuable?
on a day to day basis?
Motivation
Actions
Value from
Knowledge $$
Knowledge
Flow
Skills and Knowledge

How: can those involved transfer this knowledge,
do they know how to do this, do they have the
necessary skills?
Environment
Where: is anything acting as a
practical barrier to achieving the purpose of
this flow time pressures, geography, time
zones, culture, incentives, access to
technology?
Figure 2: Removing the blockages to each knowledge flow (second level of the framework)
173
Table 2: Template for a survey to collect information about the effectiveness of knowledge
flows in the organisation
Low
1
Medium
2
High
5
Rating
7
Desirable
Rating:
Knowledge
mainly shared
with local
trusted
colleagues.
Widespread and
active participation
in mentoring,
coaching,
communities etc.
demonstrating a
high level of trust
between people.
Limited use
made of
Practices that
ensure that the mechanisms
(like
knowledge /
databases or
experience of
communities)
individual
to access or
employees
share
flows to where
knowledge
it is needed
across the
internally.
organization.
Local initiatives
to spread
individual
knowledge
becoming more
evident. Afteraction reviews
completed for
major projects.
Incomplete
coordination.
Desirable
Accessing and
sharing knowledge Rating:
is embedded in
core processes and
carried out as a
matter of course.
Actual
Rating:
Employees
are not able to
Knowledge
build
flows from
relationships
people
externally due
employed by
my organization to lack of
time or poor
to external
processes.
customers /
suppliers /
alliance
companies (all
classed as
partners here).
Increasing
evidence of
employees
forming
relationships
with external
partners, but
this is
incompletely
coordinated
rather than part
of the
knowledge
strategy of the
business.
Employees are
expected to form
trusting
relationships with
key partners and
this is supported
through the
knowledge
strategy.
Participation in
professional bodies
and networks likely
to be common
practice.
Isolated
examples of
The systems,
knowledge
structures and
sharing
processes in my
systems and
organization
process. No
that help
integration
knowledge flow
and much
from one place
"reinventing
to another.
the wheel."
Cultural
initiatives
starting to
support
infrastructure
and process
initiatives.
Incomplete
coordination
though.
A fully integrated Desirable

Rating:
system with
cultural initiatives
supporting process
and infrastructure
investments.
Actual
Rating:
1.
I-I
Knowledge
flows between
individuals in
my
organization.
2.
3.
4.
174
Little
knowledge
sharing due to
insecurity,
politics etc.
I-O
I-E
O-O
Actual
Rating:
Desirable
Rating:
Actual
Rating:
Low
1
Medium
2
High
5
Rating
Few
supporting
Practices that
structures
ensure that
available to
knowledge
help
available in the
individuals
organization
know what to
improves the
do.
competence of
individual
employees.
Some best
practices and
templates and
other resources
available for
core activities.
Incomplete
coordination of
investments in
learning and
development.
Developing
employees is a
business priority.
Best practice
guidance widely
available and
readily accessible.
Learning
encouraged,
appropriate
resources available.
Desirable
Rating:
No support
Systems and to for customers
/ suppliers /
make
partners, eg.
knowledge
by providing
available to
access to
external
update, status,
customers /
diagnostic,
suppliers /
delivery etc.
alliance
companies (all information.
partners here).
Increasing
evidence of
facilities for
external
organizations to
access and use
essential
information
from within
your business.
Your business
model drives the
enhancement of
secure systems to
allow external
partners to access
all necessary
supply / diagnostic
/ status etc
information.
Desirable
Rating:
No significant
conversations
Knowledge
flows between evident
other companies between
in my industry players in the
industry.
(including
suppliers,
customers and
competitors).
Adhoc
conversations
and meaningful
relationships
becoming
increasingly
evident.
External
Desirable
relationships
Rating:
between players in
the industry are
vibrant and
productive.
Actual
Rating:
Individuals
isolated from
external
partners
(customer/sup
plier or other
partner) or
professional
knowledge
networks.
Systems,
processes and
resources
increasingly
available to
allow some key
individuals to
learn from
external
partners or
professional
networks, but
activities are
incompletely
coordinated.
External liaison
roles have been
created and are
coordinated
effectively.
Employee
development
includes
participation in
external
professional
knowledge
networks.
5.
6.
O-I
O-E
7.
E-E
8.
E-I
Knowledge
transfers from
external
customers /
suppliers /
alliance
companies (all
classed as
partners here) to
individual
employees in
my organization
who need it.
Actual
Rating:
Actual
Rating:
Desirable
Rating:
Actual
Rating:
175
Low
Medium
1
9.
E-O
Knowledge
flows from
customers /
suppliers /
alliance
companies (all
classed as
partners here)
into the
decisionmaking
infrastructure of
my
organization.
High
7
External
knowledge is
actively sought and
mechanisms are in
place to feed this
into improve
products, services
and processes in a
coordinated way.
Increasing
evidence that
feedback is
collected from
key partners
and taken into
account in new
/ improved
products,
services and
processes,
although this is
not a
coordinated
process.
No formal
mechanisms
exist to elicit
or capture
external
feedback or
use this to
improving
products,
services or
processes.
Rating
Desirable
Rating:
Actual
Rating:

There are no right or wrong answers in this approach. Not all flows will have a desirable rating
of 7: it depends on what is important to the performance of the organisation. The objective is to
achieve consensus about the ratings for each knowledge flow. Significant differences between
interviewees or within a workshop setting provide an opportunity to explore the reasons for the
different perceptions: the four alignment factors provide the mechanism to understand the
sources of the differences of opinion. Once approximate agreement has been reached, then
transfer your desirable and actual ratings for each knowledge flow for each part of the
organization of interest onto a radar chart like that shown in figure 3 by plotting each one against
the appropriate axis.
I-I
7
6
E-O
I-O
5
4
3
E-I
I-E
2
1
E-E
O-O
O-E
O-I
Figure 3: Plotting the knowledge flow ratings

The gap between desirable and actual ratings will be a useful pointer to areas where attention is
required the biggest gaps indicate the priorities. When all the knowledge flows work together
the value creating potential is increased. If the pattern is different for each part of the
176
organisation, then look for opportunities to understand why some flows work well in one place
and not in others (again, the four alignment factors should be the starting point) and whether
experience and good practice can be transferred.
We have found that the extent to which the nine knowledge flows work smoothly and efficiently
together and operate coherently in support of the organisational objectives is a reflection of the
knowledge management maturity of the organisation. As knowledge management develops
within the organisation, flows within knowledge domains tend to become effective first, then
flows back and forth between the individual and organisational domains become more
effective. However, full knowledge value cant be released until knowledge flows to and from
external partners, suppliers and customers are fully integrated with the other knowledge flows.
This is illustrated in figure 4. The process is highly dynamic as the organisational context
changes.
I
O
O
Some flows
working.
Flows between
domains weak
showing low
coherence
across the
system.
I-O and O-I

stronger. External
connections
weak limiting
adaptation of
the organisation.
External
connections
building.
Interlinkages
limited,
potentially
creating
confusion.
Stronger
interlinkages
between flows
gives more
coherence and
efficiency.
All flows
interwoven to
support each
other for
maximum
business value.
High
coherence.
Figure 4: Moving towards knowledge management maturity.

Two illustrative examples are provided here in relation to flows that in our experience are most
likely to be challenging to many organisations. The first is based on published material from
Buckman Laboratories (Buckman, 2004), which is a well-known Most Admired Knowledge
Enterprise winner. Table 3 summarises the alignment factors for the I-E knowledge flow, that
is, individual employees sharing their knowledge with external customers, suppliers and
partners.Recognising the importance of the flows across the boundary of the organisation is a
sign of knowledge management maturity and has clearly underpinned Buckman Laboratories
knowledge management successes.
177
Table 3: Alignment factors supporting the I-Eknowledge flow at Buckman Laboratories

Motivation
The company set the goal that everyone in the organization must actively
support the needs of the customers by as much direct contact as possible.
No one can just sit back and leave that to those who deal with customers
every day.
Skills and
Knowledge
All associates know how to participate in any discussion about the

customer. People are trained to use the systems and empowered to use what
is available. The Buckman Labs Learning Centre provides the means for
individual employees to acquire the knowledge and skills they need
including typing skills and how to communicate in a networked
organization.
Action
Required
All associates have access to the same systems and are asked to be
effectively engaged on the front line. Employee online discussions about
what this means said its about involvement, commitment, creativity,
passion and ultimately the freedom to do everything we can to use all the
knowledge we have to make sure that we have done our utmost to satisfy the
customer in all areas.
Environment
Collaborative systems have been put in place to allow each associate access
to the necessary knowledge to deliver value to customers.
The second example is based on the mobile telephone network operator Orange. Orange is
owned by France Telecom and is the brand name used for a number of mobile telephone network
operators that have been acquired in recent years, predominantly in Europe. Table 4 summarises
the alignment factors for the E-E knowledge flow, that is, knowledge flows between other
companies in the industry, including suppliers, customers and competitors. Influencing the
knowledge flows within an industry is particularly important in dynamic and rapidly evolving
situations such as technology development.
Table 4: Alignment factors supporting the E-Eknowledge flow at Orange
Synergies between technologies and how these affect lifestyle choices are
believed to be the basis for developing future products and services.
Orange therefore needs to support and encourage the public debate about
Motivation
how people want to live their lives in order to refine their role in providing
solutions in the future.
Knowledge of know to establish and maintain effective relationships with
other players in the industry is important as no one company can drive this
Skills and
debate alone.
Knowledge
Action
Required
Stimulating public and industry debate requires many techniques to be

adopted. Visionary leadership, public relations initiatives and thoughtleadership publications are elements of this.
Environment
The industry environment is relatively collaborative as it is driven by

technology standards that need to be negotiated between leading players.
178

Depending on the nature of the organisation, it may not be possible to treat all external
relationships in the same way. Be willing to repeat the process for each kind of relationship
in turn if necessary (suppliers, partners, customer and others).
Use the nine knowledge flows to look for new sources of knowledge to add value, rather than
simply looking to improve the effectiveness of existing flows.
Remember to integrate all nine flows after you have looked at them individually. They really
cant be considered in isolation to each other as one creates the environment in which another
takes place.
Revisit the process regularly. This isnt a one-off event. The organisational context is
dynamic and therefore the factors underpinning the effectiveness of each flow will be
continually changing, as will the relative importance of each flow.
Look for patterns across the flows (using the alignment factors as a guide) and seek to
influence these patterns for greatest impact.
Dont allow interviewees to put the highest rating as desirableagainst all nine flows. It is
important to think through what really matters.
Dont rush thinking about the alignment factors. With some careful thought about what they
really mean for each of the nine knowledge flows it is possible to design simple interventions
with high impact.
Dont be rigid about organisational boundaries in todays networked organisations these
can be fluid. Set the boundary that is appropriate for the situation you are trying to
understand, but then apply it consistently.
179
Acknowledgements
This method was developed by a Working Group of members of the Henley Knowledge
Management Forum (www.henleymc.ac.uk/kmforum).
Discussions with Dr Judy Payne, a Director of the Henley KM Forum, during the preparation of
this chapter are gratefully acknowledged.
Bateson, G. (1972) Steps to an Ecology of the Mind, New York, Ballentine Books
Buckman, R.H. (2004) Building a Knowledge-Driven Organization, McGraw Hill, ISBN
07138471-5
Dilts, R. (1990) Changing Belief Systems with NLP, Meta Publications, Capitola CA
McKenzie, J., and van Winkelen, C.M. (2004) Understanding the Knowledgeable Organization:
Nurturing Knowledge Competence, Thomson Learning, London
McKenzie, J., and van Winkelen, C.M. (2005) Individuals, Organizations and Networks: An
Integrated Framework to Guide Knowledge Management, Academy of Management
Conference, Hawaii, 5-10 August, 2005.
Sveiby, K.-E. (2001) A Knowledge-based Theory of the Firm to Guide Strategy Formulation,
Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 344-358
180
Author Biographies
Dr Christine van Winkelen has worked with the Knowledge

Management Forum based at Henley Management College in the
UK since its inception in 2000, project managing and directing
research activities and special interest groups. In January 2004
she became the Director of the Knowledge Management Forum.
She is actively involved in a number of KM-related research
projects at Henley Management College and her focus is on
forming a bridge between academic and practitioner aspects of
knowledge management. As a freelance academic and writer,
Christine also tutors strategy, knowledge management and people
management courses on MBA programmes at three UK business
schools.
Professor Jane McKenzie is a Professor of Management
Knowledge and Learning at Henley Management College in the
UK. She joined Henley in 1997, where a large part of her daily
work centres on the contribution of knowledge and learning to
management and organisational development. Currently she is
Director of Executive and Distance Learning MBA Programmes.
Her research interests focus on the connection between
knowledge, learning and organisational value and the dilemmas
managers face in todays complex business environment. Jane
has written two books, the most recent called Understanding the
Knowledgeable Organization was co-authored with Christine van
Winkelen.
181
Successful
Innovation from
Effective Knowledge
Management
D. W. Birchall and George Tovstiga
Keywords:
Innovation Strategy, Innovation Process, Knowledge Management
Audits, Innovation Training
Successful Innovation from

Effective Knowledge Management
Prof D. W. Birchall, Henley Management College (david.birchall@henleymc.ac.uk)
Prof. George Tovstiga, Henley Management College (george.tovstiga@henleymc.ac.uk)

This chapter offers the reader assistance if their expertise is in knowledge management and they
are engaging in innovation projects.
It has four main elements:1. An introduction into innovation management within organisations.
2. Case studies illustrating the interface between knowledge management and innovation at
both the strategic and operational level.
3. Key knowledge management considerations in relation to innovation.
4. A check list for taking an overview of the degree to which the organisations knowledge
management approach supports innovation initiative.
The four elements offer:
1. Briefings for people new to the area
2. Cases providing storylines for convincing innovation managers of the need to consider
and integrate knowledge management into the innovation process
3. Cases for use in training knowledge management professionals
4. A diagnostic audit taking a high level view of knowledge management and innovation
Greater consideration to knowledge management enabling more effective innovation
performance can result in more rapid progress in developing more innovative products and
services to new and existing markets. A helicopter view, as provided here, is often lacking,
resulting in lost opportunities.
Keywords: innovation strategy, innovation process, knowledge management audits,

innovation training

Innovation is high on the agenda of many of the worlds leading businesses. The challenge of
globalisation, strong emerging competition for both manufactured goods and knowledge based
services from China and India, demographic changes in developed countries along with talent
shortages and the rising concern for corporates to behave responsibly are all factors making life
more uncomfortable for business leaders. Without innovation they see little prospects for their
businesses into the long term.
However innovation can take many forms; from the disruptive, such as the explosion of the
Internet; to the incremental, such as improved braking systems on cars; from technology driven
change (e.g. the all pervasive chip); and to changes in the way products and services are taken to
market, e.g. selling direct from the web rather than the high street retailer.
185
So innovation is normally taken to mean something novel introduced into the business which
adds value for customers or clients. This positions innovation at the cutting edge of new business
development. Innovation occurs most frequently at the peripheries and at the interfaces of
knowledge disciplines. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) describe how new knowledge is created
through mechanisms that involve exchange of knowledge existing in tacit and explicit modes.
They also go on to describe enabling conditions for innovation to occur under these
circumstances.
Knowledge and innovation are thereby inextricably linked. The creation of new knowledge
drives innovation and in turn, innovation leads to the creation of new knowledge through the
learning that occurs when organisations engage in innovation. Knowledge in the organisation can
take on a variety of forms, but it is strategically relevant knowledge that is the critical
determining factor in the creation of value for customers through innovation.
The challenge facing leading businesses today is to develop the radically new products or
services to be the basis of their long term prosperity, whilst at the same time maintaining a
constant stream of the incremental innovations to keep their current offerings refreshed and
attractive in todays market. Birchall and Tovstiga (2005) describe an evolutionary, hybrid form
of innovation that seeks to capture the opportunities presented by the two ends of the innovation
spectrum. This form of innovation often presents organisations with a dilemma since it demands
reconciling potentially contradictory processes, structures, leadership styles, and ultimately,
paradigms in the firm. One of the challenges facing firms opting for an innovation strategy of
this type involves the measurement of the impact of innovation (Birchall et al, 2006). The more
future-oriented the innovation effort, the less we can rely on traditional, quantitative measures of
performance. Innovation is inherently future - oriented, hence the growing realisation amongst
both innovation scholars and practitioners of the inadequacy of existing approaches in this area.
For example, one of the key measures of the impact of strategic innovation relates to the learning
impact of innovation on the organisation. Traditional approaches are inadequate for capturing
this dimension.
Whilst it is possible to describe the innovation process, any description fails to capture the
complexity. All innovation starts with an idea followed by the development of a concept.
Moving to a prototype to be tested in the marketplace may then take years of R&D. The risks of
failure at any stage are high, partly due to technical risks (it may not work) but also due to
changing commercial realities in the marketplace, changing ambitions and aspirations of the
business, financial and organisational barriers. Even as the new product is about to be launched,
a competitor may beat the firm to market or, even worse, an unknown competitor may
aggressively burst onto the scene with a radically different competing product or service.
Firms that are good at the more incremental type of innovation normally have a well-oiled New
Product Development (NPD) process. This will take new product ideas through a series of stagegates. Each of these will present a series of hurdles to the promoters as they move from
prototype to full-scale production. The aim of these hurdles is to assess the overall viability and
the risks of not achieving the return on investment sought. The outcome will be a go, no-goor
conditional proceed.
Radical innovation in most firms calls for a much different approach to the standard NPD
approach. Since radical innovation challenges the status quo, one or more of the many
stakeholders likely to be impacted can act to freeze out the development. So skunk works,
separate organisations, spin-offs are all used to develop the disruptive ensuring it is protected
until proven viable.
Whether focused on the incremental or the radical, successful firms are those that can generate
new knowledge, reuse existing knowledge and experience and learn more effectively than direct
competitors. The learning gleaned from unsuccessful projects may well be as significant as that
from the successful. This is only possible where there is a culture which is not heavily focused
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on blame and shame. So not only does the organisation need a clear innovation process, it also
needs to create a culture conducive to innovation.
The materials that follow will help anyone devising an innovation process, advising innovation
experts on knowledge management or auditing innovation systems. It provides case illustrations
for illuminating innovation processes and knowledge management issues that can be used as
training materials, for briefings. Managers can also use them as guides for their own personal
reflections.
The Toolkit will assist in the design or review of knowledge managements adequacy in support
of the innovation strategy and process.

It is an important first step for the principal consultant to discuss and agree with the
organisational client the exact nature of the brief, the outcomes expected, the approach to be
adopted and the communication process in the organisation prior to commencement.
The Toolkit can be used by either an individual investigator or a team. If a team is to be put
together, the composition needs to be agreed with the client, authorisation for their release from
other duties should be sought and any facilities required established and budgetary provision be
made.
The team needs careful briefing. If their knowledge of innovation is limited, they may be asked
to read the background information and attend a short (2 hours) seminar to discuss it. The aims
for this would be to develop a common level of basic knowledge but also to establish the
strengths of members in the field. A second session may be deemed necessary and further
reading proposed subsequent to that meeting.
The people involved in the study overall also need careful briefing. This should come from the
client or someone more senior. It is important that anyone involved, either directly or indirectly,
is aware of the purpose and has the opportunity to get any queries answered. A positive outcome
to this process is important for the investigators to be able to get open and frank answers to
probing questions.
The investigation team may need to rehearse. There is an art in posing questions of expert
witnesses and role-play or such can help the team appreciate sensitivities and develop skills. A 2hour session should suffice.

The Toolkit presented here is intended as a series of initial questions to be followed through with
a search for evidence in support of claims being made. The Toolkit provides a helicopter view.
Probing follow up questions will take the investigator into much more detail.
It is not intended to be prescriptive but rather a stimulus for interrogation and reflection. Also as
part of good knowledge management practice we encourage the encapsulation of insights and the
promulgation of new knowledge to improve overall innovation effectiveness.
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The Toolkit: A series of questions for the investigator

1. In looking at innovation successes and failures what patterns in innovation
process emerge?
2. How effectively has the knowledge management approach supported the diversity
of approaches to innovation management?
3. What system is in place to review how knowledge management approaches
support innovation and how have insights and lessons learnt been used, with what
impact?
4. Innovation is really about new knowledge acquisition and its exploitation in new
or refined products or services. Creativity, trial and error, model building and
testing, rapid learning are important elements. In what ways does the firms
knowledge management approach support or hinder these activities?
5. What mechanisms are in place for identifying relevant external knowledge
sources, and then capturing, filtering, sorting and integrating new knowledge from
these external sources?
6. In what ways is the knowledge management system effective at environmental
scanning and capturing competitor intelligence and promoting internal analysis?
7. What evidence exists that Communities of Practice are giving effective support in
the innovation process? How can their effectiveness be improved?
8. How effective at moving forward the strategic innovation targets is knowledge
sharing across departmental/organisational boundaries?
9. How well aligned are the information systems with the firms knowledge
management strategy and approach? What needs to be done to ensure they
together support innovation initiatives?
10. In what ways are metrics for innovation and knowledge management aligned and
appropriate?
11. Is the prevailing organisational paradigm and culture more in alignment with
"perfecting the known", or with "imperfectly seizing the unknown"?
12. How are knowledge management strategy and approach aligned to innovation
strategy?
13. What evidence is there that successes in innovation are recognised across the
organisation and effectively promoted to other stakeholders e.g. clients and
customers?
To make the best use of the Toolkit the person being questioned must be made to feel relaxed.
Thought should be given to how this will be achieved. What sort of room is required? How will
the seating be arranged? Is the lighting appropriate? How will the questioning be conducted?
It may be appropriate to run any information gathering as a meeting rather that as interrogation,
with several functions represented. A flipchart or white board is useful. However, subgroups
may work through issues by using post-its or other tools to collect and sort ideas. The Toolkit
can be broken down into a series of tasks.
At the end of the day, it is important that participants are fully aware of the purpose, that they are
kept on track, that they feel positive about their contribution and enthused for any next steps.
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Here we will explain how the Toolkit is used in order to investigate the adequacy of the
organisations knowledge management approach as a support to the innovation strategy and
process, and how the results of the study should be reported.
The Toolkit can support a number of activities:
1. Alignment of the knowledge management strategy with the innovation strategy and,
ultimately, the overall strategy of the firm.
2. Planning the knowledge management strategy so as to adequately support innovation.
3. Designing the knowledge management approach in relation to innovation.
First of all, it is essential to identify the client for the study and his/her position in relation to the
follow-up work. The request may originate from an Executive Committee or Operational Board,
although a senior manager might be authorised to report back the findings of any study. What is
the brief? What form is any report to take? What are the expectations and how will the report be
used? What authority will the investigator have?
Our preference is for a working group to be set up for the study so as to have input from a variety
of functional areas, e.g. business development, R&D, operations, innovation services,
information systems etc. This adds considerable richness to the study as well as preparing the
ground for subsequent implementation. It should result in workable recommendations.
The Toolkit could also be used by a single investigator. In this case, it is advisable to interview
representatives from the peripheral functions as well as the key players. Once the report is at
drafting stage, the same respondents should be contacted again to test out the recommendations.
However, it is essential that the working group or single investigator have credibility and
standing in the eyes of both the client and those being questioned. In part, this will come from
hierarchical status, but background knowledge is also important. It may be necessary to do more
than just brief members on both knowledge management and innovation. Training sessions may
need to be designed. If so, there are some basic principles to follow:
1. Outcomes from any training need to be clearly specified. We would expect attendees to
leave with an understanding at a basic level of the nature of innovation, the types of
innovation strategy pursued by organisations and the basics of the approach in the
organisation. We have assumed that the level of knowledge management understanding
is adequate something that may influence the choice of group members. Also, finally,
they have to be prepared in the use of the Toolkit.
2. The process for establishing the desired outcomes should be specified. All too often the
line taken is that of presentation of the information with the learner being relatively
inactive. Given the small numbers involved and the varying levels of knowledge, we
would usually adopt a workshop format. Here participants are actively engaged
throughout by asking them to do a moderate amount of pre-reading we would expect
them to be prepared for a series of group tasks. Each task will be carefully designed so as
to ensure coverage of the terminology, strategic approaches to innovation and the
innovation process. The more general background material can be used to identify
specific innovation approaches used by the organisation. The latter does require that the
consultant has a good understanding of internal aspects. Tasks also need to be designed
covering the approach to the investigation and the use of the Toolkit. The working group
should be asked to identify key points recording them on flipcharts or other projection
means. These flipcharts should then be drawn together and distributed to group members
as an aide memoir.
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3. The final aspect of any training is its review and evaluation. Do group members feel
adequately prepared for the investigatory work? Does anything else need to be done?
What lessons can be taken from the process for any subsequent groups?
As pointed out earlier, there are some basic needs for the questioning process to run smoothly
and achieve the desired outcomes. The working group may decide to split into pairs for
interviewing or studying together. They may decide on one-to-one interviews or group sessions
in workshop format. However, one essential element is that the questioning achieves an
understanding of current practice, its strengths and weaknesses and what is actually felt
necessary to improve. Evidence should be sought to support claims by interviewees and, if
possible, the assumptions being made. Interviewees will inevitably move between innovation
and knowledge management, as well as associating the two. The investigators will need time
together to sort out the data and put it together into a coherent form for a report. This might start
as a messyprocess. The lead investigator should come to any meeting prepared with ideas as to
how to structure the data and enable the group to move forward if the process seems stuck.
The culmination of this stage is the actual report. The format should have been agreed and
outlined at the outset. We usually recommend the following headings:
1. The executive summary.
2. The brief.
3. The process.
4. The results.
5. The recommendations.
However, different organisations look for different styles of reporting. These range from the very
detailed to a short and snappy presentation. But given the limited time executives have available
for each and every issue they challenge, the report must have quick impact so the executive
summary is a key element. Having clear recommendations for further actions is essential. But the
investigators need to also indicate the implications of the actions proposed. The detail in the
report is likely to prove useful for implementations and should be written bearing this in mind.
The final stage, and one which is surprisingly often overlooked, is closure to the activity. We
always emphasise the need of group members for feedback, which they deserve given their
contributions. Also, good management practice would suggest the need to establish lessons
learnedand make them available to other studies.

The outcome of this exercise is a report for consideration by the ultimate client. If this is the
Executive or Operational Board, one can expect questioning of the outcomes and
recommendations. Often the quality of interrogation appears disappointing. However, in our
experience, clarification is frequently called for before a decision with a further submission
responding to questions posed. In such cases it appears that, due to unspoken disagreement,
blocking behaviours emerge. The working group are unlikely to be able to influence this, unless
they appreciate the political environment in which they are working. If they do, the executive
summary and its recommendations can be designed to increase the chances of success. But this
assumes unanimity within the working group. If this does not exist, members are unlikely to try
and sell the outputs to their own functional head. Any residual doubts are likely to undermine the
process.
Recommendations may be for the long term but with short-term actions; to be acceptable they
have to be seen as bringing business benefits. One test we find useful is to ask whether they are
technically feasible, economically viable and organisationally acceptable. Clearly, the more they
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appear disruptive to the enterprise the more the client is going to see warning lights and risks.
Also, economic viability will tax executives. A business case may be called for in order to justify
any investment. Lessons learned from earlier studies of this type may assist in preparing the
report to maximise its chance of success.
Of course, the recommendations may not make any suggestions for significant change. If the
status quo is satisfactory but some minor tweaking would produce improvements, this is an
acceptable outcome, so long as supported by evidence.
The working group may have a role in the implementation of changes. This may well be one of
monitoring progress but members may be expected to be more active. In any case, again, there is
the need for negotiation in order to agree the brief and other aspects identified earlier.

We now go on to look at three cases which illustrate innovation. We have limited our cases to
one area in which innovation is taking place a specific group of technologies. This enables
readers to see some of the diversity of approach to innovation within a single sector. However,
our main purpose is to draw out lessons in relation to the management of knowledge and
learning.
High Throughput Technologies (HTTs) have been around for many years. In practise, what they
do is automate laboratory processes replacing traditional wet chemistry deploying test tubes and
manual processing of experiments with highly sophisticated automated procedures in order to
produce different formulations at rates undreamed of twenty years ago. Their applications are
varied and used by many industrial sectors from drug development to household cleaners to
testing the purity of water. Our particular interest is in how HTT can impact the companys
innovation performance.
Case 1: A pharmaceutical giant
Pharmaceutical companies have to constantly refresh their drug portfolios in order to compensate
for highly profitable long-standing products which are reaching the end of their intellectual
protection. Drug development takes many years from discovery to availability in the drug store.
Many potential compounds fail to make it and this may be after years of development and
extremely high investment.
In the early 1990s, two developments offered considerable hope. In addition to HTT, which
enables the more rapid development of target compounds, the science of genomics was enabling
a better understanding of the nature of ailments. This led to considerable investment by this
company in HTT.
Initial results appeared promising. Within 5 years the number of candidate compounds being
produced rose from 2 per annum to 32. However, at this stage it was unclear whether the
candidates were actually going to meet the criteria for final application. It was recognised,
though, that the processes and procedures in place for managing the early stage development
could be improved. 6-Sigma and Lean Sigma were introduced to try and overcome bottlenecks
arising as a result of the vast increase in testing of candidates and improve process efficiency.
One issue not confronted related to the metrics used to manage the process. The executives,
under pressure from stakeholders and in an industry subject to rapid consolidation, were eager to
demonstrate superior performance. The new processes were seen as the way forward. But
gradually it began to dawn on the executives that the measurements based on candidate
discovery were inadequate as a measure of performance. What transpired was that the actual
success rate in drug development had only moved from 1 per annum to 2. Also, the time taken to
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develop candidates had increased significantly. Compared to former approaches based around
co-located interdisciplinary teams, the new processes separated the key scientists from activities
formerly carried out by one team. These processes appeared not only to result in a loss of
momentum but also to restrict the experimentation and learning.
But with considerable investment in new ways of doing things, where would the challenge come
which would lead to a questioning of assumptions and a re-think? In effect, a small skunk works
type of operation was set up to determine how the best of the traditional methods could be
combined with HTT. Initially protected from all the vested interests and resistant forces within
the organisation, this trial proved itself fairly rapidly. It did then lead to a major rethink of the
global R&D organisation.
Several aspects of knowledge management stand out in this case:
1. Along with the rest of the industry, the rate of investment in R&D was significantly
increased. But along with the rest of the industry, a new process driven approach was
adopted for new product development. This cut across the traditional approach of
manageable interdisciplinary teams working in focused areas. The result appears to have
been a loss of rapid knowledge generation due to fragmentation, delays in the system due
to unanticipated work overload and, ultimately, no improvement in output.
2. At a strategic level the programme was monitored using inappropriate metrics. These
reinforced the newly adopted processes. Questioning of this approach, whilst raised at an
operational level, remained unheard. Learning was slow due to a lack of openness and
tunnel thinking.
3. A process-driven organisation was put in place to improve efficiency. However this
overlooked the benefits of creating a knowledge sharing and learning organisation.
4. The later organisation aimed to connect staff who are potentially significant contributors
to the process in diverse, multi-skilled teams.
Case 2: A chemicals company with a range of globally branded household products.
The appointment to the lab of an analytical chemist with prior expertise in HTT led to the setting
up of several small-scale facilities. Difficulties were experienced in the early days in working
with the technology provider due to a lack of experience outside pharmaceuticals. Further
specific applications were identified and university partners introduced to enable technical
problems to be overcome. This eventually led to a central HTT unit being created within the
R&D facility so as to encourage project managers to consider HTT for new projects and offer a
central service to support individual projects.
Other labs within the global operation were also trialling HTT and eventually connections were
made so as to form a Community of Practice. The scientist who worked on the initial project was
seconded part time as a technology translator to a national initiative in the UK. This enabled her
to develop a good appreciation of developments in the technologies and applications in other
businesses. Something she could share through the internal Community of Practice.
Innovation is seen as important to the company. Its website has a statement Innovation is
right at the heart of [the company], and our dynamic R&D environment attracts top-class
scientists who enjoy the best of both worlds - being at the cutting edge of technology and
seeing their work deliver real benefits daily.1
One manifestation of this has been the setting up of an advanced technology unit to serve R&D
across the business. This includes HTT.
To date HTT has been used to improve the efficiency of R&D being adopted on projects where
there are clear benefits. Its use has also been extended into engineering where it can eliminate the
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need for pilot plants prior to scaling up operations. However, the focus has been very much on
the R&D function rather than the development of innovative new products. The business
development function in each business unit is located physically at some distance from the R&D
function and unlikely to have any understanding of the potential for HTT. This probably restricts
its application in new product development.
Looking at issues relating to knowledge management we observe:
1. Several parallel initiatives started in R&D departments across the world. It took some
time for these to become connected. A community of practice as eventually formed to
enable experience sharing, joint problem solving and the building of a case for further
development.
2. The bottom-up approach enabled capability development but progress was hampered by
the lack of a clear champion well connected across the business unit and, ultimately, the
organisation overall.
3. There appears to be little exchange of information and knowledge across the
organisational stovepipes. E.g. business development and R&D. This did not seem to be
an issue for management.
4. The community of practice crossed organisational boundaries but focussed exclusively
on R&D. It was self-organising.
5. The importance of technological advances in R&D has now been recognised at a strategic
level. The result is the bringing together of HTT with other developments. This should
provide a platform for capabilities development and formalises the community of practice
into a more powerful unit. The outcome should be project acceleration.
Case 3: A chemical giant operating in business-to-business and consumer market.
In this firm HTT started life in the companys Strategic Technology Group. The business is
challenged by the possibility that, at some stage, its materials suppliers may change the business
model by leapfrogging the intermediary and deliver direct to the end user. As a result, there is
strong pressure to identify ways in which the company can add value for its customers beyond
that of any alternative supply model.
When the company initiated its entry into HTT, the supply base of technology providers was
inadequate to meet the demands of the type of project being undertaken. As a consequence, a
decision was taken to develop internal capabilities. External providers are used but the principal
emphasis is on in-house development. A centralised approach offered an affordable entry into
HTT. Developing applications internally has led to the early surfacing of problems and the
acquisition of resources to overcome them. One of the key problems identified was that of
finding meaningful methods to analyse the vast quantity of data. In particular, this requires a
different disciplinary basis to that used traditionally in new compound development. There initial
explorations with HTT enabled these problems to be resolved prior to a roll out to the labs of
operating companies. Whilst the use of HTT for catalysis is well established, it has limited
application. Understanding how HTT might improve other processes was seen as important prior
to any rollout to operating companies.
Also, issues of competence development in order to increase the flexible application of HTT
requiring reconfiguration by a multi-disciplinary team needed. Also issues of competence
development in order to increase the flexible application of HTT requiring reconfiguration by a
multi-disciplinary team needed exploration. Another advantage of internal development is the
control it offers over the firms intellectual property. In adopting a strategic approach the firm
has taken advantage of HTT in building relationships with key clients. The firm sees clear
advantage in being able to offer customers the capability of HTT to more quickly tackle product
deficiencies or work on new product development. This helps lock out the suppliers of raw
materials from the firms position in the supply chain.
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The companys Technology Board is responsible for identifying projects to be pursued by

internal R&D. Investment on HTT is also determined at this level. This results in a top-level
review of HTT applications, and to investment linked to the firms technology strategy. But to
some degree, the business development function has driven the adoption of HTT. They have
recognised the potential of the latter to impact on new product development, both in terms of
product formulations and in speed and cost to market.
There are examples of where HTT has had an impact either in terms of speedier progress through
stage gates or improved through processes in the lab. These stories are used to promote HTT
throughout the firm. However, the impact of HTT is not easily measured since the technology
enables the scientist to be more effective but the outcome is heavily dependent upon scientists
and the quality of their experimental design
It is recognised that for technology to be really successful, everything must be fully integrated
from experimental design through to data storage on fully searchable databases. The knowledge
management system has to support extensive searches.
The following observations are offered relating to knowledge management in this case:
1. Centralised development enabled a small core group working closely together to achieve
a high level of mastery in a rapidly developing technical field.
2. Tightly managed trial applications exposed a key knowledge management issue, namely
the production and subsequent management of vast amounts of data. If the data cannot be
translated into information, and then, through skilled analysis, to new knowledge, there
will be no benefit from HTT. Also, if it cannot be stored in a way, which enables
meaningful searches at some later date, it loses effectiveness. A holistic approach is
needed in order to integrate all elements into an effective system.
3. Linkages are in place across the firm which enable key decision makers to monitor
potential impact.
4. The use of the technology is not confined to improving R&D effectiveness but supports
key customers in the generation of new knowledge in timely fashion.
5. Early stories of successful applications have been used to create technology pull from
operating divisions but any new investment is against a strong business case.

Plan, plan, plan! For the consultant it is essential that good planning be carried out at each
step. This involves reflection on lessons learned and the exploration of alternative next steps.
Ensure a well-articulated brief and process is agreed at the outset.
Make sure that the findings in the report have strong evidential support.
Maintain good communication with interested stakeholders.
Practice good principles of knowledge management.
Avoid non-participation within the working group. Good facilitation will ensure measured
contributions from members, as well as making people feel good about their involvement.
Avoid the working group jumping to premature conclusions and perpetuating their
entrenched views on a way forward. Again, good facilitation is key.
194
Do not rush the final report. Get comments from others to test out ideas and respond where
appropriate.
Do not terminate the working group without getting closure. You might need their input
later!
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution given by the members of Henleys
Knowledge Management Forum and its Director, Christine van Winkelen. They would also like
to acknowledge the financial support from Chemistry Industry Knowledge Transfer Partnership
in funding the development of the case studies.
Birchall, D.W. and G. Tovstiga (2005). Capabilities for Strategic Advantage: Leading through
Technological Innovation, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Birchall, D.W., G. Tovstiga and E. Ruetsche (2006). Innovation Cracking the Enigma, Critical
Eye Review, Issue 15
Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge Creating Company. Oxford University
Press, New York
Author Biographies
Prof. David W. Birchall is Director of the School of
Management Knowledge and Learning at Henley Management
College. Davids research interests are in the area of innovation
practices in organisations and in management learning. He has
particular expertise in the development of systems to support
remote learners. David has consulted and lectured throughout the
world on aspects of innovation, technology and organisation
capabilities, organisational learning and knowledge management.
His latest book, Capabilities for Strategic Advantage - Leading
Through Technological Innovation, co-authored with George
Tovstiga, was published in May 2005 by Palgrave.
George Tovstiga is Associate Professor and Lead Tutor in
Innovation Management at Henley Management College. George
Tovstiga has extensive international experience as management
educator, industry practitioner, author and consultant. He has over
15 years industry management experience, notably in the areas of
R&D, innovation and engineering management. Georges
research is focused on the strategic management of innovation,
technology and capabilities in knowledge-intensive firms.
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Co-Creation
Methodologies to
Set and Measure
Knowledge Value
Indicators
Paolo Petrucciani
Keywords:
Co-Creation Roadmap, Consensus Techniques, Relevant Knowledge
Mapping, Knowledge Asset Valorization, New Knowledge Building,
KM and Balanced Scorecard
Co-Creation Methodologies to Set

and Measure Knowledge Value
Indicators
Paolo Petrucciani (CMC), Epistema di Paolo Petrucciani, Rome, Italy, (epistema@epistema.it)

The objective of the paper is to illustrate a working protocol, composed of some mixed,
cascaded and linked workpaths or phases, utilizing different techniques, tools and
methodologies, in order to promote widespread/collective awareness of extrinsic or intrinsic
knowledge assets value.
The methodologies presented are based on collaborative and shared identification criteria of a
knowledge value indicatorssystem, for their subsequent measuring, evaluating and monitoring
over time. In this sense the value of knowledge for a company or organization is a relative,
evolutionary and semi-stable one and may depend mainly on the part of the organization
involved in these topical decisions (Sveiby, 2006): top management, experts and/or professionals
who each have their own perception of how to measure knowledge (e.g. revenue, profit, quality,
culture, organizational alignment, etc.).
The knowledge value indicators (KVI) identified make it possible to measure periodically the
exchange of experiences and knowledge that take place within a company (Petrucciani, 1990)
and to consider at the same time their trend/situation over time to foster mainly:
knowledge creation, utilization, re-use and their adjustments and alignments for a companys
benefit and to increase its value;
direct organizational initiatives to facilitate knowledge exchange on the job;
the creation of communities of practices (CoP) and working groups (Dalkir, 2005), also on a
semi-permanent basis, based on critical knowledge-sharing;
organizational and cultural alignment;
education and training initiatives.
One of the problems you may encounter when starting a KM (knowledge management) project is
to achieve agreement about the specific objectives of such a study. There is no simple solution to
this issue due to the existence of a multiplicity of possibilities that you can range from, and to the
roles and attitudes/behaviour adopted by different sponsors, protagonists and players within a
team. Some instruments are outlined below which may facilitate the project workpath, on the
grounds of a consensual and co-created roadmap, developed step by step, in which continuous
insights by participants are focussed on what KM processes may imply for the companyand on
how some knowledge indicators may be explained and utilized for an organizations benefit.
Keywords: co-creation roadmap, consensus techniques, relevant knowledge mapping,
knowledge asset valorization, new knowledge building, KM and balanced scorecard
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Co-Creation Methodologies to Set and Measure Knowledge Value Indicators

The general context in which you can use this protocol, using specific methodologies and tools
outlined, relates to some company/organization goals to produce rapidly and soundly a clear
vision of :
1) which is the relevant core knowledge;
2) how to reach a shared and consensual knowledge asset measurement scale, based on
importance, significance or value for the specific organizational context;
3) which are the ways of establishing specific KVI to collect and measure over time;
4) how to track knowledge exchange trends and new knowledge creation/building.
Typical situations, encountered several times and with different clients, prompted me to try to
answer, from a KM consulting perspective, the following issues and questions, working on
approximations and the continuous improvement of tentative methods. These include:
issue-question 1: the evaluation of knowledge value is initially not clear and/or needs to be
stated precisely, at least in terms of benefits deriving from its measurement (e.g. impact on
budget or balance sheets, costs, revenues, investments [extrinsic value], its impact on
culture/motivation of human resources, as well as its impact on organizational effectiveness
[intrinsic value], etc.);
issue-question 2: the absence/scarcity of flexible and hybrid project workpaths necessary to

reach more rapidly an awareness of knowledge value in a company or organization, based on
co-creation and consensus;
issue-question 3: the scarcity of methodological solutions which are able to permit simple
maintenance of the system, with a possibility of introducing various scalable approaches (e.g.
measurement scales, rankings reviews, output interpretation, etc.) to ensure the wider solidity
of the protocol, even safeguarding necessary adaptability.
While you can use tools and techniques separately to reach a degree of consensus about any of
the goals previously outlined , with times and ways to be agreed upon, the complete four phase
joint protocol for an ICT client case, illustrated in the Make it Happensection lasted about
four months for all the KM project and produced different sessions and timeframes. The number
of people involved in the project team and committed to producing expected results were 15-20
(mainly of organizational technical units - sw applications and customer service professional
community).
These methodologies and instruments are also applicable, either jointly or separately, in every
social or profit/non profit organizational environments in which explicit or tacit knowledge exist,
within humans or other assets, and where there is a need to better understand mechanisms to
identify, create, maintain and nurture knowledge value indicators (KVI). In this sense the
number of participants in the situation may vary from 3-4 to 15-30, depending on the complexity
and final aim of the project and the required consensus about the issue.

Typical background information for the use of the tools may be various company knowledge
databases (e.g. company values, company objectives, core competencies, skill inventory, service
200
level agreement [SLA], drivers for development strategies, quality indicators, production
measures, financial/economic indicators, etc.).
The participants in the project must prepare the set or subsets of the items that need to be
investigated and analyzed in various phases. The organization of these data and information is
very critical for the success of KM project as is the selection of the knowledge items in which
the project team or top management wants to be engaged. The commitment to produce and share
a final vision or relative importance of company knowledge value is essential, and must be
applied within the specific context.
In the case of the ICT client illustrated later in this paper, the preparation of material by the
project team essentially amounted to a series of dedicated meetings and some back-office
preparations beforehand which were assigned to team members and involved:
the selection of eligible company experts/facilitators, either because of their importance

within the organizational, or technical competencies and in-depth knowledge of
organizations functioning, from both internal and its institutional clientsperspectives. The
objective of the selection process was to identify correctly the best/and most significant
knowledge indicators which have a direct impact on generable value by their monitoring over
time (e.g. productivity gains, service quality improvements, costs savings linked to larger
company know-how diffusion and circulation, system maintenance efficiency, cheapness of
collection and monitoring, etc.) (one meeting with top management);
the selection of basic indicators regarding production processes, quality systems and quality
service levels, by type, by identifying the main critical success factors (two meetings of 2
hours, in team).

In this section there is a summary and brief description of the significance, scope and necessary
human interaction for three of the five tools/techniques utilized in the four phase protocol for the
identification of knowledge value indicators (KVI), while the remaining two are described in
terms of their significance only.
critical success factors (CSF) These are useful indicators and data for top management,
initially introduced by Rockart (1979), to evaluate which activities of an organization must be
monitored and which characteristics/performance must be reached to ensure robust competition
on the market (key business activities). CSF are very useful to identify, normally by senior
expert panels or directors, which are the critical issues that an organization deals with and wants
to track over time. A typical CSF session may take a couple of intensive hours with open
discussion in a meeting room, with whiteboard and flip charts, supported by personal insights
prepared beforehand . Groups or experts may range from 4 to 10 individuals. Larger numbers
require a laptop for collecting and keeping a score of individual points of view (see Table 1,
forward).
paired comparison This technique makes it possible to compare and assess in pairs elements
of a square matrix that has same elements on x and y axes and an empty diagonal (David, 1988,
Armstrong and Murlis, 1991). Paired comparison is normally utilized for clarifying priorities
and the relative importance of a sample or complete set to be investigated (e.g. roles, values,
competencies, know-how, etc.). Any expert may work on a personal separate sheet to investigate
which item is more significant than another using a square matrix. A typical paired comparison
session, compiled electronically, may take up to 15-30 minutes, depending on the items to be
compared. Managers, professionals or experts may range, in average, from 2 to 30 individuals.
201
This technique requires a laptop with a pre-compiled worksheet with complement to 2

formulae(see Table 2, forward, instructions at the bottom).
collaboration matrix This concerns a company organizational units or offices square matrix
through the identification of information, knowledge and consulting requests and typical offers
between various units/offices, about different issues. Collaboration matrix is normally utilized
for clarifying, within company organizational units, who exchanges what with who(others
units), and makes it possible to track relevant knowledge demand-supply or exchange. A typical
compilation for this matrix requires 3-4 hours of individual work by each head/person
responsible for the organizational unit, to produce at the end a comprehensive organizational
map (normally this compilation is done by PC or laptop with electronic sheets) (see Table 5,
forward, instructions at the bottom).
While for CSF and paired comparison you may use different co-creation facilities, either paper
or electronic ones (e.g. expert panels, electronic expert panels using wikis or e-mail, normal open
space or small rooms with use of flip-charts or post-it, etc.), the collaboration matrix requires
an in-depth knowledge of the organizational structure and detailed information about all
organizational units under investigation (minimum at first and second layers) and needs to be
filled out by paper and pencil or with specific pre-prepared worksheets, with contributions from
consultants and all internal managers that know exactly which units utilizes which other units
for specific collaborative organizational purposes, from a knowledge demand-supply perspective
(e.g. internal procedures, exchange of practice/know-how, internal technical or mutual
assistance, etc.).
KPI - key performance indicators This is a set of quantifiable measures for a company or a
sector, utilized to gauge and compare strategic and/or operational performance (variable, both
within the company and the industrial sector) (utilized also to measure company critical
processes performance).
balanced scorecard framework and methodology introduced last decade (Kaplan and Norton,
1992, 1996) to represent company result areas and to link strategic company objectives to
operational ones, following some predefined classification and/or perspectives (economicalfinancial, customers, internal business processes, learning and growth)

The overall approach outlined below for the ICT client case is basically an open source
methodologyand adopts a specific protocol, in four phases (Petrucciani, 2006). The tools are
described in this section and are also described from a technical perspective in the Toolkit
section. Tangible and measurable objectives of the four phases are summarized.
Deployment and timing of the four phase joint protocol
First phase (knowledge recognition)
The first objective was to extract relevant knowledge items in collaboration with people involved
in creating, using and exchanging specific knowledge. So the aim was to select rapidly some
factors-indicators that would have made it possible to measure knowledge value for the
company, both from economic, professional and specialised perspectives.
The activities of this part of the project involved an internal survey to identify which critical
success factors (CSF) (Rockart, 1979) should be considered that have a direct impact on
company services towards core clients focussing specifically on both the company performance
profile and internal/external know-how circulation as principal drivers for investigation. The
202
methodology utilized to identify these critical factors, subsequently transformed in knowledge

value indicators, is the balanced scorecard (BS) (Kaplan and Norton, 1996).
Some of the principal knowledge critical factors (KCF) were identified in this part of the
survey (the overall project team amounted to initially 49 knowledge items, subsequently reduced
to 19 knowledge critical factors, of which, 8 were finally selected (for company value and
impact), as well as quality system indicators of the company (certification ISO UNI EN 9001:
2002, productive processes) and 4 balanced scorecard perspectives were applied and include:
economic-financial perspective: company value generation linked to innovative contracts

content with existing clients and to traditional/innovative contracts with new clients (where
innovative contracts content stands for new or more efficient technological solutions offered)
customer perspective: applications effectiveness [defectiveness of sw applications under

guarantee or not]; average delay of intervention for maintenance of sw applications running;
no. of successful solutions vs customer claims inbound calls to first level call center; no. of
internal users served by company knowledge base
internal business processes perspective: time to market [speed to release new sw

products/applications]; tools for sw quality measurement
learning and growth perspective: quantity of existing technical documentation on running

applications; overall active participative level of the specialised forum (under intranet);
amount of investments in specific education/training seminars which have the aim of
increasing specialised and technologies-methodologies knowledge
A preliminary measurement system and periodical timeframes were then identified for each
factor-indicator (Table 1).
Facilities and human interaction: The first phase involved about three meetings of 3-4 hours to
produce, using CSF technique, a shared and co-created vision of relevant company core
knowledge, named temporarily by the team knowledge critical factors (KCF). Facilitation was
supported by a room for brainstorming and flipcharts.
Second phase (knowledge ranking)
The second ojective was to rank knowledge items along a shared scale or metrics in a way that
there will be general agreed consensus on the final ranking.
In this phase the project team produced a system to validate, evaluate and graduate (rank)
selected KCF by means of democratic sharing mechanisms, on the basis of paired comparison
methodology(David, 1988, Armstrong and Murlis, 1991) that makes it possible to vote the
relative internal importance among them.
The team investigated also some key-criteria to facilitate the task of collecting and measuring
these indicators over time, using the same paired comparisonmethodology presented before.
So the project team produced evaluations and rankings. Individual paired comparison (Table 2)
and the two final templates (Table 3, Table 4) are illustrated below as well as report votesgraduations individually and collectively produced by five internal experts. Instructions for
compiling the sheet are outlined at the bottom of Table 2. The sheet uses internal formulae for
complementing to 2the diagonal bottom-left part of the matrix, following individual choices
on the diagonal upper-right part.
203
Table 1 First selection of Knowledge critical factors (KCF)
Table 2 Individual paired comparison Selected KCF
204
Table 3 Collective/co-created paired comparison Selected KCF
Table 4 Collective/co-created paired comparison key-criteria for measuring KCF
A collaboration matrix was developed parallelly to highlight and track relevant internal
demand/offer processes, or the most important interactions between more critical knowledge
intensive organizational units. This was done asking the heads of 12 relevant technical
organizational units what knowledge was required and by which of the other 39 interested
organizational units, producing in this way a simplified knowledge demand-supply
organizational matrix. In other words, which technical offices were involved in internal
specialised knowledge/consultancy demands/requests (customers) and offers (suppliers), based
on work needs. This task was done first by paper (e.g. recording and filing of e-mail requests),
and subsequently by electronic automation (Table 5).
205
Table 5 Collaboration matrix (filled)
206
Facilities and human interaction: The second phase required 3 weeks and was divided in two
meetings of 2 hours to share and select measurement scales and selection criteria for knowledge
critical factors (implicit and explicit knowledge value), and four meetings of 3-4 hours to
produce, using paired comparison, individual and collective rankings and priorities to fine tune
and make a final selection of factors-indicators, which were later transformed into knowledge
value indicators (KVI). The 12 matrixes required for the collaboration matrix, working
individually and asynchronously with sheets, required a week and produced a comprehensive
collective map of internal knowledge demand-supply.
Objective 1
Objective 2
Find and evaluate KM

indicators to measure
services performance for
institutional clients

internal/external users
usability (utilization,
benefits)
Objective 4
Objective 3

acquisition, formalization and
exchange rate of new
strategic company knowledge

indicators to measure access,
diffusion, share and re-use of
existing knowledge in core
processes of the organization
Template 1 Initial objectives of company BS-KM performance management system

Third phase (knowledge performance indicators setting)
As soon as the first two phases were completed the project rapidly addressed the identification
of a more analytical series of indicators, which were opportunely linked to company production
processes, and made it possible to measure periodically both experiences/knowledge exchange,
and progressive know-how capitalization by means of data base feeding (Petrucciani, 1986) and
other internal expert systems appropriately prepared (Petrucciani, 1988).
During this phase the project mainly followed a typical performance management methodology,
oriented to identify KPI (key performance indicators) (Kaydos, 1999).
The client, with the support of a consultancy firm, specialized in this sector, built up some basic
assumptions and target representation templates showing the logical framework of the final
207
phases of the project. The whole setting of the work put in place is described later in this paper,
linking the 4 balanced scorecard (BS) perspectives, knowledge management (KM) and
performance management assumptions and initial objectives (Template 1).
Starting from the whole design illustrated, the project team carried out an analytical knowledge
mapping in following weeks which subsequently produced several analyses concerning:
existing/necessary knowledge typologies/maps to sustain specific core corporate processes

(e.g. institutional clients contract satisfaction, overall services satisfaction, etc.)
existing/necessary tools/instruments/calculations to measure the increase in knowledge (e.g.

ratio, data, surveys, statistics, trends, etc.)
tentative initial standard targets, expressed as specific units of measurement for each
indicator, mapping them all on existing core corporate productive business processes and
taking into account general internal procedures of KM governance processes.
Facilities and human interaction: The third phase envisaged a more intensive and different type
of teamworking. Indeed in this part, which lasted about one month and a half, the main activities
involved separate analyses of the impact of any knowledge factors-indicators from economicfinancial perspectives for the company [extrinsic value]. In this part of the project the client
utilized a specialized performance management consulting firm to support it in identifying and
setting, through previous experience, more useful indicators for the specific situation. The
project involved carrying out a simplified analysis of core company processes, which were
represented in terms of the most significant KPI - key performance indicators to be measured,
which were expressed, as can be seen, also from the 4 balanced scorecard perspectives and
were later transformed in knowledge value indicators (KVI). This last part required 6 meetings
of 4 hours, with intense collaborative interaction with project team members to select best
knowledge value indicators (KVI) for the company and deploy them with different hypothesis
for collection and calculation.
Fourth phase (knowledge value indicators tracking)
The fourth objective was to produce a practical dashboard to track change (e.g. improvements,
increases, decreases, trends, etc.) in these knowledge value indicators (KVI) over time within
organizational units and their constituents utilizing them.
The project team rationalized the overall results attained during previous weeks and months
through the:
1. final identification of objectives for balanced scorecard-performance management systems
for measuring company knowledge value;
2. analytical build up of architecture of company knowledge value system and scope. The
structure of the architecture represents three organizational observations/dimensions of
company knowledge value system: overall company, core production business
processes, tools and systems;
3. model/framework for company knowledge value indicators, segmented in 3 layer levels: first
level-dashboard (6 items), second level-synthetic (18 items) and third level-detailed (40
items).
4. final fine tuning of the executive dashboard and other two levels KVI, for their evaluation
and monitoring over time;
5. setting of a data model (for subsequent recovery and calculation);
6. procedures for collecting and processing statistical data relative to each indicator;
7. setting and creation of calculation algorithms for each indicator.
208
The following pages outline the last steps of the project, namely, point 1., with an explanation of
final objectives of the company performance knowledge value assumptions (Template 2), point
3., with an explanation of normalized and weighed sums (Template 3), and an example of a third
level-detailed indicator for the overall company dimensions (Template 4), and, finally for point
4., the illustration of the executive dashboard overview (Template 5) and the complete
illustration of one the 6 indicators of the executive dashboard, related to tools and systems
(Template 6), including the cascading of first, second and third level indicators.
In the last Template 6, the numbers included in green and red boxes indicate complements to
100% (delta %) in the event of not achieving (red) or achieving/over-achieving (green)
established targets, as result of calculation formula for each relative indicator.
Facilities and human interaction: The fourth phase required 3 weeks and 6 meetings to produce
all necessary calculations for any specific KVI. Two meetings of 4 hours were held to produce
and fine tune the executive dashboard for monitoring selected KVI and introduce an initial
procedure to collect internal company data.
The knowledge value indicators measurement activities started in the company during winter
2004. During that period the project team helped to find initial standards to measure and
compare over pre-established periodical timeframes. In this way any subsequent measurement
served to monitor improvement/worsening in any KVI (whichever dimension) and to take
necessary corrective actions, including the calculation formulae.
Subsequently, in spring 2004, the knowledge management project team produced a survey based
on a perceptive questionnaire about the state of the art of KM in the company, in which the
participants made clear points about the improvement of the KM measurement system designed.
Final o bje c tive 1

Impro ve c apability to s atis fy ins titutional c lie nts
and pe rfo rm be tte r s e rvic e s
o
o
o
o
o
Safeguard and enhance client relationships

Improve client environment knowledge
Create value for clients
Improve cost-effective utilization of
instrumental and human resources
Support clients in strategic technology
choices

Make knowle dg e us able
o
o
Verify internal/external users satisfaction

Propose and improve organizational
solutions for user friendliness and easiness
(knowledge base, information support
systems, education, training, competencies
centers, web channels, etc,.)
Encourage KM tools utilization
Manag e the knowle dg e life c yc le
Cre ate new pro c e s s e s to e nhanc e e xis ting

kno wle dge diffus io n and e xchang e
o
o
o
o
o
Generate new knowledge

Accumulate existing and new knowledge
Rationalize, formalize and standardize
knowledge
Select and develop critical knowledge for the
company
Destroy/eliminate old, redundant or obsolete
knowledge
o
o
o
o
Evaluate degree of knowledge diffusion

Improve organizational solutions for
knowledge access and diffusion
Monitor knowledge disposability to improve
its sharing and exchange
Monitor knowledge access frequency to
evaluate internal practices to re-use or reinvent
Template 2 Final objectives of company BS-KM Performance Management system
209

For any o f the 3 dime ns io ns : 1)
ove rall c ompany, 2) co re produc tion
bus ine s s proc es s e s , 3) too ls and
ins truments ,
the
s truc ture
of
knowle dg e value indic ato rs (KVI) is
artic ulate d in 3 le vels .
3 DIMENSIONS FOR KNOWLEDGE VALUE INDICATORS (KVI)
Overall
company
At the botto m the re are de taile d KVI,

linke d with operative facts .
At the middle level the re are s ynthe tic
KVI,
linke d
with
manage rial
fac ts /actions , o btaine d as no rmalized
we ighe d s um of KM detaile d o ne s .
To p
Manage me nt
At the top leve l there is the exe c utive

das hboard, linke d with c ompany
s trate gy and polic ie s , obtaine d as
normalize d we ighe d s um o f KVI
s ynthe tic ones .
The weight o f e ach indic ator (in %)
expres s
de gre e of importanc e ,
fo llowing and inte rnal s urve y with
co mpany Dire c tors , finalized to
ide ntify prioritie s for knowledge
value .
Dire ctors
Ove rall were define d in the pro je c t:

o 6 indicato rs
of firs t level
(exe c utive das hboard)
o 18 KVI of s e c ond le ve l (s ynthe tic )
o 40 KVI of third le ve l (detaile d)
Te chnic al
Manag ers
Core
production
business
processes
Tools and
instruments
First level Firs t leve l Firs t le ve l

exe cutive e xe c utive
executive
dashboard das hboard das hbo ard
Second levelSecond
synthetic
levelSecond
s ynthe
level
tic s ynthe tic
KVI
Third level detailed

Third level Third
detaile
level
d de taile d
KVI
Template 3 Model/framework of knowledge value indicators (KVI)

Overall
company
Final objective 2 Make knowledge usable
Cus tomer
pe rs pe c tive
First level
dashboard
Second level synthetic
Executive dashboard FIRST LEVEL

Make knowledge usable at Company level
third level - detaile d

Synthetic KVI SECOND LEVEL
3.2 Degree of encouraging KM tools utilization
INDICATOR TITLE/NAME + FORMULA
3.2.2 KM accessibility degree (1)
This indicator expresses the percentage of company employees

which is allowed complete access to all KM drivers in the
company (education, documentation system, internet, intranet,
extranet, forum, press review) vs total employees.
Width of intersection subset:

employees allowed to any specific
KM driver (with a min of education:
5 days/year)
X 100
total company employees
elementary data
NUMERATOR
employees registered
allowed to any specific

service (KM driver) with a
minimum of 5 days of
education in the year
DENOMINATOR
all company employees
INDICATOR DESCRIPTION AND RATIONALE
Increase in this indicator stays for a larger accessibility to KM

tools within company employees..
organizational zoom
all company
first layer departments
feeding source
HR data
internet, intranet, extranet
survey periodicity
half-yearly
users list
documentation system
users list
employees activities
sheets
press review users list
Template 4 Model/framework of knowledge value indicators (KVI)
210

First
level
EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD OVERVIEW 6 KM Indicators FIRST LEVEL
OBJECTIVES and BALANCED

SCORECARD PERS PECTIVES
OBS ERVATIONS /DIMENS IONS

OVERALL COMPANY
Improve capability to satisfy

institutional clients and perform
better services
1. Improve capability to
fulfil company mission and
relative coherences
Make knowledge usable
2. Make knowledge usable

at Company level
CORE PRODUCTION
BUSINESS PROCESSES
TOOLS AND S YS TEMS
3. Make knowledge usable

at core production
business processes level
4. Evaluate organizational
levers and solutions to
support KM diffusion and
re-use
Create new processes to

enhance existing knowledge
diffusion and exchange
Manage the knowledge life

cycle
Second
level
5. Generate, accumulate
and develop knowledge
at Company level
6. Generate, accumulate
and develop knowledge
at core production
business processes level
Template 5 Executive dashboard for company KVI (overview)
Template 6 Executive dashboard for company KVI (overview)

211

The project highlighted that the KVI selected are flexible, evolutionary and open to dynamic
adaptation, following technological and sw application development implemented by the ICT
company. The project cascading workpath adopted was, ex-ante, pre-determined and
dynamically re-oriented, within the professional community involved, by means of periodical reassessing of intermediate results.
The four phase joint protocol produced different and useful within wallsawareness about:
where primary and core knowledge is created, linked to products/services offered to

institutional clients
which relative value can be associated with different knowledge items
ways of identifying specific indicators and critical criteria to measure knowledge items
over time
practical tools to discover any useful characteristic associated with knowledge items
linking the performance management of the company to knowledge management issues

and indicators
establishing a set of knowledge performance indicators linked to core processes
ways of and technologies for collecting data associated to these knowledge performance
indicators
building practical dashboard to monitor trends and tracking for these indicators
useful follow-up initiatives to facilitate knowledge exchange/share on the job (education,

culture, possible reward, etc.)
The type of results that can be achieved by these tools and methodologies include:
a) the degree of consensus about which critical knowledge is present in the environment or
organization
b) the level of soundness (either profit/non profit, social, individual, etc.) of knowledge
measurement scale adopted
c) the level of depth in identifying knowledge value indicators (KVI) and their typologies (e.g.
more economic-performance oriented [profit/non profit] vs more organizational-social
oriented [individual/personal or collective])
d) the level of simplicity in designing the final dashboard of relevant knowledge value
indicators (KVI) to monitor over time
e) the level of commitment in studying trends in knowledge exchange, creation and re-use, to
produce better organizational or context effectiveness
212

Case 1 large ICT public company
The overall protocol and specific workpath adopted in this paper were applied in a large ICT
public company involved in supporting Government agencies to handle and manage a large mass
of public data (sw production and technical/assistance services, including contact centers and
web facilities). The primary mission of the company is to create and implement sw management
applications mainly based on mainframes and on clusters of servers (more than one thousand)
and PCs, with both central and local data processing and on line systems, in order to meet its
own customers requests and requirements, as well as providing assistance and customer service
(contact centers, web channels, knowledge base, etc.) to a large mass of users utilizing its
applications. The company employs about 1600 people in various functions, and the technical
staff are about 1200. The project, entitled KM Indicators, started during summer 2003, and
was launched and promoted by the Managing Director to investigate and better understand: a)
how much, its own professionals, know, know how to do thingsand how much knowledge
and how many solutions are shared to facilitate either productive internal efficiency and
capitalization of experiences acquired on the field, and b) how to set and orientate internal
collaboration themes on exchange, feeding and diffusion of internal know-how, both technical
and application-oriented, to foster internal growth and support institutional clients.
Shortly before this project, a preliminary survey was carried out, based on interviews and a
questionnaire, commissioned by top management, aimed at investigating the state-of-the-art of
KM in the company, and assessing the diffusion of already implemented internal tools (i.e,
intranet, technical websites, forums, experts map, competencies centres, etc.) to enable the
dissemination and circulation of specialised company know-how. The processing of data and the
final report with highlights lasted one month and a half.
Activities begun immediately after to determine what the company needed for the start-up of a
KVI study, aimed at identifying ways of measuring and evaluating the companys capability of:
identifying the critical knowledge present in its tech population, with reference to some core
specialised sectors (application sw, system and telecommunications sw, data base
management, applications and technical assistance for customers, etc.)
rendering explicit the critical tacit knowledge present within company professionals
facilitating and optimizing internal collaboration and knowledge exchange, feeding and
diffusion about technical and application-oriented matters between various professionals,
mainly to foster internal growth and services to institutional clients
producing a more efficient knowledge asset governance process, in terms of capitalization of

acquired experiences and relative solutions engineering
The scope of the company project, driven forward during autumn 2003winter 2004, also had
the aim of improving the efficiency of existing knowledge governance processes (development,
formalisation, sharing, re-use) to capitalize experiences acquired on the field with clients and
users (Petrucciani, 2005).
A detailed workpath was put in place to identify KVI and fine tune subsequent measurement
instruments (Template 7), which included:
213
1. an internal survey to identify critical success factors (CSF) that have direct impact on
services/performances provided by the company to its customers, subsequently transformed
in indicators of company knowledge value
2. the translation and attribution of these factors to 4 Balanced Scorecard perspectives
(economic-financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth)
3. an internal survey to identify key-criteria for collecting and measuring over time knowledge
indicators-factors
4. the ranking of the relative importance of knowledge indicators-factors
5. the ranking of relative importance of key-criteria, to measure them over time
6. the creation of attributes/characteristics for every knowledge indicator-factor linked to
relevant organizational units knowledge demand-supply
7. the setting up of map: company business processes-phases of creation, formalization, sharing
and re-use of knowledge created within the company
8. the recognition of company key-knowledge[ables] (or core competencies) linked to each
business process
9. the structured identification of analytical knowledge performance indicators linked on one
hand to typical company knowledge associated with each business process, and, on the other
to relative objectives of same processes, to measure their value
10. the creation of top management dashboard related to selected company knowledge assets, for
monitoring and assessing knowledge indicators periodically, as in a stock exchange
oscillation, mainly to present the companys value and image in an innovative way.
2
attribution of
factors to 4
balanced
scorecard
perspectives
analytical
indicators of KM
performance
identification of
key-criteria to
measure KM
indicators
company
processes key
knowledge (core
competencies)
1
identification of
critical success
factors (CSF)
Objectives
10
graduation of KM
factorsindicators
importance
map of company
processes phases of KM
process
graduation of
measurement
key-criteria
importance
attributes of KM
factorsindicators
KM top
management
dashboard
Template 7 Workpath for ICT client case
214
Results
Other cases independent cascaded workpaths or the separate use of tools and techniques
You can work with separate tools and techniques to produce a slighter or deeper understanding
of knowledge value in a company or organization. In this way you can choose to follow different
workpaths, also heuristically, depending on specific company priorities and this will work
rapidly or reflectively for the task. In these cases you will use an open approachwith different
tools for different aims and you can re-arrange subsequent ones dinamically, or stop on the way,
depending on the points or milestones you want to achieve or you are satisfied with.
analytical
indicators of
knowledge
performance
(with KPI)
identification of
knowledge
critical factors
(KCF) (with CSF)
map of company
KVI (with
balanced
scorecard)
relevant
knowledge
exchange (with
collaboration
matrix)
Objectives
graduation of
KCF (with paired
comparison)
Results
KVI executive
dashboard
Template 8 Independent cascaded workpaths

Some practical tips are outlined that may be used to maintain the energy of the group.
ensure strong commitment to achieve objectives related to giving significant added value in
sharing company knowledge assets (sourcing, feeding, creating)
establish a clear ex-ante project planning, specifying that any subsequent adjustments will be
shared and co-created in progress by team members (democratic approach)
fix precise deadlines to present results of milestones and track cumulative progress of the
project, fine tuning subsequently the timeframes vs final delivery (forward-backward
approach), by team members or leader
enable, facilitate and foster individual point of views about the problem/phase, mainly related
to personal work experiences and competencies, as a way of contributing to any innovative
idea regarding company knowledge use/exploitation (dialogues/interactions)
create a personal and team tension about the results of the knowledge project (e.g.
reward/premium/quality policies, return on company value or company image, reputation of
product/process brand, new organizational opportunities/roles, etc.)
215
avoid any excessive personal leadership in navigating the project, it should remain the
authors/members property till the end (except for top management)
do not use fixed ways of exchanging info or tools (e.g. e-mail or knowledge repository), but
on the contrary promote any large synchronous (e.g. meeting, expert panels, front-office
collective interviews, etc.) or asynchronous contributions (e.g. via e-mail, wikis or other
electronic tools)
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all directors, managers and senior employees, working in the large public
ICT company (that has chosen to remain anonymous) that provided all necessary cooperation to
complete successfully the case-initiative presented in this paper. Without their contribution most
of the personalization techniques and tools utilized could not have been completely analyzed,
explored and fine tuned for this special application. On the contrary, most of the paired
comparison and collaboration matrix techniques were extensively utilized by a number of clients
for specific consensus building and co-creation applications on various matters (competencies,
values rankings, and organizational roles).
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London, 1988
John F. Rockart (1979), Chief Executives define their own data need, Harvard Business Review,
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Karl-Erik Sveiby (2006), Soft assets; measuring the immeasurable (chapter 10, pgg. 91-105), in
Next Generation Knowledge Management, by Jerry Ash, Association of knowledgework AOL, Ark Group, London, 2006
Kimir Dalkir (2005), Knowledge Management in theory and practice, Elsevier, 2005
Michael Armstrong and Helen Murlis (1991), Reward Management A handbook or
remuneration strategy & practice, Kogan Page, London (second edition), pgg. 459-463
(appendix B), 1988
Paolo Petrucciani (1986), Produttivita, management e Apprendimento- 3a parte: nuove frontiere
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Paolo Petrucciani (1990), Verso il duemila: incertezze e valori, Tempo economico-Rivista di
management, F.lli Pini Editori Srl, july-august 1990, Anno XXVII, n.299-300, pagg.54-62
216
Paolo Petrucciani (2005), Metodologie per lindividuazione di indicatori di misurazione della

conoscenza in azienda, 10 Knowledge Management Forum, organized by Jekpot srl,
Siena 24-25 november 2005
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Indicators in a Company, Knowledge Board, http://www.knowledgeboard.com/lib/3443
(date published, 21 august 2006)
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performances, Harvard Business Review, January-February 1992
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1999
Author Biography
Paolo Petrucciani, 55, has worked in the management

consultancy sector since 1988. His most recent projects
concern knowledge management and change management
applications. He has run his own management consultancy
firm, Epistema, working mainly for large private and public
companies since 2000. He obtained his first certification as
CMC (Certified Management Consultants) from APCO in
1994, the Italian professional body of ICMCI (The
International Council of Management Consulting Institutes).
After taking a degree in Mathematics - Rome (1975), and
specialising in behavioural cybernetics in UK under the
supervision of Prof. Gordon Pask (Brunel University, Open
University) (Richmond, 1977), he worked for 11 years in the
ENI group, and later in an engineering company, as
information technologist, sw analyst and system engineer
(decision support systems and modeling, techniques and
tools), and afterwards in a large data processing company
(managerial education in ICT and innovative projects on
distance learning and computer based training). He joined
HayGoup in Italy in December 1988, where he climbed the
professional ladder moving from consultant to senior
consultant, practice leader and finally senior director,
contributing to all HR and organizational issues (organization
analysis and evaluation, compensation and development
systems, culture, innovative projects, etc.)
217
Social Network
Analysis: A Practical
Method to Improve
Knowledge Sharing
Keywords:
Communities, Knowledge Management, Innovation, Social Network
Analysis
Social Network Analysis:

A Practical Method to Improve
Knowledge Sharing
Tobias Mller-Prothmann, Pumacy Technologies AG (tobias.mueller-prothmann@pumacy.de)

Social network analysis is a sociological paradigm to analyse structural patterns of social
relationships (e.g., Scott, 1991, Wasserman and Faust, 1994, Wellman and Berkowitz, 1988). It
provides a set of methods and measures to identify, visualise, and analyse the informal personal
networks within and between organisations. Thus, social network analysis provides a systematic
method to identify, examine and support processes of knowledge sharing in social networks
(Mller-Prothmann, 2006).
According to the literature, organisations that develop networks both internal and external to
their organisation are supposed to be able to deal with knowledge more effectively (e.g., Kanter,
2001). Discussions of the role of networks in knowledge management primarily stress the
importance of informal networks (as opposed to formalised networks). Furthermore, networks
are often emphasised as result of an activity, i.e. networking(Seufert et al., 1999).
Social network analysis can help support knowledge sharing by focusing on various core
applications of knowledge management, for example (Mller-Prothmann, 2005):
identification of personal expertise and knowledge,

research into the transfer and sustainable conservation of tacit knowledge, and
discovery of opportunities to improve communication processes and efficiency.
While social network analysis as a method of academic research remains mostly on a descriptive
level, its use and application as a knowledge management tool goes beyond a merely descriptiveanalytical focus. Thus, the steps and applications outlined below provide suggestions for
practical interventions and follow-up activities to influence network actors, their relationships,
and network structure to improve knowledge sharing between individuals, groups, and
organisational units or whole organisations.
Especially with regard to processes of inter-organisational knowledge community building,
social network analysis provides a powerful tool. Based on the insights of a social network
analysis, interventions can be derived to facilitate communication processes and community
activities, to strengthen boundary-spanning knowledge exchange and to increase the informal
inter-organisational relationships for better knowledge sharing. Therefore, social network
analysis should become an integral method of organisational design and strategy to support
processes of inter-organisational community building, communication and knowledge sharing.
Keywords: communities, knowledge management, innovation, social network analysis
221
Social Network Analysis: A Practical Method to Improve Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge, communication and their social organisation constitute the central dimensions of
knowledge management. Taking this position as a starting point, the paradigm of social networks
and the method of social network analysis is widely recognised as a potential approach to
analyse, evaluate, and influence communication processes. Here, it is argued that social network
analysis is a highly effective tool for the analysis of knowledge sharing in networks as well as for
the identification and implementation of practical methods in knowledge management.
With regard to purposes of knowledge management, social network analysis may help to
evaluate availability and distribution of critical knowledge and thus facilitates
strategic development of organisational knowledge,

transfer and sustainable conservation of implicit knowledge,
development of core competencies (like leadership development),
creation of opportunities to improve communication processes,
identification and support of communities of practice,
harmonisation of knowledge networks (after mergers and acquisitions),
sustainable management of external relationships.
Particularly in research and service organisations, where the membersinnovative potentials,

creativity, and abilities for self-organisation play an important role, it is of primary interest to
pool individual competencies and resources and to create synergetic effects and co-operations.
Therefore, knowledge about potential core competencies and individual resources, facilitation of
existing personal relationships, as well as development of new personal relationships and cooperations, are necessary prerequisites. This is where social network analysis provides a
powerful tool for measuring and increasing performance of knowledge sharing.
The number of participants surveyed through methods of social network analysis may range
from small groups of 10 or 20 people to large networks consisting of several thousands (or even
millions) actors. Limits are not set by methods of social network analysis itself, but only by
empirical conditions and available resources to observe network actors and their relationships.
Social network analysis can help to gain useful insights into network structures and roles using
simple patterns of relationships (like who talks to whom) based on a single event of data
collection (questionnaire, email analysis, document analysis) with a minimum effort in terms of
time and money. A more sophisticated analysis could include various dimensions of
relationships, data collection from different resources, and longitudinal studies with continuous
data collection (e.g., email traffic) or multiple surveys (e.g., monthly, weekly). Implementation
of results from social network analysis would need follow-up activities, e.g., workshops and
team development, and thus involve more personal involvement and additional resources.

Social network analysis uses various techniques to empirically identify underlying patterns of
social structure. It compares the existing patterns and their influence on specific network
behaviour variables and performance outcomes. From the perspective of knowledge
management, social network analysis helps us identify basic network properties, positions of
network members, characteristics of relations, cohesive sub-groups, and bottlenecks of
knowledge flows.
222
The application of social network analysis for the examination of organisational knowledge
sharing as proposed here is divided into seven steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
clarifying objectives and defining the scope of analysis (knowledge domain),

developing the survey methodology and designing the questionnaire,
identifying the network members,
collecting the survey data and gathering further information from other resources,
analysing the data through formal methods of social network analysis,
interpreting the results of analysis,
designing interventions and taking actions.
Preparation of the network analysis should focus on steps 1-3.

First, for purposeful examination of networks, the scope of analysis must clearly be defined. The
analytical scope might be defined by existing problems within a concrete domain of knowledge.
Needs for doing a social network analysis could also be identified through means of knowledge
audits within one or a selection of various knowledge domains that is of critical importance for
success or failure of an organisation.
Second, a methodology must be developed that meets the specific need to reach the goals
defined in the previous step. In the majority of cases, application of social network analysis in
knowledge management uses surveys for the collection of data. But analysis of knowledge
communication should also make use of all other available resources that are suitable to identify
social relationships with regard to the defined scope. Basically, these could include expert
interviews, email tracking, observations, and other relevant documents (e.g., meeting protocols,
publications). As a result of the second step, a survey method (questionnaire) should be at hand.
Third, for the analysis of whole networks, all network participants must be identified.
Identification of network members makes use of specific attributes like organisational
membership, specific expertise, or participation in teams and projects. Identification of network
members is closely related to the defined scope of analysis. For analytical purposes, this step also
defines the networks boundaries for empirical study. Nevertheless, the real network
relationships may go beyond these boundaries. While this so-called positional approach seems to
be most useful for organisational network studies, another method to identify network members
is the reputational approach, where a list of nominees is produced by knowledgeable informants
(snowballing). This approach is useful for the analysis of networks across organisational
boundaries when there are no positional inclusion methods available, but boundary specification
remains an empirically unsolved problem.
Finally, all participants should be provided with background information about the goal of the
social network analysis and its importance. Communication activities should create personal
involvement and organisational openness for the social network analysis (see also Tips & Tricks
and Pot-holes).

As outlined for the methodology conceptualisation above, in the majority of cases, social
network analysis as a knowledge management tool uses surveys for data collection.
Data collection through surveys must be scheduled within an appropriate period of time. Calls
for participation should individually address each network member.
Data analysis of social networks needs coding of the collected data and application of formal
methods. Using graph theory, a sociogram visualises networks and their structures (see figure 3).
It consists of nodes, representing individual network members, and ties, representing the
223
connections between the members (relations). Formally, graphs are defined as a set of actors (g nodes) and a set of of their relations (l - lines). The set of actors N is defined by the nodes {n1,
n2, n3, ng}.
Another advocated means to represent information about social networks is in matrices. In their
simplest form, network data consist of a square matrix, the rows of the array represent the
network actors, the columns of the array represent the same set of network actors, and the
elements represent the ties between them (so-called adjacency matrix). Ties can exist or not,
and they can be dichotomous (0 or 1) or valued (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 see figure 1). These
matrices are also used as data input for social network analysis processing (for an introduction to
graph theory and the use of matrices in social network analysis see, e.g., Scott 1991).
Commonly, data processing is done through software tools for social network analysis as
provided by the popular UCINET package (Borgattie et al., 2002), for example, including the
additional tools NetDraw for network visualisation, Mage for 3D visualisation, and pajek for
large networks, or other similar software applications.
Figure 1: Adjacency Matrix in the UCINET Spreadsheet Editor
224

Social network analysis, as understood here, is a method to improve knowledge sharing through
analysis of positions and structures between people, i.e. their relationships. From an analytical
point of view, it remains on a descriptive level. Nevertheless, the methodical steps and
applications presented here go beyond a merely descriptive position of a neutral passive observer
in that they provide suggestions for practical interventions and follow-up activities to influence
network actors, their relationships, and network structure to improve communication of
knowledge within and between individuals and organisations.
Network data is commonly analysed by use of software tools as mentioned above. Data analysis
itself is complex and its explanation in detail goes far beyond the scope of this chapter. Here,
only those network concepts and metrics are explained that play a central role for knowledge
sharing in social networks within and between organisations.
The interpretation of results of a network analysis can be distinguished according to three
different analytical levels:
1.
2.
3.
interpretation of the whole network;

interpretation of clusters and components;
interpretation of individual positions.
For the case of knowledge sharing within social networks, three whole-network measures should
be taken into account due to their basic relevance:
The size of a network is defined by counting its members (nodes). It is a basic property of a
network directly sharing knowledge between all members of a large network (e.g., between
100.000 employees of a multinational enterprise) would be extremely difficult compared to
sharing knowledge between all members of a small network (e.g., within a research team).
Network centralisation is the global centrality of a network and measures the degree to which
relationships within a network are focused around one or a few central network members.
High network centrality means that knowledge flows within a network are dependent on few
single nodes, i.e. removal of these network members means corruption of knowledge flows.
Density is defined as the total number of ties divided by the total number of possible ties. As
a measure that is especially relevant for knowledge community building within and between
organisations, density describes the overall linkage between network members.
Three basic types of network structures have been found in the literature and in the case study
presented below to be central for processes of knowledge sharing:
Sub-groups and clusters of expertise are build through dense connections between sub-sets of
network members. They are important for understanding the behavior of the whole network.
For example, organisational sub-groups or cliques can develop their own culture toward
knowledge sharing and their own attitude toward other groups.
Cut-points build bottlenecks for free flows of knowledge. They emerge when networks are
split into loosely coupled components. Network members of pivotal significance in holding
components together are also called bridges. While bottlenecks are critical to knowledge
sharing within a network, too many links can lead to inefficiency of knowledge exchange.
Therefore, links between sub-groups must be coordinated effectively and efficiently.
Hubs are enablers of effective knowledge transfer. As networks are clustered, some members
are important as simultaneous actors in many clusters. These are known as hubs. They can
effectively link different sub-groups of the network and facilitate knowledge flows, e.g.,
225
between different departments or to external resources. On the other hand, network

efficiency can be strongly dependent on hubs, i.e. they provide a potential risk to the overall
functioning of the network.
On the level of individual positions, the following roles and positional models of social network
analysis are of primary importance with regard to knowledge sharing (see also figure 2):
Degree centrality is an indicator of expertise and power of network members. It measures the
incoming and outgoing connections held by an individual network member. For nonsymmetric data, incoming connections (in-degree) define the popularity of a member; those
with many ties are members who are considered particularly prominent or have high levels of
expertise. Out-degree defines the number of outgoing connections; a person with a high outdegree is considered particularly influential in the network. Thus, degree centrality is a
measure that helps to purposefully support individual members in a knowledge network.
Closeness centrality shows the integration or isolation of network members. It measures the
reachability of members by including indirect ties. Closeness centrality focuses on the
distance of a member to all others in the network through means of geodesic distance and
thus, determines a members integration within the network. High closeness centrality
indicates the greater autonomy of an individual person, since he or she is able to reach the
other members easily (and vice versa). Low closeness centrality indicates higher individual
member dependency on the other members, i.e. the willingness of other members to give
access to the networks resources.
Betweenness centrality helps identify knowledge brokers and gatekeepers within a network.
It is a measure of the extent that a network members position falls on the geodesic paths
between other members of a network. Thus, it determines whether an actor plays a
(relatively) important role as a broker or gatekeeper of knowledge flows with a high potential
of control on the indirect relations of the other members. In innovation and knowledge
management literature, the role of brokers and gatekeepers is always stressed as being of
overall importance and it is considered advantageous to identify gatekeepers, since they are
performing a vital role in knowledge communication processes.
226
Figure 2: UCINET Screenshot of Centrality Measures

Strength and multiplexity of ties: Strength (or intensity) of communication relationships
between members is commonly measured in terms of frequency of contacts. Focusing on the
nature of linkages more closely, network members may maintain a tie based on one single
type of relationship only or they may maintain a variety of relations. The latter is known as
multiplexity of ties. Network multiplexity is the relation between the number of actual
multiplex ties and the number of possible multiplex ties in a network. On the one hand,
multiplex (strong) relationships share more intimate, voluntary, supportive and durable ties
and thus, form a solid basis for trust. On the other hand, most people only share a small
number of strong relationships, so that especially weak ties are a warranty for access to a
large variety of resources (see the popular study about strength of weak tiesby Granovetter
1973). With regard to communities of practice, the importance of multiplex relationships
gives reason for various kinds of community building activities that are a prerequisite for
shared identity, trust, and mutual understanding.
In addition, measuring the boundary-spanning character is of primary interest when analysing
knowledge sharing within inter-organisational networks. As applied in the case study below, this
can be done very easily by means of social network analysis. The E-I index, as formulated by
Krackhardt and Stern (1988), simply measures the ratios between external ties (between different
organisational units) and internal ties (within organisational units) and normalises them to a
value with a range of -1.0 to +1.0. An E-I index of -1.0 would indicate that only internal
relationships exist, while all relationships would be external for an E-I index of +1.0. The E-I
227
index provides not only a measure for the boundary-spanning character of inter-organisational
networks (or of networks between organisational sub-units), moreover it can be used as an
indicator of the identity of the network members, i.e. their internal or external orientation. It must
be noted that there is no optimum value of the E-I index. The desirable relation between internal
and external links is always dependent on the circumstances of a specific situation.

The method of knowledge network analysis as presented here aims at the analysis of network
structures and positions within a clearly defined scope of analysis, i.e. a specific domain of
knowledge. The interpretation of results based on the basic measures of social network analysis
as outlined above must include the existing organisational conditions.
With a focus on knowledge sharing, interpretation of individual network members is of primary
importance. Here, four different roles can be considered as being essential (Mller-Prothmann,
2006):
Experts who have detailed and specific knowledge and experience within the domain of
analysis. They have a central network position, mostly with a high number of external
linkages.
Knowledge brokers who have some knowledge of who knows what. They build bridges
between different clusters of otherwise unconnected sub-parts of the network.
Contact persons (or agents) who take a brokerage position in that they provide the
contact with the experts without actively communicating the relevant knowledge
themselves. They have an intermediary position between central (experts) and peripheral
(consumers) network members.
Knowledge consumers who ask for knowledge from the experts. They have a peripheral
network position.
Given the positional and structural network metrics as well as the subsequent validation of the
results and interpretation through the network members themselves, interventions and activities
to improve network structures and relations for better knowledge communications can be derived
and conceptualised.
As a result of a social network analysis that aims at leveraging knowledge sharing, interventions
and follow-up activities may focus on
development of personal competencies and expertise;

integration of hidden expertise;
exploitation of marginally connected members;
promotion of cross-departmental knowledge transfer.
The examples outlined in the case study below will give some illustrative examples for
interventions and follow-up activities.
228

Here, a real case illustrates the application of social network analysis as a method to support
inter-organisational knowledge community building between research institutes of the
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a large German organisation for contract research in all fields of the
applied engineering sciences. The study was undertaken due to concrete organisational needs and
its results were used to provide practical solutions for interventions and follow-up activities
(Mller-Prothmann et al., 2005).
Institutionalisation of knowledge transfer was studied with regard to the development of the
informal contacts between the community members and the inter-organisational linkages on an
aggregated level. The main focus was put on the relationships of knowledge exchange between
the formal organisational boundaries and the informal inter-organisational network structures.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft started activities for the sharing of expert knowledge by
establishing a Knowledge Management (KM) Community with experts from all the different
research institutes. Data for the network study was collected through two on-line surveys at
different points in time, the first shortly after a community meeting in October 2004 (=t1), and
the second at the end of February 2005 (=t2). 38 of 56 people answered the questionnaire in the
first network survey (t1), which equals a high return rate of 67.9 per cent. In the second network
survey (t2), 35 of 56 people participated, which amounts to a return rate of 62.5 per cent. Names
of network members have been replaced by numbers, grouped by affiliation to the different
research institutes (headquarters and 17 research institutes).
Expert knowledge communication and networking processes were evaluated by a multi-level
approach. The patterns of communication structures between the community members were
studied with regard to the following dimensions: (1) intensity and relevance of contacts between
the members, (2) domain-related communication patterns, (3) use of information and
communication tools, (4) importance of community activities with regard to general information
exchange, transfer of specialised knowledge and expertise, joint projects and cooperation, and
(5) relevance of community activities with regard to individual tasks of the community members
and with regard to networking activities across organisational boundaries.
Figure 3: NetDraw Visualisation of Communication Networks in t1 and t2

The general communication network in t1 integrates all actors, except for three isolates. In t2, we
can find a dyadic component and two isolates besides the main component (see figure 1).
Network centralisation of the main component marginally decreases from 0.4672 in t1 to 0.4282
in t2 and density marginally increases from 0.4311 in t1 to 0.4585 in t2, both on a medium level.
Indicated by the measure of the E-I index, internal linkages within the research institutes clearly
dominate the external linkages between the different institutes, with a marginal shift to more
229
inter-organisational relationships from t1 to t2 (see table 1). The networks related to a specific
domain include different actors and vary in size, density, and centralisation.
Table 1: E-I Index in t1 and t2 (isolates excluded)
E-I index
expected value
re-scaled E-I index*
t1
0.532
0.856
-0.455
t2
0.546
0.862
-0.434
* For given network density and group size the range of the E-I
index may be restricted and therefore it is re-scaled to a range
from -1 to +1.
Findings suggest that community building may prove to be an effective measure to overcome
organisational boundaries. The overall communication network integrates almost all members
and specific domain-related network activities especially gained importance during the period of
observation of approximately four months. Results of the network analysis can contribute to the
development of clearly focused interventions to further facilitate the network relationships and
strengthen the community building process across organisational boundaries.
Based on these insights, suggested interventions include
better integration (or exit) of isolated and marginally involved members or,
alternatively, their exploitation in their role as lurkers;
promotion of central members within the community and with regard to specialised
topics as coordinators or moderators;
putting a stronger focus on topics of primary relevance;
strengthening domain-related core-groups by providing additional resources.
Various follow-up activities, based on the results of the analysis, were undertaken to further
leverage the boundary-spanning knowledge community building process. The first very basic but
nevertheless extremely useful kind of intervention was to present the results at a follow-up
meeting and discuss them with the community members themselves. As Cross et al. (2002)
wrote, simply ask people to spend five minutes on their network visualisations and to identify
what they seein the map, the structural issues impeding or facilitating group effectiveness, and
the performance implications for the group. The presentation of results impressively
demonstrated the integration of almost all community members, the primary role of a few central
actors, and the strong connections established through a project of joint research, integrating a
large number of members from different institutes.
The primary importance of joint projects as a driver to strengthen inter-organisational
relationships, as highlighted by the results of social network analysis, led to the initiation of
follow-up projects and extended acquisition activities. In addition, joint efforts were made to
improve marketing instruments for the specification of the communitys profile.
The future agenda of follow-up activities based on the social network analysis could include
developing rules of inclusion and exclusion. Results of the social network analysis also showed a
prominent role of the headquarters for coordination and facilitation tasks of the community
organisation. Since the community should become more self-sustained, members of the
headquarters made efforts to successively withdraw their engagement as community
coordinators. Selected community members from the various research institutes were encouraged
to take more initiative on their own. Results of the social network analysis could help identify the
key players from the research institutes within the community and to promote them as
coordinators or moderators with regard to their specialised domains of knowledge.
230

Create personal involvement and organisational openness! Internal communication between
involved people, involved departments, and other third parties during an early stage of the
process is highly important to reach successful results of social network analysis.
Provide information and make all involved people sensible for social network analysis! The
target group, which is subject to study, and all other involved parties should be informed
about the next steps and should be provided with basic background information and goals of
analysis.
Articulate the relevance and importance of social network analysis! Management on the
middle and top level should clearly communicate strategic relevance of the network analysis
for the whole organisation (or the organisational unit that is concerned).
Facilitate straightforward actions! When personal involvement and the willingness to
participate in the social network analysis is reached, it must be ensured that there are no other
organisational or technical barriers that hinder straightforward actions. For instance, these
include a questionnaire that is easily accessible in terms of technical aspects.
Privacy issues: It is of primary importance to assure confidential handling of all data and to
clearly communicate this confidentiality through the publication of privacy guidelines, for
example. Confidential handling of data includes:
-
anonymisation of all personal data and analysis of de-personalised data only,

security of stored data,
authorisation and control for data access,
data analysis through confidential persons only.
Existing concerns about exploitation of knowledge and expertise or negative sanctions:

Social network analysis includes the description of the characteristics of individual network
members like social behavior, influence, expertise, control, and power. Since the network
analysis aims at improving knowledge sharing, the evaluation and assessment of the
individual member and his or her preferences is definitely not the subject of analysis.
Therefore,
-
Social network analysis should not be abused as a tool for evaluation and
assessment of employees,
imposition of sanctions as a direct result from network analysis must be avoided,
communications should highlight (positive) outcomes and not individual mistakes.
All concerns should be taken very seriously and met by means of active communication so
that barriers can be gradually removed. Guarantee of anonymity, careful use of collected
data, as well as privacy agreements are necessary preconditions to reach successful results.
Finally, it always has to be considered that social networks dynamically evolve over time.
Network structures and positions may rapidly change and, often, a social network analysis is
nothing more than a snapshot. Nevertheless, it is a powerful tool to gain useful insights into
social structures and processes of knowledge sharing.
231
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232
Author Biography
Dr. phil. Tobias Mller-Prothmann, Dipl.-Soz., studied

sociology and political economics at the University of
Heidelberg. From 2000 to 2005, he was a research associate at
the Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Free
University of Berlin. He specialised in the research on social
networks in knowledge and innovation management and
obtained his Dr. phil. in 2005. He was also lecturer at the
Institute of Electronic Business, Berlin University of the Arts.
From 2005 to 2007, he worked with a German think tank as
Head of Department for Economic Growth and Innovation. In
2007, he joined Pumacy Technologies AG, a leading
knowledge management solution provider, as Team Manager
Innovation.
233
To Know What
You Know At
the Right Time:
Knowledge Visualisation
and Sharing Via a
Cartographic ProcessOriented Approach
Alexandra Mller-Stingl,
Waltraud Grillitsch and
Robert Neumann
Keywords:
Knowledge Sharing, Visualisation Concept, Strategic Roadmapping, Knowledge Co-Creation, Knowledge Communities
To Know What You Know At the

Right Time: Knowledge
Visualisation and Sharing Via a
Cartographic Process-Oriented
Approach
Assistant Prof. Mag. Mag. Alexandra Mller-Stingl (alexandra.stingl@biztec.org)
Assistant Prof. Mag. Waltraud Grillitsch (waltraud.grillitsch@biztec.org)
Prof. Mag. Dr. Robert Neumann (robert.neumann@biztec.org)
University of Klagenfurt, Department for business technologies (biztec), Lakeside Science and
Technology Park, Universittsstrasse 65-67, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria (http://www.biztec.org)
The visualisation of knowledge gives transparency about the individual competences of the
organisational members and about collective knowledge in the company. For this reason it
makes sense to transfer this knowledge to external knowledge owners (following secure paths
and creating a win-win situation), to integrate external knowledge via cooperations.
(Probst/Raub/Romhart 1997)
Competence Centers (CC), as a special kind of cooperation, offer the ability to specify the
competencies and the transfer of experience, knowledge and know how between institutions
(representation of science) and companies (representation of economy). Through the
multidisciplinary position of CCs different areas of conflict (operational duality) arise. The
following article demonstrates the relevance of the different kinds of visualisation and the
preceding incentive systems to transfer knowledge, together with the abilities and barriers of the
system.
First the different contexts in which the method can be used are discussed and analysed, giving
background knowledge about the importance of CCs and their special focus. Second the
important contextual framework which is needed before the official initiative (in this sense the
visualisation of knowledge via a knowledge map using the five-step cartographic process) are
listed, followed by the actual process-oriented method and an explanation of the five different
levels. The results are summarised and visualised by the real case. Concluding we present dos
and dontsto generate best practices and learnings which can be used in different settings and
contexts.
Keywords: Knowledge Sharing, Visualisation Concept, Strategic Road-mapping, Knowledge
Co-Creation, Knowledge Communities
237
To Know What You Know At the Right Time

Tough intentions of federal and local governments, municipality and the private, more and more
centres are developed that have to fulfil intense, coordinative, intra- and extra-organisational
knowledge management tasks. These, so called, Competence Centres (CC) can be seen as a kind
of knowledge communities on a long-term and more formalised basis with different tasks, topics
and responsibilities. They can consist of a variety of sub-communities working on special
knowledge fields. The hopes and expectations on communities of knowledge are set on very high
and diverse levels. Communities of knowledge should be able to create expertise in important
strategic fields and help to speed up innovation and improve internal processes. They should help
to implement knowledge strategies in organisations as well as share, develop, create and transfer
knowledge. They should enable a way of measuring knowledge and be able to institutionalise
and support knowledge management trough convincing projects and sharing best practicesand
lessons learned. (Romhart 2002) These expectations underline the importance of an efficient
and effective internal knowledge management system.
CCs as parallel and complementary concepts are a stage for communication and knowledge
which favour the processes of learning, knowledge transfer, knowledge (re)generation,
distribution and integration through network-activities. This means that they develop and foster
networks among experts to enable the formation of knowledge on individual, team,
organisational and inter-organisational level (Seufert/Seufert, 1998). Additionally they are
benchmarking and are collecting best practices internally and externally. So they become a
qualified partner for internal questions as well as for the transfer of knowledge in interorganisational relationships.
Especially CCs need a well-defined process for knowledge transfer and allocation which can be
fostered through a knowledge network, which is accessible for internal members and employees
and external company representatives, sponsors and promoters. The goal is that CCs become a
source of accumulated know-how and expertise that are processed and are accessible for all
partners of the CC. Their respective duties are for example to support settlement and foundation
of companies in the region, development of education and training programmes, generation of
knowledge, databases for one ore more companies, the coordination of projects among partners,
intensive research and development activities, the marketing and selling of products and services
of cooperating companies.
The knowledge and expertise clusters link the participating companies and are assembled by
their representatives. The multi-disciplinary of this community is creating internally a
productive tensenessor creative friction(Leonard-Barton/Straus, 1998) which develops and
enlarges knowledge. Primarily these multi-disciplinary teams have a service role. They should
collect and generate knowledge, best practices and lessons learned, transfer them to partners and
external knowledge units (leading-edge-bodies, external companies, consulting companies,
education and training units, research and development bodies etc.) and to ensure storage and
diffusion within the respective organisation. To fulfil these tasks the knowledge and expertise
centres have to work as knowledge-generating learning communities (learning laboratories
consisting of practitioners, scientists, consultants/trainers) with the use of their common work
fields and experiences to learn and to create a system for knowledge-generation
(Senge/Scharmer, 1997). Potential knowledge and individual presumptions in groups and teams
are detected, individual knowledge and experiences are activated and communicated which leads
to constructive discussions, collective awareness and a learning culture.
Communicative connections and sense-making coherences are created among the system, subsystems and the environment (research and development centres, cooperating companies,
competence centres etc.). To fulfil these tasks the knowledge and expertise centres have to work
238
as knowledge-generating learning communities (learning laboratories consisting of

practitioners, scientists, consultants/trainers) with the use of their common work fields and
experiences to learn and to create a system for knowledge-generation (Senge/Scharmer, 1997).
These knowledge or expertise clusters coordinate their internal knowledge markets through an
overview of knowledge demand and supply and through organised appropriate sharing and
transfer methods. They do not only survey external knowledge markets but as well explore and
document (e.g. via intranet) self-organised knowledge generation processes in the existing
management and the core and support proceedings of companies. Potential knowledge and
individual presumptions in groups and teams are detected, individual knowledge and experiences
are activated and communicated which leads to constructive discussions, collective awareness
and a learning culture.

Before starting an attempt to develop, design and conceptually integrate a knowledge map in the
organisational contextual framework it is essential to check whether the preliminary conditions
are already fit:
Definition of the needs and requirements to start a planning as a kind of anticipatory
learning process to pro-actively foresee and structure trouble areas and initiates creative
thinking (Ehrmann, 2006)
Detect free resources and define the preparation of the involved employees (identify
potential for development)
Bring the right people together- who are the ones that possibly promote the initiative
and have the right position, role and standing for it
Consider the timing and spacing of the project are the company, its culture and the
people ready for this attempt
Find a suitable project-team individuals who have experience, know how and know
what and who are companywide accepted, The project-team should be heterogeneous
use synergies and complement one another in their competences
Kick-off meeting inform employees about the project to avoid rumours, fear and
accompanying negative effects within the organisation
Technical system should be browser compatible, accessible from outside the company
(if necessary worldwide). Existing IT-resources need to be examined; maybe there are
already existing in-house solutions. If not a market screening is important to check
possible solutions (freeware/shareware, etc.)
Accompanying to the above mentioned points ongoing plausibility checks and stop or go
decisions are necessary to ensure a smooth process (Olfert, 2004).

Knowledge maps serve the purpose to visualize knowledge and consequently create a companyor organisation-wide knowledge-transparency. Knowledge maps are classifications of
knowledge-owners, -portfolios, -sources, -structures ore applications, which make a reference
to expert-knowledge, team-knowledge, knowledge development stations as well as
organisational workflows and capabilities. Following they refer to explicit and tacit knowledge
which can be located in internal and external documents, databases or in the experts brains.
239
Knowledge maps define knowledge construction sites and foster the ability to compare the
defined knowledge targets and the state of the art realisation, show the direction of a companywide knowledge development. (Guretzky, 2002)
A roadmap shows an overview about the single steps and the proceeding of the knowledge map
realisation (see: Figure 1 on the next page). The roadmap represents a possible structure for a
cartographic approach. First the needs of the user groups have to be defined and accordingly the
structure and the design of the knowledge map are designed. The existing knowledge has to be
interpreted, selected and transformed into storable knowledge units. In the realisation a special
focus is put on the representation. Accompanying and simultaneous processes support the
realisation and include information and communication systems as well as updating processes,
reflection and a feedback system.
From the structure-theoretical point of view an integration and use of knowledge result only if
the involved actors (knowledge agents) reproduce their knowledge enriched actions, they have
to use lessons learned and best practices in daily work. Furthermore they refer in their
interactions to changing structures, sets of rules and resources. Through the spontaneous, in a
way self-organised creation of rules, the locally existing knowledge of the knowledge agents is
used in the best way. In rules about learning- and selection processes, the knowledge and the
experiences of the different experts are integrated. Only through the possibility of relating to
knowledge in a current action, knowledge is effective as an accurate or valid awareness(c.f.
Giddens 1984, p. 114 ff.) about a situation or problem. In the collective reflection of
activities/projects the problem solving potential is activated. New or improved solutions can be
found which leads in our case to process innovation. These collective activities lead to a selfreferential circle and act as a starting point for further actions, which finally shape the identity of
the system. Everyone should feel responsible for sparking ideasand their transformation into
useful innovation (Mauzy/Harriman, 2003). Important influence factors for good results in
companiesperformance as well as in KM initiatives are nurture relationships among people,
result-based leadership, communication and teamwork (cf. Longenecker/Simonetti, 2001).
Therefore an accompanying essential factor for success is to look at the organisation in a
diagnostic way, following the MTO (Mensch-Technik-Organisation Human-TechniqueOrganisation) structure (Westermayer, 2005): meaning that only the three of them and the
consideration of all three areas in their counteractions lead to a successful attempt, followed by a
fruitful implementation and integration in the organisational cultural framework. This means that
each organisation needs an individually designed knowledge map, following the benefits for the
users (analysis of the individual level), the organisational framework that is needed to implement
and realise the map (analysis of the organisational level) and techniques processes and a
technical system (analysis of the technical system) which is accustomed to the organisation and
their members.
240
In fo rm a tio n &
C o m m u n ic a tio n
Initial steps
Constitution
of the kind
and way
Knowledge
map specification
Definition of
goals and
benefits
Diagnostics ,
Analysis
Rights/ kinds
of use
Generation
of user
groups
Processdesign
Definition of
the different
levels
Definition of
responsibles
for the specific
processes
Research on
existing
documents
Directive to
the different
levels of key
users/officers
Definition of
synergies
Processes
Draft and
Concept
Concept
Allocation of
documents
Constitution
of the kind
and way
Transfer of
the concept
according to
the structure
of the
documents
and the
company
Interviews
Realisation
Updating , Feedback, Supervision
Maintenance
Ongoing
updating and
revision
through
responsibles
Test run
Customization
Revision of
the structure
Revision
I n fo rm a tio n &
C o m m u n ic a tio n
Figure 1: Concept and Design of the Knowledge Map
241

Before you start the visualisation attempt it is necessary to identify oneschema of order a
clear visual structure, a project plan together with milestone (dont forget about the quick hits success stories which hold the members on the line and give a certain amount of satisfaction,
motivation and identification).
In the five levels of the conceptual visualisation methods you start with:
Level 1: It is necessary to define where the journey should go to what are the benefits, the
targets, and the vision behind it. Which kind of knowledge map should be realised
(picturing knowledge owners, knowledge units, work flows, process diagrams, etc.)!
What is the best way for the company and fits to the company culture (analysing the
budget, time, spacing, motivation, innovative and creative potential, etc.)! It is essential
that the leaders understand themselves as the first ones who are responsible for
knowledge picturing and sharing function as idols, which is pictured in an actual
living of these values (motivational function for the employees)! The project-team is
constituted and the first steps (kick off, information and communication about the
attempt) are initialised.
Level 2: The actual conceptual model for the company is design different user groups are
clustered with their specific needs which leads to an easier integration of useable
information and knowledge and which can also be considered in the design itself.
Definition of the different levels (broadness, depth of the map; individual, collective,
organisational; personal common). In defining the different user groups and their
needs and benefits it is necessary to develop a role/status/function/ task structure, which
is accompanied by a process structure this leads to the next level.
Level 3: In this level the main work depends on the process structure and the development of a
process-oriented project management with clear roles (project leaders, promoter, etc.)
and responsibilities. The analysis of existing data/information starts together with an
ongoing review process about what will be used in the future (needs to be visualised),
what is obsolete (needs to be depleted) and what is not needed now but might be
fruitful in the future (archive).
Level 4: Allocation of all necessary documents. Interpretation, selection and transformation of
knowledge to saveable knowledge units. Story Telling, interviews for the allocation and
transfer of implicit knowledge.
Level 5: Integration in the system, possible revision of the structure, the different levels, user
groups before the test run starts after the test run clearance of Bugs (form the
organisational side:-process, tasks, responsibilities, etc; and from the technical side).
Together with this five-level concept it is always necessary to think about accompanying
information-, communication- and feedback-systems to give transparency for all users of the
knowledge map about the actual steps and the targets and visions (keep the motivation high and
the rumours low).
242

For a strategic development of knowledge, knowledge units have to be analysed as well as the
relevance of different knowledge fields and an appropriate visualisation to ensure an effective
and efficient use of knowledge has to be designed and developed. Following some advantages
for a visualisation of knowledge are listed:
Exploration of the existing knowledge: Who are knowledge owners, which knowledge is
relevant for future development?
Creation of factors for success and competitiveness: Knowledge Maps should focus on
core competences and core work to increase competitiveness of the organisation.
Transparency: The process has to be transparent to all the users as well as the desired
outcome of the project.
Identification of knowledge gaps and weak points: Awareness is important to know
where to foster further development, reflection and learning of the institute and its
partners.
Eradication of gaps: Takes place trough development, learning, and education of internal
resources or trough the integration of external ones.
Improvement of the storage and access to knowledge: Employees of the institute as well
as external partners have access to important data and documents via an internet
connection.
Encouragement of the knowledge usability: The most important characteristic of used ITsystem is usability, which means being user friendly according structures, indices, access,
user interface and functionality.
Development of skills for successful companies: Partners have to find useful content for
their daily business regarding the cooperation with the institute.
Generation of applicable knowledge: Projects and processes have to be documented in an
understandable and standardised way that important knowledge is found easily.
Core competencies: The knowledge map has to focus on core areas to provide useful
information instead of an information overflow.
Optimisation of processes and procedures: Communication ways and flows become
faster and more efficient, documents for operative and strategic tasks are available in the
knowledge map.
The majority of these criteria try to enable an assessment and measurement of knowledge to
optimise internal and external processes companywide. Furthermore access rates as well as
down-and upload-rates can be considered to measure the performance of the knowledge map
whereby qualitative performance indicators such as benefits for the users, usability (a tool that is
understandable and easy to use) and transparency should not be forgotten.
The appropriate way of visualisation is dependent on the internal and external organisational
environment (context-sensitivity). The tool depends on the requirements of the respective
company, its structure, design and application field regarding knowledge visualisation. There are
individual and collective knowledge maps whereby individual maps are slightly relevant in
organisational contexts. A combination of concept and competence maps has to be created to
enlarge the usability of knowledge maps to enable a personalised, high quality and dynamic
knowledge visualisation architecture. The requirements for a visualisation of knowledge are a
detailed analysis of knowledge flows and the connections in the organisational context as well as
a concept and design of a process for a specified application of the knowledge map.
243
Knowledge maps need ongoing actuality checks and an ongoing actualisation of content and
data. Users are not prepared to work with the tool if they find old, useless information or contact
details of people who have already left the company or have other positions and responsibilities
in the meantime. Old, irrelevant and useless information has to be found and erasured in terms
of knowledge management this process is called selective oblivion. Regarding readiness to
learn and differentiation of knowledge owners and know-it-alls is essential (Schmitz/Zucker,
2003). Readiness to learn forces the development of the knowledge development and helps to
transform passive knowledge into active, practical actions.

The case is about an industry funded university research group, combining expertise of business
administration and information technologies as both organisational and technological aspects are
important for Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Management projects. The
department focuses on research, education and teaching as well as practical projects with partner
companies. Cooperations between university and industry benefit from a direct exchange of
knowledge. The university gets access to practical challenges or cases and can align the
universitys research interests or validate sophisticated research results in practice. The industry
receives knowledge and expertise about new developments and results directly and can use these
within the operative and strategic business.
Cooperating companies have the following benefits from a visualisation of knowledge units and
owners:
Transparency of the knowledge and expertise of employees
Access to best practices and lessons learned
Keep the knowledge even if employees leave
Faster overview and integration if experts change
Use the network of the participants
Check the current state of the projects
Accumulation of knowledge in all work fields (research, projects, education, planning,
events etc.)
Documentation and processing of relevant/recent topics in the field of knowledge
(conferences and editing gained knowledge)
Structure of important documents
Free mailbox (problem of crapped mailboxes regarding huge attachments is solved)
The benefit for the cooperating companies, their experts and decision makers is to foster the
realisation and application of knowledge management projects as well as to get the current states
of the processed projects and the relevant research fields. University-industry cooperations are
intensified and the sharing of knowledge as well as the transfer of research results becomes more
easy and efficient. Industry partners are able to search for content which is relevant for them at a
specific moment or situation.
The visualisation provides the knowledge of the individual knowledge worker (employees,
internal and external contributors) on a long-term and structured basis for the other employees,
the contributors and the experts of the cooperating companies. This fosters an extensive, flexible
and process-oriented management of the CC and its knowledge and enables an easy and
244
structured access for the diverse user groups. As visualisation-tool a knowledge map was chosen
that shows the knowledge owners as well as knowledge units, segmented into the specific project
groups and support units. For an easier overview it is necessary to guarantee the extraction of
different areas concerning employees (personalisation) and the areas regarding knowledge
(codification). This means a splitting into skills: project, scientific and common interest part with
a special focus on human capital (as knowledge, social and emotional capital).
Especially in this context a visualisation of knowledge, the knowledge owners and the
knowledge units is highly significant. The advantages for the participants are the following:
Easy to handle, concise and transparent
Moderates the transfer of knowledge
Helps to explore core competencies
Visualises important knowledge
Assists to find new knowledge resources
Accessible for specific user groups
In this context the knowledge map aimed to integrate knowledge owners (internal members) and
knowledge units which are accessible for internal and external users (the external users are
partners with a specific role and status regarding the system). The roles and process owners and
their tasks and abilities are listed in the table.
Table 1: The knowledge map and its owners, tasks and abilities
Owners
External users (partners)
General internal users
Tasks
Identify/evaluate knowledge
units through use
Identify/evaluate knowledge
units through use
Keep it Vivid
Administrator
Avoid redundancies
Technical expert
Project leaders
Design structure
Define rules
Abilities
Read only
Read
Download
Upload
Suggest changes
Read
Download
Upload
Review changes
Implement anew
Read
Download
Upload
Review changes
Conceptual overview
245

According to our experience the following tips and tricks are helpful to plan, implement and use
knowledge maps within an organisation:
Acceptance: On the one hand the structure, system and content of the knowledge map has to
be accepted (ongoing coordination with the participants and users), on the other hand the
project team and promoters for the knowledge map need a good standing.
Trust: The ongoing participation and information of the users helps to establish trust and
commitment.
Structure: A clear, logic and transparent structure ensures easy search and retrieval within the
system. Participants should have the chance to see the structure beforehand and give
feedback and advice.
Customer focus: Main concerns are requirements and needs of the user groups regarding the
knowledge map and the IT-system. The knowledge map and the system should be user
friendly, comprehensible and self explicatory.
Situation and context specific knowledge map: As knowledge maps can not map knowledge
on a 1:1 level and have to focus on a specific order they can only show paths to knowledge
themes and owners. Therefore knowledge maps need to be designed context and situation
specific (see customer focus).
Motivation: Participants must be informed about the sense, target and concept of a
knowledge map and users should be integrated within the process as they can give very
helpful information and feedback.
Companys culture and leadership: An open, innovative company culture with responsible
employees and a spiritual leader (role model) foster knowledge transfer, communication
and information flows within the company.
Willingness to exchange: This point is associated with a promoting company culture and
leadership. Furthermore benefits for the individual, teams and the organisation must be
communicated among and seen by the participants.
Milestone plan: A precise action plan with a specific project structure base and defined
responsibilities facilitates a smooth project workflow (see Illustration 1: Concept and Design
of the Knowledge Map in the chapter Toolkit).
These points mentioned above help to avoid and overcome barriers and struggles against the
project and have to be considered already in the diagnosis and analysis-phase of the project as
well as in all the following project phases (learning loops and proactivity).
246
The following items describe potholes to a successful knowledge map and have to be
categorically avoided:
Data cemetery: Knowledge maps with old and irrelevant information are not used in practice
and in the course of time less and less people use the system.
Black holes: Interesting and important information is missing but data and information which
is well known is documented in detail.
Hyperbolical system: Decision makers decide for a highly sophisticated system for untrained
or narrow minded users and are not prepared to give time and resources for the
development of competent users.
Information overload: Users upload everything to show their commitment (e.g. the IT-system
is related with a kind of reward system for content) and the content is not evaluated and
checked by an expert.
Lack of a clear definition of content, user and owner roles: Users do not know what the
system really can do for them and what each individual can contribute or retrieve.
Furthermore participants are unsure about data security as there is no differentiation e. g.
among internal vs. external user groups (different information and security levels required).
Unclear process flows: Lead to chaotic project steps and a high amount of improvisation and
the whole project seems to be quite unprofessional to the future users.
No specific target: Maybe knowledge maps seem to be modern and trendy to the company
but responsibles do not think about a clear focus and according individual benefits.
Spy-ware: Leaders use the knowledge map according the motto Big brother is watching
you, they trace and comment each single step of the users. The users are afraid to make
mistakes or to be too inactive in the system this can lead to information overload.
Poor search function: Participants find it hard to discover what they need and what already
exists in the system. As people are not sure what is already in the system some users may
upload specific information again (double data).
Redundant data, data inconsistency: This point is closely linked to a poor search function.
Users are frustrated because of inconsistent and redundant information on the one hand but
on the other hand a lot of important information is missing in the system.
Strive for virtual communication: An excessive belief regarding knowledge maps is that
personal contact can be reduced to a minimum. Knowledge maps can only show ways to
knowledge owners and knowledge assets but they are no substitute for face-to-face
communication.
The avoidance of these potholes, the appliance of our tips and tricks as well of as the concept and
design of a knowledge map facilitates a successful planning, implementation and usage of
knowledge maps within companies, institutes and organisations. This leads to a more open and
flexible transfer of knowledge, the development of core competences and helps to increases
competitiveness on the long run.
247
Ehrmann, H. (2006): Kompakt-Training: Strategische Planung. Leipzig, ISBN: 978 3 470 54741
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Giddens, A. (1984): Interpretative Soziologie. Eine kritische Einfhrung. Frankfurt am Main,
ISBN: 3-593-32557-8.
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Gelbe Seiten Teil B. www.community-of-knowledge.de (date accessed: 16. July, 2002)
Longenecker, C. O.; Simonetti, J. L. (2001): Getting Results. Five Absolutes for High
Performance. San Francisco, ISBN: 0-7879-5388-1.
Mauzy, J.; Harriman, R. (2003): Creativity, Inc. - Building an Inventive Organization.
Boston/Massachusetts, ISBN: 1-57851-207-7.
Olfert, K. (2004) Kompakt-Training: Projektmanagement. 4. Auflage, Leipzig, ISBN: 3 470
48594 1.
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wertvollste Ressource optimal nutzen. Frankfurt am Main, ISBN: 3-409-19317-0.
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Entwicklung Gestaltungsmglichkeiten. Zrich, ISBN: 3-03909-001-1.
Senge, P./Scharmer, C. O. (1997): Von Learning Organizations zu Learning Communities
In: Pierer, H. v./Oetinger, B. v. (Eds.): Wie kommt das Neue in die Welt?, Wien 1997,
ISBN: 3-446-19127-5, pp 99-110.
Seufert, A./Seufert, S. (1998): Wissensgenerierung und -transfer in Knowledge Networksin IOManagement, 10 (1998), pp 76-84.
Schmitz, Ch. / Zucker, B. (2003): Wissensmanagement. Schnelleres Lernen im Unternehmen.
Regensburg/Berlin, ISBN: 3-89623-319-X.
Westermayer, T. (2005): Ebenen und Methoden psychologischer Arbeitsanalyse. FobAwi, Juli
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248
Author Biographies
Assistant Prof. Mag. Mag. Alexandra Stingl is researcher/member

of the scientific staff at the department for eBusiness/ Business
Technologies (biztec) and lector at the department for
Organizational-, Human Resources and Management Development
at the Alpen-AdriaUniversity of Klagenfurt. She is working on
her Ph.D. master thesis in the field of knowledge oriented Change
Management on the way to Business Excellence. Besides research
and teaching activities she is working in different company projects
in the region. She studied Business Administration and English in
Klagenfurt, Newcastle (Australia), Beijing and Shanghai (China).
She is member of the editorial board of the Electronic Journal of
Knowledge Management-Management Centre International,
London.
Assistant Prof. Mag. Waltraud Grillitsch is researcher/member of
the Knowledge Management project group of the department for
eBusiness/ Business Technologies (biztec) and lector at the
department for Organizational-, Human Resources and
Management Development at the Alpen-Adria University of
Klagenfurt. She is writing her Ph.D. Master thesis in the field of
Knowledge Management in corporate networks and is studying
journalism at the University of Klagenfurt. She is working in
specific company projects in the region.
Prof. Dr. Robert Neumann is associate professor at the department
for Organizational-, Human Resources and Management
Development as well as senior researcher at the department
eBusiness/ Business Technologies (biztec) at the Alpen-Adria
University of Klagenfurt. He is the scientific head of the General
Master of Business Administration MBA program Advanced
Academic Business Managerat the Alpen-AdriaUniversitt of
Klagenfurt and partner of the Transformation Consulting Group
(St. Gallen/Mnchen). His scientific and consulting focus
concentrates on Change- and Knowledge Management in private/public- and non-profit-organisations. He is member of the editorial
board of the Electronic Journal of Knowledge ManagementManagement Centre International, London.
249
Redesigning
Communities of
Practice using
Knowledge Network
Analysis
Remko Helms
Keywords:
Knowledge Networks, Knowledge Network Analysis, Social
Network Analysis, Communities of Practice
Redesigning Communities of
Practice using Knowledge
Network Analysis
Dr. Remko Helms, Utrecht University, Institute of Information and Computing Sciences
(r.w.helms@cs.uu.nl)

The performance of many companies in todays knowledge economy relies on informal
networks. Such networks promote the lateral sharing of knowledge between employees, which
results in sharing best practices and innovations. Informal networks have received a lot of
attention in literature and they are referred to as communities of practice. Several authors agree
that communities make employees more effective in dealing with knowledge and contribute to
the performance of the organization (Epple, Argote & Murphy, 1996; Cross & Parker, 2004).
Therefore, also the effective and efficient implementation of communities of practice received
much attention.
There are several handbooks available on how to create and develop communities, such as the
approach described by Wenger, McDermott & Snyder (2000) and the Seduce, Engage and
Sustain (SES) model from Dignum & Van Eeden (2003). Typically, these approaches have a
process focus because they describe the phases and activities required to implement a community
of practice. The Knowledge Network Analysis technique, which is described in this chapter, is
complementary to such approaches because it makes it possible to make a snapshot of a
community of practice. A snapshot is a representation of a community of practice from a
network perspective. It views a community as a network of connected people, where the nodes in
the network represent the people and the lines between the nodes represent knowledge exchanges
between the people. Using a network perspective it is possible to study the structural properties
of a network. These properties tell something about the soundness of the community and whether
the structure enables or disables the community to achieve its goals. In Knowledge Network
Analysis these structural properties are used to detect knowledge sharing bottlenecks in
communities of practice. Furthermore, they form the basis for (re)designing a community of
practice in order to improve its performance.
The Knowledge Network Analysis technique is intended for practitioners responsible for the
development and support of communities of practice. It is typically applied to the members of a
single community. There is not really a maximum with respect to the number of people in a
community. Although, in later chapters it becomes clear that for large communities (>50-75
people) the data collection becomes rather labour intensive. If the number of people is limited to
50-75 people the Knowledge Network Analysis can be completed in a 3-4 week period.
Keywords: Knowledge Networks, Knowledge Network Analysis, Social Network Analysis,
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Redesigning Communities of Practice using Knowledge Network Analysis

Push networks: Developing professional skills
Communities of practice are: groups of people informally bound together by shared expertise
and passion for a joint enterprise (Wenger & Snyder, 2000). Simply stated, it is an informal
network of people that share knowledge in a particular domain or knowledge area: a coherent
clusters of insights, experiences, theories, and heuristics(Schreiber, Akkermans et al., 2002).
An example of a knowledge area in an engineering firm is for instance knowledge concerning
the design of railroads or jetties. The people that exchange this kind of knowledge with each
other form the community of practice. Knowledge in such a community is shared through a
variety of channels such as meetings, personal discussions, teleconferences, e-mail, discussion
groups etc. Moreover, there contacts do not follow an explicit agenda and there are no formal
deliverables defined that should be completed before a certain deadline.
In practice several types of communities of practice can be distinguished by looking at how they
add value to a company (Wenger & Snyder, 2000). Knowledge Network Analysis focuses on
one type of community. This type of community is called a push network (Helms & Buysrogge,
2006) and aims to develop the professional skills of its members. The professional skills of an
employee are also referred to as deep smarts(Leonard & Swap, 2005). Deep smarts enable a
person to quickly analyze a situation and come up with a smart solution. An example is a
computer engineer that is able to quickly identify a hardware problem without having to go
systematically through all the possible failure options. In practice, organizations often describe
such deep smarts in terms of expertise levels of their employees. An example of commonly used
expertise levels involves: trainee, novice, and expert.
When the job performance of an employee with deep smarts is compared to an employee without
deep smarts, the first will come up with a better solution, within a shorter time (Leonard et al.,
2005). Therefore, it is in the interest of the organization that employees with these deep smarts
share their knowledge with their colleagues that have not developed the same level of deep
smarts yet. Furthermore, an organization cannot leave it to chance that employees share their
deep smarts. They should stimulate their experts to share knowledge with their less
knowledgeable colleagues. We refer to this sharing as the pushing of knowledge from the experts
to their colleagues, because the people that posses the knowledge take the initiative in sharing
their knowledge (Helms & Buysrogge, 2006).
Knowledge that is referred to as deep smarts is typically stored in the employeesheads and
hands. This makes this knowledge difficult to share and therefore not every type of knowledge
exchange is as effective as another. For example, the exchange of knowledge by means of a
presentation is very superficial while the exchange by means of a master apprentice
relationship is very rich. There are several techniques for sharing deep smarts (Leonard et al.,
2005), which differ in terms of the viscosity of the knowledge that is exchanged. Viscosity is a
measure for the richness of the knowledge (Davenport et al., 1998). The different techniques for
knowledge transfer that Leonard et al. (2005) distinguish range from passive reception to active
learning and are shown in figure 1. From left to right in figure 1, there is an increase in the
viscosity of the knowledge that is exchanged.
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Passive
reception
Directives,
Presentations.
Lectures
8
Active
learning
Rules of
Thumb
Stories with
a Moral
Socratic
Questioning
Guided
Practice
Guided
Observation
Guided
Problem
Solving
Guided
Experimentation
Figure 1: Scale for measuring the viscosity of knowledge

We assume that the knowledge of an employee increases more when more viscous knowledge
exchanges take place. Consequently, only a rich exchange of knowledge will substantially
contribute to an increase of the expertise level of the receiver.
Summarizing, a push network is a community of people with different expertise levels and the
aim to exchange deep smarts from people with a high expertise level to people with a low
expertise level such that the expertise level of the latter increases. In the following sections,
potential knowledge sharing bottlenecks in these push networks are presented.
Master-apprentice relationships
In a push network it is important that all experts share their knowledge. However, if low
viscosity knowledge transfers are used, only superficial knowledge is transferred. Hence, the
receiver of the knowledge lacks a deep understanding of the received knowledge and cannot
easily apply it. Therefore, we only consider high viscous knowledge transfers suitable for the
development of professional skills. In figure 1 it involves the active learning approaches that are
labeled 5 till 8. These types of knowledge transfer are very similar to master-apprentice
relationships and are characterized by long-term relationship between a master and its
apprentice.
From a network perspective an effective push network requires that people with a high expertise
level should be connected, i.e. transfer their knowledge to, to one or more people with a lower
expertise level. Moreover, this knowledge transfer should be of high viscosity in order to truly
transfer deep smarts. If there is no such connection there is no knowledge transfer. Vice versa,
people with a low expertise level should have connections, i.e. receive knowledge from, to one
or more people with a high expertise level. If there is no such connection they do not receive
knowledge and are not developing their professional skills. Preferably, people with a low
expertise level should have several connections to people with a high expertise level. Otherwise,
they depend on only one person for the development of their professional skills. Because
transferring deep smarts takes time it is not very likely that people with high expertise levels can
have many high viscous connections to people with lower expertise levels and vice versa.
Therefore, the number of high viscous connections should be limited to 3 or 4. The above can be
summarized in the following potential bottlenecks:
Bottleneck 01
People with a high expertise level do not transfer their knowledge with high
viscosity to one or more people with a lower expertise level.
Bottleneck 02
People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level do not receive
knowledge with high viscosity from at least two people with a higher
expertise level.
Bottleneck 03
People with a high expertise level transfer their knowledge with high viscosity
to more than four people with a lower expertise level.
Bottleneck 04
People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level receive
knowledge with high viscosity from more than four people with a higher
expertise level.
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Sub-communities
Potentially, it should be possible that any member from a community can be connected to any
other member in the community. However, from literature it is known that homophily (Zenger &
Lawrence, 1989; Sparrowe, Liden, Wayne, and Kraimer 2001) and geographical spread (Allen,
1977) can be potential barriers for knowledge transfer between people. Homophily refers to the
fact that people more easily hook up with people with similar backgrounds. Conversely, people
from different backgrounds do not easily connect which constrains the free flow of knowledge in
a community. Geographical spread is another barrier for knowledge transfer. Research showed
that the probability of knowledge exchange is highest when people are in close proximity to each
other. The further people are away, the lower the probability of knowledge exchange. Both
homophily and geographical spread can lead to the formation of loosely or disconnected sub
communities within in a community.
Sub communities are in itself unwanted because it limits or rules out the transfer of deep smarts
between people in different sub communities. To determine the impact of the existence of sub
communities, the composition of and the connection between the sub communities should be
taken into account. The distribution of expertise over the different sub communities determines
whether people with lower expertise levels have easy access to people with higher expertise
levels. If there are no people with high expertise levels in a sub community, people rely on high
viscous connections to people with high expertise levels in other sub communities for the
development of their professional skills. If a sub community lacks experts and also does not have
high viscous connections to experts in other sub communities the development of professional
skills is in jeopardy. The above can be summarized in the following potential bottlenecks:
Bottleneck 05
Unbalanced distribution of expertise over sub communities.
Bottleneck 06
Lack of high viscous knowledge transfers between sub communities.
Knowledge drain and knowledge brokers

In every company, employees leave the organization after a certain time. For example, they get a
better job elsewhere or because they retire. When an employee leaves the organization this might
lead to a potential loss of valuable expertise, something also referred to as knowledge drain
(Zhuge, 2002; Kiger, 2005), or to disconnectedness of the network. Both can have a negative
influence on the development of professional skills in the community.
Whether the departure of a person indeed results in a knowledge drain depends on several
factors. First of all, it is obvious that it depends on the expertise level of a person, the higher the
expertise level the higher the chance of knowledge drain for the organization. Secondly, it is
important to know whether the person transferred his knowledge to other people in the
community. If high viscous connections to other people exist, the potential knowledge drain is
limited because he transferred his deep smarts to other members in the community. Finally, the
influence of a person is also an indicator of the value of a particular employee. Influence
involves the number of people that a person reaches in total, either by direct or indirect
connections. The more persons are reached the more influential that person is. Hence, one could
say that this persons knowledge and ideas strongly influences the way of working in an
organization.
Another effect of people leaving the organization concerns disconnectedness. When a person
leaves the organization it does not only lead to a loss of knowledge, but also in a hole in the
network. If the person that leaves the organization fulfils a brokerage role between different sub
communities, this can potentially lead to the formation of loosely or disconnected sub
communities. The types of brokerage roles that can be distinguished include: liaison, gatekeeper,
256
and representative (Fernandez & Gould, 1994). Because a person can have many connections he
can fulfill different roles at the same time and can fulfill the same role several times.
Consequently, if a broker leaves the organization it does not automatically lead to the
disconnection of sub communities because other persons can have similar brokerage with respect
to the same sub communities. However, a special case is when the departure of a person leads to
the total disconnection of two sub-communities. In that case the brokerage relation is called a
network bridge (Burt, 1992), i.e. the only connection that exists between two sub communities.
The above can be summarized in the following potential bottlenecks:
Bottleneck 07
Departure of people with a high expertise level with few or none high viscous
connections to other people.
Bottleneck 08
Departure of people that influence many people (directly and indirectly) with
their knowledge and thinking.
Bottleneck 09
Departure of people that fulfill a brokerage role in the network.

Knowledge Network Analysis is a rather straightforward technique. Nevertheless, some
preparation is required to use the technique to its full potential. Several aspects of preparation are
discussed below.
Basics of network analysis
Although this chapter describes how to apply Knolwedge Network Analysis, it is not a complete
guide in to the basics of network analysis. Therefore, it is recommended that the people who
apply the technique read an introduction to social network analysis, which is the foundation of
Knowledge Network Analysis. A good introduction to social network analysis can be found at:
http://faculty.ucr.edu/~hanneman/nettext/ (Hanneman & Riddle, 2005). Reading chapter 1 thru 5
will provide the reader with the basics of network analysis while chapter 7 thru 17 provide a
quick reference to a wide range of different network measures available. Reading this
introduction will provide a deeper understanding of social network analysis and hence
Knowledge Network Analysis. Furthermore, it can also be used as a quick reference guide
during the interpretation of the results. For a complete textbook on Social Network Analysis,
however, is referred to Wasserman & Faust (1994).
Survey
The basis for the analysis is network data concerning a community of practice. This data is
collected by means of a survey, either on-line, via e-mail or on paper. Although the survey
consists of a number of standard questions some customization of the questionnaire is required.
The questions itself can be used in any organization. However, it is the answer categories that
require some customisation because it concerns a list of people with whom a respondent
exchanges knowledge. This list of names is of course different for each organization and needs
to be customized.
Communication to the respondents
Members of a community mainly play a role during the data collection phase, i.e. they are the
respondents that provide the network data. To ensure the willingness of the respondents to
participate in the survey, communication around the project is rather important. There are several
ways to announce the Knowledge Network Analysis project, such as company newsletters,
community events, or a cover letter that is attached to the survey. In the communication it is also
257
important to address the issue of confidentiality. The analysis reveals the position of employees
in a community of practice and this is often considered as sensitive data. Every organization
should therefore consider whether it is required to keep data confidential. Of course, the data
needs to be disclosed to the project team that analyzes the data. Otherwise it will be impossible
to suggest concrete improvements regarding the structure of a community.

There are two tools required to conduct a Knowledge Network Analysis: a survey tool and a
network analysis tool. A survey tool is required to collect the network data. Although it is
possible to collect the data using a paper-based survey, there are several advantages to sending a
digital questionnaire via e-mail or using an on-line survey tool. First of all, an digital
questionnaire or on-line survey is easier to distribute and secondly it is easier to integrate the
results in the format required by a network analysis tool. There are several tools available for
conducting
an
on-line
survey.
Some
suggestions
include:
SurveyMonkey
(www.surveymonkey.com), Free Online Surveys (freeware; freeonlinesurveys.com), and Php
Surveyor (open source; www.phpsurveyor.org). In our own practice we are using a digital survey
form that was created in Excel.
The network analysis tool is used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of a network.
Quantitative analysis involves the application of graph theory to determine certain structural
properties of networks that are known from the field social network analysis. A simple example
is the shortest path between two people in the network. Qualitative analysis involves the analysis
of a visual representation of the network structure and is used to support quantitative analysis.
Figure 2 contains a visual representation of a simple network. The nodes represent the people in
the network while the lines represent the knowledge transfers between the people. In knowledge
transfer there is always a sender and receiver. Therefore, the arrows indicate the direction of the
transfer.
Figure 2: Visual representation of a network.

There are several tools available for network analysis. Some suggestions include: NetMiner
(www.netminer.com), UCINET (www.analytictech.com/ucinet/ucinet.htm), and Pajek
(vlado.fmf.uni-lj.si/pub/networks/pajek/). We prefer to use NetMiner because of its user
friendliness and its visualization capabilities.
258

Data collection and preparation
The data concerning a push network is collected using a survey that is send to each member of
the community. Typically, such a survey consists of two parts. The first part focuses on
collecting data about the connections between people. The perspective that is chosen is that of
the receiver of the knowledge. Hence, the respondent should only indicate from whom he is
receiving knowledge. The respondent does not have to indicate to whom he transfers knowledge,
because this data becomes automatically available when everybody completes the questionnaire.
Besides collecting data about the existence of the connection, data is also collected about the
viscosity of the knowledge transfer. An example of how this question looks like in a survey is
shown in figure 3.
Name: <enter name>
1. Geef
Please
aanindicate
hoe en how
van welke
and from
collega(
whichs)colleagues
jij op een georganiseerde,
you receive
new knowledge in a structural and organized manner, i.e. not
ad-hoc, to develop professional your skills
Options:
1- Presentaties van collegas of externen, richtlijnen, standaarden:
Bij welke van de hiernaast genoemde collega(
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door het volgen van een presentatie of volgen van door
hem /haar aangedragen beschreven richtlijnen of standaarden?
2- Rules of thumb:
Welke van de hiernaast genoemde collega(
s) vertelt je de
vuistregels die gelden voor jouw vakgebied?
3- Stories with a moral:
Van welke van de hiernaast genoemde collega(
s) krijg je advies
doordat hij /zij een vergelijkbare situatie beschrijft?
4- Socratic questioning (Luisteren, Samenvatten, Doorvragen):
Met welke van de hiernaast genoemde collega(
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door naar hem /haar te luisteren, samen te vatten, en
door te vragen?
5- Guided practice:
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door je werk te doen en dit later met door met hem /haar
door te spreken?
6- Guided observation:
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door met hem /haar mee te kijken en achteraf te bespreken
wat hij /zij heeft gedaan?
7- Guided problem solving:
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door samen met hem /haar problemen op te lossen?
1. Please indicate how and from which colleagues you receive

new knowledge in a structural and organized manner, i.e. not
ad-hoc, to develop professional your skills
Multiple answers for one person are possible. If you do not receive knowledge
from a person leave the question open.
A description of the options can be found in the left column!
x1
x2
x3
x4
x5
x6
x7
x8
x9
x10
x11
x12
x13
x14
x15
8- Guided experimentation:
s) doe je nieuwe
kennis op door eerst zelf na te denken over hoe je bestaande
methoden kan verbeteren en dit vervolgens met hem /haar te doen?
Figure 3: Example of survey question (some text in Dutch)

The second part of the questionnaire consists of questions to collect demographic data about the
respondent. Examples include the name, function, expertise level, and office location of the
respondent. Together with the data on the connection this data is required to identify the
bottlenecks as presented in the previous section. Bottleneck 01, for example, can only be
identified if data is collected about the expertise level of the community members. Some of this
data can also be collected from other sources such as the Human Resources Department. It is
even preferred to use alternative data sources because it reduces the amount of time that a
respondent needs to complete the survey.
259
After collecting the network data, it should be translated into a matrix representation to make it
suitable for network analysis. This is illustrated using the network that was presented in figure 2.
This network consists of four members: A, B, C and D, which are referred to as actors in KNA.
Furthermore, there are six connections between these actors that are referred to as links. Figure 4
shows the matrix representation of this network. The names of the actors are shown in the rows
and columns of the matrix. Rows indicate the senders of the knowledge and the columns the
receivers of the knowledge 1 . Numbers in a cell indicate the weight of a link, i.e. viscosity,
between two actors. If the weight of a link is zero there is no link between two actors. The
diagonal of the matrix does not contain any numbers because an actor can not have a link to
itself. Following this logic, cell (1,2) in the matrix indicates that there is a link from actor A to
actor B with a weight 2.
A
Figure 4: Matrix representation of network data

The demographic data of the actors are called attributes and are stored in a separate table. The
rows of this table contain the names of the actors while the columns contain the attributes. Once
the network data is collected and prepared it can be entered into a tool which supports network
analysis.
Network analysis
The analysis starts with making a visualisation of the network, an example is provided in figure 7
in the Real Cases section. It gives an impression of the structure of the network and helps to
interpret the results from the quantitative analysis. After exploring the visual representation of
the network, the analysis focuses on the identification of bottlenecks 01 till 09. The identification
of these bottlenecks using qualitative and quantitative analysis is discussed in the remainder of
this section.
Bottleneck 01: People with a high expertise level do not transfer their knowledge with high
viscosity to two or more people with a lower expertise level.
To detect this bottleneck the out-degrees of actors is analyzed. The out-degree is a relatively
simple measure that counts the number of outgoing links of an actor. To identify bottleneck 01
only out-degrees to actors with a lower expertise level should be counted. Those actors that have
an out-degree of zero or one are potential bottlenecks.
Bottleneck 02: People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level do not receive
knowledge with high viscosity from at least two people with a higher expertise level.
For detecting this bottleneck the in-degree of actors is used. This measure counts the number of
incoming links of an actor. To identify bottleneck 02 only in-degrees from actors with a higher
expertise level should be counted. Those actors that have an in-degree of zero or one are
It should be noted here that each column in the matrix represents the survey results of a single respondent.
260
potential bottlenecks. The results of bottleneck analysis 01 and 02 can also be verified in the
visualization of the network by counting an actors outgoing and incoming links respectively.
Bottleneck 03: People with a high expertise level transfer their knowledge with high viscosity to
more than four people with a lower expertise level.
To determine these bottlenecks, the out-degree measures from bottleneck analysis 01 can be used
again. Those actors that have an out-degree higher than four are potential bottlenecks.
Bottleneck 04: People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level receive
knowledge with high viscosity from more than four people with a higher expertise level.
Here we can use the in-degree measures from bottleneck analysis 02 to detect any bottlenecks.
Those actors that have an in-degree higher than four are considered potential bottlenecks.
Identification of sub communities
Before starting the analysis concerning bottleneck 05 and 06, the network data should be tested
for the possible existence of sub communities. For this purpose the Girvan Newman algorithm is
used, which is based on cluster analysis using the link betweenness as a clustering function. The
link betweenness of a link counts how many times a particular link lies on the shortest path
between all other pairs of actors in the network. The clustering process starts by putting all actors
in one cluster. Then the link betweenness of all links is calculated and the one with the highest
link betweenness is removed. If a link has a high link betweenness this is a possible indication
that this link serves as a network bridge between groups of actors. Removing such a link could
lead to the separation of a large cluster into one or more smaller clusters. This step is repeated till
there are as many clusters as there are actors.
Figure 5: Dendrogram of the push network

The output of cluster analysis is typically displayed in a dendrogram, an example of such a
dendrogram is shown in figure 5. On the vertical axis a dendrogram displays the actors and on
261
the horizontal axis it displays the steps in the clustering process. For each step in the clustering
process it displays the link betweenness value that lead to the separation of the clusters (level)
and the number of communities that exists after the separation (number). The clustering process
is shown from right to left in figure 5, the splitting of branches represents the splitting of larger
clusters into smaller clusters. In the example, application of the Girvan New algorithm results in
17 alternatives for clustering the actors in sub communities (as many as there as clustering
steps). It then comes to picking out the right clustering, which is done using the significance
level for each step using statistical analysis. Next, the step with the highest significance level is
selected for further analysis. NetMiner supports the Girvan Newman algorithm and is also
capable of creating a visualization of the results in which the sub communities are indicated, an
example is shown in figure 8.
By examining the function, location and expertise level of each actor in the sub communities it
can be verified whether one of these attributes is responsible for the formation of sub
communities. This can also be cross checked by calculating the External/Internal (E/I) index of
different groups of actors. The E/I index measures the orientation of a pre-defined group of
actors and its value can range from -1 (actors only have connections inside the group) to +1
(actors only have connections outside the group). If the value of the E/I index of a group is lower
than 0 this group might be a sub community.
Bottleneck 05: Unbalanced distribution of expertise over sub communities.
This bottleneck is detected by a visual inspection of the push network in which the sub
communities are indicated. The goal is to determine whether the experts are distributed evenly
over the number of sub communities while also taking into account the number of actors in a sub
community. If two sub communities are equal in size, both communities are expected to contain
approximately the same number of experts.
Bottleneck 06: Lack of high viscous knowledge transfers of experts across the sub communities.
This bottleneck can be detected by calculating the out-degree of experts and to count how many
of these links cross the community boundary. In case the links of an expert do not cross the
boundary of its sub community, the actors in the other sub communities can not benefits from his
expertise. It is of course possible that knowledge of experts is indirectly exchanged to other sub
communities via the specialists. Therefore, also the out-degree of specialists should be examined.
Bottleneck 07: Departure of people with a high expertise level with few or none high viscous
Locating experts with few links is done using the out-degree of actors, which already has been
calculated for the analysis of bottleneck 01. The departure of experts with zero or one link might
result in a knowledge drain.
Bottleneck 08: Departure of people that influence many people (directly and indirectly) with
The influence of actors is determined by looking at the reachability and the average shortest
path of an actor. The reachability of an actor indicates the number of other actors in the network
that this actor can reach directly or indirectly. But if two actors can reach the same amount of
actors in the network their influence is not necessarily the same. Their influence is said to be
stronger if the distances to these actors are shorter. A good indicator of an actors average
distance to the other actors is the average shortest path. If the average shortest path is high an
actor needs many steps and if it is low an actor only needs a few steps to reach other actors in the
network. Dividing reachability by the average shortest path leads to an indicator of an actors
influence that takes into account the number of actors an actor can reach as well as its distance
from these actors. The indicator is high when the reachability is high and the shortest path is low.
262
Therefore, the departure of experts with a high score on this indicator is a potential loss for the
organization.
Bottleneck 09: Departure of people that fulfill a brokerage role in the network
Brokerage roles of actors are determined by their position in the network. The roles that are
determined include: liaison, gatekeeper, and representative. A person acts as liaison when he
connects people in two different groups while he is not a member of either group (figure 6.1).
Often a person that connects two groups is part of one of these groups; in that case we speak of a
gatekeeper or representative. A person is a representative if he is transferring knowledge from
members of his sub community to members of other sub communities (figure 6.2). In other
words, he is acting as a representative or as a spokesmanfor his sub community. Finally, a
person is a gatekeeper if he receives knowledge from other sub communities and transfers that
knowledge to members of his own sub community (figure 6.3). As a gatekeeper this person
controls the flow of knowledge from other sub communities to the members of his own sub
community.
6.1: Person Y as Liaison
6.2: Person Y as Representative
6.3: Person Y as Gatekeeper

-> Different colors of the nodes indicate the
membership of different sub communities
Figure 6: Explanation of different brokerage roles

Because an actor can have many links to different actors, he can fulfill different roles at the same
time and can also fulfill the same role several times but for different actors. In NetMiner it is
possible to determine the brokerage roles for each actor. Actors that fulfill many brokerage roles
can play an important role in the connection between sub communities. The departure of these
actors is therefore a potential risk for the organization.

Application of Knowledge Network Analysis results in an indication of possible bottlenecks with
respect to knowledge sharing in communities. To validate these results it is important to check if
the bottlenecks that are found, match with personal observations and experiences of the
community members. After validation of the results, the project team should discuss which
interventions are suitable to overcome the observed bottlenecks. Examples of interventions
263
include: changing the organization structure or introducing new reward systems. There is not a
simple recipe, meaning that there is a standard intervention for every observed bottleneck,
because the selected interventions often depend on the specific context of the organization.
Moreover, there is not always a single best solution. Since the possible consequences of the
interventions can be quite substantial, the interventions should be approved by management
before they can be effectuated.
Results from the interventions can be expected after several months or later because changing
the behaviour of people and organizations takes time. To measure if the interventions have been
effective one can conduct a second Knowledge Network Analysis. Consequently, it is possible to
compare the situation before the interventions with the situation after the interventions. If the
desired results have not been achieved the project team has to consider additional interventions.

Case study context
The case study discussed in this section concerns a knowledge-driven consulting and engineering
firm that is active in the following fields: Infrastructure, Facilities and Environment. Worldwide
the organization employs approximately 10,000 people. The regional office involved in the
Knowledge Network Analysis is located in the Netherlands and employs a total of 65 people.
Employees of the regional office are typical knowledge workers with a masters degree in
Architecture, Engineering and Construction. Their main job is the design of and advice on
structures in the aforementioned fields of infrastructure, facilities and environment. In the
regional office, Knowledge Network Analysis has been applied to analyze the Civil Engineering
community. There are 31 people working in this knowledge area, 28 of them filled out the
network survey. These 28 people are located in 3 offices in three different cities in the
Netherlands, with 18, 9 and 1 people in each office respectively. Furthermore, the community
consists of 14 engineers, 11 project leaders, and 3 consultants.
The network data has been collected using a survey, while the required demographic data has
been collected with the help of the HRM department. The demographic data involves the:
function, location and expertise level of each actor in the community. After collecting the
network data it was entered into a network matrix, created in Microsoft Excel, and then imported
into NetMiner for further analysis. Additionally, we defined 3 attributes for actors in NetMiner
to store information about their function, location and expertise level. The possible values for
each of the attributes are shown in table 1.
Table 1: Functions, locations and expertise level at case study company
Location (#)
Functions
Expertise level
people)
Engineer
Office A (18)
Trainee
Project leader
Office B (9)
Specialist
Consultant
Office C (1)
Expert
After entering all the data in NetMiner we are ready to analyze the effectiveness of the push
network. The next section shows how qualitative and quantitative analysis has been used to
identify bottlenecks that constrain the effectiveness of the push network at the engineering and
consulting firm.
264
Analysis of push network

The first thing to do is creating a visualization of the network to get an impression of the
structure of the network. Figure 7 shows the visualization for the push network of the consulting
and engineering firm2. The visualization shows the actors and the links between the actors. As
mentioned before the focus is on highly viscous knowledge transfers. Therefore, only knowledge
transfers with a viscosity of 5, 6, 7 or 8 are shown (i.e. the right side of the scale). Moreover, the
visualization also contains information concerning the function, location and expertise level of
an actor. This data is coded using the color, size and shape of the actors (see legend of figure 7).
Legend
Node color: Location of actor
Office A:
Office B:
Office C:
Node size: Expertise of actor

Trainee:
Specialist:
Expert:
Node shape: Function of actor

Consultant:
Engineer:
Project leader:
Figure 7 Visual representation of the push network

In the following each bottleneck is identified individually. After identification of all the
bottlenecks the overall conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the push network are
presented.
Bottleneck 01: People with a high expertise level do not transfer their knowledge with high
viscosity to two or more people with a lower expertise level.
In the case study context this bottleneck implies that knowledge should be transferred from
experts to specialists and/or trainees and from specialists to trainees. The results of the outdegree analysis are shown in table 2 and reveal that there are 6 specialists with zero or one
outgoing links to a trainee and that there are 2 experts with zero or one outgoing link to a trainee
or specialist. In other words, 8 out of 17 actors do not sufficiently transfer their knowledge to
less experienced colleagues.
The placement of nodes in the visualization is determined by the SpringEd algorithm, which is a fairly
straightforward implementation of Eades' Spring Embedder (Eades, 1984). Fundamentally, repelling forces are
given to every pair of non-adjacent nodes, and attractive forces are given to every pair of adjacent nodes. Following
this spring model, non-adjacent nodes are spread well one the plane and adjacent nodes are placed near each other.
265
Table 2: Out-degree of actors (only to actors with lower level of expertise)

Actor
Out-degree
Expertise level
CA
1
S
HP
1
S
JB
1
S
JH
1
S
MW
3
S
PB
0
S
PC
1
S
PS
5
S
RK
5
S
FJ
0
E
GH
2
E
GK
0
E
GV
4
E
HV
7
E
LW
3
E
MV
6
E
TB
8
E
Bottleneck 02: People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level do not receive
knowledge with high viscosity from at least two people with a higher expertise level.
This bottleneck implies that trainees should receive knowledge from more than one specialist
and/or expert, and that specialists should receive knowledge from more than one expert. The
results from the in-degree analysis are presented in table 3. It shows that there are 4 trainees with
zero or one incoming link from a specialist or expert and that there are 6 specialists with zero or
one incoming link from an expert. Consequently, 10 out of 20 actors are not able to fully develop
their professional skills.
Table 3: In-degree of actors (only from actors with higher level of expertise)
Actor
Out-degree
Expertise level
BR
1
T
CE
8
T
GG
6
T
KT
2
T
LK
1
T
MM
3
T
NB
4
T
PG
0
T
RS
4
T
WD
1
T
WH
2
T
CA
4
S
HP
4
S
JB
1
S
JH
0
S
MW
1
S
PB
1
S
PC
1
S
PS
3
S
RK
1
S
Bottleneck 03: People with a high expertise level transfer their knowledge with high viscosity to
more than four people with a lower expertise level.
Here we are looking for experts and specialists with too many outgoing links. The out-degree
measures in table 2 show that there are 2 specialists and 3 experts with too many outgoing links.
One expert even has 8 outgoing links, which might imply that he spends too much time on high
viscous knowledge transfer to other actors.
Bottleneck 04: People with an expertise level below the highest expertise level receive
knowledge with high viscosity from more than four people with a higher expertise level.
In this case, the bottleneck involves those trainees and specialists that receive knowledge from
more than 4 actors with a higher expertise level. The in-degree measures in table 3 again show
that there are 2 trainees and 0 specialists with too many incoming links. There is one trainee with
8 incoming links; he is spending too much time on developing his professional skills.
Figure 8: Identification of communities in the push network
266
Before analyzing bottleneck 05 and 06 it is required to identify any sub communities in the push
network. For this purpose, the Community function in NetMiner has been used. This resulted in
the identification of 3 communities (see figure 8). The communities are labeled G1, G2, and G3,
and are indicated by putting a red box around the actors of the community. By looking at the
colors one can see that almost all red actors are part of community G1, almost all green actors
are part of community G2, and that two actors with very few connections form community G3.
The color indicates the office location of the actors, which implies that the spread of actors over
the different offices severely limits the knowledge transfer between the actors in these offices.
Furthermore, it implies that the other attributes such as expertise level and function are not a
barrier for knowledge exchange. This assumption can be verified by checking the
External/Internal (E/I) index of different groups of actors. Figure 9 shows the results of applying
the E/I index to different groupings based on location, function, and expertise level. The results
clearly show that only the location leads to an internal focus of the actors (i.e. E/I index <0) and
is therefore a possible indication for sub community formation.
E&I score
0,5
0
trainee/specialist/expert
engineer/ project leader/consultant
-0,5
office A/office B/office C
-1
Figure 9: E/I index for different groups of the push network
Bottleneck 05: Unbalanced distribution of expertise over sub communities.
The sub communities become a problem when it results in an unbalanced distribution of
expertise over the sub communities. A visual analysis of the network in figure 8 reveals that
there is an uneven distribution of expertise, because 7 out of 8 experts are part of community G1.
Community G2 has a total of 7 actors but only one expert and one specialist. Finally, community
G3 is composed of two specialists. The lack of experts in group G2 and G3 implies that these
groups do not receive much knowledge from experts and therefore there is a potential risk that
they do not receive valuable knowledge from other communities.
267
Bottleneck 06: Lack of high viscous knowledge transfers of experts across sub communities.
The unbalanced distribution of experts over the sub communities is only a problem if the
outgoing links of experts do not cross the boundaries of their community. The results from the
cross boundary out-degree analysis in table 4 show that five experts in sub community G1 do not
have high viscous exchanges outside their own sub community. Therefore, actors in other sub
communities are cut off from the deep smarts of these experts. Another interesting result is the
fact that expert GH only transfers his knowledge to actors outside his own sub community.
Consequently, actors from the same sub community do not benefit from the deep smarts of their
colleague.
Table 4: Out-degree of experts across community boundaries
Out-degree
ComActor Out-degree
across
munity
boundary
G1
FJ
0
0
G1
GH
2
2
G1
GK
0
0
G1
GV
4
0
G1
HV
7
0
G1
LW
3
0
G1
TB
8
2
G2
MV
6
4
Summarizing, from the 8 experts there are only 2 experts exchange knowledge outside their own
community. On basis of this analysis it can be concluded that the sub communication results in
the isolation of the knowledge of experts. It is of course possible that knowledge of experts is
indirectly exchanged to other communities via the specialists. However, a similar analysis on the
out-degree of specialists revealed that only 1 specialist out of 9 has links that cross the boundary
of their sub community.
Bottleneck 07: Departure of people with a high expertise level with few or none high viscous
The analysis of bottleneck 01 revealed that 2 experts and 6 specialists do not transfers their
knowledge or transfer their knowledge to just one other actor. Because they do not transfer their
knowledge to colleagues, the departure of these actors might result in a knowledge drain.
Bottleneck 08: Departure of people that influence many people (directly and indirectly) with
The departure of people that are very influential can also be a potential loss for an organization.
Table 5 shows the influence of the experts based on their reachability and average shortest path.
All experts, except one, reach the majority of their colleagues, i.e. 24 or 25 out of 27. However,
only three experts can reach every other actor in two to three steps. Therefore, they are said to be
the most influential experts and the possible departure of these experts is a potential loss for the
organization.
268
Table 5: Influence of experts in the network
Actor
FJ
GH
GK
GV
HV
LW
MV
TB
Reach
(out) to
others
0
24
24
25
25
24
24
24
Average
shortest
path
0,0
3,2
3,8
2,5
2,2
3,4
3,3
2,5
col 2/
col 3
0,0
7,5
6,3
10,0
11,5
7,1
7,4
9,6
Bottleneck 09: Departure of people that fulfill a brokerage role in the network
The brokerage roles of each actor are determined using the Brokerage function in NetMiner.
Table 6 shows the number of Gatekeeper, Representative and Liaison roles for each actor. Actors
that do not fulfill any of these roles are left out of the table.
Table 6: Brokerage roles of actors in the push network
Gatekeeper
Representative
Liaison
GG
8
8
2
RK
0
3
0
TB
0
4
0
GH
11
11
0
NB
8
12
0
MW
2
0
0
MV
3
7
0
There are various actors that act as Gatekeepers and Representatives and that there is just one
actor that acts as a liaison: GG. Logically, actors that fulfil many brokerage roles are positioned
along the border of the communities in figure 8. However, one should be careful with visual
analysis because one might easily overlook RK and GG, for instance, which are not located
along the border of there community but still act as a broker. Therefore, it is important to support
visual analysis always with quantitative analysis.
Communities only become disconnected if there are network bridges between the sub
communities. This is only applies to actor TB, when leaves community G3 will not receive
knowledge from community G1 anymore. However, conversely community G1 is not
disconnected from G3 in case TB leaves because he is not the only Gatekeeper with respect to
G3. In the other situations, two or more actors have to leave before sub communities become
disconnected. Therefore, from a brokerage point of view the organization is not very sensitive to
the departure of only one of the actors in table 6.
Conclusions and recommendations
The bottleneck analysis regarding the effectiveness of the master-apprentice relationships
(bottleneck 01 -04) revealed some structural problems in the push network. There are too many
experts and specialists that do not or hardly transfer their deep smarts to colleagues.
Consequently, too many trainees and specialist do not have enough high viscous relations in
order to properly develop their professional skills. The company should address this issue
because there is a structural problem in the development of professional skills. It can be easily
solved by stimulating more experts and specialists to transfer their knowledge (assuming that
their knowledge is relevant and valuable for the organization), because the ratio between trainees
and specialists that should receive knowledge and the experts and specialists that can provide
269
this knowledge is almost 1 to 1. Therefore, the constraints posed by bottleneck 01 till 04, with
respect to the minimum and maximum number of links, is not a problem in this organization.
Another structural problem was revealed by the bottleneck analysis concerning the existence of
sub communities (bottleneck 05-06). The analysis showed that the geographical spread of actors
over different office locations is causing the formation sub communities, which is a potential
barrier for knowledge exchange. Therefore, we looked more closely to both office locations. The
distribution of experts over the sub communities is unbalanced because the majority (7 out of 8)
is located in Office A. This is a problem because the experts (and also the specialists) in office A
hardly share their knowledge across the boundary of their sub community. Furthermore, visual
analysis also reveals that there is a nice mix of functions and expertise levels in office A. While
in office B, there is only one expert project leader, one specialist engineer and six trainee
engineers. The low level of expertise might be an explanation why employees at office A do not
have a need to receive knowledge from their colleagues in office B. Vice versa, office B is very
dependent on office A for acquiring new knowledge, which it does not receive. It is
recommended that the organization increases the variety of functions and expertise levels at
office A and B and at the same time increase the amount of high viscous knowledge transfers
between the offices. Both can be realized at the same time by switching employees between
office A and B.
The third and last bottleneck analysis focused on the possible risk of the departure of employees
which might result in knowledge drain and disconnectedness (bottleneck 07-09). The highest risk
is posed by employees that do not transfer their knowledge to colleagues. Because there are 8
employees, 2 experts and 6 specialists, that hardly transfer their knowledge. To determine if their
departure will actually lead to a knowledge drain, it is recommended that the organization
investigates the relevance and value of the knowledge of these employees before undertaking
any action. In case they have valuable knowledge that needs to be shared there are two options.
First, the organization can create challenging career tracks and a stimulating work environment
so that employees do not want to leave. Secondly, the organization can make sure that these
employees have viscous knowledge exchanges with potential successors.
The impact of the departure of influential employees or employees that hold brokerage roles is
rather low. Analysis of the influence showed that almost all experts are rather influential.
Therefore, the impact of the departure of a single expert is rather low. Furthermore, the risk of
disconnectedness is also rather low, because of the redundancy in the brokerage roles between
the communities. If one employee leaves this does not immediately lead to disconnectedness,
except for actor TB because he acts as a network bridge between sub communities G1 and G3.
270

Get management support for the Knowledge Network Analysis and let management
invite/urge community to participate in the survey. This assures high response rates for the
survey (higher than 90% is required)
Check the conclusions with the actual situation within the organization and personal
experience of community members. Contextual information is often required to draw the
right conclusions from the findings.
Include e-learning systems as actors in the network to study the contribution/dependency of
information technology in developing professional skills.
Do not depend on the visual analysis alone, you easily overlook something. Always support
visual analysis with quantitative analysis.
Do not draw conclusions on networks if there is a low participation rate of community
members in the Knowledge Network Analysis. If too many people are not participating you
easily get a distorted snapshot of the situation.
Do not use the type of survey questions, as presented in this chapter, in case of large
networks (say larger than 75 people). For larger groups alternative data collection strategies
should be used.
Do not use results of Knowledge Network Analysis to evaluate the performance of
employees. A snapshot of the push network does not provide an overall picture of a persons
performance and it only shows the situation at a certain point in time.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Arcadis in the Netherlands for giving the opportunity to apply
Knowledge Network Analysis in one of their regional offices. Furthermore, I would like to thank
Kees Buysrogge MSc, at the time a master student at the department of Innovation Management
of the faculty of Geosciences from Utrecht University. He assisted in the network data collection
at Arcadis and contributed to the development of the Knowledge Network Analysis technique.
271
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272
Author Biography
Dr.ir. Remko Helms (1970) obtained his master in Industrial

Engineering & Management Science at Eindhoven University of
Technology. In 2002 he obtained his PhD from the same university based
on the dissertation "Product Data Management as enabler for Concurrent
Engineering". From 1996 till 2003 he also worked as a consultant, his
last position was at the Business Consulting Services group of EDS in the
Netherlands, in the field of Product Lifecycle Management. Since 2003,
he works as an assistant professor at Utrecht University, Department of
Information and Computing Sciences. At the university he introduced a
Knowledge Management course in the Master of Business Informatics
curriculum. His research interests and publications are in the field of
Knowledge Management and Product Lifecycle Management.
273
Getting Stakeholders
Involved in Regional
Strategy
Development: BasisSWOT-Workshops
Simone Schweikert,
Patricia Wolf and Christoph Hauser
Keywords:
Facilitating of Meetings and Workshops, Interaction Modalities,
Knowledge Identification, Collection, Organization, Sharing,
Adaptation, Use, Recreation, Strategic Road Mapping, Innovation
Management
Getting Stakeholders Involved in

Regional Strategy Development:
Basis-SWOT-Workshops
Prof. Dr. Simone Schweikert; Dr. Patricia Wolf; Dr. Christoph Hauser,
University of Applied Sciences of Central Switzerland, Lucerne School of Business, Institute of
Management and Regional Economics,
({sschweikert; pwolf; chauser}@hsw.fhz.ch)

Basis-SWOT-Workshops are standardized workshops with a predefined length (2.5 to 3 hours),
following a specific agenda, with specific materials (presentations, context information,
templates, etc.), questions to be discussed and documentation formats.
The objective of the Basis-SWOT-Workshops is to integrate the knowledge and perspectives of
multiple stakeholders of a regional innovation system into a highly complex strategy
development process. The objective behind the high involvement of all stakeholders in the
strategy development process is to build a broad commitment for the future strategy among
stakeholder groups very early on.
The design of the Basis-SWOT-Workshops allows collecting, documenting and discussion
perspectives of different stakeholder groups on perceived strength, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats of the innovation system. These perspectives serve as a basis for the further
elaboration of
a) strategic goals and activities based on the internal S & W of the actors of a larger system, and
b) scenario building on external O&T relevant for potential futures of the respective context.
Due to the specific design, a concrete result of the Basis-SWOT-Workshops is a collection of
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the researched region. In addition,
participants define objectives and impacts that should be reached by the future strategy and
describe concrete single actions each participant is willing and able to contribute to the
achievement of these objectives or impacts.
Keywords: Facilitating of meetings and workshops, Interaction modalities, Knowledge

identification, collection, organization, sharing, adaptation, use, recreation (also Information
visualization searching and finding), Strategic road mapping, Innovation management

The SWOT analysis methodology generally helps to collect and visualise data that describe the
actual situation of a group, an organisation/institution or a system. Both internal and external
factors that determine the actual situation can be identified. Internal factors are strengths and
weaknesses that can be addressed and changed by the actors themselves, external factors have a
strong potential influence on the future development of the situation but can not be addressed by
277
Getting Stakeholders Involved in Regional Strategy Development: Basis-SWOT-Workshops
the actors themselves they describe what opportunities and what threats might occur. Beside
the simple identification of actually visible opportunities and threats, the SWOT analysis
provides a methodology for strategy development as it helps to identify potential patterns for the
future development (Senn, 2001).
The Basis-SWOT-Workshop methodology presented in this paper can be used in bottom-up
strategy development processes with different and heterogeneous stakeholder groups. This
applies especially to contexts like regional or municipality strategy development.
A Basis-SWOT-Workshop usually takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Workshops are conducted generally in
groups that should be not bigger than ten and not smaller than five people. Groups have to be
homogenous concerning a major characteristic, i.e. all participants in the group are members of
the same trade association or party, alumni of the same school, CEOs of companies located in
the same town etc. At the same time they have to be heterogeneous enough that different
perspectives on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can occur and stimulate
discussion among the workshop participants.
Beside the collection of the SWOT elements from different perspectives, the objective of the
Basis-SWOT-Workshops is to stimulate among the participants mutual discussions on objectives
for the future development of their innovation system and to enable them to take over
responsibility for activities that help their region to develop into the direction where participants
want it to move. The Basis-SWOT-Workshop methodology is based on the experience that
participation of important stakeholders from very early on in the strategy development process
has an important influence on the degree of strategy implementation later on. The word Basis
indicates an understanding that a good strategy should be grounded in the system it aims to bring
forward (Lombriser & Abplanalp, 2004).

Background information (moderator):
Moderator has to find out beforehand what kind of people are going to participate in the
workshop. Therefore, she should use available background information i.e. provided at
the website of the group as well as talk to other people who already have been in contact
with these groups.
Moderator has to study the slides and the moderation handbook some days before the
workshop. Ideally, new moderators should participate beforehand in at least one
workshop that is moderated by an experienced moderator.
Organisation (back office):
The back office has to contact workshop host organisations, agree a date that is
convenient to both the group and the moderator and reserve the necessary facilities
(appropriate group rooms, beamer and flipchart). Then, back office should send out
invitations to the workshop participants.
Back office has to prepare the necessary workshop material (see toolkit).
278

Facilities and general material:
For each group, a group room for up to 12 people is required. Tables and chairs should form a
U, so that participants face each other. The room needs to be equipped with pin walls (or walls
suitable for sticky tape), beamer, laptop and a flipchart. It is crucial that pin walls are large
enough, one square meter per person reasonable.
Further general material needed for conducting the workshop are pens/markers (one per
participant, same colour for everybody), pins (or sticky tape) and board marker for the
moderator. The moderator should bring a digital camera with him.
Print outs and templates:
The following print outs are needed by the moderator for his own information: A printout of the
presentation including including instructions on slide content to be told, overhead projector
slides as back up and the list of participants (name, organisation, professional background).
For the workshop, the moderator and the participants need the following material:
Colour print out of the slide showing the different roles concerning knowledge transfer in
the innovation system, one per participant
Templates for writing down strengths (yellow), weaknesses (blue), opportunities (green)
and threats (red), 10 per participant and SWOT element
sticky points, 12 per participants
SWOT-Poster (A1-Format)
Templates for writing down three objectives for the regional innovation strategy, one per
participant
Template for writing down personal actions, one per participant
279
The agenda of a typical Basis-SWOT-Workshop looks as follows:

What
long
&
Introduction
30 Minutes
how Details
A typical Basis-SWOT-Workshop starts with an introduction into the
context and the clarification of the homogeneous characteristic of the
participants and their relation to the wider (innovation) system. Therefore,
the moderator presents a graphic describing how knowledge transfer
works in the innovation system as well as the different roles of system
members in this process (see figure 1 below):
Figure 1: Knowledge transfer in the innovation system
The participants are then asked to position themselves in this picture. This
step helps them to define the homogenous characteristic of the group.
As a next step, the moderator provides a short explication of the strategy
development process and the role of the SWOT-analysis inside this
process. Thereafter, he explains the methodology the SWOT workshops
are based upon and the agenda of today.
Figure 2: SWOT Workshop participants are listening to the moderators
280

explanations
Collection
of The next workshop phase is dedicated to the collection of strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Here, it is important that the
strengths,
moderator describes very clearly the difference between the internal
weaknesses,
opportunities and strengths and weaknesses that can be addressed by the participants
themselves and the external opportunities and threats that participants can
threats
not influence but have to deal with once they occur. To distinguish well
between internal and external is critical because the object of the Basis30 Minutes
SWOT-Workshop is not a company, as some participants may know it,
but rather an entire region. Hence, internal strengths and weaknesses refer
to all actors within that region, and most of them do not participate in a
given Basis-SWOT-Workshop.
A further point that has to be made very clear is that this is neither a
personal SWOT nor a SWOT analysis of the group the participants belong
to. The aim of the actual workshop is to gather the perspective of the
respective group and its members on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats of the innovation system they are members of. After these
explanations, participants start to write down strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the innovation system individually. Because
of the regional scope of Basis-Swots and as a variation to the normal
SWOT analysis procedure, the workshop participants are asked to indicate
who they consider being the ownerof each single strength, weakness,
opportunity and threat (e.g. god father can change the weather, the
government can lower taxes and parents can teach their children, etc.) and
to which topic (economy, people, administration, technology, education
etc.) it belongs. Therefore, they use the card template presented below in
figure 3:
Figure 3: SWOT template used for Basis SWOT workshops in Central Switzerland
The moderator collects the cards that have been filled in and pins them on
the wall. He roughly clusters them.
Break
The collection of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is

followed by a short coffee break for the participants.
281
15 Minutes
Figure 4: Participants add their inputs to the walls
In the meantime, the moderator finishes his task of pining cards on the
wall and clustering them.
Selection of most At the beginning of the next phase, the moderator asks the participants to
important SWOT walk with him along the wall and describes the topic clusters he has
categories
developed out of the participants inputs in the different categories
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) shortly. Participants get
a last possibility to add something to the existing SWOT clusters.
20 Minutes
Figure 5: Moderator explaining SWOT clusters to the participants
The moderator than asks the participants to vote in each category for the
three most important topic clusters. Each participant is allowed to vote for
three clusters in each category. For voting, participants use 12 coloured
adhesive dots.
After the three most important topics per category have been identified,
the moderator visualises them in the SWOT matrix template. He than
roughly explains the options for strategy development (see SWOT matrix
presented in table 1).
282

Table 1: SWOT matrix including strategy development options
Strength 1: innovative Weakness 1: conservative mindset

companies
Strength 2: attractive Weakness 2: political
coordination between
offerings for tourists
cantons
Strength 3: strong
Weakness 3: limited
personal networks
number of jobs for
young people
EU Which strengths can
we use to benefit from
opportunities?
Opportunity 2: orientation towards Zurich
Opportunity
policy
1:
How can we overcome

weaknesses
that
hinder us to address
opportunities?
Opportunity 3: intact
landscapes
Thread 1: getting the Which strengths will How can we overcome
that
transit region of help us to stave off weaknesses
threads?
expose us to threads?
Europe: pollution
Thread 2: earthquake
Thread 3: EU policy
In a next step, the moderator points out that strategy development that is
not based on objectives does not make any sense. Thus, the next
workshop phase will be dedicated to the development of objectives for the
regional innovation strategy.
In a next step, participants are asked to think about potential objectives
Potential
objectives of the this specific regional innovation strategy should address. The moderator
visualises these objectives and the way they are related in a mind map.
regional strategy
30 Minutes
Figure 6: Example of how a mind map for the regional innovation strategy for
Central Switzerland could look like
After the collection of these general objectives, participants get provided

with a template for writing down the three concrete objectives that should
be reached with the help of the regional innovation strategy that are for
them individually most important. Each participant reads the own
objectives out to the other participants.
283
Personal
sheets
action In the final phase, participants are asked to come up with at least one
action they themselves could and would take on in order to use a
personal/organizational strength to take advantage of a certain opportunity
or to tackle with a potential thread. For this task, they get another template
25 Minutes
where they fill in what they are ready to do concretely, what kind of help
they would need from whom for this action and what the results of their
activity will be.
As a last step, the moderator thanks the group members for their
engagement; he explains again how results will be used and closes the
session.
The SWOT workshop takes according to the presented workshop design 2.5 hours.

The results of each Basis-SWOT-Workshop are documented during the workshop by the
participants with the help of the dedicated templates. After the workshop, they are photographed
and collected by the moderator. The moderator hands all data from his workshop over to the
back office. The back office then has to do two important things:
1. Data are brought into an adequate format (most of them are typed up) and distributed among
the workshop participants.
2. The core data from all Basis-SWOT-Workshops of the innovation system in question
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, objectives of the regional innovation strategy
and personal actions - are integrated into a common file. They serve as basis for the next
steps in the strategy development process.
The core data file is than analysed with a qualitative cluster analysis method (Lament 1988) by
qualified researchers, technically Atlas.ti is used. In this step, for each category and question,
answer clusters are developed. It will be indicated how often each answer cluster has been
nominated as this might give a hint on the importance of the answer cluster.
However, the number of nominations can not be treated as the ultimate indicator for importance
of the answer clusters as only a number of groups within the innovation system those who were
able and willing - have been involved into the Basis-SWOT-Workshops. Thus, the data are not
representative in a quantitative, statistical sense. However, collecting a representative sample is
even not the objective of the Basis-SWOT-Workshops: As an action research approach
KROMEY (1990, p. 330)., the objective is to foster commitment and feeling of ownership for
the strategy among the participants as the Basis-SWOT-Workshops facilitate the development of
a common understanding about strategy development process and about the role participants can
play within it.
For the analysis of the data, this does mean that all answer clusters have to be presented to the
workshop participants in a final meeting where the workshop participants can than vote for the
most important answer clusters for each category and question. Alternatively, this could be done
with the help of a survey.
284

The described method is currently used by the EU funded project Regional Innovation Strategy
for Central Switzerland(RISforCCH). The objective of the project is to enable all important
stakeholders of the six cantons that form Central Switzerland (Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden,
Zug, Uri, and Schwyz) to develop together a regional innovation strategy. Except the canton
Schwyz, all central Swiss cantons participate in the strategy development process as the project
is fostering very important activities in regional development: It aims at uniting the innovative
players of the whole region through building up transparency on who is doing what and
stimulating meaningful conversations among the actors of the innovation system. In a next step,
these innovative key players should be enabled to plan and realise common projects that will
make the region an even more innovative and better place to live in.
Starting from autumn 2006 and finishing in February 2007, the RISforCCH project is actually
conducting about 30 Basis-SWOT-Workshops in Central Switzerland. This section is presenting
two different real cases:
A first pilot Basis SWOT workshop was been conducted with the Advisory Group of the
RISforCCH project. This group is a relatively heterogeneous one: It includes some of the
European partners of the project (region Abbruzzo and Tirol) and important regional key players
from Central Switzerland as the rector of Lucerne Business School, representatives of the
administration of the cantons Lucerne and Nidwalden and of an important Business Association
in the canton Zug. Overall, eleven people participated in the workshop.
Figure 7: Basis SWOT workshop with the AG group members, 01.09.2006
This workshop lasted three hours. As the group was relatively big, especially the collection,
clustering and presentation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats took some time. In
addition, for this pilot workshop templates for the documentation were not ready yet. This
caused the problem that some of the workshop participants did not always indicate owner and/or
topic of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities or treats. However, a big variety of different
answers has been collected and fruitful discussions have been stimulated.
285
The perspectives of the participants were strongly reflected in their answers: They argued rather
on a meta- perspective from a political point of view. From this perspective, several
opportunities can be seen as threats at the same time (e.g. the development of Swiss-EUrelationships); a lot of interesting discussions around controvers political topics have been
stimulated. However, at the end of the workshop participants where able to formulate personal
activities they would like to do in order to make Central Switzerland more innovative.
Another workshop has been hold with a rather homogenous group of people, the CEO and the
two employees of the Innovation Transfer Centre Central Switzerland (ITZ). For this workshop,
all templates have been prepared already and the collection and documentation of the answers to
the different questions went very well. This group has been working together for years, so
compared to the first real case these workshop participants knew each other very well. Thus, they
were able to discuss more concrete topics and did not need much time to develop a common
understanding on terms used etc.
This workshop lasted 2.5 hours. The group collected a big number of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats. However, it was easy for the participants to identify the three most
important issues in each category. The SWOT matrix enabled them to easily combine
opportunities and strengths in a way that enabled them to formulate objectives for the region. For
this group, the issue of demographic change (people are getting older and older) was a very
important one. They combined it with the fact that the region suffers a bit from brain drain as
Zurich is quite close and a very attractive city. What they came up with was a strategic concept
that was aiming at supporting people during their whole life through providing them with the
right services in the areas of education, leisure, business, politics, infrastructure ect. The idea was
to create strong ties that would enable people to leave the region and explore the world but to
bring thereafter their brilliant ideas back to the region.
Figure 8: Basis SWOT workshop with the ITZ employees, 08.11.2006
For the project team, the lesson learned from this group was that the very small number of
participants would have caused a problem in the process of voting for the most important answer
clusters among strengths, weaknesses and threats if there was somebody aiming at influencing
the result of the voting. Thus, the RIS team decided that four people would be the minimum of
participants.
The participants of the ITZ workshop felt that this workshop did provide a certain value to them:
It enabled them to develop an understanding on the companiesown position within the regional
innovation system and on the impact even small own activities can have for the development of
the whole region.
286

Present examples for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that make the
difference between internal factors that people can address and change themselves (strengths
and weaknesses) and external factors they cant influence (opportunities and threats) very
clear.
Create templates for the documentation of answers during the workshops: They help that
participants document their answers in the requested manner and do not forget several points.
The standardisation of the form of the answers does help in addition during the phase of the
analysis.
Back office has to make sure that each moderator gets all workshop material at least one day
before the workshop. This helps the moderator to prepare for the workshop.
Check during the whole workshop whether you are still in time. There are two things you can
do to get back to the schedule:
1. In case you are late in the beginning of the process, skip coffee break: Send people out to
get coffee and food but ask them to return intermediately. Participants can have their
coffee while the moderator presents them the SWOT answer clusters.
2. In case you have long and fruitful discussions on the objectives of the regional innovation
strategy that you dont want to interrupt, skip the task where participants are asked to
write down three concrete objectives that should be reached with the help of the regional
innovation strategy. Just go directly to the personal action sheets and ask participants to
indicate there a concrete objective they are going to support with their action.
Do not underestimate the need of moderators for information on the workshop and training.
It would be good to train all moderators together at the beginning of the SWOT workshop
process.
Do not give too much room for discussions at the beginning of the workshop as this would
take time away from the end when participants formulate personal actions to support the
region. Stick to the time plan. Especially discussions on the basic assumptions of the
workshop - type we do not feel like one region, so why do we need a regional innovation
strategy- dont lead to any result but can be useful if documented as a weakness of the
innovation system. Discussions out of this line may be postponed to coffee break.
Do not allow more than ten and less than three participants per workshop.
Never skip the last task at the end of the workshops where participants have to fill in personal
action sheets. This is the step where people have to commit themselves to the regional
innovation strategy and formulate concrete personal actions to support the envisioned
development of the existing regional innovation system.
287
Acknowledgements
This work is partly funded by the European Commission through the Project Regional
Innovation Strategy for Central Switzerland (RISforCCH) No. 014667. The authors wish to
acknowledge the Commission for their support. We also wish to acknowledge our gratitude and
appreciation to all the project partners and members of the community for their strong support
and valuable contribution during the various activities presented in this paper.
Kromey, H. (1991) Empirische Sozialforschung. Modelle und Methoden der Datenerhebung und
Datenauswertung. Opladen: Leske und Budrich.
Lamnek, S. (1988) Qualitative Sozialforschung. Band 1. Methodologie. Weinheim:
PsychologieVerlagsUnion
Lombriser. R and Abplanalp, P. (2004) Strategisches Management. Visionen entwickeln,
Strategien umsetzen, Erfolgsportentiale aufbauen. Zrich: Versus Verlag AG.
Senn, P. (2001) Die strategische Sphre der Unternehmensfhrung: Strategisches Management.
Luzern: HSW Hochschule fr Wirtschaft, IBR Institut fr Betriebs- und
Regionalkonomie.
288
Author Biographies
Prof. Dr. Simone Schweikert is coordinator of the RIS for

CCH project at Lucerne School of Business. In addition, she is
the head of competence centre general management and lecture
at the Lucerne Business School. Her academic background
includes a diploma and doctorate in business administration and
economics (Studies at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany;
University of St. Gallen (HSW), Switzerland, Stanford University, USA). Simone has a strong professional background in
the field of journalism and public relations, organizational &
product development, strategic & alliance management,
strategic controlling & human resources management,
organizational learning and knowledge management. She is
assessor for IPMA B-project management certification.
Dr. Patricia Wolf is leading and co- leading several
workpackages of the RISforCCH project. Since summer 2005,
she is in addition lecturer and project manager at Lucerne
Business School. Before that, Patricia worked for three years as
researcher and consultant at the Institute for Human Factors and
Technology Management at the University of Stuttgart as well
as at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering in
Stuttgart. There, she was leading and participating in several
EU projects in the area of Knowledge and innovation
Management. Patricia wrote her doctor thesis on success
measurement of Communities of Practice while working with a
project team that was introducing 100 CoPs into the MercedesBenz Passenger Car development department.
Dr. Christoph Hauser is leading the Basis-SWOTWorkpackage of the RISforCCH projects. In addition, he
teaches political and regional economics and negotiation
techniques at the Lucerne School of Business where he also
holds responsibility for various research and consulting projects
in the field of regional economics and politics. Before joining
Lucerne School of Business, Christoph worked for the Swiss
State Secretariate of Economic Affairs where he held
negotiation mandates for the WTO/GATS negotiations. His
doctoral thesis explains an economic theory of mediationand
builds on negotiation theories, economic models and empirical
studies at the Florida Mediation Group and in political
preparation processes for mergers of municipalities in the
Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland.
289
Multi-stage Analysis
for Knowledge
Reflection
Jens O. Meissner
Keywords:
Narrations, Qualitative Interview, Social Construction, Cultural
Learning, Landscape
Multi-stage Analysis for

Knowledge Reflection
Jens O. Meissner, Lucerne School of Business (jens.meissner@hsw.fhz.ch)

The technique presented here focuses on the cultural meaning that human narrations enclose.
From this method, the applicant can expect the visualisation of partly hidden and implicit
knowledge of the organisation and its members. This technique enables the user to visualise the
knowledge practices that unfold during daily interactions. It is adequate to identify and reflect
upon problems that are deeply rooted in organisational culture like organisational learning,
innovation, collaboration and communication, to name only a few.
The technique consists of a series of narrative interviews conducted with a relevant selection of
concerned actors in the field of interest. The analysis is performed by a group with more than
two members (herein after referred to as participants) and runs through various stages: 1.
individual analysis, 2. tandem analysis, 3. group verification, 4. mirroring the results, 5.
aggregation of the results and 6. the feedback of the aggregated results to the interviewees as
well as other concerned people. The technique enables practitioners to reflect themselves, the
relational dynamics and the cultural conditions under which they interact. Because of its
dialogue oriented style and the strong focus on the transcribed utterances of the interviewees the
multi-stage analysis slows down the process of looking on how social reality is enacted. By this,
everyday practices as well as the according social constructions and dynamics becomes visible
which otherwise easily would be overlooked or ignored.
In the presented case studies, we were able to identify central determinants in the fields of Swiss
companys virtual communication and Swiss leadership culture. In both studies, the impact of
visualisation by landscapes was obvious for the project participants. When cultural determinants
and everyday practices were identified, the actors started to deal with them, argue about them,
introduced new technologies or developed routines to solve problems concerned with the field of
interest. Thus, the technique provides a powerful tool to visualise and reflect upon cultural
knowledge, to solve locked situations in organisations and to change social reality. The multistage analysis technique is a tool to foster sustainable cultural learning and to increase the
learning capacity of small collectives and should be taken into account when
the field of interest is related to social and cultural aspects
participants are willing to spend enough time (approximately one day per interview
excluding transcription)
the number of interviewees does not exceed ten persons and the number of group
participants does not exceed five
interviewees agree to open up for the process of narrating and to spend the required time
for the whole reflection process
Keywords: narrations, qualitative interview, social construction, cultural learning, landscape
293

The core of the technique bases upon communication. The target is to create knowledge artefacts
(interview transcripts, topic lists and thematic maps) and to discuss them dialogically. Thus, one
major effect of the technique takes place during the whole process of group reflection.
Subordinate goals for this technique are to develop a topic list and a thematic map for each
interview as well as an aggregated topic list and a thematic landscape for the whole interview
sample the latter herein after will be referred to as landscape.
In the case studies presented later on, we used the technique for reflecting complex social
situations, in our case for the visualisation of leadership culture and virtual communication
culture in Swiss companies. Related projects focused on the character of consulting relationships
(Mller, Nagel & Zirkler, 2006), the social reality that HR managers in highly dynamic
environments create (Kaudela-Baum, 2006) and the analysis of reform processes in public
management institutions (Nagel, 2002), to name only a few.
The technique requires a lot of time (approximately 20 h per interview, excluding 6-10 h for the
verbatim transcription of the interview) but is highly promising in terms of sustainable cultural
learning. For applying this method, participants need to find conditions under which they can
discuss freely and in an open atmosphere.
The number of conducted interviews should correlate to the number of the participants. In our
projects, we had an average ratio of 6:1 (six interviewees per participant) with a maximum of
thirty interviews. A recommendation would be to keep the number of interviews between ten and
twenty, depending on the complexity and size of the topic. The ratio of 3:1 seems to be desirable
for reflecting organisational knowledge practices efficiently.
At a later stage in the process of analysis, all interview results will be aggregated into an overall
list of topics and a respective landscape. Usually, this step evokes extended discussions within
the participant group and takes a lot of synchronised time (i.e. working at the same time at the
same task). Depending on the number of interviews and the degree of preparation of all
participants, the aggregation phase may take up to multiple days. It is recommendable to
organise this step in form of an aggregation workshop.

You should prepare the following to bring the analysis process into action:
1. Define the field of interest: Which section, branch, topic or aspect stands in the focus of
the investigation? The field of interest determines the introducing question of the
interview as well as the opportunities how to mirror the results into the field of interest.
2. Define the group of participants: Who is member of the group? It is necessary that the
participant group remains stable during the process. Each change within the group
requires new social norms and discussion routines. This team building process is time
consuming and slows down the process efficiency significantly.
3. Define the roles in the group: Who is the coordinator? Who is responsible for protocols
of group meetings and the documentation of results? Which two persons build a tandem?
Which tandem takes the process ownershipfor which interview?
4. Dates and deadlines: Define the dates for group sessions for the whole process. Schedule
at least two hours for each interview. After the kick-off meeting, the fixation of interview
dates is the most important as well as a very tricky task.
294
5. Technological infrastructure: Who manages a shared virtual workspace? The amount of

simultaneously processed documents (different versions of multiple interviews, topic lists
and thematic maps) will increase during the process. Thus, the tracking of the interview
processing as well as the coordination of the group sessions will be complicated. A
shared workspace would be a big support to handle this problem.
6. Interview technology: Take care that enough recording devices are available and
distribute them among the participants.
7. Support services: Find people who transcribe the interviews verbatim. It is not
recommendable to transcribe them within the participant group. This would be a tedious
process and would slow down the whole engagement as well as decreases the motivation
of all participants. Additionally, it is hardly possible to process the topics of the
respective interviewee simultaneously during the process of transcription.
8. Identify a date for a feedback event: You may organise this event as a mini-conference or
reflection workshop. Prepare in which form the results should be presented and
discussed. It makes sense to develop an idea about the documentation of the event results.
Maybe the results can be kept in some management guidelines or in a concrete action
plan e.g. to reorganise work processes.

Important physical resources for the whole process are:
A secluded meeting room that is appropriate to discuss confidential issues in a trusted

atmosphere. The room seating should be arranged for open discussions.
Visualisation support (flipchart, pin board with large sheets of paper, carton cards, pins,
paper markers).
A shared virtual workspace where project documents and results can be stored. This
workspace should be accessible for all participants.

The multi-stage analysis technique bases upon a social constructionist perspective on social
phenomena (Gergen, 2003; Burr, 1995; Dachler & Hosking, 1995). From this stance,
relationships are the source of social reality and all knowledge, too. Thus the question is how to
assess relationship quality from a social constructionist perspective?
The description of a social constructionist perspective on relationships shows that the knowledge
reflection process has to be adequately designed as social constructionists gather insights about
the studied phenomena by trying to look through the eyes of the other (Bryman, 1988). We
chose a narrative approach to generate stories about the research topic which we interpreted later
on. But most interviewees found it hard to tell their experiences about everyday practices in
autobiographic form as the narrative interview technique proposes it. Routinised interactions are
deeply anchored in everyday work life. As a consequence, they are hard to reflect in a narration.
We chose the technique of the problem-centered interview(Witzel, 2000) as method to access
the narrated everyday practices of the participants. This approach of knowledge reflection is
based on multiple main principles and will be briefly presented in the following paragraphs.
295
The inteview technique is problem-centered and wants the interviewee to tell his or her own
experiences with the topic the problemwhich lies within the field of interest. The interviewer
is interested to gather descriptions of human behavior as well as on subjective perceptions as
ways of exploring social reality. As its name suggest, this type of interview focuses on a societal
relevant problem, that provides a structure for both interviewee and interviewer, as they can refer
to the problem as an anchor point throughout the interview. The problem-centered interview
subordinates methodological variations to the necessities of the investigated topic. Any
methodological variation which helps to understand the investigated problem is of use for the
reflection process. Finally, the problem-centered interview is process oriented and intends to
establish a trusted atmosphere in which affectation is prevented: If the communication process
is focussed reasonably and acceptably on the reconstruction of orientations and actions, the
interviewees respond with trust and thus open up: they feel that they are being taken seriously.
(Witzel, 2000:3).
Hence, when listening to the interviewee the interviewer has to reduce his own influences to the
minimum. Direct interventions are allowed, when the interviewee loses the thread of his
discourse or when he remains in trivial philosophy of everyday life. The interview is basically
interested in generating narrative parts (for narrative interivews, see Schtze, 1976; Mller &
Endrissat, 2005) as well as exact descriptions or ideological stances towards the problem. The
interview begins by asking an open question to invitethe interview partner to elaborate on his
experience: When you reflect about your experiences with [the topic] in this organisation,
which stories do you think of?The aim is to gain verbalised experiences because they provide
valuable clues for how the interviewee sees and constructs his world, thus revealing his or her
theories-in-use(Argyris & Schn, 1978). Afterwards, the interview is fully transcribed in the
sense that the researcher can focus on the meaning of the spoken words.
For each interview you should consider the following proceeding:
1. Arrange the appointments with the interview partners as soon as possible. This point
sounds trivial, but it is not. Especially when you intend to interview decision makers on a
higher hierarchy level, the scheduling of a date will be rather difficult.
2. Conduct the interviews using the technique that was described in the section above.
During the interview, it is helpful to assure confidentiality right from the start. All
interviews should begin with the same question.
3. Transcribe the interviews quickly. Replace names and places in the transcript if you have
assured anonymity to the interviewee. Create a PDF file with numbered lines and a broad
page border as space for notes and remarks. This PDF is the leading documentand
builds the basis for all subsequent discussions. The process of transcription may be
outsourced to a reliable person outside the participant group.
4. Individual analysis: Analyse the interview by yourself. Throughout the analysis you
should be guided by the following questions: How does the interviewee see the field of
interest and what concepts, ideas and practices does he or she describe? Presumably, you
will discover aspects in the interview which you are very familiar with. But this effect
has to be neglected as much as possible. Looking through the eyes of the other one does
not mean to look at the other one. The main difference of this method to other wellknown techniques of content analysis (like those used by Glaser and Strauss, for
example) is that there are no pre-formulated coding scheme which can be used by the
analyzer in order to process the interview. The coding scheme consists of the issues and
topics which are addressed by the interviewee itself. The analysis will result in a list of
topics supported by quotations from the interview material. Additionally, you should
draw a thematic map of the topics and their relations to each other.
296
5. Tandem analysis: Meet with the tandem partner and discuss the results. He or she has
made an own interpretation of the main topics. Try to identify which topics are equal and
which are not. Start to argue and discuss the different interpretations. When the
differences appear as indissoluble, put the topic aside until the end of the session. Mostly,
the differences casually resolve during the proceeding discussion.
6. In the end of the tandem analysis session, try to develop a consolidated thematic map that
shows the topics of the interviewee as well as their relations to each other. This map will
be a good vehicle of generating an aggregated landscape later on.
7. When the tandem analysis is finished, document the results in a new thematic map and
with a list of topics, including quotations from the transcript. A topic should be
documented at least with three quotations from different parts of the interview. Send your
results to the other participants as preparation for the upcoming group meeting.
8. Group verification: Each participant of the group should read the whole interview and
identify the central topics. Additionally, each participant has to read and verify the
tandem analysis. This step differs from the tandem results in the point that the
participants rather focus on the analysis of the tandem instead of completely re-analysing
the interview. Previous projects showed that it is effective to especially review the
prepared landscape (the topics and their correlations) and revise it conjointly. Afterwards,
the ownership tandem of the interview can adopt the topic list according to the changes in
the landscape.
9. Mirroring the results: When an interview was analysed and verified by the participants
the results have to be sent to the respective interviewee. Ask the interviewee whether the
participants interpreted his or her topics adequately or not. The release of the analysis by
the interviewee means that the results are validated. Thus, the results have reached their
final status. This step is also known as communicative validation.
For the aggregation of all interview results, the proceeding should be as follows:
1. At the last stage of the process, all interview results have to be aggregated into one
landscape. For this, the thematic maps of all interviews are compared in a group session.
Try to ask which issues are very common and which are not? Try to identify topics with
the same meaning (which can have different titles) and their relations to other topics. In
the end, a landscape has formed that shows the reconstruction of the social reality
according to the field of interest. This landscape is a typical knowledge artefact a very
important outcome of the whole process.
2. In a subsequent stage, the participants should create an aggregated topic list that contains
the most fitting quotations of the whole interview sample for each topic shown on the
landscape. This list of topics presents a comprehensive knowledge repository for the field
of interest and thus provides helpful insights into its contemporary social construction.
3. In the end, different levels of aggregation (individual interview, organisational
interviews, overall sample) and different perspectives of aggregation (culture,
knowledge, innovation, gender etc.) enable the participants to identify typical common
traits and thus generate practice-based knowledge about the field of interest.
The following graphic (see Figure 1) shows a sketch of the project schedule:
297
Documentation
Mirroring the
Results
Group
Verification
Tandem
Analysis
Individual
Analysis
Interview
(Transcription)
Stages of Interview Processing
Interview
Series
Tandem
Meetings
Group
Sessions
Project
Kick-off
Interview
Analysis
Verification
of Results
Landscape
Aggregation
Process of Analysis / Knowlege Reflection

Figure 1: Draft of the project schedule
298

Results and their functions of this knowledge reflection process are:
Topic lists of each interview: This list builds the basis for individual and tandem analysis
as well as the source for quotations that are transferred into the overall topic list in the
end.
Thematic maps: These maps are the counterparts of the topic lists and serve as a
visualisation vehicle for the individual and the tandem analyses as well as the group
verification and the mirroring process. The maps are the main tool to intellectually
graspthe contents of one interview very quickly.
Aggregated topic list: This list is the knowledge repository regarding the field of interest.
Different strategies, collective behaviours as well as common traits regarding knowledge
creation and generation can easily be extracted from this list.
Aggregated landscape: This landscape functions as a generalised picture that has

emerged in the whole analysis and thus is a knowledge artefact by itself. It usually shows
hot spotsof the organisation and gives hints to static, dynamic and balanced areas in it.
The landscape provides good reasons to start discussions about blind spotswhithin the
field of interest.
Feedback workshop: The workshop is the last validation step in the whole process. It
serves two functions: Firstly, it is the common ground for mirroring the results when the
aggregated results are presented. The workshop members will provide worthful hints and
comments on the design and comprehensibility of the landscape. Secondly, the workshop
will function as a catalyser for further discussions. It is very likely that the workshop
members start to spin new thoughts that are informed by the presented results as well as
they are oriented to future actions.
Follow-Ups: Possilbe follow-ups might exist in the development of some guidelines or a

manual to deal with special problems within the field of interest. For example, it may be
the first step for a strategising process or for reflecting the established leadership culture.
It can also provide a basis for reflecting on knowledge processes because it shows
whether traditionally priorities are adequate for the actual process design or not.

Real cases of knowledge reflection can be found in the fields of leadership culture, strategic
human resource management, public management culture, the self-understanding of hospital
professionals and consulting culture. This chapter shows a choice of results. The first case bases
on the practice-based research project Social Capital in Digital Context?, the second case
stems from the project Mirroring Swiss-German Leadership. Both projects involved
practitioners of companies located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In both projects,
the participants of the project group stem from industry as well as from university and consulting
companies.
299
Case 1: Social Capital in Digital Context?

In this project, we were interested in the emergence of relationship qualities in the context of
computer-mediated communication (CMC) in Swiss companies. Thus, this project focused on
collaboration issues in virtual communication settings in organisations. The project comprised
five participants.
We selected interviewees from four companies in order to assure a certain degree of diversity in
the sample:
The services department of a document imaging service provider,
a holding of an insurance company,
a global pharmaceutical producer, and
an expert conculting company.
In each organisation, four to seven interviews were conducted. The selected interviewees from
the companies had to fulfill two minimum requirements: Firstly, they should have access to a
variety of seperated communication technologies in their working context. Secondly, their
everyday work life should be predominantly related to communication activities. With these preconditions, we defined our field of interest. Overall, the whole sample consists of 21
interviewees, working in aidee and management positions to the largest part. The interviews took
about one to one and a half hours each.
Usually, we explain each singular topic and underpin it by several quotations, which illustrate
and reflect the meaning of each topic. Due to space limitations we will restrict the subsequent
presentation of results to one single part of the overall landscape of collaboration in CMCcontext(see Figure 2).
Absent basis for

joint understanding
Personal contact
Formalisation of communication
Regulation of Communicating
explicitly
communication
Scant attention
Knowing,
whats important
Figure 2: Landscape of collaboration in CMC-context

The landscape is divided into five regions. Each region is characterised by a different term that
equals the identified topic. The single region Absent basis for joint understandingthat will be
presented here is located in the upper left corner of the landscape. The topic will be briefly
explained and illustrated by quotations:
Interviewees express, that a joint understanding demands the creation of a common basis which
is delicate as it often demands to explicate taken-for-granted issues. The informal level which
saves face (interview partner 3 = ip3) is missing and thus an important element to create
intimacy. The consequence is increased ambiguity, at least an increased feeling of uncertainty
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that is absolutely normal when strangers get to know each other. But in virtual settings this
increase often prevents the creation of a shared basis.
The absence of a basis for joint understanding is especially serious when the cooperation with a
customer is affected. For one project the team leader reports the following narration concerning
the workout of a handbook that in the end led to the delivery of a wrong service:
We had to shorten texts in order to fit them into the layout. And the way this was
done was not very well adapted to the customers wishes: Special expressions which
the customer uses regularly were not adopted in the customers sense because the
people didnt know the culture of the customer. We failed to send one or two
chapters to the customer to ask him: Is that it? Are we working in the right
direction? Is this what we had agreed upon?All the communications were made via
e-mail and phone. The people had never seen each other before.(ip1)
One cause of an absent basis for joint understanding is very simple. The people treat computer
media in different manners.
Here [at the company] it is treated very individually. There are colleagues who
claim to be set on the to-list for reading mails generally. Others define automatic
rules that forward all cc:-mails into a special folder. And they only read them,
when it is required [ ] I think there are different strategies. What is problematic for
me is that I have to know all these individual practices to be assured that they get my
information. This is what I am interested in: when I communicate information to
someone else, I want it to be perceived.(ip2)
A basis for a joint understanding would be in this case to know all the individual habits. But a
second cause comes along with the media use: Very often it is said that CMC alters manners in
communication negatively in the sense that these become more impolite in character:
This e-mail-pingpong was not possible in earlier days when mail was delivered by
the postman. You had to consider carefully: What do I want to say, how do I want to
say it and what is the correct form? Besides, what is the common standard
concerning behaviour and courtesy? Today, these elements are lost to a high
degree.(ip9)
Especially in e-mail-communication very often it is not clear whether a mail is a written
conversation or a verbalised letter. Mixing the standards of the used medium with the
standards of another medium (e.g. being too casual in formal e-mails) creates confusion for all
participants and reduces the probability that joint understanding is generated. Besides this effect
on shared understanding, media use has consequences for mutual commitment, too:
You dont reach [the colleague] and so you quickly write an e-mail to her. So your
task is shifted to some one elses desk. This is about rearrangement of the workload
a very important area (laughs). This happens quite often, especially right before
holidays. Then people try to clear their desks and start writing e-mails.(ip15)
In this case commitment is reduced because of the easiness to forward electronic messages. In
the perception of this woman, tasks that are submitted via electronic media are accompanied by a
slight feeling of arbitrariness. This is also connected to the fact that fine signalsare absent in
the communication. Thus, the possibility to listen to nuances and to demand immediate feedback
is limited. As will be shown later on, the personal contact is seen as sensing the other one and
shows the grade of mutual commitment on the one hand and is a source of generating
commitment on the other hand.
The absent basis for joint understanding is corelated with the central aspect of formalisation of
communication that takes place in the context of CMC. Because of its high degree of
standardisation the formalised communication is a main cause for misunderstandings. By the
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absence of personalised information and social cues the formalised communication fosters the
information flood (for expample in the form of e-mails). Both, information flood and the missing
social cues lead to scant attentionin virtual communication. When attention is distracted, its
getting harder to set priorities and to know, what is important. To know, whats important is
related to the importance of the personal contactbecause the personalised information usually
contains a broad range of social cues and thus reduces misunderstandings in CMC and thus
enables a joint understanding. In this way the landscape describes a web of topics that are of
central relevance in the field of interest. At this point, we shall quit the description of the project
results. A complete description can be found in Meissner (2005).
The project results were mirrored in a one-day-workshop to the interviewed practitioners as well
as concerned people in the periphery of the project. During the workshop, the five topics of the
landscape were discussed in subgroups. Different insights, lock-in situations, additional practices
as well as rather general questions and answers were able to be illustrated and discussed in the
subgroups. In the second half of the workshop the members developed guidelines of good
virtual communication behaviour. Until today, these guidelines serve the participants as helpful
orientation. Thus, they incorporate insights of the project, create new process knowledge in their
practices and increase the efficiency of communcative actions.
The multi-stage analysis technique worked very well in this project. The only thing that has to be
criticised was the rather broad field of interest. CMC can be described as virtual communication,
online communication or hybrid communication. It can also be reflected for organisations, civil
society, for global virtual teams as well as for virtual conferences or blended learning structures.
As a consequence, the diversity of topics was extremely high and it has been rather difficult to
identify the central topics of all interviews for the aggregation and the development of the
landscape. Finally, it turned out successful but it could have been a too difficult challenge
especially for methodologically un-experienced participants.
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Case 2: Mirroring Swiss-German Leadership

In this project, interviews with 26 managers in German-speaking part of Switzerland were
conducted. The aim was to identify the meaning of leadership for this group (Endrissat, Mller &
Meissner, 2005). The project comprised six participants.
As in the first case, we constructed an overall landscape that summarises the most relevant topics
concering the leadership understanding of the managers (see Figure 3).
Binding commitment
Ones own position
To be oneself
Social proximity
Relationship to business
Figure 3: The Swiss-German leadership landscape

As the landscape shows, leadership is mainly evolving in the contradictory context of five topics.
Leadership centres mainly about the preservation of autheticity, here indicated by the topic to
be oneselfin the middle of the landscape. On the one hand, a Swiss-German leader has to find
an own position that has to be convincingly lived and argued by the leader to ensure a mutually
binding commitment. On the other hand, a leader has to maintain a close relationship to the
professional affordances and conditions of the business. This proximity to the culture of the
business is a main source for pofessional ethics and a crucial point of sustaining the leaders
identity. This relationship to the business has a link to social proximity. It is obviously a strong
need for the leader to stay in touch with the sourrounding social groups and individuals. One part
of these stakeholders are business partners, another part consists of the companys employees.
Social proximity indicates the strong value that is inherent to social relations. Especially when
the business requires decision making that affects social relations negatively (e.g. layoffs or
outsourcing), the leader has to find or to adjust his own position to maintain his personality and
integrity (to walk his talk). Both, social proximity as well as relationship to business are
preconditions for the attribution of legitimate authority.
The landscape illustrates that the authenticity tension is causing a painful ambivalence between
loyalty to the collective where a leader is located in and the strong need for individual coherence
that is dictated by the needs of the business. In really tough situations, the leader has to consider
the business conditions or otherwise lose his legitimation of being a member of the business. In
such a situation, authenticity is very difficult to sustain.
In the following paragraph, the topic social proximityserves as the showcase for this landscape
(and is cited from Endrissat, Mller & Meissner, 2005):
Social proximity is a particularly prominent theme among Swiss managers who recount their
careers as leaders. Most of the interviewed managers would agree with a statement made by a
CEO of a worldwide operating company:
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Every leader, of course, wants to be loved. I think that is normal. You want that
theothers like you and consider you a good boss. (ip6)
In many narrations the managers are concerned with how much social proximity is possible,
allowed, and functional in a leadership relationship. This also relates to the challenge of
establishing a personal relationship in the context of formal organisational structures. The CEO
notices:
Now today, I am in the upper echelon. Does that mean I have to say hello to the
people differently or that I have to behave in another way like, am I not allowed to
go and have a beer with them anymore?(ip6)
To have a drink/a beeris an often used expression that reflects the search for a personal
relationship and emotional closeness in different spontaneous or organised encounters beyond
formal connectedness. These encounters are supposed to establish a direct line, to understand
what the real problemsare, and to avoid the danger of being aloofand above the peoples
reality. It implies remaining approachable and not losing touch with the base. Leaders receive
high appreciation if they appear not to demonstrate ostentatiously their status power(Endrissat,
Mller & Meissner, 2005:5).
This case shows that the multi-stage analysis technique is adaptable to different fields of
interests. In opposite to case one, we interviewed persons from absolutly diverse organisations.
Additionally, we interviewed them in a pure narrative style, whereas in case one we applied a
problem-centered interview-style. Nevertheless, both cases illustrate that the results can be
aggregated in a landscape that is useful for knowledge reflection.
As in case one, we mirrored the aggregated results in a workshop and discussed different topics
in multiple subgroups. But for some reasons we did not document the results of this workshop in
a protocol or something compareable. However, the workshop was accidentally the first impetus
for the institutionalisation of the Basler Management-Dialog a series of dialogue sessions
about management and leadership in the Northwestern part of Switzerland. In these dialogues,
current isssues about management are presented, discussed and reflected. New insights from the
practice field as well form university research build the central impulses for each event. We
know that many practical impulses emerged from this dialogue series, for example for the
development and review of leadership guidelines and leadership development in some GermanSwiss companies.
In this project the time management could have been improved. The interview series took almost
two years. We learnt that a strict project management is needed when the sample is very diverse
and the interviewees work in leading posititions and are chronically short in time. Though the
high diversity was a cruicial value-added for the whole project. By this, some very broad but
very concise topics could be identified. We suspect this diversity as the main reason for the
success of the subsequent management dialogue series.
This section only shows an example of how the topics of the aggregated landscapes can be used
for knowledge reflection. However, the suggested multi-stage analysis-technique needs a lot of
time and a high degree of participation. But in this investment lies the cruicial key for success.
By involving the concerned people in the dialogues on multiple stages of analysis, the technique
provides insights about the field of interest as well as it creates a cultural space in which
knwoledge reflection directly happens. By this convergance of theorising and practising the
chances are high that the reflecting group has a high learning effect regarding the field of
interest.
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Slow down interaction dynamics in the interviews: Problem-centered interviews very often
reach points of silence. In these moments, the challenge for the interviewer is not to intervene
in the process of narration of the interviewee. Mostly, the interview partner thinks about
something and reflects upon a side aspect or something else that relates to the interview.
When the silence stays, you should point to the lost thread of the interview and stimulate the
interview again. Remember, the spoken words in the interviews are your raw material for
analysis and the key to create comprehensive practice-based knowledge.
Process orientation: Knowledge artefacts (interviews, topic lists and thematic maps,
aggregated topic list, landscape) often have the character of intermediate products. Consider
them as more or less perishable references for social constructions. Sometimes, the topic of
an interviewee looses its concision during the process of analysis. The other way around, the
topics of the interviewees may become increasingly clearer the more interview results you
take into account. Be conscious about the fact that all these knowledge artefacts serve as
vehicles for improving the shared understanding in the participant group.
Moderate group dynamics: Very often, a group debate about one single topic of an
interviewee results in disaccord and the situation seems to be deadlocked. In such a moment,
take the topic with its different interpretations and note it on a flipchart or a piece of paper so
that everyone can see it. Then invite the participants that the group will discuss this topic at
the end of the group session again. Mostly, the differences resolve casually during the
proceeding discussion, because the subject has become clearer or one or both interpretations
have become obsolete. Most project delays stem from these lock-in situations and the
nonexistent knowledge how to deal with it.
Avoid time pressure during the stages of analysis: The social process of analyzing and
discussing on individual, tandem and group level should not be pressurised. Creating shared
understanding and thus the emergence of shared knowledge takes it time and has to grow.
However, pressurizing the process is a favour of those who very often do not agree with the
process of knowledge generation itself. You should address this topic by means of meta
communication at the beginning of a group session.
Be aware of hierarchical limitations: The group discussions very often are characterised by
phases of dialogue, thoughtfulness and cogitation of all participants. Then the group usually
tries to change its perspective and to identify or create alternative definitions for the analysis.
In these phases, the group is massively vulnerable to hierarchical power. You should take an
eye on potential hierarchical influences and eventually make them explicit. This claim is
sometimes difficult to realise.
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Do not claim the social reality of the interviewees as thereality: The method aims at
looking through the eyes of the intervieweesand when condensed in an aggregated
landscape to reconstruct their collective social reality. This might be in accordance with
your own perspective on the phenomenon. Nevertheless, this convergence is only partially
and makes your own efforts vulnerable to methodological criticism. Usually, methodological
doubts question the process as a whole. You should emphasise that the results reflect the
topics of the interview partners (and not your own) and thus give a clue about their
perspective regarding the problem.
Acknowledgements
An earlier draft of this technique was presented in the sub-theme Practice-Based Studies of
Knowledge, Work and Technologyat the 21st EGOS colloquium 2005 in Berlin (Germany).
This paper is part of a research project granted by WWZ-Forum, University of Basel
(Switzerland). The author especially thanks Werner R. Mller for very helpful comments and
discussions. In addition, Harald Tuckermann, Klaus-Jrgen Meiner and Michael J. Kunz
provided valuable support in writing this paper.
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Author Biography
Jens O. Meissner is a lecturer for Organisation at Lucerne
School of Business. He holds a PhD in Business and Economics
from Basel University and an MBA from Witten/Herdeckes
highly reputed Private University. In his recent research, Jens
focuses on relationship qualities in the context of computermediated communication in Swiss organisations. At Basel
University he also studied the Swiss-German Leadership culture.
Before joining Basel University, he was a consultant for elearning and e-government in Berlin. In addition, he worked in
the department for Organisational Development of a German
power producer, after having organised courses in the department
for Human Resource Development and being a trainer for
management simulations.
307
Improving the
Facilitation of
Organisational
Knowledge Creation
D.W. Birchall, Jean-Anne Stewart
and Mike Pedler
Keywords:
Facilitation, Group Processes, Competency, Communities of
Practice, Organisational Learning
Improving the Facilitation of

Organisational Knowledge
Creation
Prof D. W. Birchall, Henley Management College (david.birchall@henleymc.ac.uk)
Dr Jean-Anne Stewart, Henley Management College (jean-anne.stewart@henleymc.ac.uk)
Prof Mike Pedler, Henley Management College (mike.pedler@henleymc.ac.uk)

This chapter is aimed at those engaged in the facilitation of knowledge management initiatives;
either as facilitators or as commissioners of facilitation.
This chapter offers guidance for people seeking to develop or improve their understanding and
skills in facilitation, including checklists to increase the impact of facilitation pre-planning and
review. Research findings and reflections from experienced facilitators are used to put the
facilitation of knowledge management into a broader organisational context.
The chapter includes:
1. An introduction to facilitation in its many forms.
2. A four stage model of the facilitation process with checklists
3. An overview of the competencies needed for effective facilitation.
4. Stories and personal reflections from experienced facilitators
5. An overview of recent research findings on the key challenges and issues facing
experienced facilitators.
The effective facilitation of group processes, including task groups, management teams and large
group meetings, is increasingly recognised as a key organisational competence. Effectiveness
can mean better quality decisions and better quality decision-making processes resulting in cost
and time reductions and increased client satisfaction. Where knowledge management and
organisational learning initiatives are concerned, facilitation has a particularly important role to
play in developing project review meetings, creativity sessions, communities of practice and
knowledge management across the supply chain.
Keywords: facilitation, group processes, competency, communities of practice, organisational
learning
313
Improving the Facilitation of Organisational Knowledge Creation

Typically, organisations are facing increased demands for change and collaboration such as:
a desire to respond more rapidly to environmental changes;
the experience of time compression in getting new products and services to market;
organisational forms which are increasingly de-layered, networked and project-based;
involvement in projects with multiple business partners;
the need for diversity in project teams to match the variety of the environment and
stakeholders;
a growing complexity in decision-making.
All these factors are leading to a growth in the use of facilitation in and between organisations.
Our research suggests that few organisations possess the necessary internal capacity to meet this
growing demand and that help with developing this capability would be welcomed. Before we
look at how to develop and improve this organisational capacity, what do we mean by
facilitation?
A dictionary definition: to make easier, promote and help move forward.
Facilitation has become core to managerial work. Modern employees do not respond well to
command and control, and the role of the manager of professionals and knowledge workers is
increasingly that of practical helper:
Facilitation is a process through which a person helps others complete their work and improve
the way they work together.(Weaver & Farrell, 1997: 3)
To this definition of managerial facilitation, we need to add the important element of learning:
facilitation is about helping groups, communities and organisations to take action on their goals
and to learn from this process. It is this ability to learn, not only at individual level, but also at
group, network, community and organisational levels that makes the crucial difference in terms
of organisational responsiveness and innovation.
Facilitation is distinct from coaching, mentoring or counselling, mainly by its focus upon group,
network and organisational processes, whether face-to-face or virtual. Typically, facilitation in
organisations takes place in settings such as:
small groups, ranging in number from, say 4 to 10 people e.g. team meetings, action
learning sets etc
larger face-to-face groups, say from 10 to 25 people e.g. project teams, management
groups etc
network and community meetings, from 30 people upwards which may be face-to face or
virtual e.g. communities of practice, web-enabled networks etc
big events and meetings, possibly up to several hundred people, e.g. divisional or
functional conferences, multi-party search conferencesetc
Within any of these categories, there are multiple approaches to facilitation, many of which have
differing purposes, different traditions and distinct procedures. For example, facilitating small
syndicate groups and advising action learning sets; or running a typical business conference and
holding a stakeholder planning event.
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There are many specialist forms of facilitation that share the common concern to make easier, to
improve and to learn. There are also many synonyms for the facilitator role including adviser,
consultant, animateur, moderator, counsellor, broker, rapporteur - depending upon the context.

In the context of face-to-face groups, Elspeth McFadzean (1998) has suggested five distinct
forms of facilitation, The Attention Pyramiddepending on the degree of emphasis on the task
in hand or on people-related issues:
Level 1 Optimising the groups objectives: Here the facilitator is focused on
completing the task within the shortest possible time. Clear aims and goals need to
be established, understood and agreed by the group. The facilitator might deploy
short, concise and simple exercises to aid the group process. If disruptive
behaviours occur, the facilitator will attempt rapidly to neutralise the problem.
Level 2 Optimising the groups problem-solving process: The facilitator is
focused not only on the way the meeting is organised but also on the problemsolving process. Techniques may be introduced to help with the identification and
assessment of novel ideas. The facilitator needs to know how the group wishes to
fulfil its objectives and an agenda and time-plan covering ground rules, warm-up
exercises, tools and techniques to be used and a contingency allowance. Again, the
facilitator will not focus attention on interpersonal relationships.
Level 3 Optimising the groups characteristics: Here a particular concern is to
form a group with the appropriate diversity to achieve the task. Pre-meeting
planning has to address this. In addition, group members will be assigned roles.
Level 4 Optimising the groups dynamics: The main focus here is on
developing a high performing group by addressing team member behaviours and
relationships. Conflict, unequal contribution and disruptive behaviour will be
confronted. This may take considerable time before the group starts to really work
on the groups primary task.
Level 5 Optimising the groups emotions: Here the facilitator will deal with
issues of individual and team identity in building team effectiveness. Emphasis will
be placed on building trust and confidence between team members and an
environment of honesty, frankness and safety. The feelings, attitudes and
perceptions of members for each other as well as personal contributions, identity
and existence will be addressed.
We need to understand what skills are needed for effective facilitation and the processes
involved. Needless to say, the key to successful facilitation is the selection of an appropriate
facilitator. Hence the importance of the following dimensions.
The competencies needed of the facilitator will differ depending upon the nature of the group,
the task and the expectations for the process. McFadzean suggests that Level 1 facilitators will
need objective, task-related competencies so as to keep the group progressing to the timetable.
The Level 4/5 facilitators, in contrast, will need the softer, subjective skills in order to support
the groups emotions, behaviours and sensitivities.
In a significant study of the competencies of experienced facilitators, Jean-Anne Stewart
developed a framework of high-performing competencies. She identified five clusters of
competence:
315
1. Interpersonal communication skills.

2. Further interpersonal skills.
3. Management process competence.
4. Knowledge competence.
5. Personal characteristics.
The management process competencies are core for all forms of facilitation. This includes
planning/organising, time management, managing the physical environment, pulling information
together, giving and receiving feedback and managing contracts.
The communication skills include the ability to read non-verbal signals, perceptive listening,
summarising and paraphrasing. The broader interpersonal skills include sensitivity to group and
underlying emotions, negotiating, conflict management and relationship building. It is the latter
competencies that are particularly in demand at Levels 4 and 5.
There are two key knowledge domains. These are: firstly, knowledge and understanding of group
facilitation; secondly, competency in gaining a rapid understanding of the specific organisational
context in which the intervention is taking place. Finally, high-performing facilitators will
exhibit a set of personal characteristics including adaptability, emotional resilience, selfawareness and trustworthiness. They will also be more empathetic and sensitive, providing
stretching challenges. They will be flexible and able to think on their feet, can take a helicopter
view and act confidently.

Facilitation may be viewed as a process intervention rather than a tool. No two groups will be the
same, their process will be impeded by different factors and the facilitator will react differently
to each situation. However, some general principles can be identified and aids used as aide
memoirs.
One important aspect of successful facilitation is the planning of the facilities. For smaller group
sessions, the group may need only one room. If the group is to split into two for some activities,
this rather complicates the facilitators task, unless two facilitators are present. Assuming one
room is to be used, it should be equipped with a flipchart or other device for displaying key
points as well as plenty of wall space to display outputs. Post-its may also be useful to help the
group sort ideas and organise information.
The seating arrangements need care and attention. Some firms have developed rooms specially
designed to encourage creativity. Unlike most meeting rooms, these are often very informal and
may look more like a lounge than a meeting room. This may be a problem for the facilitator if
she/he wants to detach her/himself from the group activity and sit on the edge of the group.
It is easier when the group is sitting around a table for the facilitator to stay in the background,
but if the group members are not used to being facilitated, they really need an explanation of the
role and rationale.
Planning who sits where may not be a good idea as the group, ideally, will make their own
decisions. Nonetheless, the persons facilitating and chairing need to be clear about where they
will sit.
The facilitator may act as a scribe for the group, although this might cause some discomfort. The
facilitator may be seen as editing or being selective in reporting and hence biasing the outcome.
This is clearly to be avoided.
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The facilitator should try and sit so that all members are clearly visible. This makes it possible to
see who is contributing and also the reactions of other group members to what is said. It is
important that the group is not distracted. Activities, whether internal or external to the building,
may disrupt the flow or impede hearing. Also, mobile phones and the delivery of refreshments
can interrupt at key moments.
However, it is important that refreshments are available and that the chair shows due
consideration to the needs of the group. This should include regular breaks which often provide
an incentive to get to a stage in progress to the final goal, e.g. completion of discussions around a
topic.
In preparing for the meeting(s) it is important to be clear on how disagreement will be handled.
Groups will not necessarily get to consensus on all issues. Members may have to live with
disagreements and accept compromise. But what action will the chair take in such situations?
How should the facilitator respond or intervene?
The facilitator needs to plan the approach to feedback. How will evidence be collected? Will
there be reliance on the feelings of members? Often, particularly at the early stages, the
contributions are unbalanced and some people appear to be excluded and feel ignored. The
facilitator needs to think about how such situations should be dealt with.

The facilitation of a group or meeting process can be described in four distinct phases:
1. Planning, including contracting.
2. The group session(s).
3. A post-session(s) review.
4. A post-session(s) report.
N.B.: This model applies most obviously to small and larger face-to-face groups; bigger events,
networks and conferences may often require a more specialised process, as will distributed
groups.
We will now elaborate the four stages in the process of group facilitation. Two checklists are
presented to provide guidance for the facilitator. Moreover, throughout the section we provide
guidance to make sure that the facilitation process results in a good experience.
1. Planning. The importance of the planning before the first meeting with the group cannot be
overstressed. As a facilitator, it is important to ensure that you are comfortable with the
assignment. Not all facilitators have the competencies to cover all five forms of facilitation
identified earlier, and it may become apparent that the context does not fit with the values and
style of the facilitator. Some aspects may become clear at the outset e.g. the facilitator may
refuse to work with arms manufacturers, fast food companies, cigarette manufacturers and so on.
However, other aspects are more subtle e.g. the presence of unacceptable hiddenagendas; for
example the client might be seeking facipulationwhere the facilitator is being expected to
manipulate the group to accept managements existing solutions. The facilitator may be wise to
decline this invitation.
The initial meeting with the client is in part a negotiation about the expectations from the process
to ensure a fit between client, task, process, group and facilitator. It is also an opportunity for the
facilitators credibility to be checked out by the client and to begin the process of building trust.
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The importance of trust explains why many clients prefer to use facilitators that they have
worked with before.
Table 1 provides a checklist of questions to be covered at the pre-planning stage:
Table 1: The planning phase checklist
a. With the client
1. Is there a clear agreement with the client about the terms of reference, including
role and responsibilities of the facilitator?
2. Has the client agreed the process to be followed?
3. Is the purpose of the groups activity clear?
4. Has the facilitator been fully briefed about the context?
5. Has the make up of the group been determined?
6. Have the terms of reference been agreed and the overall agenda structured?
7. Have location, dates and times been agreed?
8. Have a briefing document and pre-meeting activities been agreed?
9. Have potential problems/difficulties been discussed and strategies for coping
identified?
b. For the group/organisation
1. Have members been briefed and queries/concerns dealt with?
2. Are ground rules appropriate for the process?
3. If appropriate, is there a plan for wider communication within the organisation?
4. Is there agreement about the issuing to members of background papers with clear
instructions about requirements prior to the first meeting?
2. The group session(s). It is always important that the group gets off to a good start. If there is a
meeting chair or leader (usually the client), discussions between this person and the facilitator
should have identified the first steps aimed at creating a good working atmosphere by addressing
any members concerns and issues at an early stage. One purpose of the first meeting is usually
to agree the agenda/process, the role of the facilitator and any ground rules needed. Icebreakersor warm-up exercises may be used.
It is not unusual in the early stages of the workings of task forces or project groups for members
to want to say their piece. This is useful in several ways: if handled well, it establishes the
identity of members, assures they feel they are being listened to, particularly if points are being
clarified and captured on a flip chart, and it can form the basis of discussion about how to move
on. If this stage is rushed, members may well not engage in the later process.
However, after some time in this mode, the group will feel the need to move on, so it is
important that a momentum is built and kept up. But it is the role of the leader or chair to keep
the group to the agenda. The facilitator is a neutral party offering guidance, support and
encouragement, at times suggesting different approaches but not undermining the chair. The
facilitator may act as a scribe and, at times, offer summaries of group progress. It may be
decided to assign roles to group members, e.g. scribe, information collection, report drafter. The
facilitator would normally hold a review of the meeting before it breaks up.
3. A post-session(s) review. At the end of each meeting the facilitator may seek feedback from
the group and then the leader or client separately. In the discussions with the client, the facilitator
may be able to call on past experiences and insights gained to assist in guiding future meetings.
This may particularly be needed where the client is unused to handling undercurrents and
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conflict. However, if the facilitator finds the group dysfunctional (Levels 4 and 5) there will be
the need to reassess the way of working.
The post-session review is the culmination of the process and is often neglected. Yet time
devoted to this is vital from a knowledge management point of view, because it is here that the
learning from the experience is captured. The post-session review is so important for learning
that many organisations, ranging from the BBC to the US Army make After Action Reviewsa
key component of their operational practice.
The post-session review should cover:
1. Whether goals and outputs were met.
2. A review of the process: what happened and who did what.
3. The groups views on the process and outcomes and suggestions for improvement.
4. Lessons learnt and recommendations for future similar tasks.
4. A post-session(s) report. The post-session(s) report will include the key findings from the
previous review(s). The nature of this report depends upon the context, the needs of client and
the stakeholders involved. A checklist for the post-session report is presented in Table 2:
Table 2: Post-session report checklist
a. The progress report
1. A consolidation of outputs from the group session
2. A review of progress against overall aims and objectives
3. Any agreed changes to the overall aims and objectives with justification
4. Actions to be undertaken before any future meeting with those responsible
b. With the client
1. Review of group progress
2. Review of performance of the chair and facilitator
3. Identification of problems and development of approaches for addressing them
4. Review of timescales, agenda for next meeting and other aspects of the process
The final step is to discuss how the post-session review can be used to help future groups
perform well when presented with a difficult task.

In this section we look beyond the facilitation of a group activity to consider the wider steps
needed in organisations to ensure ongoing good practice facilitation to be considered in seeking
an expanded use of facilitation in the organisation.
Following a successful project where facilitation has clearly added value, this success is not
necessarily recognised more widely in the enterprise and hence no further use of a facilitator may
result. However, it is clear that many groups can derive benefit in both improving the quality of
decisions and compressing the time taken. So, in this section, we report some recent research
with experienced facilitators at Henley Management College which revealed a number of
common issues and key concerns (Birchall et al., 2006).
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Greater understanding of facilitation processes. There is the need to develop a greater

understanding of facilitation processes in a range of organisational contexts. Making explicit the
process adopted by effective facilitators would prove useful in gaining a better understanding of
practice. Particular here is the collection of data, its interpretation and the resulting tactical
choices; working with groups where convergent thinking is dominant; suspending power
relationships.
Facilitator intervention can improve team effectiveness but unless practiced well, the process
will lose credibility. Although the process of facilitation has clearly identified steps plan,
design, execute and review - observation suggests that practice often falls short. A better grasp
of the factors that prevent facilitation from being effective can form the basis of improved
practice. Where it becomes seen as facipulation- another tool to aid management achievement
of their own preconceived outcomes - those being facilitated are unlikely to support the process.
Selling facilitation internally. The professional facilitators identified facilitation services as
being difficult to sell internally. The requirement to sell services internally as a part of being a
central department is often a source of tension for facilitators.
One aspect of this is getting the client/sponsor to agree just what they want and to get them to
accept the process in full: (they are) always wanting to cut corners on time and environment. A
key question is when to use facilitation and, more importantly, when not. Managing customer
expectations is a key element in success, as is exceeding client expectations particularly as in
many cases the facilitator is looking to move from one-offto a series of interventions.
Working with managerial power. In the context of organisation change initiatives, a particular
issue arises in working out how to combine programme led intervention with facilitated change
within the organisation There is often, in practice, reluctance on the part of the manager to give
up power and the issue of facipulationis ever-present. The facilitator needs to understand, and
be confident in, working with power and power-relations in any such intervention.
An unsupportive organisational culture. Many organisational cultures do not support facilitation
as an alternative or enhancement of managerial processes. There may be a bias towards action
and distrust of reflection. The basic culture may well be risk averse. A facilitator intervention
may be seen as additional risk that puts desired outcomes less under control. The degree to
which the organisation is complex and adaptive will impact on the need for facilitation. In such
circumstances the role of facilitation may be counter-cultural and likely to lead to the role not
being clearly understood or legitimised.
Measuring the return on investment (ROI) of facilitation. One key challenge is that of getting
recognition in the organisation for the achievements of facilitation. Given the foregoing issues,
it is perhaps unsurprising that these professional facilitators were concerned to establish the
impact of facilitation via appropriate assessment criteria and processes. Change processes are
complex and many features interact in leading to acceptable outcomes. Measurement is often
focused on the short term whereas the real impact of facilitation may only be seen in the medium
to longer term.
Measuring the effectiveness of facilitation. Establishing the return on investment of facilitation
is problematic but there are also issues at a more micro level. How do we recognise quality in
the facilitation process? How can we assess facilitator competence? What impact does the make
up of a group including individual personalities have on effectiveness? There are many
unanswered questions here that require further study.
For facilitation skills to prosper in a business context there must be professionalism and
professional skills in its practice and promotion. Several key challenges were identified for the
improvement of the overall quality of facilitation. These included working in adverse
circumstances (where we are asked to) facilitate groups that dont want to be there or
facilitating the unwilling, situations where there is a low level of goodwill or (even) hostility.
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Being able to handle these situations takes high levels of skill and personal confidence. Getting
feedback from experienced colleagues can greatly assist in this skills development and
opportunities to develop skills in using tools and techniques and exploring applications in a safe
environment are seen as valuable. Being part of active networks can also assist the
development of professionalism.
There is the recognition amongst professional facilitators of the need for training and
development. One aspect of this is preparing people to work at senior levels in organisations in
situations where complex issues have to be responded to and personal risks are high.
Experiential learning is a vital element in achieving such high-level competence. Professionals
who desire a continuous learning from experience will benefit from on-going supervisionand
reviews with fellow professionals. Finally, whilst the development of these high-level skills is
not be achieved merely through attendance at courses, programmes providing some of these
opportunities can provide a valuable basis on which to build.
We are experiencing a growing need for the facilitation of groups and meetings of all sizes in
organisational, business and community contexts. However, as this study has shown, there is
much uncertainty surrounding this emerging field and many issues regarding the use, definition
and negotiation of the role in practice. The measurement of effective facilitation and the
characteristics of successful facilitators are not well understood.
This creates obvious
difficulties for the development and support of organisational capacity and capability. Of
particular concern is a perceived lack of general organisational readiness and the recognition on
the part of many managers of the potential of facilitation for performance improvement.

In order to give an idea of results, follow-up actions and next steps, we present some stories from
other facilitators which also illustrate the impact of facilitation.
These stories go under the following headings:
1. CC-COM
2. Facilitating Creativity in a Virtual Team Environment
1. CC-COM1
CC-COM is a group of consultants who wholeheartedly believe that professional facilitation
increases the subjects (team, group, department) focus on performance. The activity provides
value via its structure and the provision of external guidance by the facilitator. It provides a way
of dealing with some of the things that get in the way of clear thinking like politics and power
plays.
This group have some sound advice based on their vast experience of facilitating groups of all
types.
The facilitator needs to set clear expectations with regard to the preferred output from the group.
Ground rules need to be established in order that the boundaries are understood by participants.
The group needs to be made up of the right participants, skills and experience in order to achieve
the preferred outcome. There needs to be a balance of analytic and creative thinking that is
fostered by the facilitator. The logistics (facilities, equipment, materials, information, etc.) need
to be thought through in order to achieve high quality outputs from the group. The facilitator
1
Courtesy of Patrick Harper-Smith, Director, CC-COM, patrick.harper-smith@cc-com.com

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needs to provide the correct level of reward and recognition to participants in order to foster
positive behaviour. Feedback is important in order that participants understand how they are
contributing to the overall goals of the group.
Also, the facilitator needs to be aware of cultural differences and mores within teams and across
teams and geographies. For example, some teams are more open to the use of technology in
facilitated sessions. Virtual teams need a heightened degree of facilitation and use of
technology.
Some stories!
When facilitating a senior development group at Nokia in the area of Innovation, Mike Butler
Head of R & D introduced the session by setting some Ground Rules for the team which were
We are not going to discuss Time Travel or Space Exploration have a good session
As a foundation for a structured Situation Appraisal with a client team, we spent an entire day
identifying issues and concerns from the team and we captured all of these on 15 flip charts at a
hotel chain, which will remain nameless. On arrival at the function room the next morning, we
discovered that the cleaning staff had removed all flip charts and we spent the first hour
searching through the rubbish bins of the hotel to try and retrieve them! You only make that
mistake once!
As part of a Year2K project, I was facilitating a team from an international bank in London to
identify activities connected with Y2K and the transfer of a major accounting system from New
York to London. We covered a very long wall with Post Its to chart the major deliverables and
their associated sub-deliverables within this large project. Whilst the activity clarified the scope,
I think it had the effect of frightening the team as to the extent of the project!
When working with a client team, the client manager thought that it would be a great idea if the
team worked outside in the sunshine and that the environment could well stimulate the thoughts
of the team. The only problem was that there was a strong wind blowing and so every time we
tore a flip chart off the stand the group had to go and find large stones to tie them down in order
to view them.
2. Facilitating Creativity in a Virtual Team Environment2
a. The Situation
Henley Management College offers a distance learning MBA which is undertaken in an
asynchronous learning environment. Here, the students are asked to complete a variety of
application questions and to post their answers into the online database. The creative problem
solving elective takes this process one step further. Three times a year I work with about fortyfive part-time MBA students from a variety of different nations who participate in this course.
The course encourages the students to work as a team in order to enhance their experiential
learning. They are asked to present and discuss practical examples of creativity within their own
organisations and they are required to undertake virtual group creative problem solving sessions.
Facilitating creative problem solving with this type of virtual learning group can have its
problems. For instance, I set out tasks to develop the teams interaction, communication and
cohesion quickly due to the shortened timeframes of the course. In addition, the participants
need to be encouraged to think creatively without feeling uncomfortable or anxious.
Courtesy of Dr. Elspeth McFadzean, elspeth.mcfadzean@henleymc.ac.uk
322
b. The Process
In order to help participants to get to know one another at the beginning of the course, I ask the
group to complete their own coat of arms3. Here, each individual draws a shield in PowerPoint
which provides the following information: the participants name, a description of their job, their
hobbies and their family and the narration of a funny work story. In addition, I ask them to make
their shields as creative as possible. Photographs, poems, stories, drawings and clipart are all
encouraged. They are also invited to discuss their shields with the rest of the group.
c. The Outcome
The participants are given the time to introduce themselves and get to know one another. This is
an important activity in a virtual environment where there are no social or verbal cues and the
potential for anxiety and misunderstandings is greater. This is particularly the case with a
heterogeneous group made up of a variety of different nationalities, cultures and experiences.
The coat of arms exercise helps the group develop its own norms, beliefs and values.
Furthermore, it stimulates the group and gives them permission to be as creative as they can and
to have fun.
d. The Process
Once the group has become more cohesive, I can start to introduce a more novel form of
problem solving. Usually this involves using techniques such as Images or Picture Stimulation.
Here, they are asked to generate descriptions of specified pictures or settings. To date, the
course has used such stimuli as Hollywood and Fairy Land as well as pictures of Playmobil toys
such as a pirate ship, a dolls house, a farm and a royal palace. I ask participants to describe these
images and to use these descriptions as unrelated stimuli in order to generate ideas for improving
creativity within business organisations.
e. The Outcome
The results of these creativity exercises are many. First, the participants develop close cohesion
and trust very quickly. Second, they experience first hand the processes involved in an
asynchronous virtual creative problem solving exercise. Third, the members always express
their surprise at the power of the creativity techniques for developing solutions in such a short
space of time. Fourth, it is usually an enjoyable exercise and the group has fun. Fifth, the
numbers of ideas that are generated are extensive and highly imaginative. On average, each
group produces 125 unique ideas that are feasible to implement within a business environment.
Sixth, at the end of the exercise, I ask participants to devise an implementation plan for
improving creativity in their own organisation. This is something tangible that they can take
away and put into practice.
f. Practical Tips
Plan and develop the session effectively before it starts. Ensure the group can use the
technology, that they have goal congruence and are keen to utilise the chosen creativity
techniques.
Encourage the participants to get to know one another by using introductory and/or warm
up exercises.
Communicate ground rules for effective behaviour.
According to the Cambridge Advances Learners Dictionary, a coat of arms is a special shield or shield-shaped
pattern which is the sign of a family, university or city.
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Present clear instructions for each activity to be undertaken by the group.

Divide longer creativity activities into stages such as a problem definition stage, an idea
generation stage and so on. Run one stage at a time and provide dates for the completion
of each stage.
Ensure adequate time for each activity. Online communication takes longer than face-toface communication in most instances.
Develop a safe environment for the participants. Do not allow group members to
criticise, bully or exhibit any form of behaviour that is detrimental to the group.
Summarise the work undertaken at each stage in the exercise and complement the group
participants for their efforts.
Ensure that the creativity exercises meet the needs of the group. The techniques that are
utilised should encourage creativity and help to fulfil the group's objectives. They should
not make the team feel uncomfortable or waste their time.
Above all, enjoy the experience and ensure that the group enjoys it too.

Assist the client in thinking through how to quickly develop good working relationships
between group members.
Be clear about your role as a facilitator, make sure the group understands and be consistent in
your behaviour.
Endeavour to make sure group members feel good about their contribution.
Expect every situation to be different and be willing to respond differently but within
accepted good practice.
Do not lose sight of the overall objectives or let the group drift.
Do not show personal preferences for people or outcomes.
Do not be judgemental.
Do not take shortcuts in the process.
Do not allow review sessions to be squeezed out by poor time management.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of Patrick Harper-Smith and Elspeth
McFadzean who kindly provided material for the real cases examples.
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Birchall, D.W., Pedler, M. and Stewart, J.A. (2006) Challenges Faced by Organisational
Facilitators, Henley Management College
Mc Fadzean, E. (2002) Face-to-Face Facilitator Competencies: a New Beginning to an Old
Story, Henley Management College, HWP 0212
Stewart, J.A. (2004) High-Performing (and Threshold) Competencies for Group Facilitators,
Henley Management College, HWP 0410
Weaver R.G. & Farrell J.D. (1997) Managers as Facilitators: A Practical Guide to Getting
Things Done in a Changing Workplace San Francisco : Berrett Koehler
Author Biographies
Prof. David W. Birchall is Director of the School of

Management Knowledge and Learning at Henley Management
College. Davids research interests are in the area of innovation
practices in organisations and in management learning. He has
particular expertise in the development of systems to support
remote learners. David has consulted and lectured throughout the
world on aspects of innovation, technology and organisation
capabilities, organisational learning and knowledge management.
His latest book, Capabilities for Strategic Advantage - Leading
Through Technological Innovation, co-authored with George
Tovstiga, was published in May 2005 by Palgrave.
Dr. Jean-Anne Stewart is Director of Studies at Henley
Management College. Recent research projects have included
SME learning needs, SME leadership model, action learning
programmes and the development of a group facilitation
competency model.
Prof. Mike Pedler is Professor of Action Learning at Henley

Management College. His research interests are mainly around
action learning and he is currently engaged in researching
"Virtual Action Learning.
325
The Power of
Disruption:
Understanding the
Unexpected
Patricia Wolf, Albert Vollmer,
Peter Troxler and
Keywords:
Disruptive Moderation and Facilitation, Innovation Management,
Facilitation of Meetings and Workshops
The Power of Disruption:

Understanding the Unexpected
Dr. Patricia Wolf, ETH Zurich, (pwolf@ethz.ch)
Dr. Albert Vollmer, ETH Zurich, (avollmer@ethz.ch)
Dr. Peter Troxler, [ k n w l d g ], (peter@knwldg.net)

This workshop technique introduces the power of disruption to help understand the unexpected.
There are different groups of people that might profit from this workshop.
The beginners: people who feel that they would like to improve their innovative performance
and reduce failures in their innovation process. They are not aware about different types of
innovations nor do they talk about failures as something positive.
The knowledgeables: people who are aware that there are different types of innovation and now
would like to understand how to change their incremental way of innovation.
The advanced: people responsible for innovation in different fields or companies who are keen to
learn what the Unexpectedin their innovation processes can tell them as well as to learn from
the interpretations of others in their group.
Power of Disruptionis an approach that helps to understand the power of disturbances in
innovation processes and that stimulates the productive use of unexpected events in the
innovation process.
Topical Disruption
Deconstruction
Reconstruction
Tacit Knowledge
(experience)
Problem
Discussion of
Problem
Discussion of
Solutions
Breakthrough
Innovations
Explicit
Knowledge
Figure 1: Topical Disruption

The approach creates awareness among participants that innovation usually does not happen in a
planned standardised manner. It enables them to see the characteristics and the different faces
of the Unexpected in innovation processes such as conflicts, surprises, failures,
misunderstandings, barriers etc. It provides participants with a method that helps them to reflect
on the topic: What can the Unexpected tell about the innovation process? Power of
Disruption supports participants to define actions that might stimulate the occurrence of
unexpected elements in their daily work and to utilise the Unexpectedin a productive way for
developing innovations.
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Keywords: Disruptive moderation and facilitation, Innovation management, Facilitation of

meetings and workshops

All processes in organisations, even the most standardised ones, have the potential to leave the
standardised action patterns and to run in another way than the plan foresees. This is especially
true for innovation processes. Innovation can be planned only to a minor degree, because the
definition of which knowledge would incorporate new products and how the new product as a
materialisation of this knowledge will look like is rarely possible (Vollmer & Wehner, accepted).
The development of new products often seems to be, at least partly, a fortunate coincidence
(Schneider, 2002). Here, we argue that innovation processes thus often run in a different way
than they were planed; however, these discrepancies must not be labelled only as breakdowns
but should be interpreted to a certain extent as useful and sense making disturbances. These
disturbances point at contradictions between target and actual situation and often comprise
learning opportunities.
The aim of the method described here is to intentionally turn the attention to possible sources of
(unexpected) incidents in order to open up their potential for improvement and innovation.
Vollmer, Lehmann, Ostendorp & Wehner (2003), Wehner & Waibel (1997) and Weick (2001)
understand incidents (disturbances, mistakes, conflicts, misunderstandings, etc.) as sources of
knowledge and deep insights into organisational structures and processes. Incidents trigger
processes of subjective and intersubjective interpretations and interpersonal co-operation.
Through studying such incidents, actions for designing innovation processes can be derived.
Thus, we are not presenting only a facilitation method but also a meta-process of innovation
processes that permanently enables the processes that form the basis of reflection. This metaprocess can be conducted either related to specific situations or continuously.
The main objectives are
to reach an awareness among the participants of the characteristics and potentials of

innovation processes, the social constellations involved and the related knowledge flows,
to develop and improve innovation processes based on learning from experience through
the means of reflection and conclusions and
to pave the way for prospective design and optimisation of innovation processes.
The minimum time needed for a Power of Disruptionworkshop is around 2.5 hours, maximum
time one day.
As participants will be split into groups of 7-10 people, the total number of participants depends
on the number of facilitators available.

If a companys innovation processes are to be the topic, these should be prepared to be presented
and visualised. It is advisable that participants reflect on their own innovation processes
beforehand, especially on what usually goes wrong.
The moderators should prepare the visualisation of a standard innovation process. Additionally,
they should be prepared to tell anecdotes about innovation processes that resulted from
unexpected situations.
330
Generation
and
evaluation of
ideas
Concept
development,
product
planning
Prototyping
Development
Pilot
application/
testing
Production,
market
introduction
and pervasion
Figure 2: Innovation Process Model (Herstatt & Verworen, 2003)

For this session a large room or several group rooms are needed. Removable chairs are a must.
As far as material is concerned, Metaplan cards, pins and several Metaplan pin boards as well as
a pen for every participant are needed.
To facilitate the content:
Content posters (for visualising theoretical input: innovation process, types of unexpected
incidents)
Definitions and examples of causes for unexpected situations: mistake, disturbance etc.
Anecdotes on innovations that developed out of unexpected incidents.
Reflection template.

The group will be divided into an even number of subgroups (not more than 12 people per
group), i.e. at least two groups. The two groups will have a different workshop design: While
group 1 is following a prospective design (deconstruction), group 2 will act upon a retrospective
design (reconstruction).
1. Prospective Design (Deconstruction)

The session proper
Step
Duration Activity
Introduction
10 min
The facilitator opens the session and gives a general overview on

agenda, timing and aim of the session.
For the prospective design, one of the participants will be asked to
present the innovation process of their own company. This
presentation should be short and supported by a visualisation of
the innovation process.
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Step one Worst Cases

Introduction
5 min
The facilitator introduces the task: Participants are asked to reflect

on the following questions:
What do you think could go wrong in this process?
Where in the process are points at which unexpected situations

are likely to occur?
What can cause unexpected situations, e.g. disturbances,

conflicts, misunderstandings etc.? Here, facilitators present
some possible causes for unexpected situations as examples: a
disturbance is an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity
of a processor a conflict is a state of disharmony between
incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests
(Editors of The American Heritage Dictionaries, 2006) etc.
Participants then are free to define further causes in the next
sub step.
What could happen in the worst case?
Collection of
worst cases
20 min
The participants write the worst cases they could imagine on

Metaplan cards and indicate the cause type for each of them.
Subsequently they present their cards to the whole group. The
facilitators pin the cards to a pin board and cluster them
thematically with support from the participants.
Headlines
5 min
The participants collectively define headlines for the thematic

clusters.
Step two - Intentional Sabotage

Introduction
5 min
The facilitator introduces the task: The participants are asked to

suggest actions that would cause the worst cases. In addition, they
will have to indicate the role or position a person needs in order to
be able to perform that kind of action, e.g. customer, CEO, etc.
Collection of
sabotage
actions
15 min
The actions are written down on Metaplan cards and pinned on a

pin board in a matrix arrangement that shows the relation of
actions to roles and worst cases: The sabotage action matrix (see
table 1).
Table 1: Sabotage action matrix
role 1:
customer
role
CEO
action 1
worst
case 1
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action 3
action 4
role n
action n
action 2
worst
case 2
worst
case 3
2: .
Step three Inversion

Introduction
5 min
The facilitator gives a short overview of the effect of disturbances

in innovation processes, e.g. by using a poster with the definition
of disturbances.
Disturbances in innovation processes are events that dont fit
existing organisational processes and (if successful) change them
dramatically.
Equally, one could argue that the sabotage actions do have the
potential for radical or even disruptive innovation as they are
developing and using new action patterns instead of reproducing
old ones.
The facilitator presents two anecdotes on so called mistakes that
lead to innovation. Example anecdotes are:
The vulcanization of rubber
In the middle of the 18th century, Charles Goodyear made
experiments with rubber. He wanted to manufacture rubber boots.
The problem was that rubber changed its viscosity according to
temperature. In summer the boots lost their shape because the
rubber melted. In winter you couldnt put the boots on because the
rubber became stiff. Goodyear made experiments, mixing different
substances (sulphur, magnesium, nitric acid) with the rubber, but
without success. One day in winter a little piece of rubber fell on
the hotplate. It didnt melt but got another consistency (it looked
like tanned leather). Goodyear was astonished and nailed it on the
wall outside his house. The next day he could see that the piece of
rubber was as flexible in the cold outside as in the warmth inside
the house. This little mistake lead him to building equipment for
vulcanizing rubber by steaming it. Rubber as we know it today
was born.
In search of a refrigerator coolant Teflon was found
At the end of the 1930ies, a young chemist of a big American
chemical plant was tasked to create a new coolant for refrigerators.
For his experiments he needed a great amount of tetraflourethylen,
a gas he wanted to combine with hydrochloric acid to develop the
coolant. He stored it at a temperature of -80 C, and under great
pressure in small metal bottles. One day he wanted to use the gas
but the bottle seemed to contain no gas. However, the weight of
the bottle indicated that it wasnt empty. He opened the bottle. A
strange white powder trickled out and the whole inside wall of the
bottle was coated with the white substance. He examined this
substance and found out that it had specific characteristics, for
example it did not react with any other substances. The researcher
didnt know what to do with the substance, it was deposed in the
archive of the company. Some years later, the leaders of the
Manhattan Project needed a substance to protect their technical
equipment against galvanic corrosion. They searched for a socalled inert substance and found Teflon, the substance in the
archive of the chemical plant nobody knew what to do with until
that moment. The use of Teflon for pans followed years later.
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A retractable pencil gives birth to a vibrating toothbrush

In 1998, a developer of electronic components approached the
Swiss company Trisa AG and proposed to develop a vibrating
toothpick. They disliked the idea, as this would have been a
product for a niche market. However, they came up with the
analogous idea of a vibrating toothbrush that does not only rotate
but additionally would provide a certain pressure through vibration
a product for the mass market.
Group work
15 min
During the product development phase, the problematic point was

to find a solution on how to integrate the motor into the
toothbrush. Several ideas were tried, without success. One day, all
engineers where sitting desperately around the table and thought
about possible solutions. One of the engineers was playing around
with a retractable pencil and the motor samples on the table. He
plugged one motor on the tip of the pencil, and suddenly he was
saying: I can not remove it anymore!This was the key to the
solution.
Schneider (2006) presents further examples of such unplanned
innovations.
The group is then split up into smaller groups of two to three
people. The groups will work with the rows or columns of the
sabotage action matrix, e.g. group 1 cold focus on
all sabotage actions customers could do or alternatively
on all actions that are related to worst case 1.
The subgroups discuss, how the sabotage actions could be
productive for the innovation process. Productive here means
making innovation more innovative. The question is not how
can I get rid of disturbancesbut how can I use these incidents in
a productive way for innovation?
The results of the work of the sub groups are presented in the
plenary.
Step three Take Home Message

Reflection
10 min
Presentation
20 min
Participants reflect on lessons learnt using a template. They write

down:
The five most important lessons learnt.
Two actions for their professional work that result from this
session. Concerning these actions, participants make explicit
which resources they could use, what barriers and resistances
they might face, and what would be indicators that they did
achieve the objective of these actions.
At least the owner of the innovation process that has been
deconstructed, but ideally everybody, will be asked to present their
reflection results shortly.
The prospective design process takes 2 hours.
334
2. Retrospective Design (Reconstruction)

The session proper
Step
Duration Activity
Introduction
10 min
After a short general overview on agenda, timing and aim of the

session, the facilitator introduces a general model of an innovation
process as the basis for the discussion. It is not determined which
model from theory should be used. Such a model should be a
generic one, so that participants can relate it to heir companies
innovation processes. Also, the model should be very easy to
understand. The example presented here is as a model for product
innovation.
Generation and
evaluation of ideas
Concept
development and
product planning
Development
Innovation
Process Model
Prototyping, pilot
application/testing
Production, market
introduction &
pervasion
This process model includes different phases from idea generation

to market launch and pervasion. Phase 1 deals with the generation
of ideas (customer, technology or costs driven), the evaluation of
ideas (appeal, risk), the match with existing products, and the
reorientation of the product portfolio. Phase 2 includes market
analyses, working out a production concept, product planning
(volumes, production costs, timing, investments, project costs), as
well as the definition of product specifications and the product
architecture. In phase 3, interdisciplinary project teams actually
develop the product or service according to the intentions of the
preceding phase. Phase 4 includes prototyping and testing, market
testing, the definite design and the scheduling of the series
production. In phase 5 the production is starting, followed by the
introduction into the market. After market pervasion the perfective
maintenance is a very important step.
Validation of 20 min
innovation
process
Participants are asked to remind themselves of the most recent

innovation process in their company and to very briefly tell the
story how this process went. These stories serve as a common
validation, adaptation and completion of the process model
presented by the moderator.
335
Step
Duration Activity
The
Unexpected
15 min
The moderator asks the participants: What has been unexpected in

the innovation process of your company?They document what
was unexpected on Metaplan cards and define the cause for the
occurrence of the unexpected situation (as above in prospective
design: disturbances, conflicts ). In addition, they indicate the
phase of the innovation process the unexpected situation relates to;
the cards are pinned up next to the phases. The facilitator clusters
them with the help of the group.
Interpretation
15 min
The group is now split up into smaller groups of two or three

people. These subgroups discuss individual unexpected situations
or clusters of similar unexpected situations and try to reveal their
potential meaning: What does the unexpected want to tell us?
What can we learn from it, what is the insight we can get? They
write down their insights on Metaplan cards and presented them to
the whole group.
External view
15 min
One member of each group is selected. This member receives from

the moderator the instruction on the 5 Whys (SixSigma, 2006)
By repeatedly asking the question "Why" (five is a good rule of
thumb), you can peel away the layers of symptoms which can lead
to the root cause of a problem. Very often the ostensible reason for
a problem will lead you to another question. Although this
technique is called "5 Whys," you may find that you will need to
ask the question fewer or more times than five before you find the
issue related to a problem.
Example:
Problem Statement: You are on your way home from work and
your car stops in the middle of the road.
1. Why did your car stop?
- Because it ran out of gas.
2. Why did it run out of gas?
- Because I didn't buy any gas on my way to work.
3. Why didn't you buy any gas this morning?
- Because I didn't have any money.
4. Why didn't you have any money?
- Because I lost it all last night in a poker game.
5. Why did you lose your money in last night's poker game?
- Because I'm not very good at "bluffing" when I don't have a
good hand.
With this tool in mind, he goes to another group. The other group
presents him their insights, and he has the task to play the devils
advocate to them: He gives them an external view on what they
did not reflect upon.
Collection
and
Clustering
336
15 min
All groups present their final insights. Keywords are noted down,
pinned on a wall and clustered.
Step
Reflexion
Presentation
Duration Activity
Participants reflect on lessons learnt using a template. They write
10 min
down:
The five most important lessons learnt.
Two actions for their professional work that result from this
session. Concerning these actions, participants make explicit
which resources they could use, what barriers and resistances
they might face, and what would be indicators that they did
achieve the objective of these actions.
20 min
At least three participants, but ideally everybody, will be asked to

present their reflection results shortly. The variety of insights will
help the participants to see that understanding unexpected
situations and using their potential does mean to rely very much on
personal interpretations as there is no eye of God, no single
truth(Baumgartner & Payr, 1997).
The prospective design process takes 2 hours.
3. Plenary
Step
Duration Activity
Presentation
10 min
Both groups will finish their sessions at the same time and come
together in the plenary for a short summary (5 Minutes each
group). The summary will be done either by the facilitator or by an
elected group member.
Discussion
10 min
The facilitators then stimulate a discussion of the different learning

points people from the two sessions identified with reference to the
design of the two sessions: While the first group did work with an
existing process and prospectively defined actions that potentially
might disturb this process in the future, the second group did work
on a retrospective interpretation of the meanings of unexpected
situations that already happened in innovation processes. However,
the insights of both groups resulted into actions that will change
the future innovation process.
Feedback and 10 min

closing
After this discussion, participants will judge the session design(s)

in a short feedback round, To keep it short, they will be asked to
do feedback by moving. Thereafter, the moderators thank the
participants for their participation and close the workshop.
The plenary lasts 30 minutes.

The whole process can take longer according to the number of participants, their engagement
(e.g. how many stories about own innovation processes they want to tell) and their questions to
the innovation process.
337

Power of Disruptionmakes participants aware of the value of disturbances.
Participants have identified 5 core learning points each and have committed themselves on 2
actions for their own everyday work.
While it is unlikely that a single participant from a company would be in a position to implement
Power of Disruptionin their company, process owners of change or innovation processes may
well want to build on the lessons they learnt themselves or on some of the insights of fellow
participants.
So the facilitators or the hosts of the workshop will produce at least a summary report listing all
the lessons learnt, i.e. the five major insights as mentioned by the participants. This report could
be published on a website and linked to an online forum or an email discussion list that allow
further comments and discussions.
Ideally, participants are asked to approve and comment on this summary. This means that the
hosts or facilitators of the workshop would continue to stimulate further reflection on the
outcomes of the workshop, e.g. maintaining the momentum in a post-workshop online
environment. Thus the workshop could lead to building a community of practice among
participants. However, this has to be accounted and planned for at the outset since it is hard to
bolt-on some community building effort to the workshop if all resources have been used up when
the summary report is made available to participants.

The method described above was used for the first time at the UnBla.07 conference in Lucerne.
Up to now, the authors did apply parts of the methodology autonomously in different settings
(see e.g. Vollmer, Lehmann, Ostendorp & Wehner, 2003). They then met and exchanged their
experiences with different methods that could stimulate reflection on how to deal with The
Unexpected in innovation processes. From that, they constructed the overall methodology
presented above.
At the start of the workshop, an overview of the methodology was presented to the participants
describing the main differences between the prospective and retrospective design approaches
(Figure 3). The moderator then split the participants into two subgroups: One to work on
innovation processes according to prospective and one on according to the retrospective design.
People chose their groups according to their interest: Some of them were interested into
deconstructing a given innovation process and learning from that (prospective design), while
others were more interested into reflecting on unexpected incidents within their own innovation
processes (retrospective design).
338
Figure 3. Introduction to Approach
1. Prospective design group

The presenter of the innovation process that was to be deconstructed had prepared his
presentation beforehand. He presented the innovation process of his company and informed that
when founded in the 1850s the company started with the production of glue. Today, the company
is active in the production, trade and research in the sectors of biomaterials for dental and
orthopaedic applications, pharmaceuticals (medication) und hydro gels for medical use. Several
questions were then asked:
What could go wrong in this innovation process?
Where in the process are points at which unexpected situations are likely to occur?
What can cause unexpected situations (disturbances, conflicts, misunderstandings etc.)?
What could happen in the worst case?
The deconstruction process then started. The process owner also got into the sabotage mood and
helped the others through giving them further information that he did not present beforehand
who in his company likes or dislikes whom, who has to be informally asked before a decision
will be made and how one is usually communicating an innovative idea. At the end of the
sabotage phase, people were full of energy and power to disturb the given process. The, the
moderators needed to at times make an intervention in order to get the crowd back into a more
constructive mood.
339
Figure 4: Snapshot, of what could go wrong in the innovation processes

The moderator explained to the participants the basic theory of disturbances in innovation
processes. It was important that people understood that (radically or even disruptive) new ideas
usually do not occur in standardised processes as the rules of these processes tend to discredit
very innovative ideas as high risk-low potential-waste of money. In order to ensure that
participants really understand this, the moderator provided several examples that explained how
unexpected situations enabled people to develop very innovative ideas and turn them into a
product. One of the participants raises his hand and told a similar story that recently happened in
his company. Participants understood now that there is some productive power behind the
actions that they meant as sabotage. They discussed in groups, how could the sabotage actions
be integrated into the existing innovation process in a way that they would be productive.
Several interesting ideas (solutions) emerged from the group discussions in response to the
results of different sabotage actions. The process owner was overall satisfied with the outcomes
of the discussion, and said:
It is important to have people looking at the innovation process. I know now from
your feedback that we are on the right track but could do better in some areas, and
you told me how to proceed. It is great to know some alternatives. I liked the idea to
send people out and give them more freedom to develop ideas - you confirmed that
this is a good idea. We already had something similar in mind, but were not sure. I
will go back and try the method we have experienced today internally with our people
in the next meeting.
340
2. Retrospective design group

The work in this group started with a short presentation by the facilitator of the innovation model
by Herstatt (1999) and a description the activities and events that usually happen in the single
phases from idea generation to product launch at the market. Participants were than asked to tell
the story of a typical innovation process in their organisation. Several innovation stories were
captured from:
Research Institutes
Technology Centers
Research projects
Consultancy
Think- Do- Organisation
Ministry
Conferencing
Pharmaceutical industry
While they are shortly presenting their innovation processes, the facilitator captured some
keywords from each story. As a next step, participants reflected individually on what was
unexpected in their innovation process. They documented the unexpected incidents on Metaplan
cards and classified them by type of cause for the unexpected situation (conflict,
misunderstanding, and disturbance). The Metaplan cards were then pinned to the pin board next
to those phases of innovation process in which they occurred.
It became obvious that there were several people who had either faced unexpected incidents in
the same phase of the innovation process or who had been confronted with the same type of
unexpected incidents. As soon as the participants recognised this, they started a discussion on
their experiences. The facilitator helped them to split into groups of 3-5 people according to their
interests and asked them to do an interpretation on the potential insights one could gain from
facing this unexpected situation: What does the unexpected want to tell us? What can we learn
from it? Overall, there were three groups with one group covering the first two, the second group
the third, and the last group the last two phases of the innovation model by Herstatt (1999)
shown earlier in Figure 2.
One member of each group was then appointed to play the role of the devils advocate. They were
asked to move to a different group and ask this group to present their unexpected incidents and
the results. The role of the devils advocate here was to stimulate reflection on what the group did
not reflect on. Initially, some group members were convinced that there was no blind spot in
their interpretations, but they recognised through the whyquestions from the devils advocate
that there were other issues to consider.
After some further discussions within the groups, their findings on the what (conflict,
misunderstanding, or disturbance) and the why for different innovation phases was captured and
shared with the whole group.
341
Figure 5: Unexpected incidences (what) and their causes (why) in innovation processes
At the end of the session, the participants identified a series of issues hindering innovation in the
various phases of the innovation process. These included mind-sets, lack of mutual
understanding, poor leadership, lack of efficient communications, lack of commitment to change,
etc. (Figure 6)
Figure 6: Key issues hindering innovation processes
342
3. Plenary
The session ended in a plenary where different groups (prospective and retrospective presented
their main findings and key learnings. Both groups liked the session a lot and felt that
participation was valuable for them: It helped them to look at the unexpected in innovation
processes from a new perspective. Both groups where amazed at how much fun both the
sabotage actions and the role of the devils advocate was. They were surprised that those actions
that looked quite negative in the beginning, destructive and unproductive could build the basis
for uncovering hidden productive potential. Both groups liked the variety of ideas and the
different perspectives in the group and felt that they profited from them a lot.

For the prospective session design, agree with one of the registered participants that he will
present a visualisation of his organisation process before the event.
For the prospective session design, the transition from the stage of defining sabotage actions
to turning them into productive actions needs to be carefully moderated. Defining sabotage
action stimulates the disturbing and aggressive potential of the participants very much, they
need to get down to earth again before they will be able to argue in a rational way. A short
theoretical input helps very much to make them understand that this is now serious.
If you have only 2.5 hours time, be very restrictive and keep the time plan.
Motivate companies to send two or more delegates to the workshop if they actually intend to
benefit from the power of disruption
In the short theoretical parts, dont stick too much to theory but enrich theory with examples.
This makes participants feel that the theory has something to do with their practice and that it
is thus valuable and relevant for them.
Dont give to much room to people who do dominate the group. In contrary, make sure that
everybody gets the chance to speak up. This ensures the variety of results from very different
perspectives.
343
Baumgartner, P., Payr, S. (1997). Erfinden lernen. In: Mller, K. H., Stadler, F. (ed.):
Konstruktivismus und Kognitionswissenschaft. Kulturelle Wurzeln und Ergebnisse. Zu
Ehren von Heinz Foersters. Wien: Springer Verlag. Pp. 89- 106.
Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries (2006). The American Heritage Dictionary of
the English Language, 4th edition. Houghton Mifflin: Houghton Mifflin Company
Herstatt, C. & Verworn, B. (2003). Bedeutung und Charakteristika der frhen Phasen des
Innovationsprozesses. In C. Herstatt & B. Verworn (Hrsg.), Management der frhen
Innovationsphasen. Grundlagen - Methoden - Anstze (S. 3-15). Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Schneider, M. (2006). Teflon, Post-it und Viagra: Groe Entdeckungen durch kleine Zuflle (2.
Aufl.). Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.
SixSigmas (2006). 5 Whys. Available online at http://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/5_Whys377.htm, last accessed 27 October 2006.
Vollmer, A., Wehner, T. (accepted). Innovation und wissensorientierte Kooperation. Zeitschrift
Profile.
Vollmer, A., Lehmann, K., Ostendorp, C., Wehner, T. (2003). Ich weiss etwas, was du (noch)
nicht weisst. New Management, 72 (12), 2430.
Wehner, T., Waibel, M. C. (1997). Erfahrungsbegebenheiten und Wissensaustausch als
Innovationspotenziale des Handelns Die Analyse betrieblicher Verbesserungsvorschlge.
In I. Udris (Hg.), Arbeitspsychologie fr morgen. Herausforderungen und Perspektiven
(72-100). Heidelberg: Asanger.
Weick, K. (2001). Managing the Unexpected: Assuring high performance in an age of
complexity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
344
Author Biographies
Dr. Patricia Wolf is member of the UnBla-Team and

researcher, consultant and lecturer at Lucerne Business School
and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). Her
interests include Innovation and Knowledge Management as
well as intercultural collaboration
Dr. Albert Vollmer is psychologist and senior researcher at the

Center for Organizational and Occupational Sciences (ZOA) at
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). His
research topics are cooperation, conflict, trust, knowledge and
innovation.
Dr. Peter Troxler works as a management consultant and

artistic producer in Europe. His main interests are crossdisciplinary issues at the interface of psychology, IT and
engineering, and management science, of academia and the arts.

industry-driven research projects. Dr. Kazis expertise and
interest areas include inter-enterprise collaboration, knowledge
and innovation management, disruptive facilitation, and mobile
345
Collect and Share

Existing Knowledge
on Collaborative
Multidisciplinary
Scientific Research
Processes
Ayalew Kassahun, Huub Scholten
and Adrie J.M. Beulens
Keywords:
Co-Creation, Communities, Knowledge Artefacts, Ontologies
Collect and Share Existing

Knowledge on Collaborative
Multidisciplinary Scientific
Research Processes
Ayalew Kassahun, Wageningen University, (Ayalew.kassahun@wur.nl)
Huub Scholten, Wageningen University
Adrie J.M. Beulens, Wageningen University

A multidisciplinary scientific research project follows a complex process involving team
members with different backgrounds and different roles. Such projects, in which persons with
different disciplinary backgrounds have to cooperate, encounter often many problems. Members
of such teams come from various disciplinary backgrounds therefore they may not share the
same set of norms and values (Janssen and Goldsworthy, 1996). Other problems are related to
ambiguous terminology, malpractice with regard to input data, inadequate project set-up,
insufficient or inappropriate use of methods, insufficient knowledge on some processes,
overselling of scientific results and lack of documentation and transparency (Scholten, et. al.
2007). To address some of these problems researchers in several disciplines have introduced
guidelines and standards in the form of handbooks for the purpose of disseminating best
practices and standardized forms and checklists to improve outputs. However, these guidelines
and standards are mainly paper-based, mono-disciplinary, not tailored to needs and preferences
of individual researchers, time consuming and costly to apply in practice.
Given these problems, we have developed a collaborative knowledge-based system to support
multidisciplinary research. The system provides many features to address the above stated
problems:
Glossary of terms. The system provides browsing and editing capabilities of glossary terms.
Some glossary terms do not always mean the same thing in different domains; therefore,
glossary terms are annotated with a domain label.
Knowledge base (KB) and KB-editor. The system provides a rich collection of knowledge
on collaborative scientific research processes which includes tasks, methods, activities,
sensitivities, pitfalls, inputs, outputs, etc for the given field of application.
Process definitions. It is a general belief that the desired goals of a project are achieved
more efficiently when activities are managed as process (van der Weide et. al. 2003, ISO
9000, 2004, Kassahun, 2006). Therefore, the tasks and all related knowledge items are
interlinked to form a flowchart, defining a research process that can be executed and
monitored by a process support tool.
Support for different user types. Multidisciplinary research involves not only researchers
from different disciplines but also other types of users, such as managers, auditors and
various stakeholders. Moreover some users are experts in a specific domain who define the
research process. Others are users of the research process for a specific research project. The
349
Collect and Share Existing Knowledge on Collaborative Research Processes
system supports different user types by providing them different levels of authorisation based
on user roles and expertise.
Process support tool. Once a collaborative research process for a given field of application
is defined by a group of experts, the process support tool is used to provide guidance in the
execution of activities and helps to monitor what members of research projects do. When
used as a project monitoring tool, the activities of the research members are stored in a
project journal.
Define and share a
research process
Experts from defferent domains collect

multidisciplinary research knolwedge,
including:
- glossary of terms
- tasks, activities, methods
- user types and roles
Knowledge base (KB) and KB editor
The multidisciplinary research process is

shared using the process support tool.
This tools enables users to:
- get guidance
- monitor research project
- generate reports
Process support tool
Feedback from test cases and

real life application to imporive
the KB
Figure 1. Define and support collaborative multidisciplinary scientific research.

The knowledge-based system is composed of a knowledge base (KB) and a KB-editor for
managing the research process knowledge base and a process support tool for guiding and
monitoring research projects. Figure 1 shows the process of collecting (knowledge acquisition)
and how knowledge is enabled using a process support tool. The intended users of the
knowledge acquisition tool are experts from different disciplines, who will define research
processes, while users of the process support tool are team members in a research project. The
tools have been extensively used in European Union (EU) funded HarmoniQuA project focusing
on enhancing the credibility of catchment and river basin modelling. Currently the system is
being extended and used in another EU funded project now focusing on delivering
interdisciplinary methodologies to enable actors to actively participate in mitigation of water
stress problems (AquaStress project).
The knowledge acquisition tool is a multi-user environment that allows experts to collaboratively
define, store, edit and manage a research process specification in the knowledge base while
allowing all interested parties to read it and comment on it. Once a research process is defined
the process support tool allows users (members of a research project) to get guidance and to
collaboratively execute a research project based on the process specification. When used in
executing a research project, the process support tool stores information about activities of all
team members in a central server called project journal archive that allows all team members
and project managers to see what other team members did and to follow the progress of the
project. The result is a well documented research project based on best practices executed and
managed in a transparent manner.
Keywords: co-creation, communities, knowledge artefacts, ontologies
350

In many management areas managers are increasingly using integrated models to help them
solve decision making problems (Scholten & Beulens, 2006). Such systems are results of
complex and difficult research projects involving managers, stakeholders, researchers and other
types of team members with different disciplinary backgrounds that have to collaborate. As a
consequence, the context in which this system can be used consists of the following constraints:
A group of persons that have to collaborate in some process of scientific research.
The group should belong to a community within a shared field of application, but with
(partly) different disciplinary backgrounds.
There should be a large body of relevant knowledge for the group.
The group should be aware of associated problems caused by the above.
A multidisciplinary research involves a group of persons that need to collaborate and coordinate
their work to achieve the scientific research objectives. The persons involved come from
different disciplinary backgrounds and have different responsibilities. In water management, for
instance, code developers, model users and water resources managers are involved in modelling
studies in which lack of mutual understanding may arise due to the complexity of the modelling
process (Refsgaard, 2005).
The persons should belong to a community doing research in a shared field of application. This
implies there must be sufficient common understanding of the problem and the field of
application among participants.
The relevant knowledge available for the group can be in various forms, such as expertise and
know-how, explicit but partly inconsistent knowledge that is distributed in many handbooks,
guidelines, etc and common practices, which may differ between countries and between
application sub domains. Such inconsistent guidelines and handbooks can be found in various
disciplines, for instance, the various clinical guidelines in health care (Campbell, 2006), research
in natural resource management (Janssen and Goldworthy, 1996, Refsgaard, 2005), to state a
few.
Finally there should be a realisation within the group that there is a need of collecting,
harmonizing and managing already existing knowledge. The awareness usually comes from
previous experiences of multidisciplinary research in which the goals of research projects were
not (fully) met or projects run out of budget due to misunderstanding and other problems that can
be attributed to the multidisciplinary nature of the research projects.
Therefore, in this context, our major objectives are harmonizing and clarifying existing
knowledge and providing practical software tools that make it easy to use this collective
knowledge. Harmonizing existing knowledge means collecting, structuring and organising
existing knowledge and making it semantically consistent and explicit. The first tool, the
knowledge base editor, is a web-based tool to define, store and modify knowledge on a research
processes for a field of application. The fields of applications the tool has been used until now
are model-based water management (HarmoniQuA) and water stress mitigation (AquaStress).
The second tool is a process support tool that can be used both as a standalone tool and as a
client-server system that provides guidance in the execution of a research process (using the
process definition from the knowledge base) and helps to monitor what team members do. The
process support tool has been used in different real-life test cases during the HarmoniQuA
project.
351

Once the need for collecting and sharing multidisciplinary research process has been identified,
the facilitator or leader of this effort needs to put together a small team of domain experts,
software and knowledge engineers to set-up the KB-editor and other technologies that are
required for knowledge management and implement a preliminary process (see for instance
Alavi, M., and Leidner, Marwick, 2001, 2001 and Huysman and de Wit, 2004 for more on these
technologies). Domain experts describe the problem and what they would like to achieve from
this effort. Knowledge engineers task is to demonstrate the possibilities of the knowledge
management tools. Our experience has more than once shown that domain experts most often are
unaware of the possibilities that such systems provide. This preliminary process setup serves as a
demonstration of the knowledge base and process support tool; therefore, the illustrative content
of the process knowledge base can be simple, or even unrelated to the problem at hand.
The facilitator then identifies the domains and the domain experts in each domain and invites the
experts to prepare documents on present practices (the state-of-the-art) in their domain of
expertise. In the mean time a group of software and knowledge engineers set-up the knowledge
base based on the initial information.
The knowledge-base and the process support tool form the main knowledge tools. Each field of
application has its peculiarities; therefore both the KB-editor and the process tool may have to be
customized for specific needs of the project.
In the next section we give a description of the KB-editor and process support tool. In addition,
other productivity and communication tools are also required. Based on our experience we
strongly recommended the following:
1. A project website. A project website is an effective communication, feedback and
dissemination means for project information and outcomes to a wider audience.
2. Groupware. Groupware tools like ProjectPlace (www.ProjectPlace.com) and Lotus
Workplace (www.lotus.com) facilitate communication and collaboration within a group.
A groupware tool provides a virtual space, within which participants can share
documents and experiences (Marwick, 2001). The virtual space can be organized into
different virtual rooms or folders. The organisation of virtual rooms can be based on
domains, events such as a room for each workshop, etc. We recommend the use of such
virtual spaces for most of the communication instead of often used emails because this
type of groupware tool provides a shared threaded structure that is accessible to all
qualified participants. In addition, recent developments in cheap and accessible text,
voice and video conferencing provide a rich shared experience and are strongly
recommended.
3. Desktop productivity tools, templates. Most people are usually more comfortable with
standard office productivity tools they are familiar with than better but new software
tools. When developing a new knowledge acquisition tool, this fact is easily ignored,
which results in less efficiency and slower adoption of the new system. Figure 2 shows a
populated Microsoft Excel template that was used as an initial knowledge acquisition tool
within the HarmoniQuA project. The use of this simple tool resulted from observed user
reluctance in using some popular knowledge acquisition tools in early stages of the
project. The Excel templates where later replaced with the KB-editor.
352
Figure 2. A Microsoft Excel template that initially was used to gather process knowledge for
model based water management within the HarmoniQuA project.

The knowledge-based system is an attempt to make collaborative multidisciplinary research
processes explicit, provide tools for co-creating them and make the use and execution of the
processes easy and effective. The problem of collaborative knowledge creation and management
for multidisciplinary research is characterized by the following characteristics (1) a large number
of persons from different disciplines are involved, (2) the process of collecting, structuring,
organising, testing and disseminating of collaborative research process information and
knowledge takes a long time (months or even years), (3) participants who participate in
collecting and organising the existing knowledge mainly domain experts come usually from
different geographical locations and (4) those who collect and organise knowledge and those
who use it in practice may need different tools, tailor made for their needs. These characteristics
make the system as a whole unavoidably complex. However, the system is intended to address
the needs of different types of users by providing only relevant information for each user with
the intension of making the system effective and user friendly from an individual users
perspective.
In this section we describe how participants are assisted by the KB-editor to co-create and share
a research process and how the process support tool enables users of the process to collaborate
by providing guidance and supporting monitoring of a research project based on the process. The
details of the knowledge base system and the process support tool are described in detail
elsewhere (Kassahun el. al, 2004 and Scholten and Beulens, 2006, Scholten et al., 2007). We
353
will here focus on how structuring the knowledge in the first phase enables the process support
tool to support collaboration in a natural way.
The knowledge base is constructed from ontologies that describe the entities and relations of a
research process, first built to support model-based water management and currently extended to
support other research processes. The research process is organised into steps, tasks, activities,
etc which forms part of the ontology of a scientific research process (Scholten, et al., 2007). The
knowledge base also contains user types, domain types, application types, etc that describe the
relevance of knowledge items for specific users, domains and application types, etc. Collectively
these extensions are referred to as dedication aspects (Kassahun, et. al, 2004).
Figure 3. The Knowledge Base editor (KB-editor) used for collecting knowledge. The interface
of the editor was built to resemble the Excel templates that were originally used.
The ontology was developed using Protg ontology editor (Protg project), however, the use of
Protg for collecting knowledge was not acceptable for the participants due to apparent
complexity of the tool. Also, in the beginning, most participants felt overwhelmed by the amount
of new concepts and tools. As a consequence, Microsoft Excel templates (Figure 2) were used
for collecting knowledge. Excel was chosen because it was easy for the participants on the one
hand and easy to later transfer into the knowledge base. In the mean time a knowledge base
editor was developed that provides a look-alike user interface to the Excel template so that
participants have a familiar interface (see Figure 3). The KB-editor has since been continually
improved with extra functionalities for co-editing, sharing and collaboration of knowledge. The
user interface has also been substantially revised and improved based on usersfeedback.
One essential reason to use a KB-editor is that participants need to cooperate and co-author the
knowledge base. Participants come together at regular intervals for close consultation and solve
issues that are difficult to solve, but since participants are located in different geographical
locations, the main interaction space is the internet. The KB-editor supports this collaboration in
the following ways:
354
Participants can see what other participants have contributed; therefore, they dont have
to wait until a finished document is sent over to them.
Domains, user types and other relevance indicators are part of the ontology and were
used to provide a fine-grained authorisation of individuals, so that a group of participants
can co-edit knowledge items.
Consistency of the knowledge base is guarantied by a locking mechanism that prevents

concurrent users from overwriting each others work.
All users have access rights to submit comments, so that they can give feedback to the
editors of knowledge items.
The editor generates readable formats for printing and easy reading.
A compare feature allows users to compare different versions of the knowledge base, so
that reviewers can see what has changed since the previous reviewed version.
Figure 4. Screen shot of the guidance component of the process support tool showing the
research process as a tree on the left pane (tree view), as a flowchart in the upper right pane
(flowchart view) and the details of the selected item in the lower right pane (task or detail view).
The second tool is a process support tool with three components: a guideline/browser
component, a monitoring component and a reporting component (see Figure 4). The guideline
component provides user-friendly interfaces for browsing the knowledge base. A knowledge
base is usually a rich collection of information therefore the ability to filter information based on
user preferences has been provided. User's preferences depend on different factors, such as the
user's role in the project at hand, user expertise, complexity of task, etc.
In the monitoring component users (project leader) set-up a project, identify the tasks and enlist
project members. Subsequently project members can login (when working online) and record
355
what they have done. Since the guideline component is part of the same software tool, users have
access to the rich collection of the knowledge items (on what to do, how to do it, the pitfalls,
inputs, outputs, etc) at hand when performing their activities. The monitoring component can be
used both in offline mode and online mode. When used in online mode, two or more users can
collaborate on a research project. User can move their offline, single-user, project to a project
server and enroll new project members. A user can also take her project offline when no other
user is active any more.
This last tool is clearly designed with collaboration in mind. Like in the KB-editor, team
members can see what other members have done, are currently doing and which items they are
allowed to do. Sensitive information is only shown to authorised members, which makes it
possible to enlist all team members involved in the research project. The decision and review
tasks are clearly marked indicating milestones where the team have to decide whether to proceed
or go back and do some of the tasks all over again.

Collecting and organising existing knowledge to define a multidisciplinary research process is a
long process by itself and requires clear statements of milestones and deadlines. The first
meeting is the kind of kick off meeting in which participants present existing practices in their
domain and define the stages of the work. The different stages can be collecting existing
generic and domain specific research guidelines, processes and standards, collecting existing
glossaries, analysing the existing knowledge, structuring, harmonising/integrating it into one
consistent body of knowledge, testing, and using the test results to improve the knowledge.
Subsequently, the facilitator organises a task force with only few participants, preferably not
more than 5 or 6 persons. At this stage there are usually different views and misunderstandings
in many areas and reaching consensus may not be easy. Therefore, it is vital to keep the number
of participants small. This small group has to include the most active domain experts and one or
two knowledge experts. The task force makes a high level decomposition of the research
process consisting of the steps and the tasks of the process. This knowledge structure should be
annotated with dedication aspects that describe the relevance of knowledge items for specific
users or domains. Annotation of knowledge items with such relevance indicators is one of the
key aspects that make filtering of knowledge based on user needs and preferences, fine-grained
authorisation and report generation possible in the process support tool.
Before the next general meeting reports on existing knowledge should be ready. At this point, it
is necessary to review those reports for correctness and completeness. During the meeting the
reports and the knowledge structure will be presented. Participants will decide on the high level
decomposition of the research process. Now the formal collection of existing knowledge can
start based on the agreed upon knowledge structure. It is important to realize that the choice of
technology used to collect knowledge can affect the progress of the work. It may be important
to let participants choose the technology for editing the first draft. Desktop productivity tools
may be chosen, in which case templates and processing scripts have to be developed.
Groupware tools make sharing of documents and discussion easy and their use is highly
recommended.
Once the existing knowledge is collected (and transferred to the KB if the KB-editor is not used
for the first draft), the harmonising phase starts. In a series of review cycles, both internal and
external, the process knowledge will be made semantically consistent and generic.
A collaborative multidisciplinary scientific research process so developed specifies the
activities, methods, sensitivities, pitfalls, etc of a collaborative research project as a process.
356
Once this process is defined it needs to be tested and finally put in practice. The next phase is
selection of test cases, in which the defined process will be put to test with regard to a number
of criteria. The results of tests will be used to further improve the process specification in the
knowledge base. The process of collecting and sharing existing research process knowledge can
be summarized as follows:
1. Selected experts fill the knowledge base. Any interested person can read the contents of
the knowledge base and provide comments
2. The knowledge base will be structured, harmonised and made consistent in a number of
review cycles. It is highly recommended to invite external reviewers to access the
correctness and consistency of the knowledge base too.
3. The validity of the process will be tested in realistic test research projects with the help
of the process support tool to monitor the test projects. Feedbacks will be carefully
studied and incorporated.
4. The process knowledge will be made (publicly) available for further use in actual
collaborative multidisciplinary scientific research projects.
The testing and the use of a research process, assisted with the process support tool, is discussed
in detail elsewhere (Scholten, et al., 2007).

The methods and tools described in this study resulted in a knowledge base system. The system
consists of:
A process ontology for collaborative scientific research.
A glossary of terms.
A knowledge base and an associated KB-editor based on the process ontology.
A software tool for:

o Providing guidelines on the scientific cooperation process at hand;
o Setting up and running projects, including keeping a project journal of the
scientific cooperation process at hand;
o Reporting project journals.
Extended multimedia training material.
These results are used to guide and monitor multidisciplinary research projects for the field of
application for which the process is defined. The software tool allows multidisciplinary teams of
such projects to cooperate better because team members can see what others have done and
produced, are doing or are authorised to do. The extended role and relevance annotation of the
knowledge items enables filtering and flexible report generation.
The process ontology, the KB-editor and project support tool were developed in the context of
the HarmoniQuA project for the purpose of supporting model-based water management.
Application of the technology in connection to the AquaStress project enabled us to further
develop the methodology and the tools. It also served as a way of validating the methodology
and tools as to whether the original idea was generic enough to be applied outside of modelbased water management.
The next step in supporting collaborative research processes is to extend the process support tool
with an advisory tool or component. This component uses information collected during the use
357
of research processes in real life application and saved in the project archive to generate advice
for users when they are doing their next project.

The knowledge system has originally been developed and used within the context of the EU
funded HarmoniQuA project to develop a knowledge base for quality assurance guidelines (QA)
for model-based water management. The application of the tools in practice is done at two
stages. The first stage is the use of the KB editor to co-create a modelling process in water
management. The second stage is the application the modelling process so developed in real life
modelling projects with the help of the process support tool.
In the first stage, project participants were requested to present existing quality assurance
practices and procedures in their domain of expertise. Most of those QA procedures evaluated
use a process-oriented approach in the form of guidelines in specifying QA procedures. The new
HarmoniQuA QA guideline is based on these existing process-based guidelines. The major
process steps from different guidelines were found to be comparable and were adopted in the
new guideline. However, there were differences in the details of the modelling processes. The
discrepancies were explained based on the differences in the following characterisation of
modelling in water management:
Domains. Domains refer to water management domains including hydrodynamics,

groundwater, precipitation runoff, flood forecasting, surface water quality and biota
(ecology). Two addition domain types were also defined. The process items that are
common to all domains are identified as generic. A domain called multi-domain is added
to label knowledge items that will describe potential conflicts arising due to combining
domains in modelling projects and the solutions for those conflicts.
User types. These are the roles modelling team members can play: modeller, water
manager, auditor, stakeholders and concerned members of the public.
Application purposes. These indicate the purposes of the modelling study. Application
purposes include planning, design and operational management.
Job complexities: These describe the complexity of the modelling study. Three levels of
complexity were identified: basic, intermediate and comprehensive.
These characterisation flags were included as dedication aspects in the process ontology. Since
experts were identified by their domain of expertise and their user type, the KB editor
authorisations are based on these two dedication aspects. The definition of these dedication
aspects allowed editors to enter the initial knowledge items without much worry about the
consistency of the knowledge base. Conflicting items were easy to identify since the KB editor
provided users facilities such as sorting items by name, comparing, exporting and generation of
readable/printable formats. In later versions the KB was harmonised and made consistent across
the different dedication aspects.
After a number of revisions the modelling process in water management is decomposed into
steps, tasks and activities and other relevant information and made available for use in MoST. As
a result a modelling process is defined in the following steps: (1) model study plan, (2) data and
conceptualization, (3) model set-up, (4) calibration and validation and (5) simulation and
evaluation. These steps are decomposed into a total of 48 tasks, 350 activities, 100 methods and
other knowledge items such as some 900 glossary terms.
In the second stage of the HarmoniQuA project, the process support tool called MoST
(Modelling Support Tool) is used in real life test cases. For each test case the project
358
administrators (project administrator here refers to the person who manages MoST software for
the project) setup the project. This includes defining subprojects and associated domains,
selecting relevant tasks per subproject, enrolling team members, specifying roles for each team
member and authorizing them per subproject. The project administrator is also responsible for
editing the scoreboard questions that are part of the guideline to the fit the project auditing
requirements. Team members use MoST to get guidance in executing activities and record what
they do. In particular, they use MoST to do the following: (1) start (launch) a task instance, (2)
record the start date, (3) execute the activities of the task by describing what is done, selecting
methods used from a list of available methods, attaching relevant documents and recording start
and end dates (4) record date of completion and time spent of the task and (5) end the task
instance when all activities of the task are done. Both task and activities can be skipped in which
case the user should specify the reason for skipping.
MoST has been used in 21 real life case studies (Olsson, et.al., 2004, Old et. al., 2005). These
test cases were used to validate and improve the modelling process knowledge base and test the
usability of MoST. As the result of these tests a number tasks and activities were either merged
or split and the use of some dedication aspects were dropped. Thus, the test results were used to
find problems in the guideline that were not possible to find through a review process. Most of
the testers (mainly modellers) from different domains found that the modelling guidelines are
very useful, especially for complex model studies. They also found MoST to be essential for
making use of the knowledge base showing that support tools such as MoST that make use of the
knowledge base enable users to make the most out of the investment made in the development of
a knowledge base.
The knowledge based system is currently be used in the AquaStress project. AquaStress attempts
to develop stakeholder driven, comprehensive multisectoral, integrated approaches for mitigation
of water stress. Presently a water stress mitigation process is being developed for two test sites,
i.e. the Velt and Vecht river basin (Netherlands) and Iskar river basin (Bulgaria). The process
will be applied in different test cases at these test sites. In the future the water stress mitigation
process will be developed for other test sites too.
359

The facilitator can help the efficiency of defining the process by allowing domain experts to
choose the technology of their choice at the start.
Avoid using emails as the main communication means. Use groupware and setup virtual
rooms for each sub group and events.
All tools are accessible for free from www.HarmoniQuA.org. There is also extended training
material.
If end-users are not involved in a very early stage (from process definition on) they will not
adopt such a knowledge based approach.
Do not start too late with defining the process. Defining collaborative multidisciplinary
scientific research process is a time-consuming procedure. Experts should start in a very
early stage to define the process in order to test it sufficiently during the project.
Acknowledgements
The present work was carried out within the projects HarmoniQuA (partly funded by the
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Author Biographies
Ayalew Kassahun is employed as scientific software engineer in
the department of Information Technology of Wageningen
University. He has previously worked for a large Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) software company developing the ERP
system, user interface driver and workflow integration
components. He has since then also worked for Business
Intelligence (BI) software company developing software for realtime business monitoring. Currently he is involved in the EUprojects HarmoniQuA and AquaStress and is responsible for the
development of the knowledge base systems in both projects. His
educational background includes, besides software engineering,
civil engineering, water resources management and hydrology.
Huub Scholten is employed as senior scientist and assistant
professor in Applied Systems Science, in the Information
Technology Group of Wageningen University. His professional
interests lie in the field of simulation model quality, ontological
knowledge engineering, model development, calibration,
uncertainty analysis, validation and simulation modeling
methodology and also in the development of software to support
these activities. He participated in many research projects, of
which some as project leader. He is involved in the EU-projects
HarmoniQuA as coordinator and AquaStress as partner responsible
for knowledge management issues. He has authored more than 80
publications in domain specific model development, model
application and in more generic methods and tools in knowledgebased modeling methodology. Besides research he gives four
courses in Modeling and Simulation at Bachelor and Master level,
supervises Master thesis and PhD thesis work at Wageningen
University.
Adrie J.M. Beulens is currently Professor of Information
Systems, head of the Information Technology Group at
Wageningen University (WUR). He has been director and dean of
Wageningen School of Management of Wageningen University
(till 2002), dean and director of the Faculty of Informatics at the
Haagse Hogeschool (till 1995), taught at Rotterdam School of
Management (till 1988), worked in different senior management
positions and works as a senior management consultant for a
variety of companies. He is author of many articles in journals and
(co-)author of books in the areas of ECR, logistics and Model
Based Decision Support Systems (DSS). He was also scientific
director for the focus area of Transparency for KLICT(2001/2005).
He is member of (International) (Professional) organisations
(VVS/NGB, GOR, NGI, VIAS, VRI, IFIP TC7). Finally he is
member of different (advisory) boards of companies and
foundations (EDICT, ACC/AKK).
363
Developing,
Nurturing, and
Sustaining
Communities of
Practice
Rony Dayan and Yossi Pasher
Keywords:
CoP, Community, Practice, Industry, Aerospace
Developing, Nurturing, and

Sustaining Communities of
Practice
Rony Dayan, IAI CKO and Director of Intellectual Property, (rdayan@iai.co.il)
Yossi Pasher, Community Organizer and Facilitator, (yossi@yossipasher.com)

The term community of practice (CoP) describes an activity system that includes individuals
who are united in action and in the meaning that action has for them and for the larger collective.
They are informal entities, glued together by the connections the members have with each other,
and by their specific shared problems or areas of interest.
The five years of experience accumulated with communities of practice, has taught IAI that out
of the structural elements enumerated above, some are to be considered as key success factors,
and these are:
A subject of dynamic nature, at the edge of state of the art development, and constantly
reinventing itself.
A charismatic leader.
Trust among the community members.
Periodical physical meetings of the community.
A web site performing as virtual meeting place for the community, a repository for its
shared information, and a showcase of its activity for the company.
Potential members of the community are invited to a workshop evolved around guidelines of
forming the bylaws, developing the community's vision, mission and core values; establishing
objectives, agreeing on realistic measurements and electing the community's officers.
Community leaders are self-elected and being a crucial component for the sustainability of the
community, they need to be re-enforced and supported.
Keywords: CoP, Community, practice, industry, aerospace

Israel Aerospace Industries (about 15000 employees organized in 5 groups and 23 divisions) is
globally recognized as a leader in developing defence and commercial aerospace technology.
This distinction is the result of nearly half a century of designing, engineering and
manufacturing, for customers throughout the world. IAI has kept along the last few years, sales
figures of about 2 B$ (over 80% of it as export) and an order book of over two years.
What strikes any visitor to IAI is the multiplicity of its fields of activity, the range of its
products, and the variation in attitude to values one encounters across groups and divisions. This
last attribute is of special significance when dealing with a soft issue as is knowledge
367
Developing, Nurturing, and Sustaining Communities of Practice
management. Additional parameters expected to be relevant to the implementation of knowledge

management in IAI, are the fact that the company as a whole is considered as R&D intense, that
as any large corporation it is organized in groups, by themselves divided into divisions each
having a bottom line target to meet, and that it is mature. This is a company established in the
fifties, which started with aeronautical maintenance jobs, ventured into the development of a
futuristic fighter aircraft the Lavi was, and is now developing and positioning satellites in space.
IAI realized that its policy of decentralization has created divisions eager to show their success at
the bottom line sometimes to the detriment of other divisions, and that it has to leverage its
capabilities as one company. A change programme established on intangible values as
Customers, People, Innovation and Technology, and "One Company", has been implemented in
IAI ever since the year 2000. This paved the way for the acceptance that:
It is permissible to have intangible goods (such as customer intimacy, communication

and involvement, learning organisation or knowledge management) as long as it is
backed and supported by concrete, tangible and measurable actions.
It is permissible to find non-direct way to achieve results.
This created an environment more favourable to the implementation of a KM programme which

incorporates intangible goods:
KM actions are expected to deliver performance goals.
A mental link is created with individuals between intangible goods and the use of
intangible or tacit knowledge.
Such an environment, in which terms such as internal communication and knowledge sharing are
not new to people, would be expected to be more approving for the implementation of KM
procedures as "communities of practice", or "good practices", though it doesn't mean it would
make it straightforward as it was discovered during the implementation phase.
The strategy for knowledge management in IAI was set for the following goals:
Improving the availability of knowledge to IAI employees.
Organisation learning from failures as well as from successes.
Cultivating the potential for the creation of new knowledge.
Enhancing knowledge sharing among IAI employees.
Increasing the awareness to knowledge management.
The CKO has established the concept of the life cycle of knowledge around the goals of the
knowledge management strategy enumerated above. Knowledge management was established
then as a comprehensive programme including all four phases of this life cycle (Dayan, 2003):
Knowledge capture and documentation.
Knowledge retrieval for reuse.
New knowledge creation.
Knowledge sharing.
368
The idea behind knowledge sharing in a complex organization

It has been claimed that knowledge management could be seen as expressing a metaphorical
perspective of the company and its management and working methods, and depending on which
perception of knowledge the analysis is based on, its characteristics will change (Christensen and
Bang, 2003). Different perspective here means different epistemologies (the root definition of
epistemology is 'the theory or science of the method or grounds of knowledge'; in terms of the
present discussion, epistemology refers to the claims or assumptions made about the ways in
which it is possible to gain knowledge of this reality, whatever it is understood to be; claims
about how what exists may be known. An epistemology is a theory of knowledge; it presents a
view and a justification for what can be regarded as knowledge what can be known, and what
criteria such knowledge must satisfy in order to be called knowledge rather than beliefs (Blaikie,
1993). Questions about 'what is regarded as the evidence of things in the social world' or simply
about 'what we know' are epistemological questions (Mason, 1996)):
Artefact epistemology.
The artefact-oriented epistemology (Conklin, 1996, cited in Christensen and Bang, 2003, p.122)
is characterized by knowledge management focused on collecting and sharing formal data and
information such as documents, reports, statistics, etc. This kind of knowledge management
found its way onto the management-related agenda of the mid-twentieth century when the view
was that organizations may be perceived as open systems which by creating knowledge,
formulate more and more precise representations of the surrounding world.
Process epistemology.
The process-oriented epistemology considers knowledge creation and sharing as a continuous

process between people and technology as well as tacit and explicit knowledge. The Nonaka's
SECI model is typical to this view but many others also adhere to it (as (Prahalad and Hamel,
1990)). The author has shown the relationship between the implementation of knowledge
management and achieving high results in the CMMISM (CMMI is a service mark of Carnegie
Mellon University) standard (Dayan and Evans, 2006).
Autopoietic epistemology.
Autopoiesis (Maturana and Varela, 1980, cited in Christensen and Bang, 2003, p.125), is a
theory rooted in neurobiology, that was later developed into a theory about social systems such
as employees, project teams, or organizations and about knowledge management and the
composition and structure of social, self-organized systems by von Krogh and Roos (1995).
Within this theory, each unit determines its boundary through self-reproduction. This selfreferential nature is quintessential to the autopoietic system (see also (Nonaka and Takeuchi,
1995, p.76). Autopoietic epistemology requires an untraditional organizational understanding of
interaction with the surroundings as it presumes that information and knowledge may not be
transferred from one system to another. Communication takes place through data, which thus
represents potential information and knowledge. The interpretation of this information and data
is determined by the system's own framework of understanding as the acknowledgement
converting the data into knowledge depends on the existing knowledge of the system. The focus
is therefore on self-reproductive systems meaning that it is only the system itself, which is
capable of maintaining itself through internal processes. To create knowledge, people must be
induced in sending data to others, by the interest they have about receiving data from others (see
also (Koskinen, 2004, p.14)).
We will show that the procedure of communities of practice within the content of knowledge
sharing and as interpreted at IAI, includes aspects of all three epistemologies.
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Making the choice towards Communities of Practice

The sharing of knowledge has been the subject of numerous studies. In one of them, the
environment factors promoting or impeding it have been analysed and specifically the
"organizational commitment" and the "organizational communication" (van den Hooff and de
Ridder, 2004, p.117). "Organizational commitment" is understood to refer to the affective
commitment of organizational members to their organization, whereas "organizational
communication" refers to both the communication climate of the organization as a whole and the
use of different instruments for communication. Organizational communication is also labeled as
the 'knowledge-sharing culture' of the organization (to create a knowledge sharing culture is to
make a visible connection between sharing knowledge and practical business goals, problems or
results), ((Alazmi and Zairi, 2003), (Chauvel and Despres, 2002), (Martensson, 2000), (Mahti,
2004), (Skyrme and Amidon, 1997), (Mason and Pauleen, 2003), (Park, Ribiere, and Schulte,
2004)). "Organizational climate" has been defined as a set of shared perceptions regarding the
policies, practices, and procedures that an organization rewards, supports, and expects (James,
Joyce, and Slocum, 1988; cited in Seibert, Silver, and Randolph, 2004). Dividing knowledge
sharing into its constituents, namely the donation of knowledge and the collection of knowledge,
it was concluded that:
Commitment to the organization was found to be of influence on knowledge donating.
A constructive communication climate was found to be of positive influence on

knowledge donating and collecting, as well as on affective commitment (identification
and involvement with the organization, a feeling of emotional attachment to that
organization).
Knowledge collecting positively influences knowledge donating (the same has been
identified in IAI's communities of practice and the original fear of loosing power if
donating knowledge was replaced by worry to be viewed as a "free rider" who wasn't
able to contribute as the others).
Commitment to
the organization
Knowledge sharing
Communication
climate
Knowledge
collecting
Knowledge
donating
Figure 1: Environment influence on knowledge sharing

The term community of practice (CoP) describes an activity system that includes individuals
who are united in action and in the meaning that action has for them and for the larger collective.
They are informal entities, glued together by the connections the members have with each other,
and by their specific shared problems or areas of interest. The latest reports from the field
suggest that virtual communities of practice are becoming a KM tool choice for an increasing
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number of multinational corporations. Among the chief reasons why communities of practice are
efficient tools for knowledge generation and sharing is the fact that most of a firm's competitive
advantage is embedded in the intangible, tacit knowledge of its people, and because
competencies do not exist apart from the people who develop them. The successful functioning
of a knowledge-sharing community of practice is impossible without an active participation of a
substantial part of its members. The method overcomes barriers to sharing information, such that
if people would be reluctant to write something for the data-base, they might find it easier to talk
about it with their colleagues to the community. Reasons for sharing, range from self-esteem
boosting to altruistic and conformist consideration (McLure and Faraj, 2000 cited in Ardichvili,
Page, and Wentling, 2003 p.66). Posting of knowledge entries by some member of a community
must be matched with active participation by other members visiting the CoP Intranet-site, when
they are looking for advice of information.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is frequently quoted with his famous call: 'Knowledge itself is
power.' His intention was emancipation of the mind from the predominance by the church. His
call was accompanied by technological development: 'Paper now came cheaply from Egypt,
replacing the costly parchment that had made learning the monopoly of priests; printing, which
had long awaited an inexpensive medium, broke out like a liberated explosive, and spread its
destructive and clarifying influence everywhere' (Durant, 1926). Bacon, in his early publication
'The Praise of Knowledge' (1592), even defined the individual by his/her knowledge: 'My praise
shall be dedicated to the mind itself. The mind is the man, and knowledge mind; a man is but
what he knoweth' (Durant, 1926, p 111). Such ideas are the forerunners of intellectual
awakening, of mental illumination, that is, of the epoch of enlightenment as the philosophy of
the 17th and 18th century with Descartes (1596-1650), John Locke (1632-1704), Kant (17241804) and many others who set the foundations of modern science. Bacon did not explicitly
mention 'knowledge management'; how could he 400 years ago? At least, he concentrated on
human knowledge and not its sediment: printed or electronically stored information. For him,
printed materials (and the same is true of electronic devices, as of today) are carriers of
information and help to increase human knowledge, but the printed documents as such do not
own knowledge themselves, because they are not 'conscious'. Knowledge is the entrance to
mental freedom: 'As knowledge grew, fear decreased; men thought less of worshipping the
unknown, and more of overcoming it. Every vital spirit was lifted up with a new confidence;
barriers were broken down; there was no bound now to what man might do' (Durant, 1926, p
105). Bacon's appreciation of human knowledge is of high contemporary relevance. The
competitive advantage of societal systems (nations, enterprises, political administrations,
political parties, etc.) seems to depend: (i) upon the individual knowledge of their members, (ii)
upon the knowledge-based communication between them, (iii) upon the innovative knowledge
creation by them, and (iv) upon the support of individual knowledge creation, knowledge
processing, and knowledge storage by information systems. Therefore, knowledge management
should be seen as a leadership principle, not only as a subset of computer science (MullerMerbach, 2005).
It is often argued that people are not willing to give away their knowledge because of the socalled "knowledge is power" syndrome. It turns out that a more powerful syndrome is the
unwillingness of using someone else's knowledge (because it means admitting needing it as
discovered by the CKO in IAI's communities of practice). With 23 divisions in IAI, it is not
unusual to find the same technology being developed for different applications in various
divisions. Aiming for improving the general technological knowledge, gaining advantage from a
larger base of activity, and sharing methods and practices, communities of practice are
organized. Actually, they are consisting of a group of people having a common technological
subject, who self-organize voluntarily, vote for a leader, and decide for a set of goals to govern
their activity. The community of practice procedure published in the company's KM handbook
manages the process and induces the divisions to encourage their employees to join the
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communities. It also includes, as all other KM procedures, a set of measures (performance,

throughput, and business results measures) to assess the quality of performance of the
community.
Communities of practice not being part of the hierarchical organization of the company could
feel left-out, or not belonging. For this reason, we have attributed to each and every one of them
a sponsor coming from the upper management of the company (division or group managers, or
even the CEO of the company who sponsored the technological community for nanotechnology).
We have differentiated between three types of communities of practice; there are the
technological communities who gather people from different divisions and involved with a
specific technology which is part of the developed products of the company (as examples one
could consider the community for electro-optics, the one for composite materials, or the one for
aeronautical structures); the procedural communities dealing with a specific procedure (as
statistical process control, or software testing); and the organizational communities gathering
people belonging to the same kind of organization in various divisions (as safety, or pricing).

The structural elements and principals
(Martins, Gilson, and Maynard, 2004) have investigated the virtual aspect of communities of
practice which they call virtual teams (VTs). Their research shows the main differences between
VTs and CoPs (IAI has limited CoPs to teams that physically meet and has required them to do it
nominally on a monthly basis):
The locational boundary refers to any physical dispersion of team members, such as
different geographic locations or different workplaces at the same geographic location.
CoP members in IAI are coming from any of its 23 divisions; to facilitate the locational
factor they would usually meet alternatively in different divisions according to the
affiliation of their members.
The temporal boundary encompasses lifecycle and synchronicity. Lifecycle captures the
extent to which a team is temporary or ongoing, while synchronicity refers to the timing
of member interaction on the group's task.
The relational boundary refers to the differences in relational networks of VT members,

that is, their affiliations with other teams, departments, organizations, and cultural subgroups. In general, individuals are more likely to look within their relational networks
rather than across networks for team members. The organization of teams integral to one
division has always been an easier task as it doesn't require bridging over the possible
competition gap between divisions. What has been labeled as the local learning trap is
about the risk of concentrating attention on local knowledge sharing without addressing
the issue of how the organization as a whole can benefit from it; concentrating on the
human capital rather than on creating a social and environmental capital (see also (Allee,
1999) regarding the flow of knowledge across the enterprise, or (Brentani and
Kleinschmidt, 2004) regarding new product development programmes).
Many organizations focus their attention on the operational level only, mainly because it is easier
to manage. This creates an inhibitor as knowledge workers are looking for a management
example in knowledge sharing. However, VTs can overlap multiple relational networks,
enabling teams to be composed of members based on "what they know" rather than "who they
know". In such teams, members have to work across differences in assumptions, motivations,
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knowledge bases, and working styles that characterize each of the relational networks that are
spanned by the team:
Team inputs comparison (input variables represent the design and compositional characteristics
of a team):
VTs as opposed to CoPs that meet physically are often conceptualized as having a more
fluid membership such that a specific expertise can be added or removed as tasks change.
Members of CoPs at IAI adhere to them voluntarily but then commit to continue their
belonging to the team. In some cases, we even tried to re-enforce the binding of members
to the team by labeling them as 'founding members', and requiring them to further
approve any additional latter applications.
Researchers have noted the tendency of VTs to possess a shorter lifecycle as compared to
face-to-face teams.
Group size has traditionally been described as critical to group performance. Researchers
have noted that team size may affect VTs differently than face-to-face teams because
technology can mitigate the negative effects of size. On the other hand, the number of
ideas generated in VTs has been found to increase with group size, which contrasts with
results found in face-to-face groups. CoPs at IAI typically consist of five to 15 members
from 2 to 5 divisions, a limited number of participants promising good group
performance, but coming from different environments, and with various sets of interests,
enabling a variety of points of view.
A proposed benefit of VTs is that they can bring together individuals with the needed
knowledge, skills and abilities regardless of their location. It has been found that
technical expertise in a VT is positively related to a team's success, the team's ability to
deal with technical uncertainty, and group member trust.
The diminished non-verbal and visual cues associated with increased technology usage
have been cited as reasons why VTs take longer to make decisions, are less able to make
inferences about membersknowledge, and are less able to anticipate other members
responses.
Theorists initially argued that group composition would be less salient within VTs and
empirical research has indeed found that status effects are reduced in virtual interactions.
Some researchers reported that minority members were more likely to express their
opinions in anonymous conditions, but their opinions were given more consideration in
the face-to-face condition.
Team processes comparison ('how' teams achieve their outcomes):
It has been argued that developing a shared vision or mission may be more difficult for
VTs, as it is often harder for members to establish a unified sense of purpose due to
diminished member interactions.
A study assessing variability in the project management of 103 global, virtual, and
collocated new product development (NPD) teams found that collocated teams reported a
significantly lower number of difficulties with various aspects of project management
(such as keeping on schedule and staying on budget) than did virtual or global teams. IAI
has had the same experience and practically all its project activity by now is being
performed using IPTs (Integrated Project Teams).
A reason proposed by those who have found that VTs experience increased participation
is that computer-mediated communication allows for asynchronous communication that
encourages members to contribute based upon their own schedules. Such results cannot
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be corroborated with IAI's CoPs that haven't shown high rates of information contribution
through their Intranet-sites as opposed to what has been provided by members through
physical meetings.
It has been noted that since the communication tools used for virtual interaction allow for
records to be retained, VTs have a means for monitoring team activities that are not
available to face-to-face teams.
The technology-driven bias leads to the conviction that the introduction of technological
facilities will improve knowledge sharing amongst people, and can be harnessed by the
organization to prevent the loss of knowledge. This can prove to be misleading and
having an established Intranet is not sufficient for sharing knowledge. The conclusion
from analyzing IAI's CoPs has been that creating a network of experts and facilitating
physical encounters opens a large potential for knowledge sharing, only latter to be
backed by IT.
Interpersonal processes comparison (such as conflict, uninhibited behavior, interpersonal trust,

and group cohesiveness):
In comparing face-to-face groups to VTs, some researchers have found that conflict is
more likely to occur in virtual contexts (researchers have long stated that conflict is an
important process that allows teams to make better decisions because more alternatives
are generated and considered prior to a decision being reached).
Related to conflict, researchers have found that the virtual context lends itself to more
uninhibited behavior by team members compared to interactions within face-to-face
contexts.
It has been argued that trust in VTs needs to develop quickly as teams may only interact
for a short period of time. Researchers have found that trust in VTs is derived initially
from perceptions of ability and integrity as well as memberspropensity to trust. It has
also been suggested that a face-to-face meeting during the initial 'courtship' period of a
VT's life cycle helps develop trust in the team.
Team outcomes comparison (affective, such as member satisfaction, and performance, such as
effectiveness, speed of decisions, and decision quality):
In general, lower levels of satisfaction are reported in VTs than in face-to-face teams.
However, for decision-making tasks, members of VT groups have reported being more
satisfied with the group process, in part, because more alternatives were considered and
more voting rounds took place.
When considering VT performance, researchers have consistently found that virtual

interaction increases the amount of time required to accomplish tasks.
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The community launching process
Whether the initiative for the community came from grassroots levels, middle management, or
from the CKO representing corporate, the launching process has always started with a meeting of
all the people considered to be potential members of the eventual community and coming from
various divisions in the company. The CKO would spend about half an hour explaining to the
audience the virtues of knowledge sharing, and then would turn to each and every one of the
people present, and ask them what would be their personal interest in such a community if it was
to be established. General answers claiming interest in better knowing each other wouldn't be
accepted and the request would be for pertinent professional needs believed to exist elsewhere in
the company. A list of all requests would then be made as a first draft of the community goals.
The audience would then be proposed to join the eventual community with its basic set of goals.
People accepting to do so would have to participate in a two days seminar meant to crystallize
the members as a community, to establish its mandate and determine its goals, and to vote for a
leader from among themselves.
The overall purpose of the two days seminar was, to clarify to the joining members, the personal
and organizational benefits of knowledge sharing through a community of practice. This was
achieved by introducing the concept and the guiding principals of sustainable communities
around the world. To be more specific, the seminar evolved around removing barriers to
knowledge sharing and ways to at least circumvent them, forming bylaws, developing the
community's vision, mission and core values, establishing objectives, agreeing on realistic
measurements and electing the community's officers.
To most of us Israelis, learning in groups is an ancient concept since the early days of the
Talmud. Learning and particularly teaching is a trait deeply enrooted in Jewish tradition. The
introduction of communities of practice to our engineers resonated quiet well. But as mentioned
before, people were still somewhat apprehensive about sharing knowledge, since the "One
Company" concept has not been well assimilated yet and some felt they might loose a project to
a competing unit and consequently even lose their job.
Taking all that into consideration, we had to neutralize their concerns by relating to specific
arguments and by pointing to the personal and common benefits to the corporation. This process
was well accepted and enabled the interesting journey of forming the community's bylaws and
plans for the future.
We did not relate to the seminar as a training session but rather as a process of facilitation
through dialogs and consensual agreements. Formulating the vision and mission parts were
relatively easy; the more complex part was reaching agreement on goals, objectives and
particularly reaching consensus on measurements.
From the view point of a facilitator, the whole process of assisting in establishing the multitude
of communities was in itself although some times exasperating, a most rewording experience.
Initiating Engineers to Communicate and Share Knowledge

The overall concept of training adults in the framework of communities of practice can hardly
apply, since we are not dealing with an effort to improve a skill or to bestow a new one. In this
case we are tackling with something more profound as behavior change. Change by itself is not
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always easily accepted, especially changing behavior which is deeply enrooted by habits and
values. Therefore, training and the trainer's role in the process is that of a helper and facilitator.
The process helper must be knowledgeable in how to facilitate change among individuals and in
organizations.
Communicating and sharing are two different issues and both had to be defined and practiced.
On the one hand a behavioral change had to be established in order to shift from arguments to
dialogues, from swift exchanges of ideas to carefully and actively listened views. On the other
hand a paradigm shift had to evolve, develop and mature in order to establish trust in sharing
knowledge and information. The concept of "One Company" was cognitively understood but
people refrained from practicing it themselves.
Such fundamental changes are not to be administered via training but through persuasion,
inducement, motivation and influence. Unfortunately, there is no room for training knowledge
sharing, particularly among seasoned engineers such as those of IAI, especially when only two
days are allocated for the entire process of launching a full fledged community of practice with
all the trimmings, including agreed vision, mission, goals, objectives, standards, measurements
and a proclamation charter.
The basis on which we built the establishment of a community of practice is one of voluntary
participation. This means that members join by their free choice yet they participate during
working hours (which is in fact an expression of the company's participation). Once an employee
decides to join, he is in fact committed to his fellow members and 'obliged' to actively participate
and contribute. These terms were known and publicized ahead of time before joining the
community.
The fact that engineers agreed to participate indicated that the need to take part in such an
activity stemmed either from mere curiosity to find out and explore new possibilities in their
professional fields, to get socially involved with colleagues who share similar situations and
problems, or to draw the advantage of solving some of their professional difficulties out of these
meetings. Engineers in a demanding Hi-Tec industry are less expected to be inclined towards
social interaction as a result of their high time burden. Nevertheless, since they actually joined
the community, it could be that by joining the community they hoped to fill a social void, unless
they have been convinced to find there professional answers.
Facilitating such a delicate process entails a great deal of professional maturity, tolerance,
patience, endurance and mediation skills.

The ways to cultivate and sustain a community
To cultivate, is to prepare the ground for planting 'crops' for them to grow, to develop, to
improve and to nurture. All this means creating an atmosphere conducive to development that
will provide nourishment for creativity and learning, by creating an environment that will
encourage and promote knowledge sharing. Sustaining the community, needs the support and
expression of interest by upper management, and its encouragement by ways of celebrating
achievements of individual members contributing to the advancement of the common goals and
objectives. A newly formed community resembles a newly born baby who is unable to survive
on his own. Although we are dealing with adult individuals who share common interests, their
group behavior calls for the above.
Preparing the ground and launching a community of practice composed of strangers with
common interests is hard enough; sustaining such a community, is a different story altogether. It
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entails constant guidance and support on behalf of management that must show constant interest
but provide careful monitoring of its involvement. Metaphorically speaking, it resembles holding
a small delicate bird in your hands, you can caress it very gently and it will respond nicely but
there is a danger that you might squeeze too hard and choke it. The caressing part in the case of a
newly formed community has to be directed towards the elected officers who need guidance and
encouragement to perform their duties. After all, these people are trained to design and develop
sophisticated flying machines and most of them lack the inclination of dealing with the "soft
stuff" needed to keep together and nurture a group of strangers and to turn them into a coherent
community whose purpose is to expose themselves, reveal their strengths and weaknesses and
share their knowledge not only among themselves, but to an entire corporation, by way of
publicizing their thoughts through the intranet portal.
Cultivating and supporting should be performed in ways of personal coaching of the community
officers, periodical regular group coaching, and wherever necessary, by administrating training
in communication and leadership skills.
To make it worthwhile for the members to take part and show interest in the activities, it is
advisable to have a structured agenda that will consist of a well balanced mix of outside guest
speakers, and presentations given by community members. It is also recommended to create the
right balance between presentations where overhead slides are being shown in a darkened room
with passive listeners and meetings that are interactive dialogues, discussions and debates that
could intrigue the participants, so they can feel as contributing and sharing their knowledge.
An important aspect in the realm of cultivating and sustaining a community of practice is to
celebrate achievements and contributions of individual members. It is most important and even
essential to acknowledge their existence not only as individuals but as a vibrant active
community. This could be most appreciated in corporate culture where people work under the
constant pressure of time tables and deadlines. Celebrating achievements and knowledge
contributions is not a gimmick, but a fulfillment of a major need of recognition. The most
rewording recognition in the case of some of the communities we handled was the allocation of
substantial budgets for new and innovative projects generated as a result of the exchange and
sharing of knowledge among the community members.
The search for the right mix: Social versus professional as

community enhancers
The term 'community' is basically social; it can be defined as a group of people that share
common characteristics or interests. The individuals define and set boundaries, delineate roles
and regulations stipulate the required conditions to be met in order to guarantee the livelihood
and sustainability of the community. The individuals are considered and regarded as members of
equal stand. The dilemma to be resolved in the case of engineers (who are considered 'rational',
down to earth people) is whether the balance should lean at least at the infancy stage of the
community towards the social aspect of activities or hold the bull by the horns and get straight
away to professional business.
As we advocated the right balance concerning the ways and methods of knowledge sharing and
exchanges of information, the same attitude holds for a balanced mix of social and professional
activities. A community is perceived as a cohesive social entity. In our particular case where
knowledge is considered power and where people are apprehensive to share it, or on the other
hand, people not often expose their lack of knowledge, it is essential to create a protective
environment, family like atmosphere, where members can relax and ease their mind. This entails
some recreation and social activities some of which are directly related to the core business and
topics concerning the community, such as field trips to related organizations, lunches or dinners
where a guest speaker is engaged, participating as a group in professional conferences, both
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domestically and abroad, where they get the opportunity to spend together leisure time and so on
and so forth. This sort of social activity could serve as the glue to bond the ties among the
members.
We should not artificially separate between the professional content and the social framework.
These two must be interwoven and complementing each other. The recommended balance of the
community enhancers in terms of activities should consist of monthly meetings to go along with
almost daily visits to the web site where members are expected to adopt the site as their home
page. Members are to be encouraged to write down and share their thoughts and ideas as they
come, they should be encouraged to initiate dialogs so that a constant flow and generation of new
knowledge and ideas is created.
This mix and balance could create a sharing state of mind and turn the community of practice
from a trivial association to a focal point for the professionals who will relate to it as an
important source and junction of knowledge exchange and support, both professionally and
socially. We haven't actually tried this approach yet, but it is worth considering.
Researching the activity of communities

We have compared our research of the IAI communities of practice to one conducted at
Caterpillar Inc. They started their CoP activity in the mid 90s and called it "communities of
knowledge sharing". Their first community was established in 1997 and at the time of the
research they already had 600 online communities with more than 15000 members worldwide.
The result of their study, grouped according to four research questions shows (Ardichvili et al,
2003):
What are the reasons for employees willingness to contribute their knowledge to virtual
knowledge-sharing communities of practice?
The majority of respondents view their knowledge as a public good.
Knowledge exchange is motivated by moral obligation to the organization as a whole,

and to their professional community of engineers.
The willingness to share is part of the organization's culture.
Employees felt the need to establish themselves as experts.
Several managers and experts felt that they had reached a stage in their lives when it was
time to start giving back, sharing their expertise, mentoring new employees.
This should be compared to the results of the survey conducted in IAI and showing a clear
majority to people joining the community mainly because it supports the performance of their
tasks and because it boosts their professional capability.
What are the barriers to employeescontributing their knowledge to virtual knowledge-sharing
communities?
Their research points to the absence of a major barrier to knowledge sharing, often sited
in the literature, and variously defined as "information hoarding", or as "knowledge as an
individuals private asset and competitive advantage" mentality (Watson, 1997 cited in
Ardichvili et al, 2003 p.988). Thus, the majority of participants (55 percent) believed that
there was a strong evidence of employeeswillingness to share, and only a small minority
(less than 10 percent) believed that some employees are not willing to share because of
the "information hoarding" reasons.
People are afraid that what they post may not be important or may not be completely
accurate, or may not be relevant to a specific discussion.
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Need for more clear directions for distinguishing between acceptable and not acceptable
postings.
New employees often feel intimidated about posting because they do not believe they
have "earned the right" to post on a company-wide system.
The process of getting knowledge entries approved by managers is time consuming.
Security and confidentiality considerations lead to self-imposed censorship.
What are the reasons for employeeswillingness to use virtual knowledge-sharing communities
of practice as a source of new knowledge?
The majority of respondents view the system as a kind of encyclopedia.
The system is a useful problem-solving tool.
The system is used to obtain help with specific problems from individual experts.
The system is viewed as a tool for keeping informed of general developments in their
profession.
The system is viewed as a tool for managing the work.
The system is a useful tool that can replace or complement some of the meetings.
The system helps new people to more quickly integrate themselves into their new place
of work and become productive faster.
The system is viewed as a place to work together, to access to "best practices" or to

"lessons learned" data-bases, and as an easy link not only to ones own community, but to
other related communities and topics.
The systems ability to provide benefits beyond specific solutions to immediate

problems.
The system provides a space for jointly generating new knowledge, not just capturing the
existing knowledge.
What are the barriers preventing employees from using virtual knowledge-sharing communities
as a source of new knowledge?
Face-to-face group makes the knowledge network connecting the virtual CoPs redundant.
Some process-oriented problems are hard to duplicate thus making finding a solution on
the knowledge network difficult.
In some cases, people need a quick and accurate solution, and with the system there is a
danger of getting lots of answers, some of which may not be accurate and require
additional time for verification.
The authors of this research are considering CoPs exclusively as virtual teams, and therefore this
remark. We object to this limitation and at IAI, CoPs are required to physically meet on a
monthly basis, beyond their usage of the Intranet as a means of communication.
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What did participants think about their community a year after it was launched?
During the years 2003 2005, we have established 17 communities of practice at IAI (two in
2003, eight in 2004, and 14 in 2005; 14 of them were technological communities and three were
procedural), and in them over 200 employees.
Table 1: Technological communities at IAI
Number of divisions
represented
Number of
participants
Composite materials
11
15
Optical processing
10
Network centric systems
16
Non-destructive testing
11
12
Printed circuits
16
Flight control
17
High speed computerized numerical control
18
Computational fluid dynamics
Aeronautical structures
12
Advanced processors
11
Aerospace cabling
13
Electro-optics
14
Nano-technology
10
16
Human engineering
13
Technological communities
At the end of the first quarter in 2005, we surveyed those communities to evaluate the quality of
their performance. 41 members from 13 communities participated in the survey. The results
were:
56% stated that they participate in most of the community meetings and also try to
contribute.
78% stated that their participation in the community supports the performance of their
tasks.
73% stated that their participation in the community boosts their professional capability.
93% stated that the professionalism of the subject of the community is improving due to
its activity.
82% believed that the activity of communities is promoting innovation in the company.
76% stated that the community goals are dictating its activity and agenda.
34% stated that within the community goals there are some they are dependent upon for
the performance of their tasks.
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66% claimed that the pluralism caused by having representatives from various divisions
is advantageous.
34% claimed that they don't know how to measure the performance of the community.
69% stated that the Intranet-site of the community enables them to readily find relevant
information.
80% preferred not to be elected as the community leader.
One could clearly deduce from those results that community participants in IAI are very practical
people, which cherish their professionalism and which would come to its meetings if their
personal goals are on the agenda and if they are listened while contributing to other participants'
goals. They recognize the company's advantage of communities consisting of representatives
from different divisions but are not willing to make necessary effort to lead despite the
recognition by community members and by the Intranet publicity.
We then gathered the community leaders to a structured workshop meant to summarize what
they saw as the key success factors learned from one to two years (depending on the community
and its time of establishment) of activity.
The issues raised were essentially organizational, such as how to draw and attract more members
so that the community would bear and produce more substance? How to 'market' the community
to middle management for more support? What criteria or standards should be adopted for
recruiting new members? How to increase the current members` motivation for more
enthusiastic participation?
With the intention to draw an orderly, factual and honest feedback relating to the overall
evaluation of the communities of practice, we set the agenda for a structured workshop that was
introduced ahead of time to the community leaders, which included the following points of
reference:
Assimilation and absorption of the culture of knowledge sharing, overcoming the

obstacles.
Motivating, stimulating and encouraging members to actively participate.
The creation of added values to the individual, to his particular organizational unit and to
the corporation.
Enhancement and advancement of the community's goals and objectives.
"Knowledge import" from outside sources.
Building, enhancing and maintaining relationships among the members.
Invigorating, refreshing and enhancing activities: sort and nature of meetings, fresh ideas
and additional contents.
Auditing and following-up activities.
The community sponsor's contribution.
Marketing and public relation of the community.
Use and administration of the web-site.
In general, the workshop participants dealt with most issues mentioned above. We will point out
to those issues which seemed most significant to them:
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How to increase member's interest to participate and take a more active part in the
community.
Some pointed out that there were not enough personal incentives as in "what's in it for me".
Others recommended appointing new official functions so members would feel more
committed and more dedicated. A substantial numbers of participants indicated the
importance of enhancing the social aspects of the community through gatherings in pleasant
ambiences outside the work place (contradicting the deduction from the survey brought up
earlier about the practicality and professionalism of community members). Some proposed
identifying community members using badges and emblems so that they can proudly identify
with them and be recognized by others as members of a specific community. Some of the
participants suggested to monitor the active participation of members in the community and
then to include it in the periodical evaluation of employees.
Criteria for recruiting new members.
It seems that most community's leaders were concerned with the small size of the
community. All of them agreed that membership should not be restricted and should be
available to anyone in the company who shows interest. The recommendation made by the
workshop facilitator, to use limiting criteria for the joining of additional members after the
founding members of the community established it, so that to transmit a message of "hard to
get", was not well accepted.
How to precipitate the awareness, the need and the importance of maintaining a
community of practice to middle management.
It seems that this was one of the major issues brought up. Some suggestions indicated that
there was not enough recognition of the importance of the community by the middle
management. The result is the limitation they impose on employees who want to participate.
Some, although a minority, pointed to fact that the community activity should be budgeted so
that middle management would have less reasons to object.
The professionalism of community leaders.
An interesting point that came up was the needs to form a community of practice for
community leaders that will promote sharing of leadership experiences and help their
members acquire leadership and communication skills.
Community leadership
The structure of the community's leadership was based on an elected leader, a web-site
administrator and a sponsor appointed usually from the ranks of the upper management of IAI.
The community leader hasn't really been trained for the following three skills, leadership skills,
facilitation skills and motivation skills.
One way to help him would be to promote leadership to every individual, in view of the fact that
a community of practice is consisted of experts in their fields that should be given the task to
lead the community toward his specific field of expertise every once in a while. This could be
encouraged by distributing more responsibilities to be carried by every individual member. The
result is of course that the community leader would now have to lead leaders as opposed to
passive members of the community.
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Technical experts are not necessarily leaders of people. Because of the nature of their
occupation, most of them did not have the time or the energy to socialize, nevertheless to assume
leadership roles in a voluntary set up such as a community of practice. It has been claimed that
there is a leadership potential in most people. Leadership can be exercised and demonstrated in
many ways. Allow people the right opportunity and they will assume the role where they feel
confident and safe. In our case we failed to embark on this assumption, we ignored the hidden
wishes and some times basic needs of leadership and did not offer enough adequate opportunities
to bring out the potential, and therefore missed a greater involvement, interest and commitment
to sustain the community.
When launching the communities we planned for two officers only. Should there be more
designated roles, it would have allowed for more substantial involvement, that could have been
more fertile and bear more fruits. The officers were elected by the members, the leadership role
of the community and the web administrator. The more people are actively involved the more
they are committed. In order to maintain a sustainable community, we should create more
official functions, duties and roles so that members can assume more responsibility for the
productive well being of the community at large. Additional official roles such for example as a
person in charge of social events could be designated according to the nature of the community's
field of interest.

Key success factors
One could summarize the key success factors to the sustainability of communities from the
analysis of the issues raised along the workshop:
The subject dealt by the community
A subject of dynamic nature, at the edge of state of the art development, and constantly
reinventing itself.
The subject of the community must be very well focused and defined. Eventually a
community can grow in time additional branches to develop specific portions of the
subject.
The character of the community
Trust must rule among the community members.
Communities perform as a professional union which improves the capability of the
company in its specific subject.
The community leader:
A charismatic leader would have an easier job leading the community.
Community leaders are mostly committed to their job. This could be either because they
believe it is important, because they are interested in leading the subject, or because they
prefer not to be led by others.
For the leaders, their position is neither a task nor a hobby. They could be seen as
missionaries drawn by the "One Company" value and could therefore gain a lot from the
interest expressed by the sponsor.
The community leader is pulling it ahead; but who is pulling the leader? It's not the
sponsor who shouldn't take an active role in the activity of the community. The
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conclusion is that the established goals of the community, voted by the participants, is the
main generator for the community leader.
Community leaders should be aware of the dynamics among the participating members,
encouraging all to participate, and preventing some from over-ruling the discussion.
The time required by the leader for his community activity is no way comparable to what
is invested by the other members. Management should consider the allocation of a
specific budget for the community leaders.
The position of the communities in the company:
The higher management of the company seems to be aware of the importance of the
communities. The problem is with the middle management, who is sometimes not
allowing members to participate.
The "One Company" significance that the communities have seems to be better
understood by grassroots than by management.
The promotion of the communities to management must be based on initial results and
cannot be left as a matter of principle.
The task of positioning the community in the company cannot be left only to the leader
and it should be distributed among additional members.
The community goals:
Communities must elect their own goals and make them rule their agenda, so that they do
not deteriorate to be pointless social gatherings.
Communities that have made these goals as their agenda have sustained more than others.
All communities have dedicated their first meetings to knowing each others, but after this
first round, if they haven't established goals to themselves, they didn't have good enough
reasons to meet.
The community must have a long term agenda (up to a year long), in which members can
recognize their personal goals and when are they to be addressed.
The community Intranet-site:
The Intranet-site of most communities acts as a repository for the commonly shared
information between the members.
A minority of the communities are using the site to manage and to record their meetings.
A minority of the communities are using the site to manage and to record their goals.
Communities are not receiving feedback about what is appearing on their site from
people across the company.
The importance of the community Intranet-site seems to require the appointment of a
member for its management.
The community structured operation:
Periodical physical meetings of the community.
The basis of participants for technological communities should be coming from
grassroots and not from management.
Not all members are appearing at all meetings of the community (as we can see from the
result of the survey). To keep the number of participants in any specific meeting above a
minimum of 5-6, one must have a minimum membership of 10-12.
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The company should consider the employment of an administrative team to run meetings
and the Intranet-site of the communities.
Allocating dedicated responsibilities (as the positioning of the community in the
company, the management of the content of shared information, and others) to different
members, make them active participants and support the community leader.
Meetings should be run in a managed format, starting with dealing with the pre-planned
agenda of goals, addressing ad-hoc issues of community members, sometimes listening to
an invited lecture by an external expert, and ending with an appraisal of the participants
so that expectations of the leader and the members are addressed.
Lessons learnt
Considering that:
Communities in general are characterized by the various forms of interaction, where
every individual has something in common that allows him to identify with the group.
Every individual carries a load of beliefs, opinions, resources, preferences, needs, risks,
and very often conditions that may affect his identification with the community.
Knowledge can be shared, encouraged and grown in an atmosphere where people feel
comfortable with each other.
The crucial factors as far as sustaining a viable community are the balance between self
interest and shared interests, the right mix of participants, and the lasting ties among
them.
We have learned that:
CoP`s sustainability must be cultivated and nurtured. Just launching a community does
not guaranty that it will survive and thrive.
Community leaders must be trained periodically in communication, facilitation, and
leadership skills. The training will fortify and reinforce their abilities and motivation to
contribute and encourage other member to get more involved in sharing and generating
new knowledge.
A marketing campaign should be launched with the intention of making participation in a
community of knowledge appealing and maybe even "hard to get", so that it would be
promoted to a prestigious status.
Communities should not be left as the only existing means of sharing within the
company.
The launching workshop should be spread over a prolonged period of time: one full day
for the launch and two additional half days for re-enforcement.
The social aspect of the community has to be enhanced.
More tasks should be distributed to community members in order to encourage more
active involvement.
The role of a significant influential sponsor is very much needed to actively participate in
the social and professional life of the community. Such an enhancing figure should serve
as an active liaison to upper management.
385
Celebrating group and individual achievements is an important factor in enhancing and

motivating the participants to deepen their sense of belonging.
Notwithstanding the function that the community goals can play for its sustainability, one
must be careful not to give it the character of a project team, since then it would lose in
the competition for resources to the projects.
The communities are dependent on their leader. The leaders would be dependent on the
members of their community if the results of its activity were company goals, but they
are not they are the personal goals of the participants. This creates a non-symmetrical
balance between the leader and the participants.
The way the leader is appointed (in a democratic way by the participants) is in no way
concurrent with his importance to the success of the community. The process should
maybe in better control and voting should be reiterated after a while depending on the
satisfaction of the participants. Unfortunately the last items of the survey mentioned
above show this to be an impasse.
The preparation given to the community and to its leader during the launching process
doesn't seem to be sufficient for the events happening in the life of the community.
A community of "Community Leaders" should be formed, where leadership and
procedural experiences will be exchanged. Such a community will also serve as a support
group where members could vent their concerns.
Community members are not communicating through the site; they read the information
there and then use emails or the telephone.
These lessons might seem to an outsider, kind of counter productive to a self organizing
community; but concluding from our ample experience, we are inclined to believe that although
a self organizing community is a sublime idea, it is in the interest of practicality, most helpful to
apply at least some of the lessons learnt.
386
Acknowledgements
This chapter is dedicated to the IAI community leaders, who against all odds, and sometimes
bypassing limitations exerted by locally focused and short sighted middle management, managed
to create a movement of knowledge sharing which is the best expression of IAI being "One
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Author Biographies
Rony Dayan is a retired Lt. Colonel of the Israeli Air Force, with
industrial experience as deputy GM of MBT, one of the Israel Aerospace
Industries successful divisions (http://www.iai.co.il). Prior to that, he
was the corporate marketing representative in South East Asia where he
received the IAI President Marketing Award for outstanding
performance. Rony has been leading the effort to incorporate Knowledge
Management in the companys set of actions for the implementation of a
comprehensive change program. The program is being implemented now
across the five groups and twenty divisions of this 2B$ Aerospace &
Defense company. Rony has also given courses in Business & HighTech Marketing and is now teaching the subject of The Establishment of
Schools as Learning Organizations for the Israel Teachers Association.
Rony holds a PhD degree from the University of Cranfield in the UK in
the field of Knowledge Management; he also holds an Engineering
degree from the Technion in Haifa, Israel, and a Masters Degree, both in
Electronics, from the US Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright
Patterson AFB, in Dayton, Ohio, USA. Rony has been publishing
chapters in books and academic papers on the subject of Knowledge
Management and presenting it in international conferences along the last
four years...
Yossi Pasher is well known in Israel and abroad as a leading expert in
O.D and training. Through more than thirty years of experience he has
planed and implemented various projects in the areas of HRD,
Knowledge Management and team development on a large scale as well
as leadership in various organizations in the private business, industrial
and public sectors. Yossi is the Principle of Yossi Pasher & Associates a management training and consulting firm. Yossi coordinated and
trained the teams which negotiated the Gaza and Jericho accord as part
of the Oslo agreement: sea, air and land as well as ample training
experience with airline companies throughout their global system such
as EL-AL and North-West in the realm of cross cultural issues. He also
designed and implemented various programs for the IDF and Police
academy for senior officers in Israel. Yossi has experience in conducting
seminars in the field of private banking in the US, Canada, Mexico and
South America. He served as the executive director of the Jerusalem
YMHA and the associate executive director of the New York Brooklyn
YMHA community centers. Yossi holds a Masters degree in the field of
adult education from Wayne State University Detroit Michigan, a
Bachelors degree in History and Biblical Studies as well as a teaching
certificate from Tel-Aviv University. He has published two books under
the title of "Effective Presentation" and "Effective Negotiations" as well
as various articles on leadership and Management issues.
389
Mediation and the

Mediatory Approach
Markus Hess
Keywords:
Mediation, Moderation, Group Facilitation, Conflict Solving
Mediation and the Mediatory

Approach
Markus Hess, hess development Nottwil, (welcome@hessdevelopment.ch)

Mediation is an approach that supports identification and dealing with conflicts in teams. It is a
fascinating way of working with others in difficult situations in a way that is democratic and
saves face for all parties involved. This process is highly suitable for addressing conflicts in the
public domain as well as in organizations of the private sector.
However, overseeing the mediation process constitutes a complex interpersonal challenge that is
demanding especially with regard to leadership, perception, questioning techniques, empathy,
and intervention. Each mediator will develop and apply his or her own individual style during
the process. This chapter describes the mediation process that the author has developed during
almost 10 years of working in the field. It provides an overview on the phases of a mediation
process as well as practical tips and tricks for facilitating it.
Keywords: mediation, moderation, group facilitation, conflict solving.

Usually, managers call mediation experts and ask for help in evaluating and settling a conflict
within their team when internal channels for resolving conflicts were tried but have failed and
thus been abandoned.
In this situation, the team members (core team 1 ) who are trapped by a conflict are at an
impasse. The manager is frustrated and in a helpless, if not hopeless, situation. Having seen how
the situation developed more or less first-hand, perhaps even contributed to it, the members of
the core team know the story only too well. They are waiting to see what will happen next, and
are performing tasks in a work-to-rule manner. All in all, the atmosphere is rather tense.
Furthermore, the grapevine is becoming increasingly active because formal information channels
are partially blocked and inflexible in their content. The atmosphere is impacting motivation and
productivity is starting to decline. In short, the conflict has become a top priority.
The term core teamhas proven useful in connection with conflict resolution in the closer sense because it also
refers to the generally constructive approach adopted by leading project teams. Using neutral language with positive
connotations is one part of a constructive and progressive stance adopted of a successful mediator.
393

Prior the mediation process, the mediator has to do a careful analysis. For this analysis, he needs
to gather both external and internal as well as group and individual perspectives on the current
situation and the conflict:
For a first analysis of the current situation, the mediator needs to have a meeting with the
manager. Information from the manager is here regarded as external perspective. This
information is important because it forms the basis for engaging an external mediator, and
information heard first has the tendency to be given more weight. Most of the time, a clients
version of the situation is quite subjective, which is understandable and also normal. Therefore
the mediator needs to listen carefully to what is being said and try to pick up specific and general
information about those involved in the conflict.
In a second step, a meeting with the whole team needs to be organised. In this meeting, the
mediator gathers an overview on the internal (team) perspective. The purpose of such a
meeting is to introduce the mediator to the parties involved, to present his ideas for tackling the
situation, and to obtain the approval of the parties. A further important part of the first meeting
with the protagonists involves clarifying the process, and also explaining the concepts of
mediation, meditative process, and mediator. For most of those present, this would mean
suddenly being confronted with a new instrument. Familiarization with the process content on
the cognitive level takes those in conflict (mediatees) to new territory on which they can learn,
and thus frees them somewhat from the mental conflict orbit in which they are trapped.
Furthermore, it is important for them to hear that the process, of which they are the owners,
can be terminated at any time by any one in their group. Their willingness to participate in the
process thus receives a boost, and the decision by the manager to engage a mediator is perceived
as less authoritarian due to the heightened interest the parties themselves now have in the
process.
Depending on the time and degree to which the conflict has permeated the behavior of the
mediatees, and depending on the size of the core team, the mediator will use cards to make notes
about the mediateescurrent situation and adopt the following three-step questioning method. He
is asking:
Whats going well? This question allows the protagonists to distance themselves from the
current situation, which they probably experience as difficult and oppressive, to gain
awareness of other aspects that may be positive, and it helps them realize the need for
showing respect.
How are things at this moment? This question helps to find out whats working and, more
importantly, whats not working at the moment. The current discontent and all the associated
emotional baggage begin usually to surface when this question is asked.
How would you like to cooperate with the other team members in the future? This
question deliberately creates a future scenario aimed at getting the parties to drop the current
activities that are sustaining the conflict, and to introduce something new over which each
person has some control mentally.
After having conducted these meetings, the mediator has gathered three pieces of information on
the current situation:
The clients description (manager).
The description of those involved in the conflict (whole team).
His own impressions and evaluation of the situation.
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With this, the mediator is now starting to analyze the conflict. Here he uses the following theory
and experiences as a basis:
The conflict phases as defined by Glasl (2000, pp. 92)
Spider web analysis (Knappert 2000)
Conflict types according to Faller (2000)
The mediators own experience and evaluation
The analysis is important as after it, the mediator is in a better position to evaluate precisely if
mediation is the right instrument, and address considerations with regard to time, people (comediator, administrator), and financial resources that are needed. He may even review his own
competencies against the profile that this job requires. In the case that the mediator will accept
the job, he will now write an offer that is then discussed with the client a few days later.
A decisive factor in resolving the conflict is for the mediator and all mediatees to establish trust
and build a rapport. If the level of trust is insufficient, even by only one mediatee, the mediator
will be unlikely able to sustain the process. One technique that has proven worthwhile in
building trust in lengthy difficult and entrenched conflicts is conducting one-to-one interviews
prior to the mediation. These additional interviews are conducted especially when the mediator
has the impression during his first analysis that the conflict is deeply entrenched and the parties
have firmly dug in their heels, e.g. are behaving as lone warriors or showing little empathy as a
group, a one-to-one meeting is one way of bringing relief to individuals and the situation.
Furthermore, the experience is that merely providing people who have been in conflict for an
extended period with an opportunity to talk freely and without interruption has a soothing effect,
and that this alone helps alleviate tension. One-to-one meetings often also help in building trust
between the mediator and mediatee.
During this pre-mediation phase, the meditative process already starts to apply: For example, it
involves deliberately paraphrasing and applying questioning techniques that encourage selfreflection and indicate a direction for the future. This also involves expressing thoughts and
making inquiries in an empathetic manner as a way of showing understanding and respect for
what are mostly personalized and subjective truths, but it can also include a gentle or a
confrontational set of instructions involving a hypothetical or alternative course of action. This
serves as a way of introducing the non-partisan nature of mediation whereby all members have
equal access to the mediator as the contact person, audience, and listener. In contrast to a judge
in court whose function essentially involves listening and making decisions, the mediator can
more directly address what are often the hidden yet very real interests, needs and wishes of those
involved in a conflict.
These one- to- one meetings ends with a further and more detailed analysis phase: All the
information obtained from answers is now at hand. The summary of the current situation has
been expanded, and the moderator has a detailed list of positive aspects, points of contention and
his own evaluation. Thus, the analysis of the conflict situation can now provide details on:
Current conflicts (who is in conflict with whom about what)
Level of escalation, as defined by Glasl
Type of conflict
Causes of the conflict situation
Individuals involved
Organizational aspects
Whats happening right now?
Key points of contention.
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Questions that point ahead now are:

What will happen if no action is taken?; worst case scenario
What are expectations and suggestions from management?
What are expectations and suggestions from other members of the organization?
The analysis is then discussed in detail with the client, who decides on the next steps based on
the mediators recommendation. Here, the budget aspect, too, plays a role. Experience tells that,
especially in difficult conflict situations, the budget issue is of secondary importance. In the
private sector, in particular on the administrative level, there is increasing awareness that
mediation compared to other measures, such as summary dismissal / release from duties, or
outcomes litigated in court is more effective as a face-saving measure for the parties involved,
and that it is quicker and less costly.

Lets assume that the client has been given the green light to continue the process and that the
mediator has been engaged to work with the parties in the closer sense of the word2. The toolkit
he would need for the next steps consists of the following items:
1. Room type: A calm, large and bright room, away from the participants daily office
premises, if possible; chairs for everybody, no tables in between the persons present (if
accepted by the mediatees).
2. Specific materials: Flipchart, Pin-board, writing material, kit for moderation.

In Latin, mediatiomeans in the middle,and also connotes complete and intact,(Duss-von
Werdt 2005, p 26). Mediation comes into question if the mediatees, based on their knowledge of
mediation and mediator, have agreed to this approach, and if the mediator regards this
procedure to be viable option based on his/her analysis. If the mediation process constitutes an
imposed top-down measure, it has little chance of succeeding, let alone leading to a sustainable
outcome. Authors generally break the process down into 5-6 phases. Figure 1 shows, the sixphase model (Montada & Kals, 2001). It contains the following phases:
It is important when making analyses and recommendations that the mediator knows the largest number of
alternatives for handling conflicts (coaching, team development, solicitous advice, litigation) that then enable him/her
to define and give reasons for a particular course of action being recommended.
396
1. Contact
2. Identifying issues, gathering information
3. Clarifying the different interests
4. Developing alternatives (brainstorming / brainwriting)
5. Working out the best solution
6. Agreeing and recording the solution. Checking for fairness.
Figure 1: Six phases of the mediation process (adapted from Montada & Kals, 2001)
In a next step, the single phases will be described.
Phase 1 Contact
Within this phase, all open questions must be clarified with the client: First impressions,
definition of the assignment, the fee, location, schedule, invitations to meetings, facilities.
Phase 2 Identifying issues, gathering information
This phase marks the first time that the mediator actually meets with the people involved in the
conflict in the role of mediator. Depending on the extent of the conflict, the process may include
the above-mentioned interim phase of the one-to-one meetings at this stage. This is generally a
very dynamic phase during which the parties become loud and emotional and occasionally
express what they reallythink.
For the mediator, its important especially during the more emotional phases of a meeting to
retain the necessary authority when managing the process, to acquire authority by asserting the
rules, and to get the members of the group to examine a particular incident that just happened
from a bird-eye perspective. The mediator thus becomes fully engaged in the events and is called
upon and hopefully also able to facilitate the gradual process of gaining clarity and reducing
barriers by showing understanding, mirroring behaviours, exchanging opinions, and making
inquiries in a constructive manner.
The main objective in Phase 2 is to identify the issues that preoccupy the parties in conflict and
that now need to be addressed. These are now written down in neutral language by the mediator
(statements such as he always acts in a horribly brash and accusatory mannerare noted down
as communication style or communication). Both mediatees must end up agreeing to the
way the issue is formulated, which then becomes a basis for subsequent work. In this phase,
when uncovering the groups differences, and in other parts of the mediation as well, its useful
to focus awareness on whatever common ground and consensus there may be, because this can
promote understanding among the members of the group.
397
Phase 3 Clarifying the different interests

After the issues have been recorded in neutral language on the flipchart, it becomes important to
find out how the members' interests line up with the issues. For example: What did you want to
achieve when you ask in such an assertive way? Whats at stake for you here?Each action is
driven by motives, of which the person may not even be aware at a particular moment. By
focusing on the interests we start to dis-cover the thoughts, ideas, intentions, feelings, and
especially the interests that have gotten buried under the debris of the conflict. At the same time
we are also separating the person from the issue (reason, cause, intention, and goal connected
with the function). While managing the process, the mediator needs to try to point out the extent
to which rational behaviour governs both protagonistsaction. He should aim at showing that
both sides can or could have had good reasons for thinking, talking and acting in the way they
just did, and that from their subjective angle their behaviour made sense, and may even have
been logical. He then can try to get the other side to understand this causality. Here he should
rely on further interventions that highlight the emotional injuries in a way that saves face for the
members of the group.
The following questions can help in continuing to structure, inquire, and better understand the
membersinterests: Lets assume youre right that your conviction makes you more efficient. In
what other ways would this come to bear? Who else would benefit?In case youre making little
or no headway in clarifying the different interests, the following (partial) step was helpful in
moving forward:
Mutual acknowledgement of the other sides difference (a unique human being) and that even
with the best of intentions its possible to have different opinions about a particular issue. This
approach already constitutes a mutual acceptance of the difference, and marks a first step toward
building respect, even toward a current enemy.
Phase 4 Developing alternatives (brainstorming / brain writing)
It often happens that a solution starts to emerge already prior to Phase 4. In this case the mediator
will write it down on the flipchart (separate sheet) and mention that the group will refer to it later
in more detail when the time is right.
Figure 2: Mediator explaining what he wrote down on the flip chart

Whenever possible, the solution phase should be conducted in a less formal and relaxed manner,
which is the result of the secureand amicable conclusion of Phase 3. Here, its important to
adopt the right attitude and approach during mediation.
398
To start off, all ideas are recorded on the flipchart under the motto nothings impossible; there
are only right answers.This activity alone normally helps to relax the members of the group. At
the same time there is a risk of having a relapse. The mediator should accompany the process by
showing understanding, i.e. through participating in the relapse and making intuitive and
analytical evaluations of whether its important and relevant to linger on a particular past event
or if it makes better sense to quickly and jointly return to the present and the current phase of the
mediation. Here it is important to support the process by showing understanding and respect,
without losing sight of or forgetting the other mediatees and their contributions.
Phase 5 Working out the best solution
This part of the mediation is vulnerable to further relapses whereby group members again take
up their previous positions. In this case it means that the mediateesemotions were not fully
defused during previous phases and that both parties are not yet willing and able to fully
understand the other side.
Most of the time, the process and the mediatees provide the mediator with a second chance.
Other times its also possible to make rapid headway when mediating in Phase 5. This applies
especially in situations where the main causes of the conflict are emotional injuries, which, in the
wake of intense work during Phases 2 and 3, the feeling of relief among the mediatees is so
strong that developing the solution resembles doing a puzzle: the protagonistscontributions to
the solution fall into place like interlocking pieces, and may prove to be complementary.
Until now, a lot of work was done on the relationship level and this has helped to define the
emotional and objective boundaries. All members are thus in some form of transitional state,
which is always emotional. Change is therefore inevitable; however, personalities and moods
may influence the process as well.
Phase 5 is mostly a rather calm, objective and protracted dispute in the form of a familiarization
process involving whatever content has been developed and crystallized mentally during the
course of Phases 2-4.
As the guardian of the impartial and neutral process, its the mediators task to ensure that the
following fundamental principles are observed during constructive negotiation:
Enlarge the pie: always first look for other solutions, channel the results of ideas on
alternatives/choices into the process as additional content to be negotiated.
Give and take: Each mediatee gets what he/she wants and offers the opponent something
of equal value in return (e.g. a condominium for a piece of property or real estate fund). All
mediatees must be able to balance what they take with what they give. The mediator has to
draw attention to any noticeable imbalances he or she observes.
"You can take it": Each member must be able to accept something negative.
Whole puzzle: All issues are part of a whole and we will continue to negotiate until the
picture is complete. Thorny issues will be left out and saved for later.
Phase 6: Agreeing and recording the solution. Checking for fairness
Although most of the work has already been completed, a number of important points must still
be addressed to ensure that the solution remains viable in the long-term. These include:
Playing devils advocate:
In this (previously communicated) role, the mediator examines if the proposed solution is
compatible with the mediateesoverall work environment. What would happen if ?This also
means continuing to confront the parties to the conflict with worst-case scenarios and assessing
their reactions. Here its also useful to take a look at the organizational structure in order to
evaluate if a change would be compatible with the current system, and what side effects or risks
this might bring with it.
399
Checking for fairness

As soon as the solution the mediatees and I are proposing starts to involve aspects that touch on
laws and jurisdictions, internal regulations and due diligence obligations will require me to
submit the proposed solution to competent experts who will review it with regard to its legality.
Although the parties to the agreement generally have free rein in drafting their proposal, the
decision-making scope as a whole must comply with the applicable laws.

Ideally, implementation of the proposal is put down in writing that spells out who does what with
whom by when. The action plan is a very important result of the mediation session. Also, the
group will have to define who will draft the mediation agreement and how the flipchart papers
will be handled.
After each meeting, and also at the end of the mediation, the mediatees and the mediator agree
on what will be communicated to whom and when. For mediation processes taking place in the
public domain the mediator recommends consulting a professional agency. He may even
recommend that the parties engage a communication specialist.
Usually, the mediator suggests that all parties to meet again in 3-4 months in order to review the
current situation and evaluate where the mediatees stand with regard to implementing the
solution.

Three year old conflict
That conflict involved key persons working in the same team (12 members). The cold conflict
got hot periodically. The mediators began with a kick off meeting, presenting themselves,
explaining the term and process of mediation, answering questions and last but not least,
measuring with a quantitative tool the degree of the existing working satisfaction3.
Next, we lead individual interview sessions with all the team members in order to listen to
everybodys subjective truth and to check out the general willingness to participate in the
mediation process. Then, we wanted to verify the readiness to meet with the main opponents in
the mediation process and whether we, the mediators (co-mediation, two persons) were accepted
by the participants.
The first meeting with the team: It was not easy for the participants to pronounce what exactly
caused all the trouble, anger, frustration and even physical pain. Finally, it happened that two
people took the lead and explained their feelings about the situation.
Only the third team meeting with the core team brought all the conflict causing issues on the
surface. An extremely emotional session made that one person was leaving the room explaining
Example: Question asked: How do you feel about the satisfaction in regard to the atmosphere of cooperation in your team?
Please, mark the corresponding number: 1= no satisfaction, 10=extraordinary satisfaction

1
400
10
that he was not capable to attend any longer, that he was suffering too much. That moment of the
session was significant and allowed a turn: On one side it caused a kind of shock among the
mediatees remaining in the room and reflected the previous process in an extremely intensive
way. On the other side it made feel responsible and nobody wanted to quit the process in that
state. The situation was discussed and it became soon clear that everybody participating up to
now wanted to continue the mediation process.
Further sessions of mediation were scheduled, this time with always two persons of the core
team only. These sessions showed a different attitude: The participants were calm, concentrated,
willing to discuss issues matter of fact, they listened to each other. The participants were
accepting to forget about the past und they were able to verbalize mutually the respect and
acceptance they had for the other persons way of being and thinking.
Seven months after having met the whole team and having lead five mediation sessions in
between, we met again with the whole team, in order to inform what we did and where we stood.
Furthermore we wanted to measure again the quality of cooperation asking the same question as
mentioned above.
A session to finalize the period of working on the core part of conflict was held and the results of
the second inquiry were presented: they were rather positive.
A follow up session was held four months later. The moderation was a real pleasure: The
participants were listening to each other attentively and respectfully. Again, we asked the above
mentioned question in order to measure the progress achieved. A considerable improvement of
the cooperation was expressed.
After that session we handed over the development process it became now a team development
issue - to the head of the team.
What are the success factors? We think:
The confidence the mediators gained from the persons mandating us but as well as from
the mediatees.
The mediators succeeded finally to make feel the participants responsible of the process,
especially for the outcome and success of it.
Allowing the process taking its time: We accompanied the team for one year (it was
necessary).
Lessons learned:
Not leaving the other members of the team without information or contact for too long,
while working with the core team. A lot occurs also on the emotional level, when
working on the process with the core team, the team mates cannot fully understand what
happened during their absence and they may feel confused and let alone.
It has proven extremely worth while staying in close contact with the persons mandating
us when the process was at its peak and at a critical point as well as remaining in touch
with mediatees who were strongly involved emotionally and felt like leaving the process.
401
Confidence
A team had problems with their leader: Some persons did not accept how their leader (B) lead
the team in general nor could they fully accept how he commented on their work delivered to
him: The results and recommendations of the work done by the team, usually forwarded to the
top manager (A) through B, differed obviously quite often from what was handed in to B. The
team felt deceived, the leader (B) misunderstood and disappointed.
Some members of the team were resentful towards the mediation at the beginning. The first
meeting was already quite stormy: The atmosphere was quickly filled with a large number of
themes, complaints and accusations. Still, the session could be lead in an orderly way. The
mediation team (two persons) filtered the information and channelled it into themes written
down on a flip chart in a neutral formulation, always in accordance with the authors of the
themes.
The second and third meeting helped to stabilize the situation and to find out about the
hypotheses that some members of the team would have lost confidence in their leader (B).
During the following two sessions the mediators were fully absorbed treating the questions of
confidence, the degree of confidence necessary to do the job motivated, the definition of roles
and procedures to be followed.
The sixth session (after 3 months) was the basis of action points drawn. The participants were
now able to concentrate on the future, on ways out of their conflicts and problems.
Why did confidencebecome the major conflict issue?
Several reasons:
1. The leader (B) understood his role in a way his team did not, and the team did not know
about the job interpretation of B.
2. The management style of B left room for improvement
3. The team could have been more reliable in regard to the tasks B asked for.
4. The whole team including B suffered from an enormous pressure caused by their daily
workload before and during a significant part of the mediation period. Each little mistake
caused anger, bad feelings and pushed the tensions into a conflict.
What helped to work on the conflict successfully
Again several aspects:
1. The time given to the team to start a mediation process was extremely helpful and crucial
for the change of the working atmosphere.
2. The clearing of the roles: B could finally explain to all the team members how he
understood his job and why he acted and decided the way he did. The team members on
their side could express how they wanted to do their job faithfully.
3. Passing by of the pressure period: It was interesting to observe how the faces and voices
became calmer, more relaxed, less nervous and helped to change the atmosphere into a
constructive and prosperous working climate.
4. Life- and working experience of the mediators helped, especially to bridge the gaps of
understanding the interpretation of job roles
402
Lessons learned or confirmed

1. It showed extremely helpful to channel carefully the information given, especially during
the first and stormy session. Then it was important to paraphrase in a clear way, to take
seriously everything what the participants said, to write down the essence of a statement
in a neutral formulation, to show interest and empathy, to remain the leader of the process
in implementing rules of how to proceed and interact.
2. Also leading the participants to the birds eye perspective showing the mediatees in
which phase of the process we stood, reflecting delicate points together, gave them an
orientation and a saver feeling.
3. A general or specific working load of individuals or whole teams can aggravate
significantly an already existing problem or conflict situation.
4. The mediatorss capability to improvise is extremely helpful, especially when meetings
get stormy, when everything prepared is impossible to apply and new ways of how to
proceed must be agreed upon, immediately.

A mediation mandate requires, in particular, mediators who have additional qualifications in
working with large groups, and who are experienced in managing organizational
development projects.
For the one to one interviews in the pre-mediation phase, it is a good idea to use a semistructured list of questions, of which 3-5 items were prepared and put to all members of a
group. Besides or in addition to these questions, and depending on the individuals and the
situation, the discussion can also expand in scope, or go into greater detail on some of the
issues.
In order to uncover members' interests and line them up with the issues, ask questions like
What did you want to achieve when you ask in such an assertive way? Whats at stake for
you here?.
The rules of conducting mediation processes drawn up by professional associations as e.g.
the Swiss mediation association (SDM-SFM) provide an important framework for the work
of professional mediators.
Never accept a mandate if, even after the one- to- one interviews, the level of trust is
insufficient, even by only one mediatee.
Take care that the situation in the mediation process does not start to get out of control.
Therefore, its useful to introduce a few rules like Listen and dont interrupt othersor
Choose words and a tone that is acceptable to the other person and that allows him/her to
respond.
403
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Adrian Kindler, Engineer and Mediator, who assisted me during the whole process in
a very fine and effective way!
Thanks also to Doris Iseli, Mediator SDM, who invited me to co-mediate
Thanks to Reinhard Kunz who helped to translate parts of the article into English.
Duss-von Werdt, J. (2005) Homo mediator, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart.
Faller, K. (1999- 2000) Course documents of post-graduate course on mediation in business,
administration, and the surroundings, University of Applied Sciences, Aargau, Baden.
Glasl, F. (2000) Selbsthilfe in Konflikten, Verlag Freies Geistesleben.
Knappert, C. (1999- 2000) Course documents of post-graduate course on mediation in business,
administration, and the surroundings, University of Applied Sciences, Aargau, Baden.
Montada, L. & Kals, E. (2001) Mediation, Beltz, Ort.
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Author Biography
Markus Hess is working within the area of HRM since 1998.

Since 2002 he is CEO of his own consulting company, hess
development. His professional focus is on management coaching,
mediation and support of team processes. In addition, Markus
Hess is leading an executive conflict management program at
Lucerne Business School.
405
Defining, Instituting
and Sustaining a
Knowledge
Management
Program
Gurbans S. Chatwal and
Srinivas P. Jagannath
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Knowledge Measurement, Strategies,
Knowledge
Defining, Instituting and

Sustaining a Knowledge
Management Program
Gurbans S Chatwal, Global Practice Leader and KM Head, Kanbay Software, India
(gschatwal@kanbay.com)
Srinivas P Jagannath, KM Lead, Kanbay Software, India (spjagannath@kanbay.com)

The global IT sourcing market picked up momentum in the mid 1980s and has continued to
mature and face shifting challenges. The challenges of working with outsourced partners have
been primarily because of increasing size, complexity of governance, loss of knowledge, high
switching costs, not using best practices, and inadequate skills proficiency. Cutting costs has
been the key driver till now for businesses to outsource. But new challenges have emerged with
increasing size and complexity of outsourced deals and consequently the business results
achieved have been lower than expected. While outsourcing is still seen as a strategic initiative,
an increased focus on solving business problems and bottom line returns has rightfully brought
business rather than IT to centre stage. Now with businesses driving IT needs, CIOs are more
focused on solving real business problems and factoring in industry best practices to look for
innovative solutions.
How should IT providers respond to these shifting demands and preferences? In the last 10 15
years, they have been focused on meeting customer needs and achieving market competitiveness
through increasing scale, quality, and standardization of work processes. But we should not lose
sight of what Edward Deming had said (In his book The New Economics, pg 10), Absence of
defects does not necessarily build business, does not keep the plant open. Something more is
required. The framework for the solution lies in understanding the systemic cause-effect
relationships as explained by Peter Senge (The Fifth Discipline, pg. 101) Unfortunately, the
more vigorously you push the familiar levers, the more strongly the balancing process resists,
and the more futile your efforts become.
Our experience shows that the new levers for IT providers are higher productivity and
innovative solutions. The something more required by Deming is the creation of an
integrated framework for managing domain knowledge, industry best practice solutions, and
Quality. In this chapter we shall focus on defining, institutionalizing, and sustaining a
knowledge management program to manage domain knowledge and its integration with other
initiatives to enable building innovative solutions. The 5i Knowledge Management framework
addresses all the key elements of KM People, Process & Technology. This framework also
attempts to balance focus on:
1. Explicit and Tacit knowledge;
2. Measuring and Managing existing knowledge;
3. Creating, disseminating and building new progressive knowledge;
4. Continuous organizational involvement; and
5. Linking various frameworks seamlessly to deliver maximum value from multiple
initiatives.
409
Defining, Instituting and Sustaining a Knowledge Management Program
Keywords: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Measurement, Strategies, Knowledge

Institutionalization, Sustainable program

Knowledge cannot be given, like information; hence we can only create an environment for
sharing knowledge the focus of knowledge management shifts attention. The real question in
knowledge management does not concern capture, storage, and retrieval but on how knowledge
diffuses insofar as new information can be part of creating new knowledge.
The knowledge creation and diffusion process can be looked at from two, orthogonal,
epistemological and ontological dimensions.
The epistemological dimension is where
knowledge conversion takes place between tacit and explicit knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi
elaborate on four modes of this conversion namely Socialization, Externalization, Combination,
and Internalization. Although these modes are not independent of each other, but their
interactions, along a third dimension of time, produce five phases of organizational knowledge
creation, which we have defined as five phases of 5i Knowledge Managementframework:
1. Initiate
This phase essentially captures the need for the overall KM program and allows for
definition of KM objectives and goals and their alignment to business needs.
2. Identify
A knowledge management maturity model or a similar framework can be used to identify
gaps across various aspects of knowledge to successfully meet the business goals.
Knowledge is categorized as core, advanced & innovative.
3. Implement
Typically a small KM group needs to be extended globally through knowledge
champions. Identify and create communities that will enable free flow of knowledge
that support innovation. In this phase various technical infrastructural needs are also set
up to support the KM program.
Build knowledge repositories leveraging knowledge transitions (KT) across teams. KT
opportunities are identified in this phase and action plans are drafted to put this in
execution. Knowledge transition is enabled through a four step model (Acquisition,
Codification, Institutionalization, and Continuity) and a scorecard to manage and
measure knowledge transitioned.
4. Institutionalize
Leverage the culture tetrad to identify leverages to engage the organization and
facilitate change. It covers non-negotiable values and desired behaviour, identification of
role models / totems, various instruments to be used to fine tune the flow, and rituals that
define and celebrate various moments.
5. Improve
This phase provides a quantifiable feedback to take corrective actions and further
improve the KM program.
The 5i Knowledge Management framework focuses on identifying the fundamental knowledge /
information needs and set them in motion within the organization. This focus provides good
410
foundation to enhance, apply & adapt to different contexts. While the framework provides
highly formal methods to define and align the KM program to business needs, it embeds
numerous formal and informal mechanisms for creation and diffusion of knowledge. This
framework is therefore geared towards:
1. Ensuring that knowledge assets are continually in motion, being enhanced, shared, sold,
or used, and that they generate enhanced business results. And since practice cannot be
replicated easily, it also becomes an organizations prime source of competitive
advantage.
2. Shifting organizations primary knowledge base from individually held tacit knowledge,
to organization held explicit knowledge.
This framework should serve as a reference material for various organizations aiming to create a
sustainable knowledge management program. The methodology discussed here can be applied
across the organization or within a specific group where a need for KM is felt. From our
experience this framework can be customized for teams and small to large sized organizations.
Given appropriate time commitments as planned & optimum support from management, IT
teams & other stakeholders a typical implementation cycle within smaller groups (100 150
people) could take around 4-5 months. This does not include time requirements for finalizing
infrastructural needs (Servers, internet bandwidth, etc.), if any.
The knowledge management project as described above succinctly should have the mission
Connectionand not collection. The purpose will therefore be to get knowledge moving and
distribute it and not freeze and shelf it in electronic repositories.
Understand the Knowledge Management needs for the group / organization. How will it
help operationally? Does it enable strategies for differentiating products / services?
Compile a list of problems encountered or pain areas in current business. Probe business
leaders to collate a list of problem areas. This would help to identify the nature of
knowledge management implementation that would best meet your immediate and long
term needs and seek answers to
o What are the immediate payoffs?
o If there are none, when will the payoffs begin to show up?
o If that is not viable either, how will be value of the project be demonstrated and
tested?
What are the selling points that will help convince employees of the business value of
managing knowledge? Initial analysis regarding Problem-KM solution set and
improvements expected in terms of productivity, innovation, quality, and market
competitiveness can help in achieving buy-in from all stakeholders
What would the KM team be composed of (identify champions for the initiative) and
where would it fit in the organization hierarchy?
Customize and translate the framework as a project / program plan with time lines for
each phase
411

To manage the Knowledge Management (KM) program, the 5i Knowledge Management
framework described below addresses (typically) as Peter Senge would ask:
a. What do we know how to do now?
b. What are we trying to learn and what will enable us to learn faster and deeper?
c. How do you take the knowledge in one area and use it as the foundation for building
knowledge in other areas?
Identify
Initiate
Business
Need
Business Need &

Alignment of KM Goals
Involve Leadership
Change Management
Implement
Institutionalize
Assess gaps in
knowledge
Define and
Implement
Engage the
Organization
Knowledge Gaps
Technology Gaps
Competency Gaps
Establish dedicated
and Virtual KM teams
Set up Infrastructure
Build Knowledge
repository
Communications
Training
Awareness Buildup
Rewards &
Recognition
Processes
Improve
Continuous
Improvement
Framework
Define Metrics &

Dashboard
Monitor & Review, Focus
& drive improvements
Knowledge Audits
Figure 1
1. Initiate
This phase captures the need and motivation for the KM program. Definition of KM objectives,
goals and their alignment with business objectives are accomplished. The steps involved in this
process are:
a. Business need & alignment of KM goals
Identify opportunities that would support creation of the KM program, including (but
not limited to)
Identify existing business and operational challenges
Elaborate the relationship between existing goals, plans, and pain areas
Benchmark (if necessary) to identify best in class practices and related

capabilities
Create a vision / mission statement that clearly articulates the thought of senior
leadership in the organization and gives the whole program a stamp of approval.
Use customized Balanced Scorecard and Strategy map approach to identify goals for
each of the focus areas such as Financial, Customer, Operational, and Capability
Building. These can be further elaborated to define respective initiatives and
activities. A cascaded scorecard approach may be used to drill down goals at BU /
sub-team level. Shown below Table 1 is a customized Balanced Scorecard built to
track KM goals / objectives.
412
Table 1
Future
Orientation
Operation
al
Efficiency
Stakeholder Motivation &

Involvement
Growth
Perspective
Goals (Planned
and Actual)
KM Objectives
Initiatives
RYG status of
initiatives
# of Solutions branded
Core BU / Team Leadership
# of client facing case studies
published
Employees
# of Best practices shared
across teams/org.
Collaboration
% of knowledge sharing
forums conducted as planned
Rewards/Recognition
Planned, communicated to
team, and executed
Knowledge repositories are
always updated
Content/Knowledge audits are
done every quarter
Thought Leadership
# of white papers / articles
published in external forums
Competency building
% of trainings / workshops /
certifications conducted
The scorecard and strategy maps help to articulate strategic and operational initiatives
needed to achieve the goals and hence the KM vision for organization. A clearly
articulated need can now naturally lead to creating a long term roadmap of KM
program in the organization. There are many ways to implement a roadmap, but we
recommend creating a maturity path on a timeline. This helps to articulate
behavioural characteristics and key results desired at every maturity level and
milestone. A typical maturity path could be modelled as depicted in the table below.
It is best left to organizations to establish consistent definitions relevant to the
business and across all teams.
Table 2
Maturity
Level
Default
Reactive
Description
No need felt to
manage
knowledge
Knowledge
shared on need
basis
Behavioural
Characteristics
Belief in formal
training being the
sole mechanism
for learning
Learning is
reactive
Only routine and
procedural
knowledge shared.
Timeline
(ddmmmyy)
Key Business Results
Senior management
recognizes need for
formal knowledge
management
Awareness of what
knowledge (internal or
external) is
appropriate for
sharing internally or
413

Maturity
Level
Aware
Convinced
Sharing
Description
Establish KM
infrastructure
Quantitative
management
Established
culture of sharing
Behavioural
Characteristics
Timeline
(ddmmmyy)
Key Business Results
externally e.g. IPR

issues
Leveraging current best practices and integrating identified initiatives should lead to
creation of an operational KM project plan (KMPP).
b. Leadership involvement
Business alignment of KM program assumes an intense involvement of leadership
right from the initiation step. It is very critical that the leadership makes visible
commitment by allocating resources, performing consistent reviews, provide regular
updates suited to the forum, and recognize/reward contributions from stakeholders.
c. Change Management
A key requirement for a successful KM program implementation is to manage change
effectively. Change threatens our ability to create and maintain viable and effective
programs. People, places, technology, processes simply will not stay the same.
Change Management here refers to:
1. Activities involved in defining and instilling new values, attitudes, norms, and
behaviours within an organization that support the targeted program and
corresponding new ways of doing work and overcome people resistance
2. Building consensus among stakeholders on specific changes designed to
better meet their needs, and
3. Planning, testing, and implementing all aspects of the transition from one
organizational structure or business process to another
To sustain the KM program, it is necessary to keep it aligned with shifting business
needs, and constantly monitor, correct and improve. This can be accomplished by
establishing a dedicated self motivated core team having organizational focus.
Utilizing the Cultural Tetrad explained in Institutionalize section the cultural shift can
be achieved.
2. Identify
The maturity model crafted or the roadmap articulated could be leveraged to identify gaps across
various aspects of knowledge to successfully meet the business goals.
a. Gaps
In order to solve a targeted problem or pain area articulated (in the Initiate phase), it is
important to know
414
What knowledge we have?
What knowledge is missing?
Who needs this knowledge?, and
How we will use/re-use the knowledge?
Also, analyse the new capability requirements for pain area/s in terms of process
requirements, infrastructure requirements, and other organizational requirements.
As mentioned above to solve a specific pain area the gaps are analysed across the
below mentioned dimensions.
i.
Knowledge & Information

In the present context, knowledge is perceived as the tacit knowledge existing
with various people, as part of various processes, methodologies etc. To
facilitate gap analysis & prioritize, knowledge could be categorized as core,
advanced & innovative as shown in the below Table 3
Core Knowledge It is the basic knowledge required just to sustain the

current business. This type of knowledge often creates a barrier for entry
to new areas/fields.
Advanced Knowledge Advanced knowledge is what makes you

competitively viable & gives an edge in the competition.
Innovative Knowledge - Innovative knowledge allows you to lead the

industry to an extent, which clearly differentiates it from the market. This
allows an organization/group to change the rules of the game.
Table 3
Business
Area
Area 1
Knowledge
classification
Core
Current vs. Target
Area 2
Advanced
None
Area 3
Innovative
Build Communities
Execute Trainings
Indicates Current State
Strategies to achieve expertise

/ competency
Collate & host information
Indicates Target
Similar to knowledge being perceived as tacit knowledge, information on the

other hand is considered to be explicit/documented knowledge. To facilitate
information gap analysis & prioritise, information can be classified as external
facing (predominantly sales related material) & internal facing. Few examples
such as processes, best practices etc. as shown in below Table 4
Table 4
Knowledge
Artifact
Artifact 1
Business
Area
Area 1
Artifact 2
Area 2
None
Artifact 3
Area 3
Conduct research
Indicates Current State
Current vs. Target
Strategies to collate required

knowledge
Indicates Target
ii. Technology
To understand and get a comprehensive view regarding the gaps existing across
various Tools, Technologies, Methodologies, and Frameworks collate a list &
further analyse for any gaps. A similar table structure shown above could be
utilized to track these to closure.
415
iii. Competency
To identify the competency gaps existing in terms of domain/business
knowledge, technical or other required knowledge. One could use a simple
tracker as shown in Table 4. The measurement is further explained in section
knowledge transition.
Opportunities for codification and other means of collaboration are identified.
Often it would be required to design several forums/techniques to facilitate
knowledge exchange. These forums/techniques will be different for exchange
between different types of knowledge (Tacit & Explicit).
3. Implement
This phase deals with the infrastructure needs for the overall KM program. It also includes the
role IT plays which shall be utilized for storage & retrieval of information/knowledge.
a. Establish dedicated & virtual teams
Various teams as per business needs are formulated to sustain the KM program & also to
enhance knowledge exchange
i.
Dedicated KM Team
Dedicated KM team comprising of knowledge champions for groups/across the
organization will oversee the success of KM program & ensure the initiative does
not fizzle out after initial set up of the KM infrastructure. They would also be
responsible for ongoing support to the KM program.
ii. Virtual Teams / Communities

Communities should exist for common purposes. They are one of the excellent
ways to encourage peer-level participation. Communities can be formulated for
several aspects such as around a specific Topic such project management, niche
business domains etc.
b. Infrastructure
IT plays a critical role in the success of the KM program. Below are few critical
components:
i.
Knowledge Repository
Knowledge repository tool that enables collaboration. Few of the important
considerations while building the space are:
416
Easy & self-driven for usage
Information hosted accessible to enterprise with required access rights
Support & facilitate collaboration
Easy to maintain & allow effective re-use
ii. Information Architecture

Information Architecture is a very broad term. In the current context, we include
Taxonomy, Profiling (capturing metadata) & Search as part of our discussion
because these concepts are the backbone for a knowledge management system.
Taxonomy Taxonomy is aimed at discovering information through

browsing. Controlled vocabulary can be achieved through usage of
taxonomy. Taxonomy would contain nodes applied to categories of
content type based on employees mental models. It is imperative to
maintain taxonomy on an on-going basis.
Profiling Profiling is a mechanism to capture metadata for each

knowledge artifact. It is critical since the context information needs to be
embedded with each artifact. The metadata would convey where, how &
when a specific piece of information is created & where it could be
utilized.
Search Search needs to be designed as per the business needs. Before

designing the search, collecting information from the business users
would be a worthy exercise. The metadata fields captured during the
profiling process are important to be considered. Users should have the
flexibility to restrict the result set based on the profiling information
submitted during the upload of an artifact. A full-text enabled search
engine would be of good value to the users.
c. Build Knowledge Repository leveraging knowledge transition

Knowledge repository is built by closing the gaps which are articulated in Identify phase.
Various opportunities for knowledge transition are identified & execution strategies are
leveraged to build the explicit knowledge repository.
Knowledge Transition (KT) will need to be performed at various stages in business
involving various stakeholders. Knowledge transition framework is enabled through a
four step model as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
1. Knowledge acquisitionstep includes sub-steps such as gathering, analyzing &
classifying the various available artefacts.
2. Codification and Document Management step includes intuitively structuring,
indexing, and storing artefacts, and business rule extraction.
417
3.
Knowledge Institutionalization step includes the trainings to be conducted,

certifications acquired as required, and conducting knowledge sharing sessions
across various teams utilizing the collaborative techniques.
4. Knowledge Continuity step focuses on reusing the collated knowledge and

increasing the depth of knowledge within teams.
This model can be enhanced or customized as per business needs.
A multi-dimensional model can be utilized to track breadth & depth of competency
acquired through knowledge transition. An example of measurement for breadth & depth
of knowledge acquired during the knowledge transition between the customer
organization & your organization is as depicted in Figure 2.
Measurement of competency in terms of breadth along three dimensions such as business
units, business streams, and business components are depicted utilizing a cube. The
percentage figures in the cube represent total knowledge acquired in terms of percentage
as versus planned. A simple rating scale of 1-5 (not awareto completely acquired) can
be followed to assess the knowledge acquired by individuals. The average score is
calculated for each team/group. Plans would be crafted to reach a specific competency
level. The percentage value is calculated for acquired knowledge score to planned
knowledge score & is populated for each business component to complete the cube
measurement.
Table 5
Business
Area
A1
A1
A2
Average Knowledge Score

Planned
Acquired
4
4
4
3
4
3
Percentage Knowledge Score

(Acquired/Planned)
100 %
75 %
75 %
Similarly, depth of knowledge acquired is measured utilizing a triangle to form 100%

competent teams.
PL
AT
INU
M
GO
LD
SIL
VE
R
Lev
els
ber
em
4m
er
mb
me
m
tea
tea
m
tea
er
mb
e
m
16
%
100
y
enc
pet
om
ty
nsi
De
Figure 3
A pyramid model can be utilized to measure depth of knowledge acquired for every
individual as represented in Figure 3.
Every individual is measured on a scale against every business component as per the
knowledge acquisition plans. A simple scale of 1-5 can be used to assess the individuals
knowledge depth. Knowledge Pyramid helps to quantify and track depth of knowledge in
418
the team. The goal is to have small teams having 100% expertise in a specific business
area.
4. Institutionalize
Institutionalization typically happens through trainings, knowledge sharing sessions, and
individual certifications. This is supported through periodic management reviews, and
content/knowledge audits.
Cultural change is the key for KM program success. Leverage the culture tetradto identify
various ways to engage the organization as shown in Figure 4.
The four sub-parts cover
a. Non-negotiable values or the corresponding desired behaviour,
b. Identification of role models / totems,
c. Instruments to be used to fine tune the flow, and

d. Rituals that define and celebrate various moments.
RITUALS
RITUALS
Continuous involvement
Introduce appropriate KM training programs
Monthly communication
Continuous Learning organization

Do not Reinvent
Focus on Productivity
Share your learning's
VALUES
VALUES
KM
ROLE
ROLEMODEL
MODEL
Demonstrate participation in KM & allied
activities
Share success stories
Less / No Participation in KM
activities
Inhibitor for knowledge sharing
TABOOS
Taboos
Rewards & Recognition for groups &

individuals demonstrating sharing & reusing
behaviour
Figure 4
Identify the non-negotiable values for the KM program from KM strategy/goals. List the
corresponding desired behaviours those facilitate or demonstrate activities towards achieving the
KM program goals. Groups or individuals demonstrating these behaviours should be recognized
& rewarded which would keep them motivated to perform such activities & to encourage others.
It is also very important to identify cultural inhibitors for the KM program, referred to Taboos in
Figure 4. Execute various mechanisms to counter the inhibitors such as trainings, evangelizing
knowledge management in appropriate forums. Communicating success stories & celebrating
various moments will catalyze the mass involvement & contribute to the overall KM program
success.
Below are few practical (formal & informal) mechanisms to propel institutionalization of KM
program.
419
a. Communication Formal & informal communications mechanisms are important to

provide context of the KM Program. Table 6 below provides examples of few
communication channels that can be utilized.
Table 6
Sl.
No.
Activity / Communication
Channel
Description
Email
Send Email messages regarding the initiative with few planned

activities & the pain areas to be solved
2
3
Open House
Launch Program
4
5
Team Meetings
Newsletter
Distribution of
book marker etc.
Announcement of the initiative & support required

A formal launch program with the leadership may propagate the word
around. Posters, danglers etc. would generate interest in people.
Reiterating about the initiatives in the team meetings, weekly calls etc.
Periodic Newsletter covering the accomplishments, planned high level
activities, problem-KM solution set etc.
Creative & catchy lines around the initiative using these channels
pamphlets,
b. Trainings Trainings are a proven way of sharing & propagating information.

Trainings in the context of KM program could span across various categories such as
indicated in the below Table 7. This is just an illustrative list.
Table 7
Training Category
KM Introduction &
Methodology
Training Topic
Introduction to Knowledge
Management
Tools/Technology
KM Methodology/Process
Introduction to Intellectual
Property rights
Introduction to KM Tool
Advanced Tool
customization
KM Success Stories
Culture
Advanced KM
KM - Trust & Motivation

Knowledge Sharing
Techniques
KM Measurement
Target Audience
Mode of Training
All
All/Specifically for
Knowledge Champions
Self-paced training
All
All
Knowledge Champions,
IT Support, KM Leads
All
Inhibitors for KM
Program
Managers, Leaders
Managers, Leaders
Classroom Session
Self-paced training
Self-paced training
Classroom Session
Self-paced training
Classroom Session
Classroom Session
Self-paced training
c. Awareness All KM Programmes involve change management. Often every

individual/group/stakeholder asks Whats in it for me?. Regular awareness
campaigns need to be conducted that address & target solutions for every individual.
Leverage the culture tetrad (Figure 4) for propelling the change management cycle.
d. Rewards & Recognition As mentioned in the above section rewards and recognition
motivates individuals or groups to sustain the KM related activities over a span of

time.
420
Table 8
Few KM related activities those can be rewarded/recognized are:
Finding existing knowledge
Creating new knowledge
Packaging / assembling knowledge
Applying existing knowledge
Reusing knowledge to create & publish knowledge
A simple point based scale could be adapted. Individuals & groups could be
recognized who accumulates maximum points. To further motivate individuals
they can be sponsored for external conference/workshops. Recognizing groups
are as important as recognizing individuals.
e. Processes Processes are to be defined clearly such that responsibilities of every
individual are covered as part of KM program. Crucial among various stakeholders &
participants are to ensure involvement of knowledge champions.
Involvement of Knowledge Champion (KC)
To ensure optimum contribution from the knowledge champions, it is
essential to clearly articulate the role & responsibility. The KC role could be
part time or full time for a specific group depending on the size of the group.
It would be recommended to have 1 full-time employee (KC) per every 500
employees. Knowledge champions should be motivated through recognitions.
Below (Table 9) are a few important responsibilities/activities of a knowledge
champion.
Table 9
Role
Area
Knowledge
Champion
General
Responsibility
Evangelize KM across the organization/group

Continuously work towards raising the level of knowledge
sharing & reuse
Form social relationship with all groups across the
organization
Direct teams to relevant knowledge/people & ensure high
quality knowledge services & offerings
Ensure leadership governance
Knowledge Capture Plan KM strategies & track KM activities
& Management
Motivate, mentor & evangelise for Knowledge sharing
Tracking of KM goals & Metrics
Approve content in terms of usability, qualification as a
Knowledge Asset (KA), check for IPR related Issues etc.
Plan/Create & track Communities
Create knowledge sharing forums
Knowledge
Facilitate organization to take advantage of collective
Management Culture
corporate knowledge
Formulate appropriate strategies for supporters, fencesitters, & inhibitors
Facilitate social networking
Content Management Manage the knowledge base/space
Conduct timely knowledge audit
Encourage participation & contribution of content
Effectively market the content for maximum use
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Mass involvement
Supervisors and champions of the KM program need to identify drivers (beyond
T-shirts that say I shared knowledge today, mouse pads, and other trinkets)
and challenges to form a culture of sharing to get individuals within the
organization to talk and contribute to knowledge repositories.
The mass involvement has to be fostered on a continuous basis. Numerous
techniques can be used for mass involvement such as quiz competitions,
competition for scavenging a particular knowledge artifact etc.
Apart from these, processes to capture information/knowledge can be embedded
with the existing processes. Few examples are After Action Reviewto capture
the learnings from a project/program executed; Open Space to capture
specific experiences around a particular niche area; Peer Assistto provide
assistance/feedback on a problem/activity through engaging peers; Success
Stories to capture the success obtained & disseminate to the entire
group/organization.
One measure of cultural shift could be the degree of acceptance among various
employees as shown below.
Table 10
Target audience
Awareness
Heard of it
Participation
Tried it
Preference
Believe it
Loyalty
Champion it
Leadership
Transition team
Opinion leader
Everyone else
5. Improve
This phase provides a quantifiable & qualifiable feedback to take corrective actions and
further improve the KM program.
a. Define Metrics & Dashboard
i. Metrics Metrics are the concrete way of defining what KM program will achieve
& to examine if those goals are met. It is essential to link the KM program metrics
to business objectives/ KM objectives. The KM objectives are a part of the KMPP
(developed in the Phase 1). Also, measuring both tangible & intangible benefits are
important. Organizations are more & more innovation focused, a sustainable KM
program supplements to achieve better & faster innovation. KM Metrics are to be
designed to convey the tangible & intangible benefits in the area of Innovation,
Operational Efficiency, & Competency building. Below Table 11 provides
indicators that can be measured. These indicators are combination of qualitative &
quantitative.
422
Table 11
KM Metrics Area
Indicators/Objectives
Number of thought papers / articles authored & published
Innovation & Industry
Number of case studies published
Leadership
Number of new Solutions published
Number of new communities established
Operational
efficiency
& Reusability index
Competency building Knowledge space updated with relevant information at all time
Knowledge Audits conducted
% of knowledge sharing forums conducted as planned
Collaboration
&
% of knowledge sharing forums with avg. feedback (> 3.5 out-of 5)
Motivation
Number of Best Practices shared
Number of reusable artefacts contributed
Number of Rewards/Recognitions programs convened
KM is largely process focused & hence capturing the process enhancement is

imperative.
Table 12
Few salient processes to be measured to continuously enhance the KM program are:
Knowledge capture
Knowledge creation, validation & harvesting
Knowledge retrieval & reuse
Assimilation/Dissimilation of best practices
ii. Dashboards Dashboards facilitates in providing snapshot of overall KM Program

success across the organization/various groups. Sample Table 13 below indicates
the use of dashboard for senior management reviews.
Table 13
KM methodology implementation
Group
Knowledge
Champion
Group1
Abc
Group2
Xyz
Group3
Pqr
Initiate
Identify
Implement
Institutionalize
Improve
Remarks
Competency Gap
analysis pending
Trainings planned
are to be executed
Approval for space
allocation required
b. Monitor & Review, Focus & drive further improvement

Regular monitoring of the KM program is necessary. Utilizing the dashboard & other
metrics, knowledge champions & other leaders brainstorm for identifying problem
area & its corresponding solutions to improve KM program acceptance. Develop a
feedback mechanism on the knowledge repository space to understand the problems
& clarify user perceptions. These problems could be discussed during the knowledge
sharing sessions/trainings. Develop integrated mechanisms to improve gaps in the
processes through timely process improvement.
c. Audits
Knowledge audit is a process to review your groups/organizations knowledge assets
423
& associated knowledge flows. Timely knowledge & content audits should be
conducted to maintain the freshness of the KM system & knowledge repository.

At Kanbay, the KM portal hosts approximately 122,000 knowledge artefacts. This translates to
approximately around 18 artefacts/associate. Kanbay utilizes Microsofts SharePoint Portal 2003
as the KM application. We have around 45 operational team sites built for various Practices,
Centre of Excellence (CoEs), Communities, and other internal organizational Functions. KM
goals are defined for each group as per their respective business needs & are tracked at the
organizational level. Effective governance is enabled through comprehensive governance
framework & program management. The usage rate of these knowledge artifacts has been
phenomenal, receiving approximately 1 million hits within a months time after the release.
Systems are in place to measure the effectiveness of these KM sites.
Importantly the KMPP should be kept updated as & when the business plans change & the
knowledge champion shall work proactively with business leaders to ensure the same.
Governance from the business leaders are to be strictly followed. The measurement for the
overall success is obtained in Phase 5, although timely surveys shall be conducted to ascertain
the employee satisfaction.
The KM portal will have more number of artefacts as time progresses, but improvements &
tuning of few processes for continued employee contribution & reuse are to be tackled from time
to time. Every organization will have floating population & hence awareness campaign needs to
be conducted regularly. Intellectual property rights are another area of improvement such that it
leads to clear business benefits & competitive advantages.

Case 1.
In Kanbay, we have architected the solution by integrating multiple building blocks for
managing Quality, Knowledge, Innovation, and Institutionalization. These building blocks not
only address compliance and bottom-up incremental improvements but more importantly direct
executive attention to harness industry best practices and fuel the innovation engine.
1. A practice based organization structure that drives knowledge acquisition, management,
new thought leadership and ensures management commitment;
2. Global Delivery Model that will allow access to 10X as many onsite experts per
developer compared to other top tier offshore firms
3. Quality function that allows grass-root level global access to every business unit;
4. Quality System that encompasses processes management and improvement for current
and future needs;
5. Co-Sourcing Governance framework;
6. Knowledge management and transition framework; and
7. An institutionalization model
The development of above frameworks and their integration has been a seven year journey of
visioning, developing, partnering with our clients for testing our assumptions, and corrections.
Our clients have experienced distinct advantages, which are quantitatively and qualitatively
demonstrated as:
424
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Largest, longest client-services partner relationship in FSI

98% of revenue generated through repeat business
Highest leverage (onsite to offshore) of global resources within FSI
20% more efficient per deliverable than the next nearest competitor
100% reference-able clients
Largest concentration of credit card know how in the world
Vertical industry content down to the keyboard; often tested by client(s)
Case 2.
Client
A US-based Fortune 500 insurer
Business Challenge
Primary policy processing system built for the client from another vendor had the following
problems / challenges
Delayed schedules
No knowledge transfer from vendor
Ending of vendor support contract
Rolling out the application to 7,500 agents quickly
Solution
Kanbay first initiated knowledge transfer and then transitioned support activities:
Used Cube model to manage and measure knowledge transition. As explained in
the section of knowledge transition, a simple scale is utilized & expressed through
percentage values. This provides a dashboard like view that conveys percentagewise knowledge maturity for each of the applications component across the
various businesses. The colours indicate the maturity level with regards to the
plans crafted as shown in below Figure 5. The cube can be populated for each
month which would provide the progressive knowledge build-up month-wise.
Figure 5
Studied existing application and source code using tools for automatic code
review
Created new technical documentation
Primary processing system transitioned from vendor to our client
Results
5x more tickets resolved
Rapid application understanding by Kanbay
425
85% application knowledge transfer (measured through cube model) in three

months

Research for similar solutions being applied, some data regarding the competitors could be
rewarding
Build success stories & communicate
KM efforts are not an one-time activity, these phases will reiterate as & when the business
plan changes or aligned to new business needs
Knowledge sharing techniques should have precise processes to follow, timely audits to be
conducted & ensure closure of these findings
Metrics are to be simple. Care to be taken such that the right metrics are measured, else it
could hamper the success of whole program
Usability of the KM application is critical, timely feedback collection & publishing fresh
data will pay off
Assuming the knowledge needs for the group/organization. Utilize surveys, interviews &
other means to collate the knowledge needs.
Not aligning the KM goals to business objectives.
Loss of commitment from the Knowledge Management drivers & management support
Combination of Process, Technology, & Culture need to go hand-in-hand. Just concentrating
on one of these could have devastating impact on the success of KM program.
Acknowledgements
Our deep gratitude to Aparna Katre, Global Executive Council, Kanbay for her overall guidance
& setting the direction which lead to creation of this methodology. Also our grateful thanks to
Arul Paramanandam & his team for their contributions towards knowledge transition steps & its
measurement techniques.
Amidon, D. (2002) The Innovation SuperHighway: Harnessing Intellectual Capital for
Collaborative Advantage, Butterworth-Heinemann, ISBN: 0750675926.
Chatwal, Gurbans S, and Johree, Rajan (2002) Organizational Development The Bridge of
Time, Wisdom and Continuity, Human Capital, Vol. 6, No. 5, October 2002
426
Kazi, A.S., Koivuniemi, A., and Mksen, P. (2005) Use of Social Processes for Good Practice
Capture in Project Based Industries, Proceedings of the CIB W102 Conference on
Information and Knowledge in the Global Economy, Lisbon, Portugal, 19-20 May, 2005,
pp. 45-54.
Nonaka, I., and Konno, N. (1998) The Concept of Ba: Building a Foundation for Knowledge
Creation, California Management Review, Vol. 40, No.3, pp. 40-54.
Susan Conway & Char Sligar (2002) Unlocking Knowledge Assets, Solutions from Microsoft,
ISBN: 0-7356-1463-6, Published by Microsoft Press
Tiwana, Amrit (2001) The Knowledge Management Toolkit: Practical Techniques for Building a
Knowledge Management System, ISBN: 0-13-0125853-8
Wolf, P.W. (2003) The Use of Knowledge Management in Project Management in Russia,
http://www.knowledgeboard.com/item/119281 (date accessed: 14 July, 2005).
Author Biographies
Gurbans S Chatwal has over 15 years of industry experience and
leads Kanbays Global IT Process Consulting and Business Analysis
practice. He also oversees the firms Knowledge Management
program globally.
At Kanbay, he has been instrumental in achieving global certifications
for ISO and SW-CMM Level 5. He has provided leadership in the roll
out of Knowledge Management, Lean Six Sigma, and Systems
Thinking practices. He is a certified assessor and has been in the
assessment team for CII-EXIM Bank of India Award for Business
Excellence (based on European Foundation for Quality Management).
In his previous assignments, he has been involved in Teaching and
Research, Application Development, Quality Management,
Knowledge Management and CRM solutions for various industry
domains.
He has a Masters degree in Computer Science and Business
Administration and specializes in IT Governance,
Program
Management, Systems Thinking and Statistical Quality Control.
Srinivas Jagannath is currently part of the Knowledge Management
Group at Kanbay. He nurtures, drives & helps sustain the KM
program globally. He works closely with many teams across the
organization evangelizing KM, providing training on KM tools &
other allied KM activities. His experience of 6+ years comprises of
formulating KM Strategies, planning & crafting execution
methodologies to improve KM adoption.
He has a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering & an advanced diploma
in web-centric curriculum.
Prior to Kanbay, he was part of Knowledge Management
Development Centre at Accenture & elite education institute Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
427
CABD - A Complexity
Science-Based
Method for Robust
Business
Development
Liza Wohlfart
Keywords:
Robust Business Development, Complexity Science, Brainstorming,
Scenario Development
CABD - A Complexity
Science-Based Method for
Robust Business Development
Liza Wohlfart, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Human Factors and Technology Management
(liza.wohlfart@iat.uni-stuttgart.de )

When you recognize that the business environment is a complex system that is inherently
unpredictable, you understand that the failure of long-term strategic planning is not a failure of
management but an expected outcome of the business environment[Regine, 1998]
Assumptions regarding the future, based on detailed rational analyses, have always been a
challenge for companies and especially SMEs, who struggle to make strategic steps in their dayto-day work. In recent decades, the importance, but also the difficulty of strategic decisions has
increased as environmental conditions get more and more turbulent. Complexity Science is a
promising discipline in this respect, as it builds on the conviction that it is visions people should
focus on and lessons learned from natural systems. The method presented in this paper CABD,
complexity-based company assessment and business development tries to incorporate
complexity ideas, with a focus on practical applicability, instead of theoretic disputes.
Keywords: robust business development, complexity science, brainstorming, scenario
development

Predicting the future has always been a challenge for companies, as well as individuals, that has
often resulted in rather intuitive choices. Especially SMEs nowadays are affected by a constant
increase in turbulence, produced by shorter product lifecycles, globalised markets, information
flood and similar developments, that makes thinking about and preparing for the future at the
same time harder and more important.
But to which extent and on which basis can future scenarios be formed? One important aspect
certainly is a good assessment of the corporate environment that provides a holistic impression
of current and impending threats and chances. The next big challenge then is to develop visions
of what a robust way into the future could be. Many SME managers today mainly use their
intuition, their experiences, to deal with both of these steps which often is not a bad choice to
do. The problem with traditional management approaches is that they pretend to deliver factbased, rational analyses that allow forming fact-based, rational decisions. But as anyone knows,
it is not just rational analysis that guides our decisions but also gut feeling. A time of increased
turbulence thus calls for approaches that take both dimensions into consideration: reason and
intuition.
Another problem with many traditional management approaches is that they are strongly
influenced by mechanical ideas of linear cause-effect relationships. They offer the feeling that if
431
CABD - A Complexity Science-Based Method for Robust Business Development
people follow certain steps in the right way, they will be successful. These approaches provide a
simplistic picture of organisations, where good measurement and the right steps will inextrively
lead to success failure thus being a consequence of having made mistakes.
Figure 1: Forecasting (Whoops) [Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel, 1998]

However, real life nowadays is marked by uncertainty and unpredictability, which is why new
ideas have paved their way in the last decades that try to give a more accurate picture of todays
business environment and thus to propose more appropriate strategies for it. One of them is
Complexity Science. Complexity Science is concerned with the study of complex adaptive
systems, i.e. living systems such as flocks of birds or ant colonies, consisting of multiple agents
and reacting flexible to internal and external changes. It assumes that all of these systems follow
the same underlining rules and principles and that, as the business environment itself is just
another such system, it can learn from the principles observed in others. One of the complexity
scientists, Eric D. Beinhocker [1998, S. 30-32], has summarised the implications of Complexity
Science for business theories in the following way.
Knowledge. The assumptions of Complexity Science base on more realistic assumptions

about human cognitive behaviour, such as decision making based on intuition and
experiences.
Webs. Complex adaptive systems consist of networks of single agents that are in
constant dynamic interaction. These networks (webs) confront traditional ideas of
closed business models, while stressing the way people interact with each other within
organisations, as well as organisations do with each other.
Waves. Complexity Science understands markets as very dynamic systems. Changes of

single elements or agents affect the development of others. The whole economy thus is
marked by aspects of co-evolution.
Would-be Worlds. Future economic theories will be more and more marked by the
employment of computer simulations producing a real-life illustration of markets and
enterprises. Especially so-called Would-be Worlds will play a crucial role in this respect.
These and other assumptions concerning the impact of the science of complex adaptive systems
on business theory were investigated in an EU-funded project, RODEO (Robust Development of
Organisations), which tried to identify implications for robust business development in turbulent
environments today. The project resulted in a set of key lessons learned, as well as concrete tools
and methods to help companies to make the best of complex ideas for coping with their day-today challenges.
432
Some of the key assumptions, key lessons, of RODEO were the following:
1) There is no objective, completely measurable reality: so all attempts to come to a holistic
assessment of a companys current situation must be based on subjective perspectives.
2) There is no single optimum solution: different solutions could lead to success or failure,
as some level of uncertainty always prevails. Adaptability and flexibilty thus are seen
crucial to cope with turbulent environments.
3) Results/solutions depend on the specific context: single solutions can only be a best
practice in their specific context. Compared with others, they can only serve as good
practices people can learn lessons from, which they then adapt to their own situation.
4) A purely optimised resource exploitation approach prevents advancements: so aspects
such as emergence (in the style of letting things develop bottom-up), the edge of chaos
(balancing structure and flexibility) and evolution (allowing random exploration) are
important.

As the method presented in this paper builds on general complexity science ideas, such as that
there are no single optimum solutions, and specifically on some principles of complex adaptive
systems, such as unpredictability, it is important to prepare people for the basics of this
discipline. One thing we used was a calendar for the six days prior to the workshop, where each
day showed one of the complexity principles, illustrated by a short explanation, a quote and a
photo.
As the CABD is a workshop to be done in one or two days, people should in addition be
prepared to moderate the various discussions, to start with a good warm-up and to end with a
fitting cool-down exercise.
One thing to be prepared by the companies before the workshop is a good overview on the
corporate situation. This should be done in a pictorial way, i.e. by means of an image showing
the most important internal and external factors, such as corporate culture and strategy, main
competitors, partners, etc. We had a specific template for this that was filled out by one of the
workshop participants.

These are the things you will have to illustrate in the workshop:
The six complexity principles (poster)
Corporate assessment of the main internal and external factors (poster, done in advance)
Overview on robustness enablers (poster)
Turbulence matrix (two axes: influencability and turbulence)
For moderation you will need:
Pinboards, post-its, a flipchart, pens
433

The Approach
This paper focuses on one of the workshop concepts developed in the RODEO project, the
CABD (Complexity-based company assessment and business development). It builds on the
general project assumptions described above, such as no single optimum solutions and
exploration instead of exploitation, as well as on some general principles of complex adaptive
systems. Different researchers have come up with different sets of what they think the main
principles of complex adaptive systems are, and the implications for business theory they have
derived alike differ to quite some extend. When designing the CABD, we have therefore decided
on a specific set of six complexity principles, which we put on the basis and in the focus of our
approach.
Self-Organisation/Emergence: In complex adaptive systems, structures emerge bottomup out of the interaction of single independent agents, such as flocks of birds forming.
In organisations alike, not all structures that exist have been planned top-down. Informal
structures and relationships are part of the every organisation.
Edge of Chaos: Complex adaptive systems always strive for a position near the edge of
chaos, which is the small path in between a clear structure and chaotic behaviour.
Successful projects usually have a good planning, along with the flexibility to adapt to
emergent changes.
Diversity: Diversity is a key element of CAS. Diverse agents ensure that the system
evolves and develops over time.
Companies rely on a good mix of people, ideas, project, products and the like to survive
in todays markets. Homogenous strategies will inevitably lead to problems.
History and Time: History and time have a strong impact on a system. Complex
adaptive systems show path dependency, so it matters where they have come from.
Companies are always influenced by their origins, their past experiences and their past
identity. This shows in the corporate relationships, the values and the image.
Unpredictability: The behaviour of complex adaptive systems cannot be simply

extrapolated from the past to forecast the future. Their development depends sometimes
on small critical incidents, which makes it unpredictable.
Companies are very complex systems; their development alike cannot be predicted by
defining a strategy and setting some rules. There always has to be some sort of trial and
error.
Pattern recognition: Complex adaptive systems show patterns in their evolution.

Companies alike can recognise emerging patterns such as informal organisation and
communication structures and make use of them.
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The Method
The CABD is conceptualised as a one- or two-day workshop. This is the agenda.
1. Warming up: recapturing of the 6 complexity principles
2. Robustness Check: presentation and elaboration of robustness enablers (on a complexity
basis)
3. Turbulence Check: introduction to turbulence, identification of main turbulence drivers
4. Next steps vision: elaboration of next steps for dealing with main turbulence drivers by
means of complexity-inspired robustness enablers
Warm up
The workshop starts with a wrap-up of the six complexity principles. Participants are asked
about their understanding of each of the principles. The moderator adds and explains. People
then tell about their daily experiences with complexity. Where have they encountered these
principles so far?
Figure 2: Illustrations for two of the six complexity principles

emergence (self-organisation) and unpredictability
Robustness Check
The moderator introduces the factors that are important for achieving a high level of robustness:
A good sense of identity: knowing about a companys strengths and peculiarities
An adaptable strategy and organisation design: being flexible enough to meet changing
market needs and to make the best of emerging chances
An internal environment that enables adaptability: showing good communication

structures and a learning culture, team work
Good forecasting: implementing successful ways of observing important trends and

developments
The workshop then turns to the corporate reality of the participants, as they are asked to report
on their organisations level of robustness. What is their identity like? How adaptable is it?
Where does this show? These details are put on cards alongside the robustness factors.
435
In the next step, participants use the six principles as heads to discuss their robustness enablers
with a complexity view. Taking into account that history has its impact on our situation today,
how does this reflect in our sense of identity? How does history influence our forecasting
methods? How could we make the best use of our history to improve our adaptability? This is the
main brainstorming part of the workshop, where new ideas are made.
Figure 3: The CABD illustration of robustness enablers:

good sense of ones identity, high adaptability of the strategy and the organisation
structure, internal structures enabling flexibility, good forecasting methods.
Turbulence check
The moderator gives a short introduction to turbulence, stressing that there are different ways of
perceiving turbulence and uncertainty and different ways of dealing with them. Some situations
may seem very threatening, while it is often others that inhibit real turbulence. In addition,
turbulence is not only a threat, but always at the same time also a chance.
Now the main turbulence drivers, which the company is dealing with, are analysed, the factors
that produce the highest level of uncertainty. This is done by first looking at the main internal
and external factors of the company (competitors, customers, culture, ...), which have been
assessed prior to the workshop by means of a specific template.
436
Figure 4: The CABD turbulence matrix

[factors can be allocated according to their level of influencability (x axis)
and turbulence (y axis)]
The participants are then asked to identify the main turbulence drivers their company is dealing
with (factors of highest uncertainty). These turbulence drivers are then put in the "Turbulence
Matrix", where they are classified according to the level of turbulence they produce and the
degree to which they can be influenced. One or two main turbulence drivers from this matrix (the
ones ranked highest on the turbulence axis) are then chosen for the elaboration of measures and
the identification of tools and methods.
Dealing with turbulence drivers

The next step turns back on the robustness enablers discussed before. Participants use their
complexity-based ideas of how to get more robust for identifying possible solutions for dealing
with the turbulence drivers they are coping with. This is done by assigning one enabler ("sense
of identity", "adaptable strategy", ..) to each participant. How can our strong identity as a small,
locally integrated company help us to deal with growing competition? Which benefits can we
draw from our adaptability?
Classifying the factors on the "influencability" axis already gives a first indication if a company
can find direct ways of dealing with a factor or if indirect measures have to be found.
A turbulence driver such as "strong competition", which is mostly beyond the control of a
company, could e.g. profit from using competences and contacts from the past (identity lens) or a
network close to the edge of chaos, i.e. showing a good combination of close and loose partners
(adaptability).
A turbulence driver such as "weak internal knowledge exchange", which can be influenced more
directly, could on the other hand lead to an emergence-driven improvement of the internal
environment. This could be achieved by e.g. regular meetings for discussing typical problems
arising again and again in daily work or the establishment of a wiki-based collaboration space.
437

The Complexity Science Based Context Analysis is not very different from other brainstorming
methods, such as Walt Disneys six hats. Its benefits thus come back to those of similar
approaches: It inspires creativity to make people look beyond their usual ways of dealing with
things, opening their eyes for new solutions. The fascinating thing about the method is its link to
complexity science and thus to real-life phenomena. The six complexity principles are a point of
reference for participantsday-to-day experience. This helps them to get a holistic view of their
situation and the broad range of possible next steps in it. The main advantages of the method can
be summarised as the following:
The CABD gives a broader view of the current situation and the various options it offers.
It brings peoples implicit knowledge and intuition to the scene.
It makes a situation more tangible and thus more discussable.
The CABD should end with the summarising of a vision for the direction identified and the next
steps decided on.

Two exemplary usage of the CABD are given:
One workshop with a small company in Switzerland showed internal Know-How transfer
as the main factor of uncertainty and thus turbulence. It was something the company
really depended on, while they felt this had to be improved. The CABD lead to a variety
of different approaches of how to deal with this factor, including regular project reviews
on main experiences, an increase of informal discussions, the use of KM tools and the
establishment of mixed teams in projects (experts and learners).
Another workshop was done with the local node of a network in Austrich. The main
turbulence factor there was the collaboration with the network partners. Ideas of how to
deal with this factor included establishing a vision of once one values and the ones within
the network, more common marketing activities, common studies and screening of
possible new partners.
438

Prepare people for complexity ideas before the workshop starts. Provide some sort of
tool, such as a calendar or a poster showing the principles and some of their implications.
Relate complexity ideas to real-life experience of participants by asking for little stories.
How did unpredictability become visible in your life in the last weeks? How did you feel
that history has its grip on the present? Stories may come from business as well as private
life. You can use a flashlight (a ball passed from one to the other) for this; everyone
should focus on one/a different principle.
When talking about turbulence, pay special attention to "hidden" turbulence drivers, i.e.
factors that seem quite stable, but inhibit the potential to make this highly uncertain. Such
as critical personnel a company relies on. What will happen when these people leave?
Implement complexity ideas in running the workshop. This means that your moderation
as well should e.g. make use of the diversity of participants by fostering a broad variety
of ideas (real brainstorming instead of an early discarding of ideas).
End with a cool down relating to the six principles or turbulence. What are the main
turbulences every participant is currently preparing for? Which principle currently has the
strongest impact on each ones life?
Do not work on too many turbulence drivers, but take your time to discuss the most
important ones.
Do not forget to stress one of the main lessons to be learned in CABD: turbulence is not a
problem, it is just a situation. Some turbulent situations may turn out to be a big positive
push forward for the company.
Do not be too abstract, when deriving a vision for the future and related ToDos.
Do not be unrealistic with next steps: which ones can we realise in the near future?
Which ones are long-term plans?
439
Beinhocker, E. (1998): Strategy at the Edge of Chaos. The McKinsey Quaterly, Number 1, pp.
109-118.
Beinhocker, E. (1999): On the Origin of Strategies. The McKinsey Quaterly, Number 4, pp. 4657.
Bonabeau, E. and Meyer, C. (2001): Swarm Intelligence. Harvard Business Review, May 2001,
pp. 107-114.
Cusumano, M., and Markides, C. (2001): Strategic Thinking for the Next Economy. MIT Sloan
Management Review.
Hamel, G. (2001): Revolution versus Evolution: You need both. Havard Business Review, MayJune 2001, pp.150-158.
Horgan, J. (1995): From Complexity to Perplexity. Scientific American, June 1995, pp. 74-79.
Lissack, M. (1999): Complexity - the Science, its Vocabulary, and its Relation to Organizations.
Emergence, Volume 1, 1999, Issue 1, pp. 110-126.
Mintzberg, H.; Lampel, J.; Ahlstrand, B. (1998): Strategy safari : a guided tour through the wilds
of strategic management. London, Munich.
Santosus, M. (1998): Simple, Yet Complex. CIO Enterprise Magazine, 15th April 1998.
Webb, C.; Wohlfart, L.; Wunram, M. (2004): The secrets of the six principles : A guide to
robust organisational development. Israel, Pardesiya: Innovation Ecology.
Acknowledgements
The author expresses her thanks to her colleagues Alexandra Bading and Dorothee Frielingsdorf,
Fraunhofer IAO, for collaboration on the development of the CABD. Further acknowledgement
are due to the RODEO project team, and especially to Margarida, who designed the nice
templates and chose the right pictures and quotations to illustrate the principles. The RODEO
project, including the CABD method presented in this paper, was funded by the European
Commission in the Fifth Framework Programme.
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Author Biography
Liza Wohlfart works at the Institute for Human Factors and

Technology Management (IAT) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany,
in several industrial and research projects with a focus on business
development, corporate learning and knowledge management.
Liza was the Scientific Manager of the RODEO project, in which the
method presented in this paper was developed. She also was part of the
content scouting team of the KnowledgeBoard, during its project status.
Her current activities include project coordinator of EU-funded project
RUSMECO that has established a Community of Practice between
innovative Russian SMEs (www.rusmeco.net).
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Learning and
Performance Support
for Effective
Innovation and
Improving
Engineering
Processes at IAI
Rony Dayan, Ron Algor,
Daniel Naor and Avi Kedem
Keywords:
CoP, Community, Practice, Industry, Aerospace
Learning and Performance

Support for Effective Innovation
and Improving Engineering
Processes at IAI
Rony Dayan, IAI CKO and Director of Intellectual Property, (rdayan@iai.co.il)
Ron Algor, IAI/Engineering Division Knowledge Manager, (ralgor@iai.co.il)
Daniel Naor, IAI/MALAT Division Knowledge Manager, (dnaor@iai.co.il)
Avi Kedem, IAI/MHT Division Knowledge Manager, (akedem@iai.co.il)

The lessons learned and conclusions from previous experience at MALAT have been
cornerstones for current and future development. This is done by documenting the experience
gathered at the end of any project and published on the division's Intranet site well organized
according to the company's established categorized taxonomy.
The Engineering division uses lessons learned from the engineering process in order to eliminate
as much as possible design errors hidden in the engineering products and activities not adding
value to the development process that obviously can be characterized as waste. Measures as
Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) or Customers Escapes (CE) to describe faults not corrected prior to
product delivery were developed. Quantified result measurements are compared to current
existing base values and to aggressive goals. These assure that the full implementation of actions
as components of a specified working plan will set successful contribution to close the gap and
achieve the goals values.
The approach MHT took for introducing the NPI methodology to the relevant employees in a
more effective and efficient manner has been eLearning. As for the existing manual they
converted it to a user-friendly online version in HTML format. The navigation was built to be
very easy and graphics were enhanced. A proper template was prepared to make sure that it is
available for updating along the project. Lessons learned is the name of the game now at IAI,
whether it is at the marketing research, conceptual design, detailed development, or supporting
the people involved with the right information needed to deliver excellence.
Keywords: Innovation, New Product Introduction, eLearning, Debriefing, Lessons Learned

Israel Aerospace Industries (about 15000 employees organized in 5 groups and 23 divisions) is
globally recognized as a leader in developing defence and commercial aerospace technology.
This distinction is the result of nearly half a century of designing, engineering and
manufacturing, for customers throughout the world. IAI has kept along the last few years, sales
figures of about 2 B$ (over 80% of it as export) and an order book of over two years. We will
attempt in this article to represent the engineering process as it occurs across the whole company,
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Learning & Performance Support for Effective Innovation
through the perspective of three knowledge managers for three of its divisions, MALAT, the
Engineering Division, and MHT.
MALAT offers a wide scope of state-of-the-art Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) systems. The
product lines of MALAT range from lightweight tactical UAV systems to enhanced multi-sensor
tactical UAV systems and medium-altitude long-endurance strategic (MALE) UAV systems.
The development of UAV system programs started in IAI at the end of 1973 and has continued
since then to the present time. The various solutions that were conceived over the years are a
constant combination of the operational requirements, the technologies and the design principles.
The MALAT division is in constant search for the innovation that enables it to be the global
leader for UAVs. It does it by developing knowledge based UAV systems meant to fulfil a
challenging evolving market including the many different local and international customers. The
lessons learned and conclusions from previous experiences are the cornerstones for future
development.
The Engineering Division is the focal location for the engineering process. This article will
attempt at showing some lessons learned from of a typical project for a new aircraft
development. The engineering environment we refer to, is characterized by the complex
involvement of a multitude of engineering disciplines (a variety that includes more than 50
Competence Centres (CC) for airframe structure and systems specification, design, analysis,
testing, etc.), by the implementation method using Integrated Product Teams (IPT) of engineers
a multi-disciplinary development team that represent all the skills required for any specific
structural part or system development, and by the development process called the New Product
Introduction (NPI) which involves the implementation and integration of numerous activities and
methodologies that are carried out by an organized set of phases and sub-phases starting from the
concept definition through the final production preparation process. Each phase is aimed to
deliver a certain and pre-defined number of products (some hundreds of engineering documents
including programs, plans, drawings, testing and justification reports etc.). In its totality, such a
development process can last up to three years and involve some hundreds of engineers.
AV
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Figure 1: Engineering division full integrated capability
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MHT is the Technical Publications and Training Division of IAI. MHT regards itself as the
house of knowledge of IAI, dealing with a large variety of activities regarding knowledge
searching and retrieving, accumulating, processing, generating, packaging, publishing and
transferring. Looking at this from a different angle, MHT can be regarded as the house of
contentwhile all IAI divisions are supplying the content.
MHT has grown in expertise, world-wide experience, in technical education, professional
training and technical publications development for a large variety of aerospace and electronics
systems and equipment, computer related technologies and managerial capabilities, for more
than 40 years. eLearning and Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) have been
supplied by MHT for over ten years, depending on the relevant solution needed. MHT provides
its services to IAI employees, as well as to IAI divisions for the use of their customers and to
MHT direct customers in Israel and worldwide.
MHT has developed methodologies for effective training, as User Friendly Manuals and User
Friendly Help applications (effectiveness is calculated with both input and output variables; its
measures show how well an organization is satisfying the needs of those it serves (Sveiby,
1997p.154 )). The training development methodology, mainly for engineering and technical jobs,
called Integrated Job Performance Training (IJPT) was the basis of the Israeli MIL Standard. The
User Friendly Manuals methodology has become an Israeli MIL Standard as well. The User
Friendly Help is a state of the art solution for Performance Support an Electronic Performance
Support (EPSS) application that is embedded in the software system of the relevant cases.

IAI embarked on its Lean program in the year 2000. The Knowledge Management (KM)
program, which originated as part of the Lean activity is controlled through the performance,
throughput and result measures aimed for performing within specific actions and achieving
expected operational and business goals. Among a variety of processes meant to achieve the goal
of making all company activity as effective as possible, is a development process we have called
the New Product Introduction (NPI).
The process is based on nine phases and gates, and creates predefined products using a complete
set of methodologies adapted and tailored for each one of the companys projects. Lean
Champions were appointed in every one of its 23 divisions and periodic Lean conferences have
been maintaining the program alive across the company. At Motorola, the KM programme
framework, focused on the new product introduction process. The NPI process includes the
design, product introduction, and manufacturing of new products, and is part of an 'M-gates
framework' (Cooper, 1993, cited in Herder, Veeneman, Buitenhuis, and Schaller, 2003 ,p.105).
This framework is based upon 'process gate stages' that consists of 15 gates, starting at market
and product line planning (gate 15), and ending at end of life (gate 0) of a product. Fast and high
quality production is one of the key goals in this NPI process.
Lean Thinking and its principles as prescribed by (Womack, Jones, and Roos, 1990) have been
successfully applied to manufacturing and operations environments, and associated case studies
and research literature have been published extensively. The same cannot be said for Lean
application to the new product introduction (NPI) or development processes. The aim of two
papers by (Haque, 2003), and (Haque and James-Moore, 2004) is to describe the application of
the Womack and Jones principles of Lean Thinking to the NPI process (from concept
development to detailed design through to customer delivery). While techniques such as
concurrent engineering (or concurrent product development) have been implemented and have
been quite successful in improving NPI, there is still a shortfall in the expected or desired
improvements to NPI. This shortfall Haque believes can be bridged through the application of
447
Lean Thinking to NPI; in particular, the five lean principles proposed by Womack and Jones.
The five Lean principles are briefly specify value, identify the value stream and eliminate
waste, make the value flow, let the customer pull the process, and pursue perfection.
Like anything else we do at IAI nowadays, the NPI process is measured aiming at performing
within specific actions and achieving expected operational and business goals. Performance
measures have been defined as the "characteristics of outputs that are identified for purposes of
evaluation" (Euske, 1984 cited in Pervaiz, Kwang, and Zairi, 1999), or as a "tool" to compare the
actual results with a preset target (Euske, 1984 cited in Pervaiz et al, 1999). NPI, as a generic
development process has now been implemented for more than 5 years as an essential part of the
company wide scale enterprise Lean program.
Figure 2: NPI as part of the product life cycle

One of the main problems in the traditional development process is usually identified as the
waste of time and resources leading to project deviation in terms of schedule and cost, affecting
product quality, and sometimes even not performing by projects specifications. The wrong
implementation of requirements, management processes and resource allocation contribute a
major part of this waste. But the worst impact is due to changes occurring throughout the
development process. Changes could originate from customer requests, design modification, subcontractors adaptations and manufacturing requirements. These changes eventually will cause
increased project costs. Obviously the impacts on the project and the recovery costs would
increase according to the project phase at which the change is identified and incorporated in the
project; the further down in the project time-line, the more expensive will be its impact. This in
fact was at the basis of the NPI method which tries to involve at each stage all the functions
involved in the design in order to minimize reasons for further changes.
Trying to implement the Deming quality assurance ring shown in figure 3, the Lean program has
set major company targets and counter-measures activities to eliminate as much as possible, the
design errors hidden in the engineering products and non-added value activities of the
development process that obviously can be characterized as waste. For the purpose of
monitoring, waste can be related to internal problems through a measure called Cost of Poor
448
Quality (COPQ), resulted by design errors revealed in the engineering environment through the
development process or it can be related to problems identified by the customer upon utilizing
the final product and reported as another measure called Customers Escapes (CE) (faults that
have "escaped" the scrutiny of our quality assurance process. It is ironic but worth mentioning
that it was Deming who advocated a great deal of caution when using measures in order not to be
hit by the 'misunderstanding psychology' "the pressure 'to make the numbers' is given much
more attention than the effect of the continued usage of stretch targets and benchmarking to
produce figures one cannot trust, whenever 'there is fear'" (Deming, W.E. 1980 cited in
Castellano, Young, and Roehm, 2004).
Plan
Act
Case for Change

Lean Program
Operational Focus
Corrective Action
Check
KaiZen Events
To-Do-List Tables
Do
PDM Actions
Work-plan
Methodologies
Measurements
Self-Assessment
QMS Audits
Customer Satisfaction
Figure 3: Demming QA ring

MALAT perceives an expansion of the existing design for basic military tactical surveillance and
reconnaissance missions into a remarkable number of different new missions including their
application for paramilitary and civil/commercial missions. The new developed systems should
therefore be knowledge based on the long experience it has acquired along the years for its
classical applications. This is done by integrating maturing technologies with new customer
requirements using the NPI process. The result is in the usage of lessons learned from earlier
designs to achieve an expansion of performance capability with newer technology enabling
better capability with higher reliability.
Design errors could cause problems in form, fit, or function. Structural parts and systems
components not designed in the right form, or that dont fit when assembled, or that dont
function in the intended way, would not meet the product specifications and requirements. The
design debriefing approach and the counter-measure activities are made to serve as major
objectives for the processes and products quality assurance methodology improvement and are
mainly based again, on lessons learned from the engineering process.
449
The NPI methodology needed to be introduced to thousands of relevant engineers. They had to
acquire the knowledge, understanding, and performance skills; including where to find the
detailed know-how. The initial approach was the traditional one training and preparation of an
NPI guidebook. The training consisted of classroom instruction, mainly based on lectures given
by various experts and workshops conducted for specific project's IPTs. The NPI guidebook was
a regular word document. We realized soon enough that the classroom training, based on
lectures, was not effective as there was hardly any "doing" (any effective training should include
exercises, feedback and evaluation). Apart from this, the course was not efficient as it was too
long and quite a lot of time was wasted on overhead activities (efficiency is calculated solely on
input variables; its measures show how well an organization is using its capacity regardless of
what it produces (Sveiby, 1997p.154 )). MHT debriefed the resulted training material and
deduced enough lessons learned to improve it.
Figure 4: The NPI nine phases

MALAT's responsibility is for the development of a total integrated UAV system of systems
solution. Thus the development of new systems in MALAT as a prime contractor has direct
impact on the business of other IAI divisions including the Engineering Division, MHT, and
many other companies in Israel and abroad.
MALAT, as an innovative company had to keep eyes and ears open to changes and
opportunities and respond with ideas and action that keep it growing and profitable. MALAT
realized that the lessons learned and the conclusions from previous experience had to perform as
cornerstones for future development. To support the development of new robust knowledge
based systems, it was essential to systematically implement knowledge management in all
management/business/professional departments. This was essential in the process of the
accumulation of knowledge from existing developed systems/products for effective innovation.
450
This was also a catalyst for the integration of all local innovative powers into the emergence of a
strong innovation mainstream. In MALAT new ideas do not apply only to products, but also to
quality, service, finance, and employee attitude.
It has been essential to develop and implement knowledge based processes for effective
innovation as well as design and development of new robust systems while taking into
consideration:
Knowledge based leadership
Empowerment and human development
Effective core operations
Business oriented core operations for support functions
Total quality management
Business focused results
One of the Knowledge Management procedures dealing with lessons learned from debriefings
and their implementation was adapted as a major Engineering Division approach to encounter
the problems of design errors and to meet the objectives. The procedure has been labelled
Extracting knowledge from lessons learned and it has also been defined as a methodology
sustaining the improvement of Processes and Products Quality Assurance (PPQA). Lessons
learned are an expression of experience, whether good or bad. Organizations sometimes take the
initiative of debriefing an event because it looks significant to them. The outcome of such
processes is a list of lessons learned. In fact, a structured and organized debriefing event is not
the only source to lessons learned. These could also be the results of most reviews and
professional meetings, and if one is attentive enough, they populate our everyday life with good
or bad experience that one goes through. The methodical practice of identifying the lesson
learned, its generalisation to enable it to be applicative to a wider audience than the one involved
with the original event, and its publication is the context of this procedure. This approach was set
as a major qualified objective of the Lean program. Quantified result measures (COPQ & CE)
are defined by current existing base values and aggressive goals to assure that actions and
specific working plans are established so that full implementation sets a successful contribution
to close the gap and achieve the goals values. Quality is the main goal of lessons learned
extracted from the debriefing of design errors. Reference is made to the quality of the design
process as well as to the quality of the designed products. It is believed that the NPI development
process is the cause for the continuous improvement of processes and products quality.

Implementation
MALAT has in fact adopted a whole new system development direction, a concept
development and a selection process, and these have led to a product development
methodology, developed to support the design of new robust knowledge based systems.
New system development directions
The new system development directions were selected by considering:
Business vision
Mission
Values
451
Strategies and goals
Resource allocation
Concept development and selection
The concept development and selection were based on:
Market research and benchmarking to capture customer requirements
Research and development based on knowledge acquisition in systems development
Product Development Methodology

The product development methodology in MALAT is based on the New Product Introduction
(NPI) design process developed by an IAI Corporate multi-functional team that draws upon
many years of experience, accumulated throughout IAI, in systems and product development,
and presents a uniform, orderly, and logical process for system and product development. This
process is tailored to the unique requirements of MALAT.
The two measures used in the Engineering Division are defined as annual goals. We seek
measures to be Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART). They should
be extractable from updated databases, referenced to specific enablers and be actionable every
time actual values dont meet the planned value and corrective and/or a preventive action plan is
required. Such SMART measures - COPQ and CE are most valuable to indicate discrepancies in
the design quality. Design errors defined as COPQ are the type of errors that usually, though not
necessarily are identified by the Checker (a senior engineer responsible for checking that the NPI
phase outputs are compatible with the requirements) during the development process while the
CE type of errors are those that escape all checking and preventive measures taken along the
development and production processes to be eventually identified or recognized by the customer
or the final user. The COPQ measure is calculated as the total amount of engineering
modification expressed by the number of revisions of drawings vs. the total amount of new
version released drawings. In other words it is the sum of configured items defined by the
project. On the other hand the CE measure is expressed in terms of the number of failures vs.
total number of flight hours made by the aircraft.
Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) has been set at the Engineering Division as one of the obligatory
internal quality measurements aimed to evaluate the engineering process activities and internal
products. The main goal for this matter is to eliminate or at least to minimize the amount of
design errors occurring along the development process phases. When occurring and identified by
the designer or the Checker, the design error is documented and stored in the department
repository. Not every error can or should be debriefed. Therefore, a set of categories was defined
in order to select the most valuable cases for debriefing. The first category due to its being the
most valuable is flight safety which refers to any design error that may affect the safety of the
aircraft and the crew according to the federal aviation regulations. The second category would be
for errors that may cause a 'stop-work' order on the project (mainly through the manufacturing
phase). The third category refers to delay in take off time of the aircraft as requested by the
customers. Following are categories referring to engineering issues as problems caused by low
reliability, problems that cause the customer to express his dissatisfaction, or design errors that
frequently occur. Every design error that passes this route of categories is stored for design
debriefing under the responsibility of the relevant engineering department manager. Then a
design debriefing procedure is being put into action, and a root cause analysis method is applied
to find what the root source problem was. When a non-added-value activity is detected, a
counter-measure activity is followed to apply a corrective and preventive action plan.
Eventually, prior lessons learned are retrieved to extract the needed conclusions. Finally the
extracted lessons learned are trained via sets of lectures for the engineering team working on the
452
project and for new engineers as a routine process for skills enrichment and capabilities
improvement. Later on, when these lessons learned are crystallized, they are documented to
update the relevant engineering manual. This process is in fact done in accordance with the
Knowledge Management procedure for engineering knowledge capture and documentation.
MHT discovered that replacing the classroom training by eLearning made the assimilation of the
NPI methodology more effective and efficient. The effectiveness was in fact achieved by:
Building the eLearning modules in a form based on the four 'pillarsof effective learning
explanation, exercise, feedback, and evaluation (test).
Focusing on the really important content.
The efficiency was achieved by:
The shorter time needed for learning, which is almost always the case when classroom
learning is replaced by eLearning.
Less time wasted on getting to and from the class.
Using the Learning Management System (LMS) for managing the learning activities
providing the learning modules to the relevant engineers and also for managing the
evaluation producing various needed reports.
There were two main aims in the decision taken concerning the content of the eLearning
modules:
Learning the NPI methodology, with an emphasis on the new approach in the
development of products and systems
o At the initial evaluation and organization phase, the goal is to make sure that at
the start of the project every aspect is taken into consideration and actually done.
This means that the requirements are clearly defined in cooperation with the
customer, the risks are identified and the mitigation plan decided upon, make or
buy decisions have been made, etc.
o At the final phase getting ready for manufacturing; this phase is expected to
make sure that there will be an as smooth as possible transfer of all the
information needed for manufacturing. This information concerns tools,
technologies, engineering data etc.
Making the engineers familiar with the NPI guidebook, by including

exercises that need its use for dealing with the assignment.
The new approach MHT took for introducing the NPI methodology to the relevant employees in
a more effective and efficient manner was to replace the classroom training by eLearning and to
convert the NPI guidebook to an online user-friendly version.
The NPI guidebook was rebuilt, without actually making any change to its content. This included
both its adoption to the web (actually IAI's Intranet) and by creating a template, to be used as
well for every future update. The template made the content more structured and enabled
efficient conversion to an HTML format for the web. While the conversion to HTML format was
performed - using a software tool usually used for building help applications additional
features were added. One type of features was an aid for easy navigation a convenient table of
content which can always appear on the screen, hyperlinks, a glossary, and a search toolbar.
Another feature added improved the visual aspect - the graphics were made much clearer, their
size adopted to fit the screen size, text has been enhanced when needed and the fonts have been
changed to Arial. MHT professionals from two Competence Centres were involved in the
development and building the solution the eLearning experts and the electronic documentation
ones.
453
People Involvement
The role of the Knowledge Manager in MALAT is to assist and mentor for the successful
implementation of KM procedures; But each Business/Professional Director, Departmental Head
or Program Manager is responsible to implement KM procedures efficiently under their authority
to meet their departmental/program goals.
The people from the Engineering Division involved in the process are the design engineer who is
part of the development process, the Checker whose responsibility is to monitor, track and
identify the design errors, the Lean Facilitator that has the capabilities to recommend the proper
counter-measure method to be utilized for the specific case after implementing the design
debriefing procedure. Then the engineering supervisor or the team leader is responsible for the
training of the new updating conclusions and lessons learned to the engineering team working on
the project; and finally the Knowledge Manager who is in charge of documenting lessons learned
and updating the engineering manuals. When time comes for management review of the program
progress it is the duty of the Lean Facilitator to update the Policy Deployment Progress Report
(PDPR) for the actual measurement value of the current period of time as opposed to the
predefined planned value and to present the counter-measure plan that was implemented to
correct and prevent this design error in the future.
The results of this action is then reviewed and evaluated through the related management plan of
the program to determine whether the relevant business goal of improving the quality of design
processes and products was actually achieved and accomplished. If not, then the division
management (Division Manager or Division Lean Champion) instructions should be followed in
order to update the program actions or to implement another Lean method and once again the
results should be reviewed at the next review opportunity (about every two months).
Challenges
The innovation process faces many challenges such as managing the unknown, the
uncontrollable, and the unpredictable in opportunities, concepts, knockouts, strategic fits,
resources, infrastructure and deliverables. The Integrated Program/Product Teams at the
Engineering Division and in MALAT involve enlightened participants from every functional
area that are affected in each step of the innovation process including new system development
directions, concept development and selection processes, and product development
methodology. Team members must be trained in, and must subscribe to all aspects of
interpersonal behaviour to overcome the inevitable gravitation toward old habits. Management
must be involved in clearing obstacles, including adjusting attitudes or reassigning obstinate
individuals if necessary.
Implementing design errors debriefing and having lessons learned from the engineering process
contributing directly to the divisional goals is quite a challenge by itself. The very
implementation of debriefing requires even a culture change. Knowing that this process will lead
to better quality of engineering development processes and throughputs, essentially by saving
time, cost and by eliminating waste of non-value added or unnecessary inefficient activities and
all for the benefit of the division and the improvement of its competitive capability is not enough
to be widely accepted. Success orientation demands management commitment as a major key for
policy deployment and process assimilation.
Monitoring
Four tiers of monitoring and control processes are carried out for all the above described
procedures:
454
(1) The qualitative operational and business goals from the Lean point of view.
(2) Lean Champions conferences to share and evaluate the processes.
(3) COO review performed quarterly in every division.
(4) Self-Assessments of the implementation are conducted at two hierarchical levels:
(4a) Internal Self-Assessment as post-factum control process at the division level at the end of
each quarter.
(4b) Mutual-Assessment at company level is performed at the beginning of each year for the
evaluation of the previous year achievements.
Extracting lessons learned from the engineering debriefing process is monitored at two different
levels:
By the project management level that impels mid-level management of the appropriate
engineering groups to implement the design debriefing process whenever a major design
error is identified and fits the categories defined by the relevant procedure as shown in
Fig. 5.
By the QAT team lead by the engineering division management. The senior managers of
the division meet as a QAT team periodically on a monthly basis to present and elaborate
the design errors which have been debriefed at the first level and make decisions about
the lessons learned and the steps to be followed as a practical preventive action plan (e.g.
lessons learned to be instructed to the relevant group of engineers, a specific application
to be developed, the engineering guide books and manuals to be revised or updated, etc.)

During a KaiZen event (a continuous improvement methodology) implemented last year in the
Engineering Division, in one of the major aircraft project, a new procedure of revised and unified
process had been defined. It was one of the most successful event lead by the project manager
herself and participated by major design disciplines directors (e.g. Airframe design and analysis,
Electrical and avionic systems, Mechanical systems, Product assurance, etc.). As a result the
management of the division had decided to establish as a norm, a Quality Action Team (QAT)
forum tasked to review the results of design errors through a debriefing process in accordance
with a set of standard categories and criteria of error selection for debriefing. The process of
selecting the errors to be debriefed is shown in the following figure taken from that procedure:
455
Figure 5: Design error debriefing process

Out of its experience, MALAT has internalised that knowledge acquisition from existing
systems/products needs to be integrated along the challenge of new system development in order
to compete in highly competitive market. Knowledge management in MALAT has been
implemented to support effective innovation in potential high state of the art system development
for customers need. Each manager is responsible for the successful implementation of KM
procedures.
The Engineering Division's organization is characterized by its matrix structure having
engineering disciplines directorates on one-axis and projects managements departments on the
other. This environment is bound to have impact of disciplines on the projects and vice-versa.
The periodical reviewing system that covers all disciplines and projects every two months,
allows relevant lessons learned to be shared and mutual conclusions from one discipline to the
other to be adapted (e.g. airframe design and analysis directorate and mechanical systems design
can share the same methods of design debriefing, etc.). In addition, lessons learned are
documented in the KM portal of each department and can be reviewed and adapted in another
department. Further than that, there is a Projects Managers forum that meets every two months.
One of the goals of these forum meetings is presenting case studies and conclusions so that every
project manager can have the lessons learned gathered in one project to be applied in his project.
Practical experience from the day-by-day performance of the process of gaining from lessons
learned out of debriefings goes way beyond what is written in textbooks or formal procedures
and manuals. Trying to get hidden hints recognised only by those actually running the relevant
activities, one can say that:
To enable the extraction of knowledge from lessons learned coming from the engineering
debriefing process, one must know the multi-disciplinary engineering environment of the
project quite well. This doesn't include only the procedures involved but also the persons
456
participating in the project, their acquired skills and limitations. When design errors are
identified and the need for root cause analysis implementation is required, one has to
have the ability to persuade the IPT group members to take time out off the project
though the pressure of activities and time is sometimes unbearable, and to invest for
future advantages. The facilitator of the debriefing process has to be equipped with the
capability to explain both the debriefing method and the importance of this process for
the project benefit in the future by saving reworks and repetitions on similar errors. The
trick is to know when and where this process can be more effective and to be performed
more efficiently.
When design error debriefing conclusions are made, they are defined for the benefit of
the current project. Then it takes a delicate and patient behaviour of the facilitator to have
the personnel persuaded and ready to continue the process of performing conclusions in
order to extract from them generic lessons learned not only for the specific project benefit
but for new projects to come in the future. Much has been written about the community
gains from one project's lessons learned; this is about the risk of concentrating attention
on local knowledge sharing without addressing the issue of how the organization as a
whole can benefit from it; concentrating on the human capital rather than on creating a
social and environmental capital (see also (Allee, 1999) regarding the flow of knowledge
across the enterprise, or (Brentani and Kleinschmidt, 2004) regarding new product
development programmes).
MHT conclusions from the experience gathered up to now for the NPI training has been that as
the NPI process includes usage of additional Lean tools, the intention is to implement the same
approach for many more of them. Actually, as the initial feedback was very positive MHT has
already started doing it for the subject of requirement definition. The improvements described at
MHT were implemented in mid 2006; there is a need to evaluate their acceptance by the users.
Though previous IAI's experience with similar activities is not necessarily for the same subject, it
proves the gain in the effectiveness and the efficiency described here. So there is a sound base
for optimism in the described case as well.
To summarize, the main practical tips to be remembered are to:
Analyse and concentrate on the knowledge critical to the business
Align knowledge management with business strategy
Make knowledge management dominate over data management
Involve every employee in KM implementation
Keep top management supportive of KM processes implementation
457
Implementing the process of error debriefing is bound to fail unless the involvement of
all those who participated in the development process during the relevant phase and
activities where the design errors occurred and were identified. On top of that
management involvement is required at the level of the project management or the
supervisors serving as IPT leaders responsible for the mission accomplishment or the
final product delivery. The right implementation of design error debriefing process does
not rely on any sort of technology or practicing methodology though these could be
important. It is all about the people involved and their ability to initiate and sustain this
process for the benefit of the project and the division.
In addition, knowledge managers should never impose themselves on the project staff,
but rather show them the advantage of getting and using lessons learned. It is most
important to realize the difference between a facilitator who contributes by leading the
process for the project's benefit and the recognition expressed by the IPT of the project,
and the one who becomes a burden on the project and that causes interferences every
time problem occurs. This is why its very important to create the environment that will
have the project personnel define by themselves the procedure and categories as where,
when and how to conduct the design error debriefing process.
Acknowledgements
The KM yearly programme, to which the procedure of getting knowledge from lessons learned
belongs, is a division affair. It can't be conceived, planned, and performed by the knowledge
manager alone. Even if this would be feasible, it wouldn't be wise because KM is a value that has
to penetrate to all levels of the division. This is done by nominating a representative of each of
the division's directorates as knowledge leader for the directorate and involving him in the
process. The division knowledge managers, who participated in writing this article, realize that
their performance of the programme wouldn't be possible without the help of the knowledge
leaders who operate within their own directorates at the employees' level, and dedicate it to them.
458
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Brentani, U.d. and Kleinschmidt, E.J. (2004), 'Corporate Culture and Commitment: Impact on
Performance of International New Product Development Programs', The Journal of
Product Innovation Management, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 309-333.
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measurement', CPA Journal, Vol. 74, No. 6, pp. 32-35.
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rainbow: a knowledge management framework for new product introduction', Journal of
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management', The Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 11, No. 8, pp. 304-311.
Sveiby, K.E. (1997), The New Organisational Wealth - Managing & Measuring Knowledgebased Assets, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Fransisco.
Womack, J.P., Jones, D.T., and Roos, D. (1990), The machine that changed the world, Rawson
Associates, Macmillan Publishing Company
459
Author Biographies
Rony Dayan is a retired Lt. Colonel of the Israeli Air Force, with
industrial experience as deputy GM of MBT, one of the Israel
Aerospace Industries successful divisions (http://www.iai.co.il). Prior to
that, he was the corporate marketing representative in South East Asia
where he received the IAI President Marketing Award for outstanding
performance. Rony has been leading the effort to incorporate
Knowledge Management in the companys set of actions for the
implementation of a comprehensive change program. The program is
being implemented now across the five groups and twenty divisions of
this 2B$ Aerospace & Defense company. Rony has also given courses
in Business & High-Tech Marketing and is now teaching the subject of
The Establishment of Schools as Learning Organizations for the Israel
Teachers Association. Rony holds a PhD degree from the University of
Cranfield in the UK in the field of Knowledge Management; he also
holds an Engineering degree from the Technion in Haifa, Israel, and a
Masters Degree, both in Electronics, from the US Air Force Institute of
Technology at Wright Patterson AFB, in Dayton, Ohio, USA. Rony has
been publishing chapters in books and academic papers on the subject of
Knowledge Management and presenting it in international conferences
along the last four years...
Ron ALGOR is the Director of the Lean Resource Team and the
Knowledge Manager in the Engineering Division of Israel Aerospace
Industries Commercial Aircraft Group. Previous positions include Lean
Champion leading the Change program, manager of Methodologies &
Logistic and manager of the Software Quality Assurance (SQA) in the
Engineering Division. Ron has been leading the effort to incorporate
Knowledge Management as part of the comprehensive Change program.
He holds an Engineering Degree from the Ben-Gurion University. Ron
presented the subject of Knowledge Management in an international
conference held in The Netherlands in 2004 and is about to publish an
article on relevant issues in the Real-Life. During the years 1997-1999
Ron coordinated an international project in the European Commission
5th Framework Program (5FP).
Daniel Naor is a Mechanical Engineer with 34 years of diverse and
creative experience including 23 years with Israel Aerospace Industries
in integrated product and process development, system engineering
methodologies, program management, lean resources methodologies,
design/development and integration of aircraft structures including
advanced composite structures and ten years with Israel Military
Industries in production analysis and design for machining and coldworking processes. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical
Engineering from the Technion, Haifa, Israel. He is currently responsible
for Knowledge Management further to other responsibilities in MALAT
Division of Israel Aerospace Industries.
460
Avi Kedem works for MHT the Technical Publications & Training
Division of Israel Aerospace Industries IAIs House of Knowledge.
Avi is in charge of R&D and Knowledge Management and is actually the
Chief eLearning Officer for Israel Aerospace Industries. Avi has focused
for many years on various aspects of supporting peoples performance the multidisciplinary aspects of the learning phase as well as those used
on the job. These include effective and efficient training methodologies
(IJPT), User Friendly documentation (paper and electronic IETM) and
Performance Support Knowledgebased / User Friendly Help
applications (e.g. context sensitive, task oriented, multilingual and
customized) and their synergetic integration with eLearning and
simulation. In the past, Avi has leaded the development of Israeli
Standards for task-oriented training (Integrated Job Performance
Training - IJPT methodology) and for User Friendly manuals. Leading
IAIs eLearning Virtual Campus, development of integrated solutions
combining learning, documentation and Knowledge Management
drives an intensive, interesting and challenging professional life.
461
Strategic Role of
Physical Settings for
Creating and
Sharing Knowledge
Mustafa Kurt
Keywords:
Knowledge Creation, Knowledge Sharing, Physical Settings, Artefacts
Strategic Role of Physical Settings

for Creating and Sharing
Knowledge
Mustafa Kurt, Ph.D, Kocatepe University, Afyonkarahisar, TURKEY (mkurt@aku.edu.tr)

Technological applications and organizational processes related to knowledge management have
gained importance in many organizations during the last decades. Recently, many organizations
have focused on the activities of knowledge creating and sharing as the part of knowledge management. These activities which are generally based on technological settings should convert into
strategies taking individuals and their knowledge into consideration. Knowledge is not created
by the organization but is created and shared by individuals. Although organizations pay attention seriously on widely accepted components of knowledge management such as technology,
leadership and measuring, physical settings that are very significant for interaction (Hatch, 1987;
388) the subject has not been on their agenda sufficiently. It can be stated that it has largely been
ignored by managers and scholars (Davis, 1984; 271). However, physical settings can be a key
component in the management process of knowledge creation and sharing technological tools.
As a dimension of organizational culture, physical settings and artefacts have an important impact on issues related to knowledge management. Artefacts can have a significant effect on both
knowledge creation and sharing. Likewise, the arrangement and design of offices and buildings
can play a leading role for the activities of knowledge management.
In order to reveal the tacit knowledge that exists in the minds, individuals should be encouraged
to come together in formal or informal environments in workplace. Offices or meeting rooms can
serve as formal sites for this purpose. Other informal sites within workplace such as dining areas
also may positively affect the activities of knowledge creation and sharing. During breaks people
can talk about problems, new ideas and suggestions and can create new knowledge by sharing
their own tacit knowledge through informal meetings. Since the knowledge creation process is
not linear, knowledge is created in a spiral context that integrates opposing concepts such as order and chaos, part and whole, mind and body, tacit and explicit, self and other, deduction and induction, and creativity and efficiency. Because of this chaotic nature of knowledge
creation, physical settings are very important for arranging a chaotic workplace. In this kind of
workplace knowledge creation activities can be supported by qualified speeches between experts, and this can be more useful than other technological tools for creating and sharing knowledge.
Keywords: knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, physical settings, artefacts
465
Strategic Role of Physical Settings for Creating and Sharing Knowledge

Organizational Culture, Artefacts and Physical Settings
Knowledge creation and sharing issues are closely connected with organizational culture. Much
research (Leidneri Alavi and Kayworth, 2006; Pauleen, Wu and Dexter, 2004; Balthazard and
Cooke, 2004) has focused on the relationship between knowledge management activities and
organizational culture. Knowledge management efforts are often seen as a means to encounter
difficulties of organizational culture. However, knowledge management activities have been observed in limited impact. Similarly, an Ernst and Young study (Leidner, Alavi and Kayworth,
2006) identified culture as the biggest impediment to knowledge transfer, citing the inability to
change peoples behavior as the biggest hindrance to managing knowledge. In another study of
453 firms, more than half indicated that organizational culture was a major barrier to success in
their knowledge management initiatives. Consequently, there seems to be an agreement that organizational culture is a key factor for the implementation of successful knowledge management
(Abdullah, 2006).
Culture was defined by Hofstede as a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the
members of one group from another (Pauleen, Lingand Dexter, 2004). According to another
definition (Schein, 1985; 9), culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group
learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked
well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct
way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.
According to the definitions mentioned above, culture can be divided into four main dimensions:
values, artefacts, assumptions, and symbols.
Values
Manifestation
Realization
Assumptions
Interpretation
Artefacts
Symbolization
Symbols
Figure 1: The Cultural Dynamics Model
Based on knowledge creation and sharing activities, the component of artefactsis one of the
most important dimensions in which sees, hears, feels, language, technology, products, creations
and style, clothing, manners of address, myths, stories are contained. This type of cultural di466
mension is easy to observe but difficult to decipher. Artefacts consist of physical settings, technology, and products.
Knowledge and Culture
As a dimension of artefacts, physical settings are closely related to knowledge creation and sharing activities in knowledge-based organizations producing knowledge-intensive goods/ services.
Knowledge creation and sharing is a leading challenge to focus on in this kind of organizations.
This is due to the fact that knowledge creation and sharing activities need both technological
infrastructure and intensive interaction between individuals. It would be possible to create new
knowledge and share all types of knowledge by employing people interactionand information/communication technologies (ICT). Knowledge managers should do some arrangements for
physical settings to get and maintain the intensive interaction between individuals in order to
build an appropriate environment within the workplace for creating and sharing knowledge.
There are two types of knowledge within an organization that can be called tacit and explicit
knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) clearly distinguished between the two types of knowledge. They stated that explicit knowledge refers to intellectual artefacts (books, documents,
manuals, theories, models, simulations and their interpretations, mathematical expressions, tables, graphs, databases, and so on). It encompasses all levels of cognition (including information
and data) that can be put into visual presentations, words, or numbers. On the other hand, tacit
knowledge refers to cognition that resides in peoples heads, such as cumulated wisdom and understanding, institutional knowledge, organizational lore, and basic orientations. It also includes
personal knowledge embedded in individual experience in the form of rules of thumb, values,
preferences, intuitions, and insights (Baker and Badamshina 2002; Gray and Densten, 2004), i.e.
unconscious knowledge we possess (compare Polanyi's famous aphorism We know more than
we can tell.). Tacit knowledge consists of habits and cultures that we do not recognize in ourselves. In the field of knowledge management, the concept of tacit knowledge refers to a knowledge which is only known an individually and that is difficult to communicate to the rest of an
organization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge).
Main sources of tacit and explicit knowledge can be classified as in Table 1. Tacit knowledge
generally consists of experience, wisdom, skills, values, beliefs, and mental models while explicit one includes books, reports, documents, manuals, databases.
Table 1: Two Types and Sources of Knowledge
Type of Knowledge
Source of Knowledge
Tacit Knowledge
Experience, expertise, wisdom,

intuition, insight, skill, culture,
value, understanding, belief, mental models etc.
Explicit Knowledge
Report, books, documents, manuals, tables, graphs, models, databases etc.
In the concept of knowledge management, both tacit and explicit knowledge represent critical
areas to capture, classify, store, and share within the organization. Due to physical settings
highly related to tacit knowledge, the relationship between physical settings and tacit knowledge
is required to be more important. In this view, physical settings may offer valuable support to
reveal tacit knowledge from individuals. This is due to the fact that office characteristics related
to physical settings might also influence the amount of interpersonal contact among experts.
These characteristics can be classified as openness, density, architectural accessibility and darkness (Oltham Rotchford, 1983; 542). However, the location of amenities such as drinking foun467
tains, dining areas, or coffee pots can also be seen as physical settings, and it leads to the forms
of spontaneous communication so necessary for organizational success. These physical features
can bring people together or keep them apart, facilitate or frustrate both individual and organizational goals (Carnevale, 1992).
Knowledge Creation Process and Physical Settings
Tacit knowledge is based upon information and bound to people. As knowledge is not static but
highly dynamic, the question is how to establish creating and sharing of knowledge (Lemken,
Kahler and Rittenbruch, 2000). Nonaka and Toyama (2003) defined knowledge creation as a
process in which various contradictions are synthesized through dynamic interactions among
individuals, the organization, and the environment. They also argue that knowledge is created in
a spiral that integrates opposing concepts such as order and chaos, micro and macro, part and
whole, mind and body, tacit and explicit, self and other, deduction and induction, and
creativity and efficiency. The approach focuses on the flow of knowledge that originates within
individuals and is then made available to others in the organization. The process is related to the
conversion of tacit into explicit knowledge and is consistent with the view that knowledge is a
phenomenon in motion(Gray and Densten, 2004).
Nonaka and Takeuchis (1995) model of knowledge creation and conversion the SECI process
(Socialization-Externalization-Combination-Internalization) emphasizes that knowledge conversion is a social process between individuals and not confined within an individual.
Figure 2 provides details of the four modes of knowledge conversion commencing with socialization where individuals share experience and mental models to refine knowledge. Tacit knowledge is converted into explicit knowledge through a process referred to as externalization.
Tacit
Socialization
Environment
Externalization
E I I I
I
Tacit
Internalization
Tacit
Sharing &
creating tacit
knowledge
through direct
experience
Combination
E
I G
G
G
Explicit
Explicit
Tacit
Explicit
Explicit
knowledge
Articulating tacit
knowledge through
dialogue &
reflection
Systemizing &
applying
explicit
knowledge &
information
Explicit
I= Individual; G=Group; O=Organization E=Environment
Figure 2: Four Modes of Knowledge Creation

This translation process allows the individually held tacit knowledge concepts to be crystallized
and shared with other members creating new knowledge. The combination or knowledge sophistication mode where knowledge is articulated, shared, and expounded involves explicit
knowledge reconfigured into more complex explicit knowledge. Finally, internalization refers to
468
the mode where explicit knowledge becomes internalized through knowledge interpretation and
is converted into tacit knowledge (Gray and Densten, 2004).
Organizations provide various settings for the knowledge creation activities. In this process, socialization and externalization of tacit knowledge offer more valuable output than explicit
knowledge. Therefore, physical settings for the socialization and externalization of tacit knowledge are relatively important. In such an environment, individuals who have tacit knowledge can
meet with others and have quality discussions on the problems of the organizations or on some
improvement projects. All of these communications help to knowledge creation activities.
Knowledge Sharing Process and Physical Settings
Knowledge sharing is another important phase in organizational life. After tacit knowledge being
revealed and explicit knowledge stored, there is a necessity to share for creating a value by innovations and also innovative ideas. Technology and computer infrastructure can foster knowledge
sharing but tacit knowledge sharing needs more social organization than others. It grows up in
social atmosphere with individuals and groups. Within this context, organizations should design
their spatial layout based on knowledge strategy as spatial layout influences the social interactions that are necessary both for effective task performance and knowledge sharing activities.
(Carnevale, 1992).
Individuals and groups within organization should come together and experience face-to-face
interactions in order to create and share tacit knowledge. However, face-to-face communication
should be designed carefully for gathering clear benefits. Additionally, physical settings (buildings, offices, resting areas, etc.) and some arrangements (drinking fountains, dining areas, or
coffee pots etc.) based on organizational architecture can facilitate people to create new ideas, to
focus on solving organizational problems and to share their insights to develop new products by
face-to-face interaction. Managers should be aware of physical settingsimportance both for the
socialization and externalization process and the necessity for action plans based on this fact and
should make some arrangements related workplace. In formal and restricted workplaces experts
continuously work for routine tasks themselves while they cannot contact others. But by using
open-offices and related arrangements (drinking fountains, dining areas, or coffee pots etc.) they
can reach thousands of contacts and can easily reveal tacit knowledge.
In general, the positive effects of open office result from improved knowledge flow and greater
friendship opportunities and chance to observe and learn from happenings in the workplace
(Carnevale, 1992). Besides, open offices and related physical arrangements (drinking fountains,
dining areas, or coffee pots etc.) offer big social networks and contacts. Consequently, organization and its managers should take into consideration physical settings and should bring individuals together to face-to-face communication for fostering tacit knowledge sharing.
469

In order to encourage knowledge creation and sharing in a knowledge-based organization, it is
necessary to create a supportive organizational culture for gaining importance to share tacit
knowledge. In organizations, where people produce value through knowledge, an interactive
environment supported by top management is indispensable. Especially the socialization and
externalization phases of tacit knowledge are based on interaction among individuals. According
to some authors (Canter, 1976; Proshansky, Ittelson, & Rivlin, 1976), building design and physical location within building influence interaction and relationship. Additionally, another study of
an apartment complex carried out by Festinger, Schacter, and Back (1950) showed that interaction patterns and the development of friendship among the residents were strongly affected by
their relative location in the building. Rooms located close to one another increased interaction
and relationship development among residents (Davis,1984). These intensive interaction possibilities should be set in every side of organization both formally or informally. The important
point here is top management support for all types of interaction and communication which must
be kept under the evident principles ground. Developing or designing some basic principles for
the meeting places and speeches can have a positive effect on the socialization and externalization process. Besides, physical settings also reduce distance between individuals and bring them
together. Social density has significant consequences for the degree of interaction in workplace
(Carnevale, Rios, 1995; 223). When distance is reduced, numbers of social contacts increase
regularly. As seen in figure 3, only two people have a social channel but each additional person
has geometric effects on the number of communication channels.
Figure 3: Geometric Growth of Communication Channels

This type of culture, which has intensive interaction and communication, needs the support of
top managers, some tools which encourage knowledge creation and sharing activities and reward
programs. Firstly, some physical arrangements should be done to allow people to come together
in different environments within organization. This step is primary necessary to reveal tacit
knowledge. When knowledge experts come together in a different context and side in organization, they may interact to make new strategies, to develop a new knowledge vision and to talk
470
about their opinion on success of new products in market. This context enables qualified
speeches and these may also serve to improve new ideas. In the process of qualified speeches,
individuals transport own messages regarding the lack of new ideas to others and help to develop
them. Coming together of many individuals with different knowledge and experience to create
knowledge is the essential subject within this method (Davenport, Prusak, 2001; p.95).
Consequently, managers should make some arrangements related to physical settings which enable interactions and qualified speeches. Different knowledge experts from different departments
can come together at the same time and in the same environment by using physical settings. Settlement of departments and offices within buildings can be designed based on knowledge creation and sharing. And more and more important thing, every expert groups should have knowledge agent to provoke these activities. Otherwise these groups can become gossip communities.

Organizational spaces for qualified speeches should be planned and designed by knowledge
managers. As physical settings affect both individual and group knowledge creation, physical
setting of offices, buildings and other workplaces should take into consideration knowledge
strategy. Like other important components of culture such as trust, values etc., physical settings
can be used as an effective tool. Technological tools may also facilitate knowledge sharing but
may not achieve socialization and externalization of tacit knowledge. Contrary to technological
tools, the design of buildings, offices and meeting rooms, the location of departments and eating
spaces, drinking fountains, dining areas, or coffee pots can collectively support knowledge creation and sharing effectively.
Offices are most common spaces related to physical settings since they are special living areas of
individuals and individuals also maintain their cognitive efforts in these spaces. Main reasons for
organizations to move to an open office strategy are not only to control workers easily and reduce costs productively but also to enable knowledge creation and sharing. While in the past one
or two persons were working in an office, there are high numbers of experts in any open offices
now. People who are centrally located or who are in high traffic areas of workplaces are likely to
interact with more people than those in isolated areas of the building (Davis 1984). Every top
manager and knowledge manager who cares about knowledge should design this kind of offices
and should also facilitate knowledge creation and sharing.
Meeting rooms are also the place of formal knowledge creation and sharing and frequently used
by knowledge experts for these tasks. Experts come together in meeting rooms to study on a project, to inform others about last developments and to solve problems by using some collaborative
interaction methods. In the meeting rooms, knowledge creation and sharing can be achieved by
qualified speeches. Although only formal meeting rooms are not sufficient for knowledge
creation and sharing activities themselves, they still have an importance to realize them formally.
If an organization does not have informal places for informal interaction, members of organizations can focus on fixed tasks in formal ones.
Informal places in organizations can also facilitate knowledge management activities. As organizational knowledge creation is nonlinear and interactive, there is no possibility to say that
knowledge creation and sharing activities can be hold only at offices and meeting rooms at certain times. This is due to the fact that sometimes new innovative ideas or solutions of any problem can surprisingly appear in an unrelated context, time and place. Knowledge managers should
try to push knowledge experts out of formal offices and meeting rooms to spend their time in
chaotic environment. Coffee-breaks and dining times can be effective examples for this case.
These times have big importance related to knowledge activities although they are short. This is
471
because environments get nearly chaotic is an individual mind, which focuses on specific subjects, suddenly joins a new environment and group. This chaotic nature enables both recreation
of knowledge through socialization and externalization. Consequently, coffee-breaks and cafeterias, designed and organized based on knowledge strategy, support knowledge activities.

The literature on physical settings has extensively discussed the importance of workplace design
(Carnevale, 1992; Hatch, 1993; Yitzhak, 1990; and Domahidy, Gilsian, 1992) for affecting social
networks, knowledge creation and sharing. Moreover, settlements of departments and offices
even drinking fountains, dining areas, or coffee pots etc. have gained much importance. Offices have been more open and experts have been closer for many years.
The effects of open offices could be examined from either a social relations or a socio-technical
perspective. In the social relations view, an environment acts like a catalyst affecting the quality
and level of social interactions and communications among its inhabitants. For example, physical
proximity can provide many opportunities for the development of interpersonal relationships,
which may result in high interpersonal attraction, satisfaction, and motivation (Zalesny, Farace,
1987; 241). Both social contacts and qualified speeches appear in this context.
Social contacts and qualified speeches may cause knowledge creation by using tacit knowledge
in workplace. The importance of speeches in organization has not been sufficiently researched
by authors. Westley (1990) has analyzed the participation of middle level managers in speeches
about strategy. Similarly, Von Krogh and Roos (1996) have investigated content and style differences in speeches that focus on strategic perspectives and operational subjects. However, research on speeches in business environments that support knowledge creation has not been sufficiently studied yet (Krogh, Ich jo, Nonaka, 2002; p.149).
All qualified speeches and contacts may have a nucleus of valuable knowledge as follows: explaining of individual visions, telling about individual ideas orderly and carefully. So speeches
can transfer tacit knowledge to others within well designed physical environment. Every expert
in organizations thinks about othersideas and may help to develop these ideas. Thoughts, views,
beliefs, and approaches transfer occurring in speech processes enable to share tacit knowledge as
the first and the most important step of knowledge creation in micro communities (Krogh, Ichijo,
Nonaka, 2002; p.147). According to Krough, Ichijo and Nonaka (2002), in modern business environments speeches have a main role for social knowledge creation. As the important thing in
order to achieve this case, individuals with different knowledge and experience by using physical
settings should come together (Davenport, Prusak, 2001; 95). Related to physical settings, individual knowledge creation process is explained below to get depth understanding.
Individual Knowledge Creation and Physical Settings
Although managers and authors have not focused on the importance of speeches yet, they offer
the critical key to knowledge creation. Workplace spaces can be transformed in an appropriate
way so as to enable knowledge creation and sharing by means of speeches. Figure 4 depicts the
model where information is acquired through the sensors and processed in the brain by using
prior knowledge. During the processing of information, new knowledge can be acquired or created for future use, when more or new information is acquired and processed (Beveren, 2004).
While Figure 4 explains information acquisition and knowledge creation within individual mind,
Figure 5 mentions transfer of this knowledge to information by externalization from human
brain.
472
The Human Brain

Information
Sensory
Inputs
Information Processor
New
Knowledge
Prior
Knowledge
Memory
(Knowledge Store)
Figure 4: Model of Information Acquisition and Knowledge Creation within the Brain
In both cases, it is very important that individuals should be in a social atmosphere to contact
each other by both creation and transfer. This refers to physical settings which assist knowledge
creation and sharing.
The Human Brain

Information
Language
and/or
Demonstration
Output
Information Processor
New
Knowledge
Prior
Knowledge
Memory
(Knowledge Store)
Figure 5: Model of Knowledge Transfer to Information for Externalization

Individuals have knowledge creation processes, but some external components may also facilitate individual knowledge creation. Physical settings of organizations play an important role to
reveal tacit knowledge. It also offers basic opinions on whether or not getting employees together in the same environment. In the offices design process, meeting rooms, departments and
even cafeteria and coffee-break space, managers should take into consideration knowledge management strategy. Thus, organizations may get the effective infrastructure which facilitates socialization and externalization of tacit knowledge.
If an organization wants to get value from tacit knowledge, managers should structure and continue their physical settings based on the knowledge management strategy. Individuals can not
be effective in revealing tacit knowledge by means of formal meeting rooms and offices only, as
knowledge creation processes are chaotic by nature. However, informal environments in which
people often meet and talk to each other are needed to support knowledge creation. In such an
atmosphere, experts can come together to find a solution for the problems and they can create
473
innovations for business process or products. They can also share tacit knowledge from one to
another to create an organization which is based on knowledge management.
In fact, organizations can use different tools to reveal both tacit and explicit knowledge. Figure 6
explains how explicit and tacit knowledge are created and shared through different collaborative
tools. Every organization has both tacit and explicit knowledge as usual and both of them offer
potential organizational knowledge indeed. Individuals and groups have a different form of this
potential organizational knowledge and knowledge management concepts really deal with capturing, classifying, storing and sharing this it by using some collaborative tools.
PHYSICAL SETTINGS
(Collaborative Tools for Knowledge Creation and Sharing)
Design of buildins, offices, drinking fountains, dining areas, or
coffe pots etc
Individuals and Groups
TACIT KNOWLEDGE
experience, expertize, wisdom, intuition, insight,
skill, culture, value, understanding, belief, mental model
etc.
EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE
ORGANIZATIONAL
MEMORY
(KNOWLEDGE STORE)
POTENTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Reports, books, documents, manuals, tables, graphs,

models, databases etc.
TECHNOLOGIES & FORMAL PROCEDURES

(Collaborative Tools for Knowledge Creation and Sharing)
hardware, software, formal meeting, collaborative technological tool, email, newsletter etc.
Figure 6: Role of Collaborative Tools for Revealing and Sharing Knowledge

Explicit knowledge is easily created and shared by books, databases, manuals, reports etc. based
on technologies and formal procedures. For example, individuals simply join a database by interface but creating and sharing tacit knowledge has a more sophisticated chaotic nature. However,
physical settings may be an effective catalyst to reveal and share it. For instance, dining times
are really chaotic and sophisticated, too. In these areas and times individuals spontaneously come
together and share their problems by talking to each other. If these spontaneous meetingsare
managed consciously in many informal areas of workplace, there would be sufficient knowledge
for creating and sharing activities.
474
Consequently, when organizations take into consideration potential organizational knowledge it

is necessary that a strategy should be developed for revealing and sharing both tacit and explicit
knowledge. Especially, tacit knowledge requires some physical arrangements in the workplace.

The main result of social density and qualified speeches is innovation by innovative ideas within
well designed building and offices. Individuals in this atmosphere can create and maintain innovation efforts. Although todays organizations attach importance to innovation through R&D
departments, these departments can be accepted as heritage of industrial society. In the information age, however, if an agreement exists that producing innovations is merely an R&D task,
managers can face up some paradox, hidden possible innovations. Thus, when physical settings
of organizations are formed by contacts, interaction, communication and qualified speeches,
value to provoke innovations and ideas by these activities is expected.
Organizations should consider some additional tasks after having systematic knowledge creation
and sharing activities by using physical settings. Firstly, managers must make an effort to maintain these activities continuously. This can e.g. be done by means of motivation tools embedded
in the corporate performance measurement system. Secondly, some knowledge agents must be
selected and diffused within organizations through departments. These agents offer big chances
to maintain knowledge creation and sharing and they can improve quality of speeches, contacts
and knowledge flow within this process. Finally, managers also should consider the output of
knowledge strategies by using some measurement methods. Measurement of strategy has a vital
importance to define benefits of physical settings for knowledge creation and sharing. If there
has not been progress related to product and process innovation, the method should be scrutinized and carefully redesigned.
475

In order to realize contacts and qualified speech within organization, managers should make
some arrangements and produce some principles based on knowledge workers:
Support people to talk about their ideas: In order to generate an organization which creates and shares knowledge, managers must initially create an organization consisting of outspoken workers by using support of top managers. Knowledge workers should be offered the
freedom to express their ideas on every subject of the organization. Not ideas which are created are valuable or innovative but within all ideas, some valuable and innovative ones will
be an important contribution for the organization.
Make investment in people who have tacit knowledge: If tacit knowledge has importance
for organizations, making investment in workers is primarily necessary. Especially, organizing physical places to provide positive climate for knowledge creating and sharing activities
has vital importance for managers.
Encourage formal and informal interaction: Every organization has both formal and informal communication. However, in some organizations formal speech can be an obligation
for sharing knowledge and also can turn into a power-show. At the same time informal
speech can be restricted whilst formal and informal communication can produce innovations
with qualified speech. The main role of a knowledge manager is not to create limits or
power-show scenes but to develop principles which will prevail in formal and informal
speech areas and also to make arrangements about increasing speech quality.
Award for knowledge sharing: If an organization has a clear knowledge strategy, managers
should develop an award system. As knowledge creating activity is naturally chaotic, it is
very difficult to assess its value at first sight. Valuable ideas, however, that were produced by
knowledge workers can be gathered by qualified speech and outputs of valuable ideas cannot
appear immediately. Managers should always notice that award systems gradually support
the constitution of a liberal organization.
Avoid being rule-less: Managers and organization members rely on spontaneous, chaotic
and unplanned meetings with others. A small part of these interactions may not be related to
organizations but another part may affect others positively. When directing knowledge experts to communicate on knowledge creating and sharing base, some principles should be designed. Otherwise, managers can face up to shirkersproblems which are feared by managers or aimless speechesthat depend on quality of message.
If tacit knowledge has no strategic importance, do not consider it elaborately: Physical
settings which provide contacts and qualified speeches should be designed by considering
tacit knowledge. If products of organizations do not require consideration of tacit knowledge,
knowledge creating and sharing activities may cause wasting time and individuals can turn to
other subjects by leaving main subjects.
476
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank zlem Efiloglu, doctoral student at the Marmara University and
Hseyin Kan bir, assistant professor at Balikesir Univesity for their insightful comments and
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478
Author Biography
Dr. Mustafa KURT works for Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University in Afyonkarahisar TURKEY as assistant professor. He has
obtained a Ph.D. in Business Administration in 2004 at Afyonkarahisar Kocatepe University and the title of the dissertation was
Knowledge Management Practices and its Contributions to Competitive Advantage: Example of Siemens Business Services (SBS)
Turkey. He teaches courses on Management Information Systems, Knowledge Management and Management Theory at the
same university. His research interests include organization theory, chaos and complexity, institutional theory and knowledge
management.
479
Future Workshops The Unthinkable

and How to Make It
Happen
Peter Troxler and Beate Kuhnt
Keywords:
Action Planning, Participation, Social Inclusion, Disruptive,
Empowerment
Future Workshops The Unthinkable and How to Make

It Happen
Peter Troxler, UnBla (peter@unbla.net)
Beate Kuhnt, Educational Engineering Lab, Department of Informatics, University of Zurich
(kuhnt@ifi.unizh.ch)

Future Workshops are a method to develop a vision of the future shared by the participants.
These workshops primarily aim to encourage socially or otherwise excluded people to take an
interest in their future and to pursue their dreams. The method is fundamentally driven by their
creative energy, and it emphasizes the equal status of participants regardless their social,
political, etc. background and role.
Future Workshops are best used in a context where there is scope for action and where collective
efforts are required to change a restrictive environment to better suit the needs of its users.
Ideally the participants of a Future Workshop are supposed to take responsibility for the
expected changes and also given the respective authority and resources to initiate this change.
Future Workshops combine analytical (rational) and creative (intuitive) phases to
1. Analyse a given, current situation,
2. Develop visions of the future and
3. Agree on an action plan how to reach these desired results.
Participants of a Future Workshop thus embark on a cathartic journey, starting by naming the
curse of today and the fears of the future, continuing by being allowed to dream and so to
overcome the constraints of everyday life and the normative power of the factual, eventually
ending up developing and initiating concrete actions towards a desirable and better future.
While carried out under a strict time management regime, Future Workshops are extremely open
to any content addressed by participants. Everything said is important, everyone gets the
opportunity to speakand everything is recordedare the underlying principles for true and
equal participation. This is supported by a variety of facilitation techniques.
Future Workshops are instruments of fundamental empowerment. If conducted properly they
result in powerful action plans and a high commitment of participants to carry actions through.
Future Workshops also might result in cohesive and effective action against established powerful
institutions.
Future Workshops have been employed initially in community settings, in the peace movement,
the green movement, etc. Even though the method may have been deployed successfully in
business, we hesitate to recommend it for use in a context where disruption, participationand
empowermentare believed to best not interfere with shareholdersinterests.
Keywords: action planning, participation, social inclusion, disruptive, empowerment
483
Future Workshops - The Unthinkable and How to Make It Happen

Future Workshops are best suited for solving problems in organisations such as factories, co-ops
and unions, schools and youth centres, pressure groups and voluntary organisations,
neighbourhoods and communities.
Future Workshops are a method to develop a vision of the future shared by the participants.
These workshops primarily aim to encourage socially or otherwise excluded people to take an
interest in their future, to develop a belief in being powerful by themselves, and to give them the
prospect to achieve their dreams. The Future Workshop is fundamentally fuelled by the creative
energy and equal status of participants regardless their social, political, hierarchical etc.
background and role. It is a collective method that stresses the equal status of individual
participants and the collective ownership of results. Future Workshops are instruments of real
empowerment and can result in cohesive and effective action units against established powerful
institutions.
Future workshops combine analytical (rational) and creative (intuitive) elements into three
phases, i.e.
(1) To analyse a given, current situation,
(2) To develop visions of the future and
(3) To agree on an action plan how to reach these desired results.
(1) The analysis of a given situation is the critical appraisal phase (or simply critique phase as it
has been named in the original translation of the method (Jungk & Mllert, 1987)). Its aim is not
to produce a rational, well-balanced, consensus view of the current situation. Quite the opposite
should happen in this phase. Participants are asked to name all the negative aspects of the current
situation, and all the fears of the future they have. The critical appraisal will inevitably draw a
dark picture of the present and a bleak outlook into the future. This is essential for the whole
Future Workshop since it is believed that only if participants can express their negative feelings
they are able, in the next phase of the process, to leave them behind and invent a new, positive
future.
(2) To develop visions of the future is the aim of the utopian fantasy phase (or simply fantasy
phase). As radical as the critique had to be in during critical appraisal, as radical the utopias
should become in this phase. Particularly the constraints of money, power and politics can safely
be ignored. Participants are allowed and actively encouraged to dream. The normative forces of
the factual no longer should dominate the discourse. Yet participants will not just generate
endless wish lists. They will have to develop coherent descriptions of Utopias, defined as
'place[s] of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions' (MerriamWebster Online, 2006).
(3) Realisation i.e. to transform Utopia into a picture of a desirable future, and to initiate first
steps towards that future is the aim of the implementation phase. This is difficult to achieve;
and it is best done in several iterations, approaching the desirable from the far end, e.g. by
identifying those characteristics of the Utopias that relate most closely to existing realities.
Finding analogies and examples of 'what is possible there could also be possible here' is essential
to avoid getting trapped by accepting constraints as given instead of challenging them. Once a
description of a desirable future has been found, the last stage in the process is to start to make it
happen. A Future Workshop ends with an action plan that brings a first step towards a better
future within reach of the participants.
484
The length of a workshop varies from less than one day to one week. Ideally, one should allocate
one day per phase. The workshop would need to be led by at least 2 facilitators. The number of
participants ranges typically from 25 to 50 people. However, Future Workshops with over 100
participants have successfully been held, requiring up to six facilitators. Variations with even
bigger audiences could probably be realised by integrating Open Space approaches.
A team of facilitators ensures that the three phases and the basic principles are respected, i.e.:
everyone is important, everything said is important, everyone gets the opportunity to speak,
everything is written down or visualized. The facilitation techniques should be varied in order
to generate a diversity of opinions, ideas and proposals. Techniques typically employed include:
brainstorming, ranking, mind-mapping, fantasy travels, role-play, reportage, collage and
painting. Further, the facilitators are responsible for the preparation and the documentation of the
Future Workshop.
It is important to keep in mind the context Future Workshops were developed in. Their invention
goes back to the 1960s when Robert Jungk, then journalist, later professor of future research at
TU Berlin, experienced the long-term impacts of the nuclear bombings on civilians in
Hiroshima. He decided to establish future research in Germany as a discipline that studies the
long-term impacts of decisions driven by a predominantly techno-scientific society. However, he
found, particularly during the first international conference of future scientists, held in Oslo in
1967, that experts, politicians and managers started to colonise the future. In the past only
countries were colonised, now they started to subdue time by determining the future. From this
insight the question arose how we could let as many people as possible participate at formulating
and designing the future. (...) In the early sixties I thus started the first Future Workshops giving
the people concerned the possibility to meet, to unleash their hidden potentials and to mentally
prepare for social change.(Weirauch, 2002).

The main preparation goes into establishing the aims of the Future Workshop. From these aims
the initial question has to be developed which is required for starting the critical appraisal phase.
It is important that this initial question actually opens up the analysis of the issue to be worked
on. So questions should start with What are your concerns ...?or Which are your fears ... ?
(but obviously not with howor why).
The second main effort goes into the meticulous planning of the Future Workshop. It is
absolutely essential to allocate enough time for the last phase, the implementation. A good rule
of thumb is that the implementation phase could take almost 50 % of the actual working time of
a workshop (i.e. excluding breaks and housekeeping announcements). Utopian fantasies equally
require some time, maybe 1/3 of the working time. The remaining time is then allocated to the
critical appraisal. It is important to be aware that participants tend to stick with moaning, so the
transition from the critical appraisal to the utopian fantasies has to be designed with special
attention. Similarly, the transition from utopian fantasies to implementation requires participants
to change perspective, which needs support from the facilitators.
When designing the schedule for the workshop, facilitators have to create a good balance of
plenary and small-group activity, schedule enough breaks and allocate time for off-duty
activities such as relaxing, chatting, etc.
Also, the material needed and appropriate facilities have to be ready for the workshop. Suggested
material (for a workshop with about 25 participants) is 30 flip-chart sheets or a paper roll (1,5
meters wide, 20 meters long), 50 pastel crayons in various colours, scissors, 5 rolls of masking
tape, glue, 300 sheets A4, 300 sheets A3. The facilities should be flexible, allowing for plenary
485
session and breakout groups. Furniture will have to be moved, and it is necessary that sheet with
workshop results can be sticked to the walls.

The essential ingredients of a Future Workshop are on the one hand facilitation principles and
techniques, on the other hand an adequate set of tools and materials. In strong contrast to many
more recent facilitation techniques, a Future Workshop requires no sophisticated toolkit,
available only through specialist retailers no fancy magnetic shapes, dedicated computer
programs or specialist pens. Scrap paper, pastel crayons and masking tape are the main
ingredients the less gadgetry the more the Future Workshop can focus on the content.
Facilitation principles, techniques and skills, however, are the essentials for conducting a Future
Workshop. Many of these principles are general facilitation principles, such as being sensitive to
the groups needs, listening to constructive criticism and responding appropriately, confronting
problems and difficulties, being supportive, encouraging all group members, using questions
instead of statements, etc.
Also, common facilitation techniques are used quite extensively in Future Workshops:
clarification of statements, clustering of items, combination of similar ideas, prioritizing
techniques, negative poll (elimination of low priority items), setting un-related items aside for
later use, question techniques such as the nominal group technique, force field analysis,
storyboarding, etc.
Additionally, Future Workshops employ a specific facilitation pattern. It is sometimes referred to
as the 'funnel pattern'. It gets used at least once per phase, in longer workshops also twice or
more often. The funnel pattern of a Future Workshops consists of six steps:
a. Prepare the participants by stating the question or topic and creating an atmosphere that
supports the current phase (i.e. critique, fantasy, or implementation). This is typically a
plenary session, however sometimes appropriate small group activity can serve the same
purpose (cf. below the introduction to the implementation phase in table 3).
b. Collect items related to the question or topic by using some facilitation technique such as
brainstorming, brain writing, etc. This could equally be a plenary session or some small
group activity.
c. Structure the items collected above to review the items collected, to get an overview of
the material and to reduce the number of items the workshop has to deal with to a more
manageable size. Typically one would use some clustering technique.
d. Expand the clusters to create a richer picture of the issues that are often summarised in a
few words and quite abstractly in the titles of the clusters. This step is extremely useful to
create a common understanding of the issues at stake.
e. Select the most important, most relevant, most interesting or most innovative etc. issue
for future consideration in the next funnel or phase. Quite often this is done by voting on
individual clusters or items and then counting the votes. However, a good solution might
also be to give participants the opportunity to choose issues they want to carry on with,
maybe even despite of high vote counts.
f. Close the funnel by reviewing the process, acknowledging the contribution of everybody,
pinpointing the results of the funnel and stressing the collective ownership of these
results.
486
The facilitation of a Future Workshop also needs to take extra care for the transitions between
the phases. So the transition from the critical appraisal phase to the utopian fantasy phase has to
change the mindset of the participants from a more negative, backwards oriented attitude to a
positive, creative and future-oriented attitude. A good break and some icebreaker techniques can
very well be employed to achieve this transition.
Similarly, the transition from the freely floating utopian fantasy phase to the very much actionoriented implementation phase requires participants to change their mindset again. The
facilitators have to support the participants in their work moving from utopian ideas to concrete
implementation steps. Useful techniques can be trying to find examples where similar utopias
have been realised, trying to identify potential obstacles to implementation, or trying to name
possible sponsors, promoters and opponents of the utopian ideas.

A Future Workshop consists of three strictly distinct phases:
(1) Critical appraisal: To analyse a current situation
(2) Utopian fantasy: To develop visions of the future
(3) Implementation: To agree on an action plan how to reach these desired results
As with any facilitation method, a Future Workshop starts with an introductory phase that gives
an overview over the method, the particular techniques used, the dos and donts for the workshop
and an introduction into the topic.
(1) Critical appraisal provides an opportunity for the analysis of current structural problems and
deficits. This phase could include: collecting critique, complaints, problems and fears related to
the topic, establishing the main points of critique, illustrating these points with examples,
selecting the most important points for further consideration in the workshop.
The aim of the critical appraisal phase is twofold: Firstly, it helps participants to vent frustration
with the topic to be worked on. But, more important, secondly, this frustration and critique is
taken seriously and will be fed into a process to actually change circumstances. The critical
appraisal phase, therefore, is more than a token wailing wall; it is the first step of a self-directed
change process.
Table 1: Example of a Critical Appraisal Phase
Step
Duration Activity
Introduction
10 min
Facilitators explain the aims of the critical appraisal phase
Critique
20 min
Small group activity: Participants formulate their frustration and

critique and jot down keywords on A3 oder A4 sheets of paper
Cluster
30 min
Plenary: critiques are clustered into groups according to similarity
Select
15 min
Plenary: Participants select those critiques groups they deem most

important (e.g. by marking them with their initials)
Expand
45 min
Plenary: Participants are asked to tell their own stories relating to

those critiques that have been selected; facilitators take notes on a
flipchart so they are visible (and legible) for everybody.
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(2) In the utopian fantasy phase daily problems are left behind and fantasies and visions here
for once not in the sense of 1990s MBA-lingo are developed. This phase could make use of
various creativity techniques, eliciting wishes, ideas, fantasies, or utopias. The phase also aims to
identify what is the essentially new, fascinating or innovative content of these fantasies.
The aim of the utopian fantasy phase is to leapfrog common constraints, to overcome selfcensoring, to make use of possibilities, to open up imagination in order to create space for
thoughts that never have been thought before; imagination is king and all wishes are granted.
That implies, that there is no place for critique of ideas, but a lot of scope for picking-up ideas
and developing them further.
Table 2: Example of a Utopian Fantasy Phase
Step
Duration Activity
Get positive
15 min
Work in pairs: For each critique participants describe in one

sentence a positive situation where the particular critique would be
absent or invalidated.
Introduction
10 min
Facilitators explain the aims of the utopian fantasy phase
Visualize
20 min
Small group activity, according to interest in single aspects of the

positive sentences: Participants create a visual representation of their
wishes by painting a picture.
Associate
20 min
Plenary / individual work: Participants freely associate ideas, stories,

etc. that relate to the imagery created in the step above.
Develop
utopias
50 min
Small group activity: Every participant selects one idea from the
visualisation and related associations (ideas, stories). The group
assembles these into a fairy tale, a play or similar to describe an
utopian society or setting.
Evaluate
60 min
Plenary: Small groups present their utopias. The other participants

try to identify what novelties and inventions these utopias contain.
(3) During the implementation phase, these fantasies are reviewed: How could they be
rephrased as demands or requests? How could they be captured as goals or requirements? How
could they be formulated as projects and put into action? Who would take responsibility to carry
them out? The implementation phase is all about translating fantasies into actual and enacted
innovation.
The aim of the implementation phase is to select ideas and develop them further into projects and
actionable items that participants can walk away with and start implementing right after the
workshop. This is notoriously the hardest phase and often requires quite some orienting
intervention by the facilitators. However, it works well if the topic has been chosen carefully
i.e. the topic is relevant and addressable. It is essential that the context of the Future Workshop
allows for participants actually to take action.
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Table 3: Example of an Implementation Phase

Step
Duration Activity
Review ideas
20 min
Participants form pairs and review all the ideas generated in the
utopian fantasy phase and have to agree on one single idea they like
most.
Introduction
10 min
Facilitators explain the aims of the implementation phase
Cluster
10 min
Plenary: Every pair reports the idea they have selected, the plenary
attempts to cluster the ideas.
Examples
30 min
Plenary: Participants try to think of examples and analogies where

an idea has already been realised in a different context.
Demands
20 min
Small group activity: Small groups form according to interest in

ideas. Their task is to formulate what is required for the idea to
become reality as concrete demands. Ideally, these demands cover
short-, medium- and long-term aspects of the idea.
Vote
30 min
Small group activity: The groups rotate and vote on the demands
established by the other groups. At the end, each group selects one
of their demands to develop into a project in the following steps.
Develop
projects
30 min
Small group activity: Participants formulate a project by answering

the questions: What do we want to do? Why do we want to do it?
How are we going to do it? Who is going to do it? Who do we need
to inform, to consult, to get support from? When and where do we
start?
Present and
commit
45 min
Plenary: Each group presents their project; the other groups critically
assess the proposal, ask questions and critically evaluate the
commitment of the groups members to actually take action.
Optionally the implementation phase can be extended by activities such as interpreting the ideas
from the utopian fantasy phase, i.e. to guess the 'hidden meaning' behind wild ideas, or collecting
ideas, tips and lessons learnt from past experiences of implementing demands or starting a
project.
The Future Workshop is then concluded by a focussed evaluation phase, reflecting on positive
and negative experiences during the workshop itself.

The Future Workshop ends with one or several concrete projects and action plans. Participants
have committed themselves to take action. A better future now seems realisable.
However, it is important to be aware that sometimes 'reality kicks in', that everyday routine
quickly can consume the enthusiasm an energy that was set free in the Future Workshop.
Commitment to take action is not enough to realise plans. If change is to happen an environment
has to be created that supports the drivers of change in achieving results and dealing with
resistance. Essentially, this means that the process of change that has been initialised in a Future
Workshop has to be managed properly. Thus it is of great value to document extensively the
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results of the Future Workshop so the participants can refer to the intermediary and the final
results of their work. This is of course only the bare minimum the facilitators of a Future
Workshop can offer the participants in terms of support.
It is generally a good idea to schedule a follow-up event with at least those participants who
actively want to promote change. Additionally other supporters could be invited to that meeting
as well.
Such a follow-up meeting would create an environment that supports change by:
Creating elements that support change e.g. by setting up pressure groups, securing
specialist support from experts, etc.
Establishing ways for other people to join the projects or the support groups and to stay
on top of what actions are taking place etc.
Planning for quick wins in the change process.

Below we present three real cases where Future Workshops were used to feed into change or
development processes. The first case, Youth Strategy, is the most typical application of the
method, while the other two cases, Future Town and Oil and the City, illustrate variations of the
method.
Youth Strategy
For the development of a joint youth strategy for a rural canton of Switzerland, local teenagers
themselves were invited to develop their own vision of what services should be available to
them. A one-and-a-half-day future workshop was held with 24 young people aged 12 to 20.
This was a typical Future Workshop in terms of audience, schedule, and expected results. On the
first morning complaints about the situation for young people were collected in small groups. In
a plenary the topics were clustered, and every participant could indicate their three main issues.
These for example included the lack of a McDonalds restaurant, difficult access to sports
facilities, or tensions between different nationalities.
The first task of the utopian fantasy phase was first to draw a picture of their ideal canton. The
four pictures all showed plenty of leisure facilities and shopping opportunities. Interestingly, one
of them integrated them all into a youth centre. As a second task the participants had to think of a
good experience they would love to make in their Utopia and to enact it as a small play. This
proved extremely popular with the teenagers, and they developed stories where they themselves
were the protagonists of their Utopias. One group showed a casual encounter between an old
farmer and two young guys. The two guys managed to convince the farmer to allow them to hold
a beach volleyball tournament on one of his fields which he eventually enjoyed watching (see
fig. 1a below).
The implementation phase already started at the end of the first day, recollecting the issues and
ideas the teenagers had generated during the day and opening up a public list of other ideas that
had not been discussed in detail. Thus the participants were motivated to think about their
projects over night.
The next day saw the development of project ideas. The aim was to be able to present these ideas
at the end of the workshop to local and cantonal politicians, teachers, headmasters, youth
workers and the general public. The participants worked in small groups on the projects they felt
most attached to. Halfway through the morning, they had to present their work to their peers who
tried to put themselves in the shoes of the politicians. After lunch, the public was presented with
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some of the small plays from the first day and the projects developed so far. Sure they were
surprised by the content of the proposals, and the presentation that was much more lively than
the usual death by PowerPoint. The principal demand was easier access to sports facilities. But
also smaller projects like a notice board for youth events were suggested. Politicians were asked
to give their feedback on the projects, and the teenagers could then directly react to it. They
engaged the politicians in a quite lively discussion, and the pressure mounted when one
politician announced that one of the public sports halls was to be demolished. Faced with the
still very polite anger of the teenagers, the politicians, headmasters, and youth workers
promised to look into the possibility of opening a school's sports facility to youth groups. The
reception afterwards offered ample opportunity to continue that discussion.
Figure 1a; 1b: Youth Strategy: participants enacting their Utopia; public presentation
(Photos by Peter Troxler).
The consultants who lead the development of the youth strategy, of which the Future Workshop
was part, made sure that the teenagers' demands were taken seriously in the later phases of the
strategy development project. The representatives of the various government and NGO bodies
eventually agreed, that only by joining up their individually limited resources they could live up
to the expectations of the youth of this rural canton. Smaller projects such as the notice board
were realised quickly. The issue of access to sports facilities, however, proved more difficult to
solve; and only recently it was explicitly included as a requirement when the canton started the
planning of a new sports centre.
Future Town
The project Future Town' was situated in a small suburban town in Switzerland, aimed at
helping the city council to establish a development strategy for their town. The workshop formed
part of an extended organisational development process that involved the whole city council.
This workshop was not typical of the empowerment intention of the method, since only the 15
elected councillors could participate. The workshop had the standard three phases, phase one and
two on the first day, 2.5 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon, phase three on the
second day (3 hours). Participants were invited to prepare issues for the critical appraisal, mainly
due to time restrictions. At the start of the utopian fantasy phase, one facilitator-consultant told
his story of a possible future of that suburban town. The story was carefully crafted and
sometimes offered two or three versions in order not to overly influence the participants. The
participants were asked to express their visions graphically (fig. 2a).
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Figure 2a; 2b: Future Town: Graphical vision; potential developments with weighting and
projection when they will happen.
In the implementation phase, the participants were not developing an action plan, but they were
establishing various potential developments in the town and the socio-political environment. At
the end, they had to select what they felt were the most important developments and indicate
when they expected these developments to happen on a scale from 'this year' to 'in 20 years' (fig.
2b). This list was then used after the workshop to draft a development strategy.
The mix of analytical and creative methods, the latter being rather alien to city councillors,
helped to establish a shared view across political barriers.
Oil and the City
The project 'Oil and the City' aimed to analyse, from an artistic point of view, the impact of the
Oil and Gas Industry on the City of Aberdeen in Scotland. This yearlong project kicked-off with
a one-day Future Workshop to enable the artists involved to dig into the subject and to develop
their artistic practice.
Participation was open to the public and the workshop attracted a range of interest from
academics to consultants, from people with a work background in the oil industry to local
residents. So a rich base for the artistic work could be build quickly, which provided the artists
with sufficient material to develop their own work.
The three phases were entitled The Colour of Oil is Black, Dreaming of Black Gold, and Oil
and the City.
Figure 3a; 3b; 3c: Oil and the City: clustering complaints; collective meals; writing-up
individually (Photos by Eva Merz (left) and Peter Troxler (center and right)).
The workshop intentionally had a reduced implementation phase since its aim was to generate
material and ideas for the artists to work with. This was also the reason why some particular
techniques were used, particularly the log book. Participants were asked to write down a
summary of the critique phase and, later at one point in the utopian fantasy phase (fig. 3c), a
personal statement a summary of all the good thingsabout oil in Aberdeen. These were then
published, along with the other results from the workshop, in a booklet.
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Visualise: it is indispensable to visualise any content participants contribute during the
workshop and make it available to everybody in the audience
Time management: The most important results of a Future Workshop are generated in the
last phase. Therefore time management is crucial so earlier phased dont eat into the time
allocated for the third phase.
Project creation: The formulation of concrete actions is a hard step in the whole process.
Apart from enough time it needs also special support and an approach that softly but
succinctly helps participants to make their ideas more specific and action-oriented.
As a facilitator, dont interfere with the content of what is being discussed. Facilitators are to
facilitate the work of the participants, as their role suggests.
As a facilitator, never destroy, cross out or dispose of any results from the workshop, nor
allow anybody else to do this, as it might hurt (other) participants' feelings.
Never start a Future Workshop with a series of presentations, 'inputs' and the like, as this
would bias the participants' opinions. A Future Workshop builds on the original thoughts,
ideas and imagination of the participants.
493
Jungk, R., Mllert, N.R. (1998) Zukunftswerksttten. Mit Phantasie gegen Routine und
Resignation, Heyne, ISBN: 3 453 03743 X
Kuhnt, B., Mllert, N.R. (2006) Moderationsfibel Zukunftswerksttten. Verstehen, anleiten,
einsetzen. AG SPAK, ISBN: 3 930830 45 0
Merriam-Webster Online (2006) Utopia. Available online at http://www.m-w.com/cgibin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=utopia, last accessed 27 Oct 2006
Weirauch, W. (2002) I believe in the power of the human relation. Interview with Robert Jungk
(in German). Mehr Demokratie Mnster, available online at http://www.muenster.org/
mehr-demokratie/archiv/l_12.htm, last accessed 27 Oct 2006.
In order to give multi-lingual readers access to the method here are some references in various
major and minor languages (no ambition to be comprehensive, though)
Horst, O. (2001) Oficina do Futuro como metodologia de planejamento e avaliao de projetos
de desenvolvimento local, in: Brose, M., Metodologia participativa. Uma introduao a 29
instrumentos. Tomo Editorial Ltda., ISBN: 85 86225 23 1
Jungk, R., Mllert, N.R. (1987) Future Workshops. How to Create Desirable Futures. Institute
for Social Inventions, ISBN: 0 48826 07 X
Jungk, R., Mllert, N.R. (1989) Tulevaisuusverstaat. Politisk revy, ISBN: 87 7378 090 1
Jungk, R., Mllert, N.R. (1998) Hndbog i fremtidsvrksteder. HYY, KSL, Ruohonjuuri, ISBN:
95 96101 0 3
Pgouri, M., Swinnen, H. (1990) Les ateliers de l'avenir. Dmarche-Mthode-Outil. La societ
locale et les organisations se construisent, ISBN: 2 9504524 0 X
494
Author Biographies
Dr. Peter Troxler works as a management consultant in Europe. He

supports organisations in the private and public sector building
management systems for the knowledge economy. Peter has worked
in academia at ETH Zurich, Switzerland and at the University of
Aberdeen, Scotland. His main interests are cross-disciplinary issues
at the interface of psychology, IT and engineering, and management
science. He is said to be a passionate facilitator, and he has a second
life as an arts producer and manager.
Dr. Beate Kuhnt is a research fellow at the University of Zurich,
Switzerland, with the Software Engineering Group. Her main
research area is to develop a systemic approach for IT project
management including methods and techniques for handling social
aspects. She contributes to the continuing education project MIO
(People, Information Technology, and Organization) as project leader
and lecturer. She is a facilitator for Future Workshops since 1989.
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A People Centric
Approach to Creating
Taxonomies and
Knowledge Artefacts
Shashi Kadapa
Keywords:
Taxonomy, Knowledge Artefacts, Knowledge Capture Mechanisms,
Templates
A People Centric Approach to

Creating Taxonomies and
Knowledge Artefacts
Shashi Kadapa, CEO, www.activemuse.com (shashi@activemuse.com; shashikadapa@gmail.com)

Among the many problems that need to be addressed while building a Knowledge Management
(KM) portal, a few key issues are: how to create taxonomy, what type of documents to keep in
the KM portal and how to create knowledge capture mechanisms in the organization. This paper
attempts to explain these aspects of the KM project implementation along with examples.
Keywords: taxonomy, knowledge artefacts, knowledge capture mechanisms, templates,

The methods, tools and techniques described in this document can be used for IT service and
product development companies, manufacturing companies and those engaged in marketing
operations.
The techniques would be particularly useful with large organizations that operate across multiple
cities or even continents. The techniques can be useful where the employees have different
backgrounds and cultures but when a uniform quality of output is required.
Time required for the actual implementation of each phase should not exceed a couple of weeks,
assuming that each stakeholder is cooperative and deputes a representative to help the central
KM team. By stakeholder we mean each department in the organization that needs to participate
in the KM activity.
Some examples of stakeholders of manufacturing organizations could be departments such as
marketing, purchase, manufacturing, engineering, finance, HR and so on. Stakeholders in IT
organizations could be different domains, verticals, horizontals such as Web Technologies,
Database administrators, Mainframe specialists, Embedded Technologies, Insurance, Healthcare,
and so on.
Generally KM systems are built when the number of participants is sizeable and the numbers of
knowledge artefacts generated are quite large else it is difficult to justify the costs. However, if
your organization is planning to expand, has a mobile workforce then the KM techniques
mentioned in this document could be used. If your organization is small, not many new
engagements happen periodically, the number of documents generated is small, then perhaps
these techniques may not be for you.
The goals of this document are simple: to help you create a KM portal that is well organized,
does not confuse people, is inline with your organizations needs and further provides templates
to create focussed business documents.
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A People Centric Approach to Creating Taxonomies and Knowledge Artefacts

Building a KM portal requires intense teamwork. It cannot be done alone. The team should have
members with cross-functional skills. The following illustration shows the ideal KM Core team
and the stakeholder members. Also given in the figure are suggested roles, their functions and
how they need to collaborate.
Figure 1. KM Stakeholders and their functions

The following functions need to either go hand in hand or they should be ready before the actual
coding and building the KM portal starts.
An appropriate content management tool that forms the backbone of the KM system.
Suitable database servers with software and applications installed.
Suitably qualified programmers and developers who would be doing the coding as per the
requirements.
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Before approaching the stakeholders, the core KM team needs to prepare presentations and
documents that explain what the KM portal is about. They need to have a clear understanding of
what is required from the stakeholders.
Meetings with seniors from stakeholder departments should be planned where the presentations
would be shown. The presentations must clearly address questions such as: What will KM do for
me; what is required from my department; how much will it cost in terms of resources and
money, how much control I would have in the process, etc.

In this section we will examine how to create a taxonomy structure, create knowledge capture
mechanisms, examine templates for different business documents and also examine other facts
such as measuring the ROI for KM.
Creating a Taxonomy
The Taxonomy of the KM portal along with a powerful search engine is the most crucial factor
in the success of a KM portal. Taxonomy allows content to be organized as per different
categories and groups related subjects so that a user can see a listing of documents that can be
browsed.
The goal of a corporate taxonomy is not only to provide a list of authorized terms for
use in writing and in information seeking, but also to create maps between concepts
to connect employees with the right knowledge at the right time. The taxonomies
create a common semantic network that is based on business needs and takes into
account the intellectual assets (the content) and the way in which the knowledge
workers (the employees) look for information. Such a network provides an essential
tool for managing intellectual capital and connecting employees with knowledge [1].
Typically, taxonomy has different levels such as Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4. Level 1
would deal with the highest classification of topics, level 2 has the sub categories, level 3 has
further drill down while level 4 would relate to specific topics. Taxonomy of up to four levels is
recommended. Anything deeper may make things difficult and the KM structure more complex
while anything less would make the structure too shallow.
Why is there a need for taxonomy? Let us take an example of a street address. By just telling that
you live in India, does not help at all after all 1 billion people reside here. You have to get the
address correct down to the city, street and apartment number to let people reach you. A
taxonomy serves this purpose.
Important facts to consider for developing taxonomy:
The taxonomy should represent the business interests of the organization.
It should consider all related areas in which the organization is active.
It should also represent the market segments in which the organization operates.
There should not be any repetition in the nodes. E.g. if Java is mentioned in one place, it
should not appear again elsewhere as this leads to confusion.
501
In this section we will attempt to create sample taxonomy for an IT organization. We will first
map the business segments and operations of the organization, identify the areas that need to
have a presence in the map and create four levels of taxonomies.
The full taxonomy may very well have more than 60,000 nodes and may run to a number of
pages. In this document, only a few items have been explained in detail.
Creating the Organizations Business Map
An example of an IT organization that operates globally through multiple development centres
spread across India is considered. The clients include a number of multinational companies that
have a strong presence in different market segments.
The company operates in a number of verticals and horizontals all targeted to service a number
of key accounts that contribute a major part to the sales. The company takes up development
projects (where new applications are developed), maintenance projects (where existing
applications of clients are maintained) and migration projects (where migration of applications to
newer technology is done).
In addition there are service offerings such as BPO, Quality, Verification and Validation,
Network and IT infrastructure development and so on. Each project type or service offering has
its own unique needs for knowledge generation and more important, knowledge reuse.
The following figure depicts how the organization is structured. Taxonomy would be built to
cover this structure.
Important facts about the organization:
The organization is made up of different strategic business units (SBU). The SBUs cover
specific market segments such as Insurance, Manufacturing, Enterprise Applications and so
on. These SBUs are the KM stakeholders.
A number of support departments such as Quality, HR, KM, Marketing, etc. serve as shared
resources. They do not have their own revenue generation mechanism. These departments
are also the KM stakeholders.
The SBUs act as profit centres and have their own sales generation mechanisms. Software
projects are executed by the SBUs.
These SBUs have their own set of clients and are authorized to develop clients, look out for
sales tenders, present their own proposals, recruit their own personnel and so on.
While some of the SBUs use specialized software applications such as SAP, Business
Objects and so on, a number of common technologies such as Java, .NET, J2EE and so on
may be used by different projects.
While it is possible to estimate and assign the revenue and calculate the Return on
Investment (ROI) on the SBUs, it is difficult to estimate the ROI on the support functions as
there is no tangible revenue generated.
The taxonomy should cover the functions of the SBUs as well as the shared resources.
While giving the path for a document in the KM repository, we use the following conventions:
Level 1 Name > Level 2 Name > Level 3 Name > Level 4 Name > Document Name.
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Figure 2. Organizations Business Structure Map

Mapping the Level 1 Taxonomy Node
Level 1 is the base structure of the taxonomy. This needs to cover the overall areas of the
organizations efforts. This level should include only the top levels of the functional and business
segments. Other levels would be nested in this level. While documents can be placed at Level 1,
they would deal with broad concepts and may not be specific to any subject. It is also
recommended that once the Level 1 is frozen, it should not be revamped unless there is an
absolute need. Considering the business and other functional areas, the following broad areas are
recommended.
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Figure 3. Level 1 of Taxonomy

The Level 1 taxonomy nodes are explained as under:
Industry: This level would include documents that are related to a specific industry such as
healthcare, banking, agro, entertainment and so on. Projects are typically executed for a
specific client who operates in a certain industry. The Level 1 of the taxonomy allows users
to go to a specific industry and examine documents that are related to the industry.
Technology: This level would include all the upper level technology areas that the company
harnesses or works with. Some examples are Mainframe, Web, Operating Systems, Business
Intelligence and so on. While documents may reside at this level, they will be generic in
nature and deal with the technology at a broad level.
Applications: IT projects are built for a specific application and this node would cover all
types of applications. Some examples are Logistics and Distribution, Data Processing,
Finance and Banking, Insurance Brokerage and so on. This node allows people to directly
search for documents that are related to a specific industry.
Corporate: The Corporate node allows a space for all SBU;s and support functions.
Documents that are specific to a department can be stored here. These would include
overviews of the department, expertise areas, technology and domains they operate in,
documents on capability, service offerings and so on. It is also possible to list specific clients
that an SBU services but this needs to be done with caution as some clients may not want
their names to appear directly in the KM portal.
Project Categories: Documents in these areas would deal with specific project categories
such as Development, Enhancement, Maintenance, Reengineering and so on. This level will
help users to directly go to documents that relate to a specific category.
Software Engineering: Document in the software engineering category would relate to

different methods, processes, Estimation, Metrics and so on. These documents would be used
504
by the middle management personnel to study and research methods to improve the
efficiency.
Service Offerings: The Service Offerings areas would store documents that deal with
specific services that the organization offers. Sub nodes in this category would include terms
such as BPO, CRM, Engineering Services, Process Consultancy and so on.
Tools: The Tools node would have a list of all tools that the organization uses to complete
projects and also for internal use. Some examples of Tools are Configuration Management
Tools, Estimation Tools, Code Analysis Tools and so on. Most of the tools would be external
and if the organization develops its own tools, they can be classified here.
Quality: Targeted mainly for internal use, this node would have a number of sub nodes that
help to maintain and improve the quality of work done by employees. Some examples of
nodes that would come here would include Coding Standards, Checklists, Defect Prevention,
SQA, Six Sigma and so on.
Management: This would be the playing or recreation area and may have categories that are
not exactly revenue generating. In this area, documents of general interests can be placed.
Some categories in this level can include: Career, Creativity, Health and Lifestyle,
Organization Culture, Team Building and so on.
The next three taxonomy levels would be based on the Level 1 taxonomy.
Mapping the Level 2 Taxonomy
Level 2 taxonomy would essentially have major groups that fall under a Level 1 node. All
possible sub groups are created at this level. In this document we will select Technology at Level
1 and create further sub groups at Level 2.
Level 2 would be a specialisation of level 1 item. Further addition of terms at Level 2 should be
restrained and only allowed when a new technology is developed or used by the organization.

505
While creating the Level 2, care should be taken that terms that would appear at further
levels three or four should not appear or clubbed in other Level 2 items.
In many cases, Level 2 may very well relate to the expertise area of a department or a
department itself would be called by a term such as Business Intelligence, Database
Management, Embedded Technology, Enterprise Planning and so on.
Projects initiated by the organization begin with nodes defined in Level 2. So you may have
projects on document management, database management and so on. It is always possible
that a project can use multiple Level 2 terms such as web/ database/ languages and so on. In
such a case, the content management tool allows multiple paths to be assigned to a document.
Mapping Level 3 Taxonomy

Level 3 of the taxonomy structure offers a further drill down as per the selection done for Level
1 and Level 2. This node relates to specific technologies, process, applications, tools and so on.
In some cases, the taxonomy tree may end at Level 3 while in other cases; it can extend to Level
4. Documents, dealing broadly or specifically with Level 3 can be created and stored at this
level. Further additions to Level 3 can be done as per specific requests from users. In some cases,
Level 3 terms can be added when the KM content team comes across new terms in business
documents. Since the field of business is very vast, it is recommended that nodes only for the
terms currently being used by the company or the ones that the company wishes to foray into the
future be created.
We will consider that at Level 1, we have selected Technology; at Level 2 we have selected
Web. The following illustration shows how Level 3 can be organized.
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Mapping Level 4 Taxonomy

Level 4 of the Taxonomy will deal with specific tools, applications, process and so on. The
directory structure needs to end at this level. All possible terms can be included at level 4 and it
is here that the maximum documents would exist.
A project would typically have used multiple items given in Level 4. For example, an IT project
may use Java, HTML, DHTML, XML, Oracle and so on. The content manager should allow
multiple paths to be added to a document. Level 4 nodes can be created as per users request with
the condition that the person who requests a new node should have documents that can be
uploaded here.
Following illustration shows the mapping for Level 4. We have selected Technology at Level 1,
Web at Level 2, Web Languages at Level 3 and have given a number of nodes for Level 4.
Figure 6 Level 4 of Taxonomy

The following points need to be noted:
The above sections provide a general methodology to create taxonomy. It may not be the
perfect method but the process allows for changes to be made as and when required and most
important, it allows for adequate representation of stakeholders expertise and interests.
While it is not possible to suggest a taxonomy for all the industries and market segments, the
above method can be adopted by manufacturing, service, research and the IT industry.
There are some softwares that claim to create taxonomy on the flyand offer to automate
the process. The author does not wish to comment on these claims but cautions KM
practitioners with a brief word that taxonomy is too complex and filled with life, to be left to
their fate with machines.
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Integrate taxonomy with the KM portal

After the taxonomy is created, it still needs to be integrated with the KM portal. While it is
always possible to hardcode the nodes into the program, this option should be the last one.
Consider the following point:
A project or document may have used multiple technologies, applications, softwares and so
on.
With fixed coding, the document would have to be uploaded multiple times and if all
taxonomy needs to be covered, then the document will have to be uploaded eight to 10 times
or more. This will not only increase the load on the server but also make the search feature
meaningless as the same document will be displayed multiple times. This is unacceptable.
The content management software you buy should allow you to assign multiple taxonomies
when you upload the document once. This would allow a document that is uploaded at one
node to be available at multiple places also. This is acceptable, needed and forms the core of
the KM processes.
The taxonomy structure can be made a part of the site map that allows the full structure for
the taxonomy tree.
First time users can be shown a prompt when they spend a few minutes without clicking
anything.
If the taxonomy were made with hyperlinks then that would be ideal. Users could then open
the site map and click at the required node or level to view related documents.
Search Engine Versus Taxonomy

Many times, we hear arguments about the need for taxonomy when there is already a search
engine place. Please refer to the following quotation.
As content grows in the electronic world, it is apparent that simply turning a search
engine loose on a collection of information will not give the hoped for improvements
in productivity and profits promised by e-business. Taxonomies are the missing link.
Mike Crandall, former Knowledge Architect Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Any search engine uses keywords and tags that are either placed in the meta tags or the engine
performs a full text search in the body of an article. After running the search query, it brings up
documents that have the keyword. Now consider the following examples:
A business document may have the terms Javaa few times. The term is used more as a context
and the actual document may have very little to do with the term. There may be a couple of
sentences in the document such as We did not use Java because or since a JVM was not
allowed, we did not use JAVA.
The search engine will search for the word Java and show it up in the results. So you have
hundreds of documents and a hyperlink at the bottom that says Showing page 1 of 200. This
does not serve the purpose at all, disheartens the users who give up in frustration and they send a
mail to KM support asking for a document.
Using taxonomy on the other hand will host documents that have been deliberately placed in the
node related to Java. A crisply written JavaScript will give a summary of the document when a
mouse over is done.
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We can say that a good taxonomy and a powerful search engine complement each other and both
need to be used properly.
Creating Knowledge Capture Mechanisms
It is important to remember that data and information is not knowledge just as a wheel is
incomplete without a fixed axle. Knowledge needs to be distilled from people who have
experienced the pain and pleasure of applying it. Knowledge lies in the trenches and front where
people have worked hard and failed and kept on trying till they could find a breakthrough.
Knowledge is not found in books but comes out of applying the theories and models to real life
situations. It is knowledge that oils the wheels and gears of an organization and makes it run. It is
this knowledge that we should seek. We need to have knowledge capture mechanisms in place to
ensure that knowledge artefacts are captured, verified and archived in the KM portal.
This section examines a few knowledge capture mechanisms.
Discussion Forums
Cooperative thinking, instant knowledge sharing, Discussion forums are an invaluable means to
capture knowledge, share ideas and ensure knowledge reuse. A discussion form can be integrated
into the KM portal and users can participate actively. The main advantages are:
People tend to share more information when speaking or writing in a discussion forum.
Though people may balk at creating a regular document and taking it through the approval
cycle, they tend to come up with remarkable working solutions in a discussion forum.
There are many Open Source sites that offer the tools and the source code to create a discussion
forum. A threaded discussion forum allows users to make multiple replies to the same topic in an
ordered fashion. This gives us a discussion tree, with the topic being at the heart of it. The source
code can be customized to suit specific requirements [2].
It is expected that the discussion forum follow the structure of the taxonomy tree. This makes it
more relevant to the KM portal. While a formal hierarchy of level 1 or even level 2 may be
redundant, the forums should be arranged preferably at Level 3 and Level 4 where actual work is
being done.
Key features of the forum would include.
User can access the forum through a link in the KM home page.
Users should be able to register to any number of forums. A simple form asking that allows
them to click the forums of their choice and register should be provided.
It is assumed that the KM portal has single logon features that capture users login details
when they login to the Intranet. So asking them to provide their employee code, email ID, etc
is redundant.
Users should be able to post queries through the same page. All registered users for a forum
should receive an email alert about the new query.
The email alert should include the body of the query along with a hyperlink that when
clicked takes them directly to the thread in the forum.
Users can then provide a reply or offer suitable suggestions.
There should be provision to upload attachments that are accessible by all.
Moderation may not be possible. However, since this is not an open public forum, flame
wars are rare and if they occur, can be countered through counselling. However, to verify the
replies, reward people who give useful replies, a subject matter expert can vet the replies on a
day-to-day basis.
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Attachments can be perused regularly and uploaded in the KM portal if found beneficial.
We will examine a sample discussion forum that forms a part of the KM portal. The following
figure shows an active forum with queries and replies. The left frame lists a number of forums
arranged as per Level 3 and 4 of the taxonomy.
Figure 7. Example of an Active Discussion Forum

Knowledge Kits
An organization that deals with rapidly changing technologies, processes and so on, needs to
keep its content dynamic and fresh. Some core topics such as methodologies, information on
large enterprise applications, etc. may need to be updated periodically.
While providing MS Word, PDF or other documents is the easiest method, keeping them
updated, when users have already downloaded it may present problems. In such cases, it is best
to create kits that offer the required information using web pages. Since the source documents
for the kits reside in the KM server, the core KM content team can easily update, delete, block or
remove information as and when needed.
The following figure shows how a training kit on a core technology is organized.
The kit has hyperlinks that when clicked point to or open relevant documents, giving the
required information. Subject matter experts and the KM content team have created content in
the above archive.
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Figure 8. A Knowledge Kit

Project Documents
Project documents form the main source of the knowledge archive. When a software project is
initiated, a number of documents are created along the software life cycle. These documents
need to be sent to KM repository and stored as per the taxonomy. It is very important that a
common template be used throughout the organization with clearly defined headings and the
content arranged as per defined standards.
A template ensures that there is uniformity across the organization and content from one
document can be copied and pasted into another document without undue problems with the
formatting and fonts. Over the life cycle, the document may be revised as and when progress is
made and it should be the responsibility of the project leader to ensure that revised documents
are sent to the KM portal.
Some of the project related documents are:
Proposals: The proposal is lodged by the sales team and a project begins with this document.
Requirements Analysis and Approach Notes: These documents are the initial documents
that show how the requirements were gathered and the approach used to tackle the
opportunities. Also included would be the architecture diagram.
Requirements Development and Functional Specification: These documents give details

of how the clients requirements are addressed, functionalities of different screens, validations
and show the work flow.
Metrics and Estimation documents: These documents specify the estimated efforts in
person days that are required to complete the project. The documents reveal how much the
project will cost and the time required for the development. A comparison of the estimated
511
and actual efforts will give the health of the project and tell if the project is off track or well
within control.
Case Studies and Project Summary Notes: These documents provide details of how the
project was completed, problems faced, client information, technologies used and so on.
Project End Presentation: After a project is completed, the team gives a presentation that
speaks about how the project was completed.
Learnings by Team Members: Individuals complete allotted tasks to complete a project.

And on their own, they overcome many technical problems, resolve showstoppers, and
devise workarounds and so on. These learnings form a very important source of KM
artefacts. Each team member needs to be encouraged and rewarded to note down their
learnings.
Reusable Software Components: Many teams devise their own software components to
solve technical problems or because an alternative commercial component was not available.
Reusable components form the easiest way to measure the tangible benefits of KM.
Community of Practice (CoP): The above documents can be presented in appropriate CoPs
for wider circulation and knowledge reuse.
Reusing Knowledge and measuring the RoI

While all efforts are centred on creating the Knowledge repository, equal efforts must be spent in
ensuring that knowledge in the portal is reused by other teams. Much emphasis is put on building
the repository but very little effort is spent in finding out how and to what extent the knowledge
is reused. The following points will help to increase the knowledge reuse.
At the time of uploading a document, the efforts in hours or person days required to create
the document or solve a specific problem should be given separately by the author. The
efforts should be duly recorded in the time sheet and approved by the project leader. This
forms the basis for measuring the RoI.
When a proposal is to be lodged, the sales team should not begin to start drafting the
proposal from ground zero. They need to search the Knowledge Portal for similar
requirements based on technology, industry, domains, clients and so on. Other than the main
body, a proposal will have exhibitssuch as case studies, past experience in similar areas by
other SBUs and so on. These can be directly copy/ pasted. This saves considerable time and
efforts.
When the project teams start to plan the project, they need to search the KM portal for
similar projects, find code and software components they can reuse and apply them to the
project. Project leaders who show evidence of reusing existing knowledge from the KM
portal should be rewarded.
Teams working on a domain and technology should go through the KM portal to find out
how workarounds have been created. How different technologies were handled and so on.
They can also reuse software components that have been already created.
Measuring RoI
Measuring the Return on Investment becomes a tricky issue as it is difficult to calculate since
there are no tangible returns or revenue generation mechanisms.
Few knowledge management initiatives have been successful, unless firms are willing
to invest substantial resources to manually collect and organize research material.
But most firms in the United States are unwilling to invest non-billable time in this
effort, especially when the benefits of such investment are uncertain[3].
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The following points will help to calculate and justify the RoI.
At the time of uploading a document, the efforts in hours or person days required to create
the document or solve a specific problem should be given separately by the author. The
efforts should be duly recorded in the time sheet and approved by the project leader. This
forms the basis for measuring the RoI.
Once it is known how much efforts were required by a person of a designated rank, it is
possible to calculate the exact cost of the document, based on the authors compensation.
When subsequent users peruse the document or download it, then an estimate of the effort
saved in creating a new document can be calculated. This should, hopefully provide the
much needed base to find returns on KM investment.
An incentive or reward can also be given to people who show quantified evidence of efforts
saved and savings realized by using documents in the KM repository.
Costs of the KM portal can be calculated by computing the compensation of the KM Team
members, efforts spent by other individuals in coordinating the KM efforts, cost of servers,
software applications and other hardware used and so on.
It should be emphasized that the efforts spent by project teams in documenting their
learnings should not be added to the KM cost. Good documentation of the project is
mandatory as per the business requirements, whether KM is there or not.
After developing sufficient expertise in all phases of the KM development, the KM manager
can think of developing external KM projects for clients. This provides the best means to
generate revenue.

The above sections have been written by the author after intense efforts spent in building the KM
portal at Patni Computer Systems Ltd. (www.patni.com) and Mastek (www.mastek.com)
The KM initiatives in these companies are thriving till date and have been widely appreciated by
projects for the ease with which knowledge can be accessed in the organizations. Both Patni
Computers and Mastek Ltd. Are leading IT companies that operate globally through multiple
development centres spread across different locations and cities. For more information on this
subject please refer to the document Building KM @ Patni (Shashi Kadapa 2006).
While Mastek Ltd. Has about 4500 employees, Patni Computers has more than 12, 000
employees. These people are work at multiple locations in India and at customer sites abroad.
Harnessing and reusing knowledge is a challenge that the companies have to resolve each day.
A questionnaire was circulated among a cross section of the employees and this included
software engineers, project leaders, project managers and department heads. They were asked to
rate their preferences, likes and dislikes on a 1 to 5 scale with 1 being least preferred and 5 being
the most preferred. A summary of their report is given below.
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Table 1. Summary of Survey

Issue
Project Managers
Project Leaders
Software Engineers
Ease of Navigation
Project
Planning,
Estimation,
Management
Methodologies, Other
similar projects
Technical
applications, trouble
shooting
guides,
programming
and
coding documents
Documents
accessed
most Case
Studies,
Proposals,
Quality
Plans,
Marketing
Brochures,
SQA
Audit Reports
Method of Searching Search Engine

for KM Documents
Search Engine
Taxonomy
User Friendliness of 2
KM interface
Desired Features
Faster Speed. More

live examples of
applications
developed
in the
company
Faster speed
source
code
applications
developed in
company.
Quick search and

finding
required
documents.
Faster
access speed
Does the Taxonomy 3

help
+ Search Engine
Taxonomy
and
of
the
The report highlighted the need for improvement in the navigation and the taxonomy. Project
Managers has much more difficulty in finding documents because they expected the documents
to be placed in a place that was inline with the business operations. Software engineers wanted
the taxonomy based as per the domains. A balance was struck and the taxonomy was remodelled
using the actual business flow and the arrangement of taxonomy.
514

The following points should be considered while building the taxonomy and following other
guidelines mentioned in the document.
Creating the taxonomy requires people with in depth knowledge of specific domains and
areas. So it is important, that while framing the taxonomy and after drafting it, the structure
be reviewed by experts.
Different stakeholders tend to move the nodes in taxonomy from one level to another. While
it may be relevant for one department, the same logic may not hold true for other
departments.
The content team should actively browse documents to spot new terms that can be added to
the structure. It is important that appropriate documents be created to fill the node as an
empty structure looks bad.
Measuring the RoI is very tricky. For the most persistent pessimists, use the sentence KM is
a part of the shared resources and you cannot calculate the costs. Can you calculate how
much RoI the HR department of the latest Board meeting yielded?
The following points are important while building the KM portal.
Watch out before you upload copyrighted material from clients or downloaded from the
Internet. Some clients do not allow source code created for their organization to be used for
other clients. In such cases, just delete all the related documents from the KM portal.
Some clients do not allow their business relations with your organization to be displayed in
the KM portal. Avoid all such issues.
As a rule, financial figures, costs, salaries, compensations, estimations, cost of projects, etc.
incurred for different projects should never be revealed in the KM portal. You are free to
give formulas used for calculations or the method adopted for calculation along with the
email Ids of the document author.
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the KM team at Patni Computers and at Mastek for their help and
cooperation.
[1] Conway Susan and Sligar Char 2002 Unlocking Knowledge Assets Chapter 6 Building
Taxonomies ISBN 0-7356-1463-6.
[2] Noah Jacques Creating a Simple Threaded Discussion Forum
http://www.devshed.com/c/a/PHP/Creating-a-Simple-Threaded-Discussion-Forum/ (date
accessed 29 October, 2006)
[3] Martin Kingsley "Show Me the Money" - Measuring the Return on Knowledge Management
http://www.llrx.com/features/kmroi.htm (accessed 29 Oct, 2006)
[4] Shashi Kadapa, 2006. Building KM @ Patni. Kazi, A.S., and Wolf, P. (2006) Real Life
Knowledge Management: Lessons from the Field, KnowledgeBoard, ISBN: 9525004724.
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Author Biography
Shashi Kadapa is the CEO of http://www.activemuse.com/ and offers

services in the areas of Knowledge Management, Documentation,
Animation, Brand Building and also provides content for websites. He
served Patni Computer Ltd. as the content manager and helped to drive
and sustain KM efforts in the organization.
He has as a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Manufacturing and an
MBA in Marketing. He has worked in the IT industry for about 7 years.
His previous stints included working with Cummins India, Balzers AG,
Carborundum Universal, Ashok Iron and others.
Shashi has a flair for creative writing and has also worked as a journalist
with many reputed Indian print and on line companies.
517
A System-based
Approach to the
Introduction of
Knowledge
Management
Mark Hefke
Keywords:
Knowledge Management, Case-based Reasoning, Semantic Web,
Ontologies
A System-based Approach
to the Introduction of
Knowledge Management
Mark Hefke, FZI Research Center for Information Technologies at the University of Karlsruhe,
76131 Karlsruhe, Germany (hefke@fzi.de)

The proposed solution mainly provides a toolkit for consulting agencies in order to accompany a
new customers Knowledge Management (KM) implementation based on previously captured
KM Best Practices (BPs). Such BPs represent successfully conducted consulting services. The
cases are structured through the systems ontology-based case base in which they are also stored.
Once stored and structured they can be reused for future KM introduction services. However, the
system can also be applied by interested organisations that intend to implement KM in the near
future. The experiences made by other companies help them to get first impressions on an
introduction of KM. The technical realisation of the toolkit synergistically combines
technologies of the Semantic Web with those of Case-based Reasoning.
Seen from a KM point of view, the system is designed to structure, store and recommend best
practice cases that follow a holistic KM introduction considering technical, organizational and
human aspects of a KM introduction in equal measure.
Keywords: Knowledge Management, Case-based Reasoning, Semantic Web, Ontologies

An organisations KM introduction has to overcome manifold barriers which can be categorized
into organisational, technical, or cultural ones. In order to handle such a complex endeavour and
to flexibly react on new customersknowledge problems, a KM consulting agency has to collect
and capture as many experiences as possible from already accomplished KM implementation
projects. This can e.g. be done through continuously performing project debriefings at the end of
KM introduction projects and through finally trying to externalise, structure and capture
personally made experiences of senior consultants in the form of so-called best practice cases
(BPCs). Based on this externalised experience knowledge, consultants are to a certain degree
able to avoid mistakes that have been made in previous projects. The practical problem is that
descriptions of BPCs are usually in the form of unstructured reports. Therefore, they are not
directly comparable, and hence not directly applicable to new customersneeds.
On this account, the proposed Knowledge Management Implementation and Recommendation
Framework (KMIR) effectively and efficiently supports consulting agencies in accompanying an
organisations Knowledge Management (KM) implementation. Best Practice Cases (BPCs) of
successfully conducted Knowledge Management introductions are captured by the systems
ontology-based case base in order to reuse them for further KM introduction services. The
technical solution to the aforementioned problem matches a newly defined organisation profile
521
A System-based Approach to the Introduction of Knowledge Management
against existing BPCs in the case base. The most similar retrieved BPC is returned as a
recommendation, then adapted and finally reused by the accompanied organisation.

The proposed KMIR framework should be seen as a means to support and accompany KM
activities. Therefore, it has to be embedded into the considered KM introduction process from
the beginning. To obtain valuable recommendations from the proposed KMIR system supporting
the project planning phase, four major steps have to be performed at first:
1. Analysis and documentation of the organisations knowledge problems and goals
(typically, they have to be derived from organisational problems and goals)
2. Analysis and documentation of key business ratios (e.g. company size and sector,
turnover, profit, target costs and time, etc.)
3. Analysis and documentation of the organisational structure and (technical) infrastructure
(e.g. involved departments, processes, used technologies, tools, etc.)
4. System-based description of an organisation profile based on the steps 1-3 using the
provided Case Editing Component (CEC), which is the web-based user interface of the
KMIR framework.
5. Adjustment of user-specific system parameters (attribute weights, filters, etc.)
After describing the company profile and entering the user-specific definition of parameters, the
newly defined profile can then be matched against already existing best practice cases in the
ontology-based case base. The identified most similar best practices cases are then presented as a
recommendation to the requesting organisation. Those BPCs can be semi-automatically adapted
and reused in the context of the new KM introduction. After the reuse (and verification) of the
adapted case, it can again be added as a new case into the case base.
A full list of all regarded attributes for describing an organisation profile is given by the
following table.
522
Table 1: Relevant indicators for the description of BPCs

Indicator
Classification
Examples/ Range
Organization sector
primary, secondary e.g. IT

and tertiary sector
Legal form
e.g. ltd.
Company size and number of involved KM

workers
nonnegative integer
Organizational structure, involved processes

and departments
e.g. matrix organisation
Type of knowledge transformation
implicit, explicit
Turnover and profit
(nonnegative) integer
Knowledge goals
normative,
strategic, operative
Knowledge problems
organisational,
technical, cultural
Addressed core processes
Solutions and methods to solve problems
Used software/ technologies and KM

instruments
e.g. Lotus Notes, Semantic

Web
Technologies
Implementation time and amortization time
nonnegative integer
Implementation costs
technical,
organisational,
person-related
nonnegative integer
Implementation status
completed, in progress
Considered quality standards
e.g. EFQM
Affected organizational level
e.g. team, department
Qualitative and quantitative benefits/ savings
e.g. increased turnover or

profit
Increased competitiveness
e.g. faster knowledge

distribution
Sustainability and application
External support
e.g. public funding
Maturity level
depends on the underlying

maturity model
e.g. knowledge
identification, acquisition
Alternatively, a system user can specify only single problem descriptions instead of describing
the organisations whole profile. As a result of the matching process, one ore more solutions,
which are associated with the most similar problem(s) are returned to the user.
Finding solutions for single knowledge problems includes the following steps:
523
1. Select language in main menu ( Englishor German)

2. Select Problem Descriptionin main menu
1. Specify, if the problem is organisational, technicalor cultural,
press change
2. Verbalise problem in Subject of Problem
(e.g. permanently reinventing the wheel), further orientation examples are given
by the problem list
3. Further Description of Problem (optional)
4. Select adequate Core Process
5. Press add
6. optional: create further problems (repeat steps 2.1,2.2,2.3,2.4,2.5 + add)
7. press nextto save all problem descriptions into the ontology
3. Select Matchingin main menu
1. Select Problem-Matching
2. Select problem(s) that were created in 1.) and 2.)
3. Press "Matching" (similar problems are identified + solution link)

When performing an organisational audit, at least one representative of each involved
department, the top management, as well as the KM consultant should be physically available.
Therefore, it makes sense to prepare a one day workshop in order to discuss and consolidate all
documented results from the preparation phase before finally adding them to the KMIR system.
The KMIR system can either be directly assessed on
http://www.kmir.de
by simply using a standard web browser. Alternatively, the framework can also be installed
locally using a Tomcat web server (required disk space: 3 MB), which is available for any
operating system that disposes of a Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

The developed KMIR framework synergistically combines Semantic Web Technologies with
approved methods of Case-based Reasoning. On this account, KMIR is methodologically based
on the CBR Cycle by Aamodt & Plaza (1994). The four processes of the proposed CBR Cycle
comprise (1) The Retrieval of the most similar case(s) to a new problem, (2), The Reuse of
information and knowledge from the retrieved case in order to solve the new problem, (3) The
Revision of the proposed solution, and finally (4) The Retainment of a newly originated case for
solving new problems in the future (cf. Figure 1).
524
Figure 1: CBR Cycle by Aamodt & Plaza

In order to technically support all process steps of the CBR Cycle regarding a Knowledge
Management Introduction, the KMIR architecture consists of the following seven components:
1.
An Ontology-based Case Base containing KM BPCs: BPCs are represented as

interrelated bundles of instances of concepts described in an ontology-based
case base.
2.
A Case Editing Component supports on the one hand a consulting agency in

the structured description of BPCs or single problem-solution pairs based on
accompanied KM introduction projects and the component facilitates on the
other hand an organisational audit in the customer organisation in order to
identify the organisations general structure, technical infrastructure,
knowledge problems and knowledge goals.
3.
An ontology-based Matching Component returns most similar problems or full

cases to a given one through matching a request with existing BPCs and
problem-solution pairs in the case base. In this regard, syntactical similarity
measures (e.g. edit distance with word stemming and stop word elimination,
equality, distance-based similarity) and semantical similarity measures (e.g. set
similarity, relational similarity and taxonomic similarity) are provided by the
KMIR framework.
4.
A Solution Generator associates a customers profile, knowledge problems or

goals with existing solutions, methods and experiences of the most similar BPC
in order to offer KM recommendations to a customer (i.e., about how to
introduce KM, based on retrieved and adapted most similar cases).
5.
A Learning Component stores adapted, reused and revised best practice cases
as new cases in the case base.
6.
Administration Functions support the configuration of similarity measures and

filters, and provide further means for maintaining the case base (e.g. analysis
functions, interfaces, automatic case completion, etc.)
7.
A Security Component manages user access to the KMIR framework.

525
An overview on the KMIR framework architecture components and interrelations between them
is given in figure 2. All components are described more detailed in the following subsections.
Figure 2: KMIR Framework Architecture

Ontology-based case base
Each BPC is stored as a set of interlinked profile instancesin the ontology. Therefore, a BPC
comprises all above-named entities, as well as relations between them. The conceptual level of
the case base ontology consists of the main concepts Company, Profile, Problem, Goal,
Solution and Method. The concepts Company and Profile are linked together by the
property Company_has_Profile. Knowledge Problems which had to be solved by companies
are subdivided into organisational, technical and cultural ones. A Knowledge Goalcan either
be normative, strategic or operative. Each profile is linked to one or more problem(s) or goal(s)
by the properties Profile_has_Problemand Profile_has_Goal. A problem is linked to one or
more achieved solution(s) with the property Problem_has_Solution and an inverse property
Solution_solves_Problem. Problems can address a specific core process (i.e., knowledge
acquisition, sharing, etc.) of the Probst KM Model (Probst et al., 1999). Problems are divided
into sub-problems by the property Problem_consists_of / is_part_of_problem.
526
Figure 3: Excerpt of the KMIR Ontology

In order to reflect the holistic KM approach, the concept Problem has the sub-concepts
Organisational Problem, Technical Problemand Cultural Problem. This is due to the fact
that the implementation of a KM system could depend, for instance, on a specific technology
and, furthermore, it could require a solution to a specific organisational problem, as well as a cultural change in the organisation. The concept goaldisposes of the more special sub-concepts
Normative Goal, Strategic Goaland Operative Goal. Every solution can be combined with
a
method
(property:
uses_method),
a
knowledge
instrument
(property
uses_knowledge_instrument) and a specific technology or software-tool, which again may depend on a technology (properties: uses_Software_tool / Technology and
depends_on_Technology). Moreover, a solution, software, or technology can consist or be a
part of other solutions (just as software tools and technologies). Several other concepts of the
ontology are structured through a taxonomy in order to be able to specify the top concepts more
precisely. The case base ontology has been realised with the KAON OI-Modeler 1, a tool for
visually creating and maintaining ontologies. Figure 3 depicts an excerpt of the KMIR ontology's
top concept level.
Description of KM Best Practice Cases
Selected and created episodic and prototypical BPCs are described with the Case Editing
Component (CEC), a web-based user interface, which is part of the KMIR framework
architecture and which allows template-oriented filling of all known attributes of a BPC.
Attribute values are filled in as texts or numbers or they can be chosen from pull down menus.
The interface is automatically generated from the ontology defining the case structure. Finally, a
described best practice case is directly stored as a set of instances, attributes and relations into
the ontology.
Organisational Audit
The Case Editing Component can additionally be used to support a consulting agency in capturing a new customers organisation profile, thus its organisational structure, technical infrastructure and economic aspects, as well as normative, strategic, and operational knowledge
goals. Additionally, the organisation may define target costs for the implementation of a KM
solution. It may describe or select organisational, technical or cultural knowledge problems and
requirements, and finally assign them to typical knowledge processes (Cf. Figure 4). Finally,
KMIR supports the association of all described attributes with weights attaching more or less importance to them. The received profile from the organisational audit is directly stored as a set of
1
Cf. http://kaon.semanticweb.org
527
instances, attributes and relations into the ontology which structures the case base. In order to
disencumber consultants from filling in all characteristic values of the customer profile that are
required for case retrieval, several characteristic values are automatically created or transformed
by the use of derivation rules and transformation rules before storing a new case into the case
base. Derivation rules infer the organisation type (e.g., Small and Medium Enterprise) from the
characteristic values turnoverand company size, transformation rules are used to transform
values between different scale units (e.g., time and currency).
Figure 4: KMIR Case Editing Component

Moreover, it is possible to only define one or more problems or problem-solution-pairs, because
in practice, customers often have already accomplished several KM activities and they are now
searching for a solution to solve one or more new particular problem(s).
Case Retrieval Process
A matching component matches the profile or a given problem (set) against already existing
BPCs or problems from the case base to retrieve BPCs that are most similar to a newly created
customer profile extracted from the organisational audit, or to simply find solutions for one or
more requested problems, This is done by combining syntax-based with semantical similarity
measures (Ehrig et al., 2005). Syntax-based similarity measures in our system are distance-based
similarity, syntactical similarity (edit distance combined with a StopWordFilter and Stemming)
and equality for comparing values of numeric data types from the organisation profile with those
of existing BPCs. Additionally, the profile from the self-description process is matched against
profiles of the case base using semantic similarity measures. That is to compute the similarity
between (sets of) instances on the basis of their corresponding concepts and relations to other ob528
jects (relation similarity) as well as taxonomic similarity. Relation similarity is used on the one
hand for comparing attribute values of instances that are no direct instantiations of the concept
profilebut which are rather concept instantiations (e.g., of concept problemor software)
that are linked to the concept profile (using the relations profile_has_problem and
profile_uses_software). On the other hand, the similarity type is used for, e.g., comparing
instantiations of the concept problem that are linked to further instantiations of the concept
Core process using the relation (problem) addresses core process. Taxonomic similarity
identifies similar software tools or technologies for the requesting organisation. The
recommendation is based on problem-solution pairs of BPCs similar to the defined problem(s)
from the organisation profile. For example, an organisation is searching for an extension of its
existing groupware system using an ontology-based tool solution. The matching component
identifies a similar groupware system in the case base, which also served as a basis for a similar
extension. This result is achieved by checking all instances of the corresponding software subconcept groupware and recommending the assigned solution to the requesting organisation.
Furthermore, taxonomic similarity is used to additionally compare particular attribute instances
based on the conceptual level improving the results of the syntactic similarity computation (e.g.,
matching the attribute sector of a profile based on the concept taxonomy primary,
secondaryand tertiary sector). Finally, a weighted average determines the global similarity
of all local similarities. Figure 3 depicts all regarded ontology concepts, attributes and relations
of a profile that are applied in KMIR during case retrieval.
Figure 5: Concepts, Attributes and Relations Regarded during Case Retrieval

For the technical realisation of the matching component, we have integrated an already existing
Java-based framework for instance similarities in ontologies into the KMIR architecture (cf.
Hefke et al., 2006). An additionally implemented user interface allows parameterizing the userdefined selection and composition of (atomic) similarity measures, and their assignment with
weights directly in KMIR. Settings are stored in an XML-File and processed by the underlying
529
similarity framework. Depending on the selected similarity measure(s), attributes like maxdiff
(distance-based similarity) or recursion depth (instanceRelationSimilarity) can be defined. Due
to the complexity of computing ontology-specific similarity measures, the similarity framework
provides two different types of filters, pre-filters and post-filters. This method constrains the
number of instances to be considered for similarity computation. The filters can be individually
combined from (atomic) filters. All filters are configurable either by a KMIR user interface or
directly in the XML-File.
Pre-filters are used preceding the similarity computation. They allow the inclusion of one or
more particular concept(s), as well as the exclusion of particular concepts that are subsequently
regarded during the similarity computation of corresponding instantiations. Furthermore, it is
possible to define KAON Queries2 in order to reduce the amount of profiles in the case base that
are used for computing the similarity. The KAON query language allows easy and efficient
locating of elements in KAON OI-models.
Post-filters determine the number of instances that are returned after the similarity computation.
There exist two types of filter, minSimilarityFilter and maxCountofInstancesFilter. The first
filter type defines the similarity threshold (between 0 and 1) required for inclusion in the result
list, the second one retains information about the maximum number of presented similar results.
In case of a negative case retrieval (no existing profile of the case base directly matches to a
selected organization profile), the matching process can be constrained to only matching (all)
single problems of the given organisation profile with existing problems (independent of a
particular profile). In this way, at least solutions for given problems can be identified.
As an alternative for identifying similar profiles/problems to a given one based on the integrated
similarity framework, it is also possible to let the user of the system directly define KAON
queries or construct them with a query wizard. For instance, the query
[#Profile] AND SOME(<#hasOrganisationType>,!#SME!)
only matches a subset of profiles consisting of small and medium sized enterprises against the
newly defined profile, whereas the query
[#Profile] AND SOME(<#is-in-sector>,!#IT!)
only regards organisations associated with the sector IT in the case retrieval process. The
second example also shows the possibility to define important knock-out criteria, e.g., a userdefined definition of characteristic values that have to be fulfilled in each case.
Recommendations and Solution Generation
The Recommendations Component provides recommendations based on case(s) identified as
most similar. The recommendation presents one or more profile(s) which were retrieved within
the matching process and which correspond to the profile from the organisational audit
including similar problems, as well as interlinked solutions and methods to solve these problems.
In addition, the system user can identify further relations with other KM aspects for each
profiles problem-solution pair by browsing the structure of the ontology. The identified most
similar case(s) also comprise information about implementation costs and time, qualitative and
quantitative benefits, savings, sustainability, application to other fields, external support/ funding
and others.
An example for a so-called holistic recommendationwould be the recommendation of using a
specific tool, technology or knowledge instrument combined with a specific organizational
method, as well as the combination with a required organisational culture program.
Cf. Developers Guide for KAON, http://kaon.semanticweb.org/documentation
530
Moreover, the system provides a Solution Generation Component which supports the automatic
generation of solutions by merging problems with solutions of similar problems from the case
base. This can be done for either single problems or all problems of a selected profile based on a
predetermined minimum similarity value. Regarding the generation of solutions for profiles, the
solution generator only creates solutions for one or more problem(s) if a profile can be identified
with a global similarity of all profile attributes that is larger than a predefined minimum value.
Moreover, we are currently developing modification rules, in order to realise automatic case
adaptation in easy situations. For instance, it is planned to implement a verification component
which allows KMIR to check if a specific software application makes sense for a
recommendation or solution generation, based on background information defined by further
specific attributes (e.g., compatibility, interoperability, scalability and extensibility of the
software tool to be recommended). On this basis it is planned to also adapt technical solutions
from a BPC to specific needs of a new customer.
Feedback Loop and Learning
Successfully accomplished KM implementations are added as new BPCs into the case base. This
is done by technically supporting the revision of the new constructed KM introduction solution
(e.g., editing/ correcting existing information to the generated solution or providing additional
information like for instance new experiences or benefits, etc.). Thereafter, the adapted, reused
and revised BPC is stored as a newly learned case into the case base. The learning component
collects lessons learned regarding successful or inappropriate given recommendations in order to
refine or extend the BPCs as well as the general structure of the case base. To support lessons
learnedan evaluation function is provided to the requesting organisation. A consulting agency
has the opportunity to describe experiences made with given recommendations to the customer
regarding their correctness and capability to solve a specific customer problem. The evaluation
results are directly incorporated into the learning component and they are taken into account
during the next case retrieval. They are used for an internal ranking of the best practice cases in
the case base. Based on that, the recommendations component is able to provide better
recommendations to new requesting organisations in the future. Low ranked recommendations
that are evaluated as useless can either be optimised or thrown out of the case base.
Administration Functions
KMIR disposes of several administrative functions for maintaining and analyzing the case base.
In the following they are briefly described:
Import-/ Export Interface
The Import-/ export interface supports an easy import of instance lists from csv-files in
order to instantiate concepts in which the content changes over time, like e.g.
Technology, Softwareor Knowledge Instrument. Thus exhaustive modelling with
an ontology editor is avoided. Furthermore, the concept structure of the ontology based
case base comprising attributes, ingoing and outgoing relations of concepts can be
exported as a structured text file.
531
Case Completion
Case completion is used for automatically enriching cases with existing background
knowledge. In KMIR, case completion is used to learn new relation instances through
analysing existing solution descriptions for the appearance of instances or synonyms of
the concepts software tool, technology or knowledge instrument. Based on that,
instances are interlinked with the respective solution (e.g. Solution S uses technology
T). The functionality is particularly suitable for updating existing cases after enhancing
instance lists (e.g., the lists of existing tools, technologies or knowledge instruments).
However, the case completion component is freely configurable for using it with any
concept or relation in the ontology.
Web Link Creation
The KMIR system is available to discover Wikipedia entries for selected instances and
concepts of the case base. If there is an appropriate entry available, the accordant concept
or instance is automatically linked to the corresponding website.
Similarity Caching
KMIR provides ontology-based caching of local and global similarities between profiles
in order to reduce the similarity calculation time. Caching can be done for single profile
pairs as well as for all profiles available in the case base.
Case Disjunction Testing
The function identifies BPCs, problems or goals that are very similar to each other on the
one hand checking the relevance of specific attributes regarding case retrieval and on the
other hand identifying redundant profiles, problems or goals.
Statistical Analysis
This function provides a real-time analysis of the existing case base by presenting
frequencies, averages and standard deviations for all interesting concepts supporting the
examination of the BPCsstatistical distribution.
532

The described KMIR framework supports consulting agencies in successfully accompanying a
customers introduction of Knowledge Management by providing recommendations based on
CBR and Semantic Web Technologies. For the development of KMIR, an extensive collection,
analysis and structuring of BPs from different information sources was conducted. The analysis
as well as the ontology for structuring BPCs directly focus on human, technical and
organizational aspects (holistic KM approach).
For the future, we intend to validate KMIR under real-life conditions which might be realised in
the context of an actual project with a consulting agency. Moreover, we will integrate KMIR
with ONTOKNOM, an ontology-based software infrastructure for retaining and maintaining KM
Maturity Models in order to better focus on an organisation's needs regarding a successful
introduction of KM (cf. Hefke and Kleiner, 2005). To achieve the integration of both systems in
KMIR BPCs will be associated with a specific maturity level and in ONTOKOM BPs will be
proposed depending on the calculated maturity level. A further research interest is to extract a
reference maturity model based on all captured KMIR cases and, the opposite way around, to
extract a reference BPC out of several KM maturity models in ONTOKNOM.
533
Real Cases (As it has happened)

During the development phase of the KMIR framework, we have performed the following steps:
1. Identification of indicators for the description / portability of KM BPCs.
2. Verification of identified indicators in the form of an open survey (cf. Hefke, Jger,
Abecker, 2006)
3. Development of a reference model and ontology-based case base implementing the
evaluation results.
4. Collection of (unstructured) episodic cases from different information sources which are
describing realevents.
5. Definition of prototypical cases to capture innovative technical solutions, new
methods and practices into the case base that are not widely used in organisations (these
hypothetical cases complement the realones in order to sufficiently cover the space of
possible organizational problem situations).
6. Development and implementation of the KMIR Framework Architecture.
7. Structuring and storing cases from 4.) and 5.) into the case base.
At present, the developed KMIR framework comprises 36 structured episodic Best Practice
Cases (BPCs) of real KM introductions. 39% of the BPCs are provided by SMEs and 61% by
LSEs. In addition, the BPCs dispose of 180 defined knowledge goals, 159 problem Descriptions
and 132 solutions. Further details about the composition of the captured problems and goals are
provided by the following two tables:
Table 2: Number/ ratio of Knowledge Problems
534
Total number of problems
159
Ratio of organisational problems
69%
Ratio of technical problems
12%
Ratio of cultural problems
19%
Ratio of problems addressing core process

Defining Knowledge Goals
2%

Identifying Knowledge
4%

Acquiring Knowledge
9%

Developing Knowledge
1%

Distributing Knowledge
33%

Using Knowledge
13%

Preserving Knowledge
14%

Measuring Knowledge
4%
Table 3: Number/ ratio of Knowledge Goals

Total number of goals
180
Ratio of normative goals
17%
Ratio of strategic goals
32%
Ratio of operative goals
52%
As a first validation step, we have analysed the basic ability of the KMIR framework to
automatically find appropriate solutions for typical knowledge problems. In that context, we
have identified most frequent knowledge problems that have been identified in several user
surveys. Finally, we have recorded them in the system. First validation results seemed to be very
promising. At present, we are performing a comprehensive evaluation of the system with regard
to retrieval quality and processing time. The results of the evaluation phase will be documented
and published soon.

Definition of normative, strategic and operative knowledge goals and continuous
verification
Considering KM as a holistic approach regarding the organisation, processes, technology,
people and culture in equal manner
Selection of a KM project team
Obtaining Top Management Support
Creating and fostering knowledge-oriented culture
Identification and Structuring of relevant organisational knowledge
Continuous involvement and training of employees
Knowledge measurement and evaluation
Reasonable combination of intrinsic and extrinsic incentives
Integration of KM activities into an organisations processes
Just considering KM activities as a technical thing
Ignoring employees and their needs when implementing KM
Only providing monetary incentives
Downsizingthe organisation at the expense of knowledge bearers
535
Acknowledgements
The development of the KMIR framework has partially been co-funded by the German National
Ministry for Education and Research (bmb+f) with the project Im Wissensnetz Vernetzte
Informationsprozesse in Forschungsverbnden, by the Federal State of Baden-Wrttemberg
with the project Kompetenznetzwerk Wissensmanagement, and by the European Commission
with the project NEPOMUK - Networked Environment for Personalized, Ontology-based
Management of Unified Knowledge.
Aamodt, A., Plaza, E. (1994) Case-Based Reasoning: Foundational Issues, Methodological
Variations and System Approaches. AI Communications (1994) 7(i):39-59
Ehrig, M., Haase, P., Hefke, M., Stojanovic, N. (2005) Similarity for Ontologies - A Comprehensive Framework. In: 13th European Conference on Information Systems
Hefke, M., Kleiner, F. (2005) An Ontology-Based Software Infrastructure for Retaining
Theoretical Knowledge Management Maturity Models. In 1st Workshop "FOMI 2005"
Formal On-tologies Meet Industry
Hefke, M., Jger, K., Abecker, A. (2006) Best Practice Cases for Knowledge Management and
Their Portability to Other Organisations, In: Proceedings of the 7th International
Conference on Knowledge Management, I-KNOW 2006, Graz, Austria
Hefke, M., Zacharias, V., Biesalski, E., Abecker, A., Wang, Q., Breiter, M (2006) An extendable
Java Framework for Instance Similarities in Ontologies Kongrebeitrag/Proceeding, In: 8th
International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, 23 - 27, May 2006, Paphos
Cyprus
Probst G., Raub S., Romhardt K. (1999)Managing Knowledge: Building Blocks for Success,
Wiley, London
536
Author Biography
Mark Hefke earned a degree in Business Engineering at the

University of Karlsruhe, Germany. Since 2002, he has been
working as a scientific assistant pursuing his PhD in the research
group Information Process Engineeringat the Research Center
for Information Technologies (FZI) in Karlsruhe 3. His research
team develops techniques and applications for the acquisition,
representation & modelling, extraction, storage, access and
application of knowledge and furthermore advises organisations
on the implementation of KM. Research interests also comprise
the conception and development of ontology-based tools for
supporting the Introduction of Knowledge Management:
-
ONTOKNOM
An
ontology-based
software
infrastructure for retaining and maintaining KM Maturity
Models4
KMIR - KM Introduction and Recommendation

Framework based on CBR and Semantic Web
technologies
Moreover Mark Hefke is the project coordinator of the public

founded research project Im Wissensnetz5 (http://www.imwissensnetz.de).
http://www.fzi.de/eng
http://www.ontoknom.de
5
http://www.im-wissensnetz.de
4
537
ands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Technique
Strategic
Roadmapping and
Implementation
Actions
Keywords:
Strategic Roadmapping, Implementation Actions, Time to Industry,
Business Drivers, Thematic Priorities
Strategic Roadmapping and

Implementation Actions

To continuously evolve and innovate, organisations and industrial sectors need to set clear
evolutionary paths facilitating a transition from a currentstate to an envisioned futurestate.
This chapter presents a simple and visual methodology for developing strategic roadmaps
supplemented with a set of well-defined implementation actions that support realisation of the
elements of the roadmap. Using a futuristic visionary state as the goal, a set of short, medium,
and long-time to industry actions are defined.
Keywords: strategic roadmapping, implementation actions, time to industry, business drivers,

thematic priorities

Strategic roadmaps and supporting implementation actions (also called projects in some cases)
may be seen as essential elements of organisational strategies and/or business plans as they
provide the pathways to achieve a desired state from a current state (See CABA:2002,
FIATECH:2004, IMTI:2000, Ribak and Schaggers:2003, Strategis:2007, and Kazi, Hannus and
Zarli:2003).
The strategic roadmapping and implementation actions method can be used within context where
there is not only a need to define a vision, but a means and set of actions for the realisation of the
vision. It concentrates on a definition of a set of short, medium, and long term targets in terms of
their respective time to industry for transition from the current state to a future envisioned state.
The method is primarily used to support different types of innovations: business; marketing;
organizational; process; product; service; and/or supply chain (see Figure 1) within an
organisation, across co-operating organisations, or spanning an industrial domain.
541
involves changing the way business

is done in terms of capturing value
where innovations occur

in the sourcing of input
products from suppliers
and the delivery of output
products to customers
is similar to product
innovation except
that the innovation
relates to services
rather than to
products
Business
Model
Supply
Chain
Marketing
is the development of new

marketing methods with
improvement in product
design or packaging,
product promotion or
pricing
Innovation
OrganizatOrganizational
Service
involves the introduction of

a new good or service that
is new or substantially
improved
Product
Process
involves the creation

or alteration of
business structures,
practices, and models
involves the implementation of

a new or significantly improved
production or delivery method
Figure 1: Types of Innovation

(source with modifications: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation)
The method, though usable within a few hours, usually spans a series of workshops spanning one
to two days each with intermediate feedback. This is essential to ensure proper interactive
dialogue and feedback to support iterative development and refinement of the roadmaps and their
supporting implementation actions.
The method essentially covers three main steps (goals):
1. Setting priorities (defining the vision)
2. Developing the roadmaps
3. Identifying the implementation actions
The number of participants for each of the steps varies. During setting priorities, it is best to limit
participation to between 30-40 participants. In the case of developing roadmaps, small teams of
between 4-6 persons each should be used. While, in the case of identifying implementation
actions 30-40 participants may be used.

A key to tangible outputs from the strategic roadmapping and implementation method is the right
mix of participants in the workshops. There needs to be a balance between different types of
stakeholders who are engaged (e.g. industry, research, software solution providers). While
decision makers are required to ensure that decisions are taken and implemented, knowledge
workers are required to provide key inputs in terms of innovation requirements for necessary
542
functional needs. To ensure meaningful results, attendance to the workshop should be by

invitation onlybased on pre-identified and pre-selected participants.
The facilitator/moderator of the event when inviting participants needs to know their expertise
and interests to ensure they can make a meaningful contribution. Furthermore, participants
should be provided with background information on the topics/issues for which the strategic
roadmaps and supporting implementation actions are to be defined.
Last, but not least, where and when possible, participants should be provided with a set of
example roadmaps and implementation actions to become acquainted with the method. When
examples do not exist, they should be provided with blank roadmap (Figure 3) and strategic
action templates (Table 3) along with a short method description (such as the one presented the
section on Making it Happen (The Approach & the Action).

When preparing for the workshop, it is essential to have different means (paper, electronic) that
can be use for roadmap development based on the desired working methods of the (see Figure 2).
Most participants like to work with pen and paper and

move around. In such instances it is best to have a
white board and Post-it notes of different colours
(preferably green, yellow, and red) corresponding to
different phases (short, medium, and long). These
enable participants to post items, draw links between
them, and re-arrange them when necessary.
A commonly used approach these days is a large
screen for projecting work-in-progress slides. If
participants are used to this approach, then a screen,
computer, and projector should be made available. In
such cases, typically while most participants discuss,
one of them acts as a rapporteur and notes down key
points on to the roadmap template. Using this
approach, it is easy re-arrange items, delete if
necessary, and have the results ready to present in a
plenary. The results are well-captured and do not need
to be typed in again.
Driver
Current
state
Short
time to ind
Driver
Medium
time to ind
Driver
Long
time to ind
Vision
Figure 2: Different tools for roadmap development

While the main introductory and summary sessions may be held in a plenary fashion (large
room), it is necessary to have small break-out rooms for small teams to be able to concentrate
during roadmap development. Having teams in different corners in a large room does not help
and only leads to disturbance and lack of concentration.
543

The strategic roadmapping and implementation actions method focuses on the achievement of
three main goals:
1. Setting key priorities (vision)
2. Developing (thematic) roadmaps
3. Identifying implementation actions
Each of these steps is briefly described followed by a typical workshop agenda (Table 1).
1. Setting Priorities
The fundamental starting point of the strategic roadmapping and implementation actions method
is to identify clear priorities related to the main issue to be addressed. In short, this is similar to
breaking down a main high-level vision into a set of inter-related sub-visions or thematic
priorities. During this process, consider asking the following questions:
a.
b.
c.
d.
What do I like of our situation today?

What do I NOT like of our situation today?
What do I want in the future?
What do I NOT want in the future?
Ask each participant to provide a unique answer to each question. If there are many participants
in the room, consider asking some questions from some participants and other questions from
other participants.
The answers should provide you with a basis for the current state, what needs to be improved,
what needs to be done, and what needs to be avoided. Use these answers to create a consolidated
list of relevant key items. Through a show of hands (consider allowing each participant between
3-4 votes) identify the main priorities of the participants with respect to the main issue
addressed. Use these main priorities as the thematic priorities for roadmaps. Ideally, each
thematic priority should lead to one roadmap.
544
2. Developing Roadmaps
The thematic priorities identified earlier should serve as the basis for distributing the participants
into teams of between 4-6 participants each, with each team assigned the task to develop a
roadmap for their respective thematic priority. Ensure that each team is in a separate room and
equipped with the tools they prefer for roadmap development (refer back to Figure 2)
Figure 3 is an illustration of the roadmap template to be used for each thematic priority.
Driver
Current
state
Short
time to ind
Driver
Driver
Medium
time to ind
Long
time to ind
Vision
Figure 3: Roadmap Template From Current State to Vision

Each team typically starts off with the current state and vision. Once these are established, the
next step is to identify the key business driver for change in the short term (time to industry).
Based on this, they identify and define key elements/actions to be achieved in the short term.
Using short term elements/actions of the roadmap as the baseline this time, the business driver
for incremental change is identified and based upon this, key elements/actions to be achieved in
the medium term identified and defined. In a similar fashion, the driver for change from medium
to long term and supporting elements/actions are identified.
Ensure that there is enough time in between for teams to walk around, see and discuss, what is
being developed for other thematic priorities in different teams. Allow each team to do at least 23 iterations for the roadmap they are developing.
3. Identifying Implementation Actions

Once the roadmaps have been finalised, the next step is the identification of key implementation
actions (sometimes also referred to as project ideas). These implementation actions may cover
one element (e.g. one yellow box) of a given roadmap or span several elements. When
identifying implementation actions, the following items for each implementation action should
be considered:
i.
ii.
Title of the action (should be self explanatory).

Industrial problem / relevance (Why is this action important? What are the main business
drivers?)
iii. Objective (What is the aimed measurable achievement / innovation / progress beyond the
state of the art?)
iv. Approach (How will the problem be solved: baseline technology + methodology /
approach + necessary competencies)?
v. Results (What tangible, applications / tools, methods etc. will be developed / extended?)
545
vi. Exploitation (How will the results be provided to users? Who will use the results and
how?)
vii. Impacts (What potential benefits will follow from the use of results?)
viii. Follow-up actions (What else is required to achieve the benefits?)
A Typical Agenda
To ensure mutual trust and creativity, the agenda for the event is designed to allow for social
interaction in between sessions. This creates opportunities team members to reflect upon the
work done within breakout teamwork sessions and for different teams to discuss and share their
findings with each other.
Table 1: Typical Workshop Agenda
Day 1
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
20:00
Registration, Coffee, and Meeting Participants Coffee Break and Nature Stroll
Setting the Scene: Identification and Selection of Thematic Priorities for Roadmapping
Understanding the Approach: Common Approach to Roadmapping and Team Building
Free Time
Team Dinner
Day 2
09:00
09:30
12:00
13:30
14:30
16:00
16:30
18:30
20:00
Re-Cap: Roadmapping Approach, and Objectives for the Day

Break-Out I: Roadmapping (One Team per Thematic Priority)
Lunch and Team Building
Roadmap Tours (see what others have done)
Break-Out II: Roadmapping (One Team per Thematic Priority)
Coffee Break
Feedback: Presentation of Each Thematic Roadmap
Free-time
Team Dinner
Day 3
09:00
10:30
11:00
12:00
13:30
15:30
16:00
Breakout I: Identification & Definition of Strategic Actions for Each Thematic Roadmap
Coffee Break
Breakout II: Identification & Definition of Strategic Actions for Each Thematic Roadmap
Lunch and Team Building
Feedback: Presentation of Strategic Actions for Each Thematic Roadmap
Forward Planning: Next Steps and Follow-up Actions
End of Workshop
By the end of the workshop, it is expected of participants to have:
546
Co-developed a series of thematic roadmaps

Identified a set of implementation actions to support realisation of the roadmaps
Agreed upon common follow-up actions to refine and document the roadmaps and
strategic actions

A key follow-up of the workshop is means to appropriately document the key findings for each
roadmap and the detailing of each implementation action. While the roadmap documentation is
lead by the facilitator of a particular roadmap with the support of other participants the team
engaged in developing the roadmap, the implementation action detailing is done by the person(s)
proposing the implementation action.
Consider using the following table of contents (Table 2) for documenting each roadmap:
Table 2: Table of Contents for Roadmap Documentation
1. Background
2. Vision
2.1. Business Scenario: xyz
2.2. Business Scenario: xyz
3. Roadmap
3.1. Objectives
3.2. Key Elements
3.2.1. Current State
Provide a few lines describing each element (box)
3.2.2. Time to Industry: Short Term
3.2.3. Time to Industry: Medium Term
3.2.4. Time to Industry: Long Term
4. Business Impacts
5. Resources for Further Information
Note that once the roadmaps have been documented and shared with all participants from all
teams, participants may also contribute implementation actions for roadmaps other than those
that they co-developed.
547
Consider using the following template (Table 3) for detailing each implementation action.
Table 3: Implementation Action Definition Template

Title (max 10 words)
Keywords (max 5)
Time to industry
Short term
Topic areas
Industrial problem /
relevance (Why is this
action important? What
are the main business
drivers?)
Objective (What is the

aimed measurable
achievement / innovation / progress
beyond the state of the
art?)
Approach (How will

the problem be solved:
baseline technology +
methodology /
approach + necessary
competencies)?
Results (What
tangible, applications /
tools, methods etc. will
be developed /
extended?)
Exploitation (How
will the results be
provided to users? Who
will use the results and
how?)
Impacts (What potential benefits will follow

from the use of
results?)
Follow-up actions
(What else is required
to achieve the
benefits?)
Contact information of the proposer

Name (First, Last)
Organisation
Email
548
Medium term
Long term

The strategic roadmapping and implementation actions method was extensively used in the StratCON (Strategic Actions for Realising the Vision of ICT in Construction) project (see: Kazi, et
al., 2006). Strat-CON was a follow-up to the earlier ROADCON project that focussed on a
definition of key take-up, development, research, and emerging technologies for information and
communications technologies (ICT) in the construction sector. Strat-CON took a more
industryfriendly perspective and relied on inputs from members of the industry-led European
Construction Technology Platform.
Key Topics and Thematic Priorities

The issue of needs for Processes and ICT in the construction sector was first broken down into
four main thematic groups: process, product, project, and enterprise. Each of these thematic
groups was further broken down into two themes with each theme covering one priority (issue).
These priorities and associated visions are shown in Figure 4.
Business Processes
Internal capture &
use of knowledge
ICT for customer centric product & service

definition, requirement management &
compliance assessment. Performance
based contracting.
Knowledge sharing
ICT for transforming project experiences
into corporate assets. Object repositories.
IPR protection of complex shared data.
Context aware applications.
Ent
erp
rise
New ways for sustainable exploitation of

ICT as a key part of business strategy
in the open European / global
construction marketplace.
Collaboration support
ICT tools for information sharing, project
steering, negotiations, decision support,
risk mitigation, etc.
Pro
ces
s
Industrialised
production
ICT for modular provision of customised

constructions, logistics, assembly
& services. Digital sites.
Digital models
Vision
Pro
jec
t
duc
t
ICT enabled
business models
Production Processes
Pro
External use use &

exploitation of knowledge
Value-driven
business processes
nD models. Access to life time information for all stakeholders anywhere

anytime. ICT for design, configuration,
analysis, simulation,
visualisation.
Intelligent
constructions
Smart embedded systems & devices for
monitoring and control. Embedded
learning & user support.
Interoperability
Communication between
humans & organisations
Communication between ICT systems
Ontologies & open ICT standards for

semantic communication.
ICT infrastructures.
Real Products
Virtual Products
Figure 4: Key Thematic Priorities (Roadmap Topics)

As an example to help understand the undertaken work, some elements (vision, business
scenario, objectives, roadmap diagram, and business impacts) are presented for the roadmap on
value-driven business processes.
549
Roadmap: Value-driven Business Processes

Vision
The vision proposed in this roadmap is based on the fact that today, there are no tangible
methodologies, models and tools available to manage performance and business processes in
construction. It is advocated that to move from the current state of time and cost driven process
towards value driven processes, performance driven processes, value to customer, total life cycle
support, and product and service customisation must be supported.
Such a vision also leads to the following considerations:
Strong stakeholders, like clients, are important agents of change and may provide leadership
in the development of a sustainable built environment provided by an integrated supply side.
Business relationships are based on trust, partnerships and win-win.
The demands of end-users and society are met while optimising the use of resources; the
technology available to achieve sustainable development is integrated in a systematic way,
and the integration is site-specific thereby exercising vigilance and meeting local
expectations of end-users and achieving performance and 0-accident and health risks.
The procurement of services or products is done in ways that improve responsibility,

reliability, quality, encourage competition and stimulate innovation.
Business Scenario: On-demand Customisation of Products and Services

Clients require customised products and services that address changing client product/service
needs during the lifecycle of the solution (product/service). Modular product and service design
alongside mass customisation tools allow this to happen. Rather than select the closest solution
available, clients will be able to pick-and-mixdifferent product/service modules to design their
solutions. As the product/service components will be modular in nature, they will not only be
easy to design (modular design), but to also easily manufacture and assemble (industrial
production). Once the product/service has served its purpose, rather than being
demolished/terminated, and it could be easily disassembled, reconfigured, and re-used.
Objectives
The objectives of the roadmap are to develop an extended approach for Construction reengineering, revisiting process-chains for conception, achievement, maintenance & restoration of
buildings and infrastructures. This re-engineering should rely on knowledge-based paradigms
and assessment metrics and methods, related to value-/performance- driven business models
which can create incentives for better performance, innovation and knowledge creation, and it
should include a systematisation of the value analysis over the life-cycle, from inception and
design to exploitation and maintenance. This roadmap aims to address four main business
drivers:
Performance-driven process
Value to customer
Total lifecycle support
Product and service customisation
550
Performance-driven process
Performance
classification
system
Performance
based
contracting
Performance
verification tools
Value to Customer
Capturing
customer needs
Cost and
time driven
business
processes
Requirements
engineering and
management
RealReal-time
conformity
assessment
Total lifecycle support

Product &
service lifecycle
simulation
Product & service

performance
assessment
Value
Driven
Process
Life cycle
optimisation
Product & service customisation

Modular product
& service
concepts
Product design
and service
configuration
Mass
customisation
tools
Figure 5: Roadmap for Value-driven Business Processes

Business Impacts
There will be a paradigm shift in terms of product/service delivery from lowest investment cost
to optimal value to and conformance of requirements of the customer. Both customers and
contractors/suppliers will share a common terminology (or interfaces to a common terminology)
allowing for better understanding and delivery of customer requirements. Aided by modular
product and service design, not only will more solutions be available to customers, but it will be
feasible for designers and mainly contractors to deliver them. The products/services of the future
will be fully configurable at start and reconfigurable during the lifecycle of the product/service.
This will allow for example in the case of a major hazard (e.g. earthquake) to convert an opera
house to a fully functional hospital within a matter of days (2-3), and to then re-convert it back to
an opera house thereafter. Buildings, infrastructures and urban achievements of the future will
integrate all new constraints, including a rational use of energy, minimising risks, trouble and
discomfort for the individual users, and minimising pollution and risks of any kinds for all users
in general and the society.
551
Prioritising Implementation Actions

During workshops held in Versailles, France, and London, United Kingdom, participants were
asked to identify and prioritise key implementation actions. Each participant was given 40 dots
to identify his/her favourite implementation actions from over 150 implementation actions
identified across the eight roadmaps. Figure 6 illustrates the prioritisation for the roadmap on
value-driven business processes.
Figure 6: Prioritisation of Implementation Actions for Value-drive Business Processes

552
Mapping to Funding Opportunities

Each developed roadmap was mapped on to different relevant funding opportunities within the
1st calls of the European Unions 7th Framework Programme. Figure 7 shows where one could
seek funding for the implementation actions defined within a thematic priority area (roadmap).
ENVIRONMENT:
ENVIRONMENT:
Performance
Performance
indicators
indicators for
for health,
health,
comfort
comfort and
and safety
safety
of
the
indoor
built
of the indoor built
environment.
environment.
ENVIRONMENT:
ENVIRONMENT:
Indoor
Indoor air
air pollution
pollution
in
in Europe:
Europe: an
an
emerging
emerging
environmental
environmental
health
health issue.
issue.
Knowledge
sharing
Collaboration
support
Pro
ces
s
Thematic
Roadmaps
Pro
jec
t
Pro
duc
t
ICT:
ICT: Intelligent
Intelligent
content
content and
and
semantics.
semantics.
ICT enabled
business models
ValueValue-driven
business
processes
En t
eerp
r ise
ENERGY:
ENERGY: Energy
Energy
technological
technological
foresight.
foresight.
NMP:
NMP:
Innovative
Innovative
added
added value
value
construction
construction
productproductservices.
services.
ENERGY:
ENERGY:
Energy
Energy
behavioural
behavioural
changes.
changes.
TRANSPORT:
TRANSPORT:
Advanced
Advanced and
and
cost
cost effective
effective
infra-structure
infra-structure
construction
construction
and
and monitoring
monitoring
concepts.
concepts.
Industrialised
production
Digital
models
Intelligent
constructions
ENVIRONMENT:
ENVIRONMENT:
Damage
Damage
assessment,
assessment,
diagnosis,
diagnosis, and
and
monitoring
monitoring for
for the
the
preventive
preventive
conservation
and
conservation and
maintenance
maintenance of
of the
the
cultural
cultural heritage.
heritage.
ICT:
ICT:
Critical
Critical infra-structure
infra-structure
protection.
protection.
Networked
Networked Embedded
Embedded
and
and Control
Control Systems
Systems
ICT
ICT for
for environ-mental
environ-mental
management
management and
and
energy
energy efficiency.
efficiency.
ICT
ICT and
and ageing
ageing
Interoperability
TRANSPORT:
TRANSPORT:
Intelligent
Intelligent highways.
highways.
All topics
NMP:
NMP: ERA-Net
ERA-Net on
on
Construction.
Construction.
ICT:
ICT:
Service
Service and
and software
software
architectures,
architectures, infrastructures
infrastructures
and
and engineering.
engineering.
Networked
Networked media.
media.
NMP:
NMP:
Resource
Resource
efficient
efficient
and
and clean
clean
buildings.
buildings.
ENVIRONMENT:
ENVIRONMENT:
Low
Low resource
resource
consumption
consumption
buildings
buildings and
and
infrastructure.
infrastructure.
ENERGY:
ENERGY:
Development
Development and
and
demonstration
demonstration of
of
standardized
standardized
building
building
components
components
Figure 7: Example - Mapping to 1st Calls of European Unions 7th Framework Programme

A roadmap is simply a plan, and the implementation actions means for executing the plan. Be
sure to regularly follow-up on both at periodic intervals. Roadmaps may evolve as new
technologies and trends emerge, and implementation actions need to be monitored to ensure
they take place.
Consider pre-assigning members to a team (one team per thematic roadmap) based on their
experience and key interest areas.
For each team, consider pre-assigning a discussion moderator and rapporteur; though allow
the team to make the final decision.
Within 48 hours of the end of a workshop, send a thank you note by email to all participants
along with a summary of the work done, roadmaps prepared, strategic actions identified, and
list of follow-up actions.
Consider sending images of each roadmap as postcards to participants to hang on their walls.
553
Avoid engaging teams larger than 6 in size when developing a particular roadmap.
Never distribute teams to different corners of a large room for teamwork as this only creates
disturbance and hinders concentration. Use separate rooms!
It is possible that within certain teams one participant will dominate the discussions. Be sure
to inform the team facilitator to ensure that all are given an equal opportunity to speak.
When documenting the roadmaps and detailing the implementation actions, be brief and to
the point. Too much text only leads to confusion. Try limiting each roadmap document to
between 6-8 pages and each implementation action to 1 page. Implementation actions can
later be detailed in the form of project plans, once some starts implementing them.
Acknowledgements
The work presented in this chapter is a consolidation of roadmapping efforts primarily
undertaken within the context of the Strat-CON project by VTT Technical Research Centre of
Finland, CSTB in France, and the Technical University of Vienna in Austria. It has been cofunded under ERABUILD (www.erabuild.net). Appreciation is extended to all participants of
brain-storming sessions and workshops conducted in Valencia-Spain, Versailles-France, and
London-United Kingdom.
CABA (2002) Technology Roadmap for Intelligent Building Technologies. website:

http://www.caba.org/trm/ (date accessed: 15 January, 2007)
FIATECH (2004) Capital Projects Technology Roadmap. website:
http://www.fiatech.org/projects/cptri.htm (date accessed: 15 January, 2007)
IMTI (2000) Integrated Manufacturing Technology Roadmapping Project. website:
http://www.imti21.org/ (date accessed: 15 January, 2007)
Kazi, A.S., Hannus, M., and Zarli, A. (2003) Future RTD in Construction, Proceedings of the 9th
International Conference on Concurrent Engineering, 16-18 June 2003, Espoo, Finland,
pp. 325-333. (ISBN: 0-85358-119-3)
Kazi, A.S., Hannus, M., Zarli, A., Bourdeau, M., Martens, B., and Tschuppik, O. (2006)
Towards Strategic Actions for ICT R&D in Construction, eWork and eBusiness in
Architecture, Engineering and Construction (editors: Martinez, M., and Scherer, R.), pp.
31-39, Publisher: Taylor & Francis/Balkema (ISBN: 978-0-415-41622-1).
554
Ribak, A., and Schaffers H (eds.) (2003) Context-Aware Collaborative Environments for NextGeneration Business Networks, COCONET Project Consortium.
ROADCON (2003) Strategic Roadmap towards Knowledge-Driven Sustainable Construction,
website: http://cic.vtt.fi/projects/roadcon (date accessed: 15 January, 2007)
Stategis (2007) Technology Roadmaps at Industry Canada. website:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/intrm-crt.nsf/vwGeneratedInterE/Home (date
accessed: 15 January, 2007)
Strat-CON (2007) Strategic Actions for Realising the Vision of ICT in Construction, website:
http://www.strat-con.org (date accessed: 15 January, 2007)
Author Biography
Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi is a Chief Research Scientist at VTT

Technical Research Centre of Finland. His research experience
spans more than twenty large scale international industry-driven
research projects. Dr. Kazis expertise and interest areas include interenterprise collaboration, knowledge and innovation management,
disruptive facilitation, and mobile applications. He has been the lead
editor of eight books in the subject areas of knowledge management,
construction IT, systemic innovation, and open building
manufacturing.
555
Hands-On Knowledge
Co-Creation and Sharing:
Practical Methods and Techniques
Edited by:
Abdul Samad Kazi, Liza Wohlfart and Patricia Wolf
This is the second book by the KnowledgeBoard Community for

the Global Knowledge Community. It follows the pattern of the
first KnowledgeBoard book,
Real-Life Knowledge Management:
Lessons from the Field
, in presenting the practical experiences
of knowledge workers.
Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical

Methods and Techniquespresents thirty hands-on moderation,
facilitation, collaboration, and interaction methods and
techniques, both face-to-face and software-based. Each
presented method/technique is augmented with real-life cases
on its use; provides directions on what needs to be done before,
during, and after the use of each method/technique to achieve
tangible and measurable results; provides a set of tips and tricks
on the use and adaptation of the method/technique for different
contexts and settings; and provides a list of potholes to avoid
when using the method/technique.
The prime audience of this book is industry practitioners, event
moderators, facilitators, consultants, researchers, and academia
with an interest in the use and adaptation of effective methods
and techniques to foster knowledge co-creation and sharing.
ISBN: 978-951-6350-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-951-6351-7 (Electronic)
A book by the KnowledgeBoard Community

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Hands-On Knowledge

Abdul Samad Kazi

A book by the KnowledgeBoard Community

Copyright 2007 KnowledgeBoard

Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Techniques

Share and Collect

Visual Power Networking

Using Cognitive Edge Methods for Knowledge Creation and

Exploration Tours Connecting Past, Present & Future

Ron Dvir, Hank Kune, Paolo Martinez & Arye Dvir

Appraisal Interviews as a Tool for Organizational Knowledge

Marinita Schumacher, Corinna Flck & Mounib Mekhilef

Group Analysis of Knowledge Test Results as a Knowledge

Ma gorzata Grabus & Katarzyna Grunwald

Leveraging Interaction Through Cooperation

Building a Global Online Community

Social Software Tools for Personal Knowledge Management

Finding the Fire between the Nodes - Contactivity Events

Ron Dvir, Ed Mitchell & Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi

Measure and Analyse

An Integrated Approach to Enabling More Effective

Christine van Winkelen & Jane McKenzie

Successful Innovation from Effective Knowledge Management

David. W. Birchall & George Tovstiga

Co-creation Methodologies to Identify, Select and Maintain

Social Network Analysis: A Practical Method to Improve

To Know What You Know at the Right Time: Knowledge

Alexandra Mller-Stingl, Waltraud Grillitsch & Robert Neumann

Redesigning Communities of Practice using Knowledge

Getting Stakeholders Involved in Regional Strategy

Patricia Wolf, Christoph Hauser & Simone Schweikert

Multi-stage Analysis for Knowledge Reflection

Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Techniques

Plan and Improve

Improving the Facilitation of Organisational Knowledge

David. W. Birchall, Jean-Anne Stewart & Mike Pedler

The Power of Disruption: Understanding the Unexpected

Collect and Share Existing Knowledge on Collaborative

Ayalew Kassahun, Huub Scholten & Adrie J.M. Beulens

Developing, Nurturing, and Sustaining Communities of

Rony Dayan & Yossi Pasher

Mediation and the Mediatory Approach

Defining, Instituting and Sustaining a Knowledge

Gurbans S. Chatwal & Srinivas P. Jagannath

CABD - A Complexity Science-Based Method for Robust

Learning and Performance Support for Effective Innovation

Rony Dayan, Ron Algor, Daniel Naor & Avi Kedem

Strategic Role of Physical Settings for Creating and Sharing

Future Workshops - The Unthinkable and How to Make It

Peter Troxler & Beate Kuhnt

A People Centric Approach to Creating Taxonomies and

A System-based Approach to the Introduction

Strategic Roadmapping and Implementation Actions

Hands-On Knowledge Co-Creation and Sharing: Practical Methods and Techniques

This section provides a quick overview of the method/ technique that is

This section presents what needs to be done before the method/technique is

This section elaborates on what is required for the method/technique in terms

Making it Happen (The

Results & Next Steps

This section describes what typically happens once the method/technique