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Smart Global Talent Management: A Promising Hybrid
Abstract
To more effectively address challenges of our increasingly global workplace, this chapter presents a promising fusion of two important areas of applied research: knowledge management and talent management. The mixture of these two conceptual orientations into a theoretical hybrid for directing future global business practice, which we call “smart global talent management,” merges the strengths of each approach, yet combined they also are able to surmount the shortcomings of each. We first will examine the strengths and limitations of each individual approach and then discuss the important advantages of our merged conceptual model for directing future research and practice in human resource management within a global context.
... No literature directly addressed how global followers act toward their global leaders or how they contribute to global leadership. Meanwhile, new global human resource management (GHRM) practices have recognized followers as a strong and underutilized organizational resource with invaluable input to organizational goals (Al Ariss, 2014;Stahl et al., 2012;Vance, Vaiman, Cosic, Abedi, & Sena, 2014). The advances in GHRM started with the shift in terminology from the global human resources and human capital development to global talent management (Al Ariss, 2014;Vance et al., 2014). ...
... Meanwhile, new global human resource management (GHRM) practices have recognized followers as a strong and underutilized organizational resource with invaluable input to organizational goals (Al Ariss, 2014;Stahl et al., 2012;Vance, Vaiman, Cosic, Abedi, & Sena, 2014). The advances in GHRM started with the shift in terminology from the global human resources and human capital development to global talent management (Al Ariss, 2014;Vance et al., 2014). Traditionally, global organizations viewed global talent as managers in executive leadership roles (Al Ariss, 2014;Stahl et al., 2012;Vance et al., 2014). ...
... The advances in GHRM started with the shift in terminology from the global human resources and human capital development to global talent management (Al Ariss, 2014;Vance et al., 2014). Traditionally, global organizations viewed global talent as managers in executive leadership roles (Al Ariss, 2014;Stahl et al., 2012;Vance et al., 2014). According to Vance et al. (2014), however, "This bias favoring identified high-potentials as the elite, true talent of the organization inevitably results in neglect and oversight of other employees within the global workforce whose insights and inputs contributing to innovation and vigilance could have strategically valuable consequences for the organization" (p. ...
For the past several decades, the field of global leadership has made noteworthy theoretical and empirical progress. The role of a global follower, however, has not been addressed to date. This chapter focuses on global followers and global followership as vital elements of a global leadership process supporting a traditional followership view that 'leadership can only occur if there is followership' (Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, 2014, p. 83). Two assumptions ground the arguments: global leaders and global followers are engaged in a partnering process of global leadership, and followers and global followers have distinctive characteristics influenced by their specific environments. To explore those assumptions, we start by introducing the followership theory and relevant followership characteristics. Subsequently, we address the role of context in global leader-follower dynamics, extrapolate global followership characteristics from relevant multidisciplinary literature, and offer an example of a global leader-follower partnership. Next, we examine mentions of global followers and global followership in academic and nonacademic literature, and define a global followership construct. The conceptual framework, global followership model, research agenda, and practical implications conclude the manuscript.
... Inpatriate assignments also are increasingly being recognized as an opportunity to increase headquarter knowledge about foreign subsidiary operations and to visibly value and support the development of a more pervasive global mindset within MNC headquarters (Reich, 2011;Harvey et al., 2010). As reported by Vance et al. (2014b), Bayer, the large chemical and pharmaceutical MNC headquartered in Germany, has been very active for many years in encouraging inpatriate assignments, which involve bringing to headquarters for two or three-year visits employees from its various subsidiaries located in over 80 countries-both developed and developing. Bayer executives claim that these headquarterbased assignments, as part of a global HR staffing policy, not only provide valuable experiential learning for these inpatriates, but also inevitably provide valuable knowledge transfer to Bayer headquarter leadership about foreign markets, as well as the development of a broader, global perspective. ...
Purpose
To enlarge the focus on international mentoring beyond traditional company-assigned expatriates, this conceptual paper examines important contexts and dynamics of intercultural mentoring involving traditional expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs), with both as mentors and mentees.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper explores how intercultural mentoring in different contexts can guide the individual professional development of expatriates and HCNs, and in doing so, contributes to MNC knowledge management and organization development.
Findings
Major contributions of this paper include increased attention to the role of culture in mentoring, and an illumination of important intercultural mentoring opportunities and imperatives involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs, who are key global talent players in MNC knowledge management and overall operations performance. This paper also provides practical recommendations on how organizations can facilitate mentoring within a global context, as well as suggestions for viable avenues for future research, including further extending the global talent reach of international mentoring.
Originality/value
This paper emphasizes the importance of taking the intercultural context into account when planning and managing mentoring in MNCs and outlines how culture can affect mentoring relationships involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs. This contextual aspect has often been neglected in the extant literature, yet can be crucial for the success of mentoring relationships that cross cultural borders. With its inclusion of HCNs, this paper also expands the picture of international mentoring beyond the traditional focus on company-assigned expatriates.
... We believe that an important new emphasis in GTM involves merging human resource management and knowledge management disciplinary perspectives into what Vance, Vaiman, Cosic, Abedi, and Sena (2014) refer to as "smart talent management." Within this conceptual hybrid, GTM can be considered as the effective management of all human talent throughout the global enterprise, which in a very real sense embodies an organization's knowledge capital. ...
Self-initiated expatriates are recognized as a major source of knowledge and have the potential of acting as key players in helping organizations gain and maintain competitive advantage. Using conservation of resources theory as a guiding theoretical framework, we examined the effect of job embeddedness on self-initiated expatriates’ knowledge sharing, as well as the moderating effects of career capital and supervisor incivility. We utilized a sample of 170 self-initiated expatriates and their supervisors working in public service organizations in the United Arab Emirates. Results showed that job embeddedness was positively related to the two facets of knowledge sharing: knowledge donating and knowledge collecting. The study also revealed that knowing how career capital positively moderated the relationship between job embeddedness and knowledge donating, while it did not moderate the relationship between job embeddedness and knowledge collecting. Supervisor incivility negatively moderated the relationship between job embeddedness and both knowledge donating and knowledge collecting. This study examines the motivational and contextual factors that affect knowledge sharing of self-initiated expatriates, which have previously been overlooked.
While recent contributions introduce the need for dialog between global knowledge management (GKM) and global talent management (GTM) to facilitate repatriate knowledge transfer, a literature gap exists regarding the implementation of this hybrid approach. Using the theoretical backgrounds of repatriate knowledge, GKM and GTM, we define the challenges of retaining repatriate knowledge and suggest approaches to overcome these. Building on the qualitative case study of a German multinational company we introduce a specific organizational measure, the country expert program, which, by being at the crossroads between GKM and GTM and thus facilitating learning, overcomes repatriate knowledge transfer’s major challenges.
Knowledge management is increasingly recognized as a key aspect of international business and management. This paper offers research avenues for investigating knowledge transfer between self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) and their employer organizations. Building on the existing literature on expatriation and knowledge transfer, it offers a series of research propositions. It illustrates the knowledge transfer process in three phases: opportunity seeking, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application. We suggest that different characteristics of SIEs and their organizations can influence the knowledge transfer process. Furthermore, we advance that SIEs may be a source of sustained competitive advantage to their companies. Several implications for future empirical research are also discussed and the paper concludes with practical implications for SIE talent management.
The effective management of talent on a global scale represents a critical challenge for today's organizations. Beyond considerations about traditional company-assigned expatriates, this paper provides a valuable examination of global talent management issues involving self-initiated expatriates, an important source of global talent increasingly available in host country labor markets that has only relatively recently come to the attention of researchers. The paper discusses how central elements of talent management (i.e., identifying, recruiting, and selecting talent from the external labor market; developing employees; managing talent flows; ensuring retention of talented employees) can apply to the effective utilization of self-initiated expatriates, with direct implications for guiding the future work of practitioners and researchers alike.
In the present aggressive world of competition, knowledge management strategies are becoming the major vehicle for the organizations to achieve their goals; to compete and to perform well. Linking knowledge management to business performance could make a strong business case in convincing senior management of any organization about the need to adopt a knowledge management strategy. Organizational performance is, therefore, a key issue and performance measurement models provide a basis for developing a structured approach to knowledge management. In this respect, organizations need to assess their knowledge management capabilities and find ways to improve their performance. This paper takes these issues into account when study the role of knowledge management in enhancing the organizational performance and consequently, developed an integrated knowledge management capabilities framework for assessing organizational performance. The results show that there is positive correlation between knowledge management capabilities and organizational performance. The results also show that the proposed framework can be used to assess organizational performance and also can be used as decision tool to decide which knowledge management capability should be improved.
This study examines the global knowledge management (KM) experiences of Accenture, a pioneer in organization-wide KM efforts. We interviewed 18 KM managers and consultants in its U.S. and East Asian offices. We found that despite its significant efforts, Accenture was falling short of fully harnessing and transferring management knowledge across its global organization. Our study indicates that Accenture's global KM strategy, based on its "one global firm" vision, did not make sufficient considerations for local or regional challenges. Accenture was unsuccessful in motivating its East Asian consultants to contribute to KM by failing to show appreciation for their knowledge. Furthermore, Accenture appeared not to have provided adequate support for addressing cross-cultural challenges. Finally, its push for a standardized global KM practice made insufficient allowances for its local offices to address their own needs.
The challenges associated with managing talent on a global scale are greater than those faced by organisations operating on a domestic scale. We believe that the former relate to the fact that a number of key myths regarding talent management may undermine talent management's contribution to multinational corporation effectiveness and retard the development of management practice in this regard. Our aim is to unpack some of those myths and offer some suggestions for advancing the practice of talent management on the basis of insights from both practice and academic thinking in this area.
As Korean multinational firms continue to increase their investment in China in enhancing their productivity through improving talent management and overall global knowledge management efforts, it has become increasingly important to provide effective training for local Chinese workers. Whereas for optimal effectiveness, training should be adapted to the learning approach needs of local recipients, forces within our global context provide convergent and divergent pressures affecting the fit between multinational and host country workforce perceptions on training approach appropriateness. A questionnaire assessing perceptions regarding the importance of various methods for conducting training for Chinese employees in the People's Republic of China (PRC) was completed by 67 Korean expatriates and 202 Chinese host country national employees representing the voice of lower-level Chinese labor (working for both the US and Chinese firms from three major cities in China). Results revealed a significant difference between the Korean expatriates and PRC workers on a majority of the survey measures, particularly those related to training relevance, feedback, supportive climate and transfer of training. However, both Korean expatriates and Chinese employees demonstrated congruence in the two major training dimensions of ‘link to career success’ and ‘learner control’. Implications of these results for Korean and other multinational firms are discussed in the broader context of global talent management and international knowledge management.
Purpose
This paper aims to offer a critical review of how self‐initiated expatriation (SIE) is theorized compared to migration in the management literature and to indicate venues for future research on SIE.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review has been conducted using the ISI Web of Knowledge database as well as ABI/INFORM in order to include key journals in the management field.
Findings
Despite the importance of present theorizations on SIE, the authors show that the literature presents a narrow focus on the most privileged of self‐initiated expatriates and presents some important knowledge gaps. In order to fill these gaps, the authors propose a research map for future research on SIE. This map includes four key dimensions. These are: diversity‐informed research on SIE; context specific and multilevel understanding of SIE; reflexive approaches to SIE; triangulated methods to studying SIE.
Research limitations/implications
By proposing a research map with theoretical and methodological implications, this paper increases our understanding of SIE. It offers a guide for future research on SIEs.
Practical implications
Research on self‐initiated expatriation needs to be more inclusive and critical in terms of studying the diverse human resources in our contemporary societies.
Originality/value
The paper indicates how research on self‐initiated expatriation can become more developed in terms of its theorizations. Furthermore, it proposes a research map for future studies on SIE that is reflexive, relational, diversity‐informed, and methodologically‐triangulated.
Purpose
The paper sets out to understand the key issues that emerge in the context of decision making.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a literature review.
Findings
First, the authors review debates around talent management decision making. Second, they examine some of the main factors currently influencing decision making in talent management. Third, they seek to identify some future research areas that will inform future decision making in talent management.
Practical implications
The paper will be of interest to practitioners in designing and developing talent management decision systems.
Originality/value
The paper presents a state of the art review of talent management decision marking.
Given assumptions about the characteristics of knowledge and the knowledge requirements of production, the firm is conceptualized as an institution for integrating knowledge. The primary contribution of the paper is in exploring the coordination mechanisms through which firms integrate the specialist knowledge of their members. In contrast to earlier literature, knowledge is viewed as residing within the individual, and the primary role of the organization is knowledge application rather than knowledge creation. The resulting theory has implications for the basis of organizational capability, the principles of organization design (in particular, the analysis of hierarchy and the distribution of decision-making authority), and the determinants of the horizontal and vertical boundaries of the firm. More generally, the knowledge-based approach sheds new light upon current organizational innovations and trends and has far-reaching implications for management practice.
There is lack of empirical, broad-based research in the area of comparative, cross-cultural studies that focus on knowledge sharing. Using the knowledge-based view (KBV) as the theoretical foundation, the study investigates how organizational practices in two distinct national cultures support knowledge sharing activities and the associated supporting organizational practices that are widely transferable. We propose and empirically test a model that examines the relationships among strategic, decision and technology practices and organizational knowledge sharing in two distinct national cultures (US and Japan). The results of the study suggest that despite the existing cultural contrasts in these two countries there are some common organizational practices that po-sitively impact an organization's knowledge-sharing environment. While these results support a model of core organizational practices that foster knowledge sharing and that are transferable across national cultures our findings also support the need for careful consideration of the type of practices applied across different cultures.
How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.
Pursuing a nodal (i.e., subsidiary) level of analysis, this paper advances and tests art overarching theoretical framework pertaining to intracorporate knowledge transfers within multinational corporations (MNCs). We predicted that (i) knowledge outflows from a subsidiary would be positively associated with value of the subsidiary's knowledge stock, its motivational disposition to share knowledge, and the richness of transmission channels; and (ii) knowledge inflows into a subsidiary would be positively associated with richness of transmission channels, motivational disposition to acquire knowledge, and the capacity to absorb the incoming knowledge. These predictions were tested empirically with data from 374 subsidiaries within 75 MNCs headquartered in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Except for our predictions regarding the impact of source unit's motivational disposition on knowledge outflows, the data provide either full or partial support to an of the other elements of our theoretical framework. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Here I examine each of the major issues raised by Priem and Butler (this issue) about my 1991 article and subsequent resource-based research. While it turns out that Priem and Butler's direct criticisms of the 1991 article are unfounded, they do remind resource-based researchers of some important requirements of this kind of research. I also discuss some important issues not raised by Priem and Butler - the resolutions of which will be necessary if a more complete resource-based theory of strategic advantage is to be developed.
Various past studies compete and seemingly contradict one another in their presentation of valuable alternatives to rational and logical thinking for improving decision making and problem solving. We contribute here to an integration of past research and propose and test a multifaceted construct of thinking style based on two primary dimensions: linear thinking (e.g., rationality, logic, analytic thinking) and nonlinear thinking (e.g., intuition, insight, creativity). We present and validate in four separate studies a self-report diagnostic instrument (Linear-Nonlinear Thinking Style Profile or LNTSP) for measuring an individual's linear and nonlinear thinking style profile. Validation study results across student, professional, and managerial samples reveal a 4-factor model of linear and nonlinear thinking style involving the manner in which individuals attend to a particular kind of information source (internal vs. external) and subsequent linear versus nonlinear processing of that information. The results also indicate that the LNTSP has acceptable convergent validity vis-a-vis two commonly used and conceptually related instruments, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Cognitive Style Index, as well as external validity and face validity across students from different academic major programs (e.g., liberal arts vs. business and engineering), individuals from distinctly different professional careers (i.e., professional actors and accountants), and managerial and professional workshop participants. We discuss implications of these results for future research, as well as possible beneficial use of the LNTSP for management education and business practice.
Several knowledge-sharing and problem-solving roundtable groups, composed primarily of marketing executives from Fortune 500 companies, were studied through participant observation, analysis of audiotapes of the meetings, and unstructured follow-up interviews. Ten categories of potential learning benefit were identified through theme analysis: (1) new knowledge, (2) conditions for discovery and insight, (3) colleague resource networks, (4) awareness of information resources, (5) broad knowledge base, (6) new cognitive skills, (7) definition and clarification of terminology, (8) confirmation of thought, (9) awareness of knowledge deficits, and (10) self-comparison of professional competence. These ten benefits were then classified into three major domains (information access, cognitive development outcomes, and self-evaluation) and analyzed for taxonomy development.
Purpose
Many contemporary approaches to talent management are unaffordable. This paper seeks to summarise some key findings of a five‐year investigation into quicker and more affordable routes to creating high performance organisations. It aims to suggest a practical and much more cost‐effective way of quickly achieving multiple corporate objectives and measurable benefits for both people and organisations is often being overlooked.
Design/methodology/approach
A programme of critical success factor, “issue” and other surveys was complemented with a five‐year evaluation of more recent case studies to understand early adoptions of performance support and to assess their results and implications. The applications examined were discussed with the relevant technical architect and the results obtained corroborated with commissioner/user performance data and/or documented assessments/reactions.
Findings
Recruiting exceptional people – even if affordable – can create a host of problems if they are not properly managed, which is often the case. Paying for talented people may make little sense for organisations that cannot harness or capture and share what they do differently. Talent needs to be relevant to what an organisation is seeking to do and critical success factors for excelling in key roles, and what top performers do differently in these areas captured and shared.
Research limitations/implications
Evaluations of performance management need to consider all the objectives that are beneficially impacted.
Practical implications
One can avoid certain general, expensive, time consuming and disruptive corporate programmes in an area such as talent management and adopt quick, focused, cost effective alternatives that generate large returns on investment, and quickly deliver multiple benefits for people and organisations. Performance support can enable average performers wherever they may be to excel at difficult jobs.
Social implications
A wider range of people can be helped to do difficult jobs.
Originality/value
The paper summarises the main findings of an investigation that has identified deficiencies of contemporary approaches to talent management, identifies an approach which if strategically adopted can enable relevant talent in terms of how to excel at key roles to be developed as and when required, and sets out the benefits of Talent Management 2, of which performance support is a central element.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to describe the strategic role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in global fast fashion companies.
Design/methodology/approach
– Drawing on the management literature on CSR, corporate social performance and the benefits of a socially responsible behaviour, a conceptual framework of corporate responsibility management is presented. The Gap Inc. case is analyzed to prove how CSR commitment creates stakeholder partnerships and improves corporate brand image.
Findings
– The main output of corporate responsibility management is solid stakeholder relationships resulting in: employee attraction and motivation, powerful brand, enhanced consumer perceptions, profitability. Through the corporate responsibility management process, fast fashion companies can obtain a sustainable development.
Originality/value
– Existing CSR research is primarily focused on a specific level of analysis. Instead the corporate responsibility management framework aims to contribute to a comprehensive analysis of CSR. Moreover it addresses the role of CSR practices in the fast fashion sector which has been rarely investigated to date.
Ikujiro Nonaka e Hirotaka Takeuchi establecen una vinculación del desempeño de las empresas japonesas con su capacidad para crear conocimiento y emplearlo en la producción de productos y tecnologías exitosas en el mercado. Los autores explican que hay dos tipos de conocimiento: el explícito, contenido en manuales y procedimientos, y el tácito, aprendido mediante la experiencia y comunicado, de manera indirecta, en forma de metáforas y analogías. Mientras los administradores estadounidenses se concentran en el conocimiento explícito, los japoneses lo hacen en el tácito y la clave de su éxito estriba en que han aprendido a convertir el conocimiento tácito en explícito. Finalmente, muestran que el mejor estilo administrativo para crear conocimiento es el que ellos denominan centro-arriba-abajo, en el que los gerentes de niveles intermedios son un puente entre los ideales de la alta dirección y la realidad caótica de los niveles inferiores.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the topic of repatriation and the potential benefits of the use of repatriated employees to enhance global knowledge and organizational learning in multinational corporations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an integrative literature review of articles published on repatriation, knowledge transfer, and organization learning 1999-2009. Findings – The literature review revealed that repatriation is a growing field of study in international human resources, and must be addressed as a multidimensional phenomenon in order to capture a clear picture of the challenges and potential benefits resulting from repatriation. Originality/value – This paper suggests practical measures to address repatriation and identify gaps for future research.
In this introduction to this Special Issue, we briefly describe the knowledge perspective that has emerged in management research over the last two decades, discuss its current and potential future relations to Human Resources Management (HRM) research, and summarize the papers in this issue.
Development of a firm's core competencies is identified as the key for global leadership and competitiveness in the 1990s. NEC, Honda, and Canon are used as exemplars of firms that conceive of themselves in terms of core competencies. Core competencies are the organization's collective learning and ability to coordinate and integrate multiple production skills and technology streams; they are also about the organization of work and delivery of value in services and manufacturing. A firm must conceive of itself as a portfolios of competencies, instead of a portfolio of strategic business units (SBUs). The latter limit the ability of firms to exploit their technological capabilities; they are often dependent on external resources. The real source of advantage lies in management's ability to consolidate corporate-wide technologies and production skills into competencies, which will allow individual businesses to adapt to emerging opportunities. Cultivating core competencies does not mean outspending rivals on RD (2) they significantly contribute to the customer benefits of the end-product; and (3) they should be difficult for competitors to imitate. Cultivating core competencies also means benefiting from alliances and establishing competencies that are evolving in existing businesses. The tangible links between core competencies and end products are core products, which embody one or more core competencies. Companies must maximize their world manufacturing share in core products. Global leadership is won by core competence, core products, and end products; global brands are built by proliferating products out of core competencies. Firms must avoid the tyranny of the SBU, the costs of which are (1) under investment in developing core competencies and core products, (2) imprisoned resources, and (3) bounded innovation. Top management must add value to a firm by developing strategic architecture, which will avoid fragmenting core competencies, establish objectives for competence building, make resource allocation priorities transparent and consistent, ensure competencies are corporate resources, reward competence carriers (personnel who embody core competencies), and focus strategy at the corporate level. A firm must be conceived of as a hierarchy of core competences, core products, and market-focused business units. Obsession with competence building will mark the global winners of the 1990s. (TNM)
This article develops the first resource-based analysis of telework impacts on large organizations. We adopt an ‘integrative’ approach that goes beyond the immediate and easily quantifiable effects of telework adoption. This approach takes into account both top-down considerations (managerial preoccupations with strengthening the organization’s competences) and bottom-up demands (employee needs). We identify several telework impacts on a variety of resource-domains, including effects on the strategic development and operational functioning of the human capital resource-base, the organization’s broader productive efficiency, the external linkages of the organization, and finally, a number of externalities. We observe that the teleworkers themselves do not experience the negative effects on job satisfaction observed in earlier research, with the exception of a reduction in professional interaction. Broader human resource management practices appear to have adjusted well to the specific requirements of telework adoption.We also observe a strong divergence between the views of adopters and non-adopters, with the latter having less positive expectations across the board, as compared to the former. We thus demonstrate that broader strategic considerations, beyond immediate impacts on the bottom-line, do influence the choice to adopt this practice. The difference in employee perceptions between adopters and non-adopters suggests that the latter lack confidence in their firm’s broader HRM practices to adapt appropriately to the requirements of effective telework implementation.
If the volume of literature in the popular and practitioner press is any guide, practitioners in the field of human resources are now primarily in the business of talent management. But what is talent management and what basis does it have in scientific principles of human resources and management? In this paper we address this question by reviewing problems with the definition of talent management and the lack of data supporting many practitioner claims. We then outline research that supports a systems-oriented definition of talent management that focuses on the strategic management of talent. We then outline future avenues of research to further develop the field of talent management and tie it more closely to the large volume of work in strategic human resources management.
The rise of the computer and the increasing importance of intellectual assets have compelled executives to examine the knowledge underlying their businesses and how it is used. Because knowledge management as a conscious practice is so young, however, executives have lacked models to use as guides. To help fill that gap, the authors recently studied knowledge management practices at management consulting firms, health care providers, and computer manufacturers. They found two very different knowledge management strategies in place. In companies that sell relatively standardized products that fill common needs, knowledge is carefully codified and stored in databases, where it can be accessed and used--over and over again--by anyone in the organization. The authors call this the codification strategy. In companies that provide highly customized solutions to unique problems, knowledge is shared mainly through person-to-person contacts; the chief purpose of computers is to help people communicate. They call this the personalization strategy. A company's choice of knowledge management strategy is not arbitrary--it must be driven by the company's competitive strategy. Emphasizing the wrong approach or trying to pursue both can quickly undermine a business. The authors warn that knowledge management should not be isolated in a functional department like HR or IT. They emphasize that the benefits are greatest--to both the company and its customers--when a CEO and other general managers actively choose one of the approaches as a primary strategy.
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What’s your strategy for managing knowledge?
- M T Hansen
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- T Tierny
- MT Hansen