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2. Pfizer64A global pharmaceutical company which takes knowledge management very seriously is Pfizer. The company has integrated knowledge management with its succession planning mechanisms. Pfizer has a well defined process for knowledge transfer from the incumbent to the successor in case of key strategic positions. The company carefully determines what knowledge must be transferred and pairs the incumbent and successor together to facilitate the knowledge transfer. The transfer is implemented by combining documented content in various forms with face-to-face meetings and discussions. Follow up reviews are held to see how the successor is faring. The aim is to make a newcomer competent in the shortest possible time by focusing on the relevant areas of knowledge. Pfizer considers task, process, behavioral system and environmental model as the building blocks. The environmental model explains how things get done. It is about connecting vital things to get an effect. At the next level, come the behavioral issues. Then comes the process, how things ought to get done. Finally, there are the tasks that have to be done as part of the process. By breaking down knowledge into these four levels, Pfizer is able to prioritize what knowledge the incumbent should be transferring to the successor. Pfizer believes that this kind of knowledge transfer is necessary to reduce the risk of “decision black spot”. New people often have difficulty in understanding where an important decision is required. The process also identifies the areas of self-study needed and when experts must spend time with the successor. In short, Pfizer employs a six-step knowledge retention process: Identify the people in transition in a key strategic role. Determine the knowledge that has to be transferred. Examine the significant work patterns that the successor needs to understand. Put together a knowledge succession plan that includes printed documents and face-to- face interaction. Implement the plan, combining documented content and a schedule of discussions. Use follow up discussions to monitor the knowledge transfer process. Pfizer also attaches great importance to tacit knowledge. The company attempts to systematically identify and capture tacit knowledge in various ways by addressing some basic questions: What kind of individual expertise have people added to documented processes? How are people prioritizing their daily tasks? What are the factors that determine success on the job? If they are based on connections in the organization, effective prioritization or a process orientation, how can these skills be developed in others? In short, Pfizer has brought a strong practice orientation (as opposed to process orientation) to its knowledge management initiatives. 3. Kao65The Japanese company, Kao is a six-time MAKE Japan Winner, widely respected for its enterprise-wide knowledge sharing and collaboration, and organizational learning. Kao is a four-time Asian MAKE Winner (2002-2005), and a six-time Global MAKE Finalist (1999, 2001-2005). Kao’s major product lines include Personal Care, Home and Fabric Care, and Feminine and Baby Care. Kao’s Prestige Cosmetics line (Kao Sofina) is marketed in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the field of chemical products, Kao has established production bases in Asia, North America and Europe. Kao illustrates the role of leadership in building a learning organization. Founded in 1890, Kao initially produced soaps. In the post-War era, Kao started offering laundry detergents. Subsequently, the company moved into dishwashing detergents and household cleaners. It was in the 1970s and 1980s, under the leadership of Yoshiro Maruta that learning became an integral part of the company’s corporate philosophy. For Maruta, leveraging knowledge went far beyond improving processes and products. He wanted his people to come up with new ideas and products. He made it clear that teaching and learning were core responsibilities of employees. Maruta give managers easy access to the data they needed. Maruta concentrated on developing an organization designed to run as a “flowing system”, where ideas, abilities and resources flowed freely to where they were most needed. He once remarked: “Just as the body reacts to pain or to injury by sending relief or support to the affected area, so too must the organization respond. If anything should go wrong in one department, others should sense the problem and help without being asked”. Through such statements, metaphors and analogies, Maruta shaped an environment that became receptive to cross-unit initiatives. By encouraging redundancy of information, individuals became exposed to a wide range of ideas and perspectives in the normal course of the day’s work. Employees could find out as much as they wanted to know and understand how their job fit into the larger picture. They could easily access information, such as the sales record of any product, the performance of any unit, new product development activities and happenings in the company’s research laboratories. Maruta also realized the importance of Ba, or context, for knowledge sharing. He designed “decision spaces” for creative ideas and healthy debate to flourish. These were large open areas at the centre of an office floor or research lab, with a conference table, overhead projectors and whiteboards where people gathered to discuss and decide on critical issues. The agenda was widely publicized and people from different departments could join the discussion. Maruta encouraged the practice of tataki-dai. Individuals were asked to present their ideas to their colleagues at 80% completion stage so that they could be evaluated by others before the decisions became irreversible. Kao’s espoused belief of being an “educational institution” encouraged people to work collectively towards shared goals and values, rather than restrictively, within their narrow self interests. Employees began to share knowledge with the firm conviction that such sharing would benefit the organization as a whole. According to Teleos, the knowledge management consulting firm, Kao has succeeded because of a highly flexible and flat organizational structure — referred to by Kao as a “bio-function” — which mimics a living organism and various enabling mechanisms known by such terms as “free access to information,” “open floor allocation,” “open meetings” and “fluid personnel change”. These approaches greatly facilitate tacit knowledge sharing and the conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit enterprise knowledge. Staff are regularly rotated among job functions and business units. Typically, employees will serve in at least three different positions in their first 10 years with the company. The company’s ECHO (Echo of Consumer’s Helpful Opinions) system processes and analyzes customers’ product questions and complaints. Kao receives more than 50,000 queries and comments each year. Information that may be useful in solving problems is often compiled into reports and sent to the appropriate departments, including R&D, production, marketing and sales. The lesson from Kao is that learning organizations do not evolve on their own. They have to be shaped consciously and deliberately by top management. Clear signals from the top and actions which demonstrate that intentions are genuine can go a long way in shaping a learning organization. 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