Case Study-Sia Corporation
Running Head: SIA Corp
Case Study- SIA Corp.
The situation in this case study demonstrates the need to consolidate employee knowledge into one system in an effort to improve overall company performance. SIA had acquired 30 separate businesses but they were still functioning like 30 separate companies. They each still had their own set of management and well-defined procedures and policies. As a result, most of the employees had developed their own areas of expertise. In the highly competitive insurance market, SIA needed to change this business philosophy if they were going to succeed.
They created a new knowledge management department and hired a chief knowledge officer named Jerry Seibert to help develop them into a learning organization. In a learning organization, all employees are encouraged to work together to solve problems and find better and improved techniques for meeting the company objectives. The main issue proposed in this case was how to find a method for accomplishing this task while making the employees feel comfortable with the new approach.
Getting well established employees to adapt to such a drastic change in style of management posed a major challenge. Changing the way employees perform their job and getting them to think “outside the box” is a challenge faced everyday by many organizations. This is especially true in today’s work environment where everything is driven by technology. Many employees are reluctant to use new technology to perform their jobs because it they fear their job will be eliminated with the use of technology. This is exactly the case in SIA Corporation.
At SIA Corporation, the chief knowledge officer Jerry oversaw the development of a software product that allowed the employees to query other employees with expertise in the specialized areas of the various insurance products. The software was easy to use and allowed the employees to receive answers within minutes. The problem was that no one used
Case Study- SIA Corp.
The situation in this case study demonstrates the need to consolidate employee knowledge into one system in an effort to improve overall company performance. SIA had acquired 30 separate businesses but they were still functioning like 30 separate companies. They each still had their own set of management and well-defined procedures and policies. As a result, most of the employees had developed their own areas of expertise. In the highly competitive insurance market, SIA needed to change this business philosophy if they were going to succeed.
They created a new knowledge management department and hired a chief knowledge officer named Jerry Seibert to help develop them into a learning organization. In a learning organization, all employees are encouraged to work together to solve problems and find better and improved techniques for meeting the company objectives. The main issue proposed in this case was how to find a method for accomplishing this task while making the employees feel comfortable with the new approach.
Getting well established employees to adapt to such a drastic change in style of management posed a major challenge. Changing the way employees perform their job and getting them to think “outside the box” is a challenge faced everyday by many organizations. This is especially true in today’s work environment where everything is driven by technology. Many employees are reluctant to use new technology to perform their jobs because it they fear their job will be eliminated with the use of technology. This is exactly the case in SIA Corporation.
At SIA Corporation, the chief knowledge officer Jerry oversaw the development of a software product that allowed the employees to query other employees with expertise in the specialized areas of the various insurance products. The software was easy to use and allowed the employees to receive answers within minutes. The problem was that no one used