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Knowledge Management Audit Report

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Knowledge Management Audit Report
COIS20077
Assessment Item: Submission Date: Word Count: 2 26th May, 2011 3600

Knowledge Management Audit Report
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Hewlett Packard (HP) is a leading multinational organization providing products and services in many IT related technologies such as computer hardware and software, printers, scanners, storage devices etc. In 1995, the company decided to introduce knowledge management in its organization that will make its systems, processes, outcomes superior with organized and systematic knowledge handling and storage. HP faces severe competition and thus has to be ahead of the market using many strategies, one of which is application of Knowledge Management (KM). With over 600 business units located globally in a decentralized structure, the idea was to integrate knowledge within, across all streams of organization and beyond. HP started its KM campaign defining its vision, creating the design for KM and then beginning the transition (Martiny, 1998). HP has made a concerted effort to keep the KM strategies aligned with The Australian Standard AS5037-2005 that provides guidance on what are the principles of knowledge management and the parameters of implementation that can be adopted using a flexible framework. Knowledge audit case study of HP reveals that KM is conducted through 5 guidelines: share, innovate, reuse, collaborate and learn (Garfield, 2007). Further main components of KM remained people, processes and technologies. HP makes use of KM tools such as knowledge mapping that creates new actionable information, project snapshots and forms learning communities. At HP, the culture is highly relaxed with open cubicle physical structure that enables information sharing easily. At the same time a learning ambience is maintained through the organization that is also driven with a problem solving mind frame. Leadership at HP has been very successful both during transition and during transaction in order to integrate the new KM



References: AS 5037 – 2005: knowledge management blueprint for Australian organisations?’ by Stuart Ferguson in The Australian Library Journal, Vol 55, No. 3 (2006) APQC (2000), ”Successfully implementing knowledge management- Case study Hewlett Packard’, American Productivity and Quality Centre, accessed from http://www.apqc.org/knowledge-base/documents/successfully-implementingknowledge-management-hewlett-packard-consulting-c on 24 May, 2011. DiMattia, S. and Oder, N. (1997), ”Knowledge management: hope, hype, or harbinger?”, Library Journal, Vol.122, Iss.15, pp.33-5 Donovan, M. (2008) “Effectively Managing The 21st Century Knowledge Worker”, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 9, No. 1, March 2008. DuBrin, Andrew J. (2010): Leadership: research findings, practice, and skills, Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage, 6th ed., ISBN 978-0-547-14396-5 Garfield, S. (2007) ‘Knowledge Management in the Real World’, Lecture given at Lawrence Technological University Grönhaug, K. and Nordhaug, O. (1992), “Strategy and competence in firms”, European Management Journal, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 438-44 Harbison, J. en P. Pekar, (1997), A Practical Guide to Alliances: Leapfrogging the Learning Curve, Booz Allen & Hamilton HP (2005), Annual Report-05, accessed from: http://www.shareholder.com/Common/ Edgar/47217/1047469-05-28479/05-00.pdf accessed on 22 may, 2011 Inside knowledge (2011) “Knowledge Management at Hewlett-Packard’, accessed fromhttp://www.ikmagazine.com/xq/asp/sid.0/articleid.3AB68B45-2503-460BA131-FB18FCA845D8/eTitle.Knowledge_Management_at_Hewlett_Packard /qx/display.htmm, accessed on 13th May, 2011. ITWEB (2011) ‘Some Principles of Knowledge Management’, accessed from http://www.itmweb.com/essay538.htm#KM/HP accessed on 22 may, 2011 Junnarkar, A. (2004) ‘Hewlett Packard; making sense of knowledge management’, in Knowledge Management Tools and Techniques: Practitioners and Experts Evaluate KM Solutions, Kidd, J., Knowledge Management Research Practice, Volume: 3, Issue: 2, Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann. KSR (2006), Knowledge Street Report, accessed from http://www.knowledgestreet.com /Knowledge_Street_Report__Knowledge_Advisors_at_HP.pdf accessed on 20 may, 2011 Liebowitz, J, Rubenstein-Montano, B, McCaw, D, Buchwalter, J & Browning, C (2000), 'The knowledge audit ', Knowledge and Process Management, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 3-10. Lin, Lu (2006) "Challenges to km at hewlett packard china", Knowledge Management Review, FindArticles.com, online at Page 11 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5362/is_200603/ai_n21390989/ accessed on 25 May, 2011. Martiny, M. (1998), "Knowledge management at HP consulting", Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 27 No.2, pp.71-7 Rutihinda, C. (1996), Resource-based Internationalization, Akademitryck AB, Stockholm Sieloff, C. G. (1999). "If Only HP Knew What HP Knows": the Roots of Knowledge Management at Hewlett-Packard." Journal of Knowledge Management,3(1) Thomas H. Davenport, (1996) Knowledge Management Case Study, Knowledge Management at Hewlett-Packard. Page 12

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