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320 Chapter 9

Box 9.2
(continued)

The ACS knowledge strategy based on these results made use of three dimensions. (1)
On the human side, the KM team set out to identify experts and communities of practice
to facilitate sharing among employees (e.g., the CoP of project managers on different ACS
programs). CoPs exist informally — it is important to identify the ones that are strategically
important, raise their visibility, and provide funding and support systems for them. (2)
On the process side, the KM team focused on fi nding out how people captured, organized,
and reused existing knowledge. A central repository was created to amalgamate knowledge
previously found in personal employee fi les in order to share lessons learned. The F/A-18
fi ghter jet program, for example, now has a web-based system that capitalizes on years
of technical expertise by tracking structural problems with the aircraft. When an issue
arises — a cracked part, for example — the fi rst thing an engineer does is search the tracking
system ’ s nine hundred previously encountered experiences. If it is a new problem, he or
she inputs the relevant information using a PowerPoint template that can include pic-
tures, drawings, and notes on the appropriate sections. Each week, engineers meet to
discuss unresolved issues. Once it is resolved, it is automatically entered as a lesson
learned. (3) The technology piece of the strategy serves as the glue lashing the KM initia-
tive together — the homegrown Xref system, collaboration applications, and document
management systems. The fi ve technology areas are portals, expert locator, knowledge
capture, media management, and collaboration, as these address the key barriers found
in the knowledge audit: paper-based fi ling systems, disparate locations, and inability to
locate internal expertise. Other initiatives, including portals that push personalized infor-
mation, are in the pilot phase. The KM team plans to conduct follow-up audits every
eighteen months or so to keep tabs on the evolution of KM initiatives and the knowledge-
sharing culture.

system is purchased and implemented. This is where the knowledge audit plays a
pivotal role in a new KM initiative. The company ’ s “ knowledge people ” are the core
of its knowledge audit and hence no knowledge person should be marginalized during
the knowledge audit initiative/process.
It is of vital importance that an organization ’ s KM initiators or practitioners always
seek to assess the company ’ s current KM health, before proceeding to implement KM.
The knowledge audit serves the purpose of providing evidence-based information and
knowledge of the audited units current knowledge status or “ knowledge health. ” This
evidence-based knowledge is the launching pad into a new KM program. The knowl-
edge audit is also extremely useful as a regular review and assessment of existing KM
practices in the company. Management and exploitation of corporate knowledge is