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Knowledge Management Strategy 331

Box 9.5
(continued)

So if Ford is so good at knowledge sharing, why did no one know about the tire
problem? Two reasons: fi rst, knowledge is best shared within communities — people with
something in common talk more than strangers do. Neither Ford ’ s nor Firestone ’ s social
networks were rich enough to support the kind of extramural communication that might
have uncovered the problem. Second, the more widely dispersed the knowledge is, the
more powerful the force required to share it. Every year, Ford headquarters hands down
a “ task ” to managers — they are required to come up with a 5 – 7 percent gain in, say,
costs, throughput, or energy use. The best practices database is the fi rst place they turn
to — like a magnet, the task draws knowledge from its hiding places. This is an important
lesson for KM: if KM isn ’ t tightly linked to your business model, it will never amount
to much.

Where is the high-value IC??

Fluid Institutional
• Spontaneous • Structured
• Creative Knowledge • Codified
• Dynamic • Controlled
• Experimental • Measured

Tacit Explicit

Figure 9.2
Balance between fl uidity and institutionalization (adapted from Klein 1999 )