KNOWLEDGE LEADERSHIP ASSOCIATES

Creating the Knowledge Advantage

KNOWLEDGE LEADERSHIP ASSOCIATES

K
nowledge Leadership Associates (KnowLead) is committed to the improvement of
knowledge and information management (KIM) practices in all sectors of the economy.
We do this through the provision of needs based training, strategy facilitation, research
and implementation services. Our objective is to create a significant knowledge advantage for our
clients; an ideal that can only be realised through the development of mature knowledge
leadership in client organisations.

WHO WE ARE
KnowLead is a network organization consisting of associates with distinctive expertise in
various disciplines of the broad field of KIM. We continually expand our expertise through
academic research, professional participation and client engagement. The benefits derived
from this approach can only be realised if network flexibility is offset by strong project
management and a centralised support system. This is provided by our central management
office with responsibility for the coordination of activities across the training and consultation
value chain.

Our network organisation provides a cost effective approach to mobilising scarce knowledge
resources as and when required to address client needs. The network reconfigures itself for
every assignment and brings together a team of associates who contribute their unique
expertise to engender learning and initiate innovation. Although our office is in Cape Town we
work wherever the assignment takes us.

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THE PEOPLE

(Internet information retrieval tools and techniques short course)

Hilda Kruger

Hilda Kruger holds the degrees BA (Hons) Information Science (cum laude) and BBibl
from the University of Stellenbosch and a Certificate in Law from the University of
South Africa.

In 2005 she co-ordinated the undergraduate programme in Socio-Informatics at the

Department of Information Science, University of Stellenbosch, and teached modules
in corporate information management, knowledge management, competitive
intelligence, advanced Internet search techniques, and organisation theory. She is also
currently completing her Master's degree in Socio-informatics.

While previously working as an infomediary at the Information Centre of the University

of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, she trained Associate in Management,
MBA, and Executive MBA students in the use of advanced database and Internet
search techniques.

Her current research interests include the role of infomediaries in the network society,
barriers to organisational information and knowledge flows, and information
organisation and retrieval in the context of the emerging Semantic Web. She is a
member of the Knowledge Management Practitioners Group of the Western Cape.

(Knowledge and information auditing and mapping short course)

Ben Fouche

Ben Fouche is the principal of Knowledge Leadership Associates, a network of experts

focusing on training, consulting and research services in information and knowledge
management.

He holds a Doctorate in the field of Information Science from the Rand Afrikaans
University and undertook advanced management studies at the UNISA School for

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Business Leadership (SBL) and the International Institute for Management
Development (IMD) in Switzerland.

Ben has wide management, consulting, training and research experience. Previous
management positions include those of director of information management in the
public service, and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the CSIR and executive director
of its Informationtek division, where he led the development of corporate information
strategy as well as the commercialisation of information products and services.

As a consultant on information strategy, policy and practice he undertook assignments

for local private and public sector organisations, as well as governmental and
intergovernmental organisations in Africa, e.g. the government of Namibia, the UN
Economic Commission for Africa, and the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau.

His last academic position from 1999 to 2003 was that of professor of information
science and director of the master’s degree Programme in Information and Knowledge
Management at the University of Stellenbosch, where he also lead a longitudinal
research project on knowledge management practices in the South African business
sector.

Gretchen Smith

Gretchen Smith is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Information Literacy, University of
Cape Town, and coordinates the Department's Masters and Honours programmes in
Knowledge and Information Management. She has a B.Sc. (Mathematics and
Chemistry) degree from Stellenbosch University followed by postgraduate
qualifications including a M.A. (Information Science) from UCT.

She developed and teaches the Knowledge and Information Management (KIM)
courses at the University of Cape Town. She also teaches Information Retrieval and
Research Methodology.

Gretchen keeps track of the latest developments in KIM practices by interacting with
experts in the field worldwide. Her fields of interests are: The impact of organisational
culture on information communication; human and cultural aspects of KIM, and content
management in electronic environments.

She has frequently consulted, and this includes involvement in information and
knowledge audits for Mobil, AECI, PGWC, NAMPAK, SANS, etc. She has also been
involved in the design and development of a number of taxonomies and thesauri in
subject disciplines ranging from AIDS (for the MRC) to the film industry.

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OUR SERVICES
1. Training

We offer a variety of open and customized in-house short courses with duration from one to
five days on key aspects of knowledge and information management.
In addition we present executive thought leadership seminars of a maximum duration of one
day in order to alert our clients to new developments in the field and to stimulate innovation.
We are committed to the continuous updating of our courses on the basis of research, case
studies and experience.

Internet information retrieval tools and techniques short course

Do you often need to find information quickly?

Do you waste valuable time combing through thousands of irrelevant search
results?
Does the terrabytes of information on the Internet overwhelm you?
Are you never quite sure if the information that you have found is authoritative?
Does the full extent of your search expertise comprise of typing a keyword into
Google’s search box?
Do you want to improve your personal information management skills?
Do you want to improve your productivity and effectiveness as a knowledge
worker?

If you’ve answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions, you should attend this
course.

What you will learn

• Which Internet information retrieval tools are available

• When to use which tool
• What are the various search techniques, and what are the most
appropriate techniques to use with each tool
• How do you formulate a search strategy
• Guidelines for evaluating the quality of the content you find on the Web

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Knowledge and information auditing and mapping short course

This course is a response to the consistent demand for knowledge and skills in
planning and executing knowledge and information audits and maps to improve
organisational knowledge and information (KIM) policies, strategies and
processes.

Business, government and research leaders across the world concur that the
ability to exploit knowledge and information as key productive resources is a
critical organisational success factor in the knowledge economy. Therefore,
information and knowledge policies and strategies should be at the heart of
enterprise strategy in both private and public sector organisations.
Unfortunately many organisations are still disillusioned by the return on their
investment in knowledge or intellectual capital and information resources and
systems. Often their problem is not a lack of commitment and effort but rather ill
conceived and badly executed knowledge and information (KIM) policies,
strategies and practices.

We believe that knowledge and information auditing and mapping – in other

words, a critical and systematic assessment (auditing) and visual representation
(mapping) of organizational knowledge and information assets and resources,
processes, stocks and flows in relation to the requirements of the enterprise
strategy - should be the starting point of any information and/or knowledge
management initiative. This is necessary, not only to support the competitive
objectives of the organisation but also to develop and implement policies to
ensure ethical and legal compliance in utilising and exploiting these knowledge
and information.

What you will learn

The course aims to equip participants with the frameworks, techniques and tools
to participate effectively in organisational knowledge and information auditing
and mapping initiatives. This requires that participants acquire conceptual
understanding as well as investigative skills and an appreciation of the people
and change management issues which are inherent in the process.

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Intended outcomes include the abilities to:

• Distinguish clearly between the objectives and methodologies of

strategic and compliance audits
• Articulate the requirements for good corporate governance of
information and knowledge management policies and practices as
embedded in legislation and regulations , and in national and
international standards and codes of practice
• Align the need for an auditing and mapping initiative to the enterprise
strategy and identify the appropriate focus, e.g. legal and regulatory
• Formulate a communication plan in order to mobilize the support and
participation of stakeholders
• Develop a motivated proposal and prepare a realistic audit project
plan. Such a project may have a strategic or compliance focus. It
could also aim at providing an overview or focus on the auditing of
particular aspects e.g. information and communication technology
infrastructure; information systems; information security; information
quality; the information behaviour and values of staff; ethical and legal
compliance of information policies and processes; knowledge sharing,
flows and collaboration; information stocks, value and usage; and the
alignment of knowledge and information policies and strategies with
the enterprise strategy
• Propose and apply appropriate methodologies and techniques. This
would include the effective collection, processing, analysis and
presentation of the data including aspects such as social network
analysis and knowledge maps
• Propose and justify recommendations and solutions based on the
findings. This would include writing a management report relating the
findings and recommendations to the enterprise strategy
• Facilitate the implementation of findings in the context of change
management principles
We will adopt an incremental learning approach whereby we will
progress from an outline of the basic issues to a deeper
understanding of the processes and techniques. Appropriate
frameworks, techniques and tools will be demonstrated. An
interactive, hands-on workshop format focusing on knowledge
acquisition and application will be used.

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2. Consulting and strategy facilitation

We have the collective skills and know-how to assist organisations in developing and
implementing a wide range of KIM-related products and services and to facilitate the
development and implementation planning of appropriate KIM strategies aligned with
the enterprise strategy. Competition in the modern knowledge economy creates
challenges that require on-going adaptive change interventions rather than periodic big
bang grand strategising. Our solutions are not based on a one-size-fits-all methodology
but rather on assisting our clients to make sense of the unique characteristics,
complexities and dynamics of their business environment and in the process arrive at
appropriate strategies.

3. Research

The blend of academic research and practical management experience of our

associates represent a significant research capacity to assist progressive organisations
in making sense of emergent issues, trends and complexity in the field of knowledge
and information management. In the process we have developed various KIM tools
that we apply in strategy facilitation and make available to clients through our training.

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OUR CLIENTS
Our clients include private, public and civic sector organisations who consult us on diverse
issues and whose staff attend the various open and in-house short courses we present in the
field of information and knowledge management.

These 46 organisations used our strategy facilitation and/ or training services since the
beginning of 2004, in many cases more than once.

Anglo Operations Ltd Mangaung Municipality

BHP Billiton National Botanical Institute
Botswana Institute of Development National Electricity Regulator
Management National Institute of Occupational Health
Botswana National Productivity Centre National Prosecuting Authority
Botswana Training Authority National Research Foundation
Cement and Concrete Institute Ninham Shand (Pty) Ltd
Construction Industry Board Office of the State President
Centre for Education Policy Development Old Mutual
CSIR Parliament
De Beers Element 6 Peninsula Technikon
Department of Home Affairs PetroSA
Department of Land Affairs Rand Water
Department of Social Development Reutech Radar Systems
Ernst & Young Sanlam Investment Management
First National Bank Social Housing Foundation
Gauteng Legislature South African Police Service
Gordon Institute of Business Sciences South African Revenue Service (SARS)
Graduate School of Business, University of Statistics South Africa
Stellenbosch Strategy Partners
Human Sciences Research Council Umgeni Water
Independent Development Trust Werkmans Attorneys
KPMG Zimbabwe University of Science &
KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Technology

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CONTACT US
To learn more about Knowledge Leadership Associates feel free to visit our website or read what our
network of experts have to say on our blog:

Knowledge Leadership Associates Website

Knowledge Leadership Associates Blog

For any inquiries considering Knowledge Leadership Associates or the services that we offer:

Dr Ben Fouché
Tel/Fax: +27 (0)21 854 5480
Cell: +27 (0)83 291 6671
E-mail: bf@}knowlead.co.za
Postal address:
Greenways 4300
Beach Road
The Strand

For any inquiries about the courses and bookings:

Lizl Lubbe
Cell: +27 (0)73 171 5853
E-mail: lizl@knowlead.co.za