Knowledge

Management @
Accenture
Team 3
Katia Arrus Jonathan Hayes
Cristian Orellana Jay Bashucky
Suresh Jayaraman

Agenda
Case Introduction
Theoretical Background of KM
Companys Background
Knowledge Management @ Accenture
Strategy and SWOT Analysis
Knowledge Management Technology
Main issues
Analysis and Recommendations
Actual Implementation

Case Introduction
Accenture had a long history of focusing on
Knowledge Management (KM)

Accenture faced budget cutting and headcount
reductions

More demand for KM

Preparing the launch of the Knowledge Exchange

T. Barfield (KM lead) needed to provide
recommendations for future direction

What is Knowledge Management?
KM comprises a range of practices used by
organizations to identify, create and distribute
knowledge.

Knowledge consists of:
personal knowledge and experience
published material
specific material


Knowledge Management
A form of expertise management which draws
out tacit knowledge making it accessible for
specific purposes to improve the performance of
organizations (Broadbent, 1997)

It must involve capturing the internal knowledge
generated by a firm its best thinking on
products, customers, competitors, and
processes and sharing it. (DiMattia et. al,
1997)
Why is KM important?
Retention of knowledge

Helps organizations repeat success and prevent
mistakes

In an environment in which the information is
widely available, the successful players are the
ones that properly leverage that asset
KM - IT tools
E-Mail, Internet
Intranet
Document Management
Workflow/Groupware
Imaging
Information retrieval systems
Electronic publishing systems
Data Warehousing and Data Mining
Company Background
Originated as a feasibility study for General
Electric in 1953
Arthur Andersen implemented automating
payroll processing at GE
Formed as Anderson Consulting in 1989
Accenture went public in 2001
Company Background
Won 2006 MAKE Award
Other winners included: Apple, Google,
Microsoft, PWC
Employees 100,000 (2005), 178,000 (2008)
Consolidated in 47 countries with headquarters
location
In 2004 ROI was ranked first on the S&P 500
Accentures clients include 91 of the Fortune
Global 100 and more than two thirds of the
Fortune Global 500
Company Background-Core Values

Stewardship
Best People
Client Value Creation
One Global Network
Respect for the Individual
Integrity
Economic Conditions
In 2002, the economy was in a downturn
Resulted in significant budget pressure on KM
group
Many senior managers left; 30% of all KM
managers left or were laid off
Pressure to offshore to reduce costs (India and
Philippines)
Focus on short term as opposed to long term


Knowledge Management @
Accenture
Strong focus on Knowledge Management
Formal KM strategy adopted in 1990
By mid 90s, thousands of knowledge
repositories had been built using Lotus Notes
KM system becoming inefficient

Strategy Session
A strategy session was held in 2004
Goal was to determine the future of KM at
Accenture
Knowledge Management Strategy:
Drive value from knowledge to enhance
revenue, reduce cost, and foster innovation
Knowledge Management Vision:
To create a world class knowledge-sharing
culture and environment that contributes to
Accentures success
Knowledge Management
Framework

SWOT Strengths
Successful company with a global
presence
Existing enablers: Knowledge Exchange,
myLearning, Accenture methodology
Inherent belief in relevancy of KM
Corporate support for KM from CEO to
upper and mid level management
Historical success of KM at Accenture
SWOT - Weaknesses
Unorganized tools and technologies in the
KM infrastructure
Difficult to share and access information
Lack of ownership in KM area
Failing to capture knowledge as
employees leave the company

SWOT - Opportunities
Increased employee retention and job
satisfaction
Decreased knowledge drain
Great tool for new employees
Further industry leadership position on KM
Turn knowledge into Intellectual Capital
Business Opportunities
SWOT - Threats
Tough economic environment
Need to demonstrate ROI
Ineffectively applied capital
Short project life cycles
KM Current Technology
Implemented Lotus Notes across the
organization
Every Business unit has their own database
Each unit was responsible for managing and
updating their content
Late 90s Web-based access was enabled
Issues with Lotus Notes Current KM
Lack of usability Less User friendly
Lack of awareness of system capabilities
and content
Inefficient search process Lead to
duplication of documents
Lack of consistency in document
templates
Lack of clear governance structure:
responsibility for the documents was not
clearly defined



Procedures were not in place for managing
the system (content / documents. No records
retention: archival process inconsistent and
very manual)

Every business unit created their own
portals, and by the end of 2003, several
disparate systems / databases were created

Cost of maintenance was increasing
Issues with Lotus Notes Current KM
New KM Technology
New system will provide consistency across
organization and will save time and money
for managing the system.

New Architecture will eliminate the
decentralized Lotus notes environment.

The new architecture is based on MS
Sharepoint technology.

Accenture Portal
Knowledge & Resources channel
Search Browse Collaborate
Managed topic pages Intention pages
Email
Single centralized
knowledge content
store (from end
user perspective)
Content from other
sources
(myLearning,
MethodologyFinder,
Marketing
Credentials, etc.)
New Architecture

New KM Technology
Will Address specific business goals

Simple End-User experience

Improve Search and Browse Features
Concept of Metadata

Centralize development and operations of the
Accenture Knowledge and Simplify content
management

Single point of entry - A Web Portal

Expected outcomes of the new
KE system
Major enhancements
Enhanced search results
Elimination of content duplication (caused by
decentralized applications)
Improved visibility to innovations across all groups
Increased usability (because of a consistent user
experience)
Consistent archival process (that is no
longer manual intensive)
Challenges in implementing this
system
A strategy need to be developed to address
change management

Need to address cultural barriers Converting
tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge

Design a system to match what users want.
Make them part of the implementation team

Alternatives and Considerations
Continue with improved Lotus Notes
Adopt the new Knowledge Exchange
Do Nothing

Alternatives and Considerations
Continue with improved Lotus Notes
Decentralized portals for different groups
within the organization
Works well, but could have room for
improvement
Can be confusing and may potentially lead to
miscommunication and duplication of work
Alternatives and Considerations
Adopt the new Knowledge Exchange
Needed to centralize information
Important to have clear governance structure
for new KM
End- user strategy is key
Better organization of knowledge leads to
higher job satisfaction and less time spent
training
Alternatives and Considerations
Do Nothing
Lose knowledge
System may become unmanageable
No investment required
Alternatives and Considerations
Continue with improved Lotus Notes
Adopt the new Knowledge Exchange
Do Nothing
Other?

What would you do?
Team Three Recommendation
Go to new KM structure
Implementation Big Picture
Ensure upper management is on board
with KM goals
Create a team with stakeholders from key
areas
Implement to specific pockets of
organization first on a trial basis, then
apply to organization


Implementation - Specifics
Edit existing content to ensure a proper
base
Ensure template usage for content
Ensure proper labelling (typology) is
followed: want general descriptions not
jargon
Support entire cycle, from proposal to
delivery




What happened
Re-architecture of system using MS and
Avanade (MS supplier) products and
processes
Created a team to handle the project
Submit using a standardized template
Easy access to KM from company portal
Created a download cart; once done
shopping, files are zipped and
downloaded

What happened
Manually updated files: from 200k to 80k
Went from 40 servers to 10
Piloted to 1000 users before entire
company
Kept legacy system for 90 days, then
decommissioned
Search function improved to include
source categories and improved deep
searches

Questions