Every business unit has access to the warehouse and can utilize case-based reasoning tools to develop reports and analyze performance. Tacit knowledge exchange is facilitated by intranet-based document management and Web conferencing systems that streamline communication among worldwide experts. In the past, the company held quarterly meetings where experts from each business unit met to exchange ideas. However, due to cultural and language differences, the English-speaking people tended to dominate the proceedings. Today, to ensure adherence to its operational standards, periodic conferences are held to discuss specific business domains.
Maintenance is a good example.
We're capturing best practices and helping people exchange information, particularly those who have had experience with meeting the operational standards. The steel company is now creating global communities of experts for other business domains such as IT, procurement, marketing and logistics. But already the knowledge management initiatives are paying off. Even though the steel industry as a whole is currently in a slump, this company is able to run a profitable operation due to its ability to effectively manage operational knowledge. While knowledge creation patterns result in explicit knowledge, the process of knowledge capturing and sharing makes it available across the enterprise.