|
Knowledge
versus
Industrial Enterprise
Corporate Attributes1 |
|
INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISE |
KNOWLEDGE ENTERPRISE |
|
Economies of scale |
Smaller business units |
|
Standardization of work |
Customization of work |
|
Standardization of workforce |
Flexible, multi-skilled
workforce |
|
Financial capital as
scarce resource |
Human capital as scarce
resource |
|
Corporate HQ as
operational controller |
Corporate HQ as advisor
& core competency guardian |
|
Hierarchical pyramid
structure |
Flat or networked
structure |
|
Employees seen as
expense |
Employees seen as
investment |
|
Internally focused top-down governance |
Both internal and
external distributed governance |
|
Individualistic functional orientation |
Team
orientation,
emphasis on
cross-functional teams |
|
Information based on
"need to know" |
Open & distributed
information system |
|
Vertical decision making |
Distributed decision
making |
|
Emphasis on stability |
Emphasis on
change |
|
Emphasis on vertical
leadership |
Emphasis on
empowered self-leadership |
|
Dangerous Attitudes
Characterizing Old and New Organizations3 |
|
Characteristics |
Old
Organization |
New
Organization |
|
Individual Motivation |
Power / Security |
Get rich quick |
|
Organizational Structure |
Stultified |
Chaotic |
|
Leadership
Style |
Bureaucratic |
Anarchistic |
|
Teamwork Style |
Hierarchical |
Instrumental (what's
in it for me?) |
|
Customer Attitude |
If they were here
before, they will come back |
Customers are dumb. we
know better. |
|
Capital Markets |
We've been here
forever. We'll survive. |
We are "new economy",
so we win. |
|
Balanced Organization: 5 Basic Elements
Leadership
(Fire):
Sources of Knowledge
A knowledge-based enterprise derives
knowledge from various sources that include:
-
Customer knowledge:
customer needs,
perceptions, and motivations, who to contact, customer buying power,
what
differentiation
strategy
and customer services need to be
developed to
win and retain customers, etc.
-
Competitor knowledge:
what competitors are selling now and what they are planning to sell in
the future, what is their strategic
intent, what
competitive
strategies
they use to win in the marketplace.
-
Product knowledge:
the products in the marketplace, who is buying them and why, what prices
they are selling at, and how much money is spent on such products now
and may be spent in future.
-
Process knowledge:
best practices, technology
intelligence and forecasting,
systemic innovation,
cross-functional
synergy
opportunities, etc.
-
Financial knowledge:
capital resources,
where and how to acquire venture capital and at what cost, and the
integrating in financial practices.
-
People knowledge:
knowing people and what
motivates
employees, obtaining
feedback,
the expertise available, and how to go about finding experts.
Managing Knowledge Enterprise
Within a rapidly changing environment of the
new knowledge economy, the latest
information and knowledge is the key to sustained success and
competitive
advantage. In today's e-learning and e-business accelerated world,
information quickly converted into knowledge at the
point of highest business impact is a matter or survival. Switching to
leadership approaches,
employee empowerment,
establishing a continuously
learning organization, knowledge management and
management of knowledge workers
become very important manager's tasks. Knowledgeable workers seek service that
support their knowledge. Unused knowledge depreciates very fast. On the
opposite, using knowledge creates new opportunities which in turn create new
knowledge.
Business
Strategies
in Different Economies
By Jim Botkin2
In the information economy (1970 to
1995), the best strategy was to overinvest in crunching power.
Competitive advantage
accrued to those who invested more than their competitors to process more
data and information more quickly.
In the knowledge economy (1995 to date),
the best strategy is to invest in connecting power. Competitive advantage
accrues to those who invest more than their competitors to connect to more
people and share knowledge faster and farther.
Managing Knowledge
While most managers agree that managing
knowledge is important, few of the can articulate what the value is or how
to become a
learning,
teaching, or coaching organization.
The majority of companies have their knowledge embedded in people and
organizations. It is often intuitive,
tacit, rather than explicit, and is
rarely detailed enough to be especially valuable. Such knowledge often gets
lost when someone leaves the company. "All too often, knowledge exists with
multiple points of view instead of the collective best thinking. It is
occasional but not integral to the business. And, most important, it is
available but not used very much."4...
More
Managing Knowledge Workers
To
lead
knowledge workers effectively and unlock their true potential, you need to
define:
Organizing Knowledge
Communities
Use entrepreneurial approaches to organize
knowledge communities
within your organization to give it what it needs most –
radical innovation. Knowledge
communities organized around the principles of
entrepreneurship have the best chance at success. Members of these
communities – exciting, entrepreneurial, and highly profitable – would emulate
entrepreneurs
acting less like followers and more like empowered founders and builders
of new organizational value...
More
Innovation in Industrial vs. Knowledge Enterprises...
Three Areas of
Need Present in All
Organizations...
Key Characteristics of High-performance Organizations...
Achieving the Right Balance Between the Whole and the
Parts...
6-A:
Important Traits that Determine Organizational Success...
Establishing an Attitude of Relentless Growth...
Organizational Alignment...
Extended Enterprise...
Organizational Fitness
Profile (OFP) Road-Mapping...
80/20 Theory
of the Firm...
Continuous Corporate Renewal...
Managerial Leadership...
Learning Bottom-Up...
Trust-based
Working Relationships...
How To Bring About Effective Change...
Case Study
GE...
Case Study
British Petroleum...
Case Study
IDEO...
Case Study
Google...
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