| |
|
|
| In this Issue ... |
IVEY BUSINESS JOURNAL
March/April 2002
Volume 66 Number 4 |
|
Theme:
Knowledge Management
Features
In conversation: James Wolfensohn, President, The World Bank
By Stephen Bernhut
Reducing global poverty is a daunting challenge, one that is a challenge even for the formidable man who leads The World Bank, James Wolfensohn. In this in-depth, wide-ranging interview, the supremely successful and well-connected Mr. Wolfensohn discusses the connection between world poverty and terrorism, the politics of debt relief and the possibility of debt elimination, what the world's developed countries must do to enable the least developed countries to sell their goods in world markets, and why globalization not only can't be stopped but why this powerful force is an opportunity for the least developed countries to improve their standard of living.
The rising star of the Chief Knowledge Officer
By Nick Bontis
While intellectual capital is a widely discussed topic, few individuals, says this author, understand it, and even fewer still have been able to determine how to value it. Nevertheless, individuals with titles such as chief knowledge officer and chief learning officer have been given the task of channelling an organization's knowledge into initiatives that are expected to become a source of competitive advantage. This article, by one of the earliest exponents and leading authority on knowledge management offers detailed, practical guidance on how managers can leverage their companies' intellectual capital to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.
The neglected receiver of knowledge sharing
By Nancy Dixon
Knowledge sharing allows teams and individuals to more quickly develop solutions to difficult problems, reduce costly duplication of effort, and create new, innovative solutions through collaboration. But, as this former George Washington University professor turned academic points out, most knowledge sharing practices neglect the group or individual who will receive and hopes to leverage the knowledge. Written to help the reader empathize with and understand the particular needs of the knowledge sharer, this article suggests what organizations and managers can do to support the particular needs of the other, important component of the knowledge equation, the knowledge receiver. (NOTE: Ms. Dixon's book, Common Knowledge, was chosen as The Globe and Mail's Report on Business's Best Business Book of 2000.)
Beyond compliance: The different culture of a dot-com board
By P. Michael Maher, Malcolm C. Munro and Flora Stormer
Recent history is filled with examples of "dot-bombs", but most explanations focus on the lack of capital and a solid business plan. One often overlooked, but quite plausible explanation for the implosion of many dot-coms is the quality of their corporate governance practices. As these co-authors ask: Did they fail because of inadequate corporate governance practices? Did directors fail to provide management with the kind of support and direction it needed for the long term? The authors provide the answers to these and other leading questions that go a long way to explaining why many dot-coms became dot-bombs.
Leveraging knowledge management in strategic alliances
By Salvatore Parise and Lisa Sasson
With an annual growth rate of 25 per cent and a projected value of $40 trillion by the year 2004, alliances will certainly have a major impact on management in the 21st century. In an alliance, managers will have to make difficult decisions about when to partner and with whom, as well as how to structure and manage the partnership. Those managers who can leverage information and knowledge across each stage of the alliance process will find that a knowledge-based approach is critical to the success of any partnership. Managers can take a step up their own knowledge curve by reading this article, which discusses the importance and effectiveness of sound knowledge-management practices in the context of an alliance.
Knowledge management as a sustained competitive advantage
By Peter Murray
Managers who have difficulty either believing or appreciating that knowledge management delivers tangible benefits would do well to read this article by a consultant and academic at the United Kingdom's Cranfield School of Management. Mr. Murray's four-step program for delivering intangible benefits include making knowledge management a demand-led activity keyed to business results; focusing on areas where investments in knowledge management will yield the best return; ensuring that knowledge-management initiatives are seen as benefit-delivery programs, with their success level measured against desired outcomes, and managing knowledge management teams.
The strategy and structure of firms in the attention economy
By Thomas H. Davenport and John C. Beck
The quick, invisible shift from information overload to information assault has created, almost ironically, at least one, significant deficit: In every organization today, attention is a scarce resource. That scarcity has serious implications for leaders, managers and front-line staff. Reflecting on our own experience may be the best indication of how serious this problem is for any business. Do you know anyone who isn't becoming used to having his or her attention skip from topic to topic like a fairy sprite? Who doesn't have the nagging sense that there are far more people, tasks, topics, inputs, and decisions than anyone could manage? In this environment, attention management becomes a question of survival, a subject that is thoroughly discussed and examined in this helpful article.
Departments
Headstart
Partnering and dealmaking in the digital age
By George T. Geis and George S. Geis
Speed and fast-shifting consumer attitudes are just two of the imperatives that drive alliance formation in the digital age. These and other factors combine to make dealmaking in the digital vastly different, and for many executives, vastly more challenging than in the predictable world of bricks and mortar. In this timely and helpful article, the co-authors explore and discuss how executives can design strategies and the rationales that will enable them to build successful partnerships in the digital age.
Performance measures for knowledge organizations
By James L. Poage
Measuring the value of knowledge work is, arguably, the major dilemma for managers in today's information economy. Difficult to define or simply ill-defined processes make it extremely challenging to identify what needs to be measured or how it should be measured. This author, who has worked on knowledge projects for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and NASA, advances and explains three factors that will help managers design useful measures for knowledge organizations.
Managing human capital in a downturn
By Yves Lermusiaux
Managing human capital has never been more difficult than it is the knowledge economy. It is an almost daily challenge for the CEOs and managers who must make major decisions about major layoffs in the midst of unprecedented volatility. In the article, the author explains five "new" principles for managing human capital and suggests how managers can apply them to their company.
Leader's Edge
Corporate social responsibility, with Pratima (Tima) Bansal
By Stephen Bernhut
Being socially responsible is imperative for all organizations today, and in this interview, Ivey professor Pratima (Tima) Bansal provides detailed answers that managers need to know to develop and implement an effective plan to make their organization socially responsible. Among other issues, Professor Bansal discusses the benefits of corporate social responsibility, why being socially responsible is more important for some firms than others, and how companies can and should leverage the benefits of corporate social responsibility.
Viewpoint: by John McCallum
John Pierpont Morgan on economic conditions
It was not for lack of insight into economics that J.P. Morgan rose to become a colossus of capitalism, and in this article, regular contributor John McCallum distills Morgan's insights into pithy advice for Ivey Business Journal readers. Free markets, competitive taxes and sensible regulation are just some of the economic principles that Morgan articulated and advocated. This recovery, professor McCallum observes, may take longer to develop than is popularly believed. But adhering to the principles and wisdom of one of the world's greatest capitalists will ensure that the recovery is a smooth and lasting one.
|
|
