Irrespective of the ‘apparent’ value created from the effective management and exploitation of an organisation’s knowledge, it is often difficult for an organisation to be able to convincingly articulate the benefit of belonging to a practitioners’ network such as KIN. The majority of organisations will require a return-on-investment or ‘business case’ for membership which clearly illustrates the benefit created against the Membership fee (currently £13,500 pa).
This document gives you material to help you present a benefit case. It is not designed as a business case in its own right. The challenges faced by every organisation will manifest themselves in different ways. The tone, format and content of your business case will be unique, even if you recognise some of the issues in the following case studies. By all means use the material provided here to make the case for KIN membership, but present those elements in a way which address the issues faced by your organisation.
A unique ‘trust’ network for PractitionersKIN only allows one Member organisation from each industry sector. This ensures that the trust and reciprocity necessary for an open and vibrant network is protected. It also means that if your organisation joins, you will have a distinct competitive advantage. Unlike most event-driven organisations, KIN does not allow vendors or consultants to join. It is therefore a ‘solution provider’ free environment.
The document has four parts:
1. Current KIN Member organisations and the functional areas that are driving the learning and innovation changes in those organisations.
3. A selection of what our Members say about the value created by KIN. These may be quoted by you if required.
4. We provide a comparison of the ‘market value’ of KIN events. This may be useful where, for example, the membership fee is to be partly offset from the savings to be made from ‘consultants’ and conference attendance costs.
5. Well-regarded non-KIN industry case-studies, each with quantifiable benefits of knowledge management activity.
KIN has a very active Calendar of Events, with an average of 4 Member-only events per month to choose from. A copy of the Calendar of Events is available on request. A copy of the quarterly Members’ Newsletter ‘Kinections’ is also available.
If you need help in creating or reviewing your organisation’s benefits case for joining KIN, then contact your KIN Account Manager directly
If it helps ‘make the case’, we can also arrange for you or perhaps a senior decision maker to contact or meet an existing KIN Member organisation to discuss the value created by the Network.
Functional areas driving knowledge management and innovation activities at these organisations include:
Corporate ‘Universities’
Business Change Programmes
Business Strategy Units
Organisational Development / Learning Departments
HR
Knowledge Management Teams
Professional Support Teams
Innovation Units
R&D
Technology
Project and Programme Offices
KIN Business Case
2. ‘Value Created’ for KIN Member Organisations
Members tell us that the majority of the benefit from Membership comes from access to proven and emergent good practice in managing knowledge and innovation. Solving real, often difficult business issues
Qualitative benefits of KIN participation
Examples Provided through
Improving staff time to competency (often replacing training & development)
Avoiding costly mistakes Helping the achievement
existing business objectives (faster, more effectively, at less cost) through the better use of knowledge
Solving new business problems & challenges
Exposure to new thinking about innovation in collaboration and communication (staff, suppliers, customers)
Apprentice ‘time to competency’ improved by 20%
Construction project overruns reduced by 15%
Blast-furnace relining down-time reduced by 2 days each
Partner to junior staff communication improved through effective blogging
Virtual teamworking (VT) across country divisions improved by applying VT toolkit
Peer to peer learning, challenge and support through Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and across KIN
Expert support through SIGs Dedicated support from KIN
facilitators and Associates through Member Management
Application of proven knowledge ‘toolkits’ developed with and refined by other practitioners (note not vendor ‘solutions’)
The following pages give case-study examples of how KIN has helped Member organisations to create value, solve specific problems or win new business.
Product development teams needed to be more effective in delivery Cross-cultural issues were affecting the way cross-organisation teams worked No training in virtual teamworking (VT) existed in Orange
Approach and how KIN helped
Orange approached KIN to apply good virtual teamworking practice to its cross-cultural programme
KIN helped Orange create a unique Virtual Team Toolkit ‘VT‘ training was piloted in Product Delivery teams
Outcome Programme was successfully rolled out to other teams with courses oversubscribed. Generic Virtual Teamworking toolkit made available to other KIN member organisations
Value 6 month follow-up survey of VT training showed 94% of participants felt the it had ‘improved Orange’s delivery effectiveness’
“Membership of KIN has given us very cost -effective access to research and practitioner derived material, which we have directly applied to our organisational learning programme” Peter Hall, Chief Knowledge Officer, Orange
This case study is relevant to the following scenarios: Organisational Change Programmes Cross-project teams Innovation challenges
Geographically dispersed teams Cross-cultural teams Multi-country teams
Severn Trent Water - Retaining essential and unique knowledge
Faced with loss of 12 key technical staff with over 150 years experience Unmitigated loss of knowledge from further planned retirements Unplanned loss of unique knowledge from technical experts.
Approach and how KIN helped
KIN provided the generic Knowledge Retention methodology and toolkit and training in applying it. A small team of technical managers adapted the tool for local use.
Lessons from the adapted toolkit have been included in a new iteration for other Members’ use.
Outcome Successful Knowledge Transfer Support from MD for ongoing work Have moved the process on to pro-active identification of knowledge ‘at risk’ Have offered to extend the Knowledge Retention capability to the organisation The team were awarded third prize (out of 90) in the judges awards at the 2007 Severn Trent
‘Quality Working Day’ awards. Value Reduced time to competence of new starters by levering retained ‘know how’.
Caring for colleagues; the process makes leavers and others feel valued. “We have identified the gaps in our capability and have minimised the cost of ‘buying
in expertise’ “
“I feel we have been far more successful than would have been the case without the KIN techniques, and you have demonstrated their applicability across the organisation” Gren Mesham Director of Asset Management, Severn Trent Water.
This case study is relevant to the following scenarios: Senior management changes Mergers, disposals and acquisitions Organisational Change Programmes
Redundancy programmes Loss of unique or technical knowledge Improving ‘time to competency’
Opportunity existed to win a short piece of work with key client BAE Systems did not have full expertise required to complete the work
Approach and how KIN helped
BAE Systems approached KIN for assistance in putting together their proposal BAE adapted KIN’s Social Network Analysis methodology for client proposal Offered support through the project in terms of reflection and advice
Outcome BAE won the project, which has built expertise which can now be applied in a wider context and in different domains.
Value Value of project work is undisclosed but is “in 5 figures” New expertise grown Reputation with new customer enhanced
‘SNA is an area that we had been involved with historically, but we were not up to date with new tools nor had the breadth of expertise that KIN has. KIN has really helped give us a running start and we have grown our repertoire as a result. I think it would be fair to say that without KIN we would not have proposed nor won this important new business’’
Liz Carver ( Group Leader, Organisational Research Leader)This case study is relevant to the following scenarios:
Exposing latent knowledge flows Exposing knowledge gaps Proving agile and innovative approaches to
A fast growing community was struggling to connect its members and to share knowledge.
Approach and how KIN helped
Baker & McKenzie's London office wanted to conduct a Social Network Analysis of this community to understand working patterns and knowledge flows.
Through workshops, virtual meetings and the discussion board, KIN helped connect Baker & McKenzie to experienced practitioners in other KIN member organisations. The lessons learned and recommendations provided by KIN members and associates were essential to the success of this project.
Outcome Baker & McKenzie's Knowledge Management department were able to execute an SNA, identify knowledge flows, bottlenecks, working patterns, disconnected individuals and power users.
Baker & McKenzie used this information to inform a series of follow up projects to transform the community.
When a central member of the community left, Baker & McKenzie were able to use the results of the SNA to understand the impact on the community, the competencies that needed to be replaced, and to enhance the business case for their replacement.
Value Increased knowledge sharing. Improved morale and sense of belonging amongst members of this community. More targeted recruitment.
This case study is relevant to the following scenarios: Rapid change in communities Resistance to knowledge sharing
3. What our members say about KIN You may wish to use these attributable quotes in your own ‘case for KIN’
“ We have had more value from our first 3 months with KIN than we had from 3 years with our previous Organisational learning network” Nancy Kinder, Cadbury
“The strength of KIN comes from the open and sharing attitude of its members. Value is generated because members provide improvement opportunities to their own and other member’s practices” Martin Shaw, Severn Trent Water “KIN has helped us understand our dependency on key knowledge and the potential impact of its loss. As a result we initiated a series of follow-up projects” Edward Hill, Baker & McKenzie
“KIN really sparks the imagination. Gets you thinking about what is possible” Pauline Hagen, ConocoPhillips
“KIN has given us a running start with Social Network Analysis. Without this we would not have proposed nor won this important new business’’ Liz Carver, BAE Systems
“If knowledge sharing is about connecting people to people, people to information and people to tools, then KIN ticks all those boxes. KIN does it in a way that is professional, inspiring, effective and best of all, delivers results for us” Lesley Parker, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
“I am really enjoying being part of the KIN CoP group. This is a very good networking opportunity to learn about the approach of other organisations in implementing a Communities of Practice programme” Shirley Britten, PricewaterhouseCoopers
"Very enlightening and quite a privilege to participate" Will Grace, Schlumberger
“We turned to KIN for ready access to expertise, real experience and great practice focussed on business challenges not academic theory. This has helped us to refresh our ideas, benchmark our activities, and ensure we are informed with the latest thinking, tools and techniques” Kathryn Protopapadakis, Fujitsu Services
"Knowledge sharing may seem like a generic description of what our employees do every day, but for our business, organisational learning and sharing is about maximizing the value of our greatest assets - our people - and there's a method and science to doing it successfully. We use our relationship and learnings from KIN to continue building on our success to date. KIN helps reveal how other companies across industries are creating their own linkages between organisational learning and business results."Dan Ranta, ConocoPhillips
"KIN membership is like having an external organisational learning or innovation expert at hand, whenever you need to test your ideas or challenges. We have benefitted immensely by tapping into the collective insights and experiences of KIN researchers, experts, facilitators and practitioners." Jessica Magnusson, Baker & McKenzie
“KIN proved invaluable right from day one. Having direct access to organisations that had faced similar knowledge sharing issues and successfully overcome them was priceless. Avoiding repeating mistakes through learning from others is a key strength of the network” Darren Bone, OGC
"KIN offers an excellent opportunity for us to benefit from high-quality research and learn from the experiences of other organisations as we develop new ways of sharing knowledge" Ian Goodwin, Small Business Service
"Membership of KIN has given us very cost-effective access to research and practitioner derived material, which we have directly applied to our programme" Peter Hall, Orange
"KIN stands out because it puts behaviour first rather than tools" Sam Marshall, Unilever
KIN events are not revenue generating public ‘conferences’ but carefully facilitated opportunities for learning and sharing. The most sustainable value from KIN comes from the exchange and creation of new knowledge between Member practitioners, researchers and subject experts or KIN Associates. The Facilitators make sure this happens not just at ‘events’, but at times and places in between – when our members ‘need to know’. We have however been asked in the past to provide a cost ‘comparison’ with ‘public’ events and conferences.
KIN Membership includes: Four KIN Quarterly Workshops, these are usually in a relaxed atmosphere in a country house hotel in the UK
or in the excellent Scarman Centre on the Warwick Business School campus. This includes 2 places at a networking dinner the night before, accommodation and the Workshop.
Unlimited places at KIN Special Interest Group events and site-visits, Unlimited participation at Roundtables and Expert Masterclasses Unlimited participation in KIN Webinars Unlimited use of KIN Memberspace content, peer-connections, toolkits, discussion fora and good practice. Access to world leading experts attending and speaking at the events and to KIN Associates The services of one of the KIN Facilitators to assist with your specific knowledge or innovation challenges
Before even considering the value created, the business case for KIN membership can be seen as providing better value than paying for attendance at one-off public events. It should also be noted that KIN events are exclusively Member practitioner-peer, researcher and Associate run events and therefore real ‘learning’ opportunities.
Summary of Benefits from KIN Events and MemberSpace Public Event ‘cost-equivalent’ 1
KIN Quarterly Workshops
Challenge thinking/Thought leadership Validate/other your current approach Learn from experts/peer organisations
£6700
KIN Special Interest Group (SIG) Events, Masterclasses and Roundtables
Support day to day projects/challenges Improve time to competency of staff On the job peer support and learning Access to world-leading Associates Peer-assists with your real-world challenges
£4400
KIN Memberspace Access to context-specific and validated good practice Facilitated connections to other practitioners, expertise Toolkits Members’ Question and Answers Forum
£5000
TOTAL Cost Equivalent
£16,100 +VAT
It should also be noted that our KIN Associates, all world-renowned subject experts, charge between £1200 and £2000 per day consultancy fees. Their input to KIN SIG workshops, Masterclasses and other events is entirely covered by the membership fee.
1 Source: Comparative study of public conferences, online knowledge practice sources, network memberships.
Challenge was to create an organisationthat ‘learns faster and better than our competitors’
Benchmarking, sharing and implementing best practices, learning from experience, and through continuous learning and personal growth
“Of all the initiatives we've undertaken …few have been as important or as rewarding as our efforts to build a learning organization by sharing and managing knowledge throughout our company”
Xerox Managing technical knowledge across 22,000 technicians. Challenge was to ensure that good practice was shared.
Web-hosted repository of
best practices, which is
populated and driven by
the end user.
“More than half of the 22,000 Xerox technicians can access the Eureka system, contributing over 1000 new practices each month”
Texas Instruments
Different levels of performance between 13 wafer fabrication plants situated around the globe. Challenge to raise standard across all plants.
Focus on transfer of Best practice knowledge from good performers to poor performers
Texas Instruments equate this with the capacity of an additional fabrication plant. In other words, they are getting an additionall plant for free, by sharing and applying existing knowledge.
ChevronReduced
operating costs from $9.4 bn to $7.4 bnover 7 years
-reduced their cost of service by 10 percent
-significant cost reductions, and a quoted saving of $1.5 billion over three years
Reduce administration costs to meet stringent government spending targets
Reduced cost of managing environmental issues through an effective Community of Practice. Environmental Practice is one of 9 active CoPs
“Exchanging knowledge is really what we do. CoPs and KM are the way to do business and maintain quality of staff” Bud Wright, Executive Director
$6m pa saving in managing how environmental issues are handled
Introduced Best Practice Replication system to capture and share cost-saving and process improvements.
Saved Ford approx $100 million per year in its 38 assembly plants
Improve competitiveness by applying proven good practice across sites and countries
“Management provided challenge and coordination, but the system was essentially "owned" by the users, and the savings are tracked and monitored.”
Challenge was to reduce time and cost to shut down a refinery
Application of OL principles, and introduction of the practices to the business.
“Compared to our previous shutdown, 4 years earlier, Nerefco cut costs by 20%, reduced the time of the shutdown by 9 days, and increased the time to next shutdown by half a year”
Improvements were worth nearly $10m with no safety or environmental incidents
