Final Prjct

Creating a conducive environment for Knowledge Management

Introduction to Knowledge Management "Knowledge management is a relatively new and developing area which has introduced a methodology for the planned capture and re-use of organizational knowledge. There is no doubt that the importance of knowledge management has grown manifold. Knowledge component of business activities is treated as an explicit concern of business and plays a key role in strategy, policy and practice at all levels of the organization’s intellectual assets – both explicit (recorded) and tacit (personal know-how) can yield positive business results. In the context of supporting business objectives, knowledge management is no longer seen as a fad but rather a business imperative - a survival technique as a minimum.

Moreover, knowledge is the key differentiator between competing companies today. This knowledge can be very difficult to create, maintain, refresh and measure. Implementing a KMS incurs both money cost and time cost. Many companies are following the practice of knowledge management, from IBM to Patni Computers, and all face difficulties in sustaining a KMS.

1.1 Meaning of Knowledge Management The term ‘Knowledge Management’ has been borrowed from the corporate world, which has used it as a strategy to seek as well as capture the knowledge residing in people’s heads and consciousness to help the business remain on the progressive path standing in a keen competitive environment. It is defined that KM is ‘about putting information and people’s competence to work together’. KM refers to ‘transfer of knowledge into capabilities for effective action.” It is a systematic process of finding, selecting, organizing, distilling and presenting information in a way that improves an employee’s comprehension in a specific area of interest. KM helps an organization to gain insight and understanding from its own experience that helps to focus the organization. Specific KM activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge from such things as problems solving dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision-making. It also protects intellectual assets from decay, adds to firm intelligence and provides increased flexibility.

1.2 Need of Knowledge Management Why do we need to manage knowledge? Ann Macintosh of the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute (University of Edinburgh) has written a "Position Paper on Knowledge Asset Management" that identifies some of the specific business factors, including:

Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising. Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal

methods.

Bhagwan Parshuram Institute of Technology 1


Competitive pressures reduce the size of the work force that holds valuable business knowledge.

The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished.

Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge.

There is a need to manage increasing complexity as small operating companies are trans-national sourcing operations.

Changes in strategic direction may result in the loss of knowledge in a specific area.

To these paraphrases of Ms. Macintosh’s observations we would add: Most of our work is information based. Organizations compete on the basis of knowledge. Products and services are increasingly complex, endowing them with a

significant information component. The need for life-long learning is an inescapable reality.

In brief, knowledge and information have become the medium in which business problems occur. As a result, managing knowledge represents the primary opportunity for achieving substantial savings, significant improvements in human performance, and competitive advantage. It’s not just a Fortune 500 business problem. Small companies need formal approaches to knowledge management even more, because they don’t have the market leverage, inertia, and resources that big companies do. They have to be much more flexible, more responsive, and more "right" (make better decisions) - because even small mistakes can be fatal to them.

1.3 Sources of Knowledge Management The two sources of Knowledge are:

Internal sources emerging from the operations of the organization- internal sources include the organizational operations such as design, development, engineering, sales, marketing, manufacturing, customer contact, etc. This is the basic source of organizational information, which is controllable and can be easily canalized to Knowledge Repository (KR). In the absence of any formal mechanism, this knowledge remains in the minds of organization members and usually, disappears with them.

External sources such as Industry/Professional Associations, Commercial web sites etc. There are many professional bodies such as IEEE, academic bodies such as universities, research institutions, industry associations such as NEMA, and commercial organizations. These sources usually make the knowledge available through web sites and sometimes through publications. Some of them could be free services and some could be for a fee. A well-designed KM should be able to take advantage of both the sources to create and maintain a Knowledge Repository and allow members to easily access the knowledge stored inside it.



1.4 Steps in Knowledge Management 1. Knowledge Capture: A systematic procedure for organizing, structuring knowledge to make it accessible and usable to people.

2. Knowledge Organization: An organization that values and uses its own knowledge in reflective ways that lead to profound shifts in directions, values, beliefs and operating assumptions.

3. Knowledge Preservation: Once the knowledge is collected, and codified it has to be stored in a suitable form in the organization’s knowledge base. The knowledge can be stored in forms such as individual employees, and by computer knowledge base. The advantage with the computer is its unlimited memory and instant access. Intranets and the knowledge bases are the tools, which store the organizational knowledge.

1.5 Significance of Knowledge Management The strategically perspective, today’s practice in KM still has a few demerits. The reasons for this are manifold.

Firstly, the existing knowledge is captured and capitalized only to a low degree because knowledge is messy in character.

Secondly, time factor- many employees are willing to document and use existing knowledge but pressure of work in enterprise should be allowed to participate in management but not in real practice. As a result, the uncultured knowledge can’t be utilized for KM purposes.

Knowledge is the business asset of any progressive organizations that get ahead. The implementation of KM helps the information flow in the organization and in implementing organization-learning practices. KM is not just managing or organizing books or journals, searching the Internet for users or arranging for the circulation of materials. Each of these can be an isolated part of KM.

KM is enhancing the use of organizational knowledge through information management and organizational learning. The purpose is to deliver direct value to the business. The knowledge is embedded in the processes and experiences, skills, wisdom and capabilities of people. KM rests on two foundations, i.e., utilizing the organized information and application of people’s competencies, skills, talents, thoughts, ideas, imaginations, etc.,

KM aims to draw out the tacit knowledge people have, what they carry around with them, what they observe and learn from experience, rather than what is usually explicitly stated.

Managing knowledge goes much further than capturing data and manipulating it to obtain information. The aim of KM is for business to become more competitive through the capacities of their people.



1.6 Knowledge AcquisitionAs we know, in the emerging knowledge society, knowledge is being recognized in an increasing measure as a primary source of wealth production. Economies that can efficiently exploit their knowledge resources are doing better than those that have abundant natural resources but lack the knowledge to exploit them.

The vast and deep impact on the social and economic environment caused by technology and globalization has forced organizations worldwide to make significant changes to their objectives, strategies, and organizational structures in order to adapt, survive and succeed in the 21st century. Organizations need to become wired, retooled and networked; but also need to change both the extrinsic elements of their products, activities and/or structures and their basic intrinsic way of operating-values, and mind-set, and sometimes even their purpose. Organizations must learn very quickly in order to adapt to rapid environmental changes to survive and succeed. Thus, today’s organization has little choice but to transform itself into ‘learning’ organization.

One of the principal purposes will be the expansion of knowledge that comes to reside at the core of what it means to be competitive and productive. The organization should develop the capacity to collect, store and transfer knowledge and thus continuously transform itself for corporate success. Technology should be judiciously utilized to optimize both learning and productivity.

The knowledge subsystem is designed for the acquisition, creation, storage, transfer and utilization of knowledge.

Acquisition involves collection of existing data and information from within and outside the organization via environmental scanning, consultations, networks, staff suggestions, etc.

Creation of new knowledge is mainly through problem solving, innovative programs and conversion of implicit knowledge to explicit knowledge.

Storing is the coding and preserving of value-added knowledge for easy access. Transfer and utilization refer to the mechanical, electronic and interpersonal

movement of information and knowledge throughout the organization as well as its application and use by members of the organization wherever they are located. These elements are ongoing, interactive and dynamic instead of being sequential and independent.

A networked IT platform should be installed to support the knowledge systems. Powerful system navigation and information exploration tools that use hypermedia, dynamic visual querying and tree maps are useful. Employees should be enabled to communicate freely with each other and share data and information across the organization. To achieve efficiency in performance as many operations as necessary should be automated within the organization. Centers of expertise and excellence should be created with assigned responsibilities for collecting, storing, analyzing and distributing knowledge. These centers can train workers in their specialties to ensure



availability of qualified workers and consulting services. The centers may have the following functions in relation to the knowledge repositories:

The various tools that are used for the acquisition of knowledge are as follows:

Email and synchronous interaction tools. Collaboration tools for community-building and networking; shared documents;

conversations. Document or knowledge repositories. Tools for knowledge capture, distillation and presentation. E-learning tools and applications. Staff and expertise directories; Yellow pages. Calendars (personal, group and corporate); personal portals.

1.7 Knowledge CreationMost, if not all, firms in developing countries are engrossed in activities to catch up with advanced countries. Even the majority of firms in advanced countries are engaged in catching up, as not all firms can be pioneers of novel breakthroughs even in these countries. Nonetheless, research on organizational knowledge creation and innovation is concentrated mainly in advanced countries and is focused mostly on the pioneering process. Research on those subjects in the catching up process, particularly in developing countries, is, however, scanty.

Knowledge creation, whether for imitation or innovation, takes place at two levels- individual and organization. The prime actors in the process of knowledge creation are



individuals within the organization. Knowledge creation in organizations is not, however, the simple sum of knowledge creation by individuals. Rather it is the process that creates knowledge, which is distributed across the organization, is communicated among its members, has consensual validity, and is integrated into the strategy and management of the organization. Individual knowledge creation is, therefore, an indispensable condition for knowledge creation in the organization but cannot be the sufficient one. Organizations create knowledge only when individual insights and skills become embodied in organization routines, practices, and beliefs. Only effective organizations can translate individual knowledge creation into organizational knowledge creation.

Knowledge creation is a function of an organization’s absorptive capacity. Absorptive capacity requires a learning capability and develops problem-solving skills. Learning capability involves the development of capacity to assimilated existing knowledge (for imitation), while problem-solving skills represent a capacity to create new knowledge (for innovation).

Absorptive capacity has two important elements: prior knowledge base and intensity of effort. First, the prior knowledge base refers to existing individual units of knowledge available within the organization. Accumulated prior knowledge increases the ability both to make sense of and to assimilate and use new knowledge. Relevant prior knowledge base includes basic skills and general knowledge in the case of developing countries, but it includes the most recent scientific and technological knowledge in the case of industrially advanced countries. Thus prior knowledge base should be assessed in its relation to the task difficulty involved. Second the intensity of effort refers to the amount of energy expended by organizational members to solve problems. Learning how to solve problems is usually built up over many practice trials involving related problems. Such effort intensifies interaction among organizational members that facilitates knowledge conversion and creation at the organizational level. The following case gives an insight to the concept of knowledge creation.

1.8 Creating a Knowledge Sharing CultureRealign incentive and reward program. "People do not do what you tell them, but what you measure them for." HR needs to institute a system of rewards and recognition, training and performance development practices - activities that reinforce the discipline of sharing, documenting knowledge and reuse of others' ideas with pride to achieve business goals.

People in business most often behave in a way that increases their career opportunities, or recognizes their achievement. Most organizations reward individual effort or task achievement. They reward something done in a crisis, but most incentive programs do not reward avoiding a crisis. The best KM practitioners reward employees for learning, sharing and collaborating.

Some of the steps HR could implement are:



Institute Team awards to recognize and reward excellent collaborative team effort, which has strongly contributed to business results.

Ensure high visibility for teams which have excelled in knowledge capture / sharing to deliver business excellence.

Many companies have found such team awards very useful in building up the enthusiasm and commitment to collaborative team working and knowledge sharing in the initial years, even though after a while, they might have discontinued these once they moved beyond the need for such awards, once the knowledge sharing is embedded into the culture. Few of these examples have been illustrated below.

Xerox: By including knowledge sharing as a dimension for its prestigious president's award, leadership at Xerox has demonstrated those senior management values and rewards knowledge-sharing behavior. Also, at Xerox, the worldwide Customer Services organization created a "Eureka Hall of Fame" for technicians who author solutions that resolve the greatest number of problems. It also created a "Validator's Hall of Fame" for the second level engineers who test the solutions submitted by the technicians for validity. Hall of Fame members receive cash awards and recognition.

Hewlett Packard Consulting: Senior management made explicit the desired behavior of employees, in their "vision" statement: "Our consultants feel and act as if they have the knowledge of the entire organization at their fingertips when they consult with customers. We will recognize those consultants that share and those that leverage other's knowledge and experience as most valuable members of the HP team."

Leadership commitment is further evidenced by the Knowledge Masters Award, which recognized excellence in knowledge creation and use. This prestigious award recognized employees whose knowledge mastery best exemplified the culture of balancing innovation with reuse; and contributed to significant and measurable business impact. The nominations for these awards were accompanied by written stories of why the individuals were being nominated. The stories not only reflected the growing understanding for the concepts and application of knowledge management but also provided stories that demonstrated the business value of knowledge sharing.

Unilever's Path to Growth Awards recognizes outstanding achievements in meeting the Company's strategic goals. There are three award categories, embracing broader employee and business achievements. The three categories recognize:

1. Measurable significant growth in either revenue or margin 2. Big ideas with demonstrable potential for future growth in either revenue or

margin, and 3. "Enterprise culture in action" - single-minded passion for winning, liberating

rigor and connected creativity.



This award is for collaborative team effort to create and share knowledge to innovate and win. The "enterprise culture in action" award could be entered by everyone from employees in HR or Research to those in manufacturing, distribution or in the Corporate Center. The winner of this award could be anywhere in the business. As long as their behavior or venture could be applied in other parts of the business with significant benefit, it need not be a large-scale initiative. It could, for example, be a new way of approaching a process or system that has been in place for a number of years. All entries for the award must align with one of the strategic thrusts that make up Unilever's Path to Growth. One has to make sure that at least one of the MBOs is a team MBO focused on tangible results through capture / sharing of knowledge.

1.9 Roadblocks to Adoption of KM SolutionsThere have been many roadblocks to adoption of formal knowledge management activities. In general, managing knowledge has been perceived as an unmanageable kind of problem - an implicitly human, individual activity - that was intractable with traditional management methods and technology. We tend to treat the activities of knowledge work as necessary, but ill-defined, costs of human resources, and we treat the explicit manifestations of knowledge work as forms of publishing - as byproducts of "real" work.

As a result, the metrics associated with knowledge resources - and our ability to manage those resources in meaningful ways - have not become part of business infrastructure. But it isn’t necessary to throw up one’s hands in despair. We do know a lot about how people learn. We know more and more about how organizations develop and use knowledge. The body of literature about managing intellectual capital is growing. We have new insights and solutions from a variety of domains and disciplines that can be applied to making knowledge work manageable and measurable. And computer technology - itself a cause of the problem - can provide new tools to make it all work.

We don’t need another "paradigm shift", but we do have to accept that the nature of business itself has changed, in at least two important ways:

Knowledge work is fundamentally different in character from physical labor.

The knowledge worker is almost completely immersed in a computing environment. This new reality dramatically alters the methods by which we must manage, learn, represent knowledge, interact, solve problems, and act.

There are two main issues that have been identified as roadblocks/ barriers for implementing Knowledge Management successfully in an organization. These two issues are:

Conceptual / mindset related Issues: We need to create a culture of sharing. Often knowledge is seen as power and in a competitive environment there could be a tendency to hoard knowledge. Key to success of KM is creation of knowledge sharing culture and elimination of organizational and cultural barriers



for communication. We should move from “hoarding of knowledge to gain power" to "sharing of knowledge to gain power."

Operational Issues: Time: The typical executive is already hard pressed for time. He has no time for an additional initiative, if it is seen as a diversion from focus on immediate results. So, it is important to integrate KM into existing business processes in the company and embed into workflow. KM should not be seen as a separate initiative, but should be integrated into current workflow as a more effective way to achieve business results.

The experience of exemplar practitioners of KM demonstrates that it succeeds only when we are able to signal to employees, strong senior management endorsement for KM. Like all organizational transformation processes, KM needs to be led by senior management.

You can’t solve the problems of Information Age business or gain a competitive advantage simply by throwing more information and people at the problems. Also, you can’t solve knowledge-based problems with approaches borrowed from the product-oriented, print-based economy. Those solutions are reactive and inappropriate. Applying technology blindly to knowledge-related business problems is a mistake, too, but the computerized business environment provides opportunities and new methods for representing "knowledge" and leveraging its value. It’s not an issue of finding the right computer interface - although that would help, too. We simply have not defined in a rigorous, clear, widely accepted way the fundamental characteristics of "knowledge" in the computing environment.



LITERATURE REVIEW

The knowledge management is generally defined as “'the collection of processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and leveraging of knowledge to fulfil organisational objectives”. It has also been interpreted as “a business philosophy that includes a set of principles, processes, organisational structures, and technology applications that help people share and leverage their knowledge to meet their business objectives." (Gurteen, 1999).

Bukowitz et al (1999) define knowledge management as “the process by which the organisation generates wealth from its intellectual or knowledge-based assets”. Koulopoulos & Frappaolo (1999) note that “knowledge management emphases on the re-use of previous experiences and practices, but its focus is on mapping these to the changing landscape of the market”.

But in most of the organizations even today the technology is at the second stage, but the behavior of the employees is still stuck at the first stage, making it tough to learn from the previous experiences and practices. The major reasons for the behaviour may be:

The employees are in a habit of browsing through the organization's intranet, but rely more on personal interactions or the internet. The reason for such a behavior among the employees is that the portals on the intranet are not being updated on a timely basis and the networking among people seems to be stronger and faster than that.

Davenport (1997) suggested that the elements of knowledge management should include:

Culture - the firm’s values and beliefs about information and knowledge Behaviour and work processes - how people actually use information and

knowledge and what they do with it Politics - pitfalls that can interfere with information and knowledge sharing Technology - what information systems are already in place

Why knowledge management? The most common goals motivating a corporation to undertake an effort to manage knowledge better include retaining key talent, improving customer service, boosting innovation and promoting the development of unique market offerings and increasing revenues and profits.

Most of the organisations now focus on four uses of knowledge management: (i) to capture and share best practices (77.7 percent), (ii) to provide training or corporate learning (62.4 percent), (iii) to manage customer relationships (58.0 percent) and (iv) to deliver competitive intelligence (55.7 percent) (Dyer & McDonough, 2001).

According to Solomon (1994), opinion leaders are individuals who are knowledgeable about various topics and whose advice is taken seriously by others (Solomon, 1994). Opinion leaders can be found in all types of groups: occupational, social, community, and others (Littlejohn, 1996). They often tend to be very socially active and highly interconnected within the community (Solomon, 1994).



Most organisations have in fact realised the importance of the opinion leaders in facilitating the organisational change. At NTPC too, a virtual organisation has been set up taking care of promoting the objectives of KM and to develop a framework. The critical input for success of this initiative is creation of knowledge domains – areas of specialised knowledge, where people can contribute for the development of knowledge bases – best practises, expertise directories, market intelligence etc.



3.1 About NTPC India’s largest power company, NTPC, earlier known as National Thermal Power Corporation Limited, was set up in 1975 to accelerate power development in India. NTPC is emerging as a diversified power major with presence in the entire value chain of the power generation business. Apart from power generation, which is the mainstay of the company, NTPC has already ventured into consultancy, power trading, ash utilization and coal mining. NTPC ranked 341st in the ‘2010, Forbes Global 2000’ ranking of the World’s biggest companies. NTPC became a Maharatna company in May, 2010, one of the only four companies to be awarded this status.

The total installed capacity of the company is 34,854 MW (including JVs) with 15 coal based and 7 gas based stations, located across the country. In addition under JVs, 5 stations are coal based & another station uses naptha/LNG as fuel. The company has set a target to have an installed power generating capacity of 1,28,000 MW by the year 2032. The capacity will have a diversified fuel mix comprising 56% coal, 16% Gas, 11% Nuclear and 17% Renewable Energy Sources(RES) including hydro. By 2032, non fossil fuel based generation capacity shall make up nearly 28% of NTPC’s portfolio.

NTPC has been operating its plants at high efficiency levels. Although the company has 17.75% of the total national capacity, it contributes 27.40% of total power generation due to its focus on high efficiency.

In October 2004, NTPC launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) consisting of 5.25% as fresh issue and 5.25% as offer for sale by Government of India. NTPC thus became a listed company in November 2004 with the Government holding 89.5% of the equity share capital. In February 2010, the Shareholding of Government of India was reduced from 89.5% to 84.5% through Further Public Offer.



3.1.1 Vision, Mission and Values

VISION

“To be the world’s largest and best power producer, powering India’s growth.”

MISSION

Develop and provide reliable power, related products and services at competitive prices, integrating multiple energy sources with innovative and eco-friendly technologies and contribute to society.”

The core values of NTPC have been listed below. These values are also called as “B-COMIT”

Business Ethics

Customer Focus

Organizational & professional Pride

Mutual Respect and Trust

Innovation and Speed

Total Quality for Excellence

3.1.2 NTPC’S Contributions to Power Generation



The gross revenue of the company was Rs.400.113 billion, for the year 2007-08 and net profit was Rs.74.148 billion.

At NTPC, People before Plant Load Factor is the mantra that guides all HR related policies. NTPC has been awarded No.1, Best Workplace in India among large organisations and the best PSU for the year 2010, by the Great Places to Work Institute, India Chapter in collaboration with The Economic Times.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is deeply ingrained in NTPC's culture. Through its expansive CSR initiatives, NTPC strives to develop mutual trust with the communities that surround its power stations.

3.1.3 Human ResourceNTPC believes in achieving organizational excellence through Human Resources and follows "People First" approach to leverage the potential of its approximately 26,000 employees to fulfill its business plans. Human Resources Function has formulated an integrated HR strategy which rests on four building blocks of HR viz. Competence building, Commitment building, Culture building and Systems building. All HR initiatives are undertaken within this broad framework to actualize the HR Vision of "enabling the employees to be a family of committed world class professionals making NTPC a learning organization.

To induct talent and groom them into a dedicated cadre of power professionals "Executive Trainee" Scheme was introduced in the year 1977 for recruitment in the disciplines of Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Control & Instrumentation and now encompasses Computer Science, Chemistry, HR and Finance disciplines also. Besides a comprehensive one year training comprising theoretical inputs as well as on-the-job training, the new recruits are also attached with senior executives under a systematic and formal 'Mentoring System' of the company to integrate them into the Culture of the company.

As part of post employment training and development opportunities, a systematic Training plan has been formulated for ensuring minimum seven man days training per employee per year and includes level-wise planned intervention designed to groom people for assuming positions of higher responsibility, as well as specific need-based interventions based on scientific Training Needs Analysis. NTPC has set up 15 project training centre, 2 simulator training centre and an apex institute namely 'Power Management Institute' (PMI). While the project training centre (Employee Development Centre) has specialized in imparting technical skills and knowledge, PMI places emphasis on management development. Besides, opportunities for long education are also provided through tie ups with reputed Institutions like IIT-Delhi (M.Tech in Power Generation Technology), MDI, Gurgaon (Executive MBA program), and BITS Pilani (B.Tech) etc.

In order to realize the HR Vision of making NTPC a learning organization by providing opportunities to continually learn new capabilities, a number of initiatives have been



taken. NTPC Open Competition for Executive Talent (NOCET) is organized every year in which teams of executives compete annually through oral and written presentation on a topical theme. Similarly "Professional Circles" have been formed department-wise where Executives of the department meet every fortnight to share their knowledge and experiences and discuss topical issues. In order to tap the latent talent among non executives and make use of their potential for creativity and innovation, Quality Circles have been set up in various units/offices in NTPC. Besides a management journal called "Horizon" is published quarterly to enable employees to share their ideas and experiences across the organization.

Demonstrating its high concern for people, NTPC has developed strong employee welfare, health & well-being and social security systems leading to high level of commitment. NTPC offers best quality-of-life through beautiful townships with all amenities such as educational, medical and recreational opportunities for employees and their family members. The motivation to perform and excel is further enhanced through a comprehensive NTPC Rewards and Recognition system.

In order to institutionalize a strong Culture based on Values a number of initiatives are taken to actualize the Vision and Core Values (BCOMIT) across the company. A culture of celebrating achievements and a strong focus on performance are a way of life in NTPC.

NTPC has institutionalized "Development Centers" in the company to systematically diagnose the current and potential competency requirements of the employees with the objective of enhancing their development in a planned manner. These Centers give a good insight to the employees about their strengths and weaknesses, the gaps in their competencies which they can bridge through suitable support from company. Due to innovative people management practices there is a high level of pride and commitment amongst employees as reflected in the various external surveys including “Great Places to Work for in India” in which NTPC was rated third Great Place to work for in the country in 2005.

3.1.4 SWOT Analysis of NTPCKEY STRENGTHS

Largest market share in the domestic power generation and a broad customer portfolio across the country.

Excellent track record of performance in project implementation and plant operations.

Diversified thermal generation portfolio-multiple sizes and fuel types.

Highly skilled and experienced Human Resources exposed to state-of-the-art technologies in project execution and power generation.

Navratna status



High brand equity among stakeholders

Strong balance sheet-ability to raise low cost debt.

Engineering skills in project configuration and package design.

Turnaround ability for old plants-demonstrated in the take-over plants at Talchar, Tanda and Unchachar.

High credit rating indicating the high confidence of leaders

Established systems and procedures to institutionalize excellence in business operations- received ISO accreditation in several functions/areas.

In-house training facility PMI, CENPEEP, R&D etc that assists in development of the sector.

Thrust on reducing social cost of capacity growth-strong execution of Resettlement & Rehabilitation plans.

KEY WEAKNESSES

Low risk-diversification of business portfolio: Consists primarily of generation of generation assets.

Functional orientation hampering cross-functional perspective in decision making.

Long and multi layered procurement process leading to long lead times and process delays.

Fragmented IT architecture

Gaps in HR systems such as performance management, rewards and incentives and career development.

Inadequate development of a strong knowledge management system that could assist in improving efficiency and effectiveness in all aspects of the business.

Hierarchy for decision making that affects responsiveness.

Role ambiguity and dilution within different levels of the organization

KEY OPPORTUNITIES

Expand generation capacities by putting up thermal and hydro capacities, maintaining the position of a dominant generating utility in the Indian power sector.



Broad base fuel mix by considering imported coal, gas, domestic coal, nuclear power etc with a view to mitigate fuel risks and maintain long run competitiveness.

Lead the development and commercial deployment of non-conventional energy sources especially in the distributed generation mode.

Improve collections by trading, direct sale to bulk customers and the active role in allocation in new plants.

Execute increased number of power plants that classify for Mega Power Projects status, thereby reducing the cost of the projects and power and power generated.

Forward integration into the distribution business in India.

KEY THREATS

Entrance of private players in the Indian Power Sector.

Low availability of fuel mix in India and high import prices might affect the cost of electricity generation.

The existence of PSU culture affecting the organizational efficiency in comparison of the Private work culture.

Lack of commitment to be aware of the ever changing needs of the clients/customers.

3.2 Knowledge Management at NTPC

3.2.1 Organizational Transformation at NTPCBefore looking at the initiatives taken by NTPC to transform itself into a knowledge sharing organization, let us focus on the areas that had been helping the organization to grow and develop before Knowledge Management came into picture. NTPC received the Navratna status in the very beginning as it was taking full initiatives for the transformation of the experience of the persons involved in the engineering, erection, commissioning and operations department to its other executives within the organization.

The various initiatives that were being undertaken under the head of knowledge sharing within the organization were:

Seminars, Trainings and Conferences: The employees undergoing major trainings in their field of study had to give presentations to the rest of their department members in order to share the experience and knowledge gained by them from such



educational sessions. It is still a practice in some departments to give presentations on topics that are of importance to them or the organization as a whole. For emerging technologies, the employees are also sent for trainings abroad. As per the company guidelines, all the employees shall undergo at least 7 days of compulsory training in a year.

Power Management Institute (PMI): For the purpose of imparting trainings to employees as well as their families, NTPC had set up a culture of learning through others where people having expertise in their respective fields came to PMI to share their knowledge. All executive trainees are imparted training for a period of one year before they join their respective departments. They are imparted with not only technical trainings but trainings also in the fields of yoga, and other cultural activities. PMI also conducts trainings for employees of other State Electricity Board.

Research and Development (R&D): A separate building in Greater Noida consists of the various testing machines and having a learned staff of executives having their doctorate in specialized fields of metallurgical science. They conduct testing of different materials at various temperatures and different work conditions to select materials for pressure vessels under high temperature workings. They also conduct material tests to know the cause of failure during their working in power plants. This data is helpful for engineering and O&M activities for power plant working and to get higher PLF.

The only drawback that could be seen then was that there were less use of computers and no such data storage machines for sharing the know-how were available. With the introduction of computers and various search engines, people desired to get all the information at their fingertips. No intranet service on which this information could be made readily available to the employees for their official use was existent at that time. On introduction of broadband facilities, NTPC thought of adopting a knowledge sharing culture within the organization where data could be easily made available. To bring this thought into effect, NTPC made a policy to have computers for all its employees. They also gave loans to their employees to have computer at their homes so that they can gather knowledge through internet as well.

The A T Kearney report had also suggested NTPC to become a learning organization by accumulating the information from the various sources mentioned above and forming a single platform from where such knowledge can be acquired and shared between the employees. So, a knowledge sharing portal was made, which made all the important information available to the employees of NTPC at the click of a mouse.

3.2.2 Knowledge Creation at NTPCKnowledge creation occurs when there is interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Nonaka & Takeuchi in their theory of organizational creation present a view that, tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge are not totally separate but mutually complementary entities. They interact with and interchange into each other in the



creative activities of human beings. This interaction is called Knowledge Conversion. Before we discuss the knowledge conversion, let us see how different the two types of knowledge as mentioned above are:

Tacit Knowledge Explicit Knowledge

It is Subjective It is Objective

Knowledge of experience Knowledge of rationality

Context specific Context free

Person based Codified/ documented

Modes of Knowledge Conversion

The assumption that knowledge is created through the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge allows us to see four different modes of knowledge conversion, which are as follows:

From tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge, called Socialization. From tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, called Externalization. From explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge, Combination. From explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, Internalization.

The table below shows the four modes of conversion.

Socialization

How to enable transfer of subjective tacit mental models and skill based knowledge which otherwise cannot be made implicit?

Externalization

How to capture/ codify the subjective, tacit mental models and skill based knowledge that resides in people and products of the organization?

Internationalization

How to enable absorption and internalization of the knowledge so that it becomes a part of organization’s way of working?

Combination

How to create new knowledge by recombining what is already known to people in the organization?

Knowledge Creation through Knowledge Spiral


SocializationSharing mental models

ExternalizationCreative Reflexion

InternalizationLearning by Doing Combination

Networking

FieldBuilding


Organizational knowledge creation is a continuous & dynamic interaction of tacit and explicit knowledge.

Knowledge Spiral Dialogue

Learning by Doing

This interaction is shaped by shifts between different modes of knowledge conversion, which are in turn induced by several triggers. See below to understand the process:

First, the socialization mode starts with building a field of interaction. This field facilitates the sharing of members’ experiences and mental models.

Second, the externalization mode is triggered by meaningful dialogue or collective reflection, in which team member’s articulate hidden tacit knowledge, otherwise hard to communicate using appropriate metaphors and analogies.

Third, the combination mode is triggered by networking newly created knowledge and existing knowledge from other sections of the organization, thereby crystallizing them into a new product, service or system and

Finally learning by doing triggers internalization. The content of knowledge created by each mode is different and is shown below:


Knowledge


MODE CONTENT

Socialization Sympathized Knowledge

Externalization Conceptual Knowledge

Combination Systemic Knowledge

Internalization Operational Knowledge

3.2.3 NTPC as a Learning OrganizationReaching the top is difficult; but, staying on top for long is far more difficult.

History is witness to this universal truth. Of those who have reached the pinnacle of success, only a few who have learned with changing times have stayed there; the rest have taken the quick ride down, unable to maintain their position owing to complacence. Though the lesson has been in existence since time immemorial, just like almost all management concepts, the recent past has seen terms like learning organization, organizational learning, and knowledge management emerging as the buzzwords in the market. This article attempts to define a few of these terms from NTPC perspective, analyze the prevailing scenario and present a roadmap for the future journey.

3.2.3.1Essence of a Learning OrganizationMyriad definitions for the term “Learning Organization” have been formed by experts all over the world. One simple definition, provided by David A. Garvin goes like this: “A Learning Organization is an organization skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights”. The Learning Organization is the one that creates an environment where the behaviors and practices involved in continuous development are actively encouraged. The effective learning must be created and encouraged at individual, one-to-one, and group level if the fourth level, organizational learning is to become operational rather than inspirational. Each level can be seen as a sequential step, and those steps can be envisaged as a Learning Pyramid.

The learning pyramid illustrates that:

An organization must climb up the pyramid, and must cover each step before reaching the top; and

Climbing gets more difficult as one proceeds toward the top.


LEARNINGORGANIZATION

GROUPLEARNING

ONE-TO-ONELEARNING

THE INDIVIDUALLEARNER

The Total Achievement

Group Interactions/ Discussions

Formal Mgmt Practices, Appraisal, Coaching, etc.

The Base Learning


3.2.3.2 The Learning PyramidThe goal of becoming a Learning Organization is achieved when learning becomes the habit of each and every individual member of the organization.

Every organization that aspires to become a Learning Organization must have in place a comprehensive system to assimilate, store and share knowledge throughout its organizational structure. Putting differently, the towering edifice of a Learning Organization is built upon the foundation of a strong Knowledge Management System

3.2.3.3 NTPC PerspectiveNTPC, being a firm believer in the power of knowledge ever since the days of its inception, has taken numerous initiatives towards becoming a Learning Organization even before the term became a buzzword. These initiatives include Exhaustive Training programs provided by the PMI, in-house seminars, lectures and workshops, company sponsored B.S., M. Tech. and PGDBM programs, study leave for employees aspiring of higher studies, forums like Professional Circle and Quality Circle, libraries, in-house magazines and newsletters, intranet, various competitions like NOCET, Quiz contest, etc.

In addition to all these, with the launch of ERP, a massive process for Knowledge Management has also been undertaken in NTPC to assimilate, organize and make available the vast repository of knowledge through a Knowledge Portal.



3.2.3.4 NTPC- Its Stand NowToday, NTPC has reached a stage where all these initiatives need to be critically analyzed in order to weed out redundant / unproductive practices and to obtain purposeful insights to better the system, and progress towards becoming a Learning Organization in order to attain and maintain global supremacy in the complete spectrum of its businesses.

A research undertaken to study the effectiveness of a few of NTPC’s initiatives to become a learning organization has provided a lot to think and act upon, for every single member of this organization.

A) Knowledge Management & Knowledge Sharing Practices in NTPC

The vast repository of in-house knowledge needs to be made easily accessible to all, with better user interface.

More encouragement from management side is required for people to share their knowledge. Platforms for knowledge sharing at all the levels shall be developed to enable knowledge sharing culture.

Attending Seminars / Technical meets needs to be encouraged. System for sharing of knowledge gained by the attendees among their groups / departments shall be put into place in order to improve the effectiveness of such initiatives.

People feel that the information available on the core business (Thermal Power Projects) is important and relevant, but needs to be updated and shared regularly. It is also felt that information on the new ventures viz., Distribution, Trading, Nuclear and Hydro Power, Mining, Consultancy, etc. needs to be gathered, categorized and made available to all.

To encourage knowledge sharing in an informal manner across the boundaries of departments, informal forums like "Communities of Practices" should be constituted.

Standardization of processes and procedures is required to be taken up in order to reduce the cycle time of repetitive activities and minimize avoidable errors.

B) Competence Enhancement Programs like M. Tech. & PGDBM

The general perception is that the minimum experience criterion should be brought down with increasing age, as the enthusiasm and capability to learn diminish and people are not able to extract the most out of these courses.

Means to alleviate Monetary and Logistical issues and policy to prevent the loss of seniority are needed to make these courses more attractive.

The course contents shall be made commensurate with NTPC's requirements. Key areas for posting after completion of the course shall be identified so that the

learning is fully tapped.

3.2.3.5 Roadmap for the Journey AheadA) Reformation of Executive Education



Identification of key areas where specially trained manpower is required and estimation of the quantum of such manpower in line with the company’s business plan

Design of course contents in concurrence with some major educational institution to suit the specific requirements of the company

Optimization of course duration Revision of minimum experience criteria to encourage participation of young

minds

B) Knowledge Management Portal: K-POWER

A web based Knowledge Management system, “K-Power”, is proposed, which shall be accessible to all across the length and breadth of NTPC through the intranet. K-Power is aimed at connecting people, bringing together dispersed workgroups and creating a culture of sharing knowledge in NTPC.

In short, K-Power will be an ‘integrated grid’ of knowledge to make sure each and every part of the system remains connected and enlightened with ‘knowledge power’. It is suggested to make K-Power the ‘Home-Page’ of all browsers across the plants, projects and offices of NTPC to make it ubiquitous.

ELEMENTS OF K- POWER

K- NEWS Latest news and competitive and regulatory environment

News bulletin of NTPC Press releases and articles News about exhibitions and seminars What’s new in K- Power

K- FORUM Online discussion platform Trouble shooting, problem solving, FAQs with

answers Sharing ideas and best practices Discussions on “Topic of the Week” Awards for meritorious contributions

K- TRAINING Schedule of training programs, workshops and seminars

Nomination, reporting and participant evaluations Web-based virtual classrooms Technical videos Online tutorials, practice exercises with solutions



K- QUIZ Interactive Quiz Rewards as points earned

K- LIBRARY Easy access to the warehouse of existing knowledge E-archives Company policies, benefits, product catalogues and

standards

K- DIRECTORY Intranet based interface via which people register or locate expertise

E-mail IDs and phone numbers of in-house skill experts

K- LINKS Links with projects, other units and departmental pages and internet

Links to web sites for accessing Standards, Acts and Policies

K- FEEDBACK Feedbacks and suggestions of users for making K- Power more effective and user friendly

K- HELPDESK Help topics on how to use K- Power and its various links

C) Creating the Learning Habit: K-EEP

Resistance to learn and reluctance to teach have become the habit of many over the years, and, they can be overcome only if some force is exerted by the top management on the concerned parties. A formal Knowledge Enhancement & Evaluation Program (KEEP) is suggested to imbibe the habit of learning & teaching into the organization.

The entire employee base of NTPC will be categorized into two sets viz., the ‘Learners’– those who have less than certain years of experience and the ‘Tutors’ – those who have more experience. An online course, requiring about an hour of study every week shall be completed by every learner. The course content shall start with the processes involved in the immediate neighborhood of the learner’s current position (department / group) and shall expand to other departments, division, projects, etc. as the learning progresses.

At the end of each lesson, a mandatory online test shall be taken by the learner, the scores of which shall form a part of his / her performance appraisal system.

The tutors shall be required to prepare the course material based on their knowledge and experience. They shall also evaluate the tests given by the learners.



The quantity and quality of the course material prepared by each tutor shall form part of his / her performance appraisal system.

Sufficient measures shall be taken to maintain the quality of the course contents based on the organization’s needs and initiatives.

3.2.3.6 More bricks to build a Learning Organization Rewards and Recognitions for Knowledge Sharing Standardization of processes to avoid “Reinvention of Wheel” Strategic Carrier Opportunities Strategic Job Rotation Promotion of informal forums like “Communities of Practices” Objective evaluation of effectiveness of various training programs Corporate Knowledge Management Group headed by a Chief Knowledge Officer

reporting directly to the CMD



Scope and Objectives of the Project

4.1 ScopeThe scope of this project is confined to the Engineering Office complex of NTPC in Noida, where the summer internship had been undertaken by me.

4.2 Objectives of the Project Primary objectives

To evaluate the environment for knowledge management in the organization. To prepare a mechanism which enables NTPC to create a supportive

environment for knowledge sharing. To know what are the contributing factors that would help in building up of a

conducive environment for knowledge management.

Secondary objectives

To ascertain the organizational awareness, which is the foundation of KM. To determine if the employees feel there is need for knowledge management in

NTPC. To know the employees perception towards knowledge management. To identify the major source of information flow. To see the effectiveness of knowledge transfer activities carried by NTPC. To identify the loop holes restricting the full effectiveness of Knowledge

Management tools. To know how frequently employees use KM tools. To gauge the attitude of employees towards the creation of a culture which

encourages knowledge sharing.



Research MethodologyResearch methodology establishes a framework of evaluation and re evaluation of primary and secondary research. The technique and concepts used during primary research in order to arrive at findings; which are also dealt with and lead to a logical deduction towards the analysis and results.

5.1 Types of ResearchQualitative Research: It aims at studying and analyzing the quality or kind of research. This research is qualitative as it focuses on Knowledge which is a quality aspect of an organization.

Exploratory Research: It is when a study is undertaken with the objective either to explore an area where little is known or to investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research study. This research is exploratory as it explores the organizational awareness, culture and environment of Knowledge Management.

5.2 Research DesignA research design is a logical & systematic plan prepared for directing a research study. It constitutes the blue print for the collection, measurement, analysis and interpretation of observations.

A sample is a representative part of the population. In sampling technique, information is collected only from a representative part of the universe and the conclusions are drawn on that basis for the entire universe.

A convenience sampling technique was used to collect data from the respondents. . It is a non-probability sample. This is the least reliable design but normally the cheapest and easiest to conduct .In this method Researcher have the freedom to choose whomever they find, thus the name convenience.

Sample Size: 100 Employees of NTPC Ltd.

Sampling Unit: Employees of NTPC from all levels and departments

Area Covered: EOC-Sector-24, Noida.

5.3 Type of DataThe sources of data can be categorized as-

Primary Data



New data gathered to help solve the problem at hand. Primary data was basically collected by getting the questionnaire filled by the respondents.

Secondary Data

Secondary data is the information that already exists, having been collected for another purpose. Sources include trade publications and subscription services, data that has already been collected and published for another research project that has been referred for the project.

An intensive secondary data research was conducted to understand the full impact and implications of Knowledge Management. Organizational environments of various companies were reviewed in order to identify certain issues which needed to be dealt with and assessed in order to make Knowledge Management initiative a success.

5.4 Data Collection ToolThe data collection tool in my research is Questionnaire

The questions shortlisted were incorporated by me in my primary data research work, which consisted of two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was an objective, generalized questionnaire that was filled up by 100 employees of NTPC. It basically had questions concerning to the general awareness among people regarding the organization and the prevalent Knowledge Management Systems in the organization.

The second questionnaire being subjective, had in-depth questions regarding the problems and difficulties faced by the employees while working with the existing Knowledge Management portals, and how these problems can be tackled and solved out. This questionnaire was filled by only the top executives of NTPC. Simultaneous interviews were also taken of the employees filling these questionnaires.

5.5 Data Analysis Tool Pie Charts Bar Graphs



Analysis and Interpretation

6.1 Analysis of Questionnaire- 1

AWARENESS ABOUT NTPC

1. NTPC has implemented SAP / ERP as its Human Resource Management System.

Yes Don’t Know No

95.60%

4.35%

IMPLEMENTATION OF SAP/ ERP AS HRMS

YESNO

Interpretation: About 96% of the employees were aware that NTPC has implemented SAP / ERP as its Human Resource Management System.

2. NTPC has a Knowledge Management portal on its Intranet.

Yes Don’t Know No

97.83%

2.17%

KM PORTAL ON INTRANET

YESNO

Interpretation: Only 2.17% were unaware of the KM portal prevailing at NTPC. The rest of the employees had full knowledge of the existence of a KM portal.



3. NTPC envisions being a GLOBAL PLAYER by 2017.

Yes Don’t Know No

93.48%

6.52%

VISION OF GLOBAL PLAYER BY 2017

YESNO

Interpretation: 93% of the employees knew of NTPC’s vision of becoming a global player by 2017. A few employees of about 6% had no idea about the same.

4. NTPC plans to diversify into the POWER DISTRIBUTION segment.

Yes Don’t Know No

86.96%

13.04%

PLANS TO DIVERSIFY INTO POWER DISTRI-BUTION

YESNO

Interpretation: About 87% of the employees knew that NTPC has already diversified into the field of power distribution. But 13% of the employees were doubtful when asked about this question.



ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

1. Employees are informed through intranet/ emails /circulars about any meetings or important events.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

78.26%

21.74%0.00%

INFORMED ABOUT MEETINGS, ETC.

Interpretation: When asked if the employees were informed through intranet/ emails /circulars about any meetings or important events, about 78% replied in a positive manner. 22% said they were sometimes informed about such events. There was no such employee who replied in a negative way.

2. Employees are informed before any organizational change happens.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

35%40%45%50%

37%

50%

13%

INFORMED ABOUT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Interpretation: Half of the employees replied that they were only sometimes informed about major organizational changes. 13% reverted to this question in a



negative way while only 37% replied in a positive manner.

3. Employees are encouraged to implement innovative ideas in daily office work.

Yes Sometimes No


10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

50.00%43.48%

6.52%

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR INNOVATION AT OFFICE

Interpretation: On asking about the encouragement given to employees to implement innovative ideas in daily office work, half of the sample said they were allowed to innovate, while 43% of the employees said they were allowed to innovate only sometimes. Only 6.5% employees said they were not allowed to implement innovative ideas in daily office works.

4. Employees have a healthy interaction among themselves.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

70.65%

23.91%5.44%

HEALTHY INTERACTION AMONG EMPLOYEES

Interpretation: When asked about the interaction that took place among the employees in the work front, 71% of the employees said they had healthy



interactions, while 24% said the interaction sometimes did not remain healthy. Only 5% employees believed that their interaction among employees was not healthy.

5. HODs know all their juniors by name.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

88.04%

10.87% 1.09%

HODs KNOW EMPLOYEES BY NAME

Interpretation: 88% of the employees said that their heads of the department knew them by name while only 10% said that the heads sometimes forgot their names.

6. When approached, employees help each other readily.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

71.74%

27.17%

1.09%

READINESS TO HELP AMONG EMPLOYEES

Interpretation: 72% employees shared a helping attitude among themselves while only 27% sometimes got a cold shoulder from among the employees when



in need of help.



KNOWLEDGE AWARENESS

1. At times, duplication of activity takes place in two or more departments.

Yes Sometimes No

55.44%

44.56%

DUPLICATION OF ACTIVITIES OCCUR

YESNO

Interpretation: There was a tough fight with 55% of the employees vouching that duplication of activities does occur at times in two or more departments, while 44% denying any kind of duplication of activities.

2. Sometimes mistakes happen as valuable information is not available at the right time.

Yes Sometimes No

71.74%

28.26%

MISTAKES HAPPEN DUE TO DATA UN-AVAILABILITY

YESNO

Interpretation: 71% of the employees agreed on mistakes happening due to unavailability of data with them, while 28% of the employees said that such mistakes do not occur.



3. Are there any training programs conducted for the usage of KM system in the organization.

Yes Sometimes No

56.52%

43.48%

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR USING KM PORTALS

YESNO

Interpretation: About 57% of the employees agreed on having training programs initiated for using the KM portals on the intranet, while the rest 43% denied any such service provided to them

4. Does the HR team have any contributions for the KM success.

Yes Sometimes No

61.96%

38.04%

CONTRIBUTIONS OF HR TEAM FOR KM

YESNO

Interpretation: 62% of the employees agreed on HR having its contributions for the success of the KM portal but 38% of the sample employees complained of the HR team not giving any commendable inputs or contributions.



KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE AT NTPC

1. I feel awkward in approaching others for help.

Yes Sometimes No

10.87%

33.70%55.43%

FEEL AWKWARD APPROACHIN OTHERS FOR HELP

YESSOMETIMESNO

Interpretation: It was surprising to know that 11% of the employees felt awkward approaching others for help while 34% of them were sometimes hesitant even approaching their colleagues. Only 55% of the employees showed no fear in approaching others at times of help.

2. My colleagues cross-check information received from others.

Yes Sometimes No

42.39%

43.48%

14.13%

CROSS CHECKING INFORMATION OF COLLEAGUES

YESSOMETIMESNO

Interpretation: When asked if the employees cross check the information that they have gained from their colleagues, 86% of the employees agreed on doing the same at times or otherwise. Only 14% of the employees disagreed on any kind of cross checking of information.



3. I feel privileged in sharing information with my colleagues in other departments/units.

Yes Sometimes No

81.52%

17.39%

1.09%

PRIVILEDGED IN SHARING INFORMATION

YESSOMETIMESNO

Interpretation: It was very nice to know that around 82% of the employees were open to sharing knowledge among the employees. Only 17% of the employees believed in keeping knowledge with themselves and not sharing it with all the employees. They shared their knowledge only to a select group of their peers.

4. Sharing of data improves trust and co-operation with colleagues.

Yes Sometimes No

86.96%

10.87%2.17%

SHARING IMPROVES TRUST AND COOPER-ATION

YESSOMETIMESNO

Interpretation: Most of the employees agreed that sharing of knowledge improved trust and cooperation among employees. Only about 11% of the employees were a bit hesitant in this context.



5. I feel sharing of critical information with others reduces my importance.

Yes Sometimes No

15.22%

26.09%58.69%

SHARING INFORMATION REDUCES IM-PORTANCE

YESSOMETIMESNO

Interpretation: It was good to know that most of the employees accepted the fact that sharing of information had nothing to do with reduced importance among the employees. But some employees still held the opinion that sharing of information reduces importance among employees.



IN HOUSE KNOWLEDGE

1. Search my mailbox for mails regarding the topic.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

56.52%

27.17%

16.31%

SEARCH MAILBOX

Interpretation: It was interesting to know that around 84% of the employees referred to their mailbox for past mails on a certain topic while only 16% denied referring to the mailbox for such topics.

2. Contact people I know and ask them.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

73.91%

23.91%

2.18%

CONTACT PEOPLE AND ASK THEM

Interpretation: About 74% of the employees asked people around them for any kind of information that they needed on a certain topic. Another 24% said they sometimes do consult their colleagues but also try to find information from other sources.



3. Search my paper documents.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

55.44%

42.39%

2.17%

SEARCH PAPER DOCUMENTS

Interpretation: 55% of the employees fully depended on past year documents for their official work. Another 42% said they referred to past documents when their colleagues could not help them provide information on a topic.

4. Refer to the materials available in the library.

Yes Sometimes No


10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

42.39%

47.83%

9.78%

REFER TO LIBRARY MATERIAL

Interpretation: It also came to be noted that 90% employees refer to library materials like journals, standards and books when they needed information on a certain topic. Of these 48% went occasionally to the library while 42% visited the library quite often.



5. Search the NTPC's Intranet.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%59.78%

39.13%

1.09%

SEARCH NTPC's INTRANET

Interpretation: An interesting fact that came to picture was that almost all the employees do refer to the intranet service of NTPC, though the frequency of these visits varies. About 60% of the employees regularly browsed through the company’s intranet services.

6. Search on the Internet.

Yes Sometimes No

YES SOMETIMES NO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

78.26%

20.65%

1.09%

SEARCH THE INTERNET

Interpretation: In spite of such high usage of the intranet facility by the employees, about 78% of the employees still referred to the internet while doing their work. The reason behind such a data was found to be the lack of awareness among the employees regarding the information being made available on the intranet.



KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER EFFECTIVENESS

1. Training should be provided for employees.

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

1

TRAINING SHOULD BE PROVIDED

YESNO

Interpretation: There had been full consent among employees regarding the imparting of training among the employees in their work areas.

2. Induction Program for new recruits is necessary.


98.91%

1.09%

INDUCTION PROGRAMS FOR NEW RECRUITS

YESNO

Interpretation: Only a negligible percentage of people were of the view that induction programs should not be imparted to the new recruits in the company. They thought it to be a waste of both time and money, although they did agree that it was an important activity.



3. Mentoring system should be implemented.


1

MENTORING TO BE IMPLEMENTED

YESNO

Interpretation: All the employees on having mentoring programs for the employees of NTPC. They also seemed to be happy with the existing mentoring program that is running in the organization.

4. Quality Circles/Professional Circles should be encouraged.


1

QUALITY / PROFESSIONAL CIRCLES TO BE ENCOURAGED

YESNO

Interpretation: The employees also agreed upon having quality/ professional circles at the workplace. This was thought to increase their exposure in their respective work areas.



5. Casual talks with Colleagues are helpful.


92.39%

7.61%

CASUAL TALKS WITH COLLEAGUES ARE HELPFUL

YESNO

Interpretation: While 92% of the employees said that casual talks are helpful in an organization, there were about 8% of the employees who totally disagreed with the statement. They were of the opinion that casual talks leads to a lot of time loss and work suffers due to these reasons.

6. Reading HORIZON and other NTPC Journals helps gain knowledge.


94.57%

5.43%

READING HORIZON AND OTHER JOURNALS HELP

YESNO

Interpretation: 95% of the employees were of the view point that magazines like Horizon are a well of knowledge and takes up some of the important issues that help build the knowledge of the employees. The rest 5% argued that such magazines are only of the interest of the HR department and not of much worth to other departments.



7. Attending Seminars, Conferences and Knowledge Forums organized by NTPC are beneficial.


98.91%

1.09%

ATTENDING SEMINARS ARE BENEFICIAL

YESNO

Interpretation: Majority of the employees agreed that attending of seminars/ conferences and trainings are beneficial to the employees and should be organized quite frequently. Only a selected few complained that such seminars are a waste of time as they take away important hours from their hectic work schedules.

8. Browsing through the Intranet (KMS) helps.


95.65%

4.35%

BROWSING THROUGH KM PORTALS HELPS

YESNO

Interpretation: Of those having knowledge about the usage of the various KM portals on the intranet found them to be very useful for work related activities. Only 4% of the employees disagreed on this point as they were not having much knowledge about the information available at these portals.



6.2 ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONNAIRE 21. Are you satisfied with the existing Knowledge Management System at NTPC?

Yes No

60%

40%

Satisfaction from existing KMS

yesno

Interpretation: About 60% of the employees of NTPC seemed to be satisfied with the existing KMS. The rest 40% were not fully satisfied and wanted certain changes in the same.

2. How many articles of your field have been contributed towards Knowledge Management from your group?

0 2 4 6 8

38%

25%

25%

13%

Number of Articles Contributed by group

zerotwofoursixeight

Interpretation: When asked about the number of articles contributed by each department/ group in the last one year, it was seen not more than 6 articles maximum were contributed by particular groups.



3. Which Knowledge Management portfolio(s) do you generally refer for your work?

Information and Library Services

Knowledge Management in SAP

Knowledge Management in Engineering Division

Others …………………………………………………………

47.00%

11.80%

41.20%

Portfolios Referred

Info n LibSAPEngg. Div.

Interpretation: Most of the NTPC employees referred to the Engineering and Information & Library portfolio, with only about 12% using the SAP.

4. Do you refer any publications (journals/codes/standards) in support of your work?

If yes, which are those?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

41.60%

20.80%

37.50%

Reference to Standards/ Journals/ Codes

STANDARDSJOURNALSCODES

Interpretation: The employees of NTPC generally refer to the codes, standards and journals that have been laid down by the organization. They also refer to some International Standards (IS) apart from the BIS, IEEE, IEC, ASME and ASTM.



5. Do your supporting groups/ departments contribute towards Knowledge Management sources?

Yes No

70%

30%

Contributions of peer for KM

YesNo

Interpretation: About 70% of the employees said that articles were contributed by their peers towards the KMS. 30% were not sure of the contributions done by their peers.

6. What would you suggest to strengthen the existing Knowledge Management System

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Interpretation: This question bought forward the lack of knowledge of employees about KMS. Many people had asked for standards and codes to be implemented in the KMS. Standards and codes are not a part of KMS, but are still available on the NTPC intranet. Majority of the employees are not aware of the same. Many emphasized that there were not many articles on the KM site by engineering division. The employees should consider themselves as a part of the KMS rather than being dependent on others to contribute towards the system.

7. What are the key areas where you would like to improve the existing Knowledge Management System?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………

Interpretation: Majority of the employees wanted to know the experiences of people who go on sites for field work. Things like designing and testing came into light. People asked for design guidelines and checklists of engineering designs as they have to frequently deal with all such things in day-to-day practices.



8. What, according to you, are the best sources of gathering knowledge?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

20%

40%

13%

13%

13%

Sources of Knowledge as per Employees

LibraryInternetDiscussionsSeminarsSite Visits

Interpretation: Internet topped the list with 40% of the employees vowing for it. It was followed by library with 20% of the people saying that they get most of the information needed from the library. Discussions, seminars and job visits also provided some knowledge to the employees.

9. Where do you gather knowledge regarding your field of study?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

22.70%

31.80%18.20%

4.50%

22.70%

Sources of Knowledge for Employees

InternetLibrarySeminarsJob VisitsDiscussions

Interpretation: A good 32% of the employees said that they gathered most of the information from the library books and journals. Internet came as the second best option in the list for gaining knowledge. Other sources included seminars and trainings, job visits and discussions among the employees.



10. Does NTPC send its employees for seminars/ trainings out of the NTPC premises?

Yes No

yes no0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

1

0

Trainings outside NTPC premises

Series1

Interpretation: All the employees agreed that they were sent for trainings and seminars outside the NTPC premises. All were pretty pleased by this act of the organization.

11. How often are you allowed to attend such seminars/ trainings?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Interpretation: When asked about the duration of these trainings and seminars, most of them said that trainings are provided twice/ thrice a year. The employees were quite satisfied with the duration of these sessions as there was a minimum of seven days of compulsory trainings that had to be undergone by them.



Findings

Through the analysis, it has been found that the employees have a sense of job security. The groundwork to be done by the organization is basically related to the people aspect.

Though NTPC has a very low attrition rate, but a lot of employees were of the perception that sharing of critical information among employees would hamper their chances of progress/promotion, as all would be at par with same knowledge gained from others. While interviewing, the employees exhibited a sense of fear as they felt that sharing of critical knowledge and know-how or helping their colleagues is not acknowledged in the organization.

The aim of NTPC or any organization implementing a KM strategy is to design a methodology that is in sync with the mission, vision, values and culture of the organization. To change the culture and the attitude of the employees is a difficult task. People resist change and any coercion done by the organization can ruin the work balance of the employees.

Due to poor communication and lack of commitment and motivation on the part of employees and management the organizational awareness suffered. Many of the employees were not fully aware about the KM portals. NTPC is not working on enhancing the KMS, but majority of the employees agreed from strong to mild that KM initiative is being taken up by NTPC. The KM portals on its intranet are not being updated regularly. Employees are not educated enough to understand the concept of KM and its application in every day work activities.

The employees had little understanding about the issues, which have been left unaddressed by the management like the KM initiatives, ERP implementation, etc. The knowledge transfer activities of Mentoring System, seminars and conferences and reading the Horizon seemed to be gaining importance among the employees with the change in time.

Out of 100 employees interviewed who had the clarity of concepts and were a part of the KM initiative of NTPC till two years back said that “The challenge at NTPC is people, not the technology”.

Looking at some of the other aspects,

Vision of KM: The right information to the right people at the right time.

Reality: Technology is available to the employees, but the employees do not seem to change their working habits.



The ideal Knowledge Management environment will be the one where: Every employee has the necessary tools for gathering, organizing, refining and disseminating information. All information in a company is available to everyone who needs it. Employees creatively contribute to the common pool of knowledge.

But, Today's reality is far from the ideal desired: Technology is at the second stage, but the behavior of the employees is still stuck at the first stage.

The employees are in a habit of browsing through the organization's intranet, but rely more on personal interactions or the internet. The reason for such a behavior among the employees is that the portals on the intranet are not being updated on a timely basis and the networking among people seems to be stronger and faster than that.

Innovation is the key to Knowledge Management: Due to the age old work style and the aging work force, innovation is not the buzz word amongst the NTPC family. Innovative ways of working is not acknowledged by the senior members of NTPC.

Human Resource managers can play important role in identifying the knowledge core of NTPC and recommending ways to preserve the critical role, building robust, long range plans to ensure top quality operations. They can also brief up the employees how a little contribution from their side can help in the overall development of the organization. They also have to make the people understand that KM is not only a HR initiative but an overall organizational goal.

NTPC Ltd is a "Learning Organization" where the continuous improvement requires a commitment to learning. At NTPC, people continuously expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire. Here, new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are now continuously learning how to “learn together”. For the KM initiative, implementation and sustenance a commitment and motivation to learn have to be propagated by the organization, which NTPC is doing now.

The various departments had a very different pattern of responses. The Finance, Information Technology, New Business Development departments agreed towards the stronger side of the knowledge duplication happening in NTPC. They agreed to mistakes happening because of the information being unavailable at the right time. On the other hand, the Human Resource Department differed on this ground. The HRMS-SAP/ ERP have reduced the duplication of information and data redundancy to its minimal level.





Limitations of study

Sample size of 100 to represent the entire manpower strength is not a very significant sample of the entire population.

The top executives were hesitant and reluctant to reveal some vital information required for the research work..

Certain respondents eager to provide their contributions in the research work were hard pressed with time and could not contribute their valuable support for the same.

It was difficult to go for a detailed research in a limited period of 6 weeks.



Recommendations and Conclusion

9.1 Suggestions for successful KM initiative:

The aim of NTPC can be to manage knowledge by effective people management. As we can't manage knowledge, we can manage the environment in which knowledge can be created, discovered, captured, shared, distilled, validated, transferred, adopted, adapted and applied.

NTPC would have to create:

Right Conditions: by way of common reliable infrastructure Right Means: through common model, tools and processes Right Actions: where people instinctively seek, share, and use knowledge Right Leadership: where learning is rewarded and contributions acknowledged.

The ideal outcome is that people manage knowledge as a part of their daily business, without thinking of it as an extra task above their routine official work, and that leadership of the company and the company processes reinforce this. NTPC should strive to achieve “Unconscious Competence”

For attaining the unconscious competence, following suggestions can be beneficial for NTPC to attain a surety of succeeding in the KM initiative.

NTPC can lay stress on having a strong leadership that communicates and asks for collaboration from its employees. Like any high priority project, KM will be best implemented with determined champions and top management commitment. NTPC would have to design the environment in such a manner that organizational culture is open to all the levels. By encouraging best-practice sharing, NTPC would aim at grasping the knowledge within the employees and also bring change in the organization's processes. In this way, NTPC would successfully use the employee input and knowledge that might produce a strategic advantage.

By augmenting the organizational awareness and organizational communication at NTPC, the knowledge awareness, sharing and transfer efficiency can also see an upward trend. The organizational environment influences the attitude of the employee towards organizational knowledge. By improving the organizational environment, there can be a positive change made in the knowledge aspect of the organization.

NTPC can introduce KM only when it is ready for the change. At present, NTPC needs to condition its People-Process-Technology. This is a task without which NTPC's environment will not be apt for Knowledge Management and the initiative can lead to loss of time and funds. Spurred by the paradigm shift in our economy, many corporations pursue KM without evaluating whether they are organizationally ready. NTPC being a PSU has been working on the lines of classical



management principles and cannot be successful in adopting KM without major changes in culture, management attitudes, and communication skills.

At NTPC, KM would be a success only if the co-ordination between Human Resource and Technology takes place. The two departments should work jointly in incorporating KM as a part of the organizational processes.

KM is not a technological brainchild. KM is a technology emanating from the knowledge of human brains captured by humans. The people element in KM can be dealt in an efficient manner. Although intranets, knowledge-based tools, data warehouses, and other computer-based software are a part of the way NTPC would look at the future, but technology is only an enabler of KM. The knowledge that NTPC would make available must be organized and disseminated to human decision makers to be of any use to them.

NTPC would have to make changes in its Compensation System. To encourage employees to contribute towards knowledge management, NTPC should have a system of rewarding people who exhibit the right behaviors. Recognition is the most powerful motivation Receiving acknowledgement for the contributions of the employees makes a difference. NTPC can use more innovative ways like having "MOST HELPING EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH" with regular Notice Board entries to it. Also, such initiatives of helping colleagues can be made a part of the annual appraisal. Instead of knowledge hoarding knowledge dissemination and imparting can be made part of the appraisal criteria.

NTPC would have to build an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding amongst the employees. An employee would share things better with people he knows and trusts. NTPC needs to develop new ways of developing mutual trust and knowledge sharing reciprocity. Instead of sharing knowledge via web, i.e. without meeting face -to- face, NTPC can also make a system of sharing know-how. The key is to know the attitude and the temperament of “Knowledge Giver” and the “Knowledge Receiver”, which would be impossible until the process of sharing knowledge is made more interactive.

NTPC can encourage people to give and receive challenges. Challenging the assumptions or firm beliefs takes some effort, as does receiving such a challenge. The environment would have to facilitate internal - competition to create better knowledge-base. For NTPC, it becomes imperative to start identifying the internal knowledge sources and actively urge the employees to help in new knowledge creation. If NTPC keeps on going with the traditional “boss-order-subordinate system”, then it would not be able to sustain the pressure of knowledge generation. Teams can be divided into competing groups that develop different approaches to the same project/task and then discuss the advantages & disadvantages of the proposals. It provides a variety of perspectives for the project from which the best strategies can be chosen.



KM initiative would have to be in-sync with the strategic level intents of NTPC. The leadership would have to adjust the KM strategy with the vision, objectives of the joint ventures, market capture goals and desired customer satisfaction to be achieved NTPC in the future time period.

For setting conducive environment for KM, the concept of organization and its structure might have to undergo a slight change. NTPC may be suggested to have more permeable organizational boundaries and to collaborate with all units’ joint ventures to capture all possible knowledge.

Employees should be encouraged to exchange knowledge through various activities like Job Rotation, Benchmarking, Scenario And Simulation Techniques.

NTPC can implement “Redundancy Approach”. Redundancy can be important as it encourages frequent dialogue and communication. This creates a "common cognitive ground" among employees and facilities the transfer of tacit knowledge. For NTPC redundancy can be a “Chaos to Concept Approach”. In this, the employees of NTPC share overlapping information they sense others are struggling to articulate. Redundancy also spreads new explicit knowledge throughout the organization so that the employees can internalize it.

The Mentoring System is a good and efficient way of sharing tacit knowledge. "We can know more than we can tell". By giving more emphasis on the mentoring activities, a lot can be learned from tacit knowledge of a mentor. NTPC may also identify mentors from the corporate world and encourage sharing of knowledge between mentors-men(tees). If Stress is laid upon building knowledge through relationships in the mentoring system, it would help in better trust building too.

.


CAPTURED KNOWLEDGE

LEARN DURING

LEARN BEFORE LEARN AFTER


9.2 Model for Successful Knowledge Management Implementation

KM can make a difference in the processes of NTPC for getting business results from their objectives. The key would be to introduce learning at every opportunity. Reusing knowledge is faster than recreating knowledge.

Captured Knowledge : For NTPC the best way to store know-how is to build a knowledge-asset which would have withdrawal from a "knowledge bank" at the start of an activity and depositing new knowledge at the end.

Learn before Doing : NTPC would encourage employees to find out what knowledge is out there before performing any piece of work.

Learn during the Activity : It would be a real benefit to the organization if done routinely. An individual can learn from oneself (experience) and learn from others (tacit and explicit knowledge).

Learn after Doing : It is an important component and would create an environment that inspires the team/individual at NTPC to perform the next task better.

Implementing this model would encourage knowledge sharing, as employees would come together to face the challenges and interact in a manner which would increase the trust and understanding. The main aim of the employees will not be to finish the task, but the aim will be to collaborate in a way to complete the task in the best possible manner.



Conclusion

NTPC had always like other P.S.U.’s been practising knowledge management though not with a defined name. Each of the proceedings, every work done and the training schedule, along with the contents have been documented which makes it easier for knowledge sharing. Knowledge management was started as a HR strategy to help in trainings, development, proper documentation and most importantly knowledge retention. Though attrition rate at NTPC is very low still it has to cope up with the knowledge that goes out with the employees retiring every year.

The technology is available to the employees, and the organization is ready. But the employees do not seem to change their working habits. Employees in a majority are still at ease with the old styles of working.

Innovation is the key to Knowledge Management: Due to the age old work style and the aging work force, innovation is not the buzz word amongst the NTPC family. Innovative ways of working is not acknowledged by the senior members of NTPC



BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

Birchall, D. W. & Tovstiga, G. (2002) 'Assessing the firm's strategic knowledge portfolio: a framework and methodology', International Journal of Technology Management, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 419-434

Strapko, W. "Knowledge Management," Software Magazine, 10(13), 1990, pp. 63-66.

ARTICLES:

NTPC journal - HORIZON

Articles on Knowledge Management from IGNOU

WEBSITES:

www.brint.com

www.citehr.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.kmworld.com

www.kmmagazine.com

www.ntpc.co.in

http://ntpceoc/ (NTPC intranet)

CASE STUDIES

Siemens

Oil Company of Malaysia

TATA Steel and Reliance

HLL

Infosys

TCS

Mckinsey


http://ntpceoc/

http://www.ntpc.co.in/

http://www.kmmagazine.com/

http://www.kmworld.com/

http://www.wikipedia.com/

http://www.citehr.com/

http://www.brint.com/

http://www.odi.org.uk/rapid/Bibliographies/KM/Abstracts/KM_Abs_24.html


ANNEXURE- A

QUESTIONNAIRE(BY THE HR DEPARTMENT)

PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND AVOID LEAVING ANY QUESTION UNANSWERED.

AWARENESS ABOUT NTPC

1. NTPC has implemented SAP / ERP as its Human Resource Management System.

Yes Don’t Know No

2. NTPC has a Knowledge Management portal on its Intranet. Yes Don’t Know No

3. NTPC envisions being a GLOBAL PLAYER by 2017. Yes Don’t Know No

4. NTPC plans to diversify into the POWER DISTRIBUTION segment. Yes Don’t Know No

ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION

1. Employees are informed through intranet/ emails /circulars about any meetings or important events. Yes Sometimes No

2. Employees are informed before any organizational change happens. Yes Sometimes No

3. Employees are encouraged to implement innovative ideas in daily office work. Yes Sometimes No

4. Employees have a healthy interaction among themselves. Yes Sometimes No



5. HODs know all their juniors by name. Yes Sometimes No

6. When approached, employees help each other readily. Yes Sometimes No

KNOWLEDGE AWARENESS

1. At times, duplication of activity takes place in two or more departments. Yes Sometimes No

2. Sometimes mistakes happen as valuable information is not available at the right time. Yes Sometimes No

3. Are there any training programs conducted for the usage of KM system in the organization. Yes Sometimes No

4. Does the HR team have any contributions for the KM success. Yes Sometimes No

KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE AT NTPC

1. I feel awkward in approaching others for help. Yes Sometimes No

2. My colleagues cross-check information received from others. Yes Sometimes No

3. I feel privileged in sharing information with my colleagues in other departments/units. Yes Sometimes No

4. Sharing of data improves trust and co-operation with colleagues. Yes Sometimes No



5. I feel sharing of critical information with others reduces my importance. Yes Sometimes No

IN-HOUSE KNOWLDEGE

1. Search my mailbox for mails regarding the topic. Yes Sometimes No

2. Contact people I know and ask them. Yes Sometimes No

3. Search my paper documents. Yes Sometimes No

4. Refer to the materials available in the library. Yes Sometimes No

5. Search the NTPC's Intranet. Yes Sometimes No

6. Search on the Internet. Yes Sometimes No

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER EFFECTIVNESS

1. Training should be provided for employees. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

2. Induction Program for new recruits is necessary. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

3. Mentoring system should be implemented.




4. Quality Circles/Professional Circles should be encouraged. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

5. Casual talks with Colleagues are helpful. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

6. Reading HORIZON and other NTPC Journals helps gain knowledge. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

7. Attending Seminars, Conferences and Knowledge Forums organized by NTPC are beneficial. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

8. Browsing through the Intranet (KMS) helps. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

LEVELS E1-E4 E5-E7 E-7A-E9 Others

DEPARTMENT:



ANNEXURE - B

QUESTIONNAIRE

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

1. Are you satisfied with the existing Knowledge Management System at NTPC? Yes No

2. How many articles of your field have been contributed towards Knowledge Management from your group? 0 2 4 6 8

3. Which Knowledge Management portfolio(s) do you generally refer for your work?

Information and Library Services

Knowledge Management in SAP

Knowledge Management in Engineering Division

Others …………………………………………………………………………..

4. Do you refer any publications (journals/codes/standards) in support of your work? If yes, which are those?…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………

5. Do your supporting groups/ departments contribute towards Knowledge Management sources?

Yes No

6. What would you suggest to strengthen the existing Knowledge Management System………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….



7. What are the key areas where you would like to improve the existing Knowledge Management System?…………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..........……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

8. What, according to you, are the best sources of gathering knowledge?……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9. Where do you gather knowledge regarding your field of study?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

10. Does NTPC send its employees for seminars/ trainings out of the NTPC premises? Yes No

11. How often are you allowed to attend such seminars/ trainings?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

LEVELS E1-E4 E5-E7 E-7A-E9

DEPARTMENT:

DESIGNATION:


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