Knowledge Management at Siemens Spain (Final Exam)

Intellectual capital of Siemens Spain: An organization like siemens, with more than 450.000 employees (human capital), needed tools that would allow them to fully exploit the intangible assets such as knowledge that the company produced. Employees dealing with different SAP R3 implementation modules (structured capital) were able to communicate easily among themselves, share experiences and tips, access a vast pool of knowledge (relationship capital).

Siemens developed in 6 basic steps

-    Determined the business context, the strategies and goals of the company.

-    Identified the knowledge areas relevant for the business case.

-    Defined the critical performance indicators such as customer success, a performance index.

-  Analyzed the impact of knowledge areas on the key performance indicators defined in the step three.

-    Analyzed the status of selected knowledge areas and identified their needs for improvement.

-    Formulated the KM action plan.

KM application for the individual /groups

-    Identified potential, transferred ‘good practice’.

-    Quick learning curve, high knowledge level.

-    Business contacts, identified experts.

-    Solution for daily problem.

-    Developed or combined new knowledge.

-    User synergy effects.

-    Coordinated activities in the organization.

-    Relevant qualitative information.

Acquisition and application tools: Siemens used flee ’feet manager for machine tools’, a new app for mindsphore the industrial lot platform. Their machine tools would wide at small/large production site can be monitored & their quality & productivity enhanced.

Knowledge capture & creation tools: socialization, sharing experience codification documentation, individual use of experience, creation of new knowledge.

Knowledge sharing & disseminating tools: Siemens use sharp net as the global knowledge sharing network, which system to share knowledge Siemens AG.

Federalism: an approach to information management based on what that have been implemented before.

How KM became key factors in Siemens Spain: KM became key  factors in Siemens Spain because KM in Siemens was becoming innovation leader. There by contribution to success and the professional development of Siemens Spain team.

What is local CoP at Siemens Spain: local CoP was built to sharing knowledge and reach the goal in spain, so it call “local”. CoP should be closed, so the KM team easily tracking and evaluating their member contributions and easily to monitor their performance and to same extent, facilitate their justification to top management.

What are the task of KM team at Siemens Spain: the corporate KM teams role was to monitor the local CoPs in Spain, making sure they had a structure, that the infrastructure design was correct and facilitated the effectiveness of the CoPs and to same extent, to top management that they were on the right track, they also designed the strategic plan for Spain, which not only incorporated CoPs, but also forums and other KM initiatives.

What are the phases to developed a CoPs: the development of a CoP was a process that followed a certain life cycle that could be divided into a number of stages, before step into start-up phase the team creating CoPs had to came up with business plan detailing the subject matter, aims, activities and potential benefits of the community, the potential membership, financing, and organizational detail and roles within it. After that, the most important was a start up phase, followed by actual running at the community, which involved elements such as tacit knowledge sharing and quick question processing, knowledge assets processing as well as the management and support of the community. Finally in the winding down phase, the knowledge assets were shared and the community closed down.

CoPs at siemens were seen as an ideal tool for making knowledge available: the participant in a CoP, who were often employees carrying out similar tasks in different business units, developed, exchanged, shared and deployed knowledge, they also collaborated among themselves. With that way new knowledge was created. Using tacit to tacit interaction.

Siemens AG restructured itself into six business areas and two division, what are they: Siemens AG restructured it self into six business areas and two division: information and communications, automation and control, power transportation, medical and lightning, the financial service division and the real estate division.

What is the culture at Siemens AG and Siemens Spain:

-  In the past, same had viewed Siemens AG as a company with a stuffy culture in which people worked in large, very hierarchical groups, and which was noted for its bureaucracy and lack of energy. Dr H. Pierer, president and CEO of Siemens since 1992, had altered the company culture to allow more flexibility. For example, people worked in smaller groups, and new management techniques, unthinkable in the past, were introduced.

-   Siemens Spain also changed profoundly when Eduardo Montes took the top job in 1995. Being an outsider, his appointment broke the company’s tradition of internal promotion to this post, although having been an engineer in one of Siemens Spain factories in his early years gave him “insider flavor”.

What is management style at Siemens AG and Siemens Spain:

-    Dr Pierer turned Siemens into an e-company. He realized the importance of knowledge exploitation in gaining competitive advantage, and the need to transform Siemens form a traditional product company into a service company, where most of the value was located. Dr pierer plan had four elements. The first was knowledge management, the second was online purchasing, the third was dealing with customer, and the fourth was to change the company value chain, from customer through Siemens to its suppliers, so that it functioned as smoothly as possible. To this end they developed their own e-business processes, including websites, along with proprietary EDI and ERP systems.

-  During his first month in the top job, Montes created the management board, an instrument for information and knowledge exchange as well as an interdivisional decision-making tools that allowed managers from each business unit within Siemens Spain to meet every two weeks. This board was an element uniting the management process at Siemens Spain. Montes also created the corporate development division within the structure of Siemens S.A. Three month after his appointment, Montes implemented a management system based on a management by objectives scheme. Montes also adopted the EFQM Business Excellence Model. His management style, openness, and the positive results that followed meant Siemens Spain won the Top Award.

What are the KM initiatives at Siemens AG and Siemens Spain:

-    Siemens AG built a global knowledge management created by ICN group named sharenet, sharenet linked the sales people of Siemens ICN group worldwide, making each salesperson accumulated learning experiences accessible to the entire sales force. Siemens AG also used the knowledge strategy process (KSP) an instrument that management team and business owner of the KM action initiatives could use to set up and deploy their plans.

-    Siemens SA presented its e-business strategic plan, which included the KM strategic plan. Siemens SA also built roadmap to use was suggested as way of ensuring that the knowledge management strategy.

Siemens used knowledge strategy process (KSP). What is it, and what are the steps: knowledge strategy process (KSP) an instrument that management team and business owner of the KM action initiatives could use to set up and deploy their plans.

Six step of KSP

-    Determined the business context, the strategies and goals of the company.

-    Identified the knowledge areas relevant for the business case.

-    Defined the critical performance indicators such as customer success, a performance index.

-   Analyzed the impact of knowledge areas on the key performance indicators defined in the step three.

-    Analyzed the status of selected knowledge areas and identified their needs for improvement.

-    Formulated the KM action plan.