by Shan L. Pan & Harry Scarbrough
Presented by: Jonathan Cullum
Kelly Powell &
LaPortia James

Case Study of Buckman Laboratories
 Introduction: Researchers have outlined the theoretical case for knowledge management.
 Claim: with product life-cycles shortening and technologies becoming more imitable, organizational knowledge emerges as a competitive advantage by virtues of its tacitness, difficult in being copied, and immobility.

Problem: Difficult to relate to business
 Partly due to the very qualities of tacitness which lend this importance is an elusive item for practitioners.
 Absence of a framework for managing knowledge is becoming a more critical problem for managers

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2 Specific objectives:
Develops an analysis of knowledge management from an integrated socio-technical perspective.
 Study uses case study of Buckman Laboratories to examine the dynamics of successful knowledge management practices, and to consider the extent to which these practices can be used by other companies.

Towards a Socio-technical Perspective on Knowledge
Management
 In proposing the socio-technical perspective there are some considerations.
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1- number of studies recognizes holistic view (more than sum of parts) between social and technical factors.
2- refocuses attention on the work process itself
3- compatibility between social and technical subsystems is the key to meeting the needs of customers
4- provides a suitably synthetic analytical space to consider all factors in a even-handed way.

Socio-technical perspective (aka STS) defined
 Describes a method of viewing organizations emphasizing the interrelated functioning of the social and technological subsystems of the organization and the relation of the organization as a whole to the environment in which it operates.

 Socio-technical thinking originated from the
“systems perspective” on organization.
 More recently analyses stress the interplay between technology and the organization.

 Need to distinguish between different types of knowledge- tacit and explicit
 Explicit knowledge is systematic and hard data.
 Tacit knowledge- resides in the heads of those working

 Three major layers or interaction:
 Infrastructure: hardware/software enabling contact
 Infostructure: formal rules governing exchange of network
 Infoculture: stock of background knowledge

 Qualitative approach
 Single Case Study
 Semi-structured Interviews
 On-site Observations (6 Weeks)
 Secondary Data

Organizational Background
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Manufacturer of specialist chemicals for aqueous industrial systems
$300 million company (Sept 1999)
International – 102 countries
1000 specialty chemicals

 Customer knowledge
 Competitive intelligence
 Process knowledge
 Product knowledge

 Factual corporate knowledge
 Technological know-how
 Market know-how
 Behavioral corporate knowledge
 Social interaction of individuals and organizations
 Proprietary knowledge
 Codified

 Historical (1945-1991)
 International expansion
 Problem-solving
 Knowledge vision
 Transformative (1992-1998)
 Knowledge sharing
 Organizational learning

 Knowledge Architecture
 Elements: humans, organizational entities, documents, books, other knowledge repositories, and operating entities
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Process: Knowledge Management Transfer
Department
K’Netix®: connecting knowledge suppliers and users worldwide
 Organizational Knowledge Repository
(Memory)
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K’Netix®: electronic forums, bulletin boards, virtual conference rooms, libraries, and e-mail

 Knowledge sharing process
Customer Questions/
Concerns
Posted to forum Subject matter expert
Technical-sales People/
Field-based associates
Forum Specialist
Volunteer Section
Leaders

 Global Access
 Region-focus Forums
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TechForum (US)
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EuroForum (Europe)
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LatinoForum (Latin America)
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AAAForum (Asia, Australia, & Africa)

 Culture promotes knowledge sharing
 Knowledgeable experts at all levels of the corporation can interact, share new ideas, and problem solve

For a knowledge management project to be successful, an organization MUST have a knowledge-enterprising culture.

 A knowledge-enterprising culture is difficult to build from scratch, but at Buckman management was proactive in the effort
 There was a 90% cultural change

 Buckman used a process of re-learning to achieve a knowledge enterprising culture
 Employees who share knowledge are the most influential and others would seek their advisement

A top executive in the company explained that trust is a huge part of knowledge sharing. Stop hoarding knowledge and start sharing it within the company (369).

According to this executive, “The most valuable employee is one who becomes a source of knowledge and actively shares that knowledge with other people.”

 Everyone is encouraged to become knowledge entrepreneurs
 Encourages employees to take risks, innovate, and quit asking for instructions
 Knowledge Entrepreneurship is rewarded
 Innovations and inquiry are promoted

 MUST have a shared vision
 Management must coordinate this vision
 This provides focus and energy
 Gives meaning to everyone (individual role)
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Provides a picture of the company’s future

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A combination of perceptions and employees’ attitudes are necessary in conjunction with leadership.
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The study showed that Buckman top management acted as role models for learning and knowledge sharing
“Facilitating changes in the area of knowledge management requires proactive entrepreneurial support from the top.”

 Pioneering figure in knowledge management
 Trained in chemical engineering and business
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Joined his father’s company
 Fascinated by organizational dynamics and the challenges computers could present

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Bob Buckman accredits trust as being a main ingredient to successful knowledge sharing
“You cannot empower someone that you do not trust and who does not trust you”
(370).
 Use rewards and sanctions to overcome resistance

 Evolved informally by those using virtual systems to solve problems
 Small sub-groups of people, built around participation
 Sharing knowledge outside the community is difficult to enforce
 Managers have a hard time understanding and building a system around this process

 Part One- Efficiently deliver a solution to increase customer satisfaction and confidence in a supplier.
 Part TwoEmployees’ should be empowered with knowledge in order to satisfy customer needs better than the competitor

 Learn as much as possible
 Contribute Knowledge to the system
 Participate in distributing knowledge to customers
 In the long run, customers receive the benefit

 For success, a clear and conscious strategy is necessary
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Since the 1980’s Buckman has consciously decided to compete in terms of knowledge

 New arrangements and roles of the company, not technology, challenge knowledge management

 Knowledge management involves more than technology
 Must have a culture with new roles and constructs
 Changes the structure of the organization, including communication patterns
 Integrate knowledge with business objectives

 North America
 Europe/Middle East
 Latin America
 Africa
 Pacific Rim

 Pulp, Paper, Tissue
 Repulping and deinking
 Products targeted to the middle market water treatment segment
 Breakthrough chemistries for the leather industry

 A single communications network which incorporates all of Buckman’s knowledge and experience, and allows employees to focus all capabilities on customer’s challenges (buckman.com).

Any Questions?