I personally know of two examples have already been done which attempt to
meet this. The first is at Hewlett Packard, their term for the system is
"knowledge engineering." I spoke with some of their people last year when
I was benchmarking companies as part of a reengineering project for my own
company. Their system sounds something like an internal internet, with
various webs where one can access information. Of course being a
technology company almost everyone has a PC, and everyone can access the
'net. From what they say it is very user-friendly. They told me the trick
is figuring out a way to deposit the information that it makes sense, and
is easy to figure out where things are. Also the key is access. Everyone
can get any information without jumping through hoops or getting approvals
or whatever. I'm sure that there are some limits, but I only spoke to them
on the phone, and it was more than a year ago. I wish I could see it for
myself someday, or perhaps there is someone on this list who is familiar
with HP and can describe the system in more detail. Or some other company,
I would be willing to bet most leading edge computer companies have some
such system.
The second example comes from one of the major electric utilities in New
York. They created a database and interviewed long-term employees in an
attempt to capture all the "tribal knowledge" of the many crafts, the
various unwritten rules or things picked up along the way. As I
understood the article it included all employees, not just craft workers.
And it was in preparation for downsizing, which is happening all across
the electric industry. I don't recall if it was NiMo, NYPA, or what. It
was mentioned in an article in either "Training" or "Training and
Development" within the last 3 months. I will take some time and look this
up if someone asks me to at the address below.
Sean Gawne seangawne@aol.com
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Replying to Kai's LO410 --
<<"Corporate Knowledge Repository",>> Do you have a specific process or
technique for this? It must be one hell of a flexible database. Can you say
more? Thanks
Michael Stein
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