Case Study

Case Study: Knowledge Strategy for Global Electronics Firm

Business Challenge

Global leader for communications and electronics was losing its leadership position due to an engineering-dominated culture and the inability to understand consumer markets.  The Internet and rapid consumer adoption of wireless electronics had blindsided the company, which found itself unable to bring to market products that excited the consumer market.

Role

Dual role as strategy Subject Matter Expert for global knowledge vision and knowledge solution designer.  Member of national engagement team comprised primarily of knowledge management (KM) consultants.  Core team member, having helped to win the engagement.

Rollout

Played key role in adding market-oriented e-business thread to KM engagement with internal focus: introduced to the team the link between e-business and knowledge, adding dynamism to the engagement.  Identified engineering culture disconnect with company’s sudden position in consumer limelight, and illustrated the necessity to adopt a consumer-focused initiative around knowledge.  Advanced the idea that the company had to develop a new kind of knowledge to enable it to rapidly develop consumer knowledge with which to infuse engineering and marketing teams. Designed rapidly deployable KM dashboard prototype to deliver knowledge to client management via user-configurable interface.  Created iterative, three-stage life cycle plan: 1) pilot launch with small highly motivated user community to provide real-time user research and to develop client champions; 2) a rapid scale-up and promotion, largely driven by client champions, that featured  configured “knowledge templates” designed for targeted “bowling pin” user groups; 3) launch spin-off communities in which client could create original content.

Results

• Successfully repositioned knowledge initiative away from client’s existing viewpoint that it was “important to capture”; advanced idea that client could respond to the consumer knowledge gap by developing a new kind of knowledge to redefine itself with respect to its market position and product development mechanisms.
• Lead role in selling $1.7 million phase one engagement.
• Researched and authored client’s global knowledge vision on behalf of client executive.  Published in book of knowledge case studies of Fortune 50 corporations.