Question 1 (Marks: 70) Consider the following case study about knowledge management at Boeing and then answer the questions that follow.

According to knowledge management experts at Boeing, 80 percent of what a company knows resides in its employees minds, while only 20 percent resides in repositories such as file shares, documents and wikis. Boeing, like many companies worldwide, faces the challenges of an aging work force, increasing demand for critical skills and work placement decisions, and decisions on how to support programs where the product will outlast the tenure of the talented people who designed and built it. Yet unlike many companies, Boeing leaders across the enterprise know the solution to these challenges, and they are beginning to value and protect knowledge assets. Boeings goal: to foster an environment where knowledge and the strength of its culture can be leveraged quickly to empower an adaptable, agile work force and improve productivity. The Engineering, Operations & Technology organization at Boeing is beginning to drive the knowledge-management culture across the company. As Boeing becomes more and more integrated through common processes, languages and tools, knowledge becomes an increasingly important asset to the company, not just one business unit. This becomes the foundation for a successful knowledge environment and allows for sharing, communication and finality of information. Therefore, knowledge management is considered a business imperative, and one that can be used for competitive advantage, knowledge-management leaders said. Blue noted that Boeing doesnt pursue knowledge management just for its own sake. Its not a goal in and of itself, she said. There are tangible business benefits that result when we improve the way we capture, retain, share and use knowledge. It enables us to be more productive and efficient, more innovative, and provide higher-quality products and services. Knowledge management can increase customer and employee satisfaction, reduce risk and flow times, and reduce costs as well. The value of knowledge never depreciates, Coogan said. We must optimize knowledge flow by focusing on culture, people, processes and technologyand in that order. Studies show time and again, knowledge-management efforts fail that are restricted to a technology solution. As cultures can vary even from site to site at Boeing, its imperative that Boeing teams gain better understanding of cultural and people issues, Coogan said. At Boeing, knowledge management is made up of a comprehensive system of processes, tools, methods and techniques that enable employees to capture and share information effectively.

Raw data, when organized, becomes information that, when put into context, becomes knowledge, said Jeanne Blue, Commercial Airplanes Technical Excellence and Knowledge Management, at a knowledge management forum this year. Knowledge, when fine-tuned and combined over time with practical experience and prudence, becomes wisdom. Sharing and leveraging wisdom across the organization leads to innovation and a competitive advantage for Boeing. Boeing has many methods and tools already in place to facilitate knowledge management, including training; career coaching; job shadowing and mentoring; text, electronic and video archives; the Initiatives Database; Communities of Practice; even storytelling at events such as Excellence Hours and brown-bag lunches. Communities of Practiceknowledge-sharing communitiesare truly the most effective way to share information: voluntary groups of people who are passionate about a subject, said Jim Coogan, Knowledge Management Associate Technical Fellow, who also leads the Boeing Knowledge Management Community of Practice. However, ultimately the key to knowledge management is to put the right tools in placetools that are not intrusive and that fit the way people workbecause people all work differently. Its important to note that Boeings business units and the people within them all manage knowledge differently, with some techniques resonating more than others. Standardized knowledge management efforts can be difficult to undertake at Boeing. Not only do people learn in different ways, but Boeing sites may have different needs. Despite these differences, knowledge management leaders at Boeing agree that driving a knowledge-sharing culture is a top priority, while the various tools are knowledge management enablers. Communities of Practice are a powerful means by which information can be shared. In knowledge-management circles throughout Boeing, Communities of Practice are considered one of the more prominent face-to-face methods of knowledge sharing. The Ed Wells Partnership, a Renton, Wash.based joint initiative between Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, regularly holds classes to teach employees about Communities of Practice and how they promote knowledge sharing. These classes encourage collaboration among Communities of Practice leaders from around the company and provide a forum to share lessons learned, new tools and other expertise. Employees can promote other communities, and help sustain existing ones.

EWP also hosts a forum to address unique issues faced by Boeing Communities of Practice leaders called CoP squared, made up of more than 50 members across organizational and geographic boundaries. Why is knowledge management important to Boeing? Knowledge management matters to Boeing for many reasons. Among them: Retains expertise of employees who leave the company Shares expertise, best practices and lessons learned across the enterprise Avoids reinvention and accelerates innovation. Knowledge management at Boeing takes a holistic approach to using knowledge for competitive advantage. The knowledge management model, shared by Commercial Airplanes and Integrated Defense Systems, depicts the life cycle of knowledge management, from knowledge creation through retirement. Knowledge and learning are part of a continuous cycle: The retirement of some knowledge can lead to the creation or discovery of newer, more up-to-date information. Organizational knowledge and culture are at the heart of a system of processes, tools, methods and techniques designed to identify, capture, retain and otherwise manage knowledge through its life cycle