Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Company Global Survey on Knowledge Management [Hardcover]

Jurgen Kluge (Author), Wolfram Stein (Author), Thomas Licht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2002

Knowledge Unplugged announces the results of a major survey of knowledge management practice within the most influential companies in the world, by the most influential management consultancy group in the world. The McKinsey Knowledge Management team interviewed top executives and also investigated how far their plans were implemented in practice, in 40 companies in the US, Europe and Japan. In many companies they discovered a significant gap between the vision at the top and the reality on the shop floor. Knowledge Unplugged draws together their findings and presents a practical guide to improving knowledge building and sharing at all levels within an organization, vividly illustrated with case studies of best practice and common pitfalls. They argue that knowledge management is much more than simply installing a new database and can only be successful when it is at the heart of everyday personal exchanges, personal incentives and personal responsibilities at every level of the firm.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'[Explains] a potentially vague topic in a structured way...Summaries at the end of each chapter reinforced the points made and the case studies throughout helped illustrate the theory...I found the survey thought-provoking...it would be of greatest relevance and interest to medium to larger companies.' - Financial Adviser

About the Author

Jurgen Kluge is Director of the Düsseldorf office of McKinsey & Company. Wolfram Stein is a Principal in McKinsey & Company's Global Business Technology Office.

Thomas Licht is Associate Principal, McKinsey & Co., Munich.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (February 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333963768
• ISBN-13: 978-0333963760
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,282,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DECENT EXPOSE OF KNOWLEDGE CHARACTERISTICS, March 25, 2003

By 

spiro raftopoulos (North Balwyn, Victoria Australie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Company Global Survey on Knowledge Management (Hardcover)

Suited to deeper thinking operations managers and KM
practitioners. Geared to globalised players who have
the resources.

Until we can grasp the nature of knowledge we are foolish
to think we can setup systems to leverage it. The McKinsey
book is one of the very few in KM to specialise in
identifying and measuring the knowledge characteristics
in companies('...the six characteristics that distinguish
it from other assets..'p.21). It is the only one to my
extensive knowledge that provides scientific results from
their survey ('We found a strong correlation between a
company's knowledge index and ...'P.19). Both are worthy
contributions to the literature.

Example of typical chapter :
Chapter 4 is about
'Subjectivity: Reading From The Same Page.'

Breakdown:
Six sub-sections of Strategies to minimise(!)subjectivity.
- major issue.

Sub-Section 1. Build Common Experiences -
-identifiable issues,
-case1-'An automotive company.. (1 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 2. Generate an Open Knowledge Flow Across
Hierachies -
-identifiable issues,
-case2- 'A European capital goods..(3/4ths page)
-case3- '..an automotive supplier..(1/2 page)
-summary
Sub-Section 3. Break the Status Barrier
-identifiable issues,
-case4- 'One global automotive..' (1/2 page)
-case5- 'At Oticon, a Danish...' (1/2 page)
-case6- Full study on Oticon (1 1/2 pages)
-summary
Sub-Section 4. Get the Experts Together
-identifiable issues,
-case7- 'One US investment goods...' (1/2 page)
-case8- 'To expand the Oticon example..'(1/3 page)
-strategies explanations (2pages)
-survey findings/summary
Sub-Section 5. Synchronize High-Level Goals
-identifiable issues
-case9- '..an international conglomerate..' (3/4 page)
-strategies explanations (1/4page)
-case10- 'At an international telecoms equipment..' (1/2page)
Sub-Section 6. Chapter summary (1 page)
Survey Results Pertaining to Subjectivity.
In addition, a chapter explaining First Steps...
preliminary KM questionnaire.

Formatting & Writing Style: No diagrams but survey bar graphs.
Page font and spacing- generous and readable.Almost no bullet
points in the entire book, making it difficult to isolate key
points ! Nice sub-headings, good analogies, illustrations and
loads of mini-case studies spread out with a dozen lengthier
case studies.

Conclusion : Holistic, deeper thinkers will see this as a
valuable resource to develop a company KM framework.

Spiro Raftopoulos

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A practical and illustrative guide to operationalising KM, January 22, 2003

By 

Madan Mohan Rao (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Company Global Survey on Knowledge Management (Hardcover)

While knowledge has always been an important factor of production (in addition to land, labour and capital), it is becoming a key differentiator as the other three factors are becoming abundant and accessible. �While the importance of knowledge is, at the very least, widely acknowledged, we are still missing a comprehensive approach to managing knowledge in order to maximize returns,� according to consultants Jurgen Kluge, Wolfram Stein and Thomas Licht.

�Understanding how knowledge works throughout your organization therefore allows you to reap the highest rewards from KM: the ability to adapt successfully through constant reinvention and optimization, to tap into new market opportunities, to jump on the latest trend earlier and more decisively than others, and to innovate,� the authors begin.

The material is based on a two-year survey conduced by the consultancy, encompassing 40 manufacturing companies in the US, Europe and Japan. At least eight interviews were conducted in each of these companies, to assess their deployment of upto 139 KM techniques culled from KM literature. Techniques included incentive schemes and use of IT infrastructure; the degree of application of these techniques was rated on a scale of 1 to 5. Companies were also classified on a performance spectrum (based on financial and process indicators) and divided into categories like less successful and more successful companies. This combination of scores provides a very powerful framework for assessing the differentiating �knowledge contribution� or �KM index� of a company, which is one of the very useful contributions of this book.

The authors define knowledge as the �understanding of relations and causalities� and management as �conscious and systematic decision making.� Though knowledge can be slippery and nebulous as a subject, it is important not to get distracted by imperfect definitions. Dedicated techniques need to be designed, applied, coordinated and aligned to ensure a successful KM practice.

There are six key attributes of knowledge which must be factored into KM practices:

1. Subjectivity (context and individual background shape the interpretation of knowledge)
2. Transferability (knowledge can be extracted and transferred to other contexts)
3. Embeddedness (knowledge is often in a static and buried form that makes it difficult to extract or reformulate)
4. Self-reinforcement (the value of knowledge increases and not decreases when shared)
5. Perishability (knowledge can become outdated)
6. Spontaneity (knowledge can develop unpredictably in a process)

More successful companies deal with the challenges of subjectivity by ensuring agreement on general rules and values, cross-functional collaboration in product development and order generation, and increased face-to-face communication. For instance, Danish hearing aid manufacturer Oticon ensures that team membership is constantly shifting, as experts shuttle between teams.

Transferability of knowledge can be facilitated by internal and external benchmarking, market research, external alliances, and competitor analysis. Lateral thinking is needed to bring knowledge into entirely new contexts and even from entirely new industries. Japanese auto component company Aisin AW draws lessons actively from the consumer electronics industry mecca Akihibara. A European engine company actively participates in a variety of public research projects where it partners with universities and even competitors.

Best-practice KM techniques for dealing with embedded knowledge include knowledge databases, corporate yellow pages, job rotation, teamwork with suppliers, and co-location of product development staff. Finnish metal group Outokumpu has a solid IT infrastructure to make it easier to find knowledge among its staff. Apprenticeships and collocation with suppliers can help in the automotive sector.

Self-reinforcement knowledge networking practices for jump-starting the knowledge value chain include online training, formal networks with retailers, joint problem-solving, alignment with partner IT systems, and easy access for service data. Amazon.com links book purchases with past customer book preferences; an international conglomerate gets all its employees to write year-end reports containing their successes and outlook for the next year. SAP opened SAP University in 1999; it offers blended e-learning courses, and employees can set up their own sites and present a skill set.

Coping with perishability of knowledge involves continuous training related to standards and design rules, development optimization, FAQs, and clear division of responsibilities. Intel speeds chip development via a �Copy EXACTLY!� initiative to avoid overdoing customization and ensure that best practices can be precisely replicated across its global chip plants; chip-turnaround time has been cut from 7 years to 2 years. It is important to balance standards with creativity, of course.

Based on the analysis of more successful companies along these six knowledge parameters, the authors have devised a six-dimensional �KM scanner� audit metric, and have come up with several recommendations for successful KM.

Be precise in your KM objectives and link them to business targets. Leverage push as well as pull factors to holistically grow and share knowledge. Create the right cultural context which nurtures reciprocal trust, openness and cooperation. Employees must be enthused with a desire for world-class performance and lust for knowledge, from within and outside the company. Financial and non-financial incentives should be devised. Avoid micro-management and encourage self-steering mechanisms.

�You must instill in your company a sense of caring for knowledge so that it becomes part of everyday life, rather than something that ebbs and flows as the mood suits. Soon, every worker will become a knowledge worker,� according to the authors.

�Working with knowledge is much more creative, gives a higher sense of doing value-added work and, simply put, is much more fun. Just as no company will probably survive without taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet, soon no worker will survive without actively using knowledge as a tool of their trade, whatever trade that is, and no company will succeed without tapping into the great potential of their employees� knowledge,� the authors conclude.

>>>>>>>>>>

Madanmohan Rao is the author of �The Asia Pacific Internet Handbookï...

4.0 out of 5 stars A good KM introduction for managers., June 27, 2006

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Knowledge Unplugged: The McKinsey & Company Global Survey on Knowledge Management (Hardcover)

The concepts in Knowledge Unplugged are nothing particularly new, if you are familiar with the area of Knowledge Management. Written in 2001, it is a good survey of the thinking around the subject that was current in the 1990s.

This is not to imply that the book is not valuable now. Practitioners should find the metrics from the McKinsey global survey valuable, even if the treatment of the concepts feels as though it may lack the more detailed current understanding.

I would particularly recommend the book as an introduction to an interested executive who wanted to understand KM basics. The clear language and underlying survey support would make it a good way to begin a dialogue on the subject. I found the emphasis on sharing and reuse as a learning opportunity for the rest of the company particularly relevant and well-explained.