MPF Knowledge Panel
Positioning your Knowledge Management capability
Results of the April 2010 survey
Steve Perry
19 May 2010
1. Survey
Total of 65 responses
Type of firm
 49% from global firms
 40% from national firms
 7% from regional firms
Size of firm
 45% - 250 to 1,000 people
 32% - 1001 to 10,000 people
Professional discipline
 79% Law
 6% Financial Services
 6% Management Consulting
2
Survey - cont
Position
 57% Director/Head/Partner
 31% Manager
 11% Managing Partner/Senior Partner/CEO
Area of expertise
 43% Knowledge
 15% General management
 8% HR
 8% Marketing
Primary market
 59% UK
 39% Global
3
Survey - cont
Age
 68% 35 to 50
 28% over 50
Gender
 54% male
 46% female
4
2. Is KM in your organisation used to support and enable…?
• 74% Collaboration and knowledge sharing tools
• 74% Information sharing
• 55% Information consistency and integrity processes
• 52% Cultural development re learning and sharing
• 40% No established boundaries
• Respondents selected all that apply
 As a ‘nice to have’ but not needed here
 As the last initiative – we have now moved on
 Collaboration and knowledge sharing: tools and techniques development
 Cultural development re learning and sharing
 Information consistency and integrity processes
 Information sharing
 No established boundaries: an evolving activity
5
3. In what key areas can KM add value to your organisation?
• 47 comments
 17 - Client relationships and business development
 7 - Professional service teams
 5 - Efficiency and effectiveness
 4 - Learning and development
 3 - Risk and compliance
 11 - All
• Most think that KM can add value to client relationships and business development
• Not many commented on learning and development
6
4. What are the top 3 benefits/improvements/outcomes you
expect your knowledge leader to achieve?
• 22 responses
• Key themes were:
• 7 – Better information/knowledge sharing including precedents, standards etc
• 7 – More cost reduction, better efficiency and improved risk/compliance
• 6 – Alignment with organisational strategy, business development and client
engagement
• 1 – Culture shift
• 1 – Improved adoption and engagement
• High proportion of people focused on knowledge sharing and cost reduction/efficiency
• As we come out of the recession should we not be focusing efforts on innovation, ideas, growth?
7
5. If you have a knowledge leader how successful has he/she been,
or planned to be, in delivering the value you expected of KM?
• 58% successful
• 17% neither
• 13% very successful
• 12% not successful
• High percentage say the knowledge leader has been successful – is this surprising considering the
difficulties in making KM really work?
8
6. What degree of strategic input does KM have in decisions?
Scoring 1 (little) to 5 (great deal)
• 2.94 – People/L&D
• 2.91 – Business value proposition
• 2.70 – IT strategy
• 2.65 – IT architecture
• 2.56 – Business strategy
• 2.53 – Market strategy
• 2.43 – Your strategy
• People/L&D scored highest with business value proposition
• Market strategy and business strategy lower?
9
7. How effective has the knowledge leader been in
communicating the value of KM activities to…?
Scoring 1 (ineffective) to 5 (very effective)
• Partners and senior management 2.78
• Throughout the firm 2.48
• It appears we are not communicating to the organisation well enough
10
8. What attributes are needed for a Knowledge Leader to be
effective in your firm?
1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important)
Highest
4.48 – Knowledge of the business/sector
4.21 – Credibility
4.21 – Interpersonal and communication skills
Lowest
3.13 – Understanding of value/performance management
2.94 – Risk management
11
9. How far does your sphere of influence spread for KM
matters?
50% - Senior management
31% - Strategic planning
13% - Functional heads
6% - Directors of lines of business
• Low percentage for functional heads and directors of lines of business who all need to be won over with
the KM agenda
12
10. What degree of strategic input do you have in decisions?
1 (very little) to 5 (great deal)
• 3.59 – People proposition and L&D
• 3.18 – IT architecture
• 3.12 – Business value proposition
• 2.94 – IT strategy
• 2.53 – Business strategy
• 2.35 – Market strategy
• Good to see the people agenda is high but..
• Business and Market strategy are low.
13
11. Knowledge leaders
Do you view the knowledge leader post as?
76% - Permanent
24% - Change role
Do you think a knowledge leader is?
57% - Dedicated career
43% - Part of a leaders role
14
12. What do you see as the main challenges for KM?
1 (low) to 5 (high)
• 2.98 - Implementing tools and technology across the organisation
• 2.88 - Winning commitment and funding from main budget holders
• 2.22 - Changing aspects of the corporate culture
• 1.97 - Embedding KM approaches into day to day operations
• Why is implementing tools and technology highest?
15
Summary
 High percentage said KM was used to support and enable knowledge/information sharing and collaboration
 No one said it was a nice to have
 Many concerned about information consistency and integrity
 Client relationships and business development are seen as the area where there is most value
 Knowledge leaders are expected to achieve more cost reduction but also improve information sharing
 58% said their knowledge leader had been successful
 We need to improve communication throughout our firms at all levels and in particular at heads of departments and directors of
lines of business
 There is not enough strategic input into marketing and business strategy
 Concern that many KM professionals still think it’s about implementing tools and technology and not the change agenda
16