Knowledge sharing cuts cycle times at General Motors

Wendy Coles, General Motors' director of learning organizations, is responsible for the company's development of organizational learning systems.

At GM she has helped develop "Knowledge Network," a structured system for organizing decision making and problem solving techniques.

Wendy recently elaborated on some of GM's experiences with KMWorld executive editor Dan Bolita.

KMWorld:How does the Knowledge Network coordinate between IT and executive or departmental managers?

WC:While we are not housed within the IT organization, we work closely with them -- with them funding much of our technology development. They take a keen interest in what we are learning, with our CIO Ralph Sygenda requiring regular reviews of our progress and insights.

KMWorld:Are there specific technologies that facilitate the Knowledge Network or other knowledge sharing initiatives at GM?

WC: We are experimenting with a variety of technologies, including such things as Intraspect, Knowledge Technologies and Lotus Notes.

KMWorld: Is there a system for quantifying the gains derived from the Knowledge Network?

WC: We measure the gains on a social dimension and on a performance basis. We know that knowledge only gains value in its use, so there's little to be gained in measuring it as an entity onto itself.

Let me give you an example from our work to support the development of our vehicles. On the social level, we assess the value by whether our leaders ask for more of our services. As our vice presidents for Cars and Trucks became actively involved directing where they wanted learning systems -- we knew they had seen value in the previous work done.

Now on the performance level, we are seeing vehicle programs coming to market quicker -- mistakes and insights are being shared between vehicle teams -- thereby providing us with a competitive advantage, given we are bringing a new vehicle to market every 28 days.

KMWorld: Which is the larger impediment to knowledge sharing -- technology or culture?

WC: There are many challenges to knowledge sharing, but I don't think I would choose either off your list.

Tom Davenport recently was talking about "Attention Deficit Disorder" and how evident it is in organizations today. There is so much going on, with so much information coming at us, where does one put one's focus to get the greatest gain for the company?

As we think about networking knowledge, we are faced with making choices regarding where we focus our attention for gaining the greatest strategic leverage for GM.

For more coverage on GM's Knowledge Network, see the cover of the February issue of KMWorld magazine.