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3M's objective is to become the most innovative company in the world. To be innovative in highly competitive industries and global markets requires the effective use of Knowledge Management. 3M employs a wide range of Knowledge Management systems, but the appropriate environment has to be in place before people will be motivated to input and access such systems. 3M concentrates on the 'tacit to tacit' area in the belief that if this is functioning well, other aspects of Knowledge Management will fall more readily into place. The willingness to share knowledge between individuals is directly affected by the culture within a company. This paper outlines how 3M creates and sustains its innovation and learning culture.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: A CULTURAL ISSUE
More than Technology
3M sees Knowledge Management more as a cultural and organizational issue than a technological one. The company has many systems in place and is continually adding to them. Formal training programmes, learning by doing, help desks, intranet, Internet, Lotus Notes(TM), video conferencing and ITbased databases are available to a vast range of employees. The Technical Planning and Coordination Group updates and maintains best practice and key player databases. For its more than two dozen core technologies, the company knows who are the people working in each area on what subject, and it is also linked to many universities specializing in areas of particular interest to 3M. An important requirement is that a company knows what it knows and 3M continually maps on databases what and where the technological skills it needs are located.
But if a company invests in a Knowledge Management infrastructure similar to 3M's it will not find this the sole answer to achieving a Knowledge Management environment. Of the four key areas of Knowledge Management outlined by Nonaka, 3M puts its major emphasis on the 'tacit to tacit' area (the transferring of an individual's experience and knowledge to other individuals).[ll People have to be motivated to access and share information and to convert that information into knowledge. If the business processes are in place and the context is appropriate then Knowledge Management systems can flourish and people will input their knowledge into systems for access by others; but in the wrong context a Knowledge Management infrastructure will atrophy.