Knowledge Management at Hewlett-Packard, Early 1996 by Thomas H. Davenport, PhD
Introduction
Hewlett-Packard is a large, successful company with over $31 billion in 1995 revenues. Its fast annual revenue growth, approximately 30% from such a large base, has astounded observers. The company competes in many markets, including computers and peripheral equipment, test and measurement devices, electronic components, and medical devices. It has 110,000 employees and over 400 locations around the world.
HP is known for its relaxed, open culture. All employees, including the CEO, work in open cubicles. Many employees are technically-oriented engineers who enjoy learning and sharing their knowledge. The company is perceived as being somewhat benevolent to its employees, and fast growth has obviated the need for major layoffs. All employees participate in a profit-sharing program.
The company is also known for its decentralized organizational structure and mode of operations. Business units that perform well have a very high degree of autonomy. There is little organized sharing of information, resources, or employees across units. HP managers feel that the strong business-specific focus brought by decentralization is a key factor in the firm's recent success. Although culturally open to sharing, few business units are willing to invest time or money in "leveraged" efforts that do not have an obvious and immediate payback for the unit. It is common, however, for employees to move from one business unit to another; this mobility makes possible some degree of informal knowledge transfer within HP.
In mid-1995, it became apparent that several knowledge management initiatives were underway in various HP business units. Some had been in place for several years; others were just beginning. Noticing this phenomenon, Bob Walker, HP's CIO and Vice President, and Chuck Sieloff, Manager of Information Systems Services and Technology (ISST), decided to attempt to facilitate knowledge management at HP by holding a series of workshops on the topic. Their idea was to bring together a diverse group of people within the company who were already doing knowledge management in some form, or who were interested in getting started. The corporate ISST group had previously sponsored similar workshop initiatives in the areas of reengineering and organizational change management. Key objectives for the workshops included the facilitation of knowledge sharing through informal networking, and the establishment of common language and management frameworks for knowledge management. Walker and Sieloff appointed Joe Schneider, an ISST staff member who also focused on Web-based systems, to organize the workshops.
The first workshop was held in October of 1995. An Ernst & Young consultant facilitated the meeting and presented some proposed definitions and frameworks. About 20 people attended the first session; 13 were from corporate units, and the rest from various business units. Joe Schneider asked participants at the meeting if they were aware of other knowledge management initiatives. From this discussion, Schneider compiled a list of more than 20 HP sites where some form of proactive knowledge management was underway. Several of the initiatives are described below.
From India, Nizamabad
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14Introduction
Hewlett-Packard is a large, successful company with over $31 billion in 1995 revenues. Its fast annual revenue growth, approximately 30% from such a large base, has astounded observers. The company competes in many markets, including computers and peripheral equipment, test and measurement devices, electronic components, and medical devices. It has 110,000 employees and over 400 locations around the world.
HP is known for its relaxed, open culture. All employees, including the CEO, work in open cubicles. Many employees are technically-oriented engineers who enjoy learning and sharing their knowledge. The company is perceived as being somewhat benevolent to its employees, and fast growth has obviated the need for major layoffs. All employees participate in a profit-sharing program.
The company is also known for its decentralized organizational structure and mode of operations. Business units that perform well have a very high degree of autonomy. There is little organized sharing of information, resources, or employees across units. HP managers feel that the strong business-specific focus brought by decentralization is a key factor in the firm's recent success. Although culturally open to sharing, few business units are willing to invest time or money in "leveraged" efforts that do not have an obvious and immediate payback for the unit. It is common, however, for employees to move from one business unit to another; this mobility makes possible some degree of informal knowledge transfer within HP.
In mid-1995, it became apparent that several knowledge management initiatives were underway in various HP business units. Some had been in place for several years; others were just beginning. Noticing this phenomenon, Bob Walker, HP's CIO and Vice President, and Chuck Sieloff, Manager of Information Systems Services and Technology (ISST), decided to attempt to facilitate knowledge management at HP by holding a series of workshops on the topic. Their idea was to bring together a diverse group of people within the company who were already doing knowledge management in some form, or who were interested in getting started. The corporate ISST group had previously sponsored similar workshop initiatives in the areas of reengineering and organizational change management. Key objectives for the workshops included the facilitation of knowledge sharing through informal networking, and the establishment of common language and management frameworks for knowledge management. Walker and Sieloff appointed Joe Schneider, an ISST staff member who also focused on Web-based systems, to organize the workshops.
The first workshop was held in October of 1995. An Ernst & Young consultant facilitated the meeting and presented some proposed definitions and frameworks. About 20 people attended the first session; 13 were from corporate units, and the rest from various business units. Joe Schneider asked participants at the meeting if they were aware of other knowledge management initiatives. From this discussion, Schneider compiled a list of more than 20 HP sites where some form of proactive knowledge management was underway. Several of the initiatives are described below.
From India, Nizamabad
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