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While companies search the world over to
bench,ark best practices, vast treasure troves of knowledge
and know-how remain hidden right under their noses: in the
minds of their own employees, in the often unique structure
of their own operations, and in the written history of their
organizations. Now, acclaimed productivity and quality experts
Carla O'Dell and Jack Grayson explain for the first time
how applying the ideas of Knowledge Management can help
employers identify their own internal best practices and
share this intellectual capital throughout their organizations.
Knowledge Management (KM) is a conscious
strategy of getting the right information to the right people
at the right time so they can take action and create value.
Basing KM on three major studies of best practices at one
hundred companies, the authors demonstrate how managers
can utilize a visual process model to actually transfer
best practices from one business unit of the organization
to another. Rich with case studies, concrete examples, and
revealing anecdotes from companies including Texas Instruments,
Amoco, Buckman, Chevron, Sequent Computer, the World Bank,
and USAA, this valuable guide reveals how knowledge treasure
chests can be unlocked to reduce product development cycle
time, implement more cost-efficient operations, or create
a loyal customer base. Finally, O'Dell and Grayson present
three "value propositions" built around customers,
products, and operations that could result in staggering
payoffs as they did at the companies cited above.
No amount of knowledge or insight can keep
a company ahead if it is not properly distributed where
it's needed. Entirely accessible and immensely readable,
If Only We Knew What We Know is a much-needed companion
for business leaders everywhere.
Carla O'Dell is president of the American
Productivity & Quality Center and director of the Center's
International Benchmarking Clearinghouse in Houston, Texas.
Dr. O'Dell is co-author with C. Jackson Grayson, Jr. of
American Business: A Two Minute Warning.
C. Jackson Grayson, Jr., former chairman
of President Nixon's price control commission, is founder
and chairman of the American Productivity & Quality
Center. Dr. Grayson is co-author with Carla O'Dell of American
Business: A Two Minute Warning.
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