Published at www.ecch.comKNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT TATA STEEL
Abstract:
In the late 1990s, Tata Steel began to introduce knowledge management (KM) initiatives in the company. It started with a small group of people from within the organisation. The group formed a 'knowledge repository', where all the employees shared their experiences and knowledge. One year after the knowledge repository was formed, the company formed 'knowledge communities', which was a platform for like-minded people to meet and share their experiences. In 2001, Tata Steel developed a 'KM index' to evaluate the performance of individual employee in the KM initiative. Later, it linked performance evaluation to KM and used a balanced scorecard to monitor the performance of individual employees, divisions, as well as the organisation as a whole, in KM. All these initiatives of Tata Steel seem to have paid off; in early 2003, Tata Steel was recognised as one of Asia's Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE). It was the only steel company in the world to have received the MAKE award. The teaching objectives of the case are: (1) to study how the knowledge present within a system can be harnessed to yield major benefits to the organisation as well as to the people within it; (2) to understand the importance of matching new initiatives with the behavioural and working motivations of people in order to obtain better acceptance of these initiatives and greater benefits; (3) to analyse the role played by communities and communication processes in an organisation, and how the development of social capital can help attain the larger goals of the organisation; (4) to examine the importance of recognition as reward and how it can motivate people to perform better; and (5) to understand the barriers in the sharing of knowledge and to see how these barriers can be overcome. The case is meant for MBA/PGDBM students and is intended to be part of the knowledge, information and communication systems management curriculum.
In the late 1990s, Tata Steel began to introduce knowledge management (KM) initiatives in the company. It started with a small group of people from within the organisation. The group formed a 'knowledge repository', where all the employees shared their experiences and knowledge. One year after the knowledge repository was formed, the company formed 'knowledge communities', which was a platform for like-minded people to meet and share their experiences. In 2001, Tata Steel developed a 'KM index' to evaluate the performance of individual employee in the KM initiative. Later, it linked performance evaluation to KM and used a balanced scorecard to monitor the performance of individual employees, divisions, as well as the organisation as a whole, in KM. All these initiatives of Tata Steel seem to have paid off; in early 2003, Tata Steel was recognised as one of Asia's Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE). It was the only steel company in the world to have received the MAKE award. The teaching objectives of the case are: (1) to study how the knowledge present within a system can be harnessed to yield major benefits to the organisation as well as to the people within it; (2) to understand the importance of matching new initiatives with the behavioural and working motivations of people in order to obtain better acceptance of these initiatives and greater benefits; (3) to analyse the role played by communities and communication processes in an organisation, and how the development of social capital can help attain the larger goals of the organisation; (4) to examine the importance of recognition as reward and how it can motivate people to perform better; and (5) to understand the barriers in the sharing of knowledge and to see how these barriers can be overcome. The case is meant for MBA/PGDBM students and is intended to be part of the knowledge, information and communication systems management curriculum.
MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA'S E-BUSINESS INITIATIVES
Abstract:
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) started its e-business initiatives in 1995. e-Business started with the launch of a dedicated network across 8 manufacturing locations, 33 area offices and 4 branch offices. In June 1996, M&M launched its website mahindraworld.com, which was one of the first corporate websites. In 1997, it decided to implement ERP (enterprise resource planning) and selected SAP R/3 as its vendor. By 1999 it had become the world's largest SAP site implemented on Windows platform. In 1997, M&M also started its Intranet initiative 'Mahindra connect'. It has been used as a knowledge management tool for disseminating information among employees and shop floor workers. In 2000, M&M extended the Intranet to three websites dedicated to suppliers and dealers of the automotive and farm equipment sectors. In the same year, it started CRM (customer relationship management) and SCM (supply chain management) initiatives, which helped in analysing customer buying behaviour and product development with the help of data mining tools. In 2001, M&M entered the used car and real estate business through the launch of websites like automartindia.com, propertymartindia.com and officemartindia.com. All these initiatives seemed to have paid off and in 2003 M&M's farm equipment sector won Japan's prestigious Deming award. It was the seventh company outside Japan and the first tractor company in the world to receive this award. The teaching objectives of the case are: (1) to study how e-business can be formally initiated in an organisation and how it can yield major benefits to the organisation as well as to the people within it; (2) to understand the implementation of ERP and its benefits to an organisation; (3) to analyse the role played by websites in disseminating information and how they help in communicating with stakeholders; (4) to understand the importance of information transfer and how it helps in changing the business process of an organisation; and (5) to understand the importance of e-business in product innovations and customer satisfaction. The case is meant for MBA/PGDBM students and is intended to be part of the information and communications systems management curricula.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) started its e-business initiatives in 1995. e-Business started with the launch of a dedicated network across 8 manufacturing locations, 33 area offices and 4 branch offices. In June 1996, M&M launched its website mahindraworld.com, which was one of the first corporate websites. In 1997, it decided to implement ERP (enterprise resource planning) and selected SAP R/3 as its vendor. By 1999 it had become the world's largest SAP site implemented on Windows platform. In 1997, M&M also started its Intranet initiative 'Mahindra connect'. It has been used as a knowledge management tool for disseminating information among employees and shop floor workers. In 2000, M&M extended the Intranet to three websites dedicated to suppliers and dealers of the automotive and farm equipment sectors. In the same year, it started CRM (customer relationship management) and SCM (supply chain management) initiatives, which helped in analysing customer buying behaviour and product development with the help of data mining tools. In 2001, M&M entered the used car and real estate business through the launch of websites like automartindia.com, propertymartindia.com and officemartindia.com. All these initiatives seemed to have paid off and in 2003 M&M's farm equipment sector won Japan's prestigious Deming award. It was the seventh company outside Japan and the first tractor company in the world to receive this award. The teaching objectives of the case are: (1) to study how e-business can be formally initiated in an organisation and how it can yield major benefits to the organisation as well as to the people within it; (2) to understand the implementation of ERP and its benefits to an organisation; (3) to analyse the role played by websites in disseminating information and how they help in communicating with stakeholders; (4) to understand the importance of information transfer and how it helps in changing the business process of an organisation; and (5) to understand the importance of e-business in product innovations and customer satisfaction. The case is meant for MBA/PGDBM students and is intended to be part of the information and communications systems management curricula.
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