Page 215 - Crossing Cultural Boundaries - Cees den Teuling

6.5.3 The explanation of the 4 Phases of the “Toolkit”
As an external (foreign) consultant or business trainer, there is a need to focus on the available existing networks and infrastructure (IT systems) to be able to identify critical “potholes” and to lay a sturdy foundation for the KT processes to be introduced and implemented. Building on what already is available will provide the transmitter with better options for the generation of organisation-wide support. It is important to include already existing investments, if possible, in the KT process to avoid the perception that already available entire infrastructure should be considered as “obsolete”.
Phase (i): Infrastructural evaluation. In this phase the consultant should evaluate and comprise the organisational structure, analyse the ACAP of the organisation’s management and employees and to build on the available knowledge and infrastructural capacities.
Phase (ii): KT process analysis, design and development. The consultant should shift the tendency of decision making from predictions based on extrapolation of possible “obsolete” (out-of-date) data to the processing of internal and external actual data. This should be followed by the audit of the KT processes and the identification of barriers. Analysing and auditing the available explicit knowledge is mandatory. The composition and the design of a (cross-functional) KT Team is a crucial element in this process. Designing a suitable and tailored organisational scheme for the recipient organisation with a secured, visible position for KM and integration of hardware and software applications into a platform for KT processes with a consistent structure for audit and knowledge documentation should also be implemented in this phase.
Phase (iii): KT deployment. In this phase, selection and implementation of a pilot project to test and to precede the introduction of the organisation-wide KT process platform should be conducted. If feasible, it is necessary to appoint a (high-level) executive with decisive authority in the organisation as a key driver, geared to accomplish the results of the KT processes. Accompanied and supported by a programme, directed to build awareness among employees, the consultant should support the change of the organisational culture towards acceptance of a knowledge driven attitude and values.
Phase (iv): Evaluation of KT performance. The fourth phase, important and essential for laying a fundamental support for the inevitable change in the organisation’s culture and the necessary investments, is the measuring of the organisations’ key business values as results of the KT processes. A limited but powerful set of key metrics should be selected for evaluation and review of the outcomes, partly applied for the
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