MPF Knowledge Panel Positioning your Knowledge Management capability Results of the April 2010 survey Steve Perry 19 May 2010

2 1. Survey Total of 65 responses Type of firm 49% from global firms 40% from national firms 7% from regional firms Size of firm 45% to 1,000 people 32% to 10,000 people Professional discipline 79% Law 6% Financial Services 6% Management Consulting

3 Survey - cont Position 57% Director/Head/Partner 31% Manager 11% Managing Partner/Senior Partner/CEO Area of expertise 43% Knowledge 15% General management 8% HR 8% Marketing Primary market 59% UK 39% Global

4 Survey - cont Age 68% 35 to 50 28% over 50 Gender 54% male 46% female

5 2. Is KM in your organisation used to support and enable…? 74% Collaboration and knowledge sharing tools 74% Information sharing 55% Information consistency and integrity processes 52% Cultural development re learning and sharing 40% No established boundaries Respondents selected all that apply As a ‘nice to have’ but not needed here As the last initiative – we have now moved on Collaboration and knowledge sharing: tools and techniques development Cultural development re learning and sharing Information consistency and integrity processes Information sharing No established boundaries: an evolving activity

6 3. In what key areas can KM add value to your organisation? 47 comments 17 - Client relationships and business development 7 - Professional service teams 5 - Efficiency and effectiveness 4 - Learning and development 3 - Risk and compliance 11 - All Most think that KM can add value to client relationships and business development Not many commented on learning and development

7 4. What are the top 3 benefits/improvements/outcomes you expect your knowledge leader to achieve? 22 responses Key themes were: 7 – Better information/knowledge sharing including precedents, standards etc 7 – More cost reduction, better efficiency and improved risk/compliance 6 – Alignment with organisational strategy, business development and client engagement 1 – Culture shift 1 – Improved adoption and engagement High proportion of people focused on knowledge sharing and cost reduction/efficiency As we come out of the recession should we not be focusing efforts on innovation, ideas, growth?

8 5. If you have a knowledge leader how successful has he/she been, or planned to be, in delivering the value you expected of KM? 58% successful 17% neither 13% very successful 12% not successful High percentage say the knowledge leader has been successful – is this surprising considering the difficulties in making KM really work?

9 6. What degree of strategic input does KM have in decisions? Scoring 1 (little) to 5 (great deal) 2.94 – People/L&D 2.91 – Business value proposition 2.70 – IT strategy 2.65 – IT architecture 2.56 – Business strategy 2.53 – Market strategy 2.43 – Your strategy People/L&D scored highest with business value proposition Market strategy and business strategy lower?

10 7. How effective has the knowledge leader been in communicating the value of KM activities to…? Scoring 1 (ineffective) to 5 (very effective) Partners and senior management 2.78 Throughout the firm 2.48 It appears we are not communicating to the organisation well enough

11 8. What attributes are needed for a Knowledge Leader to be effective in your firm? 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important) Highest 4.48 – Knowledge of the business/sector 4.21 – Credibility 4.21 – Interpersonal and communication skills Lowest 3.13 – Understanding of value/performance management 2.94 – Risk management

12 9. How far does your sphere of influence spread for KM matters? 50% - Senior management 31% - Strategic planning 13% - Functional heads 6% - Directors of lines of business Low percentage for functional heads and directors of lines of business who all need to be won over with the KM agenda

What degree of strategic input do you have in decisions? 1 (very little) to 5 (great deal) 3.59 – People proposition and L&D 3.18 – IT architecture 3.12 – Business value proposition 2.94 – IT strategy 2.53 – Business strategy 2.35 – Market strategy Good to see the people agenda is high but.. Business and Market strategy are low.

Knowledge leaders Do you view the knowledge leader post as? 76% - Permanent 24% - Change role Do you think a knowledge leader is? 57% - Dedicated career 43% - Part of a leaders role

What do you see as the main challenges for KM? 1 (low) to 5 (high) Implementing tools and technology across the organisation Winning commitment and funding from main budget holders Changing aspects of the corporate culture Embedding KM approaches into day to day operations Why is implementing tools and technology highest?

16 Summary High percentage said KM was used to support and enable knowledge/information sharing and collaboration  No one said it was a nice to have  Many concerned about information consistency and integrity Client relationships and business development are seen as the area where there is most value Knowledge leaders are expected to achieve more cost reduction but also improve information sharing 58% said their knowledge leader had been successful We need to improve communication throughout our firms at all levels and in particular at heads of departments and directors of lines of business There is not enough strategic input into marketing and business strategy Concern that many KM professionals still think it’s about implementing tools and technology and not the change agenda