The World Bank Group works with government agencies, non-governmental organisations and private sector companies to formulate assisting strategies that support a broad range of programmes aimed at reducing poverty and improving living standards. In the fiscal year 2002 the institution provided more than US$ 19.5 million in loans to client countries Learning from The World Bank 1

 Why the organisations would share its know-how  What the organisation would share  With whom the organisation would share  How the organisation would share its knowledge World Bank knowledge sharing strategy The strategy clearly articulated: - 2

Deciding why:- Defining the KM strategy Knowledge Management would enhance its organisational performance and therefore its global impact on poverty. 3

One critical element:- Defining the KM strategy Public commitment made by the CEO, James Wolfensohn, to build a “Knowledge” Bank This sheltered the organisation from lengthy discussions that typically surround the development of strategies in large organisations. John Wolfensohn 4

“Acting as a CKO, the Chief Executive Officer must install and implement rules that enable the application, distribution, and cultivation of knowledge. And by setting the example, the chief executive officer makes it difficult for anyone in the company to shirk their part of the KM initiative.” Defining the KM strategy Kluge et al (2001) “Knowledge Unplugged: the McKinsey Company global survey on Knowledge Management”,Palgrave, pg

This initiative was motivated by a decision to Deciding why to share  increase the speed and quality of service delivery  lower the cost of operation by avoiding rework  accelerate innovation  widen the Bank partnerships to fight poverty. 6

The programme was designed to share Deciding what to share  country and sector know-how  global best practices  research in the field of development. 7

KM strategy into action KM efforts New products or services Key business driver Strongly focused on research and product development 8

KM strategy into action KM efforts MarketingKey business driver  Management of pricing knowledge  Promotion knowledge  Product location knowledge  How to turn customer data into customer knowledge 9

Deciding with whom to share Externally Staff at HQ and in the field Internally Clients, partners and stakeholders 10

Deciding with whom to share Issues Internally Aim To collect and make accessible the latest and best sector and country development knowledge that exists globally to allow operational staff to bring higher quality advice to their clients whilst saving time and cost The logistics of collecting, synthesizing and authenticating the knowledge. 11

Deciding with whom to share Issues Externally  Confidentiality of information given by clients and partners  Copyright  Protection of proprietary assets. 12

Deciding how to share Internally  Thematic groups  Help desk  Technical clinics  Intranet 13

Deciding how to share Intranet  Directory of expertise  Direct access to development statistics  Best practice library of past projects  An on-line dialogue space  On-line knowledge base  External access for clients, partners and stakeholders. 14

Deciding how to share Internally  Emphasising significance of knowledge sharing at recruitment  Providing mentors to new recruits. 15

Deciding how to share Externally  Face to face  Virtually, on the web  Field missions  Annual sector weeks 16

Organising KM  Initially attached to IT group because focus was primarily on building a knowledge management “system” – a repository of knowledge collections  Thematic groups gained importance  Attention shifted to connection i.e. connecting people for accelerating learning and bringing the benefits of knowledge sharing to operations  Central KM unit moved to vice-presidency Operation Core 17

KM structure  a small central unit with overall coordination and facilitation responsibilities  operations managers in the networks and regions responsible for implementing the knowledge sharing programme  thematic groups, supplemented by help desks – the preferred instrument for sharing know-how  a governance body with responsibility at corporate level for the overall KM policy formulation. 18

Providing a budget for knowledge sharing  10% (of 3%)technology  02% (of 3%)maintaining the central coordination unit  90% (of 3%)financing the thematic groups and helpdesk KM takes up 3% of annual World Bank administrative budget 19 Measuring KM Performance in the World Bank