EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) revolves around the concept that one of the most valuable corporate assets is the experience and expertise floating around inside employees' heads. In order to manage this intellectual capital, executives must devise a way to capture and share that knowledge with co-workers. If done right, Knowledge Management is supposed to create a more collaborative environment, cut down on duplication of effort and encourage knowledge sharingsaving time and money in the process. Knowledge Management is about a systematic approach to managing intellectual assets and other information in a way that provides the company with a competitive advantage. The research checks into the Knowledge Management system of various IT companies and seeks to identify the various issues that underlie an effective and efficient KM implementation such as the reasons for investing in knowledge management, the technologies to be made use of, the barriers to its successful implementation etc. The Knowledge Management initiatives undertaken and the strategies made use of at INFOSYS, TCS, WIPRO some of the worlds leading IT consulting and software services companies have been incorporated in this research report to serve as a pointer to any organization that seeks to successfully implement KM initiatives. Under the project title Knowledge Management in IT industry-a study to understand the perception of employees the objectives that were served were; identifying the perception of the employees towards knowledge management and to identify the various issues that underlie an effective and efficient KM implementation.To carry out the research both primary as well as secondary data was collected from different sources. The primary data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire and was sent to 150 employees working in IT companies. Employees were selected on the basis of non-probabilistic convenient sampling.

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The findings of the study were:IT companies in India are knowledge based organizations and knowledge management projects are already implemented there. Knowledge management is viewed as value adding for the organisations. Companies feel that knowledge management leads to reduction of cost but the biggest barrier in its successful implementation is technology. Knowledge management basically provides new ways to expose tacit knowledge. Also it was found that mentoring is the most suitable techniques that contribute to knowledge management initiative.Various suggestions for the IT companies have also been incorporated in the report.

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INTRODUCTION

In 1876, the English novelist, George Eliot, wrote that, Of a truth, Knowledge is power. Now, over a century later, that observation still holds true. Knowledge gives us, as individuals, the power to grow, to better ourselves, and to succeed in our endeavours. In the business world, knowledge is power as well. As with individuals, knowledge is what enables businesses to grow and to succeed. Contained within every business is a wealth of knowledge about its policies and practices, and about the industry that it serves. A business uses this knowledge to sell and support the products and services that it offers. However, knowledge is not held within a business itself, but rather by the various individuals that make up the organization. Without the knowledge possessed by the people within it, a business cannot survive. The primary concern, then, that must be addressed, if a business is to grow and prosper, is how this knowledge can best be captured and harnessed. How can companies preserve their existing knowledge assets, encourage the dissemination of that knowledge across the organization, and use that knowledge to identify the best business practices and to refine and improve those practices? The answers to all of these questions lie in the application of Knowledge Management (KM) to the businesss operations and the adoption of Knowledge Management Systems within the business infrastructure.

1.1 WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?

Any discussion of Knowledge Management should, logically, begin with a definition of knowledge itself. Unfortunately, Knowledge is a very slippery concept with many different variations and definitions, each of which is valid in its own right. The nature of knowledge and what it means to know something are epistemological questions that have perplexed philosophers for centuries and no resolution looms on the horizon. According to Webster's Dictionary, knowledge is "the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association". In practice, though, there are many possible, equally plausible definitions of knowledge. A frequently
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used definition of knowledge is "the ideas or understandings which an entity possesses that are used to take effective action to achieve the entity's goal(s). This knowledge is specific to the entity which created it."

Knowledge can be of three kinds: Tacit knowledge It is knowledge that is acquired at a subconscious level and therefore difficult to explain to others. An expert machinist may be extremely skilled at operating a particular machine, but he might be unable to instruct a new joiner on how to duplicate his expertise. Most knowledge involving pattern recognition skills fall under his category.

Implicit knowledge This type of knowledge is controlled by experts. Implicit knowledge can be extracted from the expertthrough a process termed knowledge engineering. For example, a sales executive can train a new joiner about the basic procedure and rules to follow while making sales. The new joiner can gain same effectiveness as his trainer over the period of time. Thus knowledge which can be imparted through instructions and procedures is implicit knowledge.

Explicit knowledge It can be easily conveyed from someone proficient at a task to someone else through written or verbal communications. The recipe for a cake, the steps involved in bolting a car door, list of ingredients required for a chemical process are all explicit knowledge. Unlike tacit and implicit knowledge, explicit knowledge often can be found in a book or operating manual

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1.2 WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?

Modern business organization cant compete effectively in the marketplace without skilled managers and employees and without methods for managing knowledge of its people. Knowledge has been mandatory in todays businesses and creates big impact on overall performance. Knowledge Management is the ability to selectively capture, archive, and access the best practices of work-related knowledge and decision making from employees and managers for both individual and group behaviors. Knowledge Management (KM) is a systematic business enhancing strategy that selects, stores, organizes, packages, and communicates information essential to the business in a manner that improves employee performance and corporate competitiveness. Knowledge Management is about a systematic approach to managing intellectual assets and other information in a way that provides the company with a competitive advantage. Knowledge Management is a business optimization strategy, and not limited to a particular technology or information. A wide variety of information technologies play a key role in a KM initiative, simply because of the savings in time and effort they provide over manual operations. If a company takes the digitized data and indexes it with a software program that allows someone to search for specific content instead of manually paging through hundreds of screens, it is practicing Knowledge Management.

Some of the organizations in India that have adopted Knowledge Management are: Wipro Infosys Compaq Sapient TCS WockHardt, L&T Infotech

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1.3 THE NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AN ORGANIZATION

It is an organizations ability to learn, and translating that learning into action rapidly and effectively is the ultimate competitive advantage and can be achieved through KM

Jack Welch
Knowledge assets are important intangible assets of an organization and thus it needs effective and efficient management. Effectively implemented KM leads to improvement in the working efficiency and effectiveness of the organization leading the organization to success. The productivity of the knowledge as well as knowledge workers is not the only competitive factor in the world economy but it can become the decisive factor and no1 corporate priority.

1.4 ELEMENTS IN CREATING KM SYSTEMS

The elements that create a KM system are as follows:

Data They are numbers. They are numerical values or other attributes derived from observation, experiment, or calculation.

Information It is data in context. Information is a collection of data and associated explanations, interpretations, concerning a particular object, event, or process.

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Metadata Its the data about information. Metadata includes descriptive summaries and categorization of data and information. That is, metadata is information about the context in which information is used.

Knowledge It is information that is organized or summarized to enhance comprehension, awareness, or understanding. That is, knowledge is a combination of metadata and an awareness of the context in which the metadata can be applied successfully.

Instrumental understanding It is the clear and complete idea of the nature, significance, and explanation of something. It is about relating specific knowledge to various concepts.

Figure 1.1 Knowledge management System- Value Shop Creation

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In reality, most KM practices fall short of this. This is because its virtually impossible to capture the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors of a manager or employee in a way that is both economical and complete enough to provide another person with quality information and make decisions. Also they follow the same leadership principles, or perform the same complex tasks at the same level of performance.

1.5 STRUCTURE, CULTURE & TECHNOLOGY IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge management in an organization has three aspects to it the structure of organization, the organizational culture and technology (Bhat, 2001; Lopez, et al. 2004; Ellonen, et al., 2009). Jha and Joshi (2008) and Payne (2008) described the foundation of KM as people, process and technology. The three pillars and the interaction between them is depicted in the following figure

Figure 1.2 Components of Knowledge Management

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1.6 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

In his definition, Bhatt (2000b) refers to knowledge management as a process of creation, validation, presentation, distribution and application. According to him, knowledge management can be broken down into a 5 step process as shown in figure below. These are the steps in knowledge management, from an organizations perspective.

Figure1.3 Knowledge Management Process

Knowledge Creation: This refers to the ability of an organization to create novel and useful ideas. This is an emergent process where motivation, inspiration, experimentation and pure chance play a role. (Lynn, et al. 1995).This step is closely related to experimentation by a learning organization. (Garvin, 1993) Knowledge Validation: This is the organizations ability to reflect and evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge for the existing organizational environment. Identifying and reconfiguring obsolete knowledge is extremely important since core-

competencies, even though not easily imitated can get obsolete (Nonaka and
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Takeuchi, 1995) Knowledge Formatting: This refers to the different ways knowledge can be presented, so that it is suitable to the different work-styles of the people. Knowledge Distribution: Unless knowledge is distributed and shared, it cannot be exploited by the organizational members. Knowledge transferred through a supervised and predetermined channel will minimize interaction and questioning of the validity of knowledge. Horizontal structure can speed up knowledge transfer and interaction. Knowledge Application: Knowledge needs to be applied in its products, processes and services to create value.

1.7 THE VALUE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Some benefits of KM correlate directly to bottom-line savings, while others are more difficult to quantify. In today's information-driven economy, companies uncover the most opportunities and ultimately derive the most value from intellectual rather than physical assets. To get the most value from a company's intellectual assets, KM practitioners maintain that knowledge must be shared and serve as the foundation for collaboration. Yet better collaboration is not an end in itself; without an overarching business context, KM is meaningless at best and harmful at worst. Consequently, an effective KM program should help a company do one or more of the following:

Foster innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas Improve decision making Improve customer service by streamlining response time Boost revenues by getting products and services to market faster Enhance employee retention rates by recognizing the value of employees' knowledge and rewarding them for it

Streamline operations and reduce costs by eliminating redundant or unnecessary processes

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These are the most prevalent examples. A creative approach to KM can result in improved efficiency, higher productivity and increased revenues in practically any business function.

1.8 TEN PRINCIPLES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge management is costly

Knowledge is an asset and its effective management requires investment of assets. There are various particular knowledge management activities that require investment of money and labour. These activities including the following: Knowledge capture involves creation of documents and moving documents into other computer systems. Adding value to knowledge through editing and packaging. It also involves developing knowledge categorization approaches and categorizing new contributions to the knowledge It involves developing information technology infrastructure and applications for the further distribution of knowledge Educate employees for the creation, sharing, and use of information

Effective management of the knowledge requires hybrid solutions of people and technology
Human beings may be expensive, but they are quite accomplished at certain knowledge skills and cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence computers. When we try to understand knowledge, to comprehend it within a broader context, to combine it with other kinds of information, or to create various unstructured forms of knowledge, humans

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are recommended tool. These are various types of knowledge tasks at which humans excel, and humans should be employed for such purposes.

Knowledge management is political

There is no secret that knowledge is power, and thus it should not surprise when anyone says that knowledge management is a political undertaking. If knowledge can associated with power, money, and success, then can also associated with lobbying, and back-room deals. If no political thing appears around the knowledge management initiative, it is a very good indication that the organization perceives that nothing valuable is taking place in organization. What do knowledge politics mean for effective knowledge management? Some managers will criticize politics. But smart managers of knowledge will acknowledge and cultivate politics. They will act as entrance for the use and value of knowledge. They will break the deals between those who have knowledge and those who use knowledge. They will cultivate powerful opinion leaders as early adopters of knowledge management approaches. At the highest level, they will also try to shape the authority of knowledge to better utilize it in the organization.

Knowledge management requires few knowledge managers

Knowledge wont be well-managed until some group in a firm has the clear responsibility for the job. Such a group might perform tasks such as collection and categorizing knowledge, establishing such knowledge-oriented technology infrastructure, and monitoring the use of the knowledge. Several professional services firms have knowledge management roles in place. McKinsey, Anderson consulting, Ernst and young, Price Waterhouse Coopers and A.T Kearney all have the CFO Chief Knowledge officers in place. Buckman laboratories reoriented its information systems organization to become manager of knowledge, and now call the group the knowledge transfer department. Hewlett-Packard also created a
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knowledge management group in its corporate product processes organization, and one in its computer systems marketing group. In addition to this, the knowledge mangers should not imply by their words or actions that they are more knowledgeable as compared to others. In fact, one knowledge manager at Hewlett Packard says that important qualification for such a role is being egoless.

Knowledge management benefits more from the maps than the models, more from the markets than from the hierarchies
It is alluring when managing knowledge to create a hierarchical model or architecture knowledge, similar to encyclopedia Britannicas propaedia that could govern the collection as well as categorization of knowledge. But many organizations are good in letting the knowledge, market work, and providing and mapping the knowledge which its customers seem to want.

Sharing and using knowledge are mostly unnatural acts

If my knowledge is a valuable resource, why should I have to share it? If my job is to create knowledge, why should I have to put my job at risk by using yours instead of mine? We sometimes act surprised when knowledge is not shared or used, but we would be good as knowledge managers assuming that the natural tendency is to save our knowledge and look doubtfully upon that from others. To enter our knowledge into a system and to look for knowledge from others is not only threatening, but sometimes also just plain effort-so we have to be highly motivated to undertake such kind of work.

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Knowledge management means improving organizations knowledge work processes

It is important to improve the generic knowledge management process, but knowledge is always generated, used, and shared intensively some specific knowledge work processes. Such specific processes may vary by firm and the industry, and they include market research, product design and development, and some more transactional process like order configuration, pricing. If real improvements are to be made in knowledge management, improvements must be made in these key business processes.

Knowledge access is just the beginning

If knowledge access would have been sufficient, then there would be long lines outside the nations libraries. Access is important, but successful knowledge management requires attention and engagement. Attention is the currency of information age. For knowledge consumers to pay attention towards knowledge, they must be more than passive recipients. More active involvement with knowledge should be achieved through summarizing and report it to others, and through role-playing games based on usage of the knowledge, also through receiving the knowledge through close interaction with the providers.

Knowledge management never ends

Knowledge managers feel that their work would be done if and only if they could only get their organizations knowledge under control. However, the knowledge management tasks are never-ending. Like human resource management or financial management or CRM, there has been never been a time when knowledge has been fully managed. It is a dynamic process that requires constant up gradation.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Peter Drucker broadly described the current shift from industry to information to knowledge, which he says started around 1960 and is expected to continue until 2010 or 2020, as follows: We are entering the knowledge society in which the basic resource is no longer capital, or natural resources, or labor, but is and will be knowledge, and where knowledge workers will play a central role. The initial research defines knowledge and knowledge management (KM) and establishes its roots. KM is not a brand new topic, while organizational learning and organizational memory are related topics that have been fields of research for many years. The chapter shows how research has been done in field of Knowledge Management. Additionally, this chapter explains that KM has become a research area due to a many trends that have made KM necessary and technically useful. (Murray E. Jennex, 1999) The next in line at the arguments that show knowledge management (KM) is a discipline. Kuhns (1996) criteria for being a discipline are used as a framework for providing information showing KM to be a discipline. It was found that KM has interesting research questions, journals specific to KM, a body of accepted knowledge, professional societies, its own jargon and ontology, and its own degree programs. It also is concluded that KM is young and growing discipline. (David Croasdell, 1994)

Table 2.1 Definitions of Knowledge Management

Definition

Source

Reference

KM is the systematic, explicit, and deliberate building, renewal, and application of knowledge to maximize an enterprises knowledge-related effectiveness and returns from its knowledge assets. Nonaka and Takeuchi used knowledge creation as the capability of a company as a whole to create new knowledge,

Wiig

(Wiig, 1993)

Nonaka and Takeuchi

(Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) Page 15

disseminate it throughout the organization, and embody it in products, services, and systems. KM is getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time so they can make the best decision. KM involves the identification and analysis of available and required knowledge, and the subsequent planning and control of actions to develop knowledge assets so as to fulfill organization objectives. KM applies systematic approaches to find, understand, and use knowledge to create value. KM is the explicit control and management of knowledge within an organization aimed at achieving the companys objectives. KM is the formalization of and access to experience, knowledge, and expertise that create new capabilities, enable superior performance, encourage innovation, and enhance customer value. KM is human activity that is part of the knowledge management process (KMP) of an agent or collective. KMP, in turn, is an ongoing, persistent, purposeful interaction among human-based agents through which the participating agents aim at managing (handling, directing, governing, controlling, coordinating, planning, organizing) other agents, components, and activities participating in the basic knowledge processes (knowledge production and knowledge integration) into a planned, directed, unified whole, producing, maintaining, enhancing, acquiring, and transmitting the enterprises knowledge base. KM is viewed as a process for optimizing the effective application of intellectual capital to achieve organizational objectives. Petrash (Burkowitz & Petrash, 1997) (Macintosh, 1996)

Macintosh

ODell

(ODell & Grayson, 1998) (van der Spek & Spijkervet, 1997)

van der Spek

Beckman

(Liebowitz & Beckman, 1998)

Firestone

(Barquin, Bennet & Remez, 2001a)

U. S. Dept. of the Navy

(Porter, Bennet, Turner & Wennegren, 2002)

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Although knowledge management (KM) is maturing as a research topic, there is no agreement on what constructs create its foundation. The topic has received increasing attention in academic journals, it is important for researchers to be aware of the research streams associated with KM. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the knowledge management literature published in top-tier journals from 2000 to 2005. These articles then are classified by knowledge management construct and by research methodology. The results indicate that the majority of knowledge management research has examined the construct of knowledge transfer. Trends of published KM research, gaps, and inconsistencies in the examined literature and applied research methodologies are discussed. Knowledge management is a complex field, divided into necessity or design. In this research, data that maps out a number of the characteristics of the field is presented. (Todd Peachey, Dianne Hall, Casey Cegielski, 2000) After that trends that indicate how knowledge management is evolving into a discipline in its own right and present some thoughts on what the dominant characteristics of that discipline need to be.

Knowledge management (KM) initiatives are undertaken in order to improve organizational performance. The goal of such improvement is to make an organization more competitive in delivering value to its customers, employers, and stakeholders. However, without a plan that links KM activities to organizational performance, the time, effort, and money devoted to a KM initiative may yield little benefit. Thus, understanding this linkage is crucial to competitiveness of knowledge-based organizations. This research uses the knowledge chain model as the theoretical base for an empirical study of the linkage between KM activities and approaches to competitiveness. It finds that every one of the nine knowledge chain activities can be performed in ways that improve organizational competitiveness in any of four ways: enhanced productivity, agility, innovation, and reputation. Apart from offering empirical support for the knowledge chain model, the primary finding of this research is that each knowledge chain activity deserves to be considered as a possible means for implementing each of these four approaches to improving organization performance.

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(Verma Sanjeev, Chaudhuri Ranjan & Rajput Ritesh, 2008) conducted a research on the needs and expectations of the employees from the knowledge management system. The research paper aimed at studying the existing knowledge practices, the use of knowledge management as a strategic tool and the factors affecting the use of KM in the Indian Service industry. The inferences that were drawn were; the employees feel that the knowledge management is the strategic part of their business and they may be interested to participate in knowledge creation and its sharing. The overall trend indicated healthy organizational culture for implementation of knowledge management system. But without the rewards or recognition for knowledge sharing the inner motivation of employees may be missing. It was found that financial incentives are not the real motivator for KMS adoption but recognition is very important factor to motivate people to adopt KMS. Even if employees are willing to participate, still some practical hurdles like less exposure to information, technology, routine work business and insufficient communication may act as constraints in adoption of knowledge management system. In addition, the factors like innovations, faster decision making, and employees development are important to establish an environment in which the KM process for the services sector could be applied. (David G. Schwartz, 2001) This research briefly overviews a number of strategies for eliciting tacit knowledge and then provides a detailed examination of one of these strategies. The critical decision interview method can assist expert respondents to articulate tacit knowledge by probing beyond their usual theories about their actions to reveal their practice. Tacit knowledge then can be identified by contrasting respondents practices with theoretical prescriptions for best practice in the field. Knowledge management (KM) has gained increasing attention since the mid-1990s. A KM strategy involves helping people share and put knowledge into action. However, before an organization can realize the benefits of KM, a fundamental question needs to be asked: What performance goals is the organization trying to achieve? In this research, a multilevel framework that gives a view of the performance environment surrounding organizational knowledge work. It explains the KM framework using two organizational case studies. Then, based on the KM framework and further insights drawn from our case

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studies, it offer a series of steps that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake KM initiatives. Research further demonstrates the applicability of these steps by examining KM initiatives within a global software development company. (Yadav Deepak, David Shine, 2007) quoted that the power of knowledge management is that it maintains focus on people. It is people who manage knowledge and it is the role of the organization to promote processes with the help of technology so that people want to share and manage knowledge effectively. They performed analysis of the major Indian IT sector players and revealed that organization that realized the need and importance of KM at early stages were having better result today than compared to previous years despite increase in number of employees. They have tried to provide explanation in light of KM maturity model that defines knowledge life cycle in an organization. Most of the organizations in Indian IT sector are found in stage III and above.

Table 2.2 KM Maturity Model

Level Level 1 Level 2

People * Knowledge awareness information Central knowledge Organization knowledge Education Customized enabling

Process * Content Capture

Technology * Basic information management

Level 3

Content structure Management

Knowledge Technology Infrastructure Knowledge Infrastructure Management

Level 4

Content Enlivenment Knowledge Configuration Management Quantitative Knowledge Management Expertise Integration Knowledge Leverage Innovation Management

Level 5

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(Kumar Sanjay, 2008) examined the role of peoples biographical profile on the processes of knowledge management. He states that there are two characteristics of knowledge that are important for understanding knowledge transfer: velocity and viscosity. People are core of creating, sharing and using organizational knowledge for successfully realizing corporate goals (Holsapple and Joshi, 2001).The study was conducted in a software organization with a sample size of 331. Knowledge management assessment tool developed by Maier and Mosley was used to carry out the research. The results that were drawn states that though age, gender and work experience of employees are positively associated with knowledge management practices but employees educational qualification and raise in organizational hierarchy are significantly and positively related to knowledge management practices. He also states that personal, interpersonal and organizational variables play significant role in both explicit and tacit knowledge management processes in Software Company. An article on Knowledge Management and Employee Empowerment by (N. Rajagopal, V. Murale, N.T. Divya, 2006) discusses that a successful knowledge management system must ensure knowledge availability, accuracy in retrieval, effectiveness, accessibility and timely availability. The various benefits of such KMS are it constitutes a key strategic resource, omnipresent of knowledge, retrieval of knowledge and accessibility of knowledge. The article states that according to KMPG report(2000) the application of knowledge management system is found more in IT field.KM projects are more likely to be led by the IT department(22%), human

resource(15%),marketing(16%),operations(4%).The dissemination of ideas largely depends upon the sharing of knowledge. Many companies successful in knowledge sharing employ techniques like granting financial and other incentives to employees. Employees must come out with prejudices of non-cooperation of sharing their ideas. Promoting group discussions, Brainstorming provoke employees to expose with innovative ideas. In fact knowledge sharing exercise will empower the employees in many respects. There are many factors of knowledge sharing such as respect for team members, management attitude, learning, innovations. These ultimately empower the employees and improve their performance and organizational development.

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(Sharma Kapil, Mishra P.N, 2007) have briefly reviewed in their paper about the increased interest in more explicitly valuing intangible assets and have explored the strengths and weaknesses of the current approaches of Intellectual capital and balance scorecard(BSC) .He has established a relationship between the balance scorecard and intellectual capital. He states that there has been a growing trend to treat knowledge management in a more systematic organizational sense to include the social as well as the technological implications of any attempt to manage an organizations intangible assets. The social implications includes consideration of questions involving such cultural factors as the degree of trust and openness in organizational communities; the personal consequences of collaboration; effective learning platforms; and many other subtle aspects of human interaction. It was noted that balance score card and knowledge management approaches do not explicitly acknowledge the dynamic inter-relatedness of all organization assets. To overcome these shortcomings they contended that it is critical for an organization to manage its financial, tangible, and intangible assets as a dynamic system and they proposed a new approach which they called Systematic Knowledge management (SKM). By combing BSC with SKM, systematic knowledge management of assets can be achieved in a very short time, with consequent early captures of benefits.

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INDUSTRY PROFILE THE IT INDUSTRY AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The IT industry is resource-oriented and it becomes quite important to ensure that knowledge in the minds of resources is safeguarded. It is found that, while 26 per cent of knowledge in the average organization is stored on paper and 20 per cent digitally, an astonishing 42 per cent is stored in employees' heads. There have been many instances where the learning and knowledge is lost when resources move to newer roles, or leave the organization. Knowledge is invisible and is tied up in customer relationships. It is linked to the ratio of experienced to junior employees. KM assists in getting the right knowledge to the right person as fast as possible and assists in retaining customers. The most difficult part in implementing KM is not the technology. It is to understand where knowledge resides within the organization.

3.1 TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES (TCS) Established in 1968, Tata Consultancy Services has grown to its current position as the largest IT services firm in Asia based on its record of outstanding service, collaborative partnerships, innovation, and corporate responsibility. TCS is a subsidiary of one of India's largest and oldest conglomerates, the Tata Group, founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868 and one of Indias most respected institutions today. The mission of TCS reflects the Tata Group's longstanding commitment to providing excellence: To help customers achieve their business objectives by providing innovative, best-in-class consulting, IT solutions and services, and to actively engage all stakeholders in a productive, collaborative, and mutually beneficial relationship. The vision of TCS is to be one of the top 10 global companies by the year 2010.

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The values integrity, leading change, excellence, respect for the individual, and fostering an environment of learning and sharing will get us there. TCS' ability to deliver high-quality services and solutions is unmatched. It is the worlds first organization to achieve an enterprise-wide Maturity Level 5 on both CMMI and PCMM, using the most rigorous assessment methodology - SCAMPISM. Additionally, TCS Integrated Quality Management System (iQMS) integrates process, people and technology maturity through various established frameworks and practices including IEEE, ISO 9001:2000, CMMI, SW-CMM, P-CMM and 6-Sigma.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT TCS

According to TCS, knowledge should be managed because of the following reasons:

Competition o Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising.

People o Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal methods. o Competitive pressures reduce the size of the work force that holds valuable business knowledge. o Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge.

Operations o There is a need to manage increasing complexity as small operating companies are trans-national sourcing operations. o The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished.
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Strategic o Changes in strategic direction may result in the loss of knowledge in a specific area.

Knowledge management is important in TCS because of following reasons:

People o 10% of associates are of non-Indian origin o NNN recruited every year

GNDM o Global operations* 100,000+ associates across 51 countries, 173 offices in 39 countries o Certainty for our customers

Competition o Cost and speed-to-market pressures o Delivery Excellency through uniform processes, skilled resources and new technology

Strategic o Establish global brand o New products and geographies

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Figure 3.1 An overview of TCS Knowledge Management

Figure 3.2 Knowledge domain in TCS

Knowledge in Products

Customer Knowledge

Knowledge in People

Environment Knowledge Industry Knowledge In Organisational Assets Organisational knowledge Memory

Knowledge in TCS

Market Knowledge

Knowledge in Processes Partners, Alliances, Vendors

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3.2 INFOSYS
Infosys is the leader in providing IT consulting and software services to the world's finest organizations. Infosys Technologies Limited was established in India in the year 1981 by Mr. Narayan Murthy. The Chairman and CEO of Infosys is Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan. The company has 104,850 professionals (including subsidiaries). Infosys specialises in offering a complete range of software and consulting services such as business-technology consulting, Internet and e-business consulting, system integration, custom application development, re-engineering and sustenance amply supported by the companys execution methodologies and delivery models. Over the years, Infosys has grown into one of the major IT companies in the world and now has offices in different parts of the world such as the U.S., Japan, Canada, U.K., Germany, Belgium, Australia, France, Scandinavia and Hong Kong.

Vision
To be a globally respected corporation that provides best-of-breed business solutions, leveraging technology, delivered by best-in-class people.

Mission
"To achieve our objectives in an environment of fairness, honesty, and courtesy towards our clients, employees, vendors and society at large."

Values
Infosys believes that the softest pillow is a clear conscience. The values that drive it underscore its commitment to: Customer Delight: To surpass customer expectations consistently Leadership by Example: To set standards in our business and transactions and be an exemplar for the industry and ourselves Integrity and Transparency: To be ethical, sincere and open in all our transactions Fairness: To be objective and transaction-oriented, and thereby earn trust and respect Pursuit of Excellence: To strive relentlessly, constantly improve ourselves, our teams, our services and products to become the best

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT INFOSYS More than ever before, sustained growth and responsiveness to the market - built on sound business models, strong work-force competencies and effective people practices, constitute the key challenges in enabling the delivery of cost-effective and high-quality products and services. Continual and rapid changes in the business contexts and the technological landscape impose further challenges to the industry in providing high customer value through increased operational efficiencies, better services and integrated systems. Infosys, for long, has devised and set in place a variety of mechanisms to leverage the organization's collective knowledge to address these challenges. However, during the initial years, such efforts were limited in scope and spread across the organization. It was only in late 1999 that the long felt need for an organization wide, integrated Knowledge Management (KM) program crystallized into a centrally coordinated, formal and focused effort. Propelled by the vision of Nandan and the leadership of Kris, the formal initiative was launched under the stewardship of Dr. V.P. Kochikar. The initiative, anchored by a group of four, has since grown in scope and reach. Currently, with a team size of ten, the initiative has been identified as a critical thrust area for Infosys and has been drafted into the thought leadership stream under the ambitious Infy+ program. The team is currently headed by Dr. J.K. Suresh. EVOLUTION OF KM AT INFOSYS 1992: body of language 1995: technical bulletin, online learning 1996: companywide intranet (sparsh) 1997: marketing systems, processes assets 1998: project leaders toolkit 1999: people knowledge map, orgwide KM initiative

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2000: integrated Kshop. A portal and satellite servers to Kshop 2001: customization, subscription, process level changes 2002: process level changes, skills central, intergrated search 2003: KM in projects, integrated with IPM, KMail 2004: KShop on extranets, qualifications of benefit from KM 2005: KM focused deployment, KM for clients facing infoscions, 2006: KM for key accounts, new Kshop

THE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT VISION To be an organization: where every action is fully enabled by the power of knowledge; which truly believes in leveraging knowledge for innovation; where every employee is empowered by the knowledge of every other employee; Which is a globally respected knowledge leader?

COMPONENTS OF KM INFRASTRUCTURE IN INFOSYS Content management components o Submission o Workflow o Classification rating

Collaboration management components o e-mail

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o expert locator o discussion forums o blogs o wiki o team spaces

file system o knowledge documents o business rules

K-mail: a system for facilitating real-time collaboration amongst communities with the aid of automated query-response features k-speak: an innovative application using voice recognition technologies and summarization algorithms to deliver information and knowledge to handhelds. K-search: a tool that allows the user to search multiple information and knowledge stores from the comfort of MS office applications.

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3.2.2 WIPRO
Wipro Technologies Limited is a giant information technology services corporation headquartered in Bangalore, India. Wipro (an acronym of "Western India Palm Refined Oils") was started as a vegetable oil trading company in 1947. In 1980 the company diversified into Information Technology. Presently Wipro is into IT consulting, Business process outsourcing, product engineered solutions, technology infrastructure and services. Wipro employs 108071 employees as on March 2010.

Wipro's Mission and Vision Having already achieved the pinnacles of process and quality credentials (through ISO 9000, SEI CMM, PCMM and Six Sigma), Wipro's Vision is focused on attaining leadership in the areas of business, customer and people. Business Leadership: Among the top 10 Information Technology Services companies globally and the No.1 Information Technology company in India. Customer Leadership: The No.1 choice of customers through innovative solutions and Six Sigma processes. People Leadership: Among the top 10 most preferred employers globally by creating an environment of empowerment, intellectual challenge and wealth sharing. Brand Leadership: Wipro to be among the 5 most admired brand in India.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT WIPRO Wipros KM Vision

To be an organization where knowledge capture and sharing is the way we work, offering customers speed-to-deploy as well as innovative products and services focused on their needs, and offering employees an environment of continuous learning and productivity improvements.
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Business Drivers
Customer responsiveness Collaborative work culture Shorter time to market Competitive advantage Learning Organization Innovation

Figure 3.4 Wipros KNet Framework

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Key KNET applications

DocKNet The repository of documents. Place to go to for anything ranging from technical documents, proposals to training material on various subjects War Rooms It is a virtual workspace for time -bound and task oriented jobs. KoNnEcT The Yellow pages with an associated database ofexperts, queries, responses and ratings. Popular and very useful.

Reusable components - The repository of software reusable components and tools developed in-house.

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RESEARCH DESIGN

2.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

To identify the perception of employees towards knowledge management. To identify the various issues that underlie an effective and efficient knowledge management implementation.

2.2 RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE

Knowledge and innovation is part and parcel of IT industries. Despite of its importance companies dont take any initiative to manage the knowledge prevailing inside their organisation. In spite of much talked about topic it is still a fad in most of the organisations. Many organisations lack top management support for its implementation. The Employees have a vague idea about knowledge management systems. So it becomes important to understand how employees perceive knowledge management and how clear they are with its benefits.

2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study can be used by organizations that are planning to implement Knowledge management in their organizations.

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2.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.4.1 TYPE OF STUDY

The study was an exploratory study where the primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire.

2.4.2 DATA COLLECTION

Primary and Secondary data was collected for the study Sources of Primary Data The data was collected from the respondents through a survey using a questionnaire The data was also mobilized from interactions with the employees

Sources of Secondary Data Company Websites. Internet Business Journals and newspapers. Business Magazines

2.4.3 DATA COLLECTION METHOD

In order to collect data from employees working in IT organizations a structured questionnaire was drafted.

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2.4.4 CONTACT METHOD

The Method of Contact had been Personal Interactions with employees and mailing the questionnaire electronically

2.4.5 TARGET SAMPLE

The target sample for the study was employees working in IT industry at Delhi.

2.4.6 SAMPLE SIZE

The total number of respondents was 150.

2.4.7 SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

Non probability convenience sampling was used to choose the sample out of the target population.

2.5 LIMITATIONS
The limitations of the study are as follows: Some respondents might have given false answers in order to appear intelligent or conceal information they consider personal or embarrassing. There were times when a respondent gave incorrect or estimated information due to ignorance and forgetfulness even though he had no intention of doing it. Some respondents might have given extreme answers to certain questions and some tend to remain neutral in all answers. There is no practical exposure to the study that is conducted.

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DATA ANALYSIS AND DATA INTERPRETATION

Q1. Which functional area are you working for? Table 4.1 Functional Areas of employees

Functional Area Information Technology Knowledge Management Division Quality/Business Improvement Research Development Strategy /Planning Grand Total

Frequency 36 9 69 12 24 150

Figure 4.1 Functional Areas of employees

Chart Title
Information technology Quality/Business Improvement Strategy /Planning 8% Knowledge management division Research Development

16%

24% 6%

46%

INTERPRETATION The above graphs indicate that most of the respondents that were surveyed belong to the quality/business improvement (46%). Also there are a good number of respondents who belong to the information technology (24%).
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Q2.What is your perception about knowledge management? Table 4.2 Perception of employees about knowledge Management

Perception Fad Strategic Imperative Value Adding Grand Total

Frequency 0 45 105 50

Figure 4.2 Perception of employees about knowledge Management

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Fad Strategic Imperative Value Adding Series1

INTERPRETATION Some of the interesting observation from data analysis pertaining to perception of about knowledge management reflects that no employee feels that knowledge management is a fad whereas significant numbers of employees (105) feel that knowledge management is value adding.

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Q3. How do you view your organization? Table 4.3 Type of organization w.r.t Knowledge Management

Type of organization Knowledge Based Non-knowledge based Grand Total

Frequency 150 0 150

Figure 4.3 Type of organization w.r.t Knowledge Management

160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Knowledge Based Non-knowledge based Series1

INTERPRETATION The above graph indicates that all the employees in various IT companies view their organization as knowledge based organization and none of the employees view their organization as non-knowledge based.

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Q4. What is your current state of engagement with knowledge management? Table 4.4 Current state of engagement with knowledge management
Current state Evaluating Knowledge Management Implemented Knowledge Management Planning to use Knowledge Management Grand Total Frequency 45 84 21 150

Figure 4.4 Current state of engagement with knowledge management

Chart Title
14% 30% Evaluating Knowledge Management Implemented Knowledge Management Planning to use Knowledge Management

56%

INTERPRETATION A huge proportion of employees (56%) said that knowledge management is implemented in their organization whereas (30%) of the employees said that their organization is evaluating knowledge management.

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Q5.What are the reasons for investing in knowledge management?

Table 4.5 Reasons for investing in knowledge management Reasons for investing Competitors are doing it Enhancing employees knowledge Increased value for customers Loss of knowledge due to attrition, retirement etc. Reduced Costs Grand Total 78 150 Frequency 12 33 24 3

Figure 4.5 Reasons for investing in knowledge management

Chart Title
Competitors are doing it 8% 22% 52% 16% Increased value for customers Loss of knowledge due to attrition, retirement etc. 2% Reduced Costs Enhancing employees knowledge

INTERPRETATION Data obtained pertaining to reasons for investment in knowledge management indicates that IT organization invests due to reduction in cost (52%). Data also revealed that high number of employees (22%) feel that companies invest in knowledge management because it enhances employees knowledge. Only 1 employee feels that investment in knowledge management is made to avoid loss of knowledge due to attrition, retirement etc.
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Q6.What are the barriers to the wide-spread application of knowledge-management?

Table 4.6 Barriers to application of Knowledge Management Barriers Cost Lack of initiatives by employees Organisation culture resistance Organisation structure Technology Grand Total Frequency 18 27 6 30 69 150

Figure 4.6 Barriers to application of Knowledge Management

Chart Title
Cost 12% Lack of initiatives by employees Organisation culture resistance 4% Organisation structure Technology

46%

18%

20%

INTERPRETATION The data obtained on barriers to implementation of knowledge management indicated that although knowledge management is already there in most of the organizations, the main barriers are technology (46%). Many employees also believe that organization structure (20%) and lack of initiatives by employees (18%) are also creating barriers for successful implementation of Knowledge management.

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Q7. What are the costly mistakes due to insufficient knowledge or experience?

Table 4.7 Costly mistakes due to insufficient knowledge or experience Costly Mistakes Best Knowledge not accessible Knowledge bottlenecks exist Managers not aware of true costs Grand Total Frequency 36 66 48 150

Figure 4.7 Costly mistakes due to insufficient knowledge or experience

Chart Title
24% Best Knowledge not accessible Knowledge bottlenecks exist Managers not aware of true costs

32%

44%

INTERPRETATION According to employees in IT organization, some costly mistakes due to insufficient knowledge/ experience can be knowledge bottlenecks (44%) wherein each employee has limited knowledge about what is related to his/her profile and has no idea about the new happenings in the company. Many a times managers are not aware of the true costs (32%).
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Q8. According to you, what is the most valuable feature of knowledge management?
Table 4.8 Most Valuable feature of Knowledge management Valuable Feature Enhanced way of organizing corporate knowledge New ways to expose tacit knowledge Support generation and research of new knowledge Grand Total 150 66 48 Frequency 36

Figure 4.8 Most valuable feature of knowledge management

Chart Title
Enhanced way of organizing corporate knowledge

24% 32%

New ways to expose tacit knowledge

44%

Support generation and research of new knowledge

INTERPRETATION When the respondents were asked about the most valuable feature of knowledge management many of the employees (54%) agreed that it provides new ways to expose tacit knowledge. There were 24 percent of employees who agreed that it is an enhanced way of organizing corporate knowledge.
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Q9. What kind of environment should the company provide to maximize gaining and sharing knowledge?

Table 4.9 Environment suitable for maximizing sharing of knowledge Suitable Environment Interactive and Reflective environment Learning and changed environment User friendly technique and technological environment Grand Total 150 Frequency 51 15 84

Figure 4.9 Environment suitable for maximizing sharing of knowledge

Chart Title
Interactive and Reflective environment 34% 56% 10% Learning and changed environment

User friendly technique and technological environment

INTERPRETATION According to the employees of various organizations, user- friendly technique and technology environment (56%) is a must to maximize gaining and sharing knowledge. The data also reveals that some employees feel interactive and reflective environment (34%) is also suitable.

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Q10.What kind of technologies will make a significant contribution to knowledgemanagement initiative?

Table 4.10 Technology contributing to knowledge management initiative Technology Corporate intranet Data warehousing Document Management Electronic Mail Internet Grand Total Frequency 18 18 15 48 51 150

Figure 4.10 Technology contributing to knowledge management initiative

Chart Title
34% 12% Corporate intranet 12% 10% 32% Data warehousing Document Management Electronic Mail Internet

INTERPRETATION AIaA The graph above indicates that almost equal numbers of employees feel that electronic mail (32%) and internet (34%) contributes mainly to knowledge management initiative. Other technologies that are used are corporate intranet (12%), data warehousing (12%) and document management (10%).
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Q11.What are the techniques that you think will make a significant contribution to knowledge- management initiative? Table 4.11 Techniques contributing to knowledge management initiative
Techniques Communities of place Face-to-face conversations Mentoring Suggestion Scheme Grand Total Frequency 24 52 63 12 150

Figure 4.11 Techniques contributing to knowledge management initiative

Chart Title
Communities of place 8% 42% 16% Face-to-face conversations 34% Mentoring

Suggestion Scheme

INTERPRETATION The responses received on question pertaining to techniques that are contributing to knowledge management initiative show that 42 percent of employees agree that mentoring is suitable for the KM. Data also reveals that 34 percent of employees feel that face to face conversations within organization will contribute to knowledge management initiative.

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FINDINGS
The following are the main findings of the study Knowledge management in IT organisations is value adding and fortunately not a fad, which indicates very healthy signs.

IT companies in India are knowledge based organizations and knowledge management projects are already implemented there.

Knowledge management systems in organizations lead to reduction in cost so the companies must invest in it.

The biggest barrier for successful implementation of knowledge management systems in organizations is technology.

The costliest mistake that organizations commit due to insufficient knowledge/ experience can be knowledge bottlenecks wherein each employee have limited knowledge about what is related to his/her profile and has no idea about the new happenings in the company.

The most valuable feature of knowledge management is that it provides new ways to expose tacit knowledge which is otherwise difficult to expose.

The companies need to provide user- friendly technique and technology environment to their employees in order to maximize gaining and sharing knowledge.

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Electronic mails and internet contribute largely to knowledge management initiative.

Mentoring is the most suitable techniques that contribute to knowledge management initiative.

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SUGGESTIONS 1. Transparent business Processes

All businesses must react effectively to maximize profits, make operations more efficient, reduce costs, and generally change to meet market needs and beat the competition. Whilst these core business goals are apparent to all companies, many fail to address them in a systematic manner and few pauses to think about designing business processes to best approach them.

2. Effective two way communication

A fundamental issue is communication within an organization, between Directors and Executive Management, within operational management, and to the customers of the organization. This lack of an embedded knowledge base and effective communications reveals a complete absence of knowledge management that leaves the organization unable to respond to changing competitive pressures and customer needs.

3. Being proactive rather than reactive

The mindset of all leading companies must become proactive - not reactive. Proactive depends on a fundamental understanding of customers, and their existing and potential needs. This can only be achieved by an intensive information gathering process that can be greatly enhanced by technology.

4. Proper documentation
Fundamentally, knowledge management is about generating and recording a clear understanding of business fundamentals, processes, and customers. This process itself is enabled by technology and should be considered an ongoing commitment. Knowledge management is the means to creating a true understanding of the way a business operates and allows companies to test different operational alternatives before putting the optimum process into operation.
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5. Top Management Support

A committed support from the top, the need for companies to put KM at the heart of their business strategy, introduce measurement tools and recognize the importance of engaging with target audiences is a must.

6. A proper feedback
Feedback of the people involved in knowledge management projects is very important. It is critical to understand any ongoing issues so that any shortfall or drift can be addressed.

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CONCLUSION
The quest for knowledge about knowledge is an ancient one. The four vedas- Rig, Sama, Atharva and Yajur give right direction to people so that they can properly mould their lives. From transcendental knowledge that supports mind and matter we need to work on organisational knowledge, which refers to collective knowledge of individual workers and groups to achieve organisational excellence. There are two kinds of knowledge most commonly referred to in business namely explicit and tacit knowledge. These two types of knowledge are complimentary to each other and both are crucial to knowledge creation. Knowledge management is a process that continuously and systematically transfers knowledge from individuals and teams, who generate them, to the brain of the organisation for the benefit of the entire organisation. The management of knowledge is regarded as the main source of competitive advantage for organisations. To keep IT industry competitive in the market, developing effective ways of managing knowledge is important. The objective of this study was basically twofold; to identify the perception of employees towards knowledge management and to identify the various issues that underlie an effective and efficient knowledge management implementation.

IT companies in India are knowledge based organizations and knowledge management projects are already implemented there. Knowledge management there is viewed as value adding. Companies feel that knowledge management leads to reduction of cost but the biggest barrier in its successful implementation being technology. Knowledge management basically provides new ways to expose tacit knowledge. Also it was found that mentoring is one of the most suitable techniques that contribute to knowledge management initiative.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books Referred: 1. C R Kothari, Research Methodology,1st edition, New Age International Publishers, ISBN: 978-81-224-1522-3 2. Mertins, Heisig, Vorbeck, Knowledge Management, 2nd Publications, ISBN: 3-540-00490-4 edition, Springer

Websites: 1. http://www.indiainbusiness.nic.in/indian-economy.pdf
2. www.knowledge_nurture.com 3. http://www.hoovers.com/information-technology/--ID__47--/free-ind-fr-profilebasic.xhtml 4. http://www.pegasusinfocorp.com/resources/india_info/industry_india.htm 5. http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-3665963/PROFILE-INDIA-S-SOFTWAREINDUSTRY.html

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear Sir/ Madam, I am Nandan kumar , a student of DIAS(GGSIPU) conducting research on Knowledge Management as part of my MBA program. I request you to help me in completing my research by giving me the information as per the questionnaire given. I assure you that all information provided will be kept strictly confidential and used for academic purpose only.

Name: Contact number:

Organization:

1. Which functional area are you working for? Knowledge management division Information technology Quality/business improvement Research development

Strategy/planning

2. What is your perception about knowledge management? Strategic imperative Value adding 3. How do you view your organization? fad

Knowledge-based organization

not knowledge-based organization

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4. What is your current state of engagement with knowledge management? Implemented knowledge-management projects Evaluating knowledge-management Planning to use knowledge-management

5. What are the reasons for investing in knowledge management? Loss of knowledge due to attrition, retirement etc Competitors are doing it Increased value for customers reduced costs enhancing employees knowledge

6. What are the barriers to the wide-spread application of knowledge-management? Organization culture resistance Cost Lack of initiative by employees organization structure technology

7. What are the costly mistakes due to insufficient knowledge or experience?

Best knowledge not accessible Knowledge bottlenecks exists

Managers not aware of true costs

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8. According to you, what is the most valuable feature of knowledge management?

Enhanced way of organizing corporate knowledge New ways to expose tacit knowledge Support research and generation of new knowledge

9. What kind of environment should the company provide to maximize gaining and sharing of knowledge? Learning and changed environment User-friendly technique and technology environment Interactive and reflective environment 10. What kind of technologies will make a significant contribution to knowledgemanagement initiative? Corporate intranet Internet Document management 11. What are techniques that you think will make a significant contribution to knowledgemanagement initiative? Face-to-face conversations Communities of place mentoring suggestion scheme electronic mail data warehousing

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