Case Study: Infosys Technologies

Case Study: Infosys Technologies

1. What problems is Nandan facing in implementing KM program?

Problems in implementation included how to turn the initial interest of the employees into continuous involvement in the long-term. Furthermore, in order for the systems to be successfully implemented, Nandan had to secure additional funding, which would be available only if he could identify the metrics for evaluating the benefits of the KM program in order to convince the Board of Directors of the project’s profitability.

2. Identify the critical components of Infosys’ KM program. Explain how Infosys developed these components using the KM Maturity model.

The three key components of the KM program are technology, processes and people. Developing the people component included improved employee recruiting and training, empowering employees, and creating a supportive culture (Level 2); capture initial interest and convert it into long-term involvement (Level 3). The process component was based on creating a “facilitated-distributed” architecture (Level 2); enforce knowledge sharing as a mandatory process and incent knowledge creation (Level 3). The technology component included building a basic infrastructure of KM (Level 2); integrating IT applications (Level 3).

3. Till now, Infosys’ KM program had focused on improving the flows of explicit, documented knowledge. How do they improve the flow of ‘tacit’ knowledge?

The ways of improving the tacit knowledge as envisioned by Nandan included employee training (in person as well as distance learning with the help of audio-visual communications), and improved knowledge sharing (for the purpose of providing technical seminars and organization-wide open communication. For this purpose further investment would also be required.

4. Explain the perspective that Infosys has to transform itself from a ‘reactive problem solver’ to a ‘proactive problem solver’.

If Infosys has the solutions regarding organizational problems available in their KM system storage (due to having solved similar problems with past Infosys clients), the Infosys account managers would be able to provide better services to their clients by anticipating possible future issues and providing answers to them before even occurring. In the dynamic IT consulting world, where time is of the essence, this could provide a competitive advantage to Infosys.

5. We often hear that we should share knowledge. Do you agree?

Knowledge sharing can be beneficial in many circumstances, such as the case of Infosys. As stated in the textbook, when knowledge is available in a “quickly searchable and readily usable” form, effectiveness and efficiency rates can be increased