KnowledgeManagement@Tata Steel

"We rccognize and endorttethe importanceof Anolsledgeas a source of innovalioh

and compelitive advantage. We wish to leverage all our associatio s v/ithin and
outside the Companyto hamessthe ideas and provide the meansfor exchangingand
gro wing knoeledge."
-Tata SteelAnnual Report, 2002-03r.
"l am proud that Tata Steel is recognizedfor its knodedge a,ealiig and sharing
character and I congtutulate all the emplotpesofTata Steel. This avard, howeveL is
only a milestohe anil must not be mistakenfor o r destination. We need to make
knowledgethe pfimary so2trceof our distinction in an industry where technolog) is
-t increasinglybecominga commodily."
-8. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, Responding to the Ncrs of
2t Tata SteelbeingNamedas one ofAsia's Most Admired KnowledgeEnterprises,
in 2003'.
ts
4 ASIA'S MOSTADMIREDKNOWLEDGEENTER}RISE
-_ In 2003, Tata Steel was chose[ as ooe of Asia's Most Admired Knowledge
Enlerprises(MAKE)'. It wastle only companyin the marufacturingsectorin India
?. and the only steelcompanyin the world to receivethis attard. The awardwas irr
specificrecognitionof Tata Ste€l'sknowl€dgemanagement (KM) ioitiatives,which
4 lvele stanedilr the late 1990s.Tata Steel rvas the only manufacturing companyin
lndia to haveimplem€nted KM. TataSt€el'smaragement expectedKM to play a ke]
I
rolein establishinghtelectual ass€ts,rathertlEn physicalassets,asthegrorrthdriver
- of the company.KM wasalso expectedto be an importantsourceof competitive
I advafiagefor TataSteel.
4 Tata Steelrecogrfzedearlythe significanceof KM for the successof a company.IL
) to participateactivelyin its KM program.
madeil compulsoryfor all its employees
4 The companybas€dits new-perfomanceassessment progr"am on tie participationof
I't4
eachindividualemployeein the KM progran Lhoughthe introductionof a "KM
I indexa".The index tallied the poinls achievedtlrough participationin the KM
progranrgiving the employees a benchmarkfor their participation.Tata Steelalso
encouraged employees to exp€imentwith nelvideas,for rr1richtheyrvererervarded.

l,-
b Every )car, t$o British orga iz3liolls, Teleos and the KNOW Network, choosecornpanies
'Most Admired KnowledgcEntcrprise' (MA(E) auards. 'leleos is ai independenl
11 for their
cDmpallyvhich condrcts researchon knowledgenanagenrent,lvlile tie KNOW network is
h
l -
a virtual global connunity of orgarizations dedicatedto networking, bcnclmarliing and
sharingof beslknowledgepractices.
- Will b€ discussedlater jn the cnse.
l-l
lj 201
trr ' '
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lT & Systems
-
Tala Steel'sKM initiativesw€rc successful
andlhenumb€rof hits at lhe KM sitesof -
Tata Steelin 2001-02was ll00 comparedto Shell's(secoodmostadmiredcompany
in Euope) 1000hitq even thoughTata Steelhad only 3000 rcgister€dusersas -
comparedto Slrcll's 10000registeredusers.ThroughTata Steel'sKM initiatives,
exp€nskillsbecameavailablethroughoutt]rcorgarizationandproductivityincreased. -
As employeeswere encoumgedlo come out with ifilovative ideas, then job
satisfactionincreased.
Anolherbenefitwasa reductionin theR&D erDetrditue.

BACKGROUNDNOTE s
-
Tata Steelwasestablished in 190?by J N Tata5at Jamshedpur in Bihar, hdia The
companycomrnenc€d produciionitr 19ll with a capacityof o.lmn tonneof mild 3
steelo.By 1958,its capacitylud increased to 2 Irm tomes.Ove.the years,TataSteel
acquiredseveralcompanies. In 1973,it tookoversomeflux minesandcollieriesnear :
Jharia,WestBokaroT.In 1983,it acquir€dttte]ndianTub€Co.Ltd., a manufacturer of
seamless andweldedtubes.In 1991,it acquiredthefero-chromeunit of OMC Alloys
Ltd., nearBamnipalin Orissa.
Today,Tata Steelproducesa rride rangeof products(ReferExhibit I) includinghot
rolled/coldrolled (IWCR) coils' andsheetqtubes,constuctior bars,forgingquality
st€el,rods, structurals,strips ard b€arings.It also manufactures
nate.ial handling :
equipmen!ferro alloys,and otherrninerals,providessoftwarcfor processcontols, S
ard alsoprovidescargo-handling services.
-
In t]rc early1980s,fte companyidtiated a modemizationpiogramfor its steelplants
(ReferExhibit II). Explainingthe needfor modemization,J. J. Irani, $en nuiaging
directorof Tata Steel,said,"We would llavebeeofinishedothenvise....you cainot
fight a nodem-dayirar with weaponsof the Malabharara.We would have been s
anlrihilatedhadwe not modemized. Werealizedthis andembarkedolr thefour phases s
of modamization.We addrcssed our drawbackslike the ste€lmaking prccess,our
weaKest [nK. '' s
F
s
Jamshedji NusserwEriiTata(J N Tata)wasthefounderof theTata(houp of companies.
:!
Steelwith lessthan0.15%carbonis knownasMild Steel.It is alsoknown as lo\ir'-carbon
steelandsolt caststeel. !!
Bokarovas thei in Bi.har.It is Dowpat of Jharkhan4thenewstat€carvedout ofBihar in
2000.
Hot rolled coil is a coil of steellolled on a hot-stripmill Oot-rclledsteel).It canbe soldin
this formto customers or beproc€ssed fu h6 i to otherlmishedproducts.Cold rolling is a
Focesswherethe shapcandstructureof thesteelcanbechanged by rollirg, hannering, or
stsetchingit at a low tempemhfe(oftenroomteDperatire). s
Lnterviewwith J.J. Irani,ldv ertising& MaAehtg,sdptffib€r 15,2001. S
fl
202
-:
l
 KnowledgeManagement@TataSteel

i
:

+
4

Source: \t)*\r.tolasteeI conL

a

t -
203
a '
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Erhibit II . -

Tata Steel'sModernizationProgram -

Pbase- I (19E1{1R3 Z3 billion)

. lnstallarionof two l30t LD (Basic Oxygen Fumac€)converters(a new a\
technolo$rof rnakingsle€iin the placeof open-hearthfurnaceswhich had
gonepasttheirlife cYcle). l
. Six strand'codinuous billet caster- a fust in ao htegratedsteelplant in India at
- to replaceingot rDaking(contiruouscasting\4asa major teclmological
breaktlrcughin t]rcsteelildustry in thesixties) .\

. I 30tvacuumarctefiningunit- againa frrst - to produc€higherqualitysteel' !-

.\

s
Blendirg plantfor rav rnaterialsto improvethe sinterquality
S
s
first in India. s
. Wasterecyclingplantof I Mtpacapacityfor ecologicalconsider:ations' r\
. Coa.linjectionin blastfrtmaces- hrsl in Ildia - to reducecokeconsumptiol
\-
Phase- m (1992-96i Rs.36billion)
. Installationoffwo morestampchargedcokeovel batteries
. Installationof a newI MFablast imac€ - tlrcbestblastfilrllaceir India :-

r Installatiooof anotLerLD shop (LD2) with two 130t combinedblown

converte$ to elimi&te open-heartiscompletely and to augmefi the
productionof continuouslycast slabsftom two sitrgle stand slab casters
cateriE to theproductionofflat products F
. Installatior of new hot strip mill (initially of I Mtpa capaciry),to allow Tata
Steelto ente!themoreplofitableflat Foductmarket.
Phase- IV (1996-2000; Rs.12.62biIion)
. Inqeas€in hot metalandcrudesteelcapaclty.
. Third-I30t vesselat LD 2. !-
. casting
Thid-single stald slab,)astelto allow l00yocontinuous
. Doubliflgofhot stip mill capacityto producemoreflat steel.

So rce: '/'}v\).tatasteel.com.

F
204 s
 .-!
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KnowledgeManagement@TataSteel

Bv tlre mid-I990s.TataSteelwas Asia'sfirst and India'slargeslinteglaledste-el

pioJuie,(tSp)'oi" rtteprivaleseclor'By 2000,eightdivisionsof TataSteellud been
west
iso-l+ooitt certified;-the divisioN were the Noamundilron operatioN'
Ckomite Mines' Joda East Iron
ioi.a.o Cottieri"s,ferro Alloy Plant,Joda,Sukinda
Mircs, TubesDivisior, andGrowthShop& Ste€lWorks'
Bv early 2000,TataSteelhid completedfour plBsesofils modemizationpJogramat
2' The companyspent Rs 4 billion on
# i"u"urn.n of about Rs. 60 bitlio
programcommenced
J*soitu""v re". U"nue"n1990and2000 Thefiflh phaseof lhe
*'e",;f iooo. This plras€focusedon attracting,develoPingand retaining $e
*o.t nuruutleasset- its people- underits PerfoTtt":" lq: rygr-T
"o.Junv'" its Cold Rolling Mll
fn"ili i"r*i, ). ln April 2000,Tata Steelcomnissioned
€xcellence drive' TataSteel
iirrtll ort"i", l"-.rt"ap"r' Togetherwith its operational
revenues
otsoto*r"O on ganeringa gteaterrnarketslEreandon increasing
producerof ste'elTata Steel's
Bv ADril 2001,TataSteelwasthc world's lowesttost
'lot lnetal' (liquid stagenas $?5 tonne Thecompany'scost
per
oi"iol,iou u, ttt"
"0.,
of fin"ft"Osteelstoodat $152,fot thelinancial-Year endingMarch2001'
"!r-to*Z (wSD)'r identitred andranked 12 companies asworld Class
ilotrd i*ioy*t"i"t
i It,ftit t""tiog TataSteelstoodat numberI $ith a scorcof 131poiots'
""iuJ"*.
ahead of Usinor(France)'andPosco(SoudrKorea)'
directorof
ln Auzust2001.B. MuthuramanOlutluraman)took over as rnaraging
iutu ft rf. ti.pp"O up effortsto increasetheprofitabiliq of the conpany ln late
Tata
"f.
;0I, i;;"*; -(lv'q kro$n as Vision 2007' aimedat making
rrewp.ogram
a it""r:r r*.o.t va*" edied positiveraby ttre year 2007 within a vearof
8le la$ch of Vision200?,TataSteelb€came EVA positive'
'
profit after1a\ of Rs
2 In 2003,TalaSteeldeclareda tumoverof Rs 98 44 billion r}ith
it was the moct prolitablesteelcompanyin India The company's
-o""'alttiOut"A
iorz uiffion;
a ,oaest to its focus on operationalexc€llenc€and rts braoding
slow groMh' Tata
rl iJtiriiu.r. rrtoogrt the steelindusfy in lrdia vas experiencing
of its stong B2C and B2B sales'
Steelwasableto posthighprofitsb€caus€
!
roIntegmted steelftomtheircnorestage
bavethefscilitiestonranufacture
steelproducers
ngJt
! uptn thefinishedsieelstage_
''tsot+oooi"".".ioofenYirorunentalmanagernentstandardsdevelopedandpublishedby
il#;d;J-d;;;doa for Standardizalon @o) for orsanizationsTheISo 14000
ftamewort lor organizationslhat needto systematize and
iili*ai*p.if,a" i"g*a"rt* or
In iagemefl efforls lile ISO t4000 standards arenot designed
imDrovetheiffxrviroDmental activities
;ienvimronintat luus and do notrcgulatethe envtonmental
ffifi ;";;;;
oforeanizationsAdherence to thesestandards is voluntary'
4 't tn
Gt".t".2ool, nt
q5.91equaled I us $'
r3An industryamlysisfirrnbasedin theUs'
- raTheEVa ofa companyis positivewhentheretumonnetassetsGONA) is gt€alerthanthe
.t co$ ofthe caPitalinvested'

: 20s

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I J
:I J
il J
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I : J
il -f
;l J
.l -t
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I r*.1
Source: r'1t)w.taIasteel.cotrt.
sl
KM INITL{TIVES AT TATA STEEL \
l'p
The KM Drosamal TataSleclwasslaied in l999 The aim oI tle programwasto- S*
tle aburidan'rkno\vledgebase in llle lorm of tacit knowledge'' and e\?l'crl
knowledger5tlBt waslying unused,and makeit availablefot use acrossthe company \
The KM-orocesswassarted by bringinglogedtera goup ofpeople wlth ex?osue^rn
iiii".rt i"iit, ltt i"*ptetety ine$rlenceatn impletnenting
thatKM wasa-cultural transfonnatian
KM Thecompany felt
of
rathertlt2na projectThusmvolvinga gr-o0p
+
oeoDle fiomwithinfie compaDy wilh thesupporlofthelop maiagemenl wasu(elyIo '.\

Lemoreeffective in implementing lheKM strale$/, thanlunng people lromoulsrqe' ..,4

The rcxt steDinvolYedestablishing a knwledge repositorywhereall the emPloyees
*""ri-"tiiilt * ,**iv fnit t"i'o.iro.y*as placedon tle corporaeinlranel"and
alt theempl,ovees shared tieir experiences andfailues tn implemenung
of successes
lo panicipale acively in the-kno-wledge S
oi"iJ.. Et'oi"v*t were encouraged
inu*nat"nt oroemmtluougha Knowledge Piece(KP) or queryon tle KM srle
tluouih the lrtranet.After verificationby an expe4 theircontnbutionwasposleoon
>
the si-te.If drererrasqueryb; anyemplolee.theauthorresponded andth^eprocess
wasclosedonly afterthepersoninquiringwassatisfiedwitl theanswer(ReterI lgure
I lor dreKM Svstem at Taa Steel).For moreeffective KN4.TataSleelinlegrated the
mo"i"ag. tip,iri,o.i".at fie division/depanrnent levelwithlie nain KM repository

to the mhd of a p€rson lt is hard to formalize and "l

" l*t.tbl" ktt"-l"d-" tlta" ""ttf-"d
to
thercfo.€-difficull to communicate others.
16fnowtedee which takes a visible folm such as lettets reports, memos anJ literalures ,
ExoL. k;o$ledee canbe embeddedin objeds' rule& systemsmethods €tc t"-
'- a'""i*"il droieh wmclt all the departrnenlsof Tata Steel at dilTelenl
v.-
F
206 &
, *!
 KnowledgeManagement@TataSteet

FigureI: Knowledge
System

Feedbacks
Knowledge

Knowledge

Kanowledge

Knowledge

? A daptedfrom r)\! ie.tatasteel.con.

After,tle creationof a knowledgerepositorJ'. fte ne\1stepwas foming knowledge
? communitiesEefer Exhibit IV for tlle stagesof KM at Tata Sreel).Knowledge
communities\rere formedoneyearafler the lnorvledgercpositorywas established.
Knowl€dgecommunities gavea forun to lik€-mindedpeopleto meetand sharetheir
They were aot problemsolvingplatforms,but groupsof peoplewho
cametogetherto sbarethgir knowledgeard to leamfiom one anothertlrough ther
experienc€s.Sometimes, thelooivledgecorrununites tookup a problemandsolvedir
by brainstormingKnowledgecorununitiesNerenot aimedat short-tem gains,but
wereanitrvestment for thecompa[y'sfuture.
? Revamped
Strateg/
a ThoughTata Steeldid nuke a goodbegimingin KM, there werc someproblems
(Refe.Exhibit V for factorsrequiredfor successflrlKM
lvhich \rere not addressed
a
implementation).Connectivitywas still poor and accesstechnology was not
a standardized. Many inelevant contributions$€re being made to the loowledge
rcposito.ies.SaidRavi Arom (Aror4, headof KM at TataSteel,"lvo6e, therelvere
I culhfal probl€mswith technologyphobias,andattitudessuch as, "This is another
metlmdto dorvnsize" and"Why shouldI slEremypreciousknowledge?"'o
l

'" Madamohan Rao,?enpenng tr or'I"dge, destinationKM.com.

I
,:.
D 207

a
 \

lT & Systems

S
:-

:-

Adapted-[romw)r'w.talasteeIca t.
S
In May 2000, Tata Steel adopted a Jefined str'rtegyfor KM It staJt€d-orga zing S
serninarson Ktrl and idenirying and recognizing somesuccessfirl[M q{ol:-I"d" :r
bv ernDlovees in tlte organi-/ationln dle sameyc . rhe companylrrreclMcKlnsc)
lo, ad\ice ;n comnlMitiesof practice.Communiticsof praclice\\ere
"6nsulronir
established to work towad capturingthe tacit kno$ledgeof experls.imptoving the
quufiry oi rf" knorrlcdgercposiLorl.and encouragnguse of.the rcpos orl Thcse o\
comrnuniricsincluded Inelnbersplaying..five impoflanl roles vlz CDtunplon
Conreneio.PracticeLeader', LeadExpcrt".andPracllljoner' "\
The commuities focused on 2l areasincluding iron making steel making, rolling'
rnaillteflance,fiining, waste management,cost engin€€ring'and energy management
Employeeswere free to join any ol the communities,irresp€ctive of the area they
belonsedto.

re Sonreonewho activelv aldves lhe knowledgeagendaforwald and crcates enthusiasnrand

Lommrlrnen t.
'?oSorneonelho developsa tanework ofknowledge managemenl-
2' Personwho encowagespcople to make aclive use of the knoNledge base and expert skills
available.
to d1eknoMedge repository and makes his expen skills
" Thi" person contnbutesactively
availabletkougloul the organlzatlon
'13Person rvho nrakes the b€sl use oi knowledgemanagemelt for solYing his/her problems'
tbroush the useol tlle krowledge availablein therepository'

208
-\ t

KnowledgeManagement@TataSteel

Exhibi{V
KM Implementation
FactorsRequiredfor Successful
l. ConDectivily
KM Dracticecanbe a successfirl only tlrough theb€stof useof technology.The
technology provides the infiaslructure for knowledgesbaring, aod this KM
'l archjlectureshould be available thoug.hour theorganizatio[
2. Content
The intemal and erlerMl koowledgebaseof the organizatioomust be assessed
beforeis launcheda fonnal KM system.This way,an organizationcanassessthe
knowlcdgecontentavailablewith theorganization
3, Community
:
Corfinunitiesofpracticeo. groupsof peoplewith similarioterestscontributein a
majorwayto thesuccess ofa KM system
- 4. Culture
Suppoflandvision from the top mamgementa sharedseNe of directiorLbust,
oDenness. excitement,and a rdfingnessto continuallyleam from peeIsare key
components of KM cdture.
5. Co-operation
Co-operatioois a key successfactor, esp€ciallyin ordei to overcomecultual,
linguistig andotherbanierstllatariseh companies operatingacrossthe globe.
6. Capacity
In additionto havinga willingnessto shareandleam,an organizatiolmust have
the "intellectualcapitalgovemance" capacityto tale KM to a hi8herstage This
govcrnincecapacilymust be deployedto bdld fte necessary skill setsand
ivstcrnadcallv er€culea KM slmtegy. Somelimes, the in-housecapacity for KM
n;edsto beassessed by anoulside KM consultancy.
7. Commerce
Commercidandotherincentivesto embrace changein a ktrowledgeeconomymust
- b€ implemented,and systemsof appraisal and rewards for outstanding
contributionstluoughthe repositoryanduserallss€rsin a I(lV systemteed to be
introduc€d.
8. Capital
AII tlle aboreneeda hugecapitalintestmentby the company.The capitalto be
deploygdis decidedon tbe basis of the rctums expgcted,computedusing
appropdate i$€sllDentmetrics.

destinali onkm,cor.
: wtaw.
Source
In sDitc of all thesechugcs. only 2'10usersin 2000-01 felt that dle available
Lnoriledqe$rs useful rd couldbe eppliedin iheir areaof l\ork, and in 1999-2000,
onl\' 100 feedbackfrom use6 1YasreceivedCompanyofficials werc of the opinion
thai thcsenurnbcrsrvastoo snall for a conpanyofthe sizeofTata Steel The needof
the houl was to improve the quality of kno$ledge available and to inculcate among
tlreenployccsthelubit of browsing,so that tiey couldacquie tle knorvl€dgestored
anouserL

209
lT & Systems

With this objectivein mind,iI| January2001,TataSt€elintroducedan indexcalleddre

'KM Ind€x to measurethe performaIlceof thd systemand r€wardsuccessfulKM
,
initiativestakenby anyemployeeEachofficer of the company*"s expectedto scorc -
'Ihe scoringsystemPould chalge' asthe
a rninimurnof 130pointson theKM Index
companyevolvedmwardusingknowledgepto3cti]:ly In2001-02' 70 points werc
assiBned for makinqa laluabl; contributionto theKnowledgeRepository,30 points
*"ii.tiip"a ro oi"-time fe€aback"interactior\or collaborationwith the authorof
anotherKi, andanother30 pointswereassigned for theapplicationof a KP from the
site.In 200243,the scoringPaflem was to be reYised' andit.was decidedthat by the
time the organizationbecamea tlue leaming organization rvith free flow of
kno$ledgea;d infonnationsharing,the pointssystem would be done awaywith ln
eady 2062,Taia Steelintroduceda stringentmonitoringsystem KM actlvity' for
Employees'staned brolvsingthe laowledgi malagementpages.-more ftequently On
from oneof "l am an experl I do
the-cul'turalfront, employeeattitudestransformed
not neednew knowledgi" to oue of a continuous questfor kno$ledge; from just' "I
needheld' ro "I canal-sohelp":a Accordingto Arora' "Th€.exretrtof orgaoizational
t"otig-ale from nanow and shallowsilos to wider atrd more permeable \-
silos"." "rtungea
:-
To increasetie effectiveness of KM, Tata Steelmadetwo major changesin the
organization.As a first step,perfonnance evaluationof employees u'aslinkedto KM
the seniorexecutives of tie'companystarteausinga balance scorecard26 to monitor
theperformalceof employees, divisionsin t]re,KMlrocess'andfor takingcorrective S-
."u'r*9, to improvetireimplementarionof KM As a secondstep' Tata Steelalso
Iauncheda JbrmalrewardsandrccognrtionsJstemfor KM The CEO rewatdedthe S-
tearLandknowledge community'
bestperfonningemployee, >-
:-
BENEFITSREAPEDFROM KM
.\
Cenemlly.an\ KM implementation hastwo setsof benelils(Referfigure II) Firsl il
i"au*llrc oi ptolucdon and consequentlyincreasesthe rc\ enue' and second-i I .\
-ruTn of existing loowledge alld crcationof new kno$leclge ln aocuuon
"iti
leadsto utilization
io trr.i", Src"t t other barcflts too. Collaboratior\conversatronard
int*iLion utong "p.i e&ens' sLills\rereavailablethroughoul.the
increased.
oreanizatjoni ".ployees
iob;Usaactjon amongdreemployees incrc€sedandthisteducedtheloss
.ii"i"u*tii"i"itrti 6n R&D-wasreduced as new ideasweregenemted
i;;;r};;t;rd'ization; "tpenditure duplicalionof ideasbeingusedacrossrheorg€nization
;;;'t;i;;;;, ;rodil",titv increased as knowledge \ra' avaitablemorequjclJvand
easihandifftovalions wire encouraged. Aboveall. KM al]owedTataSteello 8ama
competitiveadvantage in tlle marketplace.

to Mad-rnrohan Rao, Trnp eiig K-noubdge,www.destinationKMcom

25l,4adawnohanRao,Tenpeing -K,taldel8e,uwwdestinationKM com-
r"The balanced,.or..*,1 i, i nanagemmtsystem(not only a neiswemmt system)that
orea"izatio"s to their vision and stralegycnd trarslale tlem inlo actjon .ll
"nuttes "tarify
both the inkmal businessprocess€sandexteflal oulcomesrn ororr
Drovidesf;dback amund
io continuouslvimorovestrategicperfonnanceandresults

210

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 a

t
I
I KnowledgeManagement@TataStee

I
I
I FigureII

,(

I
I
T
I
Source: ICFAI Centerfor lulanagementResearch.

Tr FUTURE OF KM AT TATA STEEL

Tata Steel'splansfor the futurewele to link eJeamingwith the KM repositoryand
KM corununities. devise an intellectual capital index, netlvork with retired
t a
emDlovees. anddevelop
intieritionrvith tle
irnirlant challcnge
emploteeskitlsfor belterexlemalization
kno$ledge
cuslonrer's
in tlis economy
According
is creatjnB
to company
con\ersations
of knowledge
sources.'The
and
mon
" Accordinglo Arom.
,) modemization in the 2l"r centuryis not just tlrough tlle
"Tire kev to busin€ss
c\Denditure ofhugesumsof moneyto createphysical asselsbut orienlintpeople-
- l-
tle ereatestasset towardslneetingthe opportunities andchallengesof the fiiture."
'I.ad steetseemedto be well placedto achieveits missionwhich ivas redraftedin
, 'Tata Steeleife$ th€ new millendum with fie
! 1998 to inchde the statement
rrf confidence of a learningandknoi{ledge-based orgadzation."''
)
Questionsfor Discussion:
J. l TatraSteel wantedto tmnsformitself from a manufacturingcompaDyto ir
L knolvledge-based organization.Whatinitiativesdid the companytake10achieve
this objective, howfai wasit successfi?
and
L 2- In tlre beginnin&employeepanicipittionin the KM initiative was poor. Wrat
I srepsdid the cornpanytaketo encourage
I(M progmm? Weretheysuccessful in
employees
increasing
to panicipateactivelyin the
ernployee particiPation?
T 3. Th€ establishm€nt of communitiesof ptactice$asthe main force leadingto the
KM program Discussthe maill featuresof this concept
I success of Tata Steel's
andthekind ol ben€fitsthat accruedto the companyfrom thesecommunitiesof
Wrat benefitsdid TataSteelrcapfromKM implementation asa lvhole?
la Dractice.

tlf @ ICFAI Center for tr'latnaementResea,ch..4 ishts rcsened. This case was written bv
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