People-focused knowledge management

Enablers
Provide
Direction and Nature of
Actions
Drivers
Provide
Impetus to Actions
Enterprise
Performance
Facilitators
Provide
Support for Actions
Mechanisms
Make It
Possible for Actions
to Take Place
Figure 2-2
Drivers, enablers, facilitators, and mechanisms make the enterprise perform. Copyright © 1998
Knowledge Research Institute, Inc. Reproduced with permission.

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People-Focused Knowledge Management
Traditionally, principal attention and management efforts have been
focused on mechanisms — the components of the system that imple-
ment actions determined by the drivers, enablers, and facilitators.
Intensive analyses are often undertaken to find ways to make the
mechanisms more effective — without regard to exploring which
fundamental actions should be pursued to meet goals. The knowl-
edge perspective makes it possible to shift the focus to components
that determine the effectiveness of which actions should be pursued
and how best to shape them given available understanding and
resources — that is, not only how actions should be implemented.
Changing Enterprise Performance Takes Time
Given a systemic perspective of the enterprise, we also need to con-
sider the dynamic nature of resulting performance after changes have
been introduced in the primary or secondary factors. When any
factor is changed, it may take considerable time before the new result-
ing enterprise performance levels are achieved. The model indicated
in Figure 2-2 only indicates the different factors. It omits their
dynamic and functional relationships.
Figure 2-3 provides a process perspective of the expected event
chain from a change in a driver factor to a resulting enterprise per-
formance. The example illustrates a change in an employee incentive
program designed to improve motivation to share knowledge and
thereby make a positive change in enterprise performance. However,
the performance improvement from the incentive change will not
happen immediately. It may take months, in some cases years, for the
change to propagate through the different functions and departments
within the enterprise before the improved performance is realized.
Figure 2-3 depicts how the initial action changes effectiveness in the
three subsequent areas of operations excellence, product leadership,
and customer intimacy before resulting in improved enterprise 
performance (Treacy & Wieresma 1993). In the example, after the
initial change it may take weeks or months before people become
more knowledgeable — to the extent that they reduce operating costs
and make better products and services. Additional time is required
before these changes translate into increased demands in the mar-
ketplace and subsequently change profitability and viability.
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