2. Learning Outcomes
15.1 Identify the different ways in which
companies collaborate using technology
15.2 Compare the different categories of
collaboration technologies
15.3 Define the fundamental concepts of a
knowledge management system
15-2
3. Learning Outcomes
15.4 Provide an examples of a content
management system along with its
business purpose
15.5 Evaluate the advantages of using a
workflow management system
15.6 Explain how groupware can benefit a
business 15-3
4. Teams, Partnerships, and Alliances
• Organizations create and use teams,
partnerships, and alliances to:
– Undertake new initiatives
– Address both minor and major problems
– Capitalize on significant opportunities
• Organizations create teams, partnerships,
and alliances both internally with
employees and externally with other
organizations
15-4
5. Teams, Partnerships, and Alliances
• Collaboration system – supports the work of teams by
facilitating the sharing and flow of information
15-5
6. Teams, Partnerships, and Alliances
• Organizations form alliances and
partnerships with other organizations
based on their core competency
– Core competency – an organization’s key
strength, a business function that it does
better than any of its competitors
– Core competency strategy – organization
chooses to focus specifically on its core
competency and forms partnerships with other
organizations to handle nonstrategic business
processes
15-6
7. Teams, Partnerships, and Alliances
• Information technology can make a business
partnership easier to establish and manage
– Information partnership – occurs when two or more
organizations cooperate by integrating their IT
systems, thereby providing customers with the best
of what each can offer
• The Internet has dramatically increased the
ease and availability for IT-enabled
organizational alliances and partnerships
15-7
8. Collaboration Systems
• Collaboration solves specific business
tasks such as telecommuting, online
meetings, deploying applications, and
remote project and sales
management
• Collaboration system – an
IT-based set of tools that supports
the work of teams by facilitating
the sharing and flow of information
15-8
9. Collaboration Systems
• Two categories of collaboration
1. Unstructured collaboration (information
collaboration) - includes document
exchange, shared whiteboards, discussion
forums, and e-mail
2. Structured collaboration (process
collaboration) - involves shared participation
in business processes such as workflow in
which knowledge is hardcoded as rules
15-9
11. Collaboration Systems
• Collaboration systems include:
– Knowledge management systems
– Content management systems
– Workflow management systems
– Groupware systems
15-11
12. Knowledge Management Systems
• Knowledge management (KM) – involves
capturing, classifying, evaluating, retrieving,
and sharing information assets in a way that
provides context for effective decisions and
actions
• Knowledge management system – supports
the capturing and use of an organization’s
“know-how”
15-12
13. Explicit and Tacit Knowledge
• Intellectual and knowledge-based assets
fall into two categories
1. Explicit knowledge – consists of anything
that can be documented, archived, and
codified, often with the help of IT
2. Tacit knowledge - knowledge contained in
people’s heads
15-13
14. Explicit and Tacit Knowledge
• The following are two best practices for
transferring or recreating tacit knowledge
– Shadowing – less experienced staff
observe more experienced staff to learn how
their more experienced counterparts
approach their work
– Joint problem solving – a novice and
expert work together on a project
15-14
16. KM Technologies
• Knowledge management systems
include:
– Knowledge repositories (databases)
– Expertise tools
– E-learning applications
– Discussion and chat technologies
– Search and data mining tools
15-16
17. KM and Social Networking
• Finding out how information flows
through an organization
– Social networking analysis (SNA) – a
process of mapping a group’s contacts
(whether personal or professional) to identify
who knows whom and who works with whom
– SNA provides a clear picture of how
employees and divisions work together and
can help identify key experts
15-17
18. Content Management
• Content management system (CMS) –
provides tools to manage the creation,
storage, editing, and publication of
information in a collaborative
environment
• CMS marketplace includes:
– Document management system (DMS)
– Digital asset management system (DAM)
– Web content management system (WCM)
15-18
20. WORKING WIKIS
• Wikis - Web-based tools that make it
easy for users to add, remove, and
change online content
• Business wikis - collaborative Web
pages that allow users to edit documents,
share ideas, or monitor the status of a
project
15-20
21. Workflow Management Systems
• Work activities can be performed in series or in
parallel that involves people and automated
computer systems
• Workflow – defines all the steps or business
rules, from beginning to end, required for a
business process
• Workflow management system – facilitates
the automation and management of business
processes and controls the movement of work
through the business process
15-21
22. Workflow Management Systems
• Messaging-based workflow system –
sends work assignments through an e-
mail system
• Database-based workflow system –
stores documents in a central location
and automatically asks the team
members to access the document when
it is their turn to edit the document
15-22
24. Groupware Systems
• Groupware – software that supports team interaction
and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and
videoconferencing
15-24
25. VIDEOCONFERENCING
• Videoconference - a
set of interactive
telecommunication
technologies that allow
two or more locations to
interact via two-way
video and audio
transmissions
simultaneously
15-25
26. WEB CONFERENCING
• Web conferencing
- blends audio, video,
and document-
sharing technologies
to create virtual
meeting rooms where
people “gather” at a
password-protected
Web site
15-26
27. INSTANT MESSAGING
• E-mail is the dominant form of collaboration
application, but real-time collaboration tools
like instant messaging are creating a new
communication dynamic
• Instant messaging - type of communications
service that enables someone to create a kind
of private chat room with another individual to
communicate in real-time over the Internet
15-27
29. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Opening Case Study Questions
1. Identify which systems eBay could use to collaborate
internally
2. Explain which Internet technologies have facilitated
the way in which eBay collaborates with both its
customers and business partners
3. List the four collaboration systems discussed in this
chapter and rank them in order of importance to
eBay’s business
4. Describe how eBay could leverage the power of a
knowledge management system for its employees
and for its customers 15-29
30. CHAPTER FIFTEEN CASE
DreamWorks Animation Collaboration
• DreamWorks and Hewlett-Packard were the
first to introduce a collaboration studio for
simulating face-to-face business meetings
across long distances
• By connecting its California teams in Glendale
and Redwood City, DreamWorks was able to
speed up production of Shrek 2
15-30
31. Chapter Fifteen Case Questions
1. How can companies use Halo to increase their
business efficiency?
2. Explain how a company like PepsiCo can use Halo to
gain a competitive advantage in its industry
3. How can knowledge management be increased by
using a product such as Halo?
4. Why would a company like DreamWorks, that is not IT
focused, be interested in collaboration technology?
15-31
Notas do Editor
CLASSROOM OPENER GREAT BUSINESS DECISIONS – Swiss Watch Manufacturers Begin Collaborating and Invent the Swatch The Swatch is a classic tale of triumph over adversity. The Swiss watch making industry’s market share declined from 30 percent to 9 percent during the 1970s. The leading Swiss watch manufacturers decided to join and collaborate thinking it would be better to go down together in a blaze of glory than to timidly surrender in isolation to the diminishing watch market. Ernst Thomke, president of the group and Jacques Muller, chief engineer, came up with the idea to design a low-cost version of the Delirium, the world’s slimmest watch. Thomke developed the technical specifications of the original Swatch, as well as the all-important marketing and advertising ideas. The Swatch was based on the simple premise that the watch could become a disposable or replaceable fashion item. This collaborative product was the make-or-break response to cheap watch competition and almost overnight, the dormant Swiss watch industry was revived. The Swatch became a fashion accessory and the Swiss share of the worldwide watch market rose to over 50 percent.
15.1 Identify the different ways in which companies collaborate using technology. Companies must be able to collaborate. Without collaboration companies simply would have a very difficult time operating. Companies collaborate in a number of ways including document exchange, shared whiteboards, discussion forums, and e-mail 15.2 Compare the different categories of collaboration technologies. Collaboration technologies fall into one of two categories: Unstructured collaboration (sometimes referred to as information collaboration) includes document exchange, shared whiteboards, discussion forums, and e-mail Structured collaboration (or process collaboration) involves shared participation in business processes such as workflow in which knowledge is hardcoded as rules 15.3 Define the fundamental concepts of a knowledge management system. Knowledge management involves capturing, classifying, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing information assets in a way that provides context for effective decisions and actions.
15.4 Provide an examples of a content management system along with its business purpose. A content management system (CMS) provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in a collaborative environment. The CMS marketplace is complex, incorporating document management, collaboration and versioning tools, digital asset management, and Web content management. One example is www.vignette.com . 15.5 Evaluate the advantages of using a workflow management system. Many workflow management systems allow the opportunity to measure and analyze the execution of a process. Workflow systems integrate with other organizational systems, such as document management systems and database management systems. 15.6 Explain how groupware can benefit a business. Groupware is software that supports team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing. Organizations can use this technology to communicate, cooperate, coordinate, solve problems, compete, or negotiate.
It is getting harder and harder for any one individual to perform organizational activities in isolation Ask your students to list types of organizational activities that are performed by individuals Ans: For the most part, almost all organizational activities are performed in teams. For example, a customer service representative usually needs to talk with many coworkers to discover customer issues and problem resolution A marketing executive will need to work with sales representatives to determine what is “hot” in the market, what is selling, and what issues/complaints customers have before launching a new product The majority of work today is performed in groups and teams These teams can be departmental, interdepartmental, cross-functional, internal, and external
Collaboration systems, such as groupware, enable, support, and facilitate internal and external team collaboration This is a good time to mention the importance of people skills, or soft skills, in additional to business knowledge. Your students should anticipate working with many coworkers from different areas of the business when solving issues or finding opportunities. Building soft skills is just as important as building analytical skills. Successful people rarely work in isolation. Collaboration with an iPod – Team adds iPods to coaching staff http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/06/16/ipod.homework.ap/index.html
It is just as important for an organization to form teams, partnerships, and alliances with other organizations An organization that uses a core competency strategy will focus on its core competency and form partnerships with other organizations to handle nonstrategic business processes The most common example of this is outsourcing payroll or accounting functions Many organizations want to focus on the marketing and selling of a unique product or service. These organizations do not want to incur the expense of maintaining accounting or tax experts on staff, hence they will outsource these functions to a business partner This is a great time to refer back to the opening case Discuss how Levi’s core competency is brand-name differentiation and recognition, while Wal-Mart’s core competency is retail cost leadership The partnership between these two organizations enables cost-leadership selling of a widely recognized brand name
Provide a few examples of how the Internet has enabled information partnerships? A good example is Amazon.com The company developed a profitable business segment by providing e-business outsourcing services to other retailers who use Amazon’s Web site software Retailers partnering with Amazon.com include Marshall Fields, Office Depot, and Target
Collaboration allows people, teams, and organizations to leverage and build upon the ideas and talents of staff, suppliers, customers, and business partners It involves a unique set of business challenges that: Include complex interactions between people who may be in different locations and desire to work across function and discipline areas Require flexibility in work process and the ability to involve others quickly and easily Create and share information rapidly and effortlessly within a team Increasingly, organizations are extending their focus from internal operations like planning and scheduling, enterprise resource planning and sales force automation, toward operations beyond their own four walls with external customers and suppliers This chapter focuses on the need for collaboration, the technology that supports collaboration, and collaboration trends
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company shares complex project information across an extended supply chain in real time and successfully bid a $19 billion DoD contract to build 21 supersonic stealth fighters Regardless of location or format – be it unstructured or structured - relevant accurate information must be readily and consistently available to those who need it – anytime, anywhere, and on any device
The above figure illustrates many of the typical collaborative functions within most organizations For those of you who are big fans of wikipedia, here is an interesting comedic segment from the 'Colbert Report' on wikipedia. This video clip comes from youtube.com and lasts about 4 minutes. You might find this useful to share with your students regarding the need to critically evaluate information. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TaFYOUca_8&mode=related&search
Knowledge management system – supports the capturing and use of an organization’s “know-how” Content management system (CMS) – provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in a collaborative environment Workflow management system – controls the movement of work through a business process Groupware – software that supports team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing
Why is knowledge one of the real competitive advantages? It is difficult to duplicate knowledge It can take years to acquire It is a personal asset What if an organization could capture all of a persons knowledge using technology? You would no longer need that person in the organization
Identify two types of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge Explicit knowledge – payroll information, customer address, student grades, faculty courses taught Tacit knowledge – how to perform a process, how to perform an activity, how you feel about something
The difference between shadowing and joint problem solving is that shadowing is more passive Joint problem solving allows the expert and the novice to work hand-in-hand on a task Why would shadowing be appropriate? When would joint-problem solving be appropriate?
What types of knowledge management programs could your college pursue to help new students adapt to the college? Effective study habits Writing rules Research database Course evaluations
KM is not a purely technology-based concept Organizations that implement a centralized database system, electronic message board, Web portal, or any other collaborative tool in the hope that they have established a KMS are wasting both their time and money
How could you use SNA at your college? Finding internships Finding group members Finding jobs
BMW Group Switzerland accelerated personalized, real-time information about products, services, prices, and events to its dealers countrywide BMW uses a process that allows dealers to specify what information is seen by which employee, as well as to deliver marketing materials solely to members of the sales department, and technical specifications and support documents only to mechanics The enhanced personalization eliminates the chance that information is sent to the wrong dealership or to the wrong individual, which provides higher quality customer services Document management system (DMS) – supports the electronic capturing, storage, distribution, archival, and accessing of documents Digital asset management system (DAM) – similar to DMS, generally works with binary rather than text files, such as multimedia files types Web content management system (WCM) – adds an additional layer to document and digital asset management that enables publishing content both to intranets and to public Web sites
Wikis are Web-based tools that make it easy for users to add, remove, and change online content Business wikis are collaborative Web pages that allow users to edit documents, share ideas, or monitor the status of a project. Most people are familiar with Wikipedia, one of the largest online collaboration Web sites. Employees also use wikis to collaborate; for example, companies such as Intel, Motorola, IBM, and Sony use them for a host of tasks, from setting internal meeting agendas to posting documents related to new products. Many companies rely on wikis to engage customers in ongoing discussions about products. Wikis for Motorola and T-Mobile handsets serve as continually updated user guides. TV networks including ABC and CBS are creating fan wikis that let viewers interact with each other as they unravel mysteries from such shows as Lost and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
NYC was experiencing a record number of claims, ranging from injuries resulting from slips on sidewalks to medical malpractice at hospitals NYC processes over 30,000 claims and incurs $250 million in claims costs annually NYC implemented a workflow management tool to process contracts and claims The system saved NYC $20 million Many workflow management systems allow the opportunity to measure and analyze the execution of the process
How could you use a messaging-based workflow system or database-based workflow system to complete a group project? Messaging-based workflow system would send an e-mail to each group member when it was their turn to edit the document. The student would then be responsible for finding the document to edit. Database-based workflow system would ask the student to edit the document, and supply the document to the student. Review the figure for workflow management system features and discuss how each feature could be used to complete a group project
CLASSROOM EXERCISE Process of Collaboration Collaboration is always operating through certain group processes — processes of communication, coordination, cooperation, but also information sharing. Split students up into four groups, each representing the processes above. Have each group make a list of the collaborative technologies differentiated by the collaboration processes they support. These processes do not work independently of one another but are usually intermingled and determined by each other. True collaboration tools will try to provide help for all those collaboration processes, but their main focus is mostly on one of these areas. Review the IM for potential answers
Lotus Notes and Toyota developed an intranet system to promote information sharing within the company and to raise productivity Groupware falls into two categories: Users of the groupware are working together at the same time or different times (time difference) Users are working together in the same place or in different places (physical location difference) Which is easier to overcome? Why?
videoconference is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies that allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called visual collaboration and is a type of groupware. Videoconferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. This can be as simple as a conversation between two people in private offices (point-to-point) or involve several sites (multi-point) with more than one person in large rooms at different sites. Besides the audio and visual transmission of people, videoconferencing can be used to share documents, computer-displayed information, and whiteboards Ask your students what are the business advantages of videoconferencing? What industries are at risk because of videoconference? Airlines, hotels, rental cars (all businesses used in business travel which becomes nonexistent with the use of videoconferencing)
Web conferencing blends audio, video, and document-sharing technologies to create virtual meeting rooms where people “gather” at a password-protected Web site. There, they can chat in conference calls or use real-time text messages. They can mark up a shared document as if it were a blackboard, and even watch live software demos or video clips. Perhaps the biggest surprise about Web conferencing is its simplicity. Users only need to set up an account and download a few small software files. The best part about a Web conference is that attendees do not have to have the same hardware or software. Every participant can see what is on anyone else’s screen, regardless of the application being used Ask your students what are the business advantages of videoconferencing? What industries are at risk because of videoconference? Airlines, hotels, rental cars (all businesses used in business travel which becomes nonexistent with the use of videoconferencing)
Program features include: Web links Images Sounds Files Talk Streaming content Instant messaging
1. Identify which systems eBay could use to collaborate internally Some possible answers could include: Content Management Systems – to organize its auction item database of 3-million-title book, Audio book, CD and DVD catalog, search and notification services, recommendations by genre or category, and content including extensive author interviews. Workflow Management Systems – to help customers coordinate the shipping, and receiving of items Knowledge Management Systems – assists internal teams to collaborate on rules, policies, techniques, workflows, business processes, and decision making. 2. Explain which Internet technologies have facilitated the way in which eBay collaborates with both its customers and business partners eBay collaborates electronically with all customers and business partners via the Internet. Technologies mainly include e-mail, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) PayPal, and Web services. The list is beyond that covered in the text, however, some possible alternative answers could include: Customer acquisition and retention (through e-mail and Web advertising) Marketing and customer service (through Web interface) Knowledge of e-business infrastructure (all the collaboration tools mentioned in the text) Building and sustaining virtual market mechanisms 3. List the four collaboration systems discussed in this chapter and rank them in order of importance to eBay’s business Knowledge management systems – involves capturing, classifying, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing information assets in a way that provides context for effective decisions and actions Content management systems – provides tools to manage the creation, storage, editing, and publication of information in a collaborative environment Workflow management systems – facilitate the automation and management of business processes and control the movement of work through the business process Groupware systems – support team interaction and dynamics including calendaring, scheduling, and videoconferencing Student answers to this question will vary. The important part is that your students can justify their ranking. This makes for a good classroom debate if students rank the systems in different order. 4. Describe how eBay could leverage the power of a knowledge management system for its employees and for its customers Customer Service employees can search the knowledge base to see if a situation has been encountered before and the answer already is known. If it is, they either learn it from the organizational knowledge base, or recall it from their own (mental) knowledge base. Customer Service employees can find several “related” but not exact circumstances and derive an answer by recombining pieces of knowledge from the knowledge base, creating new knowledge in the process. Managers could use knowledge management systems to help gain insight and understanding from its own experience. Specific knowledge management activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge for such things as problem solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision making. It also protects intellectual assets from decay, adds to firm intelligence, and provides increased flexibility.
1. How can companies use Halo to increase their business efficiency? Being able to meet with co-workers virtually around the globe will help organizations become more efficient and effective. Traveling to another country takes time, costs money, and is hard on employees with families, pets, and plants. Being able to meet with face-to-face with global business partners, from a local meeting room, is a big advantage for corporate employees. 2. Explain how a company like PepsiCo can use Halo to gain a competitive advantage in its industry PepsiCo could use Halo to collaborate internally and externally. Internally, it could offer its worldwide an inexpensive way to communicate face-to-face. Externally, it could setup a Halo meeting room where partners and customers could talk with PepsiCo employees face-to-face. It could be a good marketing technique to gain access to its customers. 3. How can knowledge management be increased by using a product such as Halo? There are a few ways that a company can use knowledge management with a Halo product. First, it could record all of the meeting and store this information on a data device. It could then categorize all of the meetings, individuals in the meetings, etc. and slice-and-dice the meeting details for access by other individuals. Of course, there are privacy and ethical issues with recording all meetings. Second, it offers employees a way to meet face-to-face with other co-workers and share knowledge. 4. Why would a company like DreamWorks, that is not IT focused, be interested in collaboration technology? All companies need to collaborate to work effectively and efficiently. Businesses cannot operate in a vacuum. The need to collaborate is felt in every industry from products to health care to entertainment. Collaboration is a business need, not just an IT need.