Week 5 power point slide -3 case study 3 -knowledge management and collaboration at tata consulting services

1. ASSIGNMENT 5 – CASE STUDY 3
TITLE: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
LECTURER: PROFESSOR DR. RUSLI ABDULLAH
(email: rusli@upm.edu.my)
GROUP 13 Matrix No:
1. Hj Nasseruddin Bin Hj Abdul Jabar - P13D142P
2. Hj Zulkifflee Bin Hj Sofee - P13D136P
3. Chong Min Fatt - P13D154P
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2. Questions:-
1. Analyze the knowledge management efforts at TCS using the knowledge
management value chain model. Which tools or activities were used for
managing tacit knowledge and which ones are used for explicit
knowledge?
2. Describe the growth of knowledge management systems at TCS. How
have these systems helped TCS in its business?
3. Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS? What benefits did TCS reap
from these tools?
4. How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS to manage knowledge and collaboration
among its employees?
5. How do you think KM tools have changed some key operational
processes at TCS, such as bidding for new projects, project development
and implementation, customer service, and so on?
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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3. Background
Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) was founded in 1968 in India.
It was an Information Technology services. It dealed with
business solution and outsourcing organization. This company
offers a portfolio of IT and It enabled services to clients all
over the globe in horizontal, vertical and geographical
domains.
It has over 108,000 IT consultants in 47 countries. The largest
Indian company by market capitalization and is the largest
Indian-based IT services company by 2013 revenues.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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4. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
Question 1. Analyze the knowledge management efforts at TCS
using the knowledge management value chain model. Which tools or
activities were used for managing tacit knowledge and which ones are
used for explicit knowledge?
The knowledge management efforts at TCS can be divided into the
following activities.
1. Acknowledge Acquisition;-
i. Over the years, TCS had acquired a vast body of knowledge and
experience in several fields through on-shore and off-shore projects for
its clients across the globe including GE Insurance, GE Health, Hewlett
Packard, Prudential, Standard Chartered Bank etc.
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5. ii. TCS regularly rotated people across various functions and within
other Tata Group companies to gain cross-industry experience.
iii. Employees were also encouraged to be part of outside bodies like
IEEE and go in for certifications.
2. Knowledge Storage
i. TCS had developed various repositories and databases for
knowledge storage such as Kbases, Process Asset Libraries,
KnowMax and Ultimatix.
3 Knowledge Dissemination
i. Knowledge was disseminated using a variety of techniques such
as:
(a) Ultimatix: a web based electronic knowledge management
portal.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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6. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
(b) Propel session: Brought together employees with similar
interests;
(c) Live Meeting and Knowledge Transition sessions at the project
level;
(d) “Tip of the Day” email comprising technical, conceptual or
human skills tips were share within the organization daily.
4. Knowledge Application
Employees could access the knowledge repository that raised on the
corporate and branch servers through the intranet.
Students or anybody should visit the TCS website to explore the new
capabilities developed by TCS and how it relates to the knowledge
they have accumulated over the years about the customers, markets,
systems development and technologies.
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7. Continue
Q.1 Which tools or activities were used for managing tacit
knowledge and which ones are used for explicit knowledge?
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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Tools/ activities to manage
explicit knowledge
i. Kbases
ii. Process Asset Libraries
iii. KnowMax
iv. Ultimax
Tools/ activities to manage tacit
knowledge
i. Redesign of development
centers
ii. Propel sessions
iii. Knowledge Transition
Sessions
iv. Communities of practice
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8. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
Question 2 Describe the growth of knowledge management systems at TCS.
How have these systems helped TCS in its business?
The concept of knowledge management (KM) was introduced in TCS in 1995 and
a dedicated KM team called “Corporate Groupware” was formed in 1998.
This group launched the KM-pilot in mid-1999. At that time, KM in TCS covered
nearly every function, from quality assurance to HR management.
The employees could access the knowledge repository that resided on the
corporate and branch servers through the intranet, with a browser front-end or a
Notes client.
The knowledge repository also called Kbases, contained a wide range of
information about processes line of business line of technology and projects.
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9. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
Continue
The next step was to create Process Asset Libraries (PALs) which
contained information related to technology, processes, case studies for
project leaders which were made available to all development centers
through the intranet.
The same thing was done through the web-based electronic knowledge
management portal called Ultimax, which PAL was the precursor. The PAL
library and Kbases , which were hosted on the intranet, merged with
Ultimatix, which had sub-portals for quality management system,
software productivity improvement, training materials and tools
information.
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10. Continue
TCS developed Knowmax, a knowledge management system, using
Microsoft share point portal server that gave TCS consultants access to
nearly 40 years of experience and best practices arranged by type of
engagement, the technology in use and customer requirements.
It supported more than 60 knowledge assets and was accessible via
Ultimax to all TCS associates. Any associate could contribute to the K-
Bank and Knowledge officers were made responsible for maintaining
the quality of content.
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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Question 3. Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS?
What benefits did TCS reap from these tools?
i. TCS used a variety of collaboration tools.
(a ) Infinity that includes instant messaging, IP telephony and
video conferencing;
(b) Blogs and wikis;
(c) IdeaStorm, TIP, and
(d) Mysite
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12. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
ii. The benefits that TCS reaps from these tools are:-
(a) Collaboration overseas and local offices improved as instant
messaging (M) got rid of cultural and pronunciation differences that
could occur on the phone.
(b) Corporate communications are able to run a 24-hour internal
news broadcast to all TCS offices in the world.
(c) Travel and telecommunications costs were reduced by 40
percent and 6 percent respectively.
(d) The other tools improved collaboration, communication and
knowledge sharing among the employees.
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13. INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
Question 4 How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS to manage knowledge and
collaboration among its employees?
Web 2.0 tools help TCs to manage knowledge and collaboration among its
employees by these ways:-
A.Blogs, wikis and other tools
i. boost communication and productivity among the
employees.
B. Wikis
i. collaborating on materials related to project
ii. Supporting brainstorming sessions
iii. Developing presentations
C. Blogs
i. Used as a means to gather inputs on problems that they
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14. D. Just Ask System
i. Allowed employees to pose a question and in turn get
answers from other colleagues, sometimes leading to a
detailed discussion.
ii. If someone often answered questions on a particular
domain, the relevant specialist group invited that person
into the domain group and thus gave the visibility to talent
within the company.
E. The Ideastorm
i. Used by the management, helped in generation of ideas on
topics posted by the corporate team.
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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15. F. TIP
i. Used as a portal for product innovation and new
ideas.
ii. Helped the management to garner ideas related to
product/service innovation and helped in solving
problems.
G. Social Net Working MySite
i. To help employees communicate better with each
other.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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16. Question 5. How do you think KM tools have changed some key
operational processes at TCS, such as bidding for new projects,
project development and implementation, customer service, and so
on?
System development and implementation activities are more likely to
be done by TCS in manner that is timely, effective and cost efficient.
The same for customer service-by knowing customer requirements
and also taking ideas from other industries that are stored in the KM
databases, the company can provide new and innovative solutions to
resolve customer queries.
TCS aims to move up the value chain and to continue to bid for higher
level projects, beyond those of maintenance and development.
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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17. By accumulating knowledge, it has built capabilities to
understand how to service clients through consulting and
in other strategic areas. So KM has enabled TCS to
continue to move higher-up and to bid for more strategic
projects.
KM repositories that capture best practices in the
projects it has undertaken make the company more
efficient in servicing clients. This means it can execute
better.
Overall, KM tools have become a key strategic resource
at the company and all hires are required to learn them
as a part of their orientation.
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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18. These tools are also the first go-to before starting any
project or approaching a client.
Knowledge in these databases allows TCS consultants to
quickly gather intelligence about the client or similar
projects and thus align themselves better with what the
client might want.
This has led to higher success rate in bidding and in
project execution.
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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
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19. THANK YOU
INFORMATION SYSTEMS & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – GST 5083
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING SERVICES
• PREPARED BY GROUP 13:
HAJI ZULKIFFLEE BIN HAJI SOFEE - P13D136P
HAJI NASSERUDDIN BIN HAJI ABDUL JABAR - P13D142P
CHONG MIN FATT - P13D154P
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