Conjoint communication and knowledge use/needs analysis in a financial services firm

Abstract

The act of communication in an organisation, while necessary for the transmission of knowledge, is not synonymous with it. Communicative acts may contain large or small amounts of knowledge, and, moreover, may bear knowledge that is not of importance for the organisation. We report on an extended intervention in a financial services firm, using a conjoined analysis of knowledge use/need and a communicative network analysis, the latter being targeted by (a) a categorisation of the knowledge used and required for the business operation and (b) a knowledge of the human agents using and requiring that knowledge. The joint analysis provides better-targeted KM interventions, since knowledge transfer mechanisms can be tailored to the needs of disaggregated knowledge types rather than to knowledge as a single, aggregated resource of the firm.

Keywords:

• knowledge management
• strategy
• communication
• social network analysis
• systems
• communications

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Powell

About the Authors

John Powell is Professor of Strategy at Exeter University, UK, where he researches the role of knowledge in strategy using soft system methods, representing the dynamics and behaviour of knowledge in organisational structures. He holds a Ph.D. from Cranfield University, UK, in Strategy. Prior to taking up an academic career he held a number of board level posts in the defence industry.

Sarette van den Heever is the Head of Business Development at Old Mutual Wealth, one of the largest wealth management firms in South Africa. She was part of the management team that established Old Mutual Wealth 3 years ago. Prior to this, she held various management positions in the investment industry, including Professional Executive Assistant to the CEO of Acsis, as well as Head of Financial Services at Louis Group. She holds a B.Comm Actuarial Science degree and an MBA Cum Laude, both from the University of Stellenbosch.