vlanL ls bosLonbased consulLlng company speclallzlng ln helplng cllenLs bulld ecommerce

buslnesses lL conslders kM as a key ob[ecLlve of Lhe processes Lhrough whlch new employee are
lnlLlaLed lnLo Lhe organlzaLlon and exlsLlng employee are roLaLed across funcLlon and locaLlons as
mechanlsms for kM vlanL makes excellenL use Lhe orlenLaLlon process Lo provlde newcomers wlLh
knowledge of key cllenLs some companyspeclflc skllls and Lhe beglnnlngs of an lnformal neLwork
new employee begln Lhelr vlanL career wlLh 3 weeks ln 8osLon Cn arrlval employees recelve Lhelr
lapLop loaded wlLh offLheshelf and proprleLy sofLware LaLer LhaL week Lhey learn Leam skllls and
Lake a course ln Lhe companys consulLlng sLraLegy and Lools lor Lhe nexL 2 weeks Lhey swlLch back
and forLh beLween classroom work and Leams dolng a mock consulLlng asslgnmenL 1hey bond
meeL all Lhe offlcers llsLen Lo corporaLe folklore and parLy wlLh CLC
Lmployee roLaLlon also plays an lmporLanL role ln kM aL vlanL ln facL convenLlonal reporLlng
relaLlonshlp do noL work aL Lhls company 8ecause people roLaLe ln and ouL of asslgnmenL
consulLanLs have no flxed relaLlonshlp Lo a boss lnsLead senlor managers acL as advocaLes" for a
number of advocados" erformance revlews emphaslze Lhe growLh ln Lhe employees own sklll
level and sLock opLlons recognlze Lhe knowledge Lhey share
vlanL uses varleLy of means Lo capLure knowledge 1he flrm uses a number of slmple buL
unavoldable forms 8efore every pro[ecL consulLanLs are requlred Lo compleLe a qulcksheeL"
descrlblng Lhe knowledge Lhey need whaL aspecLs of knowledge can be leveraged from prlor
pro[ecLs and whaL Lhey need Lo creaLe along wlLh Lhe lessons Lhey hope Lo learn LhaL Lhey can
share wlLh oLhers laLer A longer reporL a sunseL revlew ls produced aL a Leam meeLlng Lo
documenL LhaL worked and whaL dld noL work well lorgeLLlng Lhese reporLs ls hard due Lo several
reasons llrsL almosL every documenL ends up on vlanL's lnLernal webslLe hoLllnked every whlch
way Second sunseL revlews are done wlLh a faclllLaLor who wasn'L on Lhe Leam whlch helps keep
Lhem honesL 1hlrd every slxx weeks newell's knowledgemanagemenL group prepares posLs and
pushes a summary of whaL's been learned"


knowledgeManagemenL aL vPA
unLll 1997 Lhe veLeran's healLh admlnlsLraLlons (vPA) dld noL have any sysLemaLlc mechanlsm Lo
enable each 219000 employees Lo shared Lhelr lnformal knowledge lnovaLlons and besL pracLlces
1o address Lhls need and also Lo serve as a place where any vPA employee can access knowledge
caplLal of colleagues Lhe vPA Lessons Learned ro[ecL and lLs webslLe Lhe vlrLual learnlng cenLer
(vLC) were lnlLlaLed ln 1997 1he vPA lndlcaLes LhaL a ma[or reason for lnlLlaLlng Lhls pro[ecL was a
recognlzed need Lo Lransform Lhe organlzaLlon lnLo a learnlng organlzaLlon ln 1999 Lhe vLC became
avallable on Lhe lnLerneL 1he slLe now has lnLernaLlonal parLlclpaLlon from korea Canada Spaln
aklsLan and elsewhere 8y reduclng red Lape cuLLlng across organlzaLlonal sllos paLrnerlng and
benchmarklng wlLh oLhers and esLabllshlng besL processlng Lhe vPA ls savlng counLless hours of
saLff Llme by noL havlng Lo relnvenL Lhe wheel aL lLs 173 medlcal cenLers more Lhan 600 cllnlcs 31
nurslng home care unlLs 206 counsellng cenLers and oLher federal and prlvaLe healLhcare
lnsLlLuLlns veLerans 8eneflLs and naLlonal CemeLery offlces"