FIAT: REAL TIME MANAGEMENT WITH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

Fiat was one of the global automotive companies to weather the financial storm of 2008–2011
without significant government intervention. The 114-year-old automaker is Italy’s largest auto
manufacturer, with 9 percent of the European market.

In the past, Fiat global production centers adopted their own database systems to manage their
business, and these legacy systems evolved independently over many years. With Chrysler, Fiat
inherited another set of enterprise systems. All business functions were impacted, from supply
management and production to marketing and finance. Fiat decided it needed a new system that
could provide near real-time information on its operations across the globe

Why is it important that global performance management be delivered using Web-based

technologies rather than traditional software running on corporate servers and PCs?

An important element of the new system is making data and information more understandable by
creating performance dashboards for managers that reflect their needs as decision makers . With
these systems, managers are able to see where production bottlenecks occur, respond to changes
in demand, and avoid excess inventories. Better decision making using business intelligence
makes companies like Fiat more profitable.

Do firms become too dependent on database firms like Oracle?

The experiences of Fiat provide an excellent of example of the challenges that businesses face
when increasing their scope of operations and moving towards a truly global business. The
existing legacy systems at Fiat made it very difficult to coordinate supply chain, production,
financial, and marketing decisions on a global basis. Existing systems could not provide real-
time data to central management in Turin, and management had a difficult time responding to
changes in local conditions and discovering potential synergies among their divisions. The
chapter-opening diagram calls attention to important points raised by this case and this chapter.
To operate efficiently on a global scale, firms need more timely and accurate data to make
intelligent decisions. They also need sophisticated analytic packages that can make sense of the
data, provide capsule summaries to management, and provide interfaces that managers can easily
use.
INTERACTIVE SESSION: ORGANIZATIONS ECM IN THE CLOUD EMPOWERS
NEW ZEALAND DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION

The New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC) is charged with overseeing the national
parks, protecting endangered wildlife and ecosystems, and safeguarding one of the world’s
largest marine sanctuaries. Specific tasks include flood warnings, managing threats to native
species from invasive plants, animals, pests, and diseases, wetlands restoration, and conservation
of historic sites.

Describe the knowledge management problem discussed in this case study.

In the past DOC couldn’t produce documents quickly on demand because it had 2.3 million of
them stored in folders with poor searching ability. As collaborative efforts increased between
2010 and 2015, the DOC recognized that a state-of-theart enterprise content management (ECM)
system was required. A cloud content as a service called ContentWorX was created specifically
for the government by TEAM Asparona, a joint venture of two Oracle implementation partners,
TEAM Informatics and Deloitte Asparona. The service allows participating government agencies
to deploy web content, manage digital assets, and systematize document, records, and library
management, all on a common platform with a content-centric workflow. The two primary
components of ContentWorX are Oracle WebCenter Content and Oracle WebCenter Portal. CIO
Mike Edginton felt the department was not yet ready to fully transition to a public cloud platform
but wanted the benefits of cloud architecture concept and cloud pricing.

How did implementing enterprise content management solve the problem? How did the
new ECM system change the way the DOC worked?

Oracle Database and Oracle WebCenter Content technologies are embedded in an ECM system
that can now store 2.3 million documents including research materials, meeting minutes, policy
files, scientific reports, heritage and historical articles, and population inventories. Eighty percent
of these documents are now accessible and searchable, a dramatic rise from the 7.4 percent
previously available. DOC upgraded its wide area network (WAN) so that its 137 agency offices,
spread across an island nation 990 miles long and a number of far-flung outlying islands, have
the network capacity to search and retrieve even lengthy documents and handle the new system’s
encrypted traffic. Automated document tagging and classification using Smartlogic’s
Semaphore software enabled the DOC to jettison its traditional hierarchical folder structure.

How successful was this solution? Explain.

Ease of use when users were no longer required to manually add metadata helped drive a 95
percent adoption rate among DOC staff. WebCenter Content also audits document creation,
access, and editing. Each document interaction identifies the user, date, and time. Users manage
version control themselves, reverting to earlier document versions with no system administrator
intervention required. This has reduced the time DOC staff has to invest in document auditing
processes. It has also simplified compliance with national archiving requirements set forth in
New Zealand’s Public Records Act of 2005.
INTERACTIVE SESSION: TECHNOLOGY WILL ROBOTS REPLACE PEOPLE IN
MANUFACTURING?

For the past four decades, robots have been incorporated into manufacturing assembly lines in
Europe, Japan, and the United States. These industrial robots—with mechanical arms that can be
programmed to weld, paint, and pick up and place objects with predictable regularity—have not
taken over many tasks performed by humans. The biggest users of robotic technology have been
automobile manufacturing plants, where robots do heavy lifting, welding, applying glue, and
painting.

Why have robots caught on in manufacturing? What knowledge to they require?

In some industries, more than 40 percent of manufacturing tasks will be performed by robots.
There will be dramatic productivity gains in many industries around the world (potentially
boosting output per worker by 30 percent) and shifts in competitiveness among manufacturing
countries. Robots are becoming easier to operate. Companies no longer need a software engineer
to write program code to get a robot to perform a task. With some of today’s robots, you can
simply push a button, turn the robot’s arm, and move it through the operation you want it to
perform. The robot learns by doing

Can robots replace human workers in manufacturing? Explain your answer.

Robots still can’t duplicate a human being’s fine motor skills in manipulating materials and small
parts. Robots still have trouble dealing with soft or floppy material, such as cloth or bundles of
electrical wire. Although robots are good at reliably and repeatedly performing defined tasks,
they’re not good at adapting. The biggest users of robotic technology have been automobile
manufacturing plants, where robots do heavy lifting, welding, applying glue, and painting.
People still do most of the final assembly of cars, especially when installing small parts or wiring
that needs to be guided into place.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION AT TATA CONSULTING
SERVICES CASE STUDY

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an IT-services, business-solutions, and outsourcing

organization that offers a portfolio of IT and IT-enabled services to clients all over the globe in
horizontal, vertical, and geographical domains. A part of the Tata Group, India’s largest
industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 108,000 IT consultants in 47 countries.

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. Knowledge Acquisition:

Over the years, TCS had acquired a vast body of knowledge and experience in several fields
through on shore projects for its clients across the globe including GE insurance, GE Health,
Hewlett Packard, Prudential, Standard Chartered Bank etc. TCS regularly rotated people across
various function and within other Tata Group Companies to gain cross industry experience.
Employees were also encouraged to be part of outside bodies like the IEEE, and go in for
certifications.

2. Knowledge Storage:

TCS had developed various repositories and databases for knowledge storage such as Kbases,
Process Asset Libraries, KnowMax, and Ultimatix.

3. Knowledge Dissemination:

 Knowledge was disseminated using a variety of techniques such as:

 Ultimatix a web based electronic knowledge management portal;

 Propel session: brought together employees with similar interest;

 Live Meeting and Knowledge Transition sessions at the project level;

  “Tip of the Day” email comprising technical, conceptual or human skills tips were shared
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.

Tools/activities to manage explicit knowledge:

 KBases

 Process Asset Libraries

 KnowMax

 Ultimatix

Tools/activities to manage tacit knowledge

 Redesign of development centers,

 Propel sessions,

 Knowledge Transition Sessions

 Communities of practice

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 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. 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
library and Kbases, which were hosted on the intranet, were merged with Ultimatix, which had
sub-portals for quality management system, software productivity improvement, training
materials, and tools information.

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 Ultimatix to all TCS associates. Any
associate could contribute to the K-Bank and Knowledge officers were made responsible for
maintaining the quality of content.

Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS. What benefits did TCS reap from these tools?

TCS used a variety of collaboration tools:

Infinity that includes instant messaging, IP telephony, and video conferencing, blogs and wikis,
IdeaStorm, TIP, and Mysite

The benefit:

 Collaboration overseas and local offices improved as instant messaging (IM) got rid of
cultural and pronunciation differences that could occur on the phone.

 Corporate communications was able to run a 24 hour internal news broadcast to all TCS
offices in the world
  Travel and telecommunications costs were reduced by 40 percent and 6 percent
respectively.

 The other tools improved collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing among
the employees.

How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS to manage knowledge and collaboration among its
employees?

Blogs, wikis, and other tools:

boosts communication and productivity among employees

Wikis

 collaborating on materials related to project,

 Supporting brainstorming sessions,

 developing presentations.

Blogs

Used as a means to gather inputs on problems that they faced on a project.

JustAsk System

allowed employees to pose a question and in turn get answers from other colleagues, sometimes
leading to a detailed discussion. 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.

The IdeaStorm
used by the management, helped in generation of ideas on topics posted by the corporate team.

TIP

used as a portal for product innovation and new ideas.

helped the management to gamer ideas related to product/service innovation and helped in
solving problems.

Social Net Working MySite

to help employees communicate better with each other