Kurt April
Dr. Kurt April Ph.D is currently the Allan Gray Chair, an Endowed Professorship, specialising in Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, and the Director of the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership at the Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town (South Africa, 1998-present), Faculty Member of Duke Corporate Education (Duke University, USA, 2008-present), and lectures as Adjunct faculty at Saïd Business School (University of Oxford, UK, 2000-present).
Previously, he was a Research Fellow of Ashridge Business School (UK, 2004-2016), Visiting Professor at London Metropolitan University (UK, 2014-2017), Visiting Professor at Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University, Netherlands, 2001-2013), and Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Economics & Econometrics (University of Amsterdam UvA, Netherlands, 2004-2007).
Outside of academia, Kurt is the Managing Partner of LICM Consulting (South Africa), Managing Director: Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion Practice at Oxford Acuity (Singapore), as well as Shareholder-Director of the Achievement Awards Group (South Africa).
Previously, he was an Owner-Director of Helderview BMW Somerset West (South Africa, 2010-2016), Chairman and Member of the International Advisory Council (DIAC) to Novartis International AG (Switzerland, 2006-2019), Executive Director of Complex Adaptive Systems (South Africa, 2003-2006), Non-Executive Director of Power Group Holdings - Construction & Developments (South Africa, 2012-2018), Global Agenda Council Member (Talent & Diversity) of the World Economic Forum (Switzerland, 2009-2013), Non-Executive Director of the International School of Cape Town (Education Development Trust, UK, 2013-2019), Advisory Board Member of the Knowledge Management Professional Society (USA), and an Advisory Board Member to the Unit for Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement (DICE) at the University of Leicester (UK, 2015-2019).
Kurt is a Series Editorial Board Member for Palgrave (Springer) on 'Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization in Business' (Switzerland), an Editorial Board Member of the European Management Review (UK), an Associate Editor of Design Science (UK), Editorial Review Board Member of the Africa Journal of Management (USA), and Editorial Board Member of Good Governance, Ethics & Leadership (UK).
Previously, he was an Editorial Board Member of the British Journal of Management (UK), an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Management Education (USA), an Editorial Board Member of Annual Review of High Performance Coaching & Consulting (UK), an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Information Systems & Social Change (USA), Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Academy of Taiwan Business Management Review (Taiwan), and previously the Chief Editor of the Journal for Convergence (SA).
Kurt holds a doctoral degree in Economics & IT Strategy (Ph.D), Certificate in Japanese Production, Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA), Masters degree in Electronic Engineering (MSc(ElecEng)), Higher Diploma in Education (HDE), Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering (BSc(ElecEng)), National N6 Diploma in Electronic Engineering (NDip(EE)), and a National N6 Diploma in Logic Systems (NDip(LS)) completed at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Oxford (UK), Wingfield College (South Africa) and AOTS Nagoya (Japan).
He has published 236 peer-reviewed articles, peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed conference papers, case studies & op-eds, and written 12 books.
Previously, he was a Research Fellow of Ashridge Business School (UK, 2004-2016), Visiting Professor at London Metropolitan University (UK, 2014-2017), Visiting Professor at Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University, Netherlands, 2001-2013), and Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Economics & Econometrics (University of Amsterdam UvA, Netherlands, 2004-2007).
Outside of academia, Kurt is the Managing Partner of LICM Consulting (South Africa), Managing Director: Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion Practice at Oxford Acuity (Singapore), as well as Shareholder-Director of the Achievement Awards Group (South Africa).
Previously, he was an Owner-Director of Helderview BMW Somerset West (South Africa, 2010-2016), Chairman and Member of the International Advisory Council (DIAC) to Novartis International AG (Switzerland, 2006-2019), Executive Director of Complex Adaptive Systems (South Africa, 2003-2006), Non-Executive Director of Power Group Holdings - Construction & Developments (South Africa, 2012-2018), Global Agenda Council Member (Talent & Diversity) of the World Economic Forum (Switzerland, 2009-2013), Non-Executive Director of the International School of Cape Town (Education Development Trust, UK, 2013-2019), Advisory Board Member of the Knowledge Management Professional Society (USA), and an Advisory Board Member to the Unit for Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement (DICE) at the University of Leicester (UK, 2015-2019).
Kurt is a Series Editorial Board Member for Palgrave (Springer) on 'Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigenization in Business' (Switzerland), an Editorial Board Member of the European Management Review (UK), an Associate Editor of Design Science (UK), Editorial Review Board Member of the Africa Journal of Management (USA), and Editorial Board Member of Good Governance, Ethics & Leadership (UK).
Previously, he was an Editorial Board Member of the British Journal of Management (UK), an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Management Education (USA), an Editorial Board Member of Annual Review of High Performance Coaching & Consulting (UK), an Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Information Systems & Social Change (USA), Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Academy of Taiwan Business Management Review (Taiwan), and previously the Chief Editor of the Journal for Convergence (SA).
Kurt holds a doctoral degree in Economics & IT Strategy (Ph.D), Certificate in Japanese Production, Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA), Masters degree in Electronic Engineering (MSc(ElecEng)), Higher Diploma in Education (HDE), Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering (BSc(ElecEng)), National N6 Diploma in Electronic Engineering (NDip(EE)), and a National N6 Diploma in Logic Systems (NDip(LS)) completed at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Oxford (UK), Wingfield College (South Africa) and AOTS Nagoya (Japan).
He has published 236 peer-reviewed articles, peer-reviewed book chapters, peer-reviewed conference papers, case studies & op-eds, and written 12 books.
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The results underscored the multifaceted applications of self-talk in both personal development and leadership. Awareness of one’s internal dialogue was a precursor to harnessing self-talk constructively. This consciousness enabled individuals to discern and modify ‘patterns’ and ‘triggers’ in their self-talk, transforming it from a passive to an active tool for personal change. The study revealed that while most self-talk was internal, leaders often supplemented it with reflective practices such as meditation, enhancing its efficacy.
Central to leadership emergence was personal growth, often ignited by emotive responses to life’s trials. The research participants acknowledged that facing one’s self-dialogue required courage, yet it was this very process that catalysed personal evolution.
The study’s conclusions affirmed the importance of self-talk in navigating emotional landscapes and altering behaviours crucial for effective leadership. It noted that self-talk was not always accurate; its validity may have waned over time, necessitating continuous scrutiny to ensure it remained conducive to reality. Ultimately, self-talk emerged as a pivotal element in transcending personal challenges and fostering the qualities necessary for authentic leadership.
stewardship concept. The results show that stewardship, as a leadership alternative, has not yet begun to supplant traditional forms of leadership.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using online surveys and structured interviews for a mixed-method study, data were collected for state boredom, meaning in life and hero affirmation at work for a quantitative study, and data from the open-ended questions provided further insights regarding hero affirmation at work for a qualitative study.
FINDINGS: Spearman rank-order correlations concluded correlations between state boredom and meaning in life. However, unlike personal heroes that influence meaning in life, workplace heroes were found not to. The qualitative analysis revealed three prime differences between workplace and personal heroes: (1) proximity, (2) symbolic representation of ideologies, and (3) qualities admired in the heroes. These reasons entailed that state boredom was not regulated by workplace heroes.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The model of Coughlan et al. (2019) explored trait boredom regulation through meaning in life by personal heroes. This study tested for the regulation of state boredom through meaning in life by workplace heroes; thus, contributing to theory through a nuanced model with enhanced usefulness in practice. The study also further dissects the concept of heroes by uncovering differences between workplace and personal heroes that perpetrated the differences in the findings.
The results underscored the multifaceted applications of self-talk in both personal development and leadership. Awareness of one’s internal dialogue was a precursor to harnessing self-talk constructively. This consciousness enabled individuals to discern and modify ‘patterns’ and ‘triggers’ in their self-talk, transforming it from a passive to an active tool for personal change. The study revealed that while most self-talk was internal, leaders often supplemented it with reflective practices such as meditation, enhancing its efficacy.
Central to leadership emergence was personal growth, often ignited by emotive responses to life’s trials. The research participants acknowledged that facing one’s self-dialogue required courage, yet it was this very process that catalysed personal evolution.
The study’s conclusions affirmed the importance of self-talk in navigating emotional landscapes and altering behaviours crucial for effective leadership. It noted that self-talk was not always accurate; its validity may have waned over time, necessitating continuous scrutiny to ensure it remained conducive to reality. Ultimately, self-talk emerged as a pivotal element in transcending personal challenges and fostering the qualities necessary for authentic leadership.
stewardship concept. The results show that stewardship, as a leadership alternative, has not yet begun to supplant traditional forms of leadership.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Using online surveys and structured interviews for a mixed-method study, data were collected for state boredom, meaning in life and hero affirmation at work for a quantitative study, and data from the open-ended questions provided further insights regarding hero affirmation at work for a qualitative study.
FINDINGS: Spearman rank-order correlations concluded correlations between state boredom and meaning in life. However, unlike personal heroes that influence meaning in life, workplace heroes were found not to. The qualitative analysis revealed three prime differences between workplace and personal heroes: (1) proximity, (2) symbolic representation of ideologies, and (3) qualities admired in the heroes. These reasons entailed that state boredom was not regulated by workplace heroes.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The model of Coughlan et al. (2019) explored trait boredom regulation through meaning in life by personal heroes. This study tested for the regulation of state boredom through meaning in life by workplace heroes; thus, contributing to theory through a nuanced model with enhanced usefulness in practice. The study also further dissects the concept of heroes by uncovering differences between workplace and personal heroes that perpetrated the differences in the findings.
In this chapter you will be invited to examine, and reflect upon, two of the most important, yet least considered, aspects of diversity management in the contemporary workplace – religion and spirituality. Where do your values come from? What is it that forms your idea of what is wrong and right in society? What is the source of your greatest hopes and dreams? Is there more to life than the hours you spend at work? Do you long to engage in the kind of work that is meaningful to you, and contributes to the common good of society? Why is it that many people are unhappy in their work lives, even though they earn a good salary or have a job with social status? What should you do if your employer expects you to do something that conflicts with your values and beliefs? How do you engage with people at work whose beliefs and values differ from your own?
These are very important questions.
Our aim is to help you to see how important religion and spirituality, in their different forms (such as formal religious traditions and beliefs, spiritual beliefs, spiritual practices, unquestioned religious beliefs, cultural beliefs or social beliefs) are in shaping who we are and how we engage with the world around us. We shall see that these important aspects of our lives do not shut down when we go to work. Whether we are aware of it or not, religion and spirituality play important roles in the world of work.
We will begin by examining some characteristics and definitions of religion and spirituality. These will help us to identify how religion, and the religious, feature in the lives of South Africans. Next, we will gain some insights into the prevalence, and importance, of religion for South Africans. The most reliable and up-to-date research on religion in our region focuses on South Africa, so we shall concentrate on that demographic data. Having established this foundation, we will move on to suggesting some ways in which recent research in diversity management can be related to religious diversity in our context. Finally, we will offer some ideas, suggestions and resources that could be helpful in engaging religious diversity in the South African workplace.
and learnings from reality is a natural propensity of the mind. Inputs from any new stimuli encountered are processed through mental models for quick action towards the stimuli, serving a vital purpose for survival. However, since mental models are created using prior information, they are susceptible to errors if the information is incomplete, false, miscommunicated, misinterpreted, or if correct information is
ignored. They are also at risk of an oversimplification of reality, stale knowledge, as well as misapplication of knowledge. The role of leadership is argued to facilitate changes to the mental model of the followers, either by ‘exploitation’ of them for gradual refinement and sculpting or by ‘exploration’ of new mental models by shattering
existing ones. The balancing act of ‘exploitation’ of current mental models and ‘exploration’ of new mental models is the paradox for leadership for achieving an optimal pace of change for leading followers into new paradigms. From a self-leadership perspective, limiting stumbling blocks to reform mental models and facilitate their evolution through enablers can allow for an optimal degree of flexibility in mental models to be aspired towards to ensure their continued usefulness.
Being entrepreneurial is not necessarily about creating entirely new business models only, but about understanding the context, the social needs, the environment, supply efficiency and security, the socioeconomic layout, knowing the pain points for a community and society, and seeking to relieve some or all of that pain by stepping into the available gaps/opportunities. When discussing B Corps in the book, we explain why it is essential that the B Corps movement on the African continent be driven by an unwavering commitment to local communities by creating relationships of mutual trust between companies/entrepreneurial ventures and the local context. There are many diverse communities, as well as formal and informal economies, in Africa that work well. For example, there are various rotating savings and credit associations (ROSCAs), e.g., the well-known stokvels in South Africa, that support economic empowerment and community upliftment, and may help to support inclusive business practices.
The presented economic ecosystems perspectives, in our book, offer holistic, conceptual frameworks that can help bridge the formal-informal sector divide, help make sense of the continuous and necessary adaptations, and can shine a light on and engender multi-level economic activity that is required for the African continent. The informal sector and quasi-informal sectors, in particular, have not received the necessary attention in research and publications-odd, given the importance of these sectors for providing employment and survival, and the fact that a significant number of successful, and large-scale, businesses in African contexts began their operations either as family-run entrepreneurial businesses and/or began within the informal sector. According to Musara and Nieuwenhuizen: “Informal sector entrepreneurship
activities contribute 10-20% of the GDP in developed countries and up to 60% in developing economies. In South Africa, the informal sector accounts for 15-17% of total employment and about 5.2% of the country’s GDP”. Throughout the multiple chapters in the book, we recognize and discuss the importance of place and spatial
boundaries/constraints, cross-cultural boundaries/constraints, values boundaries/constraints, ethno-racial boundaries/constraints, cognitive and knowledge boundaries/constraints, boundaries/constraints of intention, leader and managerial boundaries/constraints, as well as time boundaries/constraints – an understanding of which is quite important if one wants to appropriately address the entrepreneurial challenges of the continent.
it is difficult when diverse people are eventually put together, because they do not naturally “hang out” with each other on a day-to-day basis, and so when confronted with ‘others’, their interactions are awkward, loaded with conscious and unconscious power differentials, defensive and reactionary. This is true across regions and provinces of South Africa where you have completely different ethnic/racial groups,
and when ethnic/race groups in a region also have to engage with foreigners (where local South Africans are often more open to White Europeans and Americans, who tend to reside close to city centres or suburbs close to the CBD, and less open to other Black Africans and Asians, who often live further from such centres).
Entrepreneurship research and practice has received a great deal of attention in the past decade. Due to the role that entrepreneurial activities can play in tackling grand challenges, the predominant focus of such studies has been on the entrepreneurial journey, the network, the impact, the process, as well as the cultivation of ‘the entrepreneur’. However, as studies in entrepreneurship have grown, maintaining the
balance between objective and subjective implications have proven to be challenging.
To this end, there has been an increase in calls for ‘contextualizing’ entrepreneurship research, cutting across levels of analysis in order to be able to provide relevant suggestions for research and practice. In an attempt to address this call, this book provides the first theoretical and empirical collection of studies that are embedded in and borne out of the context of (southern) Africa. The continent is home to seven out of ten fastest growing economies in the world, and from a business perspective, it is considered by Alex Liu, chairman of A.T Kearney “a large-scale start-up”. Yet, little is known about the state of entrepreneurial activities that aim to shape the continent’s future. This book delves into the micro- and macro-level foundations of
entrepreneurial activities across southern Africa, providing theoretical frameworks that take into consideration the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the continent, as well as the formal and informal economy that contribute to the growth and development of its countries.
This book is divided into three sections. The first section sets the context for entrepreneurship, with considerations given to its embeddedness in the broader environment. Examining entrepreneurship and entrepreneuring on a systems-level, this section begins with a chapter that discusses the role of the fourth industrial revolution and its influence on the entrepreneurial state in Africa, and given that, offers an ‘ecosystem’ perspective for the examination of entrepreneurship. Having
set the scene for the complexities that 4IR impart, Chapter two offers a path towards managing complex systems through the use of networks consisting of simple software agents, which uses probabilistic reasoning to adapt to their environments. Chapter three examines the contextual challenges facing social enterprises in Africa, such as the lack of data, cultural heterogeneity, fragmented ecosystems, infrastructure and
financing, and offers recommendations to various stakeholders for overcoming these challenges in order to scale social impact. The fourth chapter in this section provides a model for the utilization of networks, and in doing so, it sheds light on the economic benefits of migration capital and how development programmes such as the Caravan
Programme can leverage such capital to provide economic growth for migrants’ host countries. Undertaking a multi-case approach, Chapter five encourages reframing strategies in order to mobilize values and action for the creation of a ‘regional bio-energy niche’. This chapter calls for attention to the taken-for-granted socio-cognitive frames related to traditional uses of energy. It provides framing strategies for actors
operating in this field. Within the education sphere, Chapter six explores how innovative and context-appropriate, video-led case studies can widen and strengthen the impact of curriculum design and delivery across education by restoring the agency of voice. It argues that in order for educational institutions to widen the impact of values-led enterprises, they need to democratise their curriculum by allowing all voices to come
through. This chapter offers innovative practices that facilitate this process.
The second section is dedicated to the role of organizational-level activities in entrepreneurial developments. Chapter seven examines the role of B-Corporations on the African continent and discusses the activities that these organizations engage in, in order to provide impact for the environment they are operating in. Notwithstanding their limitations, recommendations are made for the development of B-Corporations on the continent. Chapter eight explores the ways in which we can undertake collaborative methods to grow a venture, particularly under resource-constrained environments. It argues that it is, in fact, collaboration and partnering, and not competition that fosters growth, and provides a step-by-step description of how this process can be implemented. Continuing on the path of new venture support, Chapter nine illustrates the ‘lessons learnt’ in the process of supporting
early-stage entrepreneurs during their incubation journey. This study is built on primary findings triangulated from founders, funders, industry experts and incubation programme partners. Chapter 10 argues for greater congruency between what Business Schools teach and do, and their African cultural contexts, as well as the importance of reciprocal networks and entrepreneurial ecosystems between nations inside and outside of the African context. Chapter 11 acknowledges the importance
of psychological safety and respect for the human dimension in social enterprises.
The hybrid orientation for social enterprises, together with its commitment to social value creation, are highlighted – by identifying such practices and their challenges in the manufacturing sector. Supporting entrepreneurs in the venture creation process is further illustrated in Chapter 12 by a study conducted in a business accelerator
located in the disadvantaged area of Philippi Village in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
The third and final section delves into the micro-level foundations of entrepreneurial activities, deriving from both empirical and theoretical studies. Given the centrality of the entrepreneur’s role in venture creation, it is not surprising that much attention is given to the ‘entrepreneur’. Chapter 13, undertaking a mixed-method study in South Africa, examines entrepreneurial propensity and provides an index based on intrinsic
and extrinsic factors that can be used to assess whether an entrepreneurial tendency will result in venture creation. In line with entrepreneurial propensity, Chapter 14 provides evidence for the relationship between the entrepreneur’s locus of control and
their happiness regarding entrepreneurial activities. It therefore argues that internality is linked to entrepreneurship and suggests that internals perform more efficiently in environments that allow control over their actions. It thus offers a ‘best-fit’ approach based on the entrepreneur’s locus of control. Considering that the entrepreneur needs to relate to, and build relationships with, various stakeholders, Chapter 15 draws our
attention to the importance of empathy and, in particular, self-empathy in fostering such relationships. Given that the entrepreneur needs to firstly rely on him/herself, the chapter offers the skillsets required for self-care. It does so by walking us through a case of an entrepreneur undergoing self-empathy coaching sessions, and providing recommendations for future practice. Building on the importance of coaching, Chapter 16 provides a qualitative study of how executive coaching becomes an
entrepreneurial venture.
From the perspective of the entrepreneur, it reveals the important components of building an executive coaching venture, namely networks, architecture, value proposition and financial support. Thus, providing the factors that contribute to a successful coaching business model. Chapter 17, which aims to provide a theoretical framework for micro-entrepreneurs and their start-up teams, focuses on the impact of emotions and the entrepreneurs’ disposition to trust in the early stages
of venture creation. Using the lens of ‘person-in-situation perspective’, the chapter draws from individual-level factors such as personality traits, emotions, entrepreneurial mindset, propensity to trust, and assessment of others’ trustworthiness in order to provide a framework that takes into account the importance of entrepreneurial networks on venture creation, thus, providing a point of departure for micro-entrepreneurs and
their start-up teams. Chapter 18 looks at the challenges in ensuring collaboration in the racially segregated spatial arrangements of South Africa, even when we know that diversity and inclusion are enablers of entrepreneurial ventures. The chapter also highlights the inadequacy of traditional training and education in preparing modern-day
entrepreneurs, and calls for greater permeability of a myriad of traditional boundaries in the pursuit of solutions for social challenges. This section concludes with a microlevel lens on the personal journey of an immigrant entrepreneur in Cape Town. Through narratology, Chapter 19 explores the resilience, efficacy and achievement of African refugee entrepreneurs in South Africa and provides a unique perspective on not only factors that lead to success, but also the challenges and obstacles that are faced in the venture creation and growth process.
The book offers interesting and rich perspectives on parts of the African
entrepreneurial ecosystem, through a number of lenses, from both local Africans as well as international researchers and practitioners who are passionate about the future of Africa. Many of the perspectives offered and insights from actual praxis on the continent can prove instructive to other parts of the world, particularly the developing and emerging economies around the globe.
Both private and public organisations are therefore purposefully turning toward organisational learning and its modern format, knowledge management, for insight. Unfortunately, most of the books in this area focus on the theoretical aspects of learning and knowledge management. Additionally, executives, managers and employees in public organisations are finding that most of the learning and knowledge management literature has been exclusively written for the private sector.
It is with the above in mind that we have researched and designed theory, insights and frameworks that would work for the public sector. This text was written to be practical and implementable – hence the focus on ‘praxis’ in the title. One of the questions we are often asked is, “Now that I know something about knowledge management, and believe that it can add value to my organisation, where do I start and what do I start doing?”
Knowledge Management Praxis not only provides the phased tools for “doing”, through practical questionnaires, surveys and framework, but if worked on simultaneously by multiple members of a department or division, creates the necessary shared language and understanding for generating rapid successes and effectiveness. It has been written primarily for managers and employees (even though it could assist in strategic planning processes).
Although most of the book refers specifically to the public sector, managers and employees in the private sector will benefit from the insights, templates and frameworks, surveys and practicality of the book.
The text draws on best practice, and is borne out of the research and consulting experiences of the authors, it is therefore both relevant and known to be effective.
We believe that it presents an interesting collective of inquiry, that has been contextualised both in its implications for theory and practice of knowledge management.
The United States of America has produced many of the leadership gurus, including Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, Tom Peters, Peter Senge, Stephen Covey and many others. However, very little research has been carried out in this field in South Africa, a country which experienced one form of leadership for most of the twentieth century — autocratic control under the guise of apartheid. The social, political, and economic freedom that now prevails in South Africa has provided for the emergence of new leaders in all sectors of society. This has meant that a whole range of new approaches to leadership is being experienced in business, government and civil society.
Seventeenth-century scientific thinking would have us believe that leadership is a mechanical process — if certain requirements are met (for example, if the leader has certain qualities and the followers have a certain level of maturity) successful leadership will result. What then can we learn about leadership from the experiences of the US and SA at the start of the twenty-first century? Firstly, that leadership is not all that it seems to be. Perhaps the US and SA experiences highlight for us that success (however we wish to measure this) does not necessarily depend on the performance of the person at the top, that is, the leader. We realize of course, that leadership takes place at every level in society and every level of every subgrouping thereof, organizations being the grouping in which most humans experience leadership. Hence, while Mandela speaks about reconciliation, the extent to which this has an impact on South Africa as a whole will depend hugely on the influence of the leadership that exists within the sub-groupings of South African society. Our seventeenth-century view of leadership would encourage us to see Mandela as the person with ultimate sway, but we are realizing more and more, as we enter the twenty-first century, that leadership is not only complex, but that it is more of a group process — a process of shared leadership. It may be argued that the success of the United States of America under Bill Clinton testifies to this understanding.
In 1999, Ron Shevlin, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, told a conference audience that Knowledge Management (KM) was the hottest thing since reengineering. However, a Forrester Research study had just reported that six out of seven companies investing in Knowledge Management were doing so on faith—not even trying to measure the return. At the same time, British Petroleum’s Knowledge Management team, led by Kent Greenes, published the fact that their Knowledge Management program had delivered documented savings of $260 million in a single year, and that $400 million more was possible but not yet delivered. Hearing this, Tom Stewart (Fortune, 1999)1 asked, “Nearly $700 million. How’d they do it?” Stewart’s question will be answered in this book.
We present a framework and model that any organization can adapt to increase performance through learning by using Knowledge Management tools and processes. We describe lessons from the application of this and similar frameworks in a variety of organizational settings, from large global financial and professional services firms to multinational oil and mining companies, to a small charity in the voluntary sector. We also describe lessons that the BP Knowledge Management team learned, and suggest a role for human resources (HR) professionals in implementing successful Knowledge Management initiatives.
The BP Knowledge Management team had several important advantages, one of them being commitment right from the very top of the organization. Lord John Browne, CEO of British Petroleum, recognized the need to improve performance by sharing good practices, reusing knowledge, and accelerating learning; and in 1997 he took a key step toward using learning to improve performance by commissioning the BP KM program. Since that time, companies all over the world in every industry have embarked on Knowledge Management implementation projects. Few have had the benefit of support at the CEO level of Lord John Browne;2 some have applied “stealth techniques” at the grassroots level. The intervening years have shown an upsurge in KM activity—innumerable books and Web sites have been published, a KM conference circuit is in place, and every major consulting firm has established a KM practice. But what are the measurable results? Stewart’s question continues to be relevant: “How do you do it?” How do you deliver measurable performance improvement through the management of knowledge? And even more fundamentally, how can you manage knowledge in the first place?
What Is Knowledge Management?
At the beginning of a seminar, conference, or training session, when participants are asked to define Knowledge Management, they often respond that it is the “latest management fad.” Many say that Knowledge Management is an oxymoron. Numerous people believe that knowledge, by definition, cannot be managed. On the other hand, most people agree that all work involves a knowledge component, and that any team uses knowledge, experience, and know-how as a resource in the process of completing any task or project. Students in an executive management program in 2002 at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) at the University of Cape Town in South Africa responded to the question “What does Knowledge Management mean to you?” Their answers are similar to statements heard in other programs in corporate and academic settings around the world. Knowledge Management is:
• What the company knows about competitors, processes.
• Learning from experience.
• Electronic libraries and databases.
• A systematic way of disseminating information and best practices.
• What we need to know, finding it, and using it to add value and get to a higher level of productivity.
• Energizing peoples’ experiences and thoughts to make the organization grow.
• Formulating strategies and implementing them to integrate knowledge or information.
• Effective use of skills and expertise in the organization.
• Exchanging new and old ideas for the growth of the company.
• An enabler to drive continuous improvement in the organization.
• Obtaining external information, customer information, and competitive information
• Communication technology.
It’s clear that there is a range of perceptions about what Knowledge Management is and what it can deliver. What we would like to share with you in this book is our understanding, based on many years of working in this field, our perception of what is distinctive, and how and where it can add real business value. At its heart, Knowledge Management is the systems, procedures, approaches, and culture you put in place to manage one of your more valuable corporate assets— namely, your knowledge (and by knowledge we refer to the knowhow, experience, insight, and capability that allow your teams and individuals to make correct and rapid decisions in support of strategy). Knowledge is a difficult asset to manage, being intangible, fluid, personal, elusive, invisible, immeasurable, and ever evolving. However, many of the other intangible corporate assets—such as safety, brand, reputation, customer loyalty, and so on—are already being actively managed, with positive results. Why not knowledge? Even if the intangible nature of knowledge means it cannot be directly controlled, you can at least manage the systems, cultures, and pathways through which knowledge flows around the organization.
We have extended RBT to include a concept called complementary resource combinations (CRCs). CRCs are not factor inputs (in an economic sense) like tangible and intangible assets; they are complex combinations of assets, people, and processes that firms use to transform somewhat inert resources and assets into unique outputs such as products and services. Through our study of four assurance firms in South Africa, we have developed a “Framework for Sustainability” that shows how these firms use CRCs, especially combined with IT assets, to marketplace advantage.
Because of space requirements, this paper focuses only on one of the firms CRCs, as well as identified enabling social complexity attributes. CRCs exist in a complex web of social interactions and may even depend critically on particular individuals. Our research findings indicated that assets and resources such as IT hardware and software do not per se possess properties of “rarity”; but, it is through idiosyncratic combinations with an array of processes, actions, strategic intentions and programmes within each firm, i.e., CRCs, that enable the firm to build socially complex and unique barriers to imitation that support core capabilities sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage over time.
The New Sciences, Chaos- and Complexity Theories have enlightened us to the fact that there are also other aspects of the world in which non-linearity, interactiveness, chaos, complexity, unpredictability and uncertainty are natural, inevitable elements of this universe. We are moving to a scientific world-view of systems that look like whirlpools through which matter, energy and information flow. The form of these systems is created by the follow-through and interaction of their elements. The change is from dealing mainly with a world of simple systems that are seen as linear, closed and predictable, that can be planned and controlled. We are beginning to see much of the world as complex systems that are non-linear, interactive and open. Their behaviour often cannot be predicted, and therefore cannot be planned for and controlled in the long term, and this has tremedous implications for leaders in the future, both in a personal capacity as well as in an organisational sense.
This reports essentially asserts that the traditional forms of leadership and organisational behaviour, even though they were appropriate for their times, are inadequate to cope with the challenges that future leaders and organisations will face. It thus sets out some guiding principles and discusses environments, based predominantly on the precepts of New Science, Chaos Theory and Complexy Theory, rather than that of traditional models, that need to be embraced by leaders within their organisations.
One major contribution was a more robust “Framework of Sustainability” that was based upon the evidence from this research. Another contribution was the concept of Complementary Resource Combinations (CRCs) that posits IT assets and resources in themselves are not the bases of establishing “rarity”, but are combined with other factors within the firm to create barriers to imitation. Among the key findings, three were noteworthy:
• Within the assurance industry, the greatest revenue generation came from unchanging demand pillars of customer pull, i.e., retirements, deaths and disabilities. The differentiation, for the firms studied, came in how the growing complexities and the evolving different vehicles were used to service these ongoing human needs. One of the vehicles for doing this was IT, even though each firm had different profiles for intelligently balancing cost against product innovation.
• This research confirmed that IT assets did not per se possess properties of “rarity;” it was through combinations with an array of processes, actions, strategic intentions and programmes within the firm, i.e., CRCs, that enabled a firm to build socially complex and unique barriers to imitation that supported core capabilities, thereby sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage.
• The four firms in this research were highly successful competitors who created IT-based CRCs to support key capabilities as barriers to entry into this market; however, one firm (called Leopard) created unique IT-based CRCs that supported its core capabilities to compete successfully.