Presentation on the scholarly paper "Vicious and virtuous circles in the management of knowledge: The case of Infosys Technologies" made during KM technologies course. Original credits to Raghu Garud, Arun Kumaraswamy and MIS Quarterly
Review of vicious and virtuous circles in the management of knowledge: The case of Infosys Technologies
1. VICIOUS AND VIRTUOUS
CIRCLES IN THE
MANAGEMENT OF
KNOWLEDGE: THE CASE OF
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
Raghu Garud and Arun Kumaraswamy
MIS Quarterly 2005
K6213 Reading Topic
20-Sep-2011
Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar
Nirmala Selvaraju
2. AGENDA
• Objective of the article
• Key KM topics
• Infosys trivia
• KM in Infosys
• Virtuous and Vicious Circles
• Conclusion
• Key takeaways from the article
3. Objective of the article
• To showcase the diverse and dynamic nature
of KM in an organization
– Through a longitudinal study conducted using a system
perspective approach
• To highlight virtuous and vicious circles
formed as a result of KM processes and the
strategies for steering away from virtuous
circles
5. Infosys Trivia
IndIa’s 2nd largest IT company
2004
• US 1 billion dollar company
• 23000 employees
• Global development centers
• NASDAQ listed
• 30 % growth YOY
• Asian and Global MAKE AWARD winner
Research group conducted 56 interviews over
a period of 3 years between 2001 and 2004
KM group were primarily selected for repeated interviews during the period
6. Philosophy of KM in Infosys
Motto - ”Learn once,use anywhere”
• Knowledge = Currency of new millennium
• Employees recruited with learnability skills
• One among the few companies in the world that values and
reports its human capital on its balance sheet
• Knowledge Maturity Model
• Asking Culture
• Rich Informal Social Networks
8. Virtuous and Vicious Circles in totality
“The very same mutually causal processes that have the potential to generate a
virtuous circle can just as easily generate a vicious one”
9. Virtuous Circles
Individual Group
Communities
Reflect-in-action
Different Epistomologies
Learning-by-doing
Shared Division of
Single and Double Loop
Labour
learning
Innovative Solutions
Increased Contributions
Collective Intelligence Dynamic Balance
Adaptive Structuration Pre-defined templates
Dynamic Capabilities
‘K’ Initiatives CMM
10. Vicious Circles
Market for Knowledge
o Extraneous contributions
o Less number of reviewers
o Information overload
Reduced Knowledge Re-
use Archetype Employees
o Too much of emphasis on
o Codification becomes
Knowledge Creation
counterproductive
o Knowledge reusability
o Abstract Knowledge
impaired
11. Vicious Circles can be inherent in KM
systems
• Vicarious effect between
1 levels
• Symbiotic relationships
2 across levels amplifies
process effects
• Impairing effects from
3 specific initiatives are not
immediately visible
12. Steering out of & around Vicious
Circles
Steering out of Vicious circles
Deviation Amplifying feedback
• Identify and decoupling process (ex: KShop and
incentives scheme )
• Deviation counteracting feedbacks (ex: KM prime
and Knowledge Champions)
Steering around Vicious circles
• Awareness towards intangible effects of KM
• Distribution of roles & responsibilities between
Knowledge Managers within KM group
• Knowledge of diverse functions across the organization
13. Implications and Conclusion
• An organization’s knowledge system comprises mutually causal
processes that unfold at and across different organizational levels.
• These mutually causal processes generate opposing forces that
need to be balanced dynamically to generate a virtuous circle
• An organization’s knowledge system contains seeds of its own
destruction, as the very initiatives that the organization
undertakes to generate
• A virtuous circle have the potential to generate vicious circles as
well
• Knowledge managers must intervene processually to steer their
organization’s knowledge system around and out of vicious circles
that are bound to emerge
14. Key Takeaways from the article
• Unique in terms of its study method – systems perspective
and longitudinal study
• KM is an evolving process which needs constant monitoring
• Clear distinctions should be made between the objectives of
KM at individual, group and organisational levels
• Socio-psychological and Socio-technical effects need to be
taken into consideration
• Methodologies suggested by KM academicians and
practitioners need to be referred before starting a KM
implementation