Siemens Case Study on Perceived and Actual Use of Web 2.0 KM Platform

Unrestricted © Siemens Switzerland Ltd. 2013 All rights reserved. siemens.com/answers
Exploring Factual and Perceived Use and Benefits of a
Web 2.0-based Knowledge Management Application:
The Siemens Case References+
I-KNOW 2013, Graz, Austria, September 4th, 2013
Alexander Stocker
Virtual Vehicle Research Center
Information & Process Management
Graz, Austria
Johannes Müller
Siemens Switzerland Ltd.
Building Technologies Division
Zug, Switzerland

September 4th, 2013
Unrestricted © Siemens Switzerland Ltd. 2013 All rights reserved.
Page 2 Alexander Stocker and Johannes Müller
Corporate, Siemens-Wide and Cross-Sector Departments
Infrastructure & Cities Sector
Energy Sector
Industry Sector
Healthcare Sector
Building
Technologies
Rail Systems
Wind Power Solar & Hydro Oil & Gas
Energy
Service
Power
Transmission
Fossil Power
Generation
Customer
Services
Drive
Technologies
Clinical
Products
Diagnostics
Customer
Solutions
Imaging&The-
rapy Systems
Metal
Technologies
Low and Me-
dium Voltage
Audiology
Solutions
Smart Grid
Industry
Automation
Mobility and
Logistics
Siemens Sectors and Divisions
with Current Focus User Groups

September 4th, 2013
References+ ...
 is a Web 2.0 platform for the global
exchange of business-related knowledge,
experiences and best-practices,
 is a 'Social Networking' tool, which
networks colleagues and animates them
to communicate to each other,
 is intended for internal use (by Siemens
members) only and thus available within
the Siemens intranet,
 contains knowledge references (customer
projects, solution/service concepts, etc.)
and suitable documents,
 contains several discussion forums (Urgent
Requests, etc.) and a microblog section,
 considers its users as global community
(~ 10,000 members located in 79
countries) supporting each other.

September 4th, 2013
Content in References+
Knowledge References
 Customer Projects
 Solution/Service Concepts
 Technology Information
 Market Information
 External Awards
 Business Excellence Cases
 Lessons Learned
Forum Postings
 Urgent Requests
 Solution Talk
 News, Trends, Innovations
 Fairs and Conferences
 BT Academy International
 Quality Management
 etc.
Content in References+
Networking both Knowledge and People
knowledge and information sharing
people networking
Microblog
Postings
structured
by free
tagging
("Folksonomy")
Member Pages
 Name
 Portrait Picture
 'About me' Text
 Phone Numbers
 e-Mail Address
 Availability Status
 Personal Network

September 4th, 2013
User Survey 2009:
Several User Ratings
Period: 3 weeks in September/October 2009
Participation: 1070 responders
more or less helpful for 88%
714 saved days
36% frequent users
64% occasional users
Ø 2.63
Ø 1.96
Ø 1.89
Ø 1.86
several days
several hours
no time savings
very helpful
predomin. helpful
partially helpful
not helpful
one day

September 4th, 2013
User Survey 2009:
Correlation of Perceived Benefit & Usage Frequency
Usage Frequency
(# responders)
sporadic
(401)
monthly
(289)
weekly
(280)
daily
(100)
Ø all
(1070)
Availability* 2.51 2.66 2.71 2.79 2.63
Usability* 1.72 1.99 2.12 2.34 1.96
Functions / Features* 1.62 1.96 2.08 2.31 1.89
Content Quality* 1.65 1.91 1.98 2.17 1.86
Helpfulness** 0.92 1.38 1.55 1.94 1.31
# days saved per year*** 0.32 0.60 0.97 1.40 0.67
Selectable Options:
* very good (3), good (2), average (1), insufficient (0)
** very helpful (3), predominantly helpful (2), partially helpful (1), not helpful (0)
*** several days (3), one day (1), several hours (0.5), nothing (0)
higher benefit for higher usage frequency

September 4th, 2013
User Survey 2011:
Survey Questions
Which organizational unit are you working for?
 (list of selected Siemens units)
How often do you use References+?
 almost daily
 min. one time weekly
 min. one time monthly
 less than monthly
How helpful is References+ in your daily work?
 very helpful
 predominantly helpful
 partially helpful
 not helpful
How much working time did you save (in the last 365
days) by using information found in References+?
 several days saved
 one day saved
 one or several hours saved
 no time savings
How much money did you save (in the last 365 days) by
using information found in References+?
 more than €10,000 saved
 €1,000 … €10,000 saved
 €0 … €1,000 saved
 no money savings
How much additional business turnover did you generate (in the
last 365 days) by using information found in References+?
 more than €1 million in additional turnover
 €100,000 … €1 million in additional turnover
 €10,000 … €100,000 in additional turnover
 €0 … €10,000 in additional turnover
 no additional turnover
 I cannot directly influence turnover
How many additional customers did you attract (in the last 365
days) by using information found in References+?
 3 or more additional customers
 2 additional customers
 1 additional customer
 no additional customers
 I don’t have direct contact with customers
What is your overall rating for References+ and the related
administration team?
 very good
 good
 average
 insufficient
 I don’t want to give a rating.
Feel free to share any comment related to References+
(optional).
 (free text input)

September 4th, 2013
User Survey 2011:
Survey Results
731 saved days
Period: 4 weeks in September 2011
Participation: 1479 responders
€ 190,000 saved money
€ 5.3 mio. additional turn-over
Accumulated annual figures
for these 1479 responders:
361 new customers
(minimum calculation)
(minimum calculation)

September 4th, 2013
User Survey 2011:
Research Question
How do survey results on perceived use and benefits of
a Web 2.0-based knowledge management platform
match the factual use of this platform?
survey
replies
(subjective, perceived)
usage
data
(objective, factual)
user (account)
data
(objective, factual)

September 4th, 2013
Available User and Usage Data
Present status of user and user account (as of March 2013):
 office location (city, country)
 organizational unit
 date of registration in References+
 date of last visit
 account active (true/false)
 photo uploaded (true/false)
 number of characters in “About me” field
 number of other internal Social Media platforms, where user is registered
Usage data (during April 2010 – September 2011):
 number of days with access to References+
 number of visited Knowledge References
 number of contributions
(i.e. Knowledge References, feedbacks, forum postings, microblog postings)
 number of followers and followed colleagues

September 4th, 2013
Correlation of Usage Data and Survey Results
Perceived vs. Factual Usage
Respondents with a perceived high usage frequency are exhibiting higher
factual usage, but are not necessarily the most active factual contributors.
Higher factual use for higher perceived use
Perceived "Usage frequency"
daily weekly monthly seldom
# respondents 140 341 371 627
Ø activity days 33.18 29.77 17.44 13.07
Ø visited KRs 21.11 16.74 8.78 3.01
Ø contributions 3.11 3.26 1.05 0.56
Ø followers 2.19 1.82 1.18 0.74

September 4th, 2013
Helpfulness vs. Factual Usage
Respondents with a perceived high helpfulness of References+ are
exhibiting higher factual usage, i.e. they visit more Knowledge References,
generate more content, and have more followers.
Higher factual use for higher perceived helpfulness
very predom. partially not
helpful helpful helpful helpful
# respondents
146 222 805 306
Ø activity days
26.53 27.39 19.07 13.59
Ø visited KRs
25.88 20.39 5.90 2.45
Ø followers 2.10 1.47 1.23 0.66
Perceived "Helpfulness"

September 4th, 2013
Type of Benfits vs. Factual Usage
Respondents with perceived high time savings and perceived high money
savings are not necessarily the most factual active users.
Respondents with perceived high generation of turnover visit more
knowledge references.
Employees with perceived higher number of customers have more activity
days and visit more knowledge references.

September 4th, 2013
Overall Rating vs. Factual Usage
Respondents with a high overall rating of References+ have more average
activity days, visit more Knowledge References, make more contributions,
and have more followers.
Higher factual use for higher overall rating
very good good average insufficient
# respondents 281 610 231 57
Ø activity days 29.96 22.11 13.29 10.05
Ø visited KRs 15.51 11.79 6.19 2.93
Ø followers 2.60 1.10 0.83 0.67
Perceived "Overall rating"

September 4th, 2013
Conclusion and Discussion (1)
Research Scope
Whether and how do survey results on perceived use and benefits of a Web
2.0-based knowledge management platform match data on factual use of the
platform?
References+ users with perceived higher benefits (i.e. helpfulness, saved time,
saved money, new turnover, new customers) are by trend factual Reference+
users.
Study results show a relationship between perceived benefits
of References+ and factual use of References+.

September 4th, 2013
Suggestions for practice
Users with high intrinsic motivation use Web 2.0 platforms more often than less
motivated colleagues.
Hence, the probability of perceiving any related benefit might be higher for
frequent users since they are more active and thus able to explore a higher
number of potentially positive aspects of the platform.
Therefore, factual and perceived benefits are among the most important and
sustainable motivation factors for using a Web 2.0-based platform such as
References+.
The authors suggest provision of immediate benefits for users
as most crucial success factor for an Enterprise 2.0 initiative.

September 4th, 2013
Contribution
Survey results reflect the subjective views of the respondents. By using a high
number of survey replies, a tendency can be derived by calculating average or
median values.
User surveys can be very helpful and effective in developing user-centered IT
features and community coverage: The results show the basic needs of the user
community, which helps avoid fundamentally undesirable developments. In
addition, the results help clarify questions such as the following:
 Why are employees motivated to participate and contribute in online
communities?
 What do employees expect from Web 2.0-based platforms? What do they miss
in the currently available platform?
 Is there any correlation between objective use or contribution frequency and
subjectively perceived individual benefits?

September 4th, 2013
More Information about References+
Would you like to learn more about
References+?
Feel free to visit the presentation at the
I-KNOW Poster & Demo Session.
Thursday, September 5th, 3:30-5:30 pm
(German or English spoken on demand)

September 4th, 2013
Contact for Questions and Feedback
Dr. Alexander Stocker
Virtual Vehicle Research Center
Information & Process Management
Graz, Austria
e-Mail: alexander.stocker@v2c2.at
https://www.xing.com/profile/Alexander_Stocker
Dr. Johannes Müller
Siemens Switzerland Ltd.
Building Technologies Division
Zug, Switzerland
e-Mail: j-mueller@siemens.com
https://www.xing.com/profile/Johannes_Mueller47

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