Knowledge Management 1-01 (March 2001) by Wolfgang Sturz by Alexander Schniertshauer

An Interview with Alexander Schniertshauer, Germany

wm: Right now, knowledge management seems to be a buzzword, but I’m sure that the task of knowledge management, particular in your area, is already likely to be quite familiar to you. How long have you had something like knowledge management, even if it’s actually been known by another name?

Schniertshauer: Well, you’re right. One of the most important services in our area of Parts Technology and Technical Information is constantly updating and maintaining the Group-wide Repair Information System. We provide authorized repair facilities and dealers with all the information they need, that is, with all the knowledge required to solve a given repair problem. It’s nothing less than pure knowledge management. And, of course, we haven’t just been doing this since the term "knowledge management" has been floating around. We’ve been at it for a long time now.

However, in doing so, we have to fulfill very strict standards. The knowledge that we make available in our information system needs to meet the highest demands in many different ways. In particular, it has to be:

• Correct: Incorrect repair instructions can’t help me solve a problem.
• Current: These days, when a new vehicle comes out on the market, all the relevant repair manuals have to be available right at market introduction.
• Complete: Each model, each variant, and each equipment combination needs to be included. This makes huge demands on how to organize the knowledge base.
• Accessible: The employees in the repair shop have to be able to readily locate the repair instructions by using suitable search strategies and criteria.

wm: Knowledge management could be defined as the transfer of the knowledge from one person into the brains of many others. Can such a transfer be accomplished solely with the structures and processes available in electronic data management, or does the human factor still play a substantial role in this?

Schniertshauer: Without computers, our team would be fighting a lost cause. But the opposite is also true. I mean, if we only had the electronically stored data with no specialists working there in the background to evaluate, interpret, classify and structure it all, we’d just end up with one huge data graveyard.

What it all really comes down to is an intelligent interaction between humans and their electronic assistants. And that, by the way, is a statement that fundamentally applies to knowledge management. To bring about knowledge management solutions, what I need as a manager is a qualified team. The team, in turn, needs to have efficient, productive computer support. That’s the only way it will work.

wm: What qualifications do you need in your team to be able to tackle such problems?

Schniertshauer: "Team" is the right term here, because we need a great variety of skills. One of the most fundamental skills has to do with the area of repair description and definition. That’s where highly qualified specialists specify repair sequences in detail. After that, we need technical editors who really know what they’re doing.

"It all really comes down to an intelligent interaction between humans and their electronic assistants".

When doing this, we maintain a very deliberate, dedicated separation of skills. It’s important for us that each member of the team can bring their competencies to bear in the project without interfering with the work of others or even limiting its effectiveness. Maintaining repair information is only possible as a team effort. Knowledge management is teamwork.

wm: Knowledge management could also be defined as knowledge exchange. In this sense, knowledge should not just simply flow out from the home office down to the shops and dealerships, but there should also be information flowing in the opposite direction back up to the home office. Is there such a bottom-up knowledge transfer in your case?

Schniertshauer: Knowledge management can never ever be just a one-way street. Sure, our job is to provide our authorized shops and dealers with information. At the same time, we’re also dependent on their responses. So, we’ve also implemented feedback systems. That means we have hotlines that allow us to quickly tell if the knowledge we’ve provided is somehow incorrect or incomplete. In addition, the knowledge end-users can provide us with written or electronic feedback about the quality of our information and, of course, about any possible quality problems in particular.

We show our appreciation for all this invaluable feedback by holding a raffle four times a year in which we offer really attractive prizes and awards. At any rate, I can assure you that knowledge exchange works for us in both directions. The opportunities provided by electronic communication have, of course, stimulated this exchange and made it all a lot easier.

wm: Knowledge management could also be defined as motivating employees to share their knowledge. In a recent conversation with our magazine, Mr. Müller from DaimlerChrysler University mentioned that performance evaluations of your managers are often influenced by their willingness to share knowledge. What types of motivation do specialists have to share their knowledge?

Schniertshauer: Well, knowledge management as such is not an explicit topic in performance evaluations. Nevertheless, employees can only bring out the performance expected of them in all its facets when they are capable of working beyond their own immediate sphere of work and are willing to engage in teamwork and communication. It’s all about overall performance, and this can only happen when it’s clear to every employee that information without any mutual exchange is really just useless information.

wm: Knowledge management could also be defined as a dialogue among Development, Production, Sales and the After-sales areas. These are areas that, at least primarily, are pursuing very different goals and frequently speak very different languages. How do you ensure that the communication among these areas occurs without any information loss despite their different horizons?

Schniertshauer: Knowledge management is a dialogue. It’s a dialogue taking place within a network. A dialogue among employees who define repairs and those who then describe them. A dialogue between those who develop and those who produce. A dialogue that takes place through many levels and via many point-to-point paths.

"Nevertheless, employees can only bring out the performance expected of them when they are capable of working beyond their own immediate sphere of work and are willing to engage in teamwork and communication".

The team spirit has to be in place first, and if this attitude works well, then information exchange and knowledge management occur by themselves. In this context, communication with our customers is particularly important to us. We’re looking for a dialogue here, too. Our customers get information from us through a customer information system, hotlines and many other channels. In turn, we use various channels to acquire information on the wishes and expectations of our customers. That’s an important exchange of information and, as such, another significant component of knowledge management.

wm: So now, what’s your final comment, Mr. Schniertshauer, on the topic of knowledge management?

Schniertshauer: Knowledge management is, without a doubt, a very significant topic. But it can’t operate in a vacuum. Knowledge management just for knowledge management’s sake creates no added value. Knowledge management increases the focus on the generation, management, and conveying of information - and it’s information that is the raw material in our time. We’ve never actually given our work the label "knowledge management". But that’s exactly what we do, and have been doing for a long time now.

wm: Thank you very much for talking with us, Mr. Schniertshauer.

The discussion was led by Dr. Wolfgang Sturz.  

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