Facilitated Transfer of Best Practices

Published by: American Productivity & Quality Center

Published: Sep. 30, 2004 - 154 Pages

Table of Contents

• Air Products and Chemicals Inc.
• BHP Billiton Plc
• CEMEX, S.A. de C.V.
• Ford Motor Co.
• The ServiceMaster Co.
• Tata Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.

Abstract

KEY FINDINGS

• Best-practice organizations emphasize capturing and transferring codified versions of tacit knowledge and practices.
• Three distinctly different transfer models varied by how best practices were defined, identified, or created; the role of validation that a practice was deemed "best;" whether adoption of the practice was mandatory or voluntary; and the extent of support provided for adoption (often called "replication").
• Best practices sharing is often part of an enterprise-wide process improvement effort.
• There are three catalysts for a transfer program: a unified strategy after a merger or extensive acquisitions, a continuing drive for productivity improvement and cost reduction, and a drive to modernize and standardize information technology and reporting systems.
• There are five critical success factors related to the successful implementation of the partners' best practices transfer programs.
• The size and nature of the initial investments for transfer programs varies greatly, depending on the transfer approach selected.
• Mandatory adoption requires more facilitation and rigor, and therefore the costs are higher than for models allowing voluntary adoption. Mandatory replication appears to lead to a higher ROI because of the nature of the practices being replicated and the number of sites involved.
• A defined organizational structure supports transfer of best practices programs and enables clearly designated roles and accountability.
• Robust change management processes, methods, and roles are necessary for transfer to occur and what was crucial to the success of the partner organization's transfer programs, especially in terms of funding.
• Transfer programs use business outcome measures more often than other
KM approaches.
• Best-practice organizations use scorecards across all levels to track replication progress and impact, from the individual employee concerned about the impact on his/her performance evaluation to the senior-most executive who wants to know the overall financial impact the transfer program is having on the organization.

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