Knowledge Management: Key Drivers For An E&P Program

Abstract

In many organizations, knowledge management (KM) plays a central role in the process of value creation, and terms such as "intellectual assets" are now popular in business literature. Sometimes, however, companies find it difficult to shape KM concepts into a specific program. This paper presents a KM program developed and implemented for an E&P company. With solid management commitment, the program utilized currently available human resources and existing, installed technology. Three key drivers led to the program's success: Moving from the abstract to the concrete: Identify KM advocates, and choose knowledge examples clearly linked to the bottom line. Focusing on content rather than platforms: Define knowledge that is critical to the business, and identify those within the organization who can furnish that knowledge. Promoting cultural change: Transform the cultural paradigm by redefining everyone's value in the organization. Specific programs developed for knowledge sharing are discussed, as well as use statistics and the importance of incentives. In spite of the difficulties in identifying program results, the need to define metrics is also addressed. Finally, results, difficulties and challenges faced during the first year of implementation are described. Introduction PECOM is an integrated energy company with operations in Latin America. The PECOM E&P segment operates oil and gas fields in five countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Current production amounts to approximately 180 MBOE/D, and operations take place in more than 20 locations with about 1000 personnel (Fig. 1). Apart from external incentives to implement knowledge management (KM) practices, two characteristics of PECOM's E&P business brought out this need by the mid 1990s:Expansion of E&P activities into different countries (geographic and cultural spread of knowledge)Increasingly complex and competitive business environment involving a greater number of experts. Though several previous initiatives had been implemented, a formal program was not launched until late in 2001. This new program involved all personnel who had previously been working in KM and was supported by upper management. In the early stages of the program, specific resources were assigned around the central idea of using existing personnel and technological resources rather than hiring consulting services or expanding currently available platforms. Overview "Intelligent organization," "learning organization," "intellectual capital" and other related concepts are common in managerial literature as far back as the 1970s and '80s. These models generally concern the impact of the information era on business management and the resulting transformations in a given context, includingHigh volume of easily accessible dataIncreasing competitivenessComplicated problems requiring highly complex solutionsKnowledge specialization and disseminationNecessity of alignment of expertsHigh labor turnover and shift in loyalty from company to career.