Skandia's ICM model can be summarized by one word - the Navigator. The Navigator did not only create an IC language and awareness across Skandia, but it also provided each unit and individual with a tool for the management of IC, each for their own peculiar purposes. Though the Navigator is at the core of Skandia's ICM model, it is much more than that. Using the CICM lens, let's have a closer look how Skandia manages its IC under the various stages (see also about invest money).
What is just as important for the intelligent organization as the accessibility of the growing flow of global information is the development of interpretation instruments which enable the company to identify and learn new patterns from a universal perspective.
- Intelligent Enterprise 1998 Annual Report Supplement
Knowledge management (KM) is instrumental to organizations in the service industry where the main intellectual value driver is packaged knowledge, or knowledge recipes as Skandia calls it. Developing the stage of KM to an advanced level is therefore essential from the start. Though KM as a concept and a practice has been applied by service organizations for a long time, only advanced and systemized application of KM can enable high business growth and enhanced competitive performance. For Skandia, a well-thought-out KM system is essential for the success of the business model that Carendi designed for Skandia. Skandia's business model cannot be operated without extensive knowledge sharing internally within Skandia and externally across the widespread networks of partners. To manage the flow of knowledge within and to-and-fro Skandia, the right structure, culture, and information technology (IT) enablers were implemented at Skandia from the start (see also about secure investing).
Structure - Communities of Practice or Knowledge Cafes. Empowering employees and treating them as volunteers is a business reality rather than a promise from Skandia's top management. Employees can volunteer to be on any of the teams that are continuously formed across Skandia to tackle various areas of knowledge, even if outside their expertise in accordance with the concept of communities of practice (CoPs). The process starts with an e-mail sent out about the project, to which employees can assign themselves. Managers then hold an election to determine who will serve the team better, with formalities kept to a minimum (see also about how to invest).
Meeting face to face for transfer of tacit knowledge and sharing of ideas is facilitated at Skandia in many ways. First, the concept of the "knowledge cafe" is well accepted and promoted in the culture of Skandia. The main idea behind the knowledge cafe is that knowledge workers perform better when working in an open environment where dialogue and sharing insights is the norm. The cafe concept is used by having a set of tables each with a facilitator and an issue posted for discussion wherein groups circulate between the tables bringing their insights to different issues. At American Skandia, the knowledge cafe method is implemented through the Meet the Cabinet program in which employees meet the management team in an informal, musical chairs-type setting. The sessions are held every six weeks with 4 cabinet members and 25 employees where each cabinet member meets with 5 or 6 employees for four 15-minute segments. After each segment, the cabinet member moves to another table and so on. Employees are encouraged to prepare questions, comments, and suggestions. Due to the success of the program and its positive effect on morale, American Skandia plans to expand the program and increase the duration of the sessions.
Obviously, Skandia is a very social company with a very flexible structure, in which dialogue, knowledge sharing, trust, and collaboration are all part of daily business life. The informality of the structure and the ease with which tacit knowledge is transferred in meetings and knowledge cafes fosters sharing and leveraging of tacit knowledge. This structure is supported by a very strong collaborative culture.
The Right Culture from Day One. From the start Carendi made it clear that the model is alliance-based and hence one that is empowered through relationships and values of mutual trust, collaboration, and partnership both internally and externally. Carendi believed in hiring the right people and then leaving them alone. In Carendi's words: "if you are not going to leave them alone, you don't need to hire the best people."7 Carendi promoted the concept of volunteers, wherein employees are seen as free agents who give their best only if there is a "high culture of trust."
To reinforce a culture of trust in an industry in which insecurity of employment is "a natural process in today's service companies,"8 Skandia put in place a system to enable employees to take their professional development into their own hands. First, Skandia established the Leaders College, which provides training for employees and partner financial advisors. Second, with the Navigator's human focus, all business units are pressed to develop their human capital to meet future challenges and reinforce competitive advantage. Third, if employee redundancy is the only resort, Skandia's management cooperates with employees and external consultants to help employees find new opportunities within and outside Skandia (see also about capital management).
In addition to trust building, knowledge sharing is stressed through Skandia by the various activities and awards recognizing knowledge sharing at the various units. At American Skandia, for example, knowledge sharing is rewarded through employee nomination of associates who exhibit qualities of open knowledge sharing. The top 30 nominees are narrowed down to three who are awarded an engraved desk clock and $1,000 in reward. The strong knowledge-sharing culture of Skandia makes knowledge sharing part of the job - if not the job.
In addition to the flexible structure and right culture, Skandia's KM stage is enabled by a powerful IT system, which is necessary for its alliance-based business model.
The Knowledge Base and IT Architecture - Navigate with the Dolphins. The Navigator informs Skandia's design of the knowledge base and the IT architecture. The Navigator provided the bedrock of the knowledge base by facilitating the creation of a unified taxonomy under which all knowledge is codified at Skandia. Automating the Navigator through the Dolphin system enabled every business unit to collect and enter data under a unified IT system regardless of their areas of operation. The Dolphin system stores the Navigators of the various subsidiaries, each with its strategic intent, success factors, and indicators.
Originally based on the Navigator, the Dolphin system was developed as Skandia's knowledge base with knowledge centers, best practices for internal benchmarking, and e-learning centers. The Dolphin system has information on the organization, legal structures, special competencies, staff profiles, and key alliances of every company in Skandia's Group. It also provides competitive intelligence through competitors' profiles and market and customer perspectives. The system is connected to a number of external networks that Skandia employees can access, for example "Savings Bourse," which contains information and knowledge channels for such companies working in the savings product segment (see also about money investment).
The central Company Customer Center has documented process descriptions for best-demonstrated practices on two levels. The first level relates to work tasks and business processes while the second relates to tools. Both levels are available and accessible from Skandia's intranet. Skandia adopted a knowledge codification strategy to ensure the streamlining and interoperability of work processes and key tasks. That is a crucial step given the vast array of IT systems and solutions that are continuously being developed and used by the various operating units across Skandia. It ensures that the underlying IT models do not hamper efficient and effective KM. The e-learning center caters to employees' knowledge needs by providing training modules on the various solutions and software packages used by Skandia, accessible by financial advisors as well. In addition to the central IT unit in Stockholm, there are decentralized IT departments in the United States, Germany, Colombia, Spain, and England. Stockholm coordinates among the various IT units and provides the main architecture while the various IT centers create content and manage their knowledge bases in accordance with their local needs.