Developing a Knowledge Management Strategy 113Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without writtenThe AFKM Name
Another issue for consideration in AFKM strategy development involved the
AFKM name. When the AFKM Team began the Deskbook and Lessons Learned
initiatives, there were no other known KM programs in the AF. This situation, combined
with the fact that the Lessons Learned tool was originally designed to serve the entire
AF, gave cause for the Team to label the program “AF” KM instead of “AFMC” KM. As
time passed, however, KM initiatives began popping up across the service and the “AF”
KM label seemed suddenly inappropriate. A representative from the AF chief information
officer’s office, who was heading the AF-wide KM movement, had even called Adkins
to insist that his program’s name be changed to avoid confusion with what would become
the real AF-wide KM program.
Adkins realized this was not a simple name change from “AFKM” to “AFMC KM”
— it had significant implications for his organization. On the positive side, Adkins
thought a name change might actually be a good thing. With other KM initiatives
surfacing throughout the AF and with the advent of the AF portal, he had found that the
title “AFKM” was no longer descriptive of what his Team was providing. His thoughts
were that the specific AFMC KM system and products had to be identifiable, especially
now that they would be “buried” behind the AF portal. He used the following example:
And so, if I was Joe Blow out there at Ogden Air Logistics Center and I open the [AF]
Portal and I happen to see this link [AFKM Hub], I wouldn’t click on it... because I
don’t have any idea [of what it is] unless I happened to have that wonderful briefing
we gave them.
On the negative side, Adkins knew a name change wasn’t that simple. In addition
to generating confusion among existing customers, a name change could signal a
reduction in program scope and applicability, which might ultimately impact leadership
support at the highest levels and funding.
Outsourcing AFKM Strategy
Since the initial collection of programs and systems (e.g., Deskbook and Lessons
Learned) had been brought under the AFKM umbrella, Adkins had lacked a coherent
strategy to guide future developments. Although most of the previous work of the AFKM
Team had been technology-oriented, Adkins realized that a more comprehensive KM
strategy that also addressed people and cultural issues was needed. So far, most AFKM
program and system development priorities had been opportunistically selected depend-
ing on funding source and visibility potential, but were not consistent with an overall
objective or strategy. However, with so many issues developing that could ultimately
impact AFKM’s existence, Adkins realized that a strategic vision, and ultimately an
implementation road map, were needed to guide future AFKM developments and to help
him make “hard decisions.”
Not confident that he or the existing AFKM System Development Team had the
expertise or time to develop a comprehensive strategic plan and roadmap on their own,
Adkins contracted to AeroCorp² to lead the development. Although AeroCorp contrac-
tor personnel had composed a portion of the AFKM System Development Team all along,
Adkins had only recently selected them as the primary contractor due to their growing