226 Anand, Pauleen, and Dexter
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and had a system in place since 1993. The gaps analysis had shown there were several
areas in which the Bank could improve its document management activities, including
better management of all external and internal information resources such as the
integration of e-mail. Although the current system captured a significant amount of
external documentation, the aim was to now electronically capture internal documenta-
tion as well. Successful capture of both internal and external documentation would result
in staff having a wide and ready access to a range of information.
In contrast to many organisations, the Bank operated as a totally open organisation,
which meant that there was no security on any documents, including the discussions of
the senior management group. The culture within the senior management group was to
discuss why such documents would not be shared in the organisation, as opposed to
shared. The only exceptions to this policy were around market-sensitive information on
monetary policy where information remained private to protect staff from the results of
any leakage, and the staff understood and accepted this. Mintzberg (1979) sees this form
of semiadhocracy as one that facilitates knowledge sharing and an intensity of knowl-
edge work, and is particularly appropriate in a knowledge-based organisation comprised
of professional knowledge workers.
The review of the document management system was initially considered in terms
of a data warehousing issue; however, as the review progressed, it became clear that the
issues were more about providing a single point of access to information. As a result,
data warehousing was removed from the agenda.
The review is ongoing, with the project team about to introduce the potential new
solution to the wider organisation. With the experience gained from the integration of
the contact databases, it is at this point that the CIO believes the document review
program may encounter possible resistance as the current solution has been in place for
10 years. To counter this, the Bank has in place an extensive change management
strategy, which includes “fun parts,” strong messages, as well as heads of departments
taking an active role in promoting and selling the messages to their respective depart-
ments.
There were also a number of smaller initiatives, including increased use of informa-
tion mapping techniques, as well as use of scanning with a pilot on how best to enable
access to documents that were not currently available online.
As well as improving the Bank’s infrastructure tools, some of these initiatives are
also intended to reinforce the values of the organisation, for example, in support of
providing a family-friendly environment.
CURRENT CHALLENGES/PROBLEMS
FACING THE ORGANIZATION
The Bank has committed sizeable resources to the initial development and subse-
quent implementation of knowledge management strategies. These have resulted in
significant benefits to the organisation, the most important of which was to mitigate the
risk of loss of knowledge through staff departure. There are several other subjective
benefits that the Bank attributes to knowledge management, including the culture of the
organisation, the extent of current knowledge-sharing practice, and the accessibility of
a wider range of documentation of all staff. Despite the difficulty in quantifying the