Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Ettore Bolisani, Francesca Gambarotto and Enrico Scarso
community was left free to set specific internal arrangements, but a common set <strong>of</strong> practices and rules
was issued.
CoPs have <strong>the</strong> tw<strong>of</strong>old function <strong>of</strong> helping <strong>the</strong> line in <strong>the</strong>ir usual activities and preserving <strong>the</strong> company
knowledge base. Accordingly, knowledge domains <strong>of</strong> each Cop strictly concern everyday business
operations. A line pr<strong>of</strong>essional can resort to a particular Community when he has a problem to solve
(Figure 1): he emails a question to <strong>the</strong> Community, and <strong>the</strong> question is submitted to <strong>the</strong> CoP experts
who can suggest a solution. The Facilitator coordinates and syn<strong>the</strong>sises <strong>the</strong> response. Then <strong>the</strong> line
pr<strong>of</strong>essionals autonomously decide if and how to employ <strong>the</strong> response, but <strong>the</strong>y have to write an
“after action report” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir decision. The CoP experts analyse <strong>the</strong> report, validate it, and
upload it into <strong>the</strong> public knowledge library. The final report is structured following a rigid template for
facilitating classification and retrieval.
The focalisation <strong>of</strong> each CoP on a specific domain allows improving efficiency. Too wide communities
can lead to ineffective knowledge sharing, and can also cause <strong>the</strong> difficult codification and storage <strong>of</strong>
knowledge. However, since E&P projects also require <strong>the</strong> interaction among different areas,
interconnection between distinct communities is allowed; this requires that <strong>the</strong>ir structures replicate a
common model.
The KM team monitors <strong>the</strong> intensity <strong>of</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> system: number <strong>of</strong> processed issues or answers
given, communities involved, level <strong>of</strong> participation, number and duration <strong>of</strong> accesses to <strong>the</strong> knowledge
portal. To budget resources and set goals, costs are also evaluated. During <strong>the</strong> first two years, a
special budget was allocated to KM, but later KM became “a business practice” with a specific annual
budget.
Help <strong>the</strong> line
Experts
Pr<strong>of</strong>essional Answers on
experience and
knowledge
Knowledge library
CoP Mailbox
Uploading
Facilitator
Maintain enterprise knowledge
Validation
Facilitator
Answers on
experience,
search in stored
knowledge
Experts
Pr<strong>of</strong>essional
Action
AAR Submission
Facilitator
Results
Figure 1: ENI’s CoPs processes
To induce people to share knowledge, no economic or career incentives are provided. For experts,
<strong>the</strong> reward for CoP participation is <strong>the</strong> recognition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir prominent role in <strong>the</strong> company. For <strong>the</strong>
users, it comes from <strong>the</strong> benefits <strong>the</strong>y have to <strong>the</strong>ir work by getting useful advice. Based on <strong>the</strong> fact
that this increases <strong>the</strong> economic outcomes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company, <strong>the</strong> most active people are compensated
through standard reward systems in relation to <strong>the</strong>ir overall contribution to <strong>the</strong> company’s goals.
To make <strong>the</strong> collaboration among people easy and immediate, emails and file-sharing systems are
used as a support <strong>of</strong> knowledge exchange. The use <strong>of</strong> phone calls is also allowed. A Knowledge
Portal has been implemented: it is a simple website containing information about <strong>the</strong> KM system and
CoPs’ activities, and links to internal and external knowledge sources. The portal is user-friendly,
conceived to enable <strong>the</strong> quick retrieval <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> desired resource and to be accessed from mobile
locations. More than 2000 employees are regularly delivered a newsletter that illustrates materials <strong>of</strong>
general interest in simple terms. The content management is responsibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Enabling Team.
110