Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water ...

xxiv | Organizational Development for Knowledge Management at Water Utilities
the actions of every employee every day. Thus the ultimate source of overall performance lies in
the employees and the knowledge they possess and apply.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The formal title of this project is “Organizational Development Needed to Implement a
Knowledge Management Strategy at Water Utilities.” The overarching project objectives were:
1. Identify the benefits and costs of implementing a knowledge management (KM)
initiative;
2. Investigate and identify organizational characteristics and processes (e.g., culture,
core planning processes, communications, rewards, etc.) critical to the success of
implementing a KM initiative;
3. Develop an assessment tool for drinking water utilities to identify their organization’s
readiness to plan and implement a KM strategy; and
4. Develop a tool kit for establishing or enhancing organizational readiness to support a
KM strategy and initiatives.
Results of this project provide a systematic process for drinking water utilities, as business organizations,
to facilitate the effective implementation of a KM strategy.
The material in these chapters is based on an extensive base of research materials and
the experience and previous research of the Principal and Co-Principal Investigators. The 4003
research approach included a survey process, literature review, site visits, leadership and management
interviews, workshops, focus groups, and development of project studies, case examples and
case studies focused on KM implementation.
The Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) approach accompanying Project 4003 implementation
included a combination of events, publications, Internet exchanges and development of
meta-tools (the Readiness Assessment Instrument and KM Toolkit) that will enable drinking water
utilities to plan and implement the organizational change needed to support implementation of
knowledge management strategies and initiatives in drinking water utilities. In terms of drinking
water utilities, KMb is the effective creation, movement and tailoring of specific knowledge from
its source (research or specialized expertise) to its application (practitioner, utility worker) such
that consequent actions are effective and sustainable.
To raise awareness of KM in the drinking water utility industry, over 1,224 drinking water
utilities across the nation were contacted via the survey process (hard mail with a cover letter
defining KM and its significance to drinking water utilities) and follow-up telephone interactions.
During this process, 1001 individuals were engaged in one-on-one telephone conversations of
5–10 minutes in length concerning knowledge and Knowledge Management related to drinking
water utilities. From this process, 33 project studies were developed representing 22 drinking
water utilities. Simultaneously, a Blog was set up and a series of papers and other resource materials
provided via that vehicle. In the course of this two-year project, 67 drinking water utility
managers/leaders submitted their survey responses via the Blog page, and 6,498 pages of resource
materials were downloaded during the course of 1,453 visits to the Blog.
In this same time period, the Principal Investigator and Co-principal Investigator facilitated
workshops and combination focus groups involving 66 representatives from ten geographically-dispersed
drinking water utilities. In conjunction with these workshops, focus groups and
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