Knowledge Management at TCS (Tata Consultancy Services)In 1995, the concept of KM was introduced in TCS. The framework for KM was defined in 1996. The framework identified the KM constituents in the business and assessed the culture in TCS to determine its readiness to adopt KM initiatives. In 1998, a dedicated team known as Corporate Groupware was designed. The main objective of Corporate Groupware was the automation of various systems within TCS, like training automation and library automation, to make sure the smooth movement of information. In 1999, KM Pilot was launched and was implemented afterwards.KM was accepted across TCS in every process and every function. All the TCS workplaces across the world were connected by a communication network. TCS had a knowledge repository in corporate and branch servers, this knowledge repository was accessible to all the employees over the intranet. This repository, also called KBases, contained a wide range of information about processes, line of business, and line of technology. KBases contained information regarding process and technology related to good practices, tips concerning technology and customers, project related information, and management related information. Contributions to the KBases were obtained from different teams within the organization, reports generated during the lifecycle of the project, customer feedback, and secondary sources.TCS vision of being one of the top 10 IT companies in the world by 2010 called for transforming the company to drive excellence throughout the organization and in all its activities. TCS embarked on the journey to transform itself in order to respond to internal and external changes in the global markets. Another factor that influenced the decision was the stand taken by the senior management proclaiming that change was necessary for the very survival of the organization and employees. TCS had move up the value chain and transformed itself from a centralized organization, to a distributed and empowered organization. The organizational structure of TCS was changed to achieve the transformation. The aspirations of the employees and the customers were kept in mind while developing the new structure. Employee participation was of prime importance in the transformation and with several thousand employees having to be involved in the exercise, TCS realized the need for a proper communication strategy. The transformation process pervaded every aspect of the organization, involving every functional and operational team. The top management, including the CEO and the CTO, too participated in the program. Once the internal processes were in place, TCS started looking at global customers by projecting its competence and the value achieved by the transformation. With the activities of TCS spreading across the globe, the employees had to face different work cultures and expectations. The workforce comprised many foreign nationals as TCS felt that they would be able to connect more effectively with clients in their countries. In such a scenario, it became necessary for the senior management to adopt a flexible approach. With this in mind, TCS advocated the fishnet approach instead of the traditional pyramid or flat structures with which, people and skills were interlinked in a meaningful manner and could be rearranged in no time.TCS adopted several models for spreading its KM activities in line with its Vision, Mission, and Values. Knowledge was widely shared across the organization. There are a number of ways in which TCS harness and expand the knowledge. They also have various mediums like TQMS, best practices sessions, social initiations, project work, and mobility. They encourage people to be part of outside bodies like the IEEE, going for certification and similar measures. In TCS, a culture driven by constant learning made the base for increasing the value of the intellectual capital.ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNINGAs the workforce of TCS was being increased day by day, it presented a challenge in terms of aligning and integrating these people into the system. However, the structured business processes followed in TCS helped in the process. All the new recruits are provided four months of training. The instructors for the training programs were drawn from various branches of TCS having a wide experience. The new recruits are trained in software engineering processes and methodologies. About 40% of the training comprised soft skills, including general etiquette, teamwork, leadership, and appreciation of literature and culture. After the trainees were placed on a project, they were given training for a month in the relevant technology. Recruits from foreign countries were put through a similar training program for a period of six weeks. The clients often visited the training center to share their knowledge with the new recruits which is a unique feature of the training process in TCS. Using the knowledge accumulated through interaction with the clients and the trainees, the center developed a knowledge base, using which case studies were developed and used for improving the scope of the training.All the employees had to spend around 20 days every year in TCSs continuing education program, focusing on technical and managerial skills. Each role in TCS had a set of defined competencies, and any employee assuming a new role had to go through relevant training programs that would equip him/her to fit into the new role.TCS initiated a movement called Propel, comprising of conferences and camps. These helped the employees in conducting group meetings and transferring their learning and knowledge to other employees across the organization. Propel was not limited to only sharing knowledge pertaining to the organization, but also brought together employees with similar interests and carried out various activities of common interest like book reading sessions and musical concerts. This has also improved the social skills of employees remarkably.Through the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM), the employees learnt about managing data, process orientation, and motivating and energizing people. Employees above the project leader level were put through the management education program, which was developed in association with some management institutes.Using the TBEM, TCS managed all facets of quality. While other models are about management of quality, TBEM is about the quality of management.One of the seven values and concepts of TBEM was measurement analysis and KM, where KM by an individual at the personal and organizational level was considered. TBEM also urged that best practices be shared among the Tata group companies. Senior executives of group companies met once a year to share their best practices with the other group companies.TBEM ideally helped to balance the day-to-day running with rapid changes in the business. Trained people from other Tata group companies assessed TCS and provided feedback. TCS deployed cross-functional teams to ensure that the feedback received was implemented.MAXIMIZING THE VALUE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITALTCS came up with the concept of Community of Practices (CoPs) in 1980s, when it had around thousand employees. Later, online platforms were used to form CoPs. TCS encouraged conversations between teams across the organization, located in different time zones. The communities were treated as repositories of organizational memory. In 1980s, the groups consisted of one or two people who were experts in their respective fields. These groups started documenting the best practices. By mid-1980s, problems and solutions were documented and the mainframes section itself had more than 1500 case studies, which employees could refer to. There were more than 40 review case study documents in the field of quality as of 1993.TCS went on to create Process Asset Libraries (PAL) which had information related to technology, processes and case studies. These were made available to all the software development centers of TCS through the intranet. As in traditional set-ups, organizational memory resided in human memory. The knowledge was passed from one person to another within the organization through some type of mentoring processes. The same thing was done through the web-based Electronic Knowledge Management (EKM) portal called Ultimatix, of which PAL was the precursor.Ultimatix was a digital platform, aimed at speeding up the process of decision making and digitizing the organization. It was launched in 2002 and digitized the organization through the web. All the employees of TCS across the globe were connected through the platform. Ultimatix has become TCSs single employee-service window; it has ensured that employees get their services without much difficulty. They can log in with their claims, loans, or even leave applications for processing. All approvals are done online. To that extent, TCS is a paperless organization.The PAL library and other knowledge bases on the intranet became a part of Ultimatix, which had sub portals for quality management, software productivity improvement, training materials and tools information, etc. TCS had EKM administrators taking care of each practice and there was also a subject group whose responsibilities included editing documents and approving them for publishing. The success of the CoPs could be gauged by the fact that between January and June 2003, the members had exchanged more than 10,000 documents through Ultimatix.Another model developed by TCS was The Integrated Quality Management System (iQMS), which was a proprietary system. Termed as the DNA for project management, the system provided a roadmap for each project and guidelines for conducting and monitoring the projects. The system specified about 90% of all the procedures to be followed. Along each project of TCS, the progress in all the processes was measurable and was closely monitored.Retaining the right talent was important and with this in mind, the senior management in TCS worked toward integrating the goals of the employees with those of the organization. The first step in this direction was identifying the right kind of people. The challenge lies in harmonizing diverse skills to meet the vision and mission. In association with management institutions like the Tata Management Training Centre (TMTC), TCS introduced a comprehensive leadership program. Another unique program carried out was Assessment Centers, which assessed critical roles and functions within the organization. TCS equipped its managers with skills found to be of prime importance by linking up with universities which offered courses pertaining to them in India and abroad.In TCS, the employees from different backgrounds and perspectives, brimming with creative ideas came together and executed the project with many review meetings. These meetings generated a considerable amount of knowledge that was captured in reports and databases.To make the employees gain cross-country experience and broaden their perspective and knowledge, TCS regularly circulated employees across different projects and functions and sometimes even across other group companies. All these efforts enabled TCS to develop a culture that encouraged knowledge sharing across the organization.WEB OF PARTICIPATION STRUCTUREThe knowledge gained by TCS in nearly four decades of association with global players was distributed to the customers through its Web of Participation structure. The Web of Participation structure combined TCSs knowledge of business domains with expertise in various technologies. Under the industry practice, were energy & utilities, s-governance, life sciences & healthcare, transportation, retail & consumer goods, manufacturing, telecom, insurance and financial services & banking. Service practice comprised eBusiness, application development & maintenance, architecture & technological consulting, engineering services, eSecurity, large projects, infrastructure, and quality consulting. This unique structure enabled TCS to share its knowledge and expertise in different areas with clients.KM MATURITY MODEL 5iKM3TCS developed a model to measure the maturity level of knowledge management in an enterprise and managed over 40 KM implementation projects globally. The 5iKM3 model was developed keeping in mind the fact that to successfully implement KM initiatives, organizations needed to bring about a complete change in all aspects including people, process, and technology. The way people, process and technology interacted depended on the culture of the organization. This model from TCS worked as a benchmark to evaluate the acceptance and maturity of KM.TCS helped customers in formulating a KM vision and strategy and assessed the clients readiness to adopt the KM initiative. The company suggested the KM roadmap that customers could follow. According to TCS, the three pillars of KM, called Key Foundation Areas (KFAs) were People, Processes, and Technology. People included culture, Process included policy and strategy, and Technology included infrastructure.TCS identified five stages of KM maturity. The first was the Initial stage where there was no formal process to put the knowledge in the organization to use. The second was the Intent stage where the organizations realized the benefit of employing the knowledge for business benefits. The third stage was the Initiative stage where the business processes had been knowledge enabled in the organizations and the impact and benefits were being seen. The fourth stage was the Intelligent stage where the organization had a considerable amount of knowledge collaboration and sharing, resulting in collective and collaborative organizational intelligence. The fifth and final stage was of Innovation, where the knowledge management efforts of an organization resulted in process optimization and in securing a business edge.KM maturity could be achieved by constant efforts after which the organization progressed from one stage to the next. In an organization, the people play a crucial role in the success of knowledge management process.Assessment Model 5iKM3The Purpose of the assessment model is to offer a framework which will facilitate the following:1. Identification of the current state of the organization in terms of People, Process and Technology.2. Identification and statement of the current processes for business and knowledge management.3. Benchmarking with the 5iKM3 concept model and delivery of a comparative with other states.4. Identification of suitable interventions.5. Planning the next course of actions.

The KM Maturity assessment starts with the management mandate and involves:1. Defining the business and KM goals.2. Identification of the stakeholders.3. Conducting awareness workshops for the purpose of assessment.4. Collection of data through interviews, surveys and workshops.

The data thus collected is then consolidated and report is prepared to reflect:1. The current state of KM Maturity.2. General Feedback, if any.3. Next course of action.4. Proposed solution.5. Suggestions, if any.

The assessment model formed a part of TCSs KM implementation methodology called SIGMARG. The assessment of KM practices was carried out at regular intervals in order to maintain the KM maturity level in the organization.As a result, the company had one of the lowest employee attrition rates in the software industry and attracted quality talent constantly.