Originally published May 3, 2024
This is the 103rd article in the Profiles in Knowledge series featuring thought leaders in knowledge management. Jay Chatzkel is currently Principal Photographer at Jay Chatzkel Photography, based in New River, Arizona. He was Principal of Progressive Practices, where he assisted organizations in transforming themselves into knowledge-based, intelligent enterprises. This included working with organizations to develop skills and practices in the areas of merger and acquisition integration, intellectual capital, knowledge management, social media, leadership, collaboration, business process management, and performance measurement.
He served on the editorial boards of the Journal for Knowledge Management, the Journal of Intellectual Capital, and the International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development and has written extensively in the field. He is the author of three books. He specialized in intellectual capital, knowledge capital, mergers and acquisitions, knowledge management, business process reengineering, and quality management.
Background
Education
- Harvard Kennedy School — MA, Public Policy. 1990
- University of Wisconsin — MS Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Planning, 1987
- Bucknell University — Bachelor’s degree, Economics, 1966
Experience
- Progressive Practices — Principal, 1995–Present
- Schooley Mitchell — Strategic Partner, 2010–2014
Profiles
Content
1. Value Creation Integration Breakthroughs
2. Social Media Strategy to Transform Integrations
Articles
- Knowledge Management for CSR and Sustainability Performance: Renewing the Business Model Through Systematic Innovation for Value Creation
- The Emergence of Contemporary Chinese Enterprise: The Heterogeneity of National Culture, Corporate Controls and Integration Approaches in M&As
- Dynamics of Chinese emerging multinationals in cross-border mergers and acquisitions
- Conference report 2006 KMWorld Conference Review
- Quantum leap breakthrough performance in acquisitions: The readiness and generative value approach
- Towards the next stage of intellectual capital
- The 1st World Conference on Intellectual Capital for Communities in the Knowledge Economy: Nations, Regions and Cities
- Greater Phoenix as a Knowledge Capital
- The collapse of Enron and the role of intellectual capital
- Quest for Excellence XII — the official conference of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
The field of intellectual capital is at a crossroads. To move through the crossroads and to the next stage both practitioners and academics must substantially demonstrate the relevance of intellectual capital as a working discipline useful to achieve strategic goals and to improve levels of performance. While the field has generated a growing body of knowledge and practice over the last two decades, there is a need for both a great leap in how value can be generated and captured using an intellectual capital perspective, as well as acknowledging that there are multiple ways of knowing and different models for intellectual capital exchange. Much of this new development will come from an expanded, continuing dialogue between practitioners and academics.
Intellectual capital at the crossroads: managing, measuring and reporting of IC
This introductory editorial to the special issue “IC at the crossroads: theory and research” explains the rationale and background to the studies. In addition, it outlines reasons why the field of intellectual (IC) capital is at the crossroads. It seems that awareness of the importance of IC has been created. It is now the role of researchers as well as practitioners to move to the next level. This next level involves issues around taxonomies as well as research methodologies. In order to move on, precise definitions of concepts such as IC, better justifications of why organizations need to measure and manage IC, and increased clarity about terms such as measurement, assessment, or valuation are needed. In addition, more rigorous research methods are needed in order to test and validate existing theories in the field.
Braintrust International 2003 Conference, San Francisco, CA
The Braintrust 2003 Conference gave ground to the sense that the knowledge movement is struggling to gain new levels of maturity. Sessions explored the business implications of knowledge, focusing on the use of knowledge in workflow, in mergers and acquisitions, and in recognizing the need to go to the periphery to grasp trends and emerging ideas. It is significant that knowledge management, change management and business management began to be woven together in these presentations. The presentations at Braintrust delineated that the challenge to KM practitioners is first, to be better and more related to business needs while second, staying continually sensitive to changes that may potentially sweep their organizations, leading to fundamental shifts in how the organization and its supporting knowledge effort need to relate to the world.
In this conversation, Alex Bennet explores the operating principles and practices of how the Knowledge Centric Organization was developed at the US Department of the Navy. Bennet served as the Chief Knowledge Officer for the US Department of the Navy from 1998 to 2002, where she pioneered and designed and led the development of the Navy’s enterprise-wide Knowledge Centric Organization (KCO) effort. The US Department of the Navy was the only public sector organization to be recognized as a world class leader in managing knowledge to deliver superior performance in the 2002 North American Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) study.
A conversation with Göran Roos
This conversation with Göran Roos explores leveraging the interrelated roles of intellectual capital and strategy in contemporary organizations. Roos has created frameworks which make the intangible of intellectual capital understood as a very real asset and to be cultivated, measured and appropriately exploited for competitive advantage. The conversation examines how to work with management to rethink strategies and practices to determine and utilize the drivers for intellectual capital growth, as well as how to rigorously valuate and effectively use intellectual resources throughout their enterprises to make significant differences. These approaches have been used in a wide variety of both private and public sector organizations around the world in a broad range of market segments.
A conversation with Jonathan Low
In this conversation, Jon Low explores an array of issues that form a perspective and a set of principles for operating in our intangible asset, knowledge-based economy. Low’s research has given him cutting-edge insights as well as a basis for assessing intangibles that make up the bulk of wealth in the new economy. He discusses how decisions are based on non-financial information, the major and recent change in the world’s wealth, the nine factors of value and how they work in different types of organizations, and trends that will be shaping the next phase of our era. Included are findings and trends derived from Low’s participation in the Brookings Institution’s study, Unseen Wealth.
A conversation with Sharon L. Oriel of The Dow Chemical Company
This conversation with Sharon Oriel focuses on the evolution of the capture and leverage or intellectual capital assets at The Dow Chemical Company. Oriel is the Director of the Global Intellectual Capital Management Technology Center and Government Contract R&D at Dow. Oriel discusses the journey to become an organization that has come to understand how to value, develop and manage its intangible assets, by making intangible value visible. Part of that has involved the creation of an intellectual capital network across the organization. Reframing the culture as a global organization sensitive to local situations is key to that initiative. This requires extensive collaboration which is facilitated by the integration of the Internet. Oriel also comments on the increasing value globally of intellectual property and its impact as an engine of change on accounting and valuation practices.
A conversation with Jim Botkin, President of InterClass
This conversation with Jim Botkin explores a variety of issues on how knowledge is changing how organizations create value as knowledge-based enterprises. Jim Botkin argues that the knowledge framework is actually the larger context for organizations and that e-business is actually a subset of its operations. Botkin also shares how knowledge has come to be a new factor of production in organizations. This is true for both “new economy” organizations and “old economy” legacy organizations. Even so, the acceptance of the knowledge movement is still tentative. The very name “knowledge management” still often implies information technology “applications” to key organizational visionaries and is not always well received. The controversies over nurturing knowledge communities within the framework of knowledge initiatives are also examined in the dialogue.
A conversation with Hubert Saint-Onge
A conversation with Hubert Saint-Onge, senior vice-president for Strategic Capabilities at Clarica Life Insurance Company focusing on knowledge strategy and its implementation at Clarica, a large, knowledge-driven financial services organization, where intangible assets are the most valuable assets. Saint-Onge discusses how he reformulated the traditional human resources function into the new configuration called strategic capabilities which links strategy and performance. This new mandate takes into account both the greater importance of intangible assets and the principles related to leveraging organizational learning and knowledge. Saint-Onge discusses how the strategic capabilities approach reframes the roles of people, technology, values, leadership and measurement in creating an evolving “sense and respond” organization. He emphasizes continuing the shifting of Clarica’s member workforce from a dependency to a self-initiating orientation as a key requirement for ongoing success in this knowledge-driven transformation.
Establishing a Global KM Initiative: The Wipro Story
Wipro Technologies is an Indian information technology outsourcing company that, over a two-year period, established a knowledge management initiative that enables it to build a competitive advantage as it experiences rapid growth in its global market. The Wipro story is remarkable in that it shows that having a sound, innovative knowledge management effort is no longer merely an option but rather a core necessity for any organization anywhere in the world if it is to compete successfully and survive globally. Wipro’s CEO said the knowledge initiative must be based on knowledge sharing and collaboration and this has to be translated into delivering value to the customer, in terms of speed, being able to deploy for the customer, and innovative products and services which are focused on the customer needs. The knowledge initiative has been implemented across all areas of the firm in all its locations around the world.
An interview with Manimaran Rajakannu
Manimaran Rajakannu is the General Manager and Head of Knowledge Management Initiative at Wipro Technologies. His is responsible for the overall responsibility for knowledge management across the organization, architecting, design, development and deployment of the knowledge management initiative applications and evangelizing knowledge sharing and collaboration across the organization.
Books
1. Beyond the Deal: Mergers & Acquisitions that Achieve Breakthrough Performance Gains with Hubert Saint-Onge
Mergers and acquisitions are happening in record numbers, with billions of dollars changing hands and major corporate deals making headlines every day. But the harsh reality is that most deals fail. Why? Because the companies didn’t plan, didn’t prepare, and didn’t perform up to expectations. They didn’t think beyond the deal.
This guide goes beyond other books on the subject by providing a complete, systematic framework of hands-on strategies for every step of the process. It offers a wealth of ready-to-use tools and techniques, including:
- 6 essential keys to a smooth integration
- 4 steps to making a “quantum leap” in performance
- 3 common mistakes that lessen value
- 3 surefire ways to get your team on board
- Dozens of case examples, quizzes, checklists, and more
In addition to step-by-step planning strategies, the book shows how to assess a company’s full potential and how to motivate full-time workers as they face new challenges, take on new responsibilities, and work with new people. There is also advice on corporate branding, customer service, company leadership, and knowledge management.
2. Knowledge Capital: How Knowledge-Based Enterprises Really Get Built
1. Introduction: Why Knowledge Capital?
KNOWLEDGE Cluster I: Starting Points
2. Operating as a Knowledge System, Dorothy Leonard
3. The Knowledge Business, Jim Botkin
4. The Knowledge Movement Emerges from Its Infancy, Karl Wiig
KNOWLEDGE Cluster II: Strategic Issues
5. Recipes for Knowledge-Based Value Creation, Göran Roos
6. The Intelligent Organization, Leif Edvinsson
7. Understanding the Enterprise as a System, Vince Barabba
KNOWLEDGE Cluster III: Human Capital, Values, and Learning
8. Human Capital Is the Only Active Asset, Jac Fitz-Enz
9. People Are the Owners and Investors of Human Capital, Thomas O. Davenport
10. Shared Values: The Prerequisite for Knowledge Sharing and Creation, Don Tyler
11. Learning in the Knowledge Era, Brook Manville
KNOWLEDGE Cluster IV: Drivers and Accounting for Intangible Wealth
12. Value Drivers for Intangibles, Jonathan Low
13. A Level Playing Field for Intangibles, Steven M. H. Wallman
KNOWLEDGE Cluster V: Bringing It All Together in Practice
14. Creating and Implementing a Knowledge Strategy, Hubert Saint-Onge
15. Knowledge Management Is about Change, Kent Greenes
16. Finding “the Hook”, Sharon Oriel
17. The Springboard Story, Stephen Denning
18. The Knowledge-Centric Organization, Alex Bennet
- Epilogue: Convergence — Toward the Next Stage
- Ten Questions: Leading Your Organization into Becoming a Knowledge-Based Enterprise
- What are examples of how knowledge has grown as a factor of production in your organization?
- What kinds of knowledge are key inputs in your organization’s goods and services offerings?
- How do you measure and report the value of your knowledge assets (from more directly measurable intellectual property to harder-to-measure intangibles, such as brand, the ability to respond, and so on)? Do these measures help guide organizational decision making and resource allocation?
- Is your organization moving to become a sense-and-respond enterprise? What is helping your organization move down that path? What is blocking you?
- What is your knowledge strategy? How was it created, and who is deploying it? How do you measure the effectiveness of your implementation?
- How do you make sure you include the necessary knowledge inputs in your organizational processes to ensure high levels of performance?
- What are the core shared values of your organization? How did you determine them? Who is responsible for ensuring that they are aligned with your knowledge strategy and your organizational goals?
- Who is part of your knowledge enterprise, and how do they link in your knowledge network (for example, senior leadership, middle management, supervisors, front line workforce, strategic partners/suppliers, customers)?
- How can you use springboard stories (how people successfully overcame obstacles through using knowledge-based interventions) as catalysts for knowledge sharing?
- How are you preparing for the future? Who is responsible for anticipating the needs of the next generation of customers and for developing the knowledge for prototyping responses to those needs?
- Resources: Books for Building a Knowledge-Based Enterprise
- Fast track route to understanding and exploiting intellectual capital
- Covers the key areas of intellectual capital, from value-adding intellectual capital programs and value capture to finding the ‘hook’ and setting up measures
- Examples and lessons from some of the world’s most successful businesses, including Dow Chemical, Rockwell International, Clarica, and Buckman Labs, and ideas from the smartest thinkers, including Karl-Erik Sveiby, Baruch Lev, Hubert Saint-Onge, Patrick Sullivan, Goran Roos and Leif Edvinsson
- Includes a glossary of key concepts and a comprehensive resources guide
Introduction to Express Exec
- Introduction to Intellectual Capital
- Definition of Terms: What is Intellectual Capital?
- The Evolution of Intellectual Capital
- The E-Dimension
- The Global Dimension
- The State of the Art
- In Practice: Intellectual Capital Success Stories
- Key Concepts and Thinkers
- Resources
- Ten Steps to Making Intellectual Capital Work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
