Sharing Knowledge
By Michael Alan Hamlin
August 19, 2002

If knowledge is power, as the cliché insists, why share it? That's a question I asked Carol E. Carreon, now vice chairman and CEO of BayanTrade, and one of the principal founders of the Knowledge Management Association of the Philippines (KMAP). The association is being formed to promote and encourage effective, efficient, and wise use of knowledge management systems, processes, and methodologies by organizations, corporations, communities, networks, and institutions.

In Ms. Carreon's view (Full Disclosure: BayanTrade is a client of mine.) the Philippines hasn't been able to fully leverage its knowledge capital because it isn't shared. Instead, it's closely guarded in isolated information pools. It's guarded because companies consider knowledge a strategic competitive asset, and therefore don't want to share it.

There's a good argument why this should be so. Consider for example management consulting. Consultants are hired because they have or are expected to come up with knowledge that improves business processes, models, and organizational efficiency, among other things. Because that knowledge is in limited supply consultants are able to demand large fees for their work. Why would they want to share it?

Companies spend huge sums gathering information about the market and the buying habits and practices of their customers and clients. Their competitors would obviously benefit if they were to acquire that same knowledge without having to go to the same expense. Naturally, no company wants to do that kind of favor for its competitors. As a result, the same market research is done by different research firms for different clients, providing a low return on investment in knowledge for the competitors' industry.

But competitors also stand to benefit from sharing information and other resources as well. The fact that they do is the principal reason industry associations are formed. A good example is the Philippine call center industry. Clarence Henderson, a Philippine-based management consultant who specializes in the IT sector recently wrote in Customer Contact World that members work closely together to promote their industry. That includes sharing and leveraging information.

He wrote, "According to Timothy Lavin, chief operating officer of Ambergris Solutions: 'The formal and informal cooperation of competing contact center companies here is great. These organizations provide forums that bring us together to network, discuss industry issues, and develop strategies for interacting with government officials. I think it's a symbol of the maturing of the industry. The major contact centers recognize the importance of us all succeeding and really establishing the Philippines on the global stage as a center for world class contact center services.'"

That operational vision fits well with Ms. Carreon's strictly utilitarian definition. She says that knowledge management is, "the discipline of creating shared context in order that people, organizations, and communities can be better informed for better decision-making, enabling them to create paradigm shifts for innovation. It involves the creation, acquisition, transmission, and utilization of knowledge as a strategic asset in the new global economy and for the meaningful pursuit of human development and empowerment."

When people and organizations cooperate, it is far easier to create the synergy required to provoke profound change, such as a dramatic increase in growth rate. That seems to be the experience of contact centers in the Philippines, which are one of the few positive stories about the Philippines in the international press today. Their cooperation goes beyond the industry, though.

With the support of the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) the contact center industry has been consistently and effectively marketed abroad. Most recently, representatives from 13 local call centers and DTI attended the International Call Center Management Exposition & Conference, the industry's largest annual meeting. DTI's Center for International Trade Expositions & Missions designed and built a show-stopping exhibit with both industry and government support.

Although the return on investment isn't yet clear, firms that participated in the exhibit say they are negotiating contracts worth somewhere around US$15 million with prospects met during the exhibition.

About 30 people have joined KMAP, and a number of committees formed. The association plans to conduct its first annual conference next year. As a run up to the conference, the association is conducting a series of executive briefings, developing a yearbook, publishing articles online, and lobbying Congress for support for a center of knowledge management excellence. Naturally, a website is under development.

"Harnessing our intellectual capital is crucial if we want to be globally competitive as a knowledge-based economy," says Ms. Carreon. That's not just a noble ambition. It's a critically important one for the Philippines, so share the power!

(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001). He can be reached at mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.).

Copyright © 2002 Michael Alan Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.

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