Case Study 5: KPMG

This case illustrates the use of a variety of Enterprise 2.0 tools in enabling better communication and knowledge sharing amongst KPMG consultants, which in turn translates into more effective engagement with their clients.

KPMG is a UK limited liability partnership and a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP. It is a leading provider of audit, tax and advisory services. KPMG in the United Kingdom has over 10,000 partners and staff in over 22 office locations and recently merged with the German, Spanish and Swiss member firms. KPMG Europe LLP is part of a strong global network. Combined revenues for KPMG member firms increased to US $19.81 billion for the fiscal year ended 30 September 2007.

Due to the scale, complexity and geographical spread of KPMG's business operations, collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst KPMG's primary asset —its people — is a vital component of its success. Underpinning its drive to constantly improve this aspect of its business, aspects of Enterprise 2.0 applications are being adopted, to varying degrees, with the key aim of delivering better services to the firms' clients.

Using Enterprise 2.0 to Improve Knowledge Sharing

Building on the theme of knowledge sharing, many assignments involve the formation of groups who work together around a common goal; effectively there are communities of practice — bringing together people with shared interests and passions whether they be from an industry perspective, particular KPMG service, client or geography.

As Ceri Hughes, Director, Global Advisory Knowledge Management/IT/Research at KPMG in the United Kingdom explained:

In these situations, some teams have a naturally high level of face-to-face contact, where information can be readily shared. However, in those cases where, for example, we might have teams separated by geography, time zones, and office locations, we need to facilitate convenient and effective ways of stimulating and maintaining knowledge sharing and group working. In these cases we are beginning to turn to a variety of enterprise 2.0 applications.

The points made about convenience and effectiveness resonate with widely published research relating to the propensity for users to adopt new technologies and their subsequent reactions. The crucial element in all of this for KPMG was unremitting attention to making sure, where possible, that the new Enterprise 2.0 tools could be assimilated easily into the natural way of working for their people, without the need for significant support.

Ceri Hughes explained the steps taken to bring this about:

In order to make our new tools as simple, intuitive and familiar as possible; we have tried to make the initial access to them as straightforward as possible. To do this, we make as many of the tools as possible available from our KPMG Portal — our single knowledge sharing platform, built using Microsoft SharePoint 2007. This means our users have a single point of access to the tools to support their collaboration activities.

In-House Support

Enhancing the critical 'pillars' of easy access and intuitive operation, KPMG has a network of knowledge managers who assist the organisation to optimise the use of the Enterprise 2.0 tools. These managers are confident in using the different capabilities and understand their most appropriate application. They provide support to the client-facing teams by raising awareness of the tools and providing direct support if required.

'A key role for the knowledge managers is recognising opportunities to use the tools to maximum advantage', said Ceri. 'This is the proactive side to the knowledge managers' role — building relationships with their internal clients and recognising opportunities where the tools can help these teams with assignment or project'.

The spin-off from this is that the client-facing teams get to experience a broad range or blend of tools that support their business processes and they can then take the knowledge of those tools into future assignments.

If knowledge managers are not available at the point at which support is needed, the users can turn to online support in the form of 'smarter working' toolkits which allow them to access the various tools available to support them by browsing various business scenarios available on the knowledge-sharing platform and selecting the one closest to their own which then leads them to the tools available to help them. These scenarios comprise a range of material that explains how to operate the tools in different client-centred situations and can take several forms from simple guidance cards that can be downloaded and printed as aide memoirs, to 'talking heads' type video clips, which explain how to setup and use the tools.

Commenting on these different support approaches, Ceri stressed the importance of maintaining momentum and interest.

It is critical that we build self-sufficiency and confidence in using the enterprise 2.0 tools. Not only do they enhance the way that we can work together in distributed environments and foster greater team working and knowledge sharing but they reflect the way that information is increasingly shared in our lives outside of work. Our 'generation Y' employees expect to see these tools made available to them, but some other individuals and groups require more encouragement and are perhaps more sceptical at first about the potential benefits.

Measurement of Benefits

There are currently few hard measures that effectively measure the potential benefits of using the Enterprise 2.0 tools. For example, while it is possible to measure the number of items created over a particular period, this statistic holds little value. As Ceri explained:

At this embryonic stage in our development and use of enterprise 2.0 tools, the use of hard numeric measures is not particularly powerful in terms of telling us how effective these tools are. Perhaps a year from now, it would be helpful to know how many pages, for example, had been sustained over time, in a sense kept alive by their communities of shared interest. We could then probe more into why this had happened and infuse that learning into the wider organisation.

Currently, it is far more beneficial to ascertain via regular team meetings and post assignment de-briefings how the effectiveness of the different tools is perceived. This feedback can be converted into short, snappy case studies, which can be used by our knowledge managers and the online tool kit. We find that our firms' client facing teams are more likely to have confidence in trying out a new tool or way of working if they understand the value that it has already added to their peers or to another situation to which they can easily relate.

Future Developments

KPMG will continue to monitor and evaluate its Enterprise 2.0 tools and seek where practicable to enhance their capabilities and penetration within the organisation. As the tools become more ubiquitous in everyday life, so employees will expect to have them freely available in their work situation. This point is recognised by Ceri:

With an increasing number of our current employees and prospective employees displaying high levels of familiarity with these types of tools, there is growing internal and external momentum surrounding their adoption. Indeed, we are conscious that our employer proposition benefits from displaying a willingness to embrace these tools.