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Managing For Knowledge Hrs Strategic Role 1st Edition Christina Evans

Managing For Knowledge Hrs Strategic Role 1st Edition Christina Evans Managing For Knowledge Hrs Strategic Role 1st Edition Christina Evans Managing For Knowledge Hrs Strategic Role 1st Edition Christina Evans

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Managing for Knowledge
To my daughter Joanna, with love – always remember the gift of learning
Managing for Knowledge HR’s strategic role Christina Evans AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO
Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint of Elsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803 First published 2003 Copyright © 2003, Christina Evans. All rights reserved The right of Christina Evans to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science and Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: (+44) (0) 1865 853333; e-mail: permissions@elsevier.co.uk. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’ British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0 7506 5566 6 For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications visit our website at www.bh.com Composition by Genesis Typesetting, Rochester, Kent Printed and bound in Great Britain
Contents List of figures vii List of tables ix Foreword xi Introduction xiii Acknowledgements xix Part One The Strategic Context for HR’s Role in Managing for Knowledge 1 1 The changing world of business and the imperative for managing knowledge 3 2 The changing role of HR – from operational to strategic HR 28 3 Towards a blueprint for building a knowledge-centric culture 39 Part Two Building a Knowledge-centric Culture 59 4 Structures, roles and responsibilities in a knowledge-centric culture 61 5 HR’s role in building a knowledge-centric culture (input from Linda Holbeche) 84 6 Re-visiting learning in the knowledge economy 113 7 Understanding the motivation for learning amongst knowledge workers 140 8 Working and learning in Communities of Practice (input from Elizabeth Lank) 148
vi Contents Part Three Building HR’s KM Credibility and Capabilities 163 9 Aligning HR and KM practices 165 10 Knowing what we know: language and tools for knowledge mapping (Chapter by Dave Snowden) 186 11 Building your KM toolkit 209 12 Using technology wisely 238 13 Summary and conclusions 258 References 263 Index 269
Figures Figure 3.1 Towards a blueprint for a knowledge-centric organisation Figure 5.1 Relationship between communication resources and impact Figure 5.2 Relationship between the communication’s medium and message Figure 9.1 Linking KM and HR practices Figure 10.1 The balance of tacit and explicit knowledge Figure 10.2 Relationship between level of abstraction and codification Figure 10.3 Cynefin and community Figure 10.4 Dynamic flows of knowledge Figure 11.1 Example of a changing social network during a career transition
Tables Table 1.1 Time to market – how the world of technology is speeding up Table 1.2 Stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey Table 2.1 Contrasting traditional personnel and HRM Table 2.2 Example of an in-company HR development programme Table 3.1 Cultural tensions affecting knowledge transfer within organisations Table 3.2 Paradoxes associated with managing organisational knowledge Table 4.1 The ‘boundaryless’ organisation – a self-assessment activity Table 8.1 Principles associated with adopting a social perspective of learning Table 11.1 An adaptation of the classic transition model Table 12.1 Stages in QinetiQ’s strategic approach to knowledge management
Foreword With remarkable regularity a ‘new idea’ surfaces in the manage- ment community. Often it results from repackaging a long-lived management issue or truth. Conversely, the current vogue, Knowledge Management, is a genuinely new concept. In summary this involves the processes that ensure all the knowledge, explicit and implicit, that exists in the organisation is organised in a way that enables it to be accessed quickly and easily. This allows for distributed decision making so that new actions, products and services can be built from it at a pace that outstrips similar use by others. Knowledge management simultaneously meets the need to make information freely available while also enabling those with full understanding to move swiftly ahead, thereby rendering the earlier knowledge redundant. In today’s fast paced environment, it offers an essential market edge for individuals and for their organisation. Knowledge management is frequently linked with technology, specifically computer or information technology. IT develop- ments such as database management, bulletin board systems and web technology offer the potential for information to be gathered continuously from a vast array of sources. Also this ensures that it can be accessed in a similar way giving rise to countless permutations of inferences and new possibilities. At the same time, some researchers and gurus, mindful of the capacity of the human mind to make connections between apparently unrelated facts, have urged the study of human aspects of knowledge management rather than concentrating solely on computerisation. The focus here is on collecting the unwritten stories and morés of organisational experience. The shared assumptions, leaps in understanding and intuition that come from standing simple
xii Foreword information on its head, may prompt a ‘eureka moment’. In turn, this leads to breakthrough thinking. Nevertheless, most authors and speakers about knowledge management focus on the computer systems that assist the collection of knowledge or, more accurately, information. In this book, rather than relying on technology to manage knowledge as if it were an entity in itself, Christina Evans correctly focuses on human interaction – the need to manage for knowledge: that is to organise people, such that they gather and act on the knowledge that is inherently available to them. By directing her attention specifically to HR, she puts this function at the heart of the business since leveraging knowledge effectively is a vital strategic goal of all organisations today. Clearly and directly Christina sets out the role for HR in building a culture where harvesting knowledge as opposed to simply gathering information is the norm. She shows why managing for knowledge is important, how to do it and gives practical examples. She offers guidance to encourage HR specialists to reinvent their role, to become full business partners. Most significantly, she demonstrates the cru- cial importance for HR to work effectively with knowledge management, the concept and the technical support, in order to create organisations that are successful tomorrow as well as today. Val Hammond Chief Executive, Roffey Park Institute
Introduction The Knowledge Economy – opportunities and challenges for business It is difficult to pinpoint an exact time when the current interest, possibly obsession, with knowledge management took off. Cer- tainly some of the seminal books from management writers began to emerge in the early 1990s. Yet managing knowledge is not a new concept. Professionals, i.e. individuals whose work depends on them making judgments that are grounded in their knowledge base, have always had to manage their knowledge in order to continue practising. So why has managing knowledge suddenly moved up the strategic agenda for large corporations? What has changed? A number of fairly significant changes have occurred over the past ten to fifteen years. One significant change has been the shift from manufacturing to service-based businesses, where companies are competing to attract and retain more knowledgeable and more discerning global customers. In this environment speed to market has become all-important. To compete, some organisations have had radically to rethink how to do business. In the IT sector, for example, most of the major manufacturing companies have transformed themselves into services companies, where they now offer ‘total solutions’. In this context knowledge about customers’ businesses, i.e. what their business issues are, what their strategic goals are, is crucial. Of course this information is only of value if the organisation then acts on it, in order to deliver what the customer wants, in a cost- effective way, and timely manner, ahead of the competition.
xiv Introduction In the race to get a handle on managing knowledge many organisations have come unstuck by investing too much energy in developing formal systems, often IT systems, to facilitate knowl- edge sharing, at the expense of capitalising on the benefits that come from informal processes. Organisations have spent millions of pounds on systems to capture, store and improve access to vast quantities of information that is now available, through one source or another, and yet this does not always bring the expected business benefits. I am using the term organisation here as the collective name for its people. As it is people who act on information, not machines, this reinforces the need to focus on mobilising, energising, supporting and enabling individuals at all levels within the organisation to combine their ‘Know of’ and ‘Know how’ to deliver existing services more efficiently, as well as to create new services. Perhaps one of the questions that needs to be asked is can we achieve what we want to achieve without an IT solution? If not, should we not at least ensure that any new system can be integrated with what we already have? What seems to have been overlooked is that knowledge doesn’t always flow from formal structures and systems, but instead is often the by-product of day- to-day interactions. Why another book on managing knowledge? My intention is to stimulate a debate about the role of HR in helping organisations move forward on their knowledge manage- ment journey. HR has come under a lot of criticism as it is perceived not to be taking a proactive role in the knowledge management arena. In many organisations it is business teams, or IT teams, that have taken the lead. In practical terms this means that while the systems aspects are addressed, the people and cultural aspects are sadly often overlooked. A cynical view of the role of HR in managing knowledge could be that HR do not have the skills and knowledge needed to be proactive in the knowledge management arena. After all aren’t HR just administrators? What do they know about business and how to make businesses more efficient? That may have been the old view of HR, but just as the business world has been changing in recent years, so too has the agenda for HR. There are now many good examples of where HR profession- als are performing the business partner role, a role which Dave Ulrich suggests is the new mandate for HR. This does not mean that HR have abandoned their administrative role, instead they are finding ways of delivering this part of their work more
Introduction xv efficiently, and in doing so are creating the much needed space to operate more strategically. This was the experience within IBM where the HR function was completely remodelled to channel resources into HR strategy, rather than administrative tasks, in order to support IBM’s business transformation in the 1990s1 . Drawing on techniques from Customer Relationship Management a new HR delivery model was introduced. This reflected the different types of customers that HR have contact with e.g. manager, employee, applicant, together with the different types of interactions e.g. advise, transact, or consult. The delivery model involves a service centre that provides information and advice covering most of the simple questions, an intranet system that enables policy and procedure to be easily accessible at individual’s desktop and HR strategy partners, who focus on the strategic issues the business is facing. The global e-HR system has been rolled out to 320,000 employees in 180 countries and is saving the organisation around $320 m (£238 m) a year2 . It enables HR practices to be quickly updated in line with the changing business. Of course IBM is not the only organisation that is investing in new solutions to enhance the way that it delivers HR services to its different users. Having been conducting research into the cultural dimensions of knowledge management for some years now I have found a mixed level of interest in the area of knowledge management among HR practitioners. My initial contact with organisations has often been with the IT or KM department. It is only when I have started to ask questions about the processes that support learning, in its broadest sense, or the informal processes for knowledge sharing, that I have then started to connect with the HR community. My previous research suggests that HR needs to work in partnership with their business colleagues in the knowledge management arena. Indeed some of the case studies that I draw on in this book show the benefits of adopting this approach. In some organisations HR has been part of the catalyst team set up to get knowledge management onto the corporate agenda. In others, the Chief Executive has tasked HR with moving the organisation forward on its knowledge management journey, because of their expertise in the area of learning and change. Given their knowledge of how to facilitate learning and change there is a real opportunity for HR to move more centre stage in the knowledge management arena. However, HR will need to re-educate their business partners, and possibly themselves, on what is meant by learning and also how best to encourage and facilitate learning in the modern workplace. Etienne Wenger (1998), a leading researcher and
xvi Introduction writer in the field of learning, believes that one of the assumptions that many institutions hold about learning is that of learning being an individual process, one that occurs through teaching in locations held away from the workplace. Wenger has developed a theory of learning – a social theory of learning – that is based on the assumptions that (a) learning is as much a part of human nature as eating and sleeping and (b) learning occurs naturally through our active participation in the practices of different social communities. What does this mean for organisations? They need to adopt an integrative training approach, one which focuses on practice and seeks ‘points of leverage’ to support learning. These ‘points of leverage’, according to Wenger, can come from learning through everyday practice, as well as by encouraging shared working and learning in communities of practice. HR can also add value by using their knowledge of best practice occurring outside the organisation to help managers address first- order (i.e. doing the same things, only better) and second-order (i.e. doing different things) change. Part of the value that HR can bring here is in challenging existing assumptions and beliefs about the way business and work gets done. So questioning whether faster is always better and helping the organisation strike a balance between what needs changing and what does not. However, HR’s contribution does not, and should not, stop there. In their strategic partner role HR can add also value in the knowledge management arena by developing a focus on capability building and retention; helping the business develop more efficient business processes, as well as facilitating relationship building, both within and outside the organisation (Evans, 2002). Building a knowledge-centric culture takes time. As David Parlby, from KPMG, points out, few organisations have reached this stage on their knowledge management journey. While there are some common building blocks, i.e. building, sharing, reusing and retaining knowledge, how organisations move forward depends on their initial starting point and their overall business priorities. The case studies in this book provide examples of where different organisations are focusing/have focused their energies at different stages on their journey. The key message is that knowledge management activities need to add value to the business, it is not just a nice bolt-on to have. Managing knowledge should not be seen as a separate activity, but instead needs to be integrated into day-to-day business processes. The journey is an evolving one too, practitioners need to apply the learning cycle to their knowledge management approach. This requires identifying and using strategic change levers: What are we good at now? Where do we need to improve? How will we do that? Who needs to do what? How will we know that we are moving forward?
Introduction xvii This book provides ideas, questions, and tools to enable HR to move their organisation forward on their knowledge management journey. One of the biggest challenges for HR as a function is to position itself as a role model for the knowledge-centric organisa- tion through the way that it is structured, conducts business and builds and enhances its own capabilities. With the right attitude and knowledge HR can achieve this. Notes 1. Leighton, R. Ensuring employee satisfaction. In Making e-business deliver. This is one of a series of business guides, produced jointly by Capstan Publishing and IBM. 2. HR budget at IBM slashed through e-HR. Personnel Today, 4 June 2002. See www.personneltoday.com
Acknowledgements There are many people who have helped in shaping the ideas and content in this book. I would particularly like to thank Linda Holbeche, Director of Research at Roffey Park, for suggesting me to Butterworth-Heinemann as someone who could write knowl- edgably on HR’s role in managing knowledge, as well as for her ongoing contribution and support with this project. Equally, I am grateful to Val Hammond, Chief Executive of Roffey Park, for writing the Foreword. This is particularly timely and symbolic given that Val will be stepping down as Chief Executive this year. I would particularly like to thank Dave Snowden, from the Cynefin Centre for Organisational Complexity, IBM Global Ser- vices for his chapter on ‘Language and tools for knowledge mapping’ and Elizabeth Lank, independent consultant, for help- ing me shape the chapter on ‘Working and Learning in Commu- nities of Practice’. I am grateful to John Bailey, KPMG; Linda Marks, QinetiQ; Ron Donaldson, English Nature and Alison Lewis, Oxfam GB, for making it possible for me to develop organisational case studies. Also to Jela Webb, Azione, for sharing her experience of how to structure an HR team to ensure maximum impact from a knowledge management perspective. I would also like to thank Linda Emmett, Information Manager at the CIPD, for sharing her thoughts on thinking through the appropriate use of technological solutions for managing knowledge. Other people whom I would like to thank for giving up their time to share their ideas, or allow me to learn from their experience, include: Ruth Mundy of Jones Lang Lasalle; Elaine Monkhouse, formally of The Oxford Group; Jozefa Fawcett,
xx Acknowledgements formally Berkshire NHS Shared Services; Tom Knight of Fujitsu and Richard Archer of The iFramework. I am also grateful for the enthusiasm, support and challenge from colleagues in my personal network. These include: David Lines, Eden Charles, John Whatmore and John Sparks. Many thanks too go to Ailsa Marks and the team at Butterworth- Heinemann for being so supportive throughout the whole produc- tion process. Finally, I want to thank my family, particularly my husband David and daughter Joanna, who almost didn’t get a holiday last summer because I was so engrossed in writing this book – I’ll try to be better organised next time!
Part One The Strategic Context for HR’s Role in Managing for Knowledge
1 The changing world of business and the imperative for managing knowledge Knowledge as a key business asset We are living in the information age where knowledge is now considered the key strategic business asset. ‘How do we leverage the knowledge in our business?’ is a fundamental question being raised by senior business leaders, in all business sectors. The Chief Executive of Hewlett-Packard has been quoted as saying ‘If HP knew what HP knows, it would be three times as profitable.’ What knowledge assets are we talking about? Structural assets Brands Customer relationships Patents Products Operational processes Human assets Employee experience Employee ‘know how’ Personal relationships So why has knowledge become such a key business asset? What are the broader economic and technological changes that have contributed to this shift?
4 Managing for Knowledge Changes in the global business economy A number of significant changes have occurred in the global business economy, and in society more generally over the past couple of decades (Castells, 1989; Allen, 1992). Allen (1992) points out how a ‘. . . sense of economic transformation within the western industrial economies has been present for some time, at least since the 1970s.’ While there are differing views as to what type of economy we are moving from there seems to be some converging views that information and knowledge are becoming the primary source of economic value. Castells argues that a series of scientific and technological innovations have converged to constitute a new technological paradigm and that what differentiates the current process of technological change is that its raw material is information, as is is its outcome. He refers to this new paradigm as the ‘informa- tional technological paradigm’, which is characterised by two fundamental features: (a) the core new technologies are focused on information processing, so its raw material is information, and (b) the main effects of these technological innovations are on processes, rather than products. The ‘informational technological’ paradigm is having a funda- mental effect on businesses since processes, as Castells points out, enter into the domain of human activity; something that affects social structures and organisational structures. Under the ‘infor- mational technological’ paradigm information and knowledge become the primary source of economic value and competitive advantage (Castells, 1989; Drucker 1993). As Thomas Stewart points out, the old economy was about ‘congealed resources’, i.e. a lot of material held together by a bit of knowledge, but the new economy is about ‘congealed knowledge’, i.e. a lot of intellectual content in a physical slipcase1 . Knowledge is a source of sustainable advantage given that, unlike other assets, knowledge assets grow with use: Ideas breed new ideas, and shared knowledge stays with the giver while it enriches the receiver. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998:17) and Ideas are the instructions that let us combine limited physical resources in arrangements that are ever more valuable. (Paul Romer, cited in Davenport and Prusak, 1998:17) and
The changing world of business 5 Through knowledge creation, firms [and people] are able to revitalize themselves and set themselves apart from their competitors. (Bird, 1994: 328). Other leading management writers, such as George Stonehouse et al. (2001), argue that there are three factors that influence why one business outperforms another. These are competitive positioning, resource or competitive-based positioning and a knowledge-based approach, i.e. having a focus on knowledge building and organisational learning. Sustainability, according to Stonehouse et al., comes from the level of importance that is placed on information and knowledge within the organisation. They suggest that competitive advantage only arises when an organisation is able to generate new knowledge, something that is heavily dependent on an organisation’s learning environment. The combined effects of globalisation, influenced by new technologies, and better communication and transport facilities means that consumers now have more choice over the goods and services available to them. They are constantly being inundated with new product offerings from global companies. For organisations this means that they cannot afford to be complacent about how they conduct business. They cannot assume that the products and processes that made them suc- cessful in the past will continue to do so in the future. Davenport and Prusak argue that companies now require quality, value, service, innovation and speed to market, in order to remain successful in business; the business imperative then is one of knowing how to do new things well and do them quickly. But businesses have also got to keep an eye on their cost base and seek new ways of managing this. One of the ways in which many organisations have done this is through reviewing their core competence, and outsourcing business activities that do not map directly onto their core competence. Over recent years we have seen an increase in the number of organisations that have outsourced their manufacturing, and in some case part of their service function, to countries where labour costs are lower than in their native country. The area around Bangalore in India, for example, is now a world centre for software produc- tion; an example of where the globalisation of knowledge is unaffected by traditional boundaries. Of course by shifting production to different continents, organisations can take advantage of different time zones, which means that they can offer a twenty-four hour service to customers in a cost-effective way.
6 Managing for Knowledge Changes in technology Despite the way in which changes in technology are affecting all of our lives, it is easy to forget the speed at which change is taking place. As Table 1.1 indicates, technological changes, which in the past spanned generations, now take place within much shorter timeframes. Over the past couple of decades we have seen significant and rapid changes in Information and Communications Technologies. Two important technologies evolved during the 1980s and 1990s. One was a change in telecommunications technologies providing a hundred-fold increase in the amount of data that can be transmitted over computer networks. Another was the growth in the number of networked computers enabling more open commu- nications systems and new ways of working. These technological changes have enabled new organisational forms to develop, for example networked organisations, virtual organisations and e-businesses – all of which are based on a different set of assumptions about the way business should be organised and managed. In these new business environments, hierarchical structures have been found to be less effective as they get in the way of providing a differentiated and responsive service to customers. In addition, they are based on a different set of assumptions about the way business should be organised and managed. Table 1.1: Time to market – how the world of technology is speeding up Technology Time to reach 10 million customers (years) Pager 41 Telephone 38 Cable TV 25 Fax machine 22 VCR 9 Cellular telephone 9 Personal computer 7 CD-ROM drive 6 Netscape Internet browser 0.5 (i.e. six months)
The changing world of business 7 These combined technological changes have also led to a number of observable changes in the way that work is structured and organised. First, information that in the past would have been restricted to individuals in certain job roles, can now be made more accessible both vertically and horizontally, within and across organisations; such a change can affect how and where business decisions are made. Second, these new technologies have enabled work to be location-independent thus transcending traditional geographical boundaries. With the relevant technolo- gies, work, as pointed out above, can be distributed around the world in order to minimize production costs. Finally, these new technologies have opened up the possibilities for individuals to work from home thus bringing about a return to a way of living and working that existed in the pre-industrial era, in which work, family and community life were closely intertwined (Baruch and Nicholson, 1997). Castells argues that in the knowledge economy individuals who are unable to acquire the relevant skills, or who do not invest in continuous learning, may find themselves excluded from the labour force. Continuous learning throughout all strata of the workforce is critical to survival in today’s ever-changing business world (Coolahan, 1998). Knowledge-based businesses apart, more and more jobs now involve the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). ICT skills are seen as being essential in the modern workplace (Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). However, as more and more organisations opt to have their IT systems developed and serviced by third party suppliers, this will have implications for the skills mix within organisations. What will be required is IT literate employees who understand the business, but IT literacy will come to mean knowing how to use computers more so than knowing how to manage them (Evans, 2000). What are the implications of these continuous changes in technology for HR? First, HR professionals will need to become more IT literate themselves, sufficient enough to be able to enter into meaningful discussions with their IT counterparts. Second, they will need to consider the implications for the organisations’ future resources, skills and capabilities. Third, they will need to help prepare employees for new roles and opportunities that are likely to emerge from emerging technologies. The changing nature of work and the workplace The combined effects of globalisation and economic uncertainty have put businesses under increasing pressure to manage their
8 Managing for Knowledge operating costs. This has led many businesses to review their core processes and capabilities to identify ways in which they can speed up product development and service delivery, and of course manage their costs. Going back to basics has been one of the strategies adopted. To achieve this, organisations have chosen to outsource non-core business activities. Today’s workplace is distinctly different to how it was twenty years ago. Many organisations have introduced flexible produc- tion models, including flexible employment options. The number of individuals employed on flexible work contacts increased by one and a quarter million between 1986 and 19932 . Part-time working is still the most common form of flexible work option with around 26% of the workforce working part-time (Labour Market Statistics, December 2002). However, there are structural differences within this overall figure. One is that the largest proportion of part-time working occurs within the Distribution, Business Miscellaneous Services, as well as Public Services sectors. A second is that the majority of those who work part-time are women, particularly women aged 25 to 39, with dependent children3 . But, part-time employment among men, particularly younger men (aged below 25) and older men (aged 50 and over), has been increasing too. The rise in the number of younger men working part-time may be associated with changes in the availability of grants for higher education, leading young people to seek alternative sources of funding for their university education. The rise in number of older men working part-time could be the result of the changing organisational practice of encouraging early retirement, from age 50 onwards. Or it could be that the increasing pressures in the workplace, as a result of continuous change, are leading some individuals to rethink what they want from a career. Work–life balance became a hot topic in the late 1990s, particularly for individuals (Filipczak, 1994; Glynn, 2000). There are signs that organisations, as well as the Govern- ment are beginning to take this issue more seriously. The establishment of the ‘Employers for Work–Life Balance’ forum is one indication that employers are beginning to pay atten- tion to individuals’ concerns about work–life balance. The forum, founded and chaired by Lloyds TSB Group plc, provides a forum where employers can share policies and practices relating to work– life balance (so itself knowledge-building). There are currently twenty-two member organisations. Work–life balance has also become part of the political agenda. In March 2000, the Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities launched its Work–Life Bal- ance Challenge Fund. This scheme is intended to provide support to private, public and voluntary sector employers who are com- mitted to initiating work–life balance policies and practices.
The changing world of business 9 The introduction of flexible working practices has organisa- tional benefits too. These include: the ability to provide a more responsive service to customers; the ability to attract employees from diverse backgrounds, who otherwise might be excluded from traditional employment models; attracting and retaining skilled professionals; and retaining employees looking to have a balance between their work and home lives. However, when considering structural change, such as the introduction of flexible working practices, organisations also need to consider and plan for the impact that this might have on their ability to manage their knowledge (Evans, 2002). While having more mobile and flexible workers may make it easier to deliver a more responsive service to customers, unless properly managed, this could have an adverse affect on an organisation’s knowledge capabilities. In addition, organisations will need to plan for the fact they may have less time to capitalize on their employees’ ‘know how’. The combined effects of structural change i.e. the shift from manufacturing to service-based businesses (which are more information and knowledge dependent) and technology is having an effect on the skills needed within the workplace. To-day’s businesses are more knowledge intensive. Statistics provided by the OECD indicate that the percentage of GNP that comes from knowledge-based business is now around 50% (OECD, 1999). This is leading to an increased demand for cognitive skills (i.e. problem-solving, communication, and interpreting information), which have become more important and in demand than manual skills (DfEE National Skills Task Force, 2000). Where these skills are in short supply, organisations are finding that they are struggling to recruit and retain employees (Gubman, 1998). Equally the percentage of the workforce employed in manage- rial, professional and technical roles, working in ‘information occupation’ is increasing (Allen, 1992; DfEE Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). Employees who fall into the category of professional and technical workers are among those listed in the statistics on ‘hard-to-fill vacancies’ (DfEE Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). These combined changes have important implications for employees. There is a danger that it could lead to polarisations in the workforce, with knowledge workers becoming an elitist group within organisations and within society more generally (Castells, 1989). Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics, suggests that in the Information Age it is not simply a question of replacing ‘old jobs’ with ‘new ones’, it is about building ‘intellectual muscle’, in the form of intelligent knowledge workers, as this will be the source of growth.
10 Managing for Knowledge The pace of change in the modern business world means that the life-span of certain knowledge is getting shorter and shorter. Individuals in all employment sectors, not just those working in knowledge-intensive businesses, need constantly to update their skills and knowledge in order to maintain their employability. In the modern workplace continuous learning is becoming the norm. But there is an issue here with regard to who should pay for this learning – should it be businesses, individuals themselves, or should the Government be expected to contribute some funding too? Raman Roy, the Chief Executive of Spectramind, a call centre based in India, sums up the changes that have occurred in the nature of work in the late 20th century: Geography is history. Distance is irrelevant. Where you are located is unimportant. I can log on anywhere in the world. With work today being like the Martini advert – anytime, anyplace, anywhere – this has created new challenges for organisations. Many large organisations are adopting the mobile office principle whereby staff may spend some of their time working in a central office, some working at a client site, some working at a satellite office, or some of their time working at home. These changes have implications for the organisation’s knowledge management and human resource systems. In order to be able to work anyplace, anytime, anywhere individuals need to be provided with the right technological infrastructure (laptop, mobile phone) and they also need to have access to up-to-date centralised information systems that can be accessed from any location. One of the difficulties, however, of having a global and mobile workforce is that it can be difficult to ensure certain types of knowledge sharing. Creating a sense of community can be difficult in organisations in which the majority of employees are mobile, leaving them feeling isolated and lacking a sense of belonging. The changing landscape of careers The structural changes in the workplace discussed above, has had an effect on individuals and their ‘careers’. Here I am deliberately using the term ‘career’ in the plural, given the renewed interest in the notion that the term career can be applied to other life-areas, not just an individual’s paid work (Barley, 1989).
The changing world of business 11 From the 1950s, when the notion of a managerial career really began, up until the 1980s, individuals had experienced relative stability and predictability in career terms. The dominant view of a career, and to some extent still is, that of: A succession of related jobs, arranged in a hierarchy of prestige, through which persons move in an ordered predictable sequence. (Wilensky, 1960) The structure and order associated with this career definition provided individuals, and indeed organisations, with a sense of security. However, during the 1990s, many organisations re-structured, or de-layered, largely as a way of managing their cost base. As a result, traditional career models, based on Wilensky’s definition, were eroded as organisations began to flatten their structures. In addition to the cost-saving element, organisations saw flatter structures as a way of speeding up the decision-making process and hence providing a more responsive customer-focused service. As flatter organisational structures do not lend themselves to conventional career opportunities (Holbeche, 1999), employers and employees have found themselves searching for alternative career models. One new career model that has emerged is that of the ‘boundaryless’ career. This is characterised by movement across levels/functions either within a single organisation, or across multiple organisations. The ‘boundaryless career’ is based on an assumption that work will encompass a variety of tasks and . . . the person, not the organisation, is managing their career. It consists of all the person’s varied experiences in education, training, work in several organisations, changes in the organisational field . . . it is not what happens to the person in any one organisation. (Mirvis and Hall, 1994: 369). The ‘boundaryless’ career then opens up the career space, such that an individual’s career can encompass both paid and non-paid work and where the boundaries between these two domains are more fluid. Other writers define a career as ‘repositories of knowledge’: I see careers as accumulations of information and knowledge embodied in skills, expertise and relationship networks, acquired through an evolving sequence of work experiences over time (Bird, 1996:326), where
12 Managing for Knowledge The contents of a career are located in what is learned from experiences – in the information, knowledge and perspectives that are acquired, or changed, over time as a result of a series of work experiences. (Bird, 1994: 327) Another career definition that is gaining interest, particularly given concerns about work–life balance, is that of a career being seen as part of a whole life-system: . . . where two careers and two sets of personal and family concerns are integrated into one lifestyle. (Schein, 1996) We can see this way of thinking about careers creeping into the behaviours of some individuals in terms of the changes they are making in their own lives in order to gain a more satisfactory work–life balance. Despite the increasing availability of part-time and flexible working, employers cannot, or will not, provide the type of flexibility that employees are looking for. This then leads to employees, particularly highly skilled professionals, seeking alternative work options, such as self-employment (Evans, 2001). It has been argued that the current recruitment and retention difficulties in the NHS, for example, will not be resolved until the NHS adopts a more flexible stance on its flexible work arrange- ments. It is not surprising therefore that retaining talent, which if we unpack this is really about retaining organisational ‘know how’, has become one of the top strategic issues for organisations. Building a shared understanding of knowledge and knowledge management Definitions of knowledge One of the difficulties that organisations experience, when trying to introduce knowledge management, is helping individuals build an understanding of what is meant by the terms knowledge and knowledge management. The term knowledge is in itself a difficult concept. It is a subject that has intrigued and occupied the minds of many of the great philosophers. Unlike many other assets, knowledge isn’t some- thing that you can touch, or feel, hence the reason why it is often described as the invisible, or intangible asset. Some knowledge exists outside the individual, in text format, but a large percentage of knowledge resides within people. One of its other elusive characteristics is that the value of knowledge is highly contextual, i.e. you only know what you need to know, at the time when you
The changing world of business 13 need to know it; something that many organisations have discovered far too late. While many knowledge management practitioners argue that we shouldn’t get too hung-up on definitions, it is important to ensure that there is some common understanding about what knowledge the organisation is trying to manage. Tom Boydell4 , a leading writer on learning organisations, has developed a frame- work for thinking about knowledge. This consists of four types of knowledge and three knowledge levels. The four types of knowledge include: (a) knowing about things, (b) knowing how to do things, (c) knowing how to become yourself, (d) knowing how to achieve things with others; and three knowledge levels: 1. knowing how to implement, 2. knowing how to improve, 3. knowing how to integrate. Davenport and Prusak, leading writers in the field of knowledge management, refer to knowledge as: . . . a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organisations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organisational routines, processes, practices and norms. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998:5). Davenport and Prusak point out that knowledge is different from information, since information only becomes knowledge when transformed by one or more of the following processes: Comparison – how does information about this situation compare to that of others? Consequences – what implications does this information have for decisions and actions? Connections – how does this bit of knowledge relate to other pieces of knowledge? Conversation – what do others think about this information? It is this particular activity that emphasises the importance of social interaction for the knowledge creation process.
14 Managing for Knowledge In my own practitioner work, I tend to concentrate on four different types of knowledge: Know of, or know about This is often referred to as ‘operational level’ knowledge, i.e. knowledge that is used as part of individuals’ day-to-day work. In a retail environment, operational level knowledge might include awareness of the current week’s special offers, new promotions, store layout changes etc. In a legal environment, operational level knowledge might include changes in legislation relating to employment law. This type of knowledge lends itself to being codified and hence more readily accessible through intranet systems, or transmitted via mass communication techniques (e.g. through e-mail, memos). Know how This again is often referred to as operational level knowledge. However, the type of knowledge here is tacit knowledge, i.e. our accumulated experience of how things work and also how things get done. It is the type of knowledge that gets called upon when problem-solving and decision-making and sets the context within which knowledge gets applied. It is for this reason that tacit knowledge is more difficult to codify. Accessing ‘know how’ isn’t something that can always easily be extracted through the use of interviewing techniques. This was an important discovery made by the Xerox corporation when researching how to design information systems to support the way people really work (Seely Brown, 1998). The initial stage of the Xerox research involved interviewing certain groups of employees about how they went about their day-to-day jobs. When clerks working in the organisation’s accountants department were interviewed about their jobs, what they described in the interviews pretty much matched the information in their job description. However, when these same clerks were observed at work by anthropologists a very different picture of their jobs emerged. The anthropologists observed how although the clerks referred to formal procedures as they went about their day-to-day work, they also had to adapt many of their day-to-day work activities in order to get the job done. What was concluded from this study was that employees use formal procedures as a way of understanding what needs to be done, rather than to identify the actual steps that need to be taken to get from A to B. Instead the clerks draw on ‘workarounds’, i.e. informal steps, which are un-documented, and which managers are often unaware of. Given these findings it is clear why induction and initial on-the-job training for new
The changing world of business 15 members of the team become so important. Without this an organisation is likely to find that new employees follow docu- mented procedures that do not deliver the intended results. The result: dissatisfied customers and disheartened employees. Know why In the complex and ever-changing business world that we operate in today employees need to be more strategically aware. They need to know where their organisation is going and why. They also need to know about the organisation’s value system and how this links to the organisation’s strategic direction. This is impor- tant for two reasons. One is to ensure that the decisions that individuals make as part of their day-to-day jobs are consistent with the organisation’s overall strategic direction. The second reason is so that individuals can understand how they can best contribute to the organisation’s strategic goals. If individuals are clearer about where and how they can contribute to the organisation’s future then this will help them feel more connected. Robert B. Reich, Professor of Economic and Social Research at Brandeis University, argues that in the modern workplace employers need to work at creating ‘social glue’. Reich suggests that ‘Collaboration and mutual advantage are the essence of the organisation. They can create flexibility, resiliency, speed and creativity – the fundamental qualities of the 21st century.’ To help build ‘social glue’, individuals, according to Reich, need to be given opportunities to work on projects which make a real difference and where the organisational goal is aligned with the individual’s own personal goals and values. In today’s ever-changing business world individuals also need to be aware of the economic, social and political changes taking place around them, so that they can have intelligent discussions about the likely implications for the business, as well as their own careers. Building this external perspective can help individuals spot emerging trends, as well as see existing landscapes through a new pair of lenses. Some of the ways in which organisations are helping individ- uals build their ‘know why’ are discussed in later chapters in this book. Know who As much of an organisation’s knowledge resides within individ- uals’ heads, knowledge of who is who, both within and outside the organisation, and what knowledge can be unlocked through networking is critical. The ability to build and maintain social networks, as we shall see later, has become one of the critical knowledge-building competencies.
16 Managing for Knowledge Defining knowledge management Just as there are difficulties coming up with a single definition of knowledge, so it is with identifying a single definition of the term knowledge management. Some practitioners feel it is important not to get too hung up on definitions, or indeed get embroiled in a lengthy debate about the differences between data, information and knowledge. However, if individuals are to engage in a dialogue about knowledge management then they at least need to have a working definition of what knowledge management is, within the context of their own organisation. Some definitions that I have gathered while researching in this area include: . . . the process through which we translate the lessons learnt, residing in our individual brains, into information that everyone can use. (internal consultancy team) . . . not just doing the existing business better, but about new business approaches to thrive in a market that is radically changing. (DERA) . . . it is about action and change, not just about installing intranets and managing documents. (Cap Gemini). . . . creating, managing, applying and sharing explicit knowledge (that exists typically in documents, databases and as part of In any organisation it is important to have this taxonomy of knowledge in mind when developing policies and practices for managing knowledge. Without this organisations may focus their energies and other resources on developing one particular type of knowledge, leaving themselves vulnerable in other areas. Other KM practitioners have adopted other methods for categorising the types of knowledge that organisations need to focus on managing (Knight, 2001). The ‘knowledge types’ method pioneered by Knight and his colleagues in ICL, for example, include knowledge types such as: Product and service knowledge – the business ‘content’ relating to the customer experience. Process knowledge – how to get things done. Customer and supplier knowledge – knowledge about relationships. Project knowledge – focused on organisational memory and learning. Technical, or expert knowledge – supporting people with know how.
The changing world of business 17 processes) and tacit knowledge (embedded in people and their experience) in order to ‘make a difference’ in overcoming poverty and suffering. (Oxfam) The Document Company – Xerox prefer to use the term Managing for Knowledge, as opposed to Knowledge Management. By this they mean . . . creating a thriving work and learning environment that fosters the continuous creation, aggregation, use and re-use of both personal and organizational knowledge in the pursuit of new business value. What is different about The Document Company – Xerox and the Oxfam definitions is that they link the ‘What’ and the ‘Why’ associated with managing knowledge, which at least helps people to put changes into a wider context. Does knowledge management only apply to knowledge professionals? Before we can answer that question we need to consider what is meant by the term knowledge worker. In her book, Managing Knowledge Workers, Frances Horibe defines knowledge workers as people who use their heads (i.e. through their ideas, analyses, judgements, or syntheses) more than their hands to produce value. She refers to traditional roles, such as RD, management, and salespeople as being archetypal knowledge workers. Using this definition, IT professionals, HR professionals, as well as people in different creative fields, would all come under the category of knowledge workers. Another definition is that of a knowledge worker being a worker who knows more than his/her boss about how to do their job, or can do his/her job better than the boss could (Knight and Howes, 2002). Knight and Howes point out, the notion of ‘team working’ is based around assembling people with different skills and using special- ists with relevant knowledge to tackle specific projects, managed by someone who does not have the in-depth knowledge of team members. This also works both ways, in that team members will not have the same type of knowledge as their managers. But what about individuals who work on the customer service desk in a retail environment, or work on the helpdesk in a service company, can these be considered knowledge workers? Certainly they have to make judgements about how to deal with a particular customer problem/complaint and they no doubt have ideas about how to enhance customer service, based upon their experience of dealing with customer problems and complaints day-in and day- out.
18 Managing for Knowledge There is a danger that if we define the category of knowledge worker too narrowly then we could exclude a large number of individuals who have a lot to offer from a knowledge management perspective. How do HR professionals see knowledge management? Research by Vanessa Giannos (2002) identified a number of different perspectives on knowledge management among HR practitioners. These include: Ensuring the learning acquired is shared with others within the organisation (to save re-inventing the wheel). (Consultancy) Ensuring that the information that employees need in order to make effective and informed decisions is quickly and easily available. (dot.com company) Ensuring the right people with the right knowledge and skills are in the right position and making the most impact. (Firm of solicitors) Having structures, systems and processes in place that encourage and facilitate the creation of knowledge and its transfer across organisational boundaries. (Telecommunications company) Ensuring that the knowledge held within the organisation is fully available . . . by providing the right environment, culture, structure and processes to motivate and encourage knowledge-sharing at all levels. (Educational institution) So what then are the common themes in all of these different definitions? Learning Sharing Having people in the right place at the right time Effective decision-making Creativity Making people’s jobs easier Generating new business and business value For these things to happen requires a culture where individuals are motivated enough to want to share their knowledge with others, such that they themselves grow, as well as enabling the business to grow and survive too.
The changing world of business 19 Are organisations taking knowledge management seriously? Several organisations conduct regular surveys on the state of play of knowledge management within organisations. KPMG’s Knowl- edge Management Survey5 indicates that: 80 per cent of organisations have some knowledge management projects in place. 40 per cent of organisations have a formal KM programme in place. 25 per cent of organisations have appointed a Chief Knowledge Officer. Funding for KM activities comes from central corporate budget, followed by MIS function, then marketing. However, findings from an annual survey of management trends by Roffey Park Institute – The Management Agenda – indicates that Knowledge Management isn’t a key business process within all organisations yet. The Management Agenda monitors and reports on trends affecting organisations and individuals within the changing workplace. The research is based on a ques- tionnaires sent out to small, medium and large organisations drawn from all business sectors within the UK. The key findings from the Knowledge Management section of the 2002 Management Agenda highlighted that: Knowledge management is a key business process in only 49 per cent of participating organisations. In only 45 per cent of participating organisations is knowledge management linked to key results areas. Only 23 per cent of participating organisations had an Executive Director with overall responsibility for knowledge management. Only 15 per cent of organisations reported having a Chief Knowledge Officer. Only 41 per cent of participating organisations have knowledge management competencies included in their competency framework. There is a lack of shared understanding of what knowledge management is about. Individuals commented that knowledge management hadn’t been defined within their organisation and that this led to confusion about what the organisation was trying achieve. This confusion is echoed by one of the HR Directors that I interviewed as background to writing this book. She pointed out how, in her opinion, there is still a lot of confusion about responsibilities and accountability for knowledge management.
20 Managing for Knowledge Confusion has arisen about who is accountable for knowledge management, because it is not the exclusive remit of IT, or HR. There are important implications for other business functions, such as marketing. Knowledge management needs to be viewed strategically by the business because of the potential impact on the bottom line. Value can be unlocked by recognising that an organisation’s knowledge pool is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. What this particular HR Director was clear about though was that knowledge management is not a nice to have, but a business imperative, which means that HR really need to be taking knowledge management seriously: Efficient knowledge management is about having business processes which link to organisational design and development. This is where HR needs to have a broader business focus and develop its relationship with IT and other functions. Where is your organisation on its knowledge management journey? Speaking at a seminar on Knowledge Management David Parlby, from KPMG, referred to five stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey6 . These are represented in Table 1.2. Where would you place your organisation in this five-stage model? Are you knowledge chaotic, knowledge-centric, or some- where in the middle? If you are at the knowledge-centric stage then you are probably one of the few organisations that have reached this point. The KMPG survey revealed that only about 10% of organisations have reached stages four and five. Even the big consultancies, whose knowledge-value is recognised in their market capitalisation, are still struggling with the cultural aspect of knowledge management. This is despite having made sig- nificant investment in their knowledge management systems and often adopting what some consider to be a big stick approach, i.e. linking to work processes and ensuring staff conform by linking to performance and reward systems. Getting to the knowledge-centric stage requires adopting a balanced implementation approach, combining a Mechanistic Knowledge Management approach (i.e characterised by a strong emphasis on IT solutions and organisational practices that tend to be top-down and highly prescriptive) and an Organic Knowledge Management approach (i.e. emphasis on open and evolving structures and processes, where there is a strong emphasis on the people processes).
The changing world of business 21 The Organic Knowledge Management approach is felt to be more fruitful for the development of tacit knowledge. It requires an approach whereby knowledge is created through volunteering, encouraging self-organised communities, building an open envi- ronment where the motivation for knowledge sharing comes from the desire to leave some form of legacy. In this way knowledge sharing becomes a self-reinforcing activity. Where is your organisation on its knowledge management journey? If you feel that your organisation is at the knowledge-chaotic stage then perhaps a first step for HR would be to conduct its own internal audit. Questions that you might include are: For the organisation as a whole Where does knowledge management fit within the organisa- tion’s strategic plans? What do people in different parts of the organisation under- stand by the term knowledge management? Table 1.2: Stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey Stage Name Characteristics 1 Knowledge-chaotic unaware of concept no information processes no information sharing 2 Knowledge-aware awareness of KM need some KM processes technology in place sharing information an issue 3 Knowledge-enabled benefits of KM clear standards adopted issues relating to culture and technology 4 Knowledge-managed integrated frameworks benefits case realised issues in previous stages overcome 5 Knowledge-centric KM part of mission Knowledge-value recognised in market capitalisation KM integrated into culture
22 Managing for Knowledge Where do they think responsibilities for managing knowledge should rest? What do people see as the blocks and enablers to managing knowledge within your organisation? What do they think could be done to minimize the blocks and strengthen the enablers? What practices already exist that could be considered as helping to build the organisation’s knowledge capabilities? What do people know about the practices that exist within other organisations? For teams What are the things that get in the way of them performing at their best, e.g. certain types of information, tools, processes, certain organisational practices or rituals? How much is known about the skills, expertise and interests of team members? Where is this information held? How is it kept up-to-date? What practices are in place to enhance knowledge transfer within and across teams? How receptive are teams to learning from the experiences of others outside the team? How is this facilitated? What practices are in place to capitalise on individuals’ knowledge as they join, grow and move on from the team? What is the psychological contract between team members for developing and sharing knowledge? For individuals Where does managing knowledge fit with individuals’ concept of a career? How are individuals investing in themselves in order to keep their own knowledge up-to-date and in demand? What support/resources do individuals find most useful in developing their knowledge? How do individuals help others develop their knowledge? These same questions could also be used and/or adapted when carrying out periodic evaluations of how well the organisation is managing its knowledge. The need for a strategic approach to managing knowledge The knowledge management journey in many organisations often begins in a piecemeal way with a local initiative, kicked off by a
The changing world of business 23 group of like-minded forward-thinking individuals. This was the experience within ICL, for example, where a group of colleagues got together to address the question of ‘How can we add true organisational learning to the existing emphasis on training and developing people?’ Case study: The knowledge management journey within ICL ICL, now Fujitsu, is an international company which focuses on helping its customers ‘. . . seize the opportunities of the informa- tion age’. In the early 1990s the organisation began transforming itself away from a computer manufacturing company into a service-led organisation. It was this change which made it a strategic imperative for the organisation to gain leverage from its world-wide intellectual capital. However, in an organisation that at that time consisted of 22,000 employees, operating in 70 different countries, many of whom were mobile workers, or working on flexible contracts, getting a knowledge management initiative off the ground was not an easy task. The first knowledge management project was initiated by an informal network of individuals, in the early 1990s. This group came together to address the question of How can we add true organisational learning to the existing emphasis on training and developing people? A couple of years later a formal project, Mobilising Knowledge Programme, was established with the support and backing of the then Chief Executive, Keith Todd, as a way of accelerating ICL’s business transformation. The project was headed up by a full-time programme director, responsible for co-ordinating a cross-com- pany knowledge management initiative. It was recognised that at the initial stage of the organisation’s knowledge management journey a separate project team was needed in order to champion the knowledge management approach. However, it was always the intention that managing knowledge was ultimately to become a line management responsibility. The Mobilising Knowledge project team, consisting of individ- uals with different skills drawn from different parts of the business, ran a series of focus group discussions with front-line employees to establish what information they needed to do their jobs effectively. This activity yielded some common themes regarding the informa- tion needs of individuals. This included information about:
24 Managing for Knowledge ICL as a business ICL services and customers ICL customers and partners Processes and policies in use across different parts of the company Who the company experts were and how to get in touch with them Time-saving tools, such as up-to-date telephone directories and site maps. The first deliverable for the project team was the introduction of Café VIK (Valuing ICL Knowledge), which was a web site on the organisation’s intranet. The use of the term Café was of symbolic importance. Being a global organisation the project team wanted to create a virtual environment that had some of the character- istics and attractions of a physical Café. An important feature of the launch of Café VIK was a series of briefing sessions throughout the organisation. These were no ordinary briefing meetings. Instead the project team used Café style props to set the scene, so they bought inexpensive café style tables and chairs and some PCs. After the formal part of the presentation individuals could then gain hands-on experience of exploring Café VIK and what he had to offer. Speaking at a Roffey Park seminar, Elizabeth Lank, Programme Director – Mobilising Knowledge, commented that this approach worked really well. Even though ICL is a technology-based company Elizabeth Lank pointed out that the project team came across individuals who were technophobic, thus having support on-hand to help individuals explore what Café VIK had on offer was a good tactic. Another important element of the Mobilising Knowledge Programme was the introduction of the ‘New World’ office accommodation programme, where offices where systematically remodelled with far fewer, mostly ‘hot’ desks (about 30 per cent fewer desks in some cases). Private offices were removed too. The first private office to go was that of the Chief Executive. This was a fairly dramatic symbol that change was coming. With the move to mostly ‘hot-desking’, many more meeting rooms, quiet rooms for solitary working, and comfortable meeting spaces, near coffee machines, were introduced. Coffee and tea were also made free at this point. The message that the organisation wanted to get across was that you don’t come to work to answer e-mails – you can do that when working at home – instead you come to work to do what you can uniquely do at work: meet with and talk to colleagues, discuss work and exchange information.
The changing world of business 25 ICL’s second generation of its intranet was launched at the start of 1999 and was completely built around the idea of communities: providing the same tools for functional business units as for virtual communities of practice. It proved a great success, with the 50 or so communities that were part of the original set-up quickly becoming more than 500 communities within a year, and the majority of ICL’s then 19,000 staff participating in multiple groups. Communities ranged in size from as few as 15 participants to 4000, with most settling around an optimum number of 100–200. By the time of ICL’s full merger with Fujitsu in spring 2002, 500 items of new content were being added to the site every week. There is now a steady stream of volunteered content, much of it high quality. While local initiatives are important, there is a view that these initiatives then need to be set within a strategic framework (Knight, 2002). A process that involves establishing: Knowledge management drivers and the link with organisational strategy What are the pressures that the organisation is facing? Why is managing knowledge important to us as a business? Knowledge management strategy Where do we need to be? What are the key levers for change? These might be a focus on people, processes, leadership, or technology. Some of the common strategic levers for knowledge management include: customer knowledge; knowledge in prod- ucts and service; knowledge in people; knowledge in processes; organisational memory; knowledge in relationships and knowl- edge assets (Skyrme, 2001). Implementation How do we move forward? Here consideration needs to be given to implementation from a top-down, lateral and bottom-up approach. Measuring the results How are we doing? Here consideration could be given to adopting a balanced scorecard approach, focusing on the four elements of financial, customer, process and future.
26 Managing for Knowledge As other writers point out it is important that wherever an organisations starts on its knowledge management journey, or wherever the initial focus is placed, it is important to adopt a holistic approach (Probst, Raub and Romhard, 2000). Probst et al. see the core building blocks of knowledge management as: Knowledge identification – How do we ensure that there is sufficient transparency of external and internal knowledge? How do we help employees to locate the information that they need? Knowledge acquisition – What forms of expertise should we buy in from outside? Are we making full use of the expertise embedded in the external relationships that we have? Knowledge development – How can we build new expertise and capabilities? Knowledge sharing and distribution – How do we get the knowledge to the right places? Knowledge utilisation – How do we ensure that the knowledge that we have is applied productively for the benefits of the organisation? Knowledge retention – How do we ensure that we retain the knowledge that we have? How knowledge enabled is the organisation? Evaluation – How well are we doing on our knowledge manage- ment journey? What have been our key successes and failures? Where should we focus our energy going forward? Summary This chapter has discussed the key economic, technological and social changes that collectively have led to information and knowledge becoming a key source of competitive advantage. With the increasing emphasis on service, as opposed to manufacturing, innovation and speed to market have become key differentiators in today’s global business world. The ability to learn to do new things (i.e. products, services, processes) and then deliver more quickly than competitors is crucial. To do this organisations and individuals need to become better at information management, as well as managing different types of knowledge: ‘know how’, ‘know who’ and ‘know why’. In many organisations there is still confusion about what managing knowledge is really about. This has caused confusion
The changing world of business 27 regarding responsibilities for managing an organisation’s knowl- edge. For organisations to move forward on their knowledge management journey there needs to be greater acknowledgement that: Knowledge resides in people, not in systems, although systems contain valuable data and information that can help the knowl- edge process, and Knowledge creation is fundamentally a social process, it is created through the interactions between individuals as they go about their daily lives. Pause for reflection Which of the external forces outlined in this chapter represent the most significant threats and/or opportunities for your organisation? How does your organisation monitor trends in the external world so that it is prepared for the implications and opportun- ities, from a knowledge management perspective, of these structural changes? Who takes responsibility for this activity? What different interpretations of knowledge management exist within your organisation? What is the HR view of knowledge management? What good practices already exist within your organisation for ensuring ‘know of’, ‘know how’, ‘know who’ and ‘know why’? Notes 1. Stewart reference was cited in F. Horibe, Managing Knowledge Workers. 2. See Watson, G., in Neathey and J. Hurstfield (1995), Flexibility in Practice: Women’s Employment and Pay in Retail and Finance. Equal Opportunities Commission. 3. Dex, S. and McCulloch, A. (1995), Flexible Employment in Britain: A Statistical Analysis. Research Discussion Series No. 15. Equal Opportunities Commission. 4. Boydell, T., Levels and Types of Knowledge. Presentation at Roffey Park Institute. Autumn 1999 5. See Skyrme, D. J. (2001), Capitalizing on Knowledge, from e-business to k-business. Butterworth-Heinemann. 6. Parlby, D., Turning Knowledge Into Value. Knowledge Manage- ment Conference. Strategic Planning Society. October 1999.
2 The changing role of HR – from operational to strategic HR The role of HR has changed significantly over the past couple of decades and is continuing to change as the HR profession strives to gain acceptance as a strategic business partner. In many organisa- tions HR is performing a very different role to that of twenty to thirty years ago. Its role has evolved from that of payroll clerk and welfare supporter, through corporate policeman and industrial relations expert, to that of a business partner role. A key area of change has been in the label given to those working in the field of Personnel. The Personnel label, other than in public sector organisations, has been largely superseded with that of Human Resources. This change coincided with the decline in the importance associated with industrial relations, both in economic and political terms, and the decline in the membership and influence of trade unions (Guest, 1998). In the 1970s and early 1980s when industrial unrest dominated UK industry many personnel practitioners gained their credibility through negotiat- ing with the Trade Unions about pay and working conditions, on behalf of the organisation. The distinctions between the traditional personnel role and that of HRM (Holbeche, 1999) are summarised in Table 2.1. The HRM agenda according to David Guest (1998) is concerned with: ensuring commitment from employees; creating a focus on values, mission and purpose; developing an environment-based on high trust and building an organisation consisting of flexible roles, flatter structures and where there is autonomy and self- control within the work that individuals do (Guest, 1998).
The changing role of HR – from operational to strategic HR 29 The HR function, according to Dave Ulrich (1998), is crucial to organisations achieving excellence. Excellence, according to Ulrich comes through a focus on learning, quality, teamwork, re- engineering, knowing how things get done within an organisa- tion and also how people get treated; all of which are HR issues and hence achieving organisational excellence requires the work of HR. Ulrich suggests that given the business challenges that organisa- tions face today – globalisation, profitability through growth, technological change, intellectual capital and continuous change – success depends on organisations building core capabilities such as speed, responsiveness, agility, learning capacity and employee competence. Developing these capabilities, in Ulrich’s view, is the mandate for HR. This he suggests requires a focus on four key areas. Partner in strategy execution Ulrich doesn’t argue that HR alone should develop the business strategy, this he argues is the joint responsibility of an organisa- tion’s executive, which hopefully HR should be part of. HR’s role in strategy making should be that of guiding the discussion about how the organisation should be organised in order to carry out its strategy. In essence this means HR taking on the role of architect, advising on what organisational systems and processes already support the organisation’s strategic goals and which ones need some attention, and how best to set about changing these. Table 2.1: Contrasting traditional personnel and HRM Characteristics of the traditional personnel role Characteristics of the emerging role of HRM Reactive Proactive Employee advocate Business partner Task force Task and enablement focus Focus on operational issues Focus on strategic issues Qualitative issues Quantitative issues Stability Constant change Tactical solutions Strategic solutions Functional integrity Multi-functional People as an expense People as assets
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In the extant French copy Eugène Sue has given a dramatic version of the parting scene between Miss Mary and Madame de Morville—Charlotte Brontë and Madame Héger. The latter had surprised her husband and the Irish governess, tête-à-tête in the lonely pavilion, late in the evening. Monsieur protests:— Madame, he cries, ... I will not permit you, in my presence, to dare to calumniate and outrage Mademoiselle Lawson. Miss Mary asks him not to defend her, as she does not wish to be a cause of irritating discussion between them. That is charming! cried Madame de Morville, with a burst of sardonic laughter —Grâce au bon accord du ménage, mademoiselle would desire to continue in perfect tranquillity the undignified rôle she has played at my house! Her husband protests that she outrages one of the purest characters in the world, but the governess interrupts by addressing the wife:— Madam, suspicions so odious, so senseless, are unable to wound an honourable soul.... I reply nothing to these words, which you will soon regret. The two years that I have been here [Charlotte Brontë was two years with the Hégers] I have learned to know you, madam; and if sometimes I have without complaint [see the Lagrange passages] suffered from the vivacité de vos premiers mouvements, I have also often been able to appreciate your goodness of heart. Enough, mademoiselle, enough! Believe you that you can dupe me by your hypocrisies and base flatteries? Do you think you can impose my silence by that pretended resignation? So the scene continues until Madame de Morville accuses the other of wishing to take the affections of her husband. To this, the governess retorts:— You accuse me, madam, of wishing to win the affections of M. de Morville, and of desiring to dominate at your house? Here is my reply. And her reply is that she is returning to England.
You go away! cried Madame de Morville.... No, no, that is a lie or a trick!... Madame ... fut complètement déroutée par l'annonce du départ de Miss Mary. The latter says she profoundly regrets if she had caused malheurs, for she had been the involuntary cause. Involuntary or not, cried Madame de Morville, you are un porte-malheur, and thus have been two years, since your arrival here. I have said it to M. de Morville, who, par prévision without doubt, took at once your part against me.... And on whom, then, will that responsibility fall!... We were all happy and peaceful before your advent here, and to-day, when you go you leave us dans le chagrin. To which Miss Mary retorts:— Ah! madame, le jour le plus malheureux de ma vie serait celui où je quitterais votre famille avec la douloureuse conviction que mon nom y serait maudit. There were, we see, conflicting views in Brussels social and literary circles, in the eighteen-forties, as to the degree of intimacy to which Charlotte Brontë and M. Héger attained. It is when we perceive the ambiguity of the relations existing between Miss Brontë and the professor that we recognize the fidelity of Eugène Sue's portrayal of Currer Bell's Brussels life. Even Charlotte Brontë herself, in Villette, published after M. Sue's story, relates that M. Paul Emanuel (M. Héger) said to her:—I call myself your brother. I hardly know what I am—brother—friend—I cannot tell. I know I think of you—I feel I wish you well—but I must check myself; you are to be feared. My best friends point out danger and whisper caution. In Mdlle. Lagrange and Catherine Bell, Charlotte Brontë figures as represented by those who said ill of her; as Miss Mary Lawson, the Irish governess, she has beauty, youth, and grace, which charms, Jane tells us, she possessed in Rochester's eyes. Of her, in the phase of Catherine Bell, we have many insinuations of a detractive character, the keynote to which is found in the fortune-telling incident, wherein Catherine is foretold she will be married and not married; while in Miss Mary Lawson we have a portrayal of un bon ange[67] of whom Madame de Morville is jealous, not without
reason, though, to use Miss Mary's own words, she had been la cause involontaire. We must, therefore, set it to the credit of Eugène Sue that he placed two versions in the balance; and his evidence for ever sweeps away the illogical and unfair contention of some writers on the Brontës, that Charlotte Brontë may have cared for M. Héger, but that he, in his turn, had been only intellectually interested in her. M. Sue shows the attitude of M. Héger was ever unequivocal as regards Charlotte Brontë; whether in her phase as Lagrange, as Catherine Bell, or as Miss Mary Lawson—she was loved by him. We now see Morton of Jane Eyre was Haworth to Charlotte Brontë, and Thornfield, the home of Mr. Rochester, the Pensionnat Héger. And the flight from temptation at Thornfield and seeking refuge with the Rivers family were really representative of her leaving Brussels and returning home to her father and sisters. Obviously M. Sue wrote his feuilleton to aid, maliciously or not, in breaking the dangerous friendship between M. Héger and Miss Brontë. Charlotte Brontë's works are testimony it was not only Madame Héger's harsh jealousy that led her to leave Brussels. In Chapter XX. of The Professor, published years after M. Sue's work, but written before it, she gives us the reason for this determination. By her Method I., Interchange of the sexes of characters portrayed from life, Professor Crimsworth, who is alternately Charlotte Brontë and M. Héger, in this instance is Charlotte Brontë, while Mdlle. Reuter is M. Héger. Crimsworth [Miss Brontë] says:— I could not conceal ... that it would not do for me to remain.... Her [his] present demeanour towards me was deficient neither in dignity nor propriety; but I knew her [his] former feeling was unchanged. Decorum now repressed, and Policy masked it, but Opportunity would be too strong for either of these— Temptation would shiver their restraints. I was no pope, ... in short, if I stayed, the probability was that, in three months' time, a practical modern French novel would be in full process of concoction.... From all this resulted the conclusion that I must leave, ... and that instantly.... The Spirit of Evil ... sought to lead me astray. [68] Rough and steep was the path indicated by divine suggestion; mossy and declining the green way along which Temptation strewed flowers.
And thus at last do we understand why Charlotte Brontë asks herself as Jane Eyre when at home with the Rivers family—with her father, her sisters, and Tabby at Haworth:—
Which is better? To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle; but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it ... to have been now living in France, Mr. Rochester's mistress ... I shall never more know the sweet homage given to beauty, youth, and grace—for never to any one else shall I seem to possess these charms.... Whether is it better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool's paradise at Marseilles —fevered with delusive bliss one hour—suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next—or to be a village schoolmistress [The Brontë school project was under contemplation in 1844], free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England? Yes, I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment. God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance. And her fervent gratitude is as sincere when in the same connection she says in Villette of her confessor—her Fénelon[69]: —He was kind when I needed kindness; he did me good. May Heaven bless him! But we now see Charlotte Brontë did not suffer alone. Eugène Sue has given us an insight into the bitterness of M. de Morville's (M. Héger's) life, which resulted from their unhappy love, and doubtless those words of Heathcliffe to Catherine in Wuthering Heights were uttered or written by M. Héger in reproach to Charlotte Brontë:— Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy?... You loved me—then what right had you to leave me?... Because misery and degradation and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will did it. I have not broken your heart—you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me that I am strong. Charlotte Brontë tells us in Jane Eyre she loved to imagine she and Mr. Rochester had met under happier conditions; and if the meeting of the runaway lovers Charlotte Brontë repeats so faithfully in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre did not refer to a private meeting subsequent to the beginning of 1844, between her and M. Héger, or to their meeting again when she returned to Brussels the
second time, then have we evidence of the fact that she at one time perhaps believed Wuthering Heights would be never published. Assuredly nothing was sweeter to Currer Bell's fancy than a dream of the happiness that might have been hers, and well may she have written in the last sentences of Villette:— Leave sunny imaginations hope. Let it be theirs to conceive the delight of joy born again fresh out of great terror, the rapture of rescue from peril, the wondrous reprieve from dread, the fruition of return. Let them picture union and a happy succeeding life. Charlotte Brontë and M. Constantin Gilles Romain Héger loved each other as those who are worshippers of two high ideals, when one of these ideals is love, the other honour. And this was tragedy. To the agonizing nature of unrequitable affection endured for honour's sake do we owe Charlotte Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
CHAPTER XIV. THE RECOIL. I. The elements that conduce to reaction and recoil are sometimes fatal to the best proposed and ablest evolved schemes of man. Priests and counsellors may gravely devise; knight and maid may devoutly swear; the pious neophyte and the exalted religionist may make solemn pledge, but reaction often brings catastrophe. Thus the Christian Church is rightfully a watchful Body, a militant Force, preaches the weakness of man and cries Ora continenter! And herein lies the value of a ponderous state procedure. Irritating in its slow gravity and indifferent to the passionate appeals of emotionalism, such procedure yet withstands the backward wave which comes as answer to courageous but costly proposals. The unsupported and undisciplined individual, like communities, cannot always safely stand alone, and finally resolves into an automaton at the service of unlicensed and unconsidered impulse when the day of reaction comes. The anthropologist and the pathologist relate how exacting straitness suddenly has broken down with a lamentable demonstration of most morbid prurience; and relentless history has chronicled grievous moral declensions in the lives of men and women whose careers in the greater part were records of generous and unselfish devotion to a noble cause or an honourable work. Until the day of reaction is safely fought through the battle is not won. Perhaps it was to prevent all possibility of a final and definite reconciliation between M. Héger and Miss Brontë that M. Sue, aided by his friends, ridiculed their attachment in his feuilleton, Miss Mary.
Not that Eugène Sue would do this necessarily for Virtue's sake, but the position of moral reprehender gave him title to the rôle he had assumed. M. Héger was sorely punished to lose Miss Brontë, as M. Sue has shown, and as we have seen Charlotte Brontë herself tells us in a letter; and the intensity of his affection for her is only further accentuated by the light M. Sue throws upon the subject in a conversation which occurs between Alphonsine and the jealous mother, concerning Mdlle. Lagrange in the opening chapters of his feuilleton. As I have stated, evidence compels us to perceive M. Sue often presented by imitation of Charlotte Brontë's Method I., Interchange of the sexes for obfuscation's sake, M. Héger in Alphonsine: Madame de Morville (Madame Héger) has just said Mdlle. Lagrange (Miss Brontë) affected a little to speak of her humble origin. Elle affecter, replies Alphonsine, ... c'est une erreur. Quand, par hasard, elle parlait de sa famille, c'est que la conversation venait là-dessus. D'ailleurs, écoute donc, Mademoiselle Lagrange eût été fière qu'elle en avait le droit. Proud! what of? not of her face, poor girl. No, that is true. Madame de Morville admits that Mdlle. Lagrange was endowed with patience, learning, and fortitude; and says, Tu le sais, nous avions pour elle les plus grands égards. Without doubt ... and myself, I loved her like a sister. To which Madame de Morville retorts: A ce point que, pendant les premiers jours qui ont suivi son départ je t'ai vue souvent pleurer, et que depuis je te trouve triste. Que veux-tu ... se quitter après plus de trois ans d'intimité, cela vous laisse du chagrin. This sensibility does credit to your heart, but after all it seems to me that you and I shall be able by our mutual tenderness to console each other for the loss d'une étrangère. Une étrangère! says Alphonsine, naïvely; dis donc une amie, une soeur.... Ainsi, toi ... tu es pour moi, n'est-ce pas, aussi affectueuse que possible; pourtant
tu m'imposes toujours; il y a mille riens, mille folies, mille bêtises si tu veux, que je n'oserais jamais te dire, et qui nous amusaient et nous faisaient rire aux larmes avec cette pauvre Mademoiselle Lagrange; et puis ces causeries sans fin pendant les récréations, nos jeux mêmes, car elle était très enfant quand elle s'y mettait[70] ; all this made our temps de l'étude pass like a dream, and that of recreation like a flash. Without doubt, replied Madame de Morville, with a forced smile; ... and I, ... je ne jouissais de la société de ces demoiselles que lors de notre promenade d'avant dîner, ou le soir jusqu'à l'heure du thé. The irreparableness of the loss at first to M. Héger is herein clearly shown. But whether he would confess himself to Miss Brontë afterwards is not certain. The tone of Charlotte Brontë's successive writings suggests he did not, as do many points of evidence and the reference in Villette, Chapter XIX., to that He was a religious little man, in his way: the self-denying and self-sacrificing part of the Catholic religion commanded the homage of his soul. Likely enough it is that M. Héger hailed, as do truly noble men, the day of trial, and elevated by the very agony of great sacrifice the personality which worshipped a conception of duty consonant with Divine law. It seems, though, that then the battle was won; his day of reaction was fought through. At the time of what M. Sue makes M. de Morville call ce premier entraînement was the greatest danger, and abundant testimony goes to prove he would have gone the length of indiscretion but that Charlotte Brontë, herself innately honourable and influenced by her Christian upbringing, checked the mad rush of impetuous passion. Then the Church of M. Héger intervened. As Charlotte Brontë tells us in Villette, Chapter XXXVI.: We were under the surveillance of a sleepless eye: Rome watched jealously her son through that mystic lattice at which I had knelt once, and to which M. Emanuel drew nigh month by month—the sliding panel of the confessional. She was much gratified by M. Héger's fervent admiration, though she had perforce to remember their circumstances. As M. Sue said of Lagrange so it had been with Miss Brontë:—
The girl had never before known love, save by reading and hearing of its magical influence. All the natural tenderness which lay in her heart she had year after year suppressed. The references in her poems to a recognition of growing coldness in a lover—see Frances, Preference, etc., if we may read them in the biographical sense Mr. Mackay suggests, show there had been a day when she perceived external influences were dictating to M. Héger a line of moral procedure. Obviously, while she herself had held temptation at bay she was strong; but once she discovered an ally was lessening the necessity of her defence her woman's nature awoke. She doubted the sincerity of the past protestations of passion; she saw in every eye a sinister spy; she found in the Roman Church nothing but a partisan of Madame Héger (see Madame Beck and the Roman Church in Villette), and M. Héger became to her a very impersonation of insincerity and treachery. Of the secret tempest which had begun to rage within herself she would disclose nothing to M. Héger; and she would know that once the storm slept the end might be the worst. But Charlotte Brontë was not yet in the season of the recoil, though alone, wretched, and rapidly losing faith in God and man. As for M. Héger, he was supported by the knowledge that the ideal of the good and pious is glorified by sacrifice. That Hell holds no fury like a woman scorned is a platitude, for a woman scorned in the meaning of the writer is a woman with a shattered life. In her fullest and native sense she ceases to exist thereafter. However, as in many cases Nature provides a remedy for her maimed, woman has given her dissimulation. But to quote Charlotte Brontë's poem, Frances:— Who can for ever crush the heart, Restrain its throbbing, curb its life? Dissemble truth with ceaseless art, With outward calm mask inward strife? It is a dangerous day when woman is her very self and thwarted. Then, and only then, can she utter the distressing blasphemies
Charlotte Brontë places in the mouth of the speaker in her verses, Apostasy:— Talk not of thy Last Sacrament, Tell not thy beads for me; Both rite and prayer are vainly spent, As dews upon the sea. Speak not one word of Heaven above Rave not of Hell's alarms; Give me but back my Walter's love, Restore me to his arms! Then will the bliss of Heaven be won; Then will Hell shrink away; As I have seen night's terrors shun The conquering steps of day. 'Tis my religion thus to love, My creed thus fixed to be; Not Death shall shake, nor Priestcraft break My rock-like constancy! And places in the mouth of Catherine of Wuthering Heights, Chapter IX., in the same connection:— If I were in heaven ... I should be extremely miserable.... I dreamt once ... I was there, ... heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out ... on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.[71] ... I cannot express it; but surely you ... have a notion that there is ... an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliffe's miseries ... my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. [See my remarks on Charlotte Brontë's belief in the elective affinities, page 96-7.] My love for Heathcliffe resembles the eternal rocks beneath.... I am Heathcliffe,—he's always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than I am a pleasure to myself— but as my own being—so don't talk of our separation again. It is of the barriers which divided the woman of the verses Apostasy from her lover that the priest has reminded her. Thus she
says:— ... Did I need that thou shouldst tell What mighty barriers rise To part me from that dungeon-cell Where my loved Walter lies? The whole history of Charlotte Brontë's Brussels life before us, the fact that an insurmountable barrier—his marriage—separated her from M. Héger, and the fact that she herself consulted[72] a Roman Catholic priest whom I designate as her Fénélon, advising, like the Mentor of Télémaque,[73] the tempted one to flee temptation, identify these barriers as a covert reference to the circumstances unhappily existing which made intimacy between Miss Brontë and M. Héger dangerous. To quote my words in The Fortnightly Review: —We see why Miss Brontë, herself a Protestant, went to the confessional at Brussels.... We know this was no freak, as also that it was impossible for Charlotte to mention the subject to her sister without attributing it to a freak. More, we perceive now the nature of her confession, and, the Flee temptation! note of Fénélon's Les Aventures de Télémaque fresh in our minds, we see why she wrote of her father-confessor in Villette, Chapter XV.:— There was something of Fénelon about that benign old priest; and whatever ... I may think of his Church and creed, ... of himself I must ever retain a grateful recollection. He was kind when I needed kindness; he did me good. May heaven bless him! I mention that by her composite method of presenting characters, which Charlotte Brontë admitted to have employed, Dr. John Bretton, while often in the beginning representing Mr. Smith the publisher, becomes finally a representation of the Rev. Mr. Nicholls who married Miss Brontë.[74] So in Jane Eyre, St. John Rivers while in the main representing the Rev. Patrick Brontë, becomes associated temporarily with that priest I have called Charlotte Brontë's Brussels Fénélon. She tells us in Villette that she broke off the seduction of visiting this priest and says:—The
probabilities are that had I visited ... at the ... day appointed, I might just now ... have been counting my beads in the cell of a ... convent.... Miss Brontë admits he had had great influence with her, and this fact and the testimony of her poem Apostasy just quoted show this priest and his admonitions were in her mind when she wrote the final scene between herself and St. John Rivers in Jane Eyre (Chapter XXXV.). Therein, as in that poem and in Wuthering Heights, Religion and Angels[75] are set as being less to her than the vicinage of her lover. Indeed the India and the missionary life of Jane Eyre, and the marriage with St. John (see Chapter XXXIV.), may be said to have been in Miss Brontë's mind that life of religious consecration which in Villette she owns to have been the likely result of her further listening to the advice of the priest, to whom she had given the ... outline of my experience, as she terms it. Therefore it is interesting to observe that, as the woman in Apostasy suddenly hears the voice of her lover calling and says:— He calls—I come—my pulse scarce beats, My heart fails in my breast. Again that voice—how far away, How dreary sounds that tone! And I, methinks, am gone astray In trackless wastes and lone. I fain would rest a little while: Where can I find a stay, Till dawn upon the hills shall smile, And show some trodden way?[76] I come! I come! in haste she said, 'Twas Walter's voice I heard! Then up she sprang—but fell back, dead, His name her latest word. so in the scene in Jane Eyre: St. John ejaculates— 'My prayers are heard!' He pressed his hand firmer on my head, as if he claimed me; he surrounded me with his arm, almost as if he loved me [That priest had arms which could influence me; he was naturally kind, with a sentimental French kindness, to whose softness I knew myself not wholly
impervious. Without respecting some sorts of affection, there was hardly any sort having a fibre of root in reality, which I could rely on my force wholly to withstand.—Charlotte Brontë speaking of her Brussels Fénélon in Villette, Chapter XV.], I say almost—I knew the difference—for I had felt what it was to be loved; but, like him, I now ... thought only of duty;... I sincerely, ... fervently longed to do what was right.... 'Show me, show me the path!' I entreated of Heaven.... My heart beat fast and thick.... I heard a voice somewhere cry 'Jane! Jane! Jane!' nothing more.... I had heard it—where or whence, for ever impossible to know! And it was ... a known, loved, well-remembered voice—that of Edward Fairfax Rochester.... 'I am coming!' I cried.... 'Wait for me! Oh, I will come!' I broke from St. John, who would have detained me. It was my time to assume ascendency. My powers were in play, and in force. I told him to forbear question or remark.... I mounted to my chamber ... fell on my knees, and prayed in my way—a different way to St. John's, but effective in its own fashion.... I rose from the thanksgiving— took a resolve—and lay down ... eager but for the daylight. Mrs. Gaskell related that Charlotte Brontë in private conversation in reference to this preternatural crying of a voice, replied with much gravity and without further enlightenment that such an incident really did occur in her experience. Whether it occurred in connection with her Brussels Fénélon and immediately preceded a reconciliation between herself and M. Héger I know not. As, however, Charlotte Brontë's expression of gratitude to this priest and the whole fervent story of thankfulness for the deliverance from dangerous temptation were written subsequently to her return from Brussels, it is clear there was never a reconciliation which cost either her or M. Héger honour. I do not urge this as an advocate; I state it upon the strength of unmistakable evidence. Miss Brontë believed it better to leave Brussels and avoid the possibilities of the peculiar situation—a situation always fraught with temptation. Hence her sudden resolve to return to England. Arrived at Haworth the full recoil came. She had won through a great ordeal, and she knew that surrounded by his wife and family, [77] comforted by piety and the knowledge of his happy issue from involution in disastrous complications, M. Héger would resume tranquilly his accustomed course of life. To Charlotte Brontë, who by the showing of all evidence was initially responsible for a morally
gratifying outcome of their dangerous attachment, this was a galling picture. Knowing nothing of the ecstatic delights of the pietist in the sacrificial sense of M. Héger, who was a devoted member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and, as he is made to describe himself in Villette, a sort of lay Jesuit, she became just a woman living in the world of her primal nature and conceiving but that she had lost. Miss Rigby—afterwards Lady Eastlake—who wrote the remarkable article on Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review of 1849, perceived with a flash of real insight and the instinct of womanhood that Currer Bell's pen had presented ungarbed, vital relations of some man and woman identical in both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. The circumstances were full difficult for the reviewer; she was irritated and encompassed. Wuthering Heights, which so soon had followed the appearance of Jane Eyre, she suddenly recognized as the very storm-centre of this literary tornado of passionate declamation; and she chastised that work in the name of Jane Eyre, for she could not know all the cruel truth, and she feared to popularize Wuthering Heights. Although Miss Rigby wrote:—It is true Jane does right, and exerts great moral strength, she added, but it is the strength of a mere heathenish mind which is a law unto itself. And later, turning upon Wuthering Heights she says with a final vehemency, and most sensationally:— There can be no interest attached to the writer of Wuthering Heights—a novel succeeding Jane Eyre ... and purporting [!] to be written by Ellis Bell—unless it were for the sake of a more individual reprobation. For though there is a decided family likeness between the two [!], yet the aspect of the Jane and Rochester animals in their native state as Catherine and Heathcliffe [!], is abominably pagan. Miss Rigby thus excused herself a further consideration of Wuthering Heights. In the days of the gratification of discovering the one she loved in return loved her,[78] this recognition stood between Charlotte Brontë and every thought of religion, as an eclipse between man and the broad sun, so in another sense truly did the contemplation of M. Héger's self-pacification intervene in the time of reaction. The doubtings and agonizing emotions of her equivocal
season in Brussels were now precipitated. Her poems Gilbert, Frances, and Preference are testimony to her vengeful and retaliative instinct; as are her portrayals of M. Héger as M. Pelet of The Professor and as Heathcliffe of Wuthering Heights. But as I show in the next chapter, Charlotte Brontë afterwards regretted her human weakness and her vituperations of the day of the recoil. She began to set forth the story of her ordeal more sanely and proportionately in Jane Eyre. As one who soberly rewrites of fact, she recited therein much that she already had given detachedly; and consistently she presented by aid of the frame-work of plot from Montagu's Gleanings in Craven which already had given her elemental suggestions for her Wuthering Heights, the history of her life in Jane Eyre—a work that stands as testimony to Charlotte Brontë's love of truth as to her heroic battling in the days of fiercest temptation. A constant yearning to fine a presentation from untruthfulness is the God-given attribute of the artist, and this was responsible for much that is called harsh in Charlotte Brontë's character as a writer: she would not even spare her own physical and nervous imperfections in her self-portrayals. Emily Brontë would have presented Branwell Brontë as viewed through couleur de rose, yet Charlotte Brontë immortalized him as Hindley Earnshaw and John Reed—as she saw him: weak, tyrannical, a moral wreck. So she presented M. Héger. She knew his faults—and they were many; but she loved him though she hated them. Her sense of truth and justice, albeit she had lost the rancour of the time of the reaction, determined her in Jane Eyre, it is obvious, to show the occultation of her life's happiness by the incidents of her Brussels life. She would show there had been a day when the barriers between them would have been rashly ignored by him. Thus Rochester is made to sing in Jane Eyre, Chap. XXIV.:— I dreamed it would be nameless bliss, As I loved, loved to be; And to this object did I press As blind as eagerly.
But wide as pathless[79] was the space That lay, our lives, between, And dangerous as the foamy race Of ocean-surges green. And haunted as a robber-path Through wilderness or wood; For Might and Right, and Woe and Wrath, Between our spirits stood.[80] I dangers dared; I hindrance scorned; I omens did defy: Whatever menaced, harassed, warned,[81] I passed impetuous by. On sped my rainbow, fast as light; I flew as in a dream; For glorious rose upon my sight That child of Shower and Gleam. Still bright on clouds of suffering dim Shines that soft, solemn joy; Nor care I now, how dense and grim Disasters gather nigh; I care not in this moment sweet, Though all I have rushed o'er Should come on pinion, strong and fleet, Proclaiming vengeance sore. It is clear the impediment of M. Héger's marriage is suggested in these verses. But undeniable evidence as to Charlotte Brontë's having escaped by flight what she considered a most dangerous temptation, is the fact that we find she was influenced to pen these lines, wherein M. Héger (Rochester) is likened to a wild pursuer of a shower and gleam nymph who sped before him fast as light and glorious rose upon his sight, by Montagu's reference, in Gleanings in Craven, to the story of a Craven nymph a satyr pursued yet lost by her being changed into a spring. Says Frederic Montagu:— In the Polyolbion, published in 1612, is the following passage:—
In all my spacious tract let them (so wise) survey Thy Ribble's rising banks, their worst and let them say; At Giggleswick, where I a fountain can you show, That eight times in a day is said to ebb and flow! Who sometime was a Nymph, and in the mountains high Of Craven, whose blue heads, for caps put on the sky, Among the Oreads there, and Sylvans, made abode (It was ere human foot upon these hills had trod), Of all the mountain kind, and since she was most fair; It was a Satyr's chance to see her silver hair Flow loosely at her back, as up a cliff she clame, Her beauties noting well, her features and her frame, And after her he goes; which when she did espy, Before him like the wind, the nimble Nymph did fly: They hurry down the rocks, o'er hill and dale they drive, To take her he doth strain, t' outstrip him she doth strive, Like one his kind that knew, and greatly feared.... And to the Topic Gods by praying to escape, They turned her to a Spring, which as she then did pant, When, wearied with her course, her breath grew wond'rous scant, Even as the fearful Nymph, then thick and short did blow, Now made by them a Spring, so doth she ebb and flow. This is not all. We know now the truth regarding Charlotte Brontë's Brussels life, and seeing she discovered a pertinence in the state of the Craven Nymph to her own—for it is undeniable Rochester's song was modelled upon the lines Montagu quotes—it is likely that what I term the river suggestion and the Craven Elf suggestion which resulted in Charlotte Brontë's portraying herself in the rôle of the stream-named Craven elf, Janet Aire or Eyre, had to do with Montagu's mention of this nymph of Craven who escaped a dangerous persecution by becoming a spring. It seems, indeed, that if she did not at first utilize the parallel of this narrative in verse with her own experience, she yet in Wuthering Heights was influenced by it, in the days which I call the period of the recoil, to represent her hero Heathcliffe as a ruin-creating, semi-human being. Whether the lines— It was a Satyr's chance to see her silver hair Flow loosely at her back as up a cliff she clame,
had in the connection to do with the cliffe in that ghoul Heathcliffe's name a reference to Charlotte Brontë's Preface to Wuthering Heights, and her words on the creation of Heathcliffe, in my next chapter, may declare. It is now impossible not to understand the origin of the Satyr and Nymph passage and its implication in the chapter of Jane Eyre containing Rochester's song, when he says to Jane in the very same chapter:— You shall sojourn at Paris, Rome, and Naples: at Florence, Venice, and Vienna: all the ground I've wandered over shall be retrodden by you: wherever I stamped my hoof, your sylph's foot shall step also.
CHAPTER XV. The Recoil. II. A ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring, would have been a meet emblem of my mind when I accused; ... the same ridge, black and blasted after the flames are dead, would have represented as meetly my subsequent condition when ... reflection had shown me the madness of my conduct, and the dreariness of my hated and hating position. Something of vengeance I had tasted.... As aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy; its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.... I would fain exercise some better faculty than that of fierce speaking—fain find nourishment for some less fiendish feeling than that of sombre indignation. These words, written by Charlotte Brontë in Jane Eyre, Chapter IV., in relation to herself and Mrs. Reed, give us an insight into her extraordinary alternations of mood. To inquire deeply into her determining initially to disavow the authorship of Wuthering Heights requires a somewhat ruthless baring of the fiendish vindictiveness against M. Héger between the dates of 1844-46, that was a characteristic of the portrayals of him I have mentioned; but it also reveals her active turn to a spirit of repentance for past vindictive feeling, the which she acknowledges to have known. It seems that it was in a spirit of reproach Charlotte Brontë wrote the vengeful scene between Heathcliffe and Catherine in Wuthering Heights, harsh in threat almost as her poem Gilbert, wherein the man, satisfied with the affections of his wife and children, has banished the remembrance of her of whom he boasted—She loved me more than life, and who is made to say, before her spirit in the form of a white-clad spectre comes to him:—
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    Managing for Knowledge HR’s strategicrole Christina Evans AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO
  • 9.
    Butterworth-Heinemann An imprint ofElsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803 First published 2003 Copyright © 2003, Christina Evans. All rights reserved The right of Christina Evans to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science and Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (+44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: (+44) (0) 1865 853333; e-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’ British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0 7506 5566 6 For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications visit our website at www.bh.com Composition by Genesis Typesetting, Rochester, Kent Printed and bound in Great Britain
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    Contents List of figuresvii List of tables ix Foreword xi Introduction xiii Acknowledgements xix Part One The Strategic Context for HR’s Role in Managing for Knowledge 1 1 The changing world of business and the imperative for managing knowledge 3 2 The changing role of HR – from operational to strategic HR 28 3 Towards a blueprint for building a knowledge-centric culture 39 Part Two Building a Knowledge-centric Culture 59 4 Structures, roles and responsibilities in a knowledge-centric culture 61 5 HR’s role in building a knowledge-centric culture (input from Linda Holbeche) 84 6 Re-visiting learning in the knowledge economy 113 7 Understanding the motivation for learning amongst knowledge workers 140 8 Working and learning in Communities of Practice (input from Elizabeth Lank) 148
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    vi Contents Part ThreeBuilding HR’s KM Credibility and Capabilities 163 9 Aligning HR and KM practices 165 10 Knowing what we know: language and tools for knowledge mapping (Chapter by Dave Snowden) 186 11 Building your KM toolkit 209 12 Using technology wisely 238 13 Summary and conclusions 258 References 263 Index 269
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    Figures Figure 3.1 Towardsa blueprint for a knowledge-centric organisation Figure 5.1 Relationship between communication resources and impact Figure 5.2 Relationship between the communication’s medium and message Figure 9.1 Linking KM and HR practices Figure 10.1 The balance of tacit and explicit knowledge Figure 10.2 Relationship between level of abstraction and codification Figure 10.3 Cynefin and community Figure 10.4 Dynamic flows of knowledge Figure 11.1 Example of a changing social network during a career transition
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    Tables Table 1.1 Timeto market – how the world of technology is speeding up Table 1.2 Stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey Table 2.1 Contrasting traditional personnel and HRM Table 2.2 Example of an in-company HR development programme Table 3.1 Cultural tensions affecting knowledge transfer within organisations Table 3.2 Paradoxes associated with managing organisational knowledge Table 4.1 The ‘boundaryless’ organisation – a self-assessment activity Table 8.1 Principles associated with adopting a social perspective of learning Table 11.1 An adaptation of the classic transition model Table 12.1 Stages in QinetiQ’s strategic approach to knowledge management
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    Foreword With remarkable regularitya ‘new idea’ surfaces in the manage- ment community. Often it results from repackaging a long-lived management issue or truth. Conversely, the current vogue, Knowledge Management, is a genuinely new concept. In summary this involves the processes that ensure all the knowledge, explicit and implicit, that exists in the organisation is organised in a way that enables it to be accessed quickly and easily. This allows for distributed decision making so that new actions, products and services can be built from it at a pace that outstrips similar use by others. Knowledge management simultaneously meets the need to make information freely available while also enabling those with full understanding to move swiftly ahead, thereby rendering the earlier knowledge redundant. In today’s fast paced environment, it offers an essential market edge for individuals and for their organisation. Knowledge management is frequently linked with technology, specifically computer or information technology. IT develop- ments such as database management, bulletin board systems and web technology offer the potential for information to be gathered continuously from a vast array of sources. Also this ensures that it can be accessed in a similar way giving rise to countless permutations of inferences and new possibilities. At the same time, some researchers and gurus, mindful of the capacity of the human mind to make connections between apparently unrelated facts, have urged the study of human aspects of knowledge management rather than concentrating solely on computerisation. The focus here is on collecting the unwritten stories and morés of organisational experience. The shared assumptions, leaps in understanding and intuition that come from standing simple
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    xii Foreword information onits head, may prompt a ‘eureka moment’. In turn, this leads to breakthrough thinking. Nevertheless, most authors and speakers about knowledge management focus on the computer systems that assist the collection of knowledge or, more accurately, information. In this book, rather than relying on technology to manage knowledge as if it were an entity in itself, Christina Evans correctly focuses on human interaction – the need to manage for knowledge: that is to organise people, such that they gather and act on the knowledge that is inherently available to them. By directing her attention specifically to HR, she puts this function at the heart of the business since leveraging knowledge effectively is a vital strategic goal of all organisations today. Clearly and directly Christina sets out the role for HR in building a culture where harvesting knowledge as opposed to simply gathering information is the norm. She shows why managing for knowledge is important, how to do it and gives practical examples. She offers guidance to encourage HR specialists to reinvent their role, to become full business partners. Most significantly, she demonstrates the cru- cial importance for HR to work effectively with knowledge management, the concept and the technical support, in order to create organisations that are successful tomorrow as well as today. Val Hammond Chief Executive, Roffey Park Institute
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    Introduction The Knowledge Economy– opportunities and challenges for business It is difficult to pinpoint an exact time when the current interest, possibly obsession, with knowledge management took off. Cer- tainly some of the seminal books from management writers began to emerge in the early 1990s. Yet managing knowledge is not a new concept. Professionals, i.e. individuals whose work depends on them making judgments that are grounded in their knowledge base, have always had to manage their knowledge in order to continue practising. So why has managing knowledge suddenly moved up the strategic agenda for large corporations? What has changed? A number of fairly significant changes have occurred over the past ten to fifteen years. One significant change has been the shift from manufacturing to service-based businesses, where companies are competing to attract and retain more knowledgeable and more discerning global customers. In this environment speed to market has become all-important. To compete, some organisations have had radically to rethink how to do business. In the IT sector, for example, most of the major manufacturing companies have transformed themselves into services companies, where they now offer ‘total solutions’. In this context knowledge about customers’ businesses, i.e. what their business issues are, what their strategic goals are, is crucial. Of course this information is only of value if the organisation then acts on it, in order to deliver what the customer wants, in a cost- effective way, and timely manner, ahead of the competition.
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    xiv Introduction In therace to get a handle on managing knowledge many organisations have come unstuck by investing too much energy in developing formal systems, often IT systems, to facilitate knowl- edge sharing, at the expense of capitalising on the benefits that come from informal processes. Organisations have spent millions of pounds on systems to capture, store and improve access to vast quantities of information that is now available, through one source or another, and yet this does not always bring the expected business benefits. I am using the term organisation here as the collective name for its people. As it is people who act on information, not machines, this reinforces the need to focus on mobilising, energising, supporting and enabling individuals at all levels within the organisation to combine their ‘Know of’ and ‘Know how’ to deliver existing services more efficiently, as well as to create new services. Perhaps one of the questions that needs to be asked is can we achieve what we want to achieve without an IT solution? If not, should we not at least ensure that any new system can be integrated with what we already have? What seems to have been overlooked is that knowledge doesn’t always flow from formal structures and systems, but instead is often the by-product of day- to-day interactions. Why another book on managing knowledge? My intention is to stimulate a debate about the role of HR in helping organisations move forward on their knowledge manage- ment journey. HR has come under a lot of criticism as it is perceived not to be taking a proactive role in the knowledge management arena. In many organisations it is business teams, or IT teams, that have taken the lead. In practical terms this means that while the systems aspects are addressed, the people and cultural aspects are sadly often overlooked. A cynical view of the role of HR in managing knowledge could be that HR do not have the skills and knowledge needed to be proactive in the knowledge management arena. After all aren’t HR just administrators? What do they know about business and how to make businesses more efficient? That may have been the old view of HR, but just as the business world has been changing in recent years, so too has the agenda for HR. There are now many good examples of where HR profession- als are performing the business partner role, a role which Dave Ulrich suggests is the new mandate for HR. This does not mean that HR have abandoned their administrative role, instead they are finding ways of delivering this part of their work more
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    Introduction xv efficiently, andin doing so are creating the much needed space to operate more strategically. This was the experience within IBM where the HR function was completely remodelled to channel resources into HR strategy, rather than administrative tasks, in order to support IBM’s business transformation in the 1990s1 . Drawing on techniques from Customer Relationship Management a new HR delivery model was introduced. This reflected the different types of customers that HR have contact with e.g. manager, employee, applicant, together with the different types of interactions e.g. advise, transact, or consult. The delivery model involves a service centre that provides information and advice covering most of the simple questions, an intranet system that enables policy and procedure to be easily accessible at individual’s desktop and HR strategy partners, who focus on the strategic issues the business is facing. The global e-HR system has been rolled out to 320,000 employees in 180 countries and is saving the organisation around $320 m (£238 m) a year2 . It enables HR practices to be quickly updated in line with the changing business. Of course IBM is not the only organisation that is investing in new solutions to enhance the way that it delivers HR services to its different users. Having been conducting research into the cultural dimensions of knowledge management for some years now I have found a mixed level of interest in the area of knowledge management among HR practitioners. My initial contact with organisations has often been with the IT or KM department. It is only when I have started to ask questions about the processes that support learning, in its broadest sense, or the informal processes for knowledge sharing, that I have then started to connect with the HR community. My previous research suggests that HR needs to work in partnership with their business colleagues in the knowledge management arena. Indeed some of the case studies that I draw on in this book show the benefits of adopting this approach. In some organisations HR has been part of the catalyst team set up to get knowledge management onto the corporate agenda. In others, the Chief Executive has tasked HR with moving the organisation forward on its knowledge management journey, because of their expertise in the area of learning and change. Given their knowledge of how to facilitate learning and change there is a real opportunity for HR to move more centre stage in the knowledge management arena. However, HR will need to re-educate their business partners, and possibly themselves, on what is meant by learning and also how best to encourage and facilitate learning in the modern workplace. Etienne Wenger (1998), a leading researcher and
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    xvi Introduction writer inthe field of learning, believes that one of the assumptions that many institutions hold about learning is that of learning being an individual process, one that occurs through teaching in locations held away from the workplace. Wenger has developed a theory of learning – a social theory of learning – that is based on the assumptions that (a) learning is as much a part of human nature as eating and sleeping and (b) learning occurs naturally through our active participation in the practices of different social communities. What does this mean for organisations? They need to adopt an integrative training approach, one which focuses on practice and seeks ‘points of leverage’ to support learning. These ‘points of leverage’, according to Wenger, can come from learning through everyday practice, as well as by encouraging shared working and learning in communities of practice. HR can also add value by using their knowledge of best practice occurring outside the organisation to help managers address first- order (i.e. doing the same things, only better) and second-order (i.e. doing different things) change. Part of the value that HR can bring here is in challenging existing assumptions and beliefs about the way business and work gets done. So questioning whether faster is always better and helping the organisation strike a balance between what needs changing and what does not. However, HR’s contribution does not, and should not, stop there. In their strategic partner role HR can add also value in the knowledge management arena by developing a focus on capability building and retention; helping the business develop more efficient business processes, as well as facilitating relationship building, both within and outside the organisation (Evans, 2002). Building a knowledge-centric culture takes time. As David Parlby, from KPMG, points out, few organisations have reached this stage on their knowledge management journey. While there are some common building blocks, i.e. building, sharing, reusing and retaining knowledge, how organisations move forward depends on their initial starting point and their overall business priorities. The case studies in this book provide examples of where different organisations are focusing/have focused their energies at different stages on their journey. The key message is that knowledge management activities need to add value to the business, it is not just a nice bolt-on to have. Managing knowledge should not be seen as a separate activity, but instead needs to be integrated into day-to-day business processes. The journey is an evolving one too, practitioners need to apply the learning cycle to their knowledge management approach. This requires identifying and using strategic change levers: What are we good at now? Where do we need to improve? How will we do that? Who needs to do what? How will we know that we are moving forward?
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    Introduction xvii This bookprovides ideas, questions, and tools to enable HR to move their organisation forward on their knowledge management journey. One of the biggest challenges for HR as a function is to position itself as a role model for the knowledge-centric organisa- tion through the way that it is structured, conducts business and builds and enhances its own capabilities. With the right attitude and knowledge HR can achieve this. Notes 1. Leighton, R. Ensuring employee satisfaction. In Making e-business deliver. This is one of a series of business guides, produced jointly by Capstan Publishing and IBM. 2. HR budget at IBM slashed through e-HR. Personnel Today, 4 June 2002. See www.personneltoday.com
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    Acknowledgements There are manypeople who have helped in shaping the ideas and content in this book. I would particularly like to thank Linda Holbeche, Director of Research at Roffey Park, for suggesting me to Butterworth-Heinemann as someone who could write knowl- edgably on HR’s role in managing knowledge, as well as for her ongoing contribution and support with this project. Equally, I am grateful to Val Hammond, Chief Executive of Roffey Park, for writing the Foreword. This is particularly timely and symbolic given that Val will be stepping down as Chief Executive this year. I would particularly like to thank Dave Snowden, from the Cynefin Centre for Organisational Complexity, IBM Global Ser- vices for his chapter on ‘Language and tools for knowledge mapping’ and Elizabeth Lank, independent consultant, for help- ing me shape the chapter on ‘Working and Learning in Commu- nities of Practice’. I am grateful to John Bailey, KPMG; Linda Marks, QinetiQ; Ron Donaldson, English Nature and Alison Lewis, Oxfam GB, for making it possible for me to develop organisational case studies. Also to Jela Webb, Azione, for sharing her experience of how to structure an HR team to ensure maximum impact from a knowledge management perspective. I would also like to thank Linda Emmett, Information Manager at the CIPD, for sharing her thoughts on thinking through the appropriate use of technological solutions for managing knowledge. Other people whom I would like to thank for giving up their time to share their ideas, or allow me to learn from their experience, include: Ruth Mundy of Jones Lang Lasalle; Elaine Monkhouse, formally of The Oxford Group; Jozefa Fawcett,
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    xx Acknowledgements formally BerkshireNHS Shared Services; Tom Knight of Fujitsu and Richard Archer of The iFramework. I am also grateful for the enthusiasm, support and challenge from colleagues in my personal network. These include: David Lines, Eden Charles, John Whatmore and John Sparks. Many thanks too go to Ailsa Marks and the team at Butterworth- Heinemann for being so supportive throughout the whole produc- tion process. Finally, I want to thank my family, particularly my husband David and daughter Joanna, who almost didn’t get a holiday last summer because I was so engrossed in writing this book – I’ll try to be better organised next time!
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    Part One The StrategicContext for HR’s Role in Managing for Knowledge
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    1 The changing worldof business and the imperative for managing knowledge Knowledge as a key business asset We are living in the information age where knowledge is now considered the key strategic business asset. ‘How do we leverage the knowledge in our business?’ is a fundamental question being raised by senior business leaders, in all business sectors. The Chief Executive of Hewlett-Packard has been quoted as saying ‘If HP knew what HP knows, it would be three times as profitable.’ What knowledge assets are we talking about? Structural assets Brands Customer relationships Patents Products Operational processes Human assets Employee experience Employee ‘know how’ Personal relationships So why has knowledge become such a key business asset? What are the broader economic and technological changes that have contributed to this shift?
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    4 Managing forKnowledge Changes in the global business economy A number of significant changes have occurred in the global business economy, and in society more generally over the past couple of decades (Castells, 1989; Allen, 1992). Allen (1992) points out how a ‘. . . sense of economic transformation within the western industrial economies has been present for some time, at least since the 1970s.’ While there are differing views as to what type of economy we are moving from there seems to be some converging views that information and knowledge are becoming the primary source of economic value. Castells argues that a series of scientific and technological innovations have converged to constitute a new technological paradigm and that what differentiates the current process of technological change is that its raw material is information, as is is its outcome. He refers to this new paradigm as the ‘informa- tional technological paradigm’, which is characterised by two fundamental features: (a) the core new technologies are focused on information processing, so its raw material is information, and (b) the main effects of these technological innovations are on processes, rather than products. The ‘informational technological’ paradigm is having a funda- mental effect on businesses since processes, as Castells points out, enter into the domain of human activity; something that affects social structures and organisational structures. Under the ‘infor- mational technological’ paradigm information and knowledge become the primary source of economic value and competitive advantage (Castells, 1989; Drucker 1993). As Thomas Stewart points out, the old economy was about ‘congealed resources’, i.e. a lot of material held together by a bit of knowledge, but the new economy is about ‘congealed knowledge’, i.e. a lot of intellectual content in a physical slipcase1 . Knowledge is a source of sustainable advantage given that, unlike other assets, knowledge assets grow with use: Ideas breed new ideas, and shared knowledge stays with the giver while it enriches the receiver. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998:17) and Ideas are the instructions that let us combine limited physical resources in arrangements that are ever more valuable. (Paul Romer, cited in Davenport and Prusak, 1998:17) and
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    The changing worldof business 5 Through knowledge creation, firms [and people] are able to revitalize themselves and set themselves apart from their competitors. (Bird, 1994: 328). Other leading management writers, such as George Stonehouse et al. (2001), argue that there are three factors that influence why one business outperforms another. These are competitive positioning, resource or competitive-based positioning and a knowledge-based approach, i.e. having a focus on knowledge building and organisational learning. Sustainability, according to Stonehouse et al., comes from the level of importance that is placed on information and knowledge within the organisation. They suggest that competitive advantage only arises when an organisation is able to generate new knowledge, something that is heavily dependent on an organisation’s learning environment. The combined effects of globalisation, influenced by new technologies, and better communication and transport facilities means that consumers now have more choice over the goods and services available to them. They are constantly being inundated with new product offerings from global companies. For organisations this means that they cannot afford to be complacent about how they conduct business. They cannot assume that the products and processes that made them suc- cessful in the past will continue to do so in the future. Davenport and Prusak argue that companies now require quality, value, service, innovation and speed to market, in order to remain successful in business; the business imperative then is one of knowing how to do new things well and do them quickly. But businesses have also got to keep an eye on their cost base and seek new ways of managing this. One of the ways in which many organisations have done this is through reviewing their core competence, and outsourcing business activities that do not map directly onto their core competence. Over recent years we have seen an increase in the number of organisations that have outsourced their manufacturing, and in some case part of their service function, to countries where labour costs are lower than in their native country. The area around Bangalore in India, for example, is now a world centre for software produc- tion; an example of where the globalisation of knowledge is unaffected by traditional boundaries. Of course by shifting production to different continents, organisations can take advantage of different time zones, which means that they can offer a twenty-four hour service to customers in a cost-effective way.
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    6 Managing forKnowledge Changes in technology Despite the way in which changes in technology are affecting all of our lives, it is easy to forget the speed at which change is taking place. As Table 1.1 indicates, technological changes, which in the past spanned generations, now take place within much shorter timeframes. Over the past couple of decades we have seen significant and rapid changes in Information and Communications Technologies. Two important technologies evolved during the 1980s and 1990s. One was a change in telecommunications technologies providing a hundred-fold increase in the amount of data that can be transmitted over computer networks. Another was the growth in the number of networked computers enabling more open commu- nications systems and new ways of working. These technological changes have enabled new organisational forms to develop, for example networked organisations, virtual organisations and e-businesses – all of which are based on a different set of assumptions about the way business should be organised and managed. In these new business environments, hierarchical structures have been found to be less effective as they get in the way of providing a differentiated and responsive service to customers. In addition, they are based on a different set of assumptions about the way business should be organised and managed. Table 1.1: Time to market – how the world of technology is speeding up Technology Time to reach 10 million customers (years) Pager 41 Telephone 38 Cable TV 25 Fax machine 22 VCR 9 Cellular telephone 9 Personal computer 7 CD-ROM drive 6 Netscape Internet browser 0.5 (i.e. six months)
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    The changing worldof business 7 These combined technological changes have also led to a number of observable changes in the way that work is structured and organised. First, information that in the past would have been restricted to individuals in certain job roles, can now be made more accessible both vertically and horizontally, within and across organisations; such a change can affect how and where business decisions are made. Second, these new technologies have enabled work to be location-independent thus transcending traditional geographical boundaries. With the relevant technolo- gies, work, as pointed out above, can be distributed around the world in order to minimize production costs. Finally, these new technologies have opened up the possibilities for individuals to work from home thus bringing about a return to a way of living and working that existed in the pre-industrial era, in which work, family and community life were closely intertwined (Baruch and Nicholson, 1997). Castells argues that in the knowledge economy individuals who are unable to acquire the relevant skills, or who do not invest in continuous learning, may find themselves excluded from the labour force. Continuous learning throughout all strata of the workforce is critical to survival in today’s ever-changing business world (Coolahan, 1998). Knowledge-based businesses apart, more and more jobs now involve the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). ICT skills are seen as being essential in the modern workplace (Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). However, as more and more organisations opt to have their IT systems developed and serviced by third party suppliers, this will have implications for the skills mix within organisations. What will be required is IT literate employees who understand the business, but IT literacy will come to mean knowing how to use computers more so than knowing how to manage them (Evans, 2000). What are the implications of these continuous changes in technology for HR? First, HR professionals will need to become more IT literate themselves, sufficient enough to be able to enter into meaningful discussions with their IT counterparts. Second, they will need to consider the implications for the organisations’ future resources, skills and capabilities. Third, they will need to help prepare employees for new roles and opportunities that are likely to emerge from emerging technologies. The changing nature of work and the workplace The combined effects of globalisation and economic uncertainty have put businesses under increasing pressure to manage their
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    8 Managing forKnowledge operating costs. This has led many businesses to review their core processes and capabilities to identify ways in which they can speed up product development and service delivery, and of course manage their costs. Going back to basics has been one of the strategies adopted. To achieve this, organisations have chosen to outsource non-core business activities. Today’s workplace is distinctly different to how it was twenty years ago. Many organisations have introduced flexible produc- tion models, including flexible employment options. The number of individuals employed on flexible work contacts increased by one and a quarter million between 1986 and 19932 . Part-time working is still the most common form of flexible work option with around 26% of the workforce working part-time (Labour Market Statistics, December 2002). However, there are structural differences within this overall figure. One is that the largest proportion of part-time working occurs within the Distribution, Business Miscellaneous Services, as well as Public Services sectors. A second is that the majority of those who work part-time are women, particularly women aged 25 to 39, with dependent children3 . But, part-time employment among men, particularly younger men (aged below 25) and older men (aged 50 and over), has been increasing too. The rise in the number of younger men working part-time may be associated with changes in the availability of grants for higher education, leading young people to seek alternative sources of funding for their university education. The rise in number of older men working part-time could be the result of the changing organisational practice of encouraging early retirement, from age 50 onwards. Or it could be that the increasing pressures in the workplace, as a result of continuous change, are leading some individuals to rethink what they want from a career. Work–life balance became a hot topic in the late 1990s, particularly for individuals (Filipczak, 1994; Glynn, 2000). There are signs that organisations, as well as the Govern- ment are beginning to take this issue more seriously. The establishment of the ‘Employers for Work–Life Balance’ forum is one indication that employers are beginning to pay atten- tion to individuals’ concerns about work–life balance. The forum, founded and chaired by Lloyds TSB Group plc, provides a forum where employers can share policies and practices relating to work– life balance (so itself knowledge-building). There are currently twenty-two member organisations. Work–life balance has also become part of the political agenda. In March 2000, the Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities launched its Work–Life Bal- ance Challenge Fund. This scheme is intended to provide support to private, public and voluntary sector employers who are com- mitted to initiating work–life balance policies and practices.
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    The changing worldof business 9 The introduction of flexible working practices has organisa- tional benefits too. These include: the ability to provide a more responsive service to customers; the ability to attract employees from diverse backgrounds, who otherwise might be excluded from traditional employment models; attracting and retaining skilled professionals; and retaining employees looking to have a balance between their work and home lives. However, when considering structural change, such as the introduction of flexible working practices, organisations also need to consider and plan for the impact that this might have on their ability to manage their knowledge (Evans, 2002). While having more mobile and flexible workers may make it easier to deliver a more responsive service to customers, unless properly managed, this could have an adverse affect on an organisation’s knowledge capabilities. In addition, organisations will need to plan for the fact they may have less time to capitalize on their employees’ ‘know how’. The combined effects of structural change i.e. the shift from manufacturing to service-based businesses (which are more information and knowledge dependent) and technology is having an effect on the skills needed within the workplace. To-day’s businesses are more knowledge intensive. Statistics provided by the OECD indicate that the percentage of GNP that comes from knowledge-based business is now around 50% (OECD, 1999). This is leading to an increased demand for cognitive skills (i.e. problem-solving, communication, and interpreting information), which have become more important and in demand than manual skills (DfEE National Skills Task Force, 2000). Where these skills are in short supply, organisations are finding that they are struggling to recruit and retain employees (Gubman, 1998). Equally the percentage of the workforce employed in manage- rial, professional and technical roles, working in ‘information occupation’ is increasing (Allen, 1992; DfEE Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). Employees who fall into the category of professional and technical workers are among those listed in the statistics on ‘hard-to-fill vacancies’ (DfEE Labour Market Skills Trends, 2000). These combined changes have important implications for employees. There is a danger that it could lead to polarisations in the workforce, with knowledge workers becoming an elitist group within organisations and within society more generally (Castells, 1989). Ian Angell, Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics, suggests that in the Information Age it is not simply a question of replacing ‘old jobs’ with ‘new ones’, it is about building ‘intellectual muscle’, in the form of intelligent knowledge workers, as this will be the source of growth.
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    10 Managing forKnowledge The pace of change in the modern business world means that the life-span of certain knowledge is getting shorter and shorter. Individuals in all employment sectors, not just those working in knowledge-intensive businesses, need constantly to update their skills and knowledge in order to maintain their employability. In the modern workplace continuous learning is becoming the norm. But there is an issue here with regard to who should pay for this learning – should it be businesses, individuals themselves, or should the Government be expected to contribute some funding too? Raman Roy, the Chief Executive of Spectramind, a call centre based in India, sums up the changes that have occurred in the nature of work in the late 20th century: Geography is history. Distance is irrelevant. Where you are located is unimportant. I can log on anywhere in the world. With work today being like the Martini advert – anytime, anyplace, anywhere – this has created new challenges for organisations. Many large organisations are adopting the mobile office principle whereby staff may spend some of their time working in a central office, some working at a client site, some working at a satellite office, or some of their time working at home. These changes have implications for the organisation’s knowledge management and human resource systems. In order to be able to work anyplace, anytime, anywhere individuals need to be provided with the right technological infrastructure (laptop, mobile phone) and they also need to have access to up-to-date centralised information systems that can be accessed from any location. One of the difficulties, however, of having a global and mobile workforce is that it can be difficult to ensure certain types of knowledge sharing. Creating a sense of community can be difficult in organisations in which the majority of employees are mobile, leaving them feeling isolated and lacking a sense of belonging. The changing landscape of careers The structural changes in the workplace discussed above, has had an effect on individuals and their ‘careers’. Here I am deliberately using the term ‘career’ in the plural, given the renewed interest in the notion that the term career can be applied to other life-areas, not just an individual’s paid work (Barley, 1989).
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    The changing worldof business 11 From the 1950s, when the notion of a managerial career really began, up until the 1980s, individuals had experienced relative stability and predictability in career terms. The dominant view of a career, and to some extent still is, that of: A succession of related jobs, arranged in a hierarchy of prestige, through which persons move in an ordered predictable sequence. (Wilensky, 1960) The structure and order associated with this career definition provided individuals, and indeed organisations, with a sense of security. However, during the 1990s, many organisations re-structured, or de-layered, largely as a way of managing their cost base. As a result, traditional career models, based on Wilensky’s definition, were eroded as organisations began to flatten their structures. In addition to the cost-saving element, organisations saw flatter structures as a way of speeding up the decision-making process and hence providing a more responsive customer-focused service. As flatter organisational structures do not lend themselves to conventional career opportunities (Holbeche, 1999), employers and employees have found themselves searching for alternative career models. One new career model that has emerged is that of the ‘boundaryless’ career. This is characterised by movement across levels/functions either within a single organisation, or across multiple organisations. The ‘boundaryless career’ is based on an assumption that work will encompass a variety of tasks and . . . the person, not the organisation, is managing their career. It consists of all the person’s varied experiences in education, training, work in several organisations, changes in the organisational field . . . it is not what happens to the person in any one organisation. (Mirvis and Hall, 1994: 369). The ‘boundaryless’ career then opens up the career space, such that an individual’s career can encompass both paid and non-paid work and where the boundaries between these two domains are more fluid. Other writers define a career as ‘repositories of knowledge’: I see careers as accumulations of information and knowledge embodied in skills, expertise and relationship networks, acquired through an evolving sequence of work experiences over time (Bird, 1996:326), where
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    12 Managing forKnowledge The contents of a career are located in what is learned from experiences – in the information, knowledge and perspectives that are acquired, or changed, over time as a result of a series of work experiences. (Bird, 1994: 327) Another career definition that is gaining interest, particularly given concerns about work–life balance, is that of a career being seen as part of a whole life-system: . . . where two careers and two sets of personal and family concerns are integrated into one lifestyle. (Schein, 1996) We can see this way of thinking about careers creeping into the behaviours of some individuals in terms of the changes they are making in their own lives in order to gain a more satisfactory work–life balance. Despite the increasing availability of part-time and flexible working, employers cannot, or will not, provide the type of flexibility that employees are looking for. This then leads to employees, particularly highly skilled professionals, seeking alternative work options, such as self-employment (Evans, 2001). It has been argued that the current recruitment and retention difficulties in the NHS, for example, will not be resolved until the NHS adopts a more flexible stance on its flexible work arrange- ments. It is not surprising therefore that retaining talent, which if we unpack this is really about retaining organisational ‘know how’, has become one of the top strategic issues for organisations. Building a shared understanding of knowledge and knowledge management Definitions of knowledge One of the difficulties that organisations experience, when trying to introduce knowledge management, is helping individuals build an understanding of what is meant by the terms knowledge and knowledge management. The term knowledge is in itself a difficult concept. It is a subject that has intrigued and occupied the minds of many of the great philosophers. Unlike many other assets, knowledge isn’t some- thing that you can touch, or feel, hence the reason why it is often described as the invisible, or intangible asset. Some knowledge exists outside the individual, in text format, but a large percentage of knowledge resides within people. One of its other elusive characteristics is that the value of knowledge is highly contextual, i.e. you only know what you need to know, at the time when you
  • 38.
    The changing worldof business 13 need to know it; something that many organisations have discovered far too late. While many knowledge management practitioners argue that we shouldn’t get too hung-up on definitions, it is important to ensure that there is some common understanding about what knowledge the organisation is trying to manage. Tom Boydell4 , a leading writer on learning organisations, has developed a frame- work for thinking about knowledge. This consists of four types of knowledge and three knowledge levels. The four types of knowledge include: (a) knowing about things, (b) knowing how to do things, (c) knowing how to become yourself, (d) knowing how to achieve things with others; and three knowledge levels: 1. knowing how to implement, 2. knowing how to improve, 3. knowing how to integrate. Davenport and Prusak, leading writers in the field of knowledge management, refer to knowledge as: . . . a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organisations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organisational routines, processes, practices and norms. (Davenport and Prusak, 1998:5). Davenport and Prusak point out that knowledge is different from information, since information only becomes knowledge when transformed by one or more of the following processes: Comparison – how does information about this situation compare to that of others? Consequences – what implications does this information have for decisions and actions? Connections – how does this bit of knowledge relate to other pieces of knowledge? Conversation – what do others think about this information? It is this particular activity that emphasises the importance of social interaction for the knowledge creation process.
  • 39.
    14 Managing forKnowledge In my own practitioner work, I tend to concentrate on four different types of knowledge: Know of, or know about This is often referred to as ‘operational level’ knowledge, i.e. knowledge that is used as part of individuals’ day-to-day work. In a retail environment, operational level knowledge might include awareness of the current week’s special offers, new promotions, store layout changes etc. In a legal environment, operational level knowledge might include changes in legislation relating to employment law. This type of knowledge lends itself to being codified and hence more readily accessible through intranet systems, or transmitted via mass communication techniques (e.g. through e-mail, memos). Know how This again is often referred to as operational level knowledge. However, the type of knowledge here is tacit knowledge, i.e. our accumulated experience of how things work and also how things get done. It is the type of knowledge that gets called upon when problem-solving and decision-making and sets the context within which knowledge gets applied. It is for this reason that tacit knowledge is more difficult to codify. Accessing ‘know how’ isn’t something that can always easily be extracted through the use of interviewing techniques. This was an important discovery made by the Xerox corporation when researching how to design information systems to support the way people really work (Seely Brown, 1998). The initial stage of the Xerox research involved interviewing certain groups of employees about how they went about their day-to-day jobs. When clerks working in the organisation’s accountants department were interviewed about their jobs, what they described in the interviews pretty much matched the information in their job description. However, when these same clerks were observed at work by anthropologists a very different picture of their jobs emerged. The anthropologists observed how although the clerks referred to formal procedures as they went about their day-to-day work, they also had to adapt many of their day-to-day work activities in order to get the job done. What was concluded from this study was that employees use formal procedures as a way of understanding what needs to be done, rather than to identify the actual steps that need to be taken to get from A to B. Instead the clerks draw on ‘workarounds’, i.e. informal steps, which are un-documented, and which managers are often unaware of. Given these findings it is clear why induction and initial on-the-job training for new
  • 40.
    The changing worldof business 15 members of the team become so important. Without this an organisation is likely to find that new employees follow docu- mented procedures that do not deliver the intended results. The result: dissatisfied customers and disheartened employees. Know why In the complex and ever-changing business world that we operate in today employees need to be more strategically aware. They need to know where their organisation is going and why. They also need to know about the organisation’s value system and how this links to the organisation’s strategic direction. This is impor- tant for two reasons. One is to ensure that the decisions that individuals make as part of their day-to-day jobs are consistent with the organisation’s overall strategic direction. The second reason is so that individuals can understand how they can best contribute to the organisation’s strategic goals. If individuals are clearer about where and how they can contribute to the organisation’s future then this will help them feel more connected. Robert B. Reich, Professor of Economic and Social Research at Brandeis University, argues that in the modern workplace employers need to work at creating ‘social glue’. Reich suggests that ‘Collaboration and mutual advantage are the essence of the organisation. They can create flexibility, resiliency, speed and creativity – the fundamental qualities of the 21st century.’ To help build ‘social glue’, individuals, according to Reich, need to be given opportunities to work on projects which make a real difference and where the organisational goal is aligned with the individual’s own personal goals and values. In today’s ever-changing business world individuals also need to be aware of the economic, social and political changes taking place around them, so that they can have intelligent discussions about the likely implications for the business, as well as their own careers. Building this external perspective can help individuals spot emerging trends, as well as see existing landscapes through a new pair of lenses. Some of the ways in which organisations are helping individ- uals build their ‘know why’ are discussed in later chapters in this book. Know who As much of an organisation’s knowledge resides within individ- uals’ heads, knowledge of who is who, both within and outside the organisation, and what knowledge can be unlocked through networking is critical. The ability to build and maintain social networks, as we shall see later, has become one of the critical knowledge-building competencies.
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    16 Managing forKnowledge Defining knowledge management Just as there are difficulties coming up with a single definition of knowledge, so it is with identifying a single definition of the term knowledge management. Some practitioners feel it is important not to get too hung up on definitions, or indeed get embroiled in a lengthy debate about the differences between data, information and knowledge. However, if individuals are to engage in a dialogue about knowledge management then they at least need to have a working definition of what knowledge management is, within the context of their own organisation. Some definitions that I have gathered while researching in this area include: . . . the process through which we translate the lessons learnt, residing in our individual brains, into information that everyone can use. (internal consultancy team) . . . not just doing the existing business better, but about new business approaches to thrive in a market that is radically changing. (DERA) . . . it is about action and change, not just about installing intranets and managing documents. (Cap Gemini). . . . creating, managing, applying and sharing explicit knowledge (that exists typically in documents, databases and as part of In any organisation it is important to have this taxonomy of knowledge in mind when developing policies and practices for managing knowledge. Without this organisations may focus their energies and other resources on developing one particular type of knowledge, leaving themselves vulnerable in other areas. Other KM practitioners have adopted other methods for categorising the types of knowledge that organisations need to focus on managing (Knight, 2001). The ‘knowledge types’ method pioneered by Knight and his colleagues in ICL, for example, include knowledge types such as: Product and service knowledge – the business ‘content’ relating to the customer experience. Process knowledge – how to get things done. Customer and supplier knowledge – knowledge about relationships. Project knowledge – focused on organisational memory and learning. Technical, or expert knowledge – supporting people with know how.
  • 42.
    The changing worldof business 17 processes) and tacit knowledge (embedded in people and their experience) in order to ‘make a difference’ in overcoming poverty and suffering. (Oxfam) The Document Company – Xerox prefer to use the term Managing for Knowledge, as opposed to Knowledge Management. By this they mean . . . creating a thriving work and learning environment that fosters the continuous creation, aggregation, use and re-use of both personal and organizational knowledge in the pursuit of new business value. What is different about The Document Company – Xerox and the Oxfam definitions is that they link the ‘What’ and the ‘Why’ associated with managing knowledge, which at least helps people to put changes into a wider context. Does knowledge management only apply to knowledge professionals? Before we can answer that question we need to consider what is meant by the term knowledge worker. In her book, Managing Knowledge Workers, Frances Horibe defines knowledge workers as people who use their heads (i.e. through their ideas, analyses, judgements, or syntheses) more than their hands to produce value. She refers to traditional roles, such as RD, management, and salespeople as being archetypal knowledge workers. Using this definition, IT professionals, HR professionals, as well as people in different creative fields, would all come under the category of knowledge workers. Another definition is that of a knowledge worker being a worker who knows more than his/her boss about how to do their job, or can do his/her job better than the boss could (Knight and Howes, 2002). Knight and Howes point out, the notion of ‘team working’ is based around assembling people with different skills and using special- ists with relevant knowledge to tackle specific projects, managed by someone who does not have the in-depth knowledge of team members. This also works both ways, in that team members will not have the same type of knowledge as their managers. But what about individuals who work on the customer service desk in a retail environment, or work on the helpdesk in a service company, can these be considered knowledge workers? Certainly they have to make judgements about how to deal with a particular customer problem/complaint and they no doubt have ideas about how to enhance customer service, based upon their experience of dealing with customer problems and complaints day-in and day- out.
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    18 Managing forKnowledge There is a danger that if we define the category of knowledge worker too narrowly then we could exclude a large number of individuals who have a lot to offer from a knowledge management perspective. How do HR professionals see knowledge management? Research by Vanessa Giannos (2002) identified a number of different perspectives on knowledge management among HR practitioners. These include: Ensuring the learning acquired is shared with others within the organisation (to save re-inventing the wheel). (Consultancy) Ensuring that the information that employees need in order to make effective and informed decisions is quickly and easily available. (dot.com company) Ensuring the right people with the right knowledge and skills are in the right position and making the most impact. (Firm of solicitors) Having structures, systems and processes in place that encourage and facilitate the creation of knowledge and its transfer across organisational boundaries. (Telecommunications company) Ensuring that the knowledge held within the organisation is fully available . . . by providing the right environment, culture, structure and processes to motivate and encourage knowledge-sharing at all levels. (Educational institution) So what then are the common themes in all of these different definitions? Learning Sharing Having people in the right place at the right time Effective decision-making Creativity Making people’s jobs easier Generating new business and business value For these things to happen requires a culture where individuals are motivated enough to want to share their knowledge with others, such that they themselves grow, as well as enabling the business to grow and survive too.
  • 44.
    The changing worldof business 19 Are organisations taking knowledge management seriously? Several organisations conduct regular surveys on the state of play of knowledge management within organisations. KPMG’s Knowl- edge Management Survey5 indicates that: 80 per cent of organisations have some knowledge management projects in place. 40 per cent of organisations have a formal KM programme in place. 25 per cent of organisations have appointed a Chief Knowledge Officer. Funding for KM activities comes from central corporate budget, followed by MIS function, then marketing. However, findings from an annual survey of management trends by Roffey Park Institute – The Management Agenda – indicates that Knowledge Management isn’t a key business process within all organisations yet. The Management Agenda monitors and reports on trends affecting organisations and individuals within the changing workplace. The research is based on a ques- tionnaires sent out to small, medium and large organisations drawn from all business sectors within the UK. The key findings from the Knowledge Management section of the 2002 Management Agenda highlighted that: Knowledge management is a key business process in only 49 per cent of participating organisations. In only 45 per cent of participating organisations is knowledge management linked to key results areas. Only 23 per cent of participating organisations had an Executive Director with overall responsibility for knowledge management. Only 15 per cent of organisations reported having a Chief Knowledge Officer. Only 41 per cent of participating organisations have knowledge management competencies included in their competency framework. There is a lack of shared understanding of what knowledge management is about. Individuals commented that knowledge management hadn’t been defined within their organisation and that this led to confusion about what the organisation was trying achieve. This confusion is echoed by one of the HR Directors that I interviewed as background to writing this book. She pointed out how, in her opinion, there is still a lot of confusion about responsibilities and accountability for knowledge management.
  • 45.
    20 Managing forKnowledge Confusion has arisen about who is accountable for knowledge management, because it is not the exclusive remit of IT, or HR. There are important implications for other business functions, such as marketing. Knowledge management needs to be viewed strategically by the business because of the potential impact on the bottom line. Value can be unlocked by recognising that an organisation’s knowledge pool is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. What this particular HR Director was clear about though was that knowledge management is not a nice to have, but a business imperative, which means that HR really need to be taking knowledge management seriously: Efficient knowledge management is about having business processes which link to organisational design and development. This is where HR needs to have a broader business focus and develop its relationship with IT and other functions. Where is your organisation on its knowledge management journey? Speaking at a seminar on Knowledge Management David Parlby, from KPMG, referred to five stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey6 . These are represented in Table 1.2. Where would you place your organisation in this five-stage model? Are you knowledge chaotic, knowledge-centric, or some- where in the middle? If you are at the knowledge-centric stage then you are probably one of the few organisations that have reached this point. The KMPG survey revealed that only about 10% of organisations have reached stages four and five. Even the big consultancies, whose knowledge-value is recognised in their market capitalisation, are still struggling with the cultural aspect of knowledge management. This is despite having made sig- nificant investment in their knowledge management systems and often adopting what some consider to be a big stick approach, i.e. linking to work processes and ensuring staff conform by linking to performance and reward systems. Getting to the knowledge-centric stage requires adopting a balanced implementation approach, combining a Mechanistic Knowledge Management approach (i.e characterised by a strong emphasis on IT solutions and organisational practices that tend to be top-down and highly prescriptive) and an Organic Knowledge Management approach (i.e. emphasis on open and evolving structures and processes, where there is a strong emphasis on the people processes).
  • 46.
    The changing worldof business 21 The Organic Knowledge Management approach is felt to be more fruitful for the development of tacit knowledge. It requires an approach whereby knowledge is created through volunteering, encouraging self-organised communities, building an open envi- ronment where the motivation for knowledge sharing comes from the desire to leave some form of legacy. In this way knowledge sharing becomes a self-reinforcing activity. Where is your organisation on its knowledge management journey? If you feel that your organisation is at the knowledge-chaotic stage then perhaps a first step for HR would be to conduct its own internal audit. Questions that you might include are: For the organisation as a whole Where does knowledge management fit within the organisa- tion’s strategic plans? What do people in different parts of the organisation under- stand by the term knowledge management? Table 1.2: Stages in an organisation’s knowledge management journey Stage Name Characteristics 1 Knowledge-chaotic unaware of concept no information processes no information sharing 2 Knowledge-aware awareness of KM need some KM processes technology in place sharing information an issue 3 Knowledge-enabled benefits of KM clear standards adopted issues relating to culture and technology 4 Knowledge-managed integrated frameworks benefits case realised issues in previous stages overcome 5 Knowledge-centric KM part of mission Knowledge-value recognised in market capitalisation KM integrated into culture
  • 47.
    22 Managing forKnowledge Where do they think responsibilities for managing knowledge should rest? What do people see as the blocks and enablers to managing knowledge within your organisation? What do they think could be done to minimize the blocks and strengthen the enablers? What practices already exist that could be considered as helping to build the organisation’s knowledge capabilities? What do people know about the practices that exist within other organisations? For teams What are the things that get in the way of them performing at their best, e.g. certain types of information, tools, processes, certain organisational practices or rituals? How much is known about the skills, expertise and interests of team members? Where is this information held? How is it kept up-to-date? What practices are in place to enhance knowledge transfer within and across teams? How receptive are teams to learning from the experiences of others outside the team? How is this facilitated? What practices are in place to capitalise on individuals’ knowledge as they join, grow and move on from the team? What is the psychological contract between team members for developing and sharing knowledge? For individuals Where does managing knowledge fit with individuals’ concept of a career? How are individuals investing in themselves in order to keep their own knowledge up-to-date and in demand? What support/resources do individuals find most useful in developing their knowledge? How do individuals help others develop their knowledge? These same questions could also be used and/or adapted when carrying out periodic evaluations of how well the organisation is managing its knowledge. The need for a strategic approach to managing knowledge The knowledge management journey in many organisations often begins in a piecemeal way with a local initiative, kicked off by a
  • 48.
    The changing worldof business 23 group of like-minded forward-thinking individuals. This was the experience within ICL, for example, where a group of colleagues got together to address the question of ‘How can we add true organisational learning to the existing emphasis on training and developing people?’ Case study: The knowledge management journey within ICL ICL, now Fujitsu, is an international company which focuses on helping its customers ‘. . . seize the opportunities of the informa- tion age’. In the early 1990s the organisation began transforming itself away from a computer manufacturing company into a service-led organisation. It was this change which made it a strategic imperative for the organisation to gain leverage from its world-wide intellectual capital. However, in an organisation that at that time consisted of 22,000 employees, operating in 70 different countries, many of whom were mobile workers, or working on flexible contracts, getting a knowledge management initiative off the ground was not an easy task. The first knowledge management project was initiated by an informal network of individuals, in the early 1990s. This group came together to address the question of How can we add true organisational learning to the existing emphasis on training and developing people? A couple of years later a formal project, Mobilising Knowledge Programme, was established with the support and backing of the then Chief Executive, Keith Todd, as a way of accelerating ICL’s business transformation. The project was headed up by a full-time programme director, responsible for co-ordinating a cross-com- pany knowledge management initiative. It was recognised that at the initial stage of the organisation’s knowledge management journey a separate project team was needed in order to champion the knowledge management approach. However, it was always the intention that managing knowledge was ultimately to become a line management responsibility. The Mobilising Knowledge project team, consisting of individ- uals with different skills drawn from different parts of the business, ran a series of focus group discussions with front-line employees to establish what information they needed to do their jobs effectively. This activity yielded some common themes regarding the informa- tion needs of individuals. This included information about:
  • 49.
    24 Managing forKnowledge ICL as a business ICL services and customers ICL customers and partners Processes and policies in use across different parts of the company Who the company experts were and how to get in touch with them Time-saving tools, such as up-to-date telephone directories and site maps. The first deliverable for the project team was the introduction of Café VIK (Valuing ICL Knowledge), which was a web site on the organisation’s intranet. The use of the term Café was of symbolic importance. Being a global organisation the project team wanted to create a virtual environment that had some of the character- istics and attractions of a physical Café. An important feature of the launch of Café VIK was a series of briefing sessions throughout the organisation. These were no ordinary briefing meetings. Instead the project team used Café style props to set the scene, so they bought inexpensive café style tables and chairs and some PCs. After the formal part of the presentation individuals could then gain hands-on experience of exploring Café VIK and what he had to offer. Speaking at a Roffey Park seminar, Elizabeth Lank, Programme Director – Mobilising Knowledge, commented that this approach worked really well. Even though ICL is a technology-based company Elizabeth Lank pointed out that the project team came across individuals who were technophobic, thus having support on-hand to help individuals explore what Café VIK had on offer was a good tactic. Another important element of the Mobilising Knowledge Programme was the introduction of the ‘New World’ office accommodation programme, where offices where systematically remodelled with far fewer, mostly ‘hot’ desks (about 30 per cent fewer desks in some cases). Private offices were removed too. The first private office to go was that of the Chief Executive. This was a fairly dramatic symbol that change was coming. With the move to mostly ‘hot-desking’, many more meeting rooms, quiet rooms for solitary working, and comfortable meeting spaces, near coffee machines, were introduced. Coffee and tea were also made free at this point. The message that the organisation wanted to get across was that you don’t come to work to answer e-mails – you can do that when working at home – instead you come to work to do what you can uniquely do at work: meet with and talk to colleagues, discuss work and exchange information.
  • 50.
    The changing worldof business 25 ICL’s second generation of its intranet was launched at the start of 1999 and was completely built around the idea of communities: providing the same tools for functional business units as for virtual communities of practice. It proved a great success, with the 50 or so communities that were part of the original set-up quickly becoming more than 500 communities within a year, and the majority of ICL’s then 19,000 staff participating in multiple groups. Communities ranged in size from as few as 15 participants to 4000, with most settling around an optimum number of 100–200. By the time of ICL’s full merger with Fujitsu in spring 2002, 500 items of new content were being added to the site every week. There is now a steady stream of volunteered content, much of it high quality. While local initiatives are important, there is a view that these initiatives then need to be set within a strategic framework (Knight, 2002). A process that involves establishing: Knowledge management drivers and the link with organisational strategy What are the pressures that the organisation is facing? Why is managing knowledge important to us as a business? Knowledge management strategy Where do we need to be? What are the key levers for change? These might be a focus on people, processes, leadership, or technology. Some of the common strategic levers for knowledge management include: customer knowledge; knowledge in prod- ucts and service; knowledge in people; knowledge in processes; organisational memory; knowledge in relationships and knowl- edge assets (Skyrme, 2001). Implementation How do we move forward? Here consideration needs to be given to implementation from a top-down, lateral and bottom-up approach. Measuring the results How are we doing? Here consideration could be given to adopting a balanced scorecard approach, focusing on the four elements of financial, customer, process and future.
  • 51.
    26 Managing forKnowledge As other writers point out it is important that wherever an organisations starts on its knowledge management journey, or wherever the initial focus is placed, it is important to adopt a holistic approach (Probst, Raub and Romhard, 2000). Probst et al. see the core building blocks of knowledge management as: Knowledge identification – How do we ensure that there is sufficient transparency of external and internal knowledge? How do we help employees to locate the information that they need? Knowledge acquisition – What forms of expertise should we buy in from outside? Are we making full use of the expertise embedded in the external relationships that we have? Knowledge development – How can we build new expertise and capabilities? Knowledge sharing and distribution – How do we get the knowledge to the right places? Knowledge utilisation – How do we ensure that the knowledge that we have is applied productively for the benefits of the organisation? Knowledge retention – How do we ensure that we retain the knowledge that we have? How knowledge enabled is the organisation? Evaluation – How well are we doing on our knowledge manage- ment journey? What have been our key successes and failures? Where should we focus our energy going forward? Summary This chapter has discussed the key economic, technological and social changes that collectively have led to information and knowledge becoming a key source of competitive advantage. With the increasing emphasis on service, as opposed to manufacturing, innovation and speed to market have become key differentiators in today’s global business world. The ability to learn to do new things (i.e. products, services, processes) and then deliver more quickly than competitors is crucial. To do this organisations and individuals need to become better at information management, as well as managing different types of knowledge: ‘know how’, ‘know who’ and ‘know why’. In many organisations there is still confusion about what managing knowledge is really about. This has caused confusion
  • 52.
    The changing worldof business 27 regarding responsibilities for managing an organisation’s knowl- edge. For organisations to move forward on their knowledge management journey there needs to be greater acknowledgement that: Knowledge resides in people, not in systems, although systems contain valuable data and information that can help the knowl- edge process, and Knowledge creation is fundamentally a social process, it is created through the interactions between individuals as they go about their daily lives. Pause for reflection Which of the external forces outlined in this chapter represent the most significant threats and/or opportunities for your organisation? How does your organisation monitor trends in the external world so that it is prepared for the implications and opportun- ities, from a knowledge management perspective, of these structural changes? Who takes responsibility for this activity? What different interpretations of knowledge management exist within your organisation? What is the HR view of knowledge management? What good practices already exist within your organisation for ensuring ‘know of’, ‘know how’, ‘know who’ and ‘know why’? Notes 1. Stewart reference was cited in F. Horibe, Managing Knowledge Workers. 2. See Watson, G., in Neathey and J. Hurstfield (1995), Flexibility in Practice: Women’s Employment and Pay in Retail and Finance. Equal Opportunities Commission. 3. Dex, S. and McCulloch, A. (1995), Flexible Employment in Britain: A Statistical Analysis. Research Discussion Series No. 15. Equal Opportunities Commission. 4. Boydell, T., Levels and Types of Knowledge. Presentation at Roffey Park Institute. Autumn 1999 5. See Skyrme, D. J. (2001), Capitalizing on Knowledge, from e-business to k-business. Butterworth-Heinemann. 6. Parlby, D., Turning Knowledge Into Value. Knowledge Manage- ment Conference. Strategic Planning Society. October 1999.
  • 53.
    2 The changing roleof HR – from operational to strategic HR The role of HR has changed significantly over the past couple of decades and is continuing to change as the HR profession strives to gain acceptance as a strategic business partner. In many organisa- tions HR is performing a very different role to that of twenty to thirty years ago. Its role has evolved from that of payroll clerk and welfare supporter, through corporate policeman and industrial relations expert, to that of a business partner role. A key area of change has been in the label given to those working in the field of Personnel. The Personnel label, other than in public sector organisations, has been largely superseded with that of Human Resources. This change coincided with the decline in the importance associated with industrial relations, both in economic and political terms, and the decline in the membership and influence of trade unions (Guest, 1998). In the 1970s and early 1980s when industrial unrest dominated UK industry many personnel practitioners gained their credibility through negotiat- ing with the Trade Unions about pay and working conditions, on behalf of the organisation. The distinctions between the traditional personnel role and that of HRM (Holbeche, 1999) are summarised in Table 2.1. The HRM agenda according to David Guest (1998) is concerned with: ensuring commitment from employees; creating a focus on values, mission and purpose; developing an environment-based on high trust and building an organisation consisting of flexible roles, flatter structures and where there is autonomy and self- control within the work that individuals do (Guest, 1998).
  • 54.
    The changing roleof HR – from operational to strategic HR 29 The HR function, according to Dave Ulrich (1998), is crucial to organisations achieving excellence. Excellence, according to Ulrich comes through a focus on learning, quality, teamwork, re- engineering, knowing how things get done within an organisa- tion and also how people get treated; all of which are HR issues and hence achieving organisational excellence requires the work of HR. Ulrich suggests that given the business challenges that organisa- tions face today – globalisation, profitability through growth, technological change, intellectual capital and continuous change – success depends on organisations building core capabilities such as speed, responsiveness, agility, learning capacity and employee competence. Developing these capabilities, in Ulrich’s view, is the mandate for HR. This he suggests requires a focus on four key areas. Partner in strategy execution Ulrich doesn’t argue that HR alone should develop the business strategy, this he argues is the joint responsibility of an organisa- tion’s executive, which hopefully HR should be part of. HR’s role in strategy making should be that of guiding the discussion about how the organisation should be organised in order to carry out its strategy. In essence this means HR taking on the role of architect, advising on what organisational systems and processes already support the organisation’s strategic goals and which ones need some attention, and how best to set about changing these. Table 2.1: Contrasting traditional personnel and HRM Characteristics of the traditional personnel role Characteristics of the emerging role of HRM Reactive Proactive Employee advocate Business partner Task force Task and enablement focus Focus on operational issues Focus on strategic issues Qualitative issues Quantitative issues Stability Constant change Tactical solutions Strategic solutions Functional integrity Multi-functional People as an expense People as assets
  • 55.
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  • 56.
    In the extantFrench copy Eugène Sue has given a dramatic version of the parting scene between Miss Mary and Madame de Morville—Charlotte Brontë and Madame Héger. The latter had surprised her husband and the Irish governess, tête-à-tête in the lonely pavilion, late in the evening. Monsieur protests:— Madame, he cries, ... I will not permit you, in my presence, to dare to calumniate and outrage Mademoiselle Lawson. Miss Mary asks him not to defend her, as she does not wish to be a cause of irritating discussion between them. That is charming! cried Madame de Morville, with a burst of sardonic laughter —Grâce au bon accord du ménage, mademoiselle would desire to continue in perfect tranquillity the undignified rôle she has played at my house! Her husband protests that she outrages one of the purest characters in the world, but the governess interrupts by addressing the wife:— Madam, suspicions so odious, so senseless, are unable to wound an honourable soul.... I reply nothing to these words, which you will soon regret. The two years that I have been here [Charlotte Brontë was two years with the Hégers] I have learned to know you, madam; and if sometimes I have without complaint [see the Lagrange passages] suffered from the vivacité de vos premiers mouvements, I have also often been able to appreciate your goodness of heart. Enough, mademoiselle, enough! Believe you that you can dupe me by your hypocrisies and base flatteries? Do you think you can impose my silence by that pretended resignation? So the scene continues until Madame de Morville accuses the other of wishing to take the affections of her husband. To this, the governess retorts:— You accuse me, madam, of wishing to win the affections of M. de Morville, and of desiring to dominate at your house? Here is my reply. And her reply is that she is returning to England.
  • 57.
    You go away!cried Madame de Morville.... No, no, that is a lie or a trick!... Madame ... fut complètement déroutée par l'annonce du départ de Miss Mary. The latter says she profoundly regrets if she had caused malheurs, for she had been the involuntary cause. Involuntary or not, cried Madame de Morville, you are un porte-malheur, and thus have been two years, since your arrival here. I have said it to M. de Morville, who, par prévision without doubt, took at once your part against me.... And on whom, then, will that responsibility fall!... We were all happy and peaceful before your advent here, and to-day, when you go you leave us dans le chagrin. To which Miss Mary retorts:— Ah! madame, le jour le plus malheureux de ma vie serait celui où je quitterais votre famille avec la douloureuse conviction que mon nom y serait maudit. There were, we see, conflicting views in Brussels social and literary circles, in the eighteen-forties, as to the degree of intimacy to which Charlotte Brontë and M. Héger attained. It is when we perceive the ambiguity of the relations existing between Miss Brontë and the professor that we recognize the fidelity of Eugène Sue's portrayal of Currer Bell's Brussels life. Even Charlotte Brontë herself, in Villette, published after M. Sue's story, relates that M. Paul Emanuel (M. Héger) said to her:—I call myself your brother. I hardly know what I am—brother—friend—I cannot tell. I know I think of you—I feel I wish you well—but I must check myself; you are to be feared. My best friends point out danger and whisper caution. In Mdlle. Lagrange and Catherine Bell, Charlotte Brontë figures as represented by those who said ill of her; as Miss Mary Lawson, the Irish governess, she has beauty, youth, and grace, which charms, Jane tells us, she possessed in Rochester's eyes. Of her, in the phase of Catherine Bell, we have many insinuations of a detractive character, the keynote to which is found in the fortune-telling incident, wherein Catherine is foretold she will be married and not married; while in Miss Mary Lawson we have a portrayal of un bon ange[67] of whom Madame de Morville is jealous, not without
  • 58.
    reason, though, touse Miss Mary's own words, she had been la cause involontaire. We must, therefore, set it to the credit of Eugène Sue that he placed two versions in the balance; and his evidence for ever sweeps away the illogical and unfair contention of some writers on the Brontës, that Charlotte Brontë may have cared for M. Héger, but that he, in his turn, had been only intellectually interested in her. M. Sue shows the attitude of M. Héger was ever unequivocal as regards Charlotte Brontë; whether in her phase as Lagrange, as Catherine Bell, or as Miss Mary Lawson—she was loved by him. We now see Morton of Jane Eyre was Haworth to Charlotte Brontë, and Thornfield, the home of Mr. Rochester, the Pensionnat Héger. And the flight from temptation at Thornfield and seeking refuge with the Rivers family were really representative of her leaving Brussels and returning home to her father and sisters. Obviously M. Sue wrote his feuilleton to aid, maliciously or not, in breaking the dangerous friendship between M. Héger and Miss Brontë. Charlotte Brontë's works are testimony it was not only Madame Héger's harsh jealousy that led her to leave Brussels. In Chapter XX. of The Professor, published years after M. Sue's work, but written before it, she gives us the reason for this determination. By her Method I., Interchange of the sexes of characters portrayed from life, Professor Crimsworth, who is alternately Charlotte Brontë and M. Héger, in this instance is Charlotte Brontë, while Mdlle. Reuter is M. Héger. Crimsworth [Miss Brontë] says:— I could not conceal ... that it would not do for me to remain.... Her [his] present demeanour towards me was deficient neither in dignity nor propriety; but I knew her [his] former feeling was unchanged. Decorum now repressed, and Policy masked it, but Opportunity would be too strong for either of these— Temptation would shiver their restraints. I was no pope, ... in short, if I stayed, the probability was that, in three months' time, a practical modern French novel would be in full process of concoction.... From all this resulted the conclusion that I must leave, ... and that instantly.... The Spirit of Evil ... sought to lead me astray. [68] Rough and steep was the path indicated by divine suggestion; mossy and declining the green way along which Temptation strewed flowers.
  • 59.
    And thus atlast do we understand why Charlotte Brontë asks herself as Jane Eyre when at home with the Rivers family—with her father, her sisters, and Tabby at Haworth:—
  • 60.
    Which is better?To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle; but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it ... to have been now living in France, Mr. Rochester's mistress ... I shall never more know the sweet homage given to beauty, youth, and grace—for never to any one else shall I seem to possess these charms.... Whether is it better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool's paradise at Marseilles —fevered with delusive bliss one hour—suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next—or to be a village schoolmistress [The Brontë school project was under contemplation in 1844], free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England? Yes, I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment. God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance. And her fervent gratitude is as sincere when in the same connection she says in Villette of her confessor—her Fénelon[69]: —He was kind when I needed kindness; he did me good. May Heaven bless him! But we now see Charlotte Brontë did not suffer alone. Eugène Sue has given us an insight into the bitterness of M. de Morville's (M. Héger's) life, which resulted from their unhappy love, and doubtless those words of Heathcliffe to Catherine in Wuthering Heights were uttered or written by M. Héger in reproach to Charlotte Brontë:— Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy?... You loved me—then what right had you to leave me?... Because misery and degradation and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will did it. I have not broken your heart—you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me that I am strong. Charlotte Brontë tells us in Jane Eyre she loved to imagine she and Mr. Rochester had met under happier conditions; and if the meeting of the runaway lovers Charlotte Brontë repeats so faithfully in Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre did not refer to a private meeting subsequent to the beginning of 1844, between her and M. Héger, or to their meeting again when she returned to Brussels the
  • 61.
    second time, thenhave we evidence of the fact that she at one time perhaps believed Wuthering Heights would be never published. Assuredly nothing was sweeter to Currer Bell's fancy than a dream of the happiness that might have been hers, and well may she have written in the last sentences of Villette:— Leave sunny imaginations hope. Let it be theirs to conceive the delight of joy born again fresh out of great terror, the rapture of rescue from peril, the wondrous reprieve from dread, the fruition of return. Let them picture union and a happy succeeding life. Charlotte Brontë and M. Constantin Gilles Romain Héger loved each other as those who are worshippers of two high ideals, when one of these ideals is love, the other honour. And this was tragedy. To the agonizing nature of unrequitable affection endured for honour's sake do we owe Charlotte Brontë's Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.
  • 62.
    CHAPTER XIV. THE RECOIL. I. Theelements that conduce to reaction and recoil are sometimes fatal to the best proposed and ablest evolved schemes of man. Priests and counsellors may gravely devise; knight and maid may devoutly swear; the pious neophyte and the exalted religionist may make solemn pledge, but reaction often brings catastrophe. Thus the Christian Church is rightfully a watchful Body, a militant Force, preaches the weakness of man and cries Ora continenter! And herein lies the value of a ponderous state procedure. Irritating in its slow gravity and indifferent to the passionate appeals of emotionalism, such procedure yet withstands the backward wave which comes as answer to courageous but costly proposals. The unsupported and undisciplined individual, like communities, cannot always safely stand alone, and finally resolves into an automaton at the service of unlicensed and unconsidered impulse when the day of reaction comes. The anthropologist and the pathologist relate how exacting straitness suddenly has broken down with a lamentable demonstration of most morbid prurience; and relentless history has chronicled grievous moral declensions in the lives of men and women whose careers in the greater part were records of generous and unselfish devotion to a noble cause or an honourable work. Until the day of reaction is safely fought through the battle is not won. Perhaps it was to prevent all possibility of a final and definite reconciliation between M. Héger and Miss Brontë that M. Sue, aided by his friends, ridiculed their attachment in his feuilleton, Miss Mary.
  • 63.
    Not that EugèneSue would do this necessarily for Virtue's sake, but the position of moral reprehender gave him title to the rôle he had assumed. M. Héger was sorely punished to lose Miss Brontë, as M. Sue has shown, and as we have seen Charlotte Brontë herself tells us in a letter; and the intensity of his affection for her is only further accentuated by the light M. Sue throws upon the subject in a conversation which occurs between Alphonsine and the jealous mother, concerning Mdlle. Lagrange in the opening chapters of his feuilleton. As I have stated, evidence compels us to perceive M. Sue often presented by imitation of Charlotte Brontë's Method I., Interchange of the sexes for obfuscation's sake, M. Héger in Alphonsine: Madame de Morville (Madame Héger) has just said Mdlle. Lagrange (Miss Brontë) affected a little to speak of her humble origin. Elle affecter, replies Alphonsine, ... c'est une erreur. Quand, par hasard, elle parlait de sa famille, c'est que la conversation venait là-dessus. D'ailleurs, écoute donc, Mademoiselle Lagrange eût été fière qu'elle en avait le droit. Proud! what of? not of her face, poor girl. No, that is true. Madame de Morville admits that Mdlle. Lagrange was endowed with patience, learning, and fortitude; and says, Tu le sais, nous avions pour elle les plus grands égards. Without doubt ... and myself, I loved her like a sister. To which Madame de Morville retorts: A ce point que, pendant les premiers jours qui ont suivi son départ je t'ai vue souvent pleurer, et que depuis je te trouve triste. Que veux-tu ... se quitter après plus de trois ans d'intimité, cela vous laisse du chagrin. This sensibility does credit to your heart, but after all it seems to me that you and I shall be able by our mutual tenderness to console each other for the loss d'une étrangère. Une étrangère! says Alphonsine, naïvely; dis donc une amie, une soeur.... Ainsi, toi ... tu es pour moi, n'est-ce pas, aussi affectueuse que possible; pourtant
  • 64.
    tu m'imposes toujours;il y a mille riens, mille folies, mille bêtises si tu veux, que je n'oserais jamais te dire, et qui nous amusaient et nous faisaient rire aux larmes avec cette pauvre Mademoiselle Lagrange; et puis ces causeries sans fin pendant les récréations, nos jeux mêmes, car elle était très enfant quand elle s'y mettait[70] ; all this made our temps de l'étude pass like a dream, and that of recreation like a flash. Without doubt, replied Madame de Morville, with a forced smile; ... and I, ... je ne jouissais de la société de ces demoiselles que lors de notre promenade d'avant dîner, ou le soir jusqu'à l'heure du thé. The irreparableness of the loss at first to M. Héger is herein clearly shown. But whether he would confess himself to Miss Brontë afterwards is not certain. The tone of Charlotte Brontë's successive writings suggests he did not, as do many points of evidence and the reference in Villette, Chapter XIX., to that He was a religious little man, in his way: the self-denying and self-sacrificing part of the Catholic religion commanded the homage of his soul. Likely enough it is that M. Héger hailed, as do truly noble men, the day of trial, and elevated by the very agony of great sacrifice the personality which worshipped a conception of duty consonant with Divine law. It seems, though, that then the battle was won; his day of reaction was fought through. At the time of what M. Sue makes M. de Morville call ce premier entraînement was the greatest danger, and abundant testimony goes to prove he would have gone the length of indiscretion but that Charlotte Brontë, herself innately honourable and influenced by her Christian upbringing, checked the mad rush of impetuous passion. Then the Church of M. Héger intervened. As Charlotte Brontë tells us in Villette, Chapter XXXVI.: We were under the surveillance of a sleepless eye: Rome watched jealously her son through that mystic lattice at which I had knelt once, and to which M. Emanuel drew nigh month by month—the sliding panel of the confessional. She was much gratified by M. Héger's fervent admiration, though she had perforce to remember their circumstances. As M. Sue said of Lagrange so it had been with Miss Brontë:—
  • 65.
    The girl hadnever before known love, save by reading and hearing of its magical influence. All the natural tenderness which lay in her heart she had year after year suppressed. The references in her poems to a recognition of growing coldness in a lover—see Frances, Preference, etc., if we may read them in the biographical sense Mr. Mackay suggests, show there had been a day when she perceived external influences were dictating to M. Héger a line of moral procedure. Obviously, while she herself had held temptation at bay she was strong; but once she discovered an ally was lessening the necessity of her defence her woman's nature awoke. She doubted the sincerity of the past protestations of passion; she saw in every eye a sinister spy; she found in the Roman Church nothing but a partisan of Madame Héger (see Madame Beck and the Roman Church in Villette), and M. Héger became to her a very impersonation of insincerity and treachery. Of the secret tempest which had begun to rage within herself she would disclose nothing to M. Héger; and she would know that once the storm slept the end might be the worst. But Charlotte Brontë was not yet in the season of the recoil, though alone, wretched, and rapidly losing faith in God and man. As for M. Héger, he was supported by the knowledge that the ideal of the good and pious is glorified by sacrifice. That Hell holds no fury like a woman scorned is a platitude, for a woman scorned in the meaning of the writer is a woman with a shattered life. In her fullest and native sense she ceases to exist thereafter. However, as in many cases Nature provides a remedy for her maimed, woman has given her dissimulation. But to quote Charlotte Brontë's poem, Frances:— Who can for ever crush the heart, Restrain its throbbing, curb its life? Dissemble truth with ceaseless art, With outward calm mask inward strife? It is a dangerous day when woman is her very self and thwarted. Then, and only then, can she utter the distressing blasphemies
  • 66.
    Charlotte Brontë placesin the mouth of the speaker in her verses, Apostasy:— Talk not of thy Last Sacrament, Tell not thy beads for me; Both rite and prayer are vainly spent, As dews upon the sea. Speak not one word of Heaven above Rave not of Hell's alarms; Give me but back my Walter's love, Restore me to his arms! Then will the bliss of Heaven be won; Then will Hell shrink away; As I have seen night's terrors shun The conquering steps of day. 'Tis my religion thus to love, My creed thus fixed to be; Not Death shall shake, nor Priestcraft break My rock-like constancy! And places in the mouth of Catherine of Wuthering Heights, Chapter IX., in the same connection:— If I were in heaven ... I should be extremely miserable.... I dreamt once ... I was there, ... heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out ... on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.[71] ... I cannot express it; but surely you ... have a notion that there is ... an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliffe's miseries ... my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. [See my remarks on Charlotte Brontë's belief in the elective affinities, page 96-7.] My love for Heathcliffe resembles the eternal rocks beneath.... I am Heathcliffe,—he's always, always in my mind—not as a pleasure, any more than I am a pleasure to myself— but as my own being—so don't talk of our separation again. It is of the barriers which divided the woman of the verses Apostasy from her lover that the priest has reminded her. Thus she
  • 67.
    says:— ... Did Ineed that thou shouldst tell What mighty barriers rise To part me from that dungeon-cell Where my loved Walter lies? The whole history of Charlotte Brontë's Brussels life before us, the fact that an insurmountable barrier—his marriage—separated her from M. Héger, and the fact that she herself consulted[72] a Roman Catholic priest whom I designate as her Fénélon, advising, like the Mentor of Télémaque,[73] the tempted one to flee temptation, identify these barriers as a covert reference to the circumstances unhappily existing which made intimacy between Miss Brontë and M. Héger dangerous. To quote my words in The Fortnightly Review: —We see why Miss Brontë, herself a Protestant, went to the confessional at Brussels.... We know this was no freak, as also that it was impossible for Charlotte to mention the subject to her sister without attributing it to a freak. More, we perceive now the nature of her confession, and, the Flee temptation! note of Fénélon's Les Aventures de Télémaque fresh in our minds, we see why she wrote of her father-confessor in Villette, Chapter XV.:— There was something of Fénelon about that benign old priest; and whatever ... I may think of his Church and creed, ... of himself I must ever retain a grateful recollection. He was kind when I needed kindness; he did me good. May heaven bless him! I mention that by her composite method of presenting characters, which Charlotte Brontë admitted to have employed, Dr. John Bretton, while often in the beginning representing Mr. Smith the publisher, becomes finally a representation of the Rev. Mr. Nicholls who married Miss Brontë.[74] So in Jane Eyre, St. John Rivers while in the main representing the Rev. Patrick Brontë, becomes associated temporarily with that priest I have called Charlotte Brontë's Brussels Fénélon. She tells us in Villette that she broke off the seduction of visiting this priest and says:—The
  • 68.
    probabilities are thathad I visited ... at the ... day appointed, I might just now ... have been counting my beads in the cell of a ... convent.... Miss Brontë admits he had had great influence with her, and this fact and the testimony of her poem Apostasy just quoted show this priest and his admonitions were in her mind when she wrote the final scene between herself and St. John Rivers in Jane Eyre (Chapter XXXV.). Therein, as in that poem and in Wuthering Heights, Religion and Angels[75] are set as being less to her than the vicinage of her lover. Indeed the India and the missionary life of Jane Eyre, and the marriage with St. John (see Chapter XXXIV.), may be said to have been in Miss Brontë's mind that life of religious consecration which in Villette she owns to have been the likely result of her further listening to the advice of the priest, to whom she had given the ... outline of my experience, as she terms it. Therefore it is interesting to observe that, as the woman in Apostasy suddenly hears the voice of her lover calling and says:— He calls—I come—my pulse scarce beats, My heart fails in my breast. Again that voice—how far away, How dreary sounds that tone! And I, methinks, am gone astray In trackless wastes and lone. I fain would rest a little while: Where can I find a stay, Till dawn upon the hills shall smile, And show some trodden way?[76] I come! I come! in haste she said, 'Twas Walter's voice I heard! Then up she sprang—but fell back, dead, His name her latest word. so in the scene in Jane Eyre: St. John ejaculates— 'My prayers are heard!' He pressed his hand firmer on my head, as if he claimed me; he surrounded me with his arm, almost as if he loved me [That priest had arms which could influence me; he was naturally kind, with a sentimental French kindness, to whose softness I knew myself not wholly
  • 69.
    impervious. Without respectingsome sorts of affection, there was hardly any sort having a fibre of root in reality, which I could rely on my force wholly to withstand.—Charlotte Brontë speaking of her Brussels Fénélon in Villette, Chapter XV.], I say almost—I knew the difference—for I had felt what it was to be loved; but, like him, I now ... thought only of duty;... I sincerely, ... fervently longed to do what was right.... 'Show me, show me the path!' I entreated of Heaven.... My heart beat fast and thick.... I heard a voice somewhere cry 'Jane! Jane! Jane!' nothing more.... I had heard it—where or whence, for ever impossible to know! And it was ... a known, loved, well-remembered voice—that of Edward Fairfax Rochester.... 'I am coming!' I cried.... 'Wait for me! Oh, I will come!' I broke from St. John, who would have detained me. It was my time to assume ascendency. My powers were in play, and in force. I told him to forbear question or remark.... I mounted to my chamber ... fell on my knees, and prayed in my way—a different way to St. John's, but effective in its own fashion.... I rose from the thanksgiving— took a resolve—and lay down ... eager but for the daylight. Mrs. Gaskell related that Charlotte Brontë in private conversation in reference to this preternatural crying of a voice, replied with much gravity and without further enlightenment that such an incident really did occur in her experience. Whether it occurred in connection with her Brussels Fénélon and immediately preceded a reconciliation between herself and M. Héger I know not. As, however, Charlotte Brontë's expression of gratitude to this priest and the whole fervent story of thankfulness for the deliverance from dangerous temptation were written subsequently to her return from Brussels, it is clear there was never a reconciliation which cost either her or M. Héger honour. I do not urge this as an advocate; I state it upon the strength of unmistakable evidence. Miss Brontë believed it better to leave Brussels and avoid the possibilities of the peculiar situation—a situation always fraught with temptation. Hence her sudden resolve to return to England. Arrived at Haworth the full recoil came. She had won through a great ordeal, and she knew that surrounded by his wife and family, [77] comforted by piety and the knowledge of his happy issue from involution in disastrous complications, M. Héger would resume tranquilly his accustomed course of life. To Charlotte Brontë, who by the showing of all evidence was initially responsible for a morally
  • 70.
    gratifying outcome oftheir dangerous attachment, this was a galling picture. Knowing nothing of the ecstatic delights of the pietist in the sacrificial sense of M. Héger, who was a devoted member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and, as he is made to describe himself in Villette, a sort of lay Jesuit, she became just a woman living in the world of her primal nature and conceiving but that she had lost. Miss Rigby—afterwards Lady Eastlake—who wrote the remarkable article on Jane Eyre in The Quarterly Review of 1849, perceived with a flash of real insight and the instinct of womanhood that Currer Bell's pen had presented ungarbed, vital relations of some man and woman identical in both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. The circumstances were full difficult for the reviewer; she was irritated and encompassed. Wuthering Heights, which so soon had followed the appearance of Jane Eyre, she suddenly recognized as the very storm-centre of this literary tornado of passionate declamation; and she chastised that work in the name of Jane Eyre, for she could not know all the cruel truth, and she feared to popularize Wuthering Heights. Although Miss Rigby wrote:—It is true Jane does right, and exerts great moral strength, she added, but it is the strength of a mere heathenish mind which is a law unto itself. And later, turning upon Wuthering Heights she says with a final vehemency, and most sensationally:— There can be no interest attached to the writer of Wuthering Heights—a novel succeeding Jane Eyre ... and purporting [!] to be written by Ellis Bell—unless it were for the sake of a more individual reprobation. For though there is a decided family likeness between the two [!], yet the aspect of the Jane and Rochester animals in their native state as Catherine and Heathcliffe [!], is abominably pagan. Miss Rigby thus excused herself a further consideration of Wuthering Heights. In the days of the gratification of discovering the one she loved in return loved her,[78] this recognition stood between Charlotte Brontë and every thought of religion, as an eclipse between man and the broad sun, so in another sense truly did the contemplation of M. Héger's self-pacification intervene in the time of reaction. The doubtings and agonizing emotions of her equivocal
  • 71.
    season in Brusselswere now precipitated. Her poems Gilbert, Frances, and Preference are testimony to her vengeful and retaliative instinct; as are her portrayals of M. Héger as M. Pelet of The Professor and as Heathcliffe of Wuthering Heights. But as I show in the next chapter, Charlotte Brontë afterwards regretted her human weakness and her vituperations of the day of the recoil. She began to set forth the story of her ordeal more sanely and proportionately in Jane Eyre. As one who soberly rewrites of fact, she recited therein much that she already had given detachedly; and consistently she presented by aid of the frame-work of plot from Montagu's Gleanings in Craven which already had given her elemental suggestions for her Wuthering Heights, the history of her life in Jane Eyre—a work that stands as testimony to Charlotte Brontë's love of truth as to her heroic battling in the days of fiercest temptation. A constant yearning to fine a presentation from untruthfulness is the God-given attribute of the artist, and this was responsible for much that is called harsh in Charlotte Brontë's character as a writer: she would not even spare her own physical and nervous imperfections in her self-portrayals. Emily Brontë would have presented Branwell Brontë as viewed through couleur de rose, yet Charlotte Brontë immortalized him as Hindley Earnshaw and John Reed—as she saw him: weak, tyrannical, a moral wreck. So she presented M. Héger. She knew his faults—and they were many; but she loved him though she hated them. Her sense of truth and justice, albeit she had lost the rancour of the time of the reaction, determined her in Jane Eyre, it is obvious, to show the occultation of her life's happiness by the incidents of her Brussels life. She would show there had been a day when the barriers between them would have been rashly ignored by him. Thus Rochester is made to sing in Jane Eyre, Chap. XXIV.:— I dreamed it would be nameless bliss, As I loved, loved to be; And to this object did I press As blind as eagerly.
  • 72.
    But wide aspathless[79] was the space That lay, our lives, between, And dangerous as the foamy race Of ocean-surges green. And haunted as a robber-path Through wilderness or wood; For Might and Right, and Woe and Wrath, Between our spirits stood.[80] I dangers dared; I hindrance scorned; I omens did defy: Whatever menaced, harassed, warned,[81] I passed impetuous by. On sped my rainbow, fast as light; I flew as in a dream; For glorious rose upon my sight That child of Shower and Gleam. Still bright on clouds of suffering dim Shines that soft, solemn joy; Nor care I now, how dense and grim Disasters gather nigh; I care not in this moment sweet, Though all I have rushed o'er Should come on pinion, strong and fleet, Proclaiming vengeance sore. It is clear the impediment of M. Héger's marriage is suggested in these verses. But undeniable evidence as to Charlotte Brontë's having escaped by flight what she considered a most dangerous temptation, is the fact that we find she was influenced to pen these lines, wherein M. Héger (Rochester) is likened to a wild pursuer of a shower and gleam nymph who sped before him fast as light and glorious rose upon his sight, by Montagu's reference, in Gleanings in Craven, to the story of a Craven nymph a satyr pursued yet lost by her being changed into a spring. Says Frederic Montagu:— In the Polyolbion, published in 1612, is the following passage:—
  • 73.
    In all myspacious tract let them (so wise) survey Thy Ribble's rising banks, their worst and let them say; At Giggleswick, where I a fountain can you show, That eight times in a day is said to ebb and flow! Who sometime was a Nymph, and in the mountains high Of Craven, whose blue heads, for caps put on the sky, Among the Oreads there, and Sylvans, made abode (It was ere human foot upon these hills had trod), Of all the mountain kind, and since she was most fair; It was a Satyr's chance to see her silver hair Flow loosely at her back, as up a cliff she clame, Her beauties noting well, her features and her frame, And after her he goes; which when she did espy, Before him like the wind, the nimble Nymph did fly: They hurry down the rocks, o'er hill and dale they drive, To take her he doth strain, t' outstrip him she doth strive, Like one his kind that knew, and greatly feared.... And to the Topic Gods by praying to escape, They turned her to a Spring, which as she then did pant, When, wearied with her course, her breath grew wond'rous scant, Even as the fearful Nymph, then thick and short did blow, Now made by them a Spring, so doth she ebb and flow. This is not all. We know now the truth regarding Charlotte Brontë's Brussels life, and seeing she discovered a pertinence in the state of the Craven Nymph to her own—for it is undeniable Rochester's song was modelled upon the lines Montagu quotes—it is likely that what I term the river suggestion and the Craven Elf suggestion which resulted in Charlotte Brontë's portraying herself in the rôle of the stream-named Craven elf, Janet Aire or Eyre, had to do with Montagu's mention of this nymph of Craven who escaped a dangerous persecution by becoming a spring. It seems, indeed, that if she did not at first utilize the parallel of this narrative in verse with her own experience, she yet in Wuthering Heights was influenced by it, in the days which I call the period of the recoil, to represent her hero Heathcliffe as a ruin-creating, semi-human being. Whether the lines— It was a Satyr's chance to see her silver hair Flow loosely at her back as up a cliff she clame,
  • 74.
    had in theconnection to do with the cliffe in that ghoul Heathcliffe's name a reference to Charlotte Brontë's Preface to Wuthering Heights, and her words on the creation of Heathcliffe, in my next chapter, may declare. It is now impossible not to understand the origin of the Satyr and Nymph passage and its implication in the chapter of Jane Eyre containing Rochester's song, when he says to Jane in the very same chapter:— You shall sojourn at Paris, Rome, and Naples: at Florence, Venice, and Vienna: all the ground I've wandered over shall be retrodden by you: wherever I stamped my hoof, your sylph's foot shall step also.
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    CHAPTER XV. The Recoil. II. Aridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring, would have been a meet emblem of my mind when I accused; ... the same ridge, black and blasted after the flames are dead, would have represented as meetly my subsequent condition when ... reflection had shown me the madness of my conduct, and the dreariness of my hated and hating position. Something of vengeance I had tasted.... As aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy; its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.... I would fain exercise some better faculty than that of fierce speaking—fain find nourishment for some less fiendish feeling than that of sombre indignation. These words, written by Charlotte Brontë in Jane Eyre, Chapter IV., in relation to herself and Mrs. Reed, give us an insight into her extraordinary alternations of mood. To inquire deeply into her determining initially to disavow the authorship of Wuthering Heights requires a somewhat ruthless baring of the fiendish vindictiveness against M. Héger between the dates of 1844-46, that was a characteristic of the portrayals of him I have mentioned; but it also reveals her active turn to a spirit of repentance for past vindictive feeling, the which she acknowledges to have known. It seems that it was in a spirit of reproach Charlotte Brontë wrote the vengeful scene between Heathcliffe and Catherine in Wuthering Heights, harsh in threat almost as her poem Gilbert, wherein the man, satisfied with the affections of his wife and children, has banished the remembrance of her of whom he boasted—She loved me more than life, and who is made to say, before her spirit in the form of a white-clad spectre comes to him:—
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