This knowledge management casebook is one of the best documented case studies of knowledge transformation at work in a global business powerhouse. Siemens has been rated as one of the top ten KM-driven companies worldwide according to an international benchmarking exercise (MAKE ' most admired knowledge enterprise), thanks to its comprehensive efforts at fostering, promoting and optimizing knowledge utilization.

The 19 chapters covering Siemen's KM journey have been compiled by a team of 44 writers, including business executives, managers, interns, professors and graduate students. The material is divided into 7 sections, covering overall KM strategy, transfer techniques, communities of practice, e-learning, and organisational change.

With a diverse group of companies and almost half a million employees globally, Siemens is one of the world's oldest and most successful corporations ' which successfully adapted to the chaotic world of the Information Age to re-structure itself around its most valuable assets: its knowledge base and people.

'Companies today live in knowledge ecologies where one company feeds knowledge into another. What counts is a networked approach to KM, involving internal as well as external parties. The logic behind this is as simple as it is compelling: if you cut off the outflow of knowledge, you will also cut off the inflow. We believe, therefore, that the firm's openness to external experts and the sharing of ideas within a broad network will be a key driver for maintaining competitive success at Siemens,' begin the editors Thomas Davenport (KM expert) and Gilbert Probst (professor at the University of Geneva).

'Increasingly, information is either a part of, or an important facilitator of, Siemens' diverse businesses. Since KM is greatly enhanced by the effective use of IT, it's not surprising that Siemens was a relatively early and enthusiastic adopter of KM. The IT-driven nature of the company's businesses also provides a strong motivation to manage knowledge effectively. One attribute of these technologies is that they change very rapidly; keeping up with various computing and communications technologies is much easier when a company has a system for rapidly circulating new knowledge,' according to the editors.

But KM is more than technology, and Siemens has also focused on a culture of sharing, synergy, and customer focus, especially in markets and fast-moving technology areas where the customer needs are more for total business solutions and sector intelligence than mere technology components.

KM at Siemens began in a bottom-up manner via various mid-level initiatives in communities of practice and bodies of knowledge. Managers of these initiatives themselves formed a semi-official community of practice. This was then followed by a corporate knowledge function which officially supported and coordinated these various initiatives, via the creation of the Corporate KM (CKM) office in 1999.

The Corporate KM (CKM) office held an international meeting in Munich in May 2000, drawing over 200 managers and KM practitioners to formally reflect on the company's KM strategy via the CKM Council and CKM TaskForce. Moving beyond a loose association of KM followers, the company now has formal support, constancy, transparency and a joint approach for KM practices.

The vision statement, goals and roles at the company now formally emphasise the role of knowledge and sharing. CKM has initiated over a hundred KM projects divided across lines of geography, industry, and functions. It has received numerous awards across Europe and the US, such as APQC, MACILS, KVD and Teleos.

KM capacity building at Siemens is promoted by yet another initiative, the Knowledge Community Support (KCS) project, founded in 1999 with support from units like Corporate Technology, Siemens Business Services, and Siemens Qualification and Training. It promotes the use of knowledge communities within Siemens, via coaching, hotlines, resources, newsletters, and its own Web site. It maintains an employee portal and a directory of all knowledge communities in the company, Communities@Siemens. KCS expects that in future, community management will be as common as project management.

Yet another area of KM focus at Siemens is the use of e-business methodology. It formed the Centre for e-Excellence in May 2000 to analyse business transformation via the Internet. A quarter of the sales of Siemens itself is expected to be eventually transacted via the Internet ' 50 per cent or more of its consumer products.

Challenges faced by Siemens on the KM front include balancing energies, resources and rewards for local versus global KM initiatives on a daily basis, managing the knowledge-sharing tension between different business units, and nourishing KM during hard economic times.

Each of the chapters in the book ends with useful discussion questions and key propositions from each case study. It would be suitable to end this book review with a sampling of these propositions.

'The economic value of knowledge does not lie in possessing it, but in using it. Pilot projects for KM must have clearly defined, measurable objectives that can be achieved in less than six months. However, the changeover to a knowledge-based company involves a change process that can span several years,' according to the authors.

Knowledge management and learning management are two complementary disciplines that are continuously growing closer and support an innovative and agile enterprise.

Knowledge sharing should not be reduced to appendices to everyday practice, but must become intertwined with practice. Casewriting about this sharing is a useful learning tool, teaching method, and knowledge recap mechanism via its ability to tease out details and provoke or inspire further action. Such methods are already used by other companies like British Petroleum (Post-Project Appraisal) and Xerox (pre-thought and after-thought cases on KM tools). An interplay between writers from the outside and inside helps elicit crucial details in the case stories.

'When established procedures are not conducive to the sharing of knowledge, the company must be ready to restructure itself into an organization more amenable to knowledge sharing. Over time, the intrinsic benefits of sharing knowledge should become apparent and the system then becomes self-perpetuating, thereby rendering incentive systems obsolete,' the authors recommend.

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Madanmohan Rao is the author of 'The Asia-Pacific Internet Handbook' and can be reached at madan@inomy.com

The Knowledge Management Case Book clearly illustrates how knowledge sharing can begin either as a bottom-up or as a top down activity. This book was developed through collective efforts of Siemens employees working together with external "case coaches" who acted as 'devil's advocates' in conceptualizing and writing cases. This book offers concrete case-based ideas on how Siemens is promoting and optimizing knowledge utilization on a worldwide basis. It is written in a very understandable, narrative style, and organized into five sections that flow well together. These sections offer case studies of knowledge transfer, communities of practice, added-value of knowledge management, measuring KM, and an epilogue written by Gilbert Probst. As Gilbert Probst states in his epilogue, this book is a kind of knowledge tool itself and has offers the reader many practical examples of KM in practice.

Part I of the book offers the reader cases addressing the fundamental issues of knowledge transfer, critical success factors, underlying principles, descriptions of know-how exchange, lowering knowledge-sharing barriers, KM strategies, and it addresses the need to weave best practices into the day-to-day work that everyone does. Part II is focused on communities of practice -- one of the major driving forces of KM. Its cases explain the challenges of set-up, implementation, coordination and the support required for managers and teams to systematize KM practices. Part III illustrates the added value of KM in innovative arenas such as neurological-disease centers, knowledge intensive medical solutions and services, mergers and acquisitions, or corporate learning programs. Part IV examines quantifiable measures of KM as a critical basis for developing incentives for stimulating knowledge sharing and networking. It suggests ways in which results can be promoted, and discusses the intersection of KM and e-business, incorporating knowledge from outside corporate boundaries with organizational knowledge.

Gilbert Probst proposes that the very process of case writing is instrumental in managing knowledge and reflecting on the process. Thus, according to Probst, the case method used in this book offers an excellent example of a knowledge-sharing tool. Each case is presented as an independent study. They can be read in any order. The consistent emphasis throughout the book is placed on an ongoing balance of identifying what knowledge is most relevant to the interests of managers, and illustrating how to transfer it. I really enjoyed reading this this book. I consider it a treasure trove of ideas on how to use an organization's best knowledge practices.

This is a premier book on knowledge management--a definite must read. Although it's a bit pricey and not in main stream distribution, please note that Tom Davenport is the co-editor. The book provides an inside perspective on how Siemens, a 400,000 person global company has scaled KM to be both part of their business practices and their business model. Since they operate in over 190 countries, it's easy to see why the communities of practice concept would be so appealing to them. Given the limited amount of available literature related to communities of practice, the how-to chapter about communities in this book by itself makes the book a must read. As you read about the KM work at Siemens you can get a good sense of how KM will eventually reside permanently in the main stream of management practice. I have collected quite a bit of the KM literature and would place this in a top ten read list.

What an amazing collection of short stories. Heinrich Boll gives a revealing look into WWII from a German soldier's point of view. Heinrich Boll was a German soldier. Heinrich Boll tells a great story. He is a human being. He grew up and was who he was and now he leaves behind stories. My personal favorites are: 'Parting', 'At the Bridge', 'In the Darkness', 'Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We..', and 'A Soldier's Legacy'.

A fantastic collection. Boll shows a beautiful touch in presenting the horror of WWII and its aftermath. The story "Stranger bear word to the Spartans..." alone is worth the cover price, and it's only 5 of the 400+ pages. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. It will introduce you to one of the finest writers of the 20th century.

This book is an excellent introduction to Heinrich Boll's writing. It contains many excellent short stories, some of which reveal a delightfully humorous side of Boll, and several novellas, including 'The Train was on Time' and 'A Soldier's Legacy'. If you buy just one book by Heinrich Boll, make it this one. You will be well rewarded by the rich and varied collection found within.

This book came to me at a time when I had been trying desperately to crack the alchemical code. Having read Artephius, I eventually concluded that the secret fire of the alchemists' was no fire at all, but rather an acid. But like most things in regards to alchemy, stripping away one veil only revealed another. It wasn't until I read Heinrich's work that I learned the acid was actually "stomach acid". This book will give you the key to most of the great religious mysteries of the ages. It's hard to believe so many mystery traditions (Gnosticism, Alchemy, Hermeticism, The Grail mythology... and yes, even Christianity if you strip away the silly superstitious nonsense) can all stem from a common stream, but Heinrich's case is air tight. I can't thank him enough for writing this book. It is priceless to any true seeker.

When I read about eating bittersweet scrolls followed by seeing visions, in Ezekiel and Revelation, it was clear that Christianity included an essential entheogen tradition. However, it was unclear which entheogens might be allegorized in those scriptures. Heinrich presents a fine and sufficient candidate.

He also presents a brilliant hypothesis that the story of the Exodus is based around ergot poisoning of the yeast supply. Chris Bennett in Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible makes a case for cannabis especially in the Old Testament, and Dan Merkur in Mystery of Manna, and in Psychedelic Sacrament, makes a case for ergot in the Old Testament.

This is a model of a fine book. The prose is clear, artistic, and masterful. The photos are stunning and perfectly support his case, showing the shape-shifting Amanita in its various lifecycle stages, explaining how each stage is allegorized in Hindu, Christian, and alchemical traditions. Definitely worth the price. A must-have for entheogen scholars.

Bottom line: the fly Agaric mushroom is the basis for much of the world's religions and symbolism due to its hallucinatory effects. After reading this I found myself seeing the mushroom represented in works of art and in story illustrations I otherwise would not think twice about. Example: that red and white mushroom shown in fairy tales at the bottom of trees with a little gnome sitting on it. (Go check your old story books.)

Read this to be "in the know".

The Tainted Sword is, as I'm sure you've gussed, a fantasy. There isnt a definable main character, but the story focuses on two people in particular above the rest. These two are Flinn and his Squire-to-be/lover-to-be,Johauna Menhir. Flinn is a knight who has fallen from grace in his court. The book never really explains why so many people support his fall,seeing as he has saved the land multiple times,but he is constently tormented by everyone he sees.He adpots an very mean spirit and refuses to talk to anyone he sees. Finally someone gets through his rough deamanor and sees the goodness in him.That someone is Johanua Menhir. A really nicely written relationship between them begins and is even delayed at one point where the author could let it all come together between them. Flinn evetually reagins his titles and his honor and heads out back inot the world to destroy his sworn enemy who has been ravaging the world, the dragon Verdilith. The final encounter between then is very intense and the end is totally different from what I would expect from a book with 2 sequels. This is a very well writen novel, that expresses a lot of human emtion and has vey believable characters. I would highly recommend it.

I've bought this book when I was in forth grade, and I'm still reading it in tenth. It would be impossible to sum up the greatness of this book in just a simple paragraph, but to generally put it... The characters each had a unique personality, which the author has done well to describe them.

The storyline is unpredictable, and leaves you wanting more. In a matter of fact, I would love to see this trilogy be extended to a 4 or 5 book series.

This book also arises many different emotions throughout the book.... happiness, fright, anger, sadness, depression, abandonment... All to a great extent.

This novel combines romance, action, and magic into one great novel that you would surely want to read.

This book was filled with everything, romance, magic and swordplay. Also they end the book with a great cliffhanger that leaves the reader wanting to go out and read the next book.

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to the Eiger's North face. While in Grindelwald, I came across a copy of "The White Spider" and simply had to pick it up. Harrer's sensitivity toward the mountains that were his life and to his peers is unparalled. This sensitivity is intertwined throughout the book in not only his own first ascent of the face, but the subsequent successes and tragedies that occurred there. An incredible, heartfelt and wonderfully written book made even more fantastic when you can witness where it all took place.

I read this book 28 year ago. I have since been to the N. face of the Eiger to look at it and reflect on this book. It is a great book involving the will of man and his determination to overcome obstacles. Over my life time, when I have thought that things were going rough, I have thought of this book and the story of these men. I am now looking for a copy of this book and have an open order with Amazon. I highly recommend this book to all parents of teen age children. It will be well worth reading to all of you. The specific situation is less relevant than the more global significance of the lessons of commitment, loyalty and endurance.

I find it hard to believe this book is out of print considering Harrer's coming back into the vogue with "Seven Years in Tibet" on film. So many people are reading "Into Thin Air" and the latest mountain climbing spectaculars. I urge you to go back to the basics and read this book which is the best of them all. "Harrowing" best describes this history of the North Wall of the Eiger.

I had ridden for years and did not understand what I was doing wrong until I read this book. I am a surgeon so the anatomy was not difficult, but might be daunting for the uninitiated. It is invaluable. Now my trainer says "you are riding like we do". Many try to describe the correct way to ride but none succeed like this father/son physician team. Get a copy if you can...

This book put me in the ribbons in equitation classes on a backyard pinto, but it's not an easy book to read. This is a book about the ANATOMY of the human being as it affects riding. It took me about an hour a page. The authors are dressage riders and physicians, they do not dumb the subject down. There are pictures, but you must concentrate to learn. I can remember the moment I applied my understanding to the posting trot. My instructor exclaimed "Two years of lessons and you've finally got it!" I never told him it wasn't his lessons. For difficulty of language, this is an adult's book.

John Waller has done a great job of giving us an insiders look at the Nazi government at the top. His 'vehicle' is a fellow by the name of Felix Kersten, who. by one of those strange twists of history, became Heinrich Himmler's indispensable personal masseur. In that position Kersten, with connections to OSS and British intelligence, was able to influence Himmler. It is an outrageous story that provides exceptional insight in the personalities at the top of the Nazi machine.
The story has a particular relevance to this reviewer, as Kersten played a role in preventing the resettlement of millions of "irreconcilable" Dutchmen to Eastern Poland and the Ukraine in 1941 and 1942. The Dutch hated the Nazi occupiers, and their opposition and riots in 1941 had enraged Hitler. Kersten saw the documentation, was appalled, and adopted the strategy of convincing Himmler that his health would be at serious risk if he undertook such a demanding task. Himmler finally decided to persuade Hitler that Germany's logistical system would be over-taxed by mass-moving people across the continent while fighting the war on the Eastern front. The operation was postponed till after the war. This tale was thoroughly investigated by the Dutch Government after the war, and validated. Kersten was appropriately honored.
This vignette is only one of the many in the book. It was November 11, 1941, that Himmler emerged from the Fuhrer's presence and announced that the "destruction of the Jews is being actively planned." The occupied eastern territories "are to become free of Jews." These wartime orders in 1941 went well beyond the earlier decree in January 24, 1939, which intended to solve the 'Jewish question' by emigration and evacuation. Hitler's outbursts of temper and raving and ranting were often interpreted by his lieutenants as policy edicts to be carried out literally. The more one reads of what went on at the human level at the Nazi top, the more one is reminded of an insane asylum. How this Austrian misfit, Adolph Schickelgruber Hitler, unemployed in Vienna in 1913, cast into - and surviving - the traumatic trench warfare mass murder cauldrons of World War I, absorbing and caricaturing the prevailing cultural theories of racial blood purity, cranium indices denoting superior intelligence, and terror bombing (Douhet), and could then exploit the crisis of capitalism and the threat of communism by rising to the leadership of the German Reich -- and then driven by powerful paranoias, bring such misery to millions, particularly Poles, Russians, Germans, and others, and the Jewish compatriots that lived among them, defies staggering odds. I highly recommend this book. John Waller is a immensely respected OSS and CIA veteran, and author, who writes beautifully and with care, on a topic we should not forget.

Dr. Felix Kersten is a true World War II hero. Through his assigned job of being physical therapist to Heinrich Himmler, one of the most notorious, evil Nazi's of the war, read this fascinating true story of courage and manipulation. Kersten pounced on Himmler's naivete and prevented the persecution of thousands. Any history or war buff would love this book.

Friends of mine from Littleton Colorado told me that this book helped change the life of Columbine martyr Cassie Bernall. It is specifically mentioned in her life story "She Said Yes". This would have brought great joy to the author, Heinrich Arnold, who died in the same year that Cassie was born. A book like this is an amazing thing. The spirit that is captured in its pages waits quietly until discovered by a future generation who is then frees it for a blessing on their life.

I bought this book based solely on the publisher's reviews. I was looking for a book on Discipleship that would challenge my Christian walk, and also give solid answers to theological questions. In a personal, sharp way, Arnold does this. This book is a compilation of letters and notes that were put together by his community after his death. This makes the book great because there is no filler - it's packed with to-the-point insights. I recommend it to anyone. The only reason I give it a 9 instead of 10 is because only the Bible gets a 10! :

Ok I don't know what en is but I love this book! You can't talk about Zen without talking about Suzuki. The man was responsible for bringing East to West. In all my many spins I have never been able to find someone who can describe an undescribable thing like Zen better than Suzuki. In terms of quality this book is definatly three pounds of flax.

Suzuki's works offer a clear insight look at the often misunderstood world of zen. Suzuki gives the reader the ability to understand zen, rather than dictating what zen is. This work would be of benefit to any one wishing to see if zen is 'right' for them

Another in the series by Mr. Douglas regarding former head of the Gestapo (Geheimstaatspolizei), Heinrich Mueller, nearly each page drops bombs that will make you think. If you prefer television to thinking, you can pass it by, but if you like a purportedly nonfiction page-turner, where it is the content, not the style, that really grabs you, this is a must. Shatters all preconceptions about the 20th century.

This adds to data on what really happened in WWII.

You must read to understand.