Siemens - Knowledge Management
Siemens AG is a German based company founded in 1847, employs over 416,000 people in 190 countries, and has over 60.1 billion Euros in sales worldwide. Siemens became the electronics, telecommunications, and electrical engineering powerhouse that it is today by consistently innovating and discovering new technologies. After starting out as a small precision-engineering workshop making wire insulation and warning bells for railroads, the company discovered the dynamoelectric principle, built the first electrical railway and developed the first electrical elevator. Siemens currently makes a plethora of products such as light bulbs, X-ray machines, telecommunication equipment, and high speed trains.
Increased competition, deregulation, and a surge in data traffic drastically changed the business structure of the telecom Industry. An economic wave of new competitors arrived at the table while the pace of innovation increased by the introduction of new technology such as IP networks. Due to these economic changes, Siemens underwent a restructuring phase and as a result of this, a new business group, Information and Communication Networks (ICN) was formed. In addition, there was an increase in customer purchasing power because new and old customers became less interested in the practice of “buying boxes” from Siemens and became more focused on purchasing business solutions to fit their specific needs. Customers were searching for more value based business solutions such as consulting, financing, systems integration, and other solution based services. This shift from a pure product business to a service focus and solutions approach increased the complexity and knowledge intensity of Siemens’ business. As Joachim Döring, ICN manger recalls: “Suddenly, our salespeople were facing the challenge of having to offer solutions rather than precisely defined products. That significantly increased our influence on the value-added chain as far as customers were concerned.”
Increased competition, deregulation, and a surge in data traffic drastically changed the business structure of the telecom Industry. An economic wave of new competitors arrived at the table while the pace of innovation increased by the introduction of new technology such as IP networks. Due to these economic changes, Siemens underwent a restructuring phase and as a result of this, a new business group, Information and Communication Networks (ICN) was formed. In addition, there was an increase in customer purchasing power because new and old customers became less interested in the practice of “buying boxes” from Siemens and became more focused on purchasing business solutions to fit their specific needs. Customers were searching for more value based business solutions such as consulting, financing, systems integration, and other solution based services. This shift from a pure product business to a service focus and solutions approach increased the complexity and knowledge intensity of Siemens’ business. As Joachim Döring, ICN manger recalls: “Suddenly, our salespeople were facing the challenge of having to offer solutions rather than precisely defined products. That significantly increased our influence on the value-added chain as far as customers were concerned.”
Cited: MacCormac, Alan, “Siemens ShareNet: Building a Knowledge Network. November 5, 2002, Harvard Review Sabine Saphörster. “Pictures of the spring 2004 - Heading for Knowledge-Guided Networks”. http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/publikationen/publications_pof/pof_spring_2004/knowledge_articles/knowledge_management.htm