Comments for KM at Novartis

Comment from Bill Stevens on 2005-04-06

2005-04-06T20:37:04Z

This article is being used to formulate a PowerPoint presentation for our Information Sciences Seminar class on Novartis and how they are using Knowledge Management. We would appreciate information from others as to what their perspective(s)are on how Novartis has utilized Knowledge Management or Knowledge Networking, as a 1999 article referred to it. Be advised that your comments and website will be credited in full as part of our annotated bibliography when turned in to Dr. Mike Pemberton, CRM, FAI when it is completed. WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU CONCERNING THIS ARTICLE!

Comment from David L. Chu on 2005-05-20

2005-05-20T14:31:49Z

I worked with Joerg Staheli, whom I consider to be my mentor, to create the Knolwdge Marketplace. I, too, was a technology scout and my contribution was in knowledge management. I had proposed a Knowledge Office for Novartis Pharma Research during the merger process. And as a result I was named the first Knowledge Officer of Novartis Pharma Research. I had already re-architected the technical architecture of the Knowledge Marketplace in Notes and later for the event documented by CIO re-engineered the Knowledge Marketplace for the Web.

"Knowledge Networking" was a term that I had coined in 1995 when I first joined Sandoz. I had also coined the phrase, "Knowledge without Action is useless. Action without Knowledge is dangerous." There was a big news group discussion/argument between two camps on the international scene. One camp wanted to call the knowledge effort "knowledge management" and the other thought it was to controlling.

I first presented the concept of the "Organizational Mind" at the Sandoz 6/9-12/1996 Montpellier Research Conference. It was in the documented conference report.

The first useful knowledge product for business in Sandoz was the Sandoz Competitor Intelligence tool. This product was created and launched in Novemenber of 1995. We identified knowledge gatekeepers and evangelized the concept. The first contributor to this effort was Dr. Paul Herrling, the Research VP, himself. I believe that this tool had contributed to the selection of Ciba and its pipeline as merger partner. I had always meant to validate the actual knowledge about Ciba after the merger with the knowledge we had compiled from published works. Unfortunately I left Pharma from boredom resulting from the lack of progress due to the fog of merger.

The second major knowledge product was the InfoWeb at Novartis Consumer Health. Dr. Werner Tschollar was named the R&D VP and I joined NCH as the head of Knowledge Management and Collaboration Technologies. I created the k-layered knowledge architecture and acted as the IT project manager for InfoWeb with Ms Maryam Olsen as the business project managerm The result of this effort included an encylopedia of all NCH products as they are branded in all countries, knowledge about all experts and sites, a project porfolio integrated with MS project to manage all projects, and many team workspaces for collaborative management of all processes. I reported this at the 9/15-16/1998 Conference on Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning, European Conference Board.

I hope that this information helps to clarify the story about how knowledge management was started at Novartis.

Regards,
David L. Chu
P.S. I kept copies of all the historic records in my portfolio and would be more than happy to share with your Web Site.

Comment from David L. Chu on 2005-05-21

2005-05-21T15:37:22Z

I left off one other historic note. Frank LaSaracina, who I believe was a VP at Ciba, and I, from Sandoz, invited a number of business, research, and library staff during the merger process to join the Novartis Knowledge Network that the two of us founded. This was the very first Novartis knowledge network.

Trackback in article KM at Novartis, Part 2 from Knowledge Jolt with Jack

2005-05-26T15:36:50Z

I wrote about KM at Novartis last year, concluding that there wasn't much happening at the pharmaceutical giant with respect to knowledge management. Apparently I was wrong. The Novartis Campus Project in their "about Novartis" pages talks about their ... [Read More]

Trackback in article More KM at Novartis from Knowledge Jolt with Jack

2005-05-26T16:21:48Z

David L. Chu has commented on my KM at Novartis. He was one of the key people involved in creating Novartis' Knowledge Marketplace with Joerg Staheli. He has also provided some old presentations to help see historical context. [Read More]

Comment from Daniel Teeter on 2005-06-09

2005-06-09T22:24:49Z

Actually Novartis Infant and Baby (Gerber Baby Foods) has recently been recognized as a knowledge management leader within Novartis. Gerber's knowledge network powered by AskMe Enterprise is used to systematically link and leverage expertise while ensuring the capture and re-application of lessons learned. The system has been in place since 2003 and was recently featured in an internal magazine publication of Novartis Consumer Health.

Trackback in article KM at Novartis, Part 2 from Knowledge Jolt with Jack

2005-06-17T17:48:17Z

An update on my earlier writing about KM at Novartis. It seems there is more happening behind the scenes these days. [Read More]

Comment from David L. Chu on 2005-08-23

2005-08-23T12:22:41Z

It is indeed gratifying to learn that my pioneering work at NCH had produced enough interest and understanding at Gerber, as noted by Daniel Teeter, to continue to evolve. I remember fondly my trip to Gerber with the global CIO, Mr. Leo Foketyn, as his deputy. I was evangelising about the benefits of KM and the Infoweb suite. I understand that Leo's replacement, Mr. Hoehenwater, who became my manager, was named CIO for Gerber when it moved its HQ to Summit, NJ. Perhaps Daniel could post a link to the article itself? I would like to read up on it.

Comment from Daniel Teeter on 2005-09-29

2005-09-29T22:25:37Z

Sorry David - I can't post the document as it is not publicly available. It is interesting to see the evolution as you describe it in past efforts and it is fairly representative of what we have seen across the pharma industry.