Having carried out an extensive search and review of literature relating to the core research topic, a number of issues have been identified. To investigate these issues and to answer the two core research objectives, it is proposed to formulate three sub-questions to the main objectives:
• Which individual initiatives should be introduced to counter knowledge sharing barriers?
• Which organisational metrics should be introduced to determine if an organisational change improves the knowledge sharing within the department?
• Which system metrics and measurements should be introduced to monitor and ensure that the knowledge sharing strategy is being fully implemented?
The answers to these questions should produce solid answers …show more content…
As a Service entity of a leading Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), active in the power industry, responsible for keeping a modern and an aging fleet competitive, there is an immediate need to retain and transfer knowledge within the business. A requirement therefore exists, supported by higher management, to make Alstom Thermal Services R&D a learning business unit, which can constantly innovate and makes future key decisions to the fullest extent based on the knowledge available, adapted to the changed circumstances where required, in a timely manner.
The role of the Research and Development (R&D) business units within Alstom Thermal Services is to develop these technical innovative capabilities, providing a continuous flow of products and improvements, for which knowledge of existing equipment is …show more content…
These groups have been determined critical to Alstom future growth at the corporate level and have been defined as ‘critical technologies’. The organisation of these groups are shown in figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Organisation diagram for Alstom Thermal Services R&D
Individual groups are structured as standard hierarchical organisations, where specialised teams report to the group leader. For example, the ‘Inspection Methods’ group has one team to produce steam turbine products, one to produce gas turbine and one for boilers, with each team lead reporting to the group leader.
The vision of Alstom thermal services R&D execution is to provide the most responsive, reliable and innovative solutions to keep power plants competitive throughout their life cycles.
Whilst its mission is:
• To provide, collect, maintain and develop knowledge on technologies and products relevant for Thermal Service processes and products, independent of Product