**2. Case studies**

Five case studies of twenty‐first century organizations are presented below to illustrate how they have found ways to use HRD practices to improve innovation capability in their organi‐ zations. Each case shows unique features as the search for ways to increase innovation capa‐ bility is tailored to the business context.

### **2.1. Praxair**

Praxair, a Fortune 500 company based in the USA, was selected because of its ranking by *Forbes Magazine* on the list of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" [20] and the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in North America for 2016 [21]. Praxair is one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world. The organization's primary products are atmospheric and process gases for industrial customers in approximately 50 countries.

The vision for Praxair is "to be the best performing industrial gases company in the world" [21]. This performance culture is driven and reinforced by six priority factors: (1) safety; (2) governance, ethics and compliance; (3) energy and climate change; (4) eco portfolio (envi‐ ronmental innovation and product stewardship); (5) sustainable productivity; and (6) peo‐ ple development. The sixth priority involves four key performance indicators: diversity, employee engagement, community engagement, and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, Praxair's mission is "making our planet more productive," as the company serves customers and the planet for economic and environmental improvements. Success with that mission is reflected in Praxair's consistent placement on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for 13 consecutive years [22].

Development of human capital inside Praxair has involved continuous investment for decades. To create a culture based on the core values and achieve performance goals, senior leadership decided to have HR play a more strategic partnership role in 1999 [23]. The man‐ date for HR was to


These three goals for HR operationalized the vision of the firm as it entered the twenty‐first century.

The HR team chose eight avenues to pursue these goals:


The companies were selected from the Fortune 500 list but also had to be recognized for their

Accelerate knowledge, create value enterprise‐wide

Five case studies of twenty‐first century organizations are presented below to illustrate how they have found ways to use HRD practices to improve innovation capability in their organi‐ zations. Each case shows unique features as the search for ways to increase innovation capa‐

Praxair, a Fortune 500 company based in the USA, was selected because of its ranking by *Forbes Magazine* on the list of the "World's Most Innovative Companies" [20] and the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces™ in North America for 2016 [21]. Praxair is one of the largest industrial gas companies in the world. The organization's primary products are atmospheric

and process gases for industrial customers in approximately 50 countries.

innovativeness. They represent a variety of industries and locations.

Innovation, new product development; expand and develop new markets

**Praxair Air Liquide Rockwell** 

Rely on operational excellence, selective investments, open innovation, a network organization

Industrial gas & chemicals

Country USA France USA USA Thailand Year founded 1907 1902 2001 1928 1996

Industry Industrial gas &

Core values 1. Safety;

chemicals

28 Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications

2. Governance; 3. Energy and climate change; 4. Eco portfolio; 5. Sustainable productivity;

6. People development

Diversity, employee, community, and stakeholder engagement

**Table 1.** General company characteristics.

**Collins**

Access, connect, transcend

Avionics & IT systems

**FMC Technologies** 

1. Safety & sustainability; 2. Collaboration; 3. Innovation; 4. Valuing people; 5. Integrity; 6. Customer‐ centered; 7. Quality

Living corporate values; put customers and clients first

**Krungthai Card** 

1. Modern; 2. Dynamic; 3. Professional; 4. Simple; 5. Fun

Mission‐based projects; employee satisfaction

**PCL.**

Oil & gas Consumer finance

**Inc.**

**2. Case studies**

Corporate cultural areas of focus

**2.1. Praxair**

bility is tailored to the business context.


Early success with the Praxair program was reflected by the inclusion of the company as the focus of one of 17 chapters in Carter et al.'s [27] book *Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change* which profiled leading innovators in leadership and organization development. The programs for HRD have continuously evolved at Praxair as exemplified by the following sample of topics.

### *2.1.1. Job autonomy*

Based on clear communications around corporate vision, goals, and mission, Praxair gives enough autonomy to all business units to run their own business. Compared to other com‐ panies in the chemical industry, Praxair has fewer controllers, commanders, or instructors who regulate or monitor employees' job‐related behaviors. Praxair encourages employees to be creative thinkers, to accept and explore different or new perspectives to solve problems, and to expand conceptual frameworks. The flexibility and the absence of rigid job design can be also exemplified with these five principles representing careers at Praxair: "explore your possibilities; build your skills; enjoy your challenge; make your mark; and own your future" [21].

### *2.1.2. Learning and development*

Learning and development (L&D) provides formally structured and informal learning opportunities to facilitate employees pushing the limits of knowledge and experience. Praxair regards every aspect of employees' actual job performance as a part of L&D. A spe‐ cial emphasis has placed knowledge sharing through mentoring at the center of the L&D process. The social support of learning emerges from mentoring relationships. Mentoring of women and by women leaders represents an important part of that emphasis. Praxair formally trains technical personnel in mentoring skills to accelerate the sharing of both tech‐ nical and soft skills knowledge. The rapid development of new hires in both hard and soft skills prepares them for filling the gap created by retiring senior employees through mentor‐ ing relationships. Mid‐career employees with advanced degrees may leave for other oppor‐ tunities, so Praxair uses job shadowing and cross‐training for all employees and internships, and job transfers for invited employees to achieve continuous development. Because of the risk involved in manufacturing processes, safety training and safety culture become a pri‐ mary goal of L&D. The most knowledgeable employees in each work group earn the title of subject matter expert (SME) or corporate fellow [28]. Furthermore, Praxair puts a great emphasis on leadership development, not only for current leaders but also for the next gen‐ eration of leaders. For example, Praxair uses simulations to develop leadership capability in technical staff with three levels of challenge—early career, mid‐career, and longer service where teams work together to solve problems of a fictional enterprise with ever‐changing circumstances [29].

### *2.1.3. Knowledge management*

Firmly grounded in the corporate mission/vision, Praxair operates productivity programs by sharing the best practices. Each employee is mandated to contribute to productivity goals that are measured in hard dollars. A sense of urgency is created to emphasize personal accountability balanced with the skills for teamwork. Furthermore, the company, especially the global engi‐ neering business unit, runs communities of practice (CoP) for knowledge creation and dissemi‐ nation. Praxair launched an on‐demand video system in 2010 and an ask‐an‐expert system in 2011 [30] to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between senior employees on the verge of retire‐ ment and less experienced employees. Viewing of the videos increased exponentially because of leadership support. One key has been easy access to videos through such mechanisms as links embedded in E‐mails. The technology for the ask‐an‐expert system has evolved from SharePoint to a customized system to increase effectiveness. Requiring every community of practice to par‐ ticipate with one or more questions per month increased participation and value [31].

### *2.1.4. Summary*

*2.1.1. Job autonomy*

30 Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications

future" [21].

circumstances [29].

*2.1.3. Knowledge management*

*2.1.2. Learning and development*

Based on clear communications around corporate vision, goals, and mission, Praxair gives enough autonomy to all business units to run their own business. Compared to other com‐ panies in the chemical industry, Praxair has fewer controllers, commanders, or instructors who regulate or monitor employees' job‐related behaviors. Praxair encourages employees to be creative thinkers, to accept and explore different or new perspectives to solve problems, and to expand conceptual frameworks. The flexibility and the absence of rigid job design can be also exemplified with these five principles representing careers at Praxair: "explore your possibilities; build your skills; enjoy your challenge; make your mark; and own your

Learning and development (L&D) provides formally structured and informal learning opportunities to facilitate employees pushing the limits of knowledge and experience. Praxair regards every aspect of employees' actual job performance as a part of L&D. A spe‐ cial emphasis has placed knowledge sharing through mentoring at the center of the L&D process. The social support of learning emerges from mentoring relationships. Mentoring of women and by women leaders represents an important part of that emphasis. Praxair formally trains technical personnel in mentoring skills to accelerate the sharing of both tech‐ nical and soft skills knowledge. The rapid development of new hires in both hard and soft skills prepares them for filling the gap created by retiring senior employees through mentor‐ ing relationships. Mid‐career employees with advanced degrees may leave for other oppor‐ tunities, so Praxair uses job shadowing and cross‐training for all employees and internships, and job transfers for invited employees to achieve continuous development. Because of the risk involved in manufacturing processes, safety training and safety culture become a pri‐ mary goal of L&D. The most knowledgeable employees in each work group earn the title of subject matter expert (SME) or corporate fellow [28]. Furthermore, Praxair puts a great emphasis on leadership development, not only for current leaders but also for the next gen‐ eration of leaders. For example, Praxair uses simulations to develop leadership capability in technical staff with three levels of challenge—early career, mid‐career, and longer service where teams work together to solve problems of a fictional enterprise with ever‐changing

Firmly grounded in the corporate mission/vision, Praxair operates productivity programs by sharing the best practices. Each employee is mandated to contribute to productivity goals that are measured in hard dollars. A sense of urgency is created to emphasize personal accountability balanced with the skills for teamwork. Furthermore, the company, especially the global engi‐ neering business unit, runs communities of practice (CoP) for knowledge creation and dissemi‐ nation. Praxair launched an on‐demand video system in 2010 and an ask‐an‐expert system in 2011 [30] to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between senior employees on the verge of retire‐ ment and less experienced employees. Viewing of the videos increased exponentially because of Innovation involves the ideas and efforts of organizational employees. As their knowledge, empowerment, and engagement grow, so does innovation capability. Praxair has made a number of deliberate changes over recent years to build that capability.
