**2.2. Air Liquide**

Headquartered in Paris, France, Air Liquide was founded in 1902 by a group of French scien‐ tists and engineers seeking to develop and commercialize a new process for air liquefaction (thus leading to the name of the company). During this period, Paris was considered a bea‐ con of the arts, scientific research, instrument and tool manufacturing, banking, and venture capitalism and "an incubator for technological innovation and for the formation of high‐tech start‐up companies, not unlike what Boston/Cambridge and Silicon Valley would become in the United States in the late twentieth century" [32]. Smith refers to primary founder of Air Liquide, Georges Claude, as "Frances's leading industrial scientist of the last 100 years" (p. 51). Claude's inventions, creativity, and persistence were key drivers of innovation and success throughout the organization's early years.

Since its founding in the early 1900s, the organization has grown to be one of the world's top two industrial gas suppliers, providing oxygen, helium, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and argon to business customers in the automotive, chemicals, food and beverage, semiconductor, and healthcare industries. Today, Air Liquide employs approximately 51,500 people across 80 countries and generated over \$18 billion in sales revenue in 2015 [33] (these figures do not include the May 2016 acquisition of Airgas).

### *2.2.1. The importance of innovation at Air Liquide*

Innovation has been a key part of the corporate identity since the organization's founding. An excellent history of Air Liquide's early years of innovation can be found in Smith's [32] article "Product Innovation and the Growth of the Large Firm: The Case of Air Liquide, 1902–1930." New product development and innovation are important parts of Air Liquide's strategy as the organization endeavors to continuously improve its production technology, expand exist‐ ing markets, and develop new markets.

### *2.2.2. Role of HRD and KM in facilitating innovation*

Air Liquide leverages employee development programs, such as technical career pathing, mentoring, and high potential programs, along with more traditional KM approaches such as communities of practice, to facilitate knowledge sharing, transfer technical knowledge, and foster a culture of innovation throughout the organization.

From a developmental standpoint, human resources has established a Technical Career Leaders (TCL) dual career ladder, created in 2003, that serves to identify, develop, recognize, reward, and retain key technical expertise within the organization as well as facilitate the transfer of their knowledge. The TCL program includes six levels: two local levels and four international levels. The program offers structured, yet flexible, career tracks where technical talent has the option to develop and progress in their careers within either the technical or the managerial path, and the flexibility to move between career tracks during their careers. Each track includes mentoring, training, networking, and other developmental opportunities for participating employees.

TCL is a worldwide program covering all Air Liquide business lines. As of June 2016, there were approximately 2500 experts representing 67 nationalities participating in the TCL. Technical areas encompassed in the TCL program include electronics, engineering and tech‐ nology, healthcare, industrial merchant (cylinder, bulk, and onsite; and applications and services), large industries, and research and development, and each of these areas has its own domain of expertise. Employees are selected to participate in the TCL program based on criteria such as their participation in knowledge transfer activities, their leadership and influence abilities, and their capacity to communicate and deliver on their technical vision and innovative ideas.

Within the Large Industries Business Line in North America, Air Liquide also engages select early‐ to mid‐career high potential technical talent in a LEAP (learning, experienc‐ ing, and progressing) developmental program in order to accelerate time to competency of these employees and retain and engage this key employee population. An analysis of this technical population revealed that there was insufficient pipeline to fill anticipated gaps in technical roles due to attrition of technical experts. Therefore, the LEAP program was instituted in 2013 in order to provide early‐ to mid‐career high potential technical talent with the practical, technical training and experiences that they need to quickly advance in their careers at the organization. The LEAP program began with 24 employees; today there are approximately 75 employees participating (45 protégés, and the reminder coaches, trainers, and managers). Each protégé is assigned a coach (some coaches have more than one protégé). The program consists of 10, three‐day classes, supplemented with com‐ puter‐based training, to cover technical content as well as soft skills training. Protégés are assigned a set of technical objectives at various points throughout the program to complete over the next 12 months, under the guidance of their coach. The program offers participat‐ ing employees a variety of experiences and learning opportunities in an accelerated fash‐ ion in order to speed their developmental process, and help transfer technical knowledge from the coaches to their assigned protégés.

From a knowledge management perspective, Air Liquide has established technical commu‐ nities of practice (CoPs) at a worldwide level, the business line level, as well as at the more regional hub level. For example, as of June 2016, the company has 7 worldwide technical CoPs established and 10 technical CoPs within the large industries business line in Europe. Hubs for the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Middle East Africa are in the process of establish‐ ing their own CoPs. The intent of the technical worldwide CoPs is to set standards, estab‐ lish technical vision, and identify technical best practices. The hub CoPs, in turn, focus on implementing the best practices identified in the worldwide CoPs and people development. All communities facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer within the organization. Within the Americas zone, both formal and informal communities leverage Google Plus Sites as the enterprise platform to facilitate and enable virtual collaboration, content sharing, and Q&A amongst site members.

### *2.2.3. Summary*

From a developmental standpoint, human resources has established a Technical Career Leaders (TCL) dual career ladder, created in 2003, that serves to identify, develop, recognize, reward, and retain key technical expertise within the organization as well as facilitate the transfer of their knowledge. The TCL program includes six levels: two local levels and four international levels. The program offers structured, yet flexible, career tracks where technical talent has the option to develop and progress in their careers within either the technical or the managerial path, and the flexibility to move between career tracks during their careers. Each track includes mentoring, training, networking, and other developmental opportunities for

TCL is a worldwide program covering all Air Liquide business lines. As of June 2016, there were approximately 2500 experts representing 67 nationalities participating in the TCL. Technical areas encompassed in the TCL program include electronics, engineering and tech‐ nology, healthcare, industrial merchant (cylinder, bulk, and onsite; and applications and services), large industries, and research and development, and each of these areas has its own domain of expertise. Employees are selected to participate in the TCL program based on criteria such as their participation in knowledge transfer activities, their leadership and influence abilities, and their capacity to communicate and deliver on their technical vision

Within the Large Industries Business Line in North America, Air Liquide also engages select early‐ to mid‐career high potential technical talent in a LEAP (learning, experienc‐ ing, and progressing) developmental program in order to accelerate time to competency of these employees and retain and engage this key employee population. An analysis of this technical population revealed that there was insufficient pipeline to fill anticipated gaps in technical roles due to attrition of technical experts. Therefore, the LEAP program was instituted in 2013 in order to provide early‐ to mid‐career high potential technical talent with the practical, technical training and experiences that they need to quickly advance in their careers at the organization. The LEAP program began with 24 employees; today there are approximately 75 employees participating (45 protégés, and the reminder coaches, trainers, and managers). Each protégé is assigned a coach (some coaches have more than one protégé). The program consists of 10, three‐day classes, supplemented with com‐ puter‐based training, to cover technical content as well as soft skills training. Protégés are assigned a set of technical objectives at various points throughout the program to complete over the next 12 months, under the guidance of their coach. The program offers participat‐ ing employees a variety of experiences and learning opportunities in an accelerated fash‐ ion in order to speed their developmental process, and help transfer technical knowledge

From a knowledge management perspective, Air Liquide has established technical commu‐ nities of practice (CoPs) at a worldwide level, the business line level, as well as at the more regional hub level. For example, as of June 2016, the company has 7 worldwide technical CoPs established and 10 technical CoPs within the large industries business line in Europe. Hubs for the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Middle East Africa are in the process of establish‐ ing their own CoPs. The intent of the technical worldwide CoPs is to set standards, estab‐ lish technical vision, and identify technical best practices. The hub CoPs, in turn, focus on

participating employees.

32 Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications

and innovative ideas.

from the coaches to their assigned protégés.

Programs such as TCL and LEAP facilitate innovation on an individual level by present‐ ing employees with multiple and diverse opportunities for learning and growth and on a collective level by enabling employees to learn from one another and build on the ideas of others. Similarly, CoPs at Air Liquide provide forums for networking, knowledge sharing, and employee development, ultimately fostering individual and organizational learning and innovation.

### **2.3. Rockwell Collins**

Rockwell Collins, Inc., headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, provides avionics and infor‐ mation technology systems and services to governmental agencies and aircraft manufactur‐ ers. The organization went public in 2001 as a spin‐off from Rockwell Automation and has been experiencing tremendous growth over the past decade. Rockwell Collins runs opera‐ tions in 60 locations with nearly 20,000 employees around the globe (Rockwell Collins, 2014). Its aircraft electronics are installed in the cockpits of nearly every airline in the world, and its airborne and ground‐based communication systems transmit nearly 70% of all U.S. and allied military airborne communication. The organization also provides flight simulation and training, MRO (maintenance, repair, operations) services, navigation, and surveillance systems [31].

### *2.3.1. Innovation culture and knowledge management*

Since 2001, Rockwell Collins has undergone a period of rapid growth. The unprecedented growth was a primary driver of its KM system. With the rapid expansion of the organization, the necessity to connect new employees with existing knowledge and expertise worldwide became increasingly urgent [31].

The history of Rockwell Collins' KM system can actually be traced back to 1999. In order to ful‐ fill the mission of "access, connect, and transcend," corporate leaders developed a KM system to "accelerate knowledge, and create value" enterprise‐wide [34]. Over the past 10 years, each department of Rockwell Collins has been closely connected by the KM system. Currently, many KM approaches and tools, such as communities of practice (organized groups for employees to share and learn), Epedia (companywide Wikipedia), Lessons Learned (a reflection tool in Epedia), and Enterprise Tools Integrated Forum (questions and answers forum) are used daily [35–37]. Rockwell Collins has promoted a learning culture by combining its formal training and development processes with these industry leading KM programs [34, 38]. The five to ten awards won by Rockwell Collins each year, include Blue Ribbon winner for Innovation by *Military Training Technology* magazine in 2014 [39].

### *2.3.2. HRD's role in innovation*

There are several strategies that HRD leverages to support innovation at Rockwell Collins. For example, a virtual university (Rockwell Collins University) functions as the catalyst for innovation. The University employs highly developed e‐learning systems to offer courses efficiently. Technology enables employees to access learning anytime and anywhere. Within the learning culture at Rockwell Collins University, e‐learning is a richer source for learning beyond videotapes or online tools only. Employees seek answers actively instead of being offered solutions. For example, learning and development specialists regularly assess the need to retain the core knowledge that senior employees may take away when they retire. Learning and development specialists worked with the Performance Engineering Group (PEG) to invent "QuickLearns," computer‐based tutorials featuring subject‐matter experts performing key tasks [40].

At Rockwell Collins, a learning culture that emphasizes sharing has been formed with HRD's assistance. For example, HRD specialists facilitate ad hoc meetings with engineering‐group leaders who have suggestions and feedback regarding training programs at Rockwell Collins. As a group, HRD specialists use such venues as one mechanism to identify training needs [40].

### *2.3.3. Summary*

One pervasive risk to many technical organizations is employees leaving the organization with critical technical, cultural, and social knowledge that is difficult to replace. As a learning organization, Rockwell Collins leverages the HRD strategies and the well‐established KM system described above to create a culture that recognizes inquiry, feedback, and creative thinking. The KM system helps the organization navigate both planned and unplanned orga‐ nization change.

HRD at Rockwell Collins leverages training and development and knowledge sharing through KM tools to support organizational learning on each level (individual, team, and organiza‐ tional). As a result of HRD's efforts to facilitate innovation, the organization has experienced several positive changes. First, the creation of a learning culture fosters innovation and out‐of‐ the box thinking. Second, the implementation of KM programs facilitates knowledge sharing at the company more freely and efficiently. Finally, the company has created healthy recogni‐ tion and reward mechanisms that encourage knowledge sharing and innovative behaviors by employees. In Rockwell Collins' case, formal and informal learning programs are comple‐ mented by a firmly established KM system, which makes the company a learning organiza‐ tion that encourages employees to think and work innovatively.

### **2.4. FMC Technologies, Inc.**

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, FMC Technologies is a publicly traded oil and gas equip‐ ment services company, specializing in subsea, surface technology, and energy infrastructure. It was originally founded in 1884 as the Bean Spray Company, but then changed in 1928 to the Food Machinery Company, which is where the FMC initials originate. FMC Technologies was recognized by Forbes on its list of most innovative companies in 2013 [20]. At that time, FMC Technologies ranked 17th on Forbes' international list of innovative organizations, based on their innovation premium. The innovation premium is the difference between a company's market capitalization and a net present value (NPV) of cash flows from existing businesses [20]. Companies with a market cap above NPV of cash flows are ranked in order of the most market cap above NPV to the least. FMC Technologies had a market cap of \$12.4 billion USD.

Foss et al. [41] provide a solid definition of knowledge sharing, which is "…the provision or receipt of task information, know how, and feedback on a product or a procedure" (p. 458). The core beliefs espoused by early HRD practitioners and theorists include the notions that HRD itself is the process and practice of developing, harnessing, or releasing of human expertise through individual and organizational development in order to improve performance [42]. This is evidenced in these platforms of knowledge sharing at FMC Technologies: The Women's Leadership Program, a comprehensive program for the development of women as leaders; the Edge, a formal knowledge management system (KMS); WellLinked, a quarterly employee publication; and a business model of formalized internationally based centers of excellence (COEs). The HRD‐specific function each of these platforms is discussed in the next section.

### *2.4.1. Knowledge sharing, innovation, and HRD*

*2.3.2. HRD's role in innovation*

34 Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications

performing key tasks [40].

*2.3.3. Summary*

nization change.

**2.4. FMC Technologies, Inc.**

There are several strategies that HRD leverages to support innovation at Rockwell Collins. For example, a virtual university (Rockwell Collins University) functions as the catalyst for innovation. The University employs highly developed e‐learning systems to offer courses efficiently. Technology enables employees to access learning anytime and anywhere. Within the learning culture at Rockwell Collins University, e‐learning is a richer source for learning beyond videotapes or online tools only. Employees seek answers actively instead of being offered solutions. For example, learning and development specialists regularly assess the need to retain the core knowledge that senior employees may take away when they retire. Learning and development specialists worked with the Performance Engineering Group (PEG) to invent "QuickLearns," computer‐based tutorials featuring subject‐matter experts

At Rockwell Collins, a learning culture that emphasizes sharing has been formed with HRD's assistance. For example, HRD specialists facilitate ad hoc meetings with engineering‐group leaders who have suggestions and feedback regarding training programs at Rockwell Collins. As a group, HRD specialists use such venues as one mechanism to identify training needs [40].

One pervasive risk to many technical organizations is employees leaving the organization with critical technical, cultural, and social knowledge that is difficult to replace. As a learning organization, Rockwell Collins leverages the HRD strategies and the well‐established KM system described above to create a culture that recognizes inquiry, feedback, and creative thinking. The KM system helps the organization navigate both planned and unplanned orga‐

HRD at Rockwell Collins leverages training and development and knowledge sharing through KM tools to support organizational learning on each level (individual, team, and organiza‐ tional). As a result of HRD's efforts to facilitate innovation, the organization has experienced several positive changes. First, the creation of a learning culture fosters innovation and out‐of‐ the box thinking. Second, the implementation of KM programs facilitates knowledge sharing at the company more freely and efficiently. Finally, the company has created healthy recogni‐ tion and reward mechanisms that encourage knowledge sharing and innovative behaviors by employees. In Rockwell Collins' case, formal and informal learning programs are comple‐ mented by a firmly established KM system, which makes the company a learning organiza‐

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, FMC Technologies is a publicly traded oil and gas equip‐ ment services company, specializing in subsea, surface technology, and energy infrastructure. It was originally founded in 1884 as the Bean Spray Company, but then changed in 1928 to the Food Machinery Company, which is where the FMC initials originate. FMC Technologies was recognized by Forbes on its list of most innovative companies in 2013 [20]. At that time, FMC

tion that encourages employees to think and work innovatively.

Knowledge sharing supports organizational productivity and also enriches its credibility with the marketplace and stakeholders [41]. HRD enhances knowledge exchange at FMC Technologies in three key internal areas that drive external value:


One of the most prominent features about this organization is consistent messaging about its internal organizational and operational expertise. FMC Technologies publishes a quar‐ terly global employee publication called WellLinked highlighting the success of employees, teams, and organizational plans. The magazine's purpose is to inform all employees on the forward progress of the organization and any updates in organizational strategy [42].

(3) Networking—FMC boasts 50 online networks established to focus on different parts of the business. Any employee can read content shared within a network, but the people who work in the specific area of the operation run or manage the network. One of the networks, the New Hire Network, helps new hires get their questions answered. Team members welcome them, provide responses, and let them know how to find necessary resources [42].

### *2.4.2. Summary*

HRD's role in innovation at FMC Technologies is to support collaboration and community building that contributes to performance through knowledge sharing. The work of HRD is an antecedent to this organization's ability to support its customers' success. FMC Technologies' stance on innovation is girded by formal organizational structures that ensure knowledge sharing, which makes their customers and the company, in turn, successful.

### **2.5. Krungthai Card PCL (KTC)**

Krungthai Card Public Company Limited (KTC), a consumer finance service provider in Thailand founded in 1996, represents one of the Thai companies, recognized from the Stock Exchange of Thailand, as an innovative organization. KTC was the first Thai financial firm to reform itself into an innovative organization in order to make a difference in its corporate identity.

The company's core values (modern, dynamic, professional, simple, and fun) help KTC build a new corporate identity that differentiates it from its competitors [43]. To manage its identity, the company aligns the five core values with innovation infrastructure capability. The innova‐ tion infrastructure capability, which includes the organization structure, the organizational culture, and leadership style, supports the development of creativity and innovation. KTC's structure is characterized by low levels of hierarchy, high levels of cross‐functional collabo‐ ration, and decentralization of decision making. The KTC corporate culture involves team mission‐based projects, modern and dynamic working styles, and a workplace orientation focused on employee satisfaction. KTC leaders emphasize a people‐oriented management approach and play an important role in managing organizational change related to creative and innovative capabilities.

### *2.5.1. Learning and innovation*

Regarding KTC's corporate identity, the organization encourages employees to become dynamic and collaborative in order to cope with change in its business markets. KTC assumes that if the company sustains a relaxing learning environment, employees are able to generate a high degree of creativity and innovation.

At KTC, creativity in employees is developed through a lively and collaborative learning cli‐ mate. The learning climate is shaped by the five core values that align with the organiza‐ tion's processes and practices. The company primarily focuses on collaborative learning in which employees share their knowledge and skills with their peers through a social com‐ munity. KTC uses this collaborative learning through interactive working processes, such as knowledge sharing within a mission‐based team and a specific learning program titled "KTC Knowledge Sharing." These learning activities are delivered via face‐to‐face and online media (i.e., KTC Mind Intranet) communications. Various employees acquire knowledge from each other when they are placed collectively in their communities.

Creativity and innovation are facilitated by a culture of the learning organization [10] and knowledge management [44]. This culture requires an alignment of organizational policies, procedures, and practices that foster a dynamic interaction of individuals, groups, and an organization that creates knowledge.
