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The Australian Government Information Management Office Archive

APS KM Case Studies

Knowledge Management Strategy Development at ITSA

February 2004

Introduction

This paper provides an introduction to Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia's (ITSA) knowledge management strategy. The strategy development process involved the gathering of data in the form of comments made during management interviews, focus groups and information sessions, and the use of these comments to identify improvement opportunities and priority areas to be addressed.

About ITSA

ITSA is a Commonwealth public sector agency which administers and regulates Australia's personal insolvency system. Our purpose is to provide a personal insolvency system that produces equitable outcomes for debtors and creditors, enjoys public confidence and minimises the impact of financial failure on the community.

ITSA has approximately 270 employees throughout Australia. Our offices are located in each State capital, Townsville and Canberra.

The agency head is the Chief Executive who also has a statutory role as the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy. ITSA has an Executive Board responsible for strategic decision making and national corporate governance. The ITSA Leadership Team, comprising Branch Heads, Business Line Leaders and several other key people within the organisation, is responsible for providing broader strategic guidance on organisational direction. Branch Heads are responsible for each branch office. ITSA has established business lines which operate in conjunction with a geographically based branch structure.

More information about ITSA, including our Corporate Plan and Client Service Charter can be found on our website: www.itsa.gov.au.

Rationale for Adopting KM

ITSA is a service organisation in which knowledge is highly valued because of its criticality to our work. Employees are required to interpret and apply legislation, policy and legal opinions, conduct analyses of client circumstances, and manage client cases. The objective of the project to develop a knowledge management strategy was to improve ITSA's capacity to capture, share and locate knowledge that is necessary to delivering strategic objectives by addressing key drivers. Consultancy services for this project were provided by Dr Kate Andrews from BDO Kendalls.

Key Business Drivers in Relation to Knowledge Management

Knowledge management was identified by ITSA's leadership team as a key issue for ITSA, important to both ITSA's custodianship of its reputation for expertise and quality client service, and the future achievement of outcomes.

The following key improvement opportunities were identified as critical drivers of the need for ITSA to develop a knowledge management strategy:

• Loss of corporate memory and key knowledge assets as staff members exit to the private sector or retire from public service;
• Poor succession strategies and the requirement for better workforce planning given the current demographics of the organisation;
• Requirement to break down organisational and operational silos by promoting a culture of collaboration,
• Changing business practices and adopting relevant technologies or tools to allow for greater collaboration and knowledge sharing across ITSA, and;
• Requirement to better capture, store, manage, retrieve and add value to integrated information and knowledge sets across the organisation.

Additional benefits to be derived from the strategy implementation include:

• A more efficient and cohesive organisation with better access to information and knowledge;
• Better work practices and business processes;
• Delivery of better quality services to clients;
• Improved staff capabilities and efficiency;
• Better workforce management and succession planning, and;
• A corporate culture where sharing information and knowledge is praised, valued and rewarded and where trust is engendered within the organisation.

ITSA has also recently commenced a separate but highly related project to implement an Information Management program called eSolve. Figure 1 outlines the links between the two strategies:

Figure 1. Structure and coordination of KM approach including governance

KM Objectives, Outcomes and Programs

Three objectives were identified for the KM Strategy. These three objectives (Service excellence, One ITSA and Industry leadership) and their accompanying outcomes are listed in Figure 2 along with the related corporate plans and the KM programs.

Figure 2. KM Strategy Objectives and Outcomes

The knowledge management strategy comprises 7 programs, each to be conducted as a separate project but combining to achieve the desired outcomes. Program implementation is to be overseen by the Knowledge Management Steering Committee comprising the Director - Secretariat, the IT Manager, a senior Line Manager, and an Employee Relations Adviser also acting as the project manager. Appendix 1 provides further details of the knowledge management programs.

KM Program Implementation

A phased implementation schedule has been adopted, with each of the seven KM programs estimated to be undertaken over an average period of six-months. Each program will be undertaken on a project-management basis, with its own charter, objectives, accountabilities, communication processes, reporting mechanisms and project plan.

 

							Knowledge-based ITSA
						Thinking nationally
				Stakeholder communication
			Client outcomes
		Knowledge transfer
		Information resources
Information governance
Dec 2003	Jun 2004		Dec 2004		Jun 2005		Dec 2005

 

Evaluation

Evaluation of the implementation of the knowledge management strategy will occur at two levels:

• as planning for each program is undertaken, performance measures relevant to that program will be determined, and utilised to indicate achievement of outcomes for that individual program on completion/establishment of the program;

• measurement of the achievement of the objectives of the KM strategy overall will be undertaken using already established business measures, as these are the outcomes that the KM strategy seeks to positively impact upon:

• • stakeholder and client satisfaction (including bi-annual client survey);

  • staff perceptions of their resource sufficiency, workload, job satisfaction and capability (including bi-annual employee survey);

  • stakeholder perceptions of ITSA's contribution to industry outcomes; and,

  • community recognition of ITSA's role.

Further Information

For further information on knowledge management at ITSA, please contact:

Jan Pittard

Employee Relations Adviser

Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia
Level 8, 135 King St, Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: 61 2 8233 7896