Knowledge Management at Ernst & Young

John Peetz, Ernst & Young’s chief knowledge officer, reviews the results of his six-year effort to build a firm-wide knowledge management (KM) system. The case goes through the short evolution of Ernst & Young’s KM system and describes in detail its current structure. Also reviews approaches by other firms in the industry. While Peetz is confident that the current system perfectly fits Ernst & Young’s global strategy and provides competitive advantage for the firm, he still needs to solve a number of important problems. Is “knowledge management” just another marketing buzz-word or another management fad? If not, what is it, and how will it impact the consulting industry? How can a consulting firm achieve sustainable competitive advantage through knowledge management? What are the criteria to evaluate a KM system and how should a consulting firm go about building one?