BUILDING A KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY AT HALLMARK CARDS.

By connecting to the marketplace to produce a rich dialogue of perspectives and experiences, the company expects to foster additional sources of innovative ideas.

OVERVIEW: As companies look for ways to grow their business, the application of all the intellectual capital from both inside and outside the organization will play an ever increasing role. Technology is providing unparalleled opportunities for connecting the various constituencies that have a stake in the success of the enterprise, both inside and outside of the formal organization. Forming knowledge communities devoted to growing the business by sharing innovative ideas, and building on the ideas of others, is one way to bring to bear all the idea-generating capacities of the organization in the pursuit of innovative growth. It is a way that Hallmark is pursuing.

Every company is looking for ways to grow. Mergers and acquisitions are popular ways of growing the top line, and managing costs has always been an element in growing the bottom line. Ultimately, however, both measures must make room for more imaginative and inventive ways to create value for consumers. Many believe that ideas are the new capital of growth.

But, if ideas are the new capital of growth, then where are the ideas going to come from? Where are the ideas for growth in your business? The fact is, ideas are everywhere in virtually all organizations. To paraphrase Fox Mulder, of The X-Files, "The ideas are out there." The intent of this article is to relate our experience at Hallmark in reaching out, capturing and then capitalizing on those ideas.

The Nature of Knowledge

It is worth spending a moment to consider the nature of knowledge. Without boring the reader with a philosophical discussion about knowledge, or epistemology, a couple of points seem in order. Drawing on the work of Denham Grey (1) it is useful to think about knowledge the way that we understand light. Just as light can manifest itself both as a wave and a particle, knowledge can be considered from both the "objective" and "process" perspectives. Table 1 illustrates some of the implications of each perspective.

Table 1.--Knowledge Perspectives

                        "Object" Perspective    "Process" Perspective

Knowledge is ...      a tangible thing         constructed