Steve said that he could, in theory, make an argument that the $20 billion of revenue for Accenture was the ROI for knowledge management (given the company sells services, not products).

But … he’s more focused on a specific example today.
– focus on one component of KM — the Knowledge Exchange, specifically people to content. The Knowledge Exchange (KX) is the place where an exchange of ideas, content, information and knowledge takes place by connecting people to people and people to content.
– focus on a single benefit (time savings), with the ability to follow-up to gather additional benefits. There were other benefits that could have been looked at … eg, increase employee engagements, decreased costs, increased quality, etc.
– short, efficient survey with minimal impact on employees. Eg, statement plus options, or statement and a request for a number.
– credible process and metrics.

Sample metrics (and the different levels at which it could help, reference back to something called the v-model (?), which is a part I missed. Higher numbers are better):
– finding useful information as a result of the Knowledge Exchange (level 2)
– applying information found through Knowledge Exchange (level 3)
– building business network through the Knowledge Exchange (level 4)
– saving time as a result of the Knowledge Exchange (level 4)

Modeling the costs:
– Knowledge Exchange design, development and management
– Global KM salary and benefits
– (others)

Then took the sample figures and applied it to the whole population of 126,000 employees. The final figure was that for every $1 spent, they see a benefit of $25.06. Eg, as an example, *if* Accenture spent $10 million on the KM platform, they can expect a return of $250 million.

Key takeaway … the approach that was taken could be applied to other firms.

Final points:
– willing to share the original survey questions. Leave business card.
– were able to link back from the person who filled out the survey and what they actually downloaded.
– haven’t done the analysis that looks at when the $1:$25 rule runs out of steam. Eg, spend $1 billion and get $25 billion back? Probably not.
– Gathered the data over an 8 month period.