How PepsiCo R&D creates a knowledge-centric ecosystem

Summary

Starmind helped PepsiCo R&D modernize and reimagine its knowledge management strategy by creating a knowledge-centric R&D ecosystem that fosters faster innovation and decision-making. 

Background

PepsiCo R&D is a division of an American multinational food and beverage corporation. PepsiCo R&D wanted to improve its knowledge management strategy, specifically by focusing on R&D knowledge as it contributes to achieving speed to market. The organization had technology in place to facilitate the transfer of explicit knowledge, but improving the sharing of tacit knowledge was essential for achieving growth and competitive advantage. The goal was to expedite innovation and improve decision-making by providing the right information and resources at the right point in time.

Challenge

For many organizations, including PepsiCo R&D, the way we work, often including the workplace itself, has changed. Companies were often forced to replace the comfort of an office environment, filled with constant communication, with isolated workstations and self-guided training. Connecting the knowledge of R&D team members across different areas in the organization was difficult, work-intensive and time-consuming. 

PepsiCo R&D recognized the need for a modernized knowledge management system in order to effectively manage its R&D teams and projects without the risk of duplicated work, which would slow down the innovation cycle. In order to implement this successfully, the company needed a more streamlined process to understand knowledge-sharing successes and learn from challenges or projects that didn’t succeed. 

It was important to have a single location where all R&D associates could find technical resources from subject matter experts and contribute their knowledge to the ecosystem. Employee adoption was also key for PepsiCo R&D, as previous knowledge-sharing systems were underutilized by employees that were hesitant to ask public questions. With the evolving environment of the pandemic, the company knew user engagement would be critical to provide new opportunities to grow the business. 

Solution

PepsiCo R&D partnered with Starmind to make knowledge sharing more efficient, accelerate time to market and reduce R&D costs. For PepsiCo R&D, the primary goal was to identify high-quality subject matter experts through individual engagement. The ability to understand how individuals represent themselves and how they engage with others offered additional insight for the company. The conversations around these questions were captured and used to continuously build deeper organizational knowledge.

For individuals, the Starmind platform helped them build their professional brand and become known for their work and knowledge. For directors and managers, the platform allowed teams to search, share and collaborate globally. From the overall PepsiCo R&D perspective, it captured technical knowledge for further knowledge sharing and growth, this meant R&D teams were no longer wasting time searching for technical and highly specialized information that could easily be shared by a colleague. This allows for accelerated innovation, as teams can quickly find the answers from their colleagues that they need to move their work forward. Duplicate work is also avoided, as best practices and learnings from previous projects can be shared broadly and teams can avoid holding knowledge in ‘micro silos.’

Another critical Starmind feature is enabling anonymous questions, which allowed PepsiCo R&D employees to shed their hesitancy to contribute to a knowledge-sharing system. This was a significant benefit for PepsiCo R&D, leading to increased adoption throughout the organization. This growing adoption was abundantly clear during the pandemic, as the company saw a substantial increase in usage between February and October of 2021. This confirmed the company’s suspicion that as people changed where they worked and how they engaged, there has been an increased reliance on knowledge management tools than in the past.

Results

Through its partnership with Starmind, PepsiCo R&D successfully implemented cross-functional collaboration across various stages of the development process required to launch new products. This led to a competitive advantage for the company as their R&D teams could innovate and move to market faster while avoiding additional work and reducing R&D costs. PepsiCo R&D measured success through a combination of reports from Starmind, along with analyzing the user experience. 

• 96% of questions asked at the company have been answered.
  
  
• Engagement with subject matter experts across the platform has seen substantial growth globally.
  
  
• Ongoing collaboration among employees means that knowledge continues to expand and develop over time, retained in a platform for instant access. 
  
  
• Issue resolution has become more efficient because knowledge and resources are readily available to employees.
  
  
• Starmind is viewed as an asset rather than an extra step, given its integration and contribution to change management.

Donna Mann, Director of Knowledge Management, says other benefits have continued to emerge. When partnering with Starmind, Mann explained, PepsiCo R&D expected employee questions to be followed by structured answers around how individuals solve business challenges and move their work forward. What the organization found during the past few years, however, is that “the knowledge continues to develop, and it’s through those engagements that new knowledge is created.”

The way we work has changed. With advances in technology, teams are more dispersed than ever before, which means they spend less time on in-person communication or “watercooler” conversations. However, by using Starmind, PepsiCo R&D saw an increase in internal knowledge engagement during the shift to hybrid and remote work. 

The platform also proved beneficial for new team members, as they were welcomed with the ability to connect with seasoned and knowledgeable team members in R&D, which fostered exchanges that educated and informed these employees. 

As an example, Mann shared the experience of an employee who was recently promoted and moved to a new project. When the team member used Starmind to ask a question about his new project, he was surprised to learn that the answer was provided by his co-worker at the next desk, who had spent years on the project and had a wealth of knowledge to share.   

Issue resolution has also become more efficient because knowledge and resources are readily available to employees. User engagement can be a great metric for determining success. When people are able to find what they need to complete their work, they return to that source the next time they need answers. For PepsiCo R&D, user adoption and engagement continued to climb globally throughout 2021. “That is really what excited us about the platform,” said Mann. 

As PepsiCo R&D and its employees managed the effects of the pandemic, “people are changing where they work, how they engage,” Mann explained. She highlighted the growing reliance on systems to support knowledge management and knowledge transfer, noting that PepsiCo R&D has found great success with Starmind’s interactive and straightforward platform.