Deutsche Bank: Leveraging Human Capital with the Knowledge Management System HRBase

Abstract

The case study describes the issues surrounding the development and global rollout of the Intranet-based Knowledge Management System (KMS) HRbase at Deutsche Bank. It sets the stage for a decision situation that Deutsche Banks Global Head of Human Resources (HR), Heinz Fischer, faced in 2001. Based on low usage rates and ambiguous feedback from his 15 most senior HR executives, he had to decide about HRbases future: it would either be funded from an earmarked budget in 2001, changed significantly, or discontinued. Meanwhile, the responsible project manager Hilger Pothmann and the HRbase project team understood the necessity to turn the project around and to come up with a proposal for technical improvements and a sound change in management strategy. The case description provides a chronological account of the planning, development, and global rollout of HRbase, paying specific attention to project management issues, change management interventions, and the global cross-cultural challenges that emerged.