imaginative muscle

the function of a business archive

This blog is looking at what is the actual function of a business archive? This question has grown from the MLA London Knowledge Transfer research in 2007 which asked the following questions:

An introspection for business

Do your library and information people have influence over business decisions?

Do they have contact with the front line?

Could you use your archive as a means to establish and convey the core values of the organisation?

Do you actively encourage your staff to spend time away from their desks in museums, libraries and activities?

Can you describe where and how your business functions have contact with museums, libraries, and archives and what that constitutes to your business?

Do you know how your staff use museums, libraries and archives in their own work practices and professional development?

Do you have people in a knowledge transfer role who could build partnerships with museums, libraries and archives?
[Findings Report MLA London Knowledge Exchange Programme 2007].

In the MLA London Knowledge Exchange Pilot programme in 2009 that followed from this initial research; businesses, business and museum archivists, knowledge transfer and collection managers took part in conversations that revealed the strength of businesses utilising an archive or museum in a knowledge transfer way investigating:

The role of a museum in a business network: Where everyone explored what is knowledge transfer in a business and museum relationship when it is not a sponsorship partnership. It was concluded that staff, in a case study presented to the group of a museum and a graphic display design partnership, gained curatorial and exhibition skills that would benefit both stakeholders.

Public-facing use of an archive: John Lewis Partnership led this session talking about how their archive is used in communication strategy and product development, and more importantly employee engagement through staff induction, powerpoint presentations on their story, communicating with retired staff through their retirement community programmes. This workshop gave an insight into how an archive can be part of a company’s strategy and enhance employee engagement.

The value (or not) of Corporate Social: Deutsche Bank, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and a corporate consultant raised the questions of what is CSR, corporate philanthropy and philanthro-capitalism. The venue was the Foundling Museum which opened up questions around the musical philanthropists. The conclusion was that the role of collections; contemporary or not within businesses have a ‘soul’ effect on business practice and if collections vanish due to mergers etc. the staff feel vulnerable and a huge sense of loss and displacement arises.

Retro-innovation: Lloyds Archive and DEFRA were brought together through an exercise to explore if DEFRA could learn and develop strategies to assist with the UK’s current Food Security priority based on Lloyds archive material from the agricultural depression of two hundred years ago. This illustrated the value of how a company archive can be used to look back at the past to be innovative in the present and in the future.

Unexpected angles and surprising collaborations: UCL Museums and Collections, the Public Catalogue Foundation and the Contemporary Art Society talked about how their partnerships with business and individuals had developed, were maintained and how they both learnt from one another in the process of collaboration. The Strang Print Room and The Museum of Zoology were spaces used to explore how objects can open up conversations for business problems and how nomadic workers and working travellers can use these spaces as a place for business.

Opening the bridges: the final conversation was hosted by the Wellcome Collection which enabled exercises around what is a bridge-builder and what is innovation to be explored through sketchbook exercises around the objects in the permanent collection of Henry Wellcome. The session concluded with a reflection of the conversations and what had participants learned, a business consultant for SME’s was now going to implement archives as part of a business set up strategy advice, a collections manager had used the experiences of using a museum space as a neutral space to organise an away day at the Natural History Museum for a new team to come together and so on…

John Entwisle, Archivist, Thomson Reuters with sketchbook and pencils in hand investigating an object at the Henry Wellcome Collection.

It became evident through these knowledge exchanges that an archive within a business plays an integral part to innovation and long-term business strategy. And investigating in more depth the tangible evidence of a business archive, to find ‘what is the function of business archive’ my journey for the book Imaginative Muscle, took me to ING Commercial Banking’s collection at London Wall.

In 2008, I worked on an impact assessment of two art projects initiated and organised by Professor Eileen Hogan at Wimbledon College of Art; re:Making and re:Inventing. These were two projects that allowed; school children (14/15 years of age), A level students, teachers, academics, artists and undergraduate and graduate students at Wimbledon, access to ING’s collection, including the portraits which are now part of The Baring Archive. All of the participants were asked to choose a painting from this hidden collection; i.e limited public access, and then create their own artwork, influenced by their chosen painting. The impact assessment of these projects allowed me access to all participants of the programme and the curator at ING; interviewing them all on a one to one basis to evaluate how this interaction with objects in a collection had influenced:

a school child to pursue the study of art or see art practice/creative industries as a profession,

a school child or A Level student to pursue a career in a City Bank,

an artist’s artistic practice change,

a teacher’s decision to collaborate with institutions and collections for soft skill training programmes.

Me captured photographing Peter Farley and Jane Collins’ work from re:Making which was translated into a theatre performance on the preview evening exploring the life of Frances Baring’s wife. Their work for re:Searching was X:17, a piece of performance art inspired by bearer bonds for the City of Moscow loan of 1908, from The Baring Archive.

Then in the spring of 2010, Victoria received an invite from the publication company Webb and Webb to attend the preview of re:Searching, at The Baring Archive at London Wall, London EC2. A collaboration between artists, historians and a designer (Webb and Webb) involving the University of the Arts London (Chelsea, Camberwell, Wimbledon colleges), and The Baring Archive, curated by Professor Eileen Hogan who ‘asked the participants to create original works based on the material collected by Barings Bank over their 250 year history’.

Brian Webb’s work My Word is My Bond, is inspired by Argentinean bearer bonds in The Baring Archive.

‘Being a designer, I’m very interested in printing processes. Searching the Baring archive was an ideal opportunity to look at the 19^th Century security printing and my prints are derived from South American Bonds issued by Barings.’ Email conversation with Brian Webb 2010.

A small world we live in I thought, another great knowledge transfer project encompassing the archive at the Baring Archive organised by Professor Eileen Hogan, Wimbledon College of Art (which is now part of the University of the Arts London) and now involving a business design firm. Uncannily this business Webb and Webb recently designed a CD and book for Sparknow’s living archive project with the Asian Development Bank. So again, with my yellow plastic bag office, kitted with recorder, camera and computer I set off to interview The Baring Archive’s Archivist, Moira Lovegrove, to investigate how this archive is used by its owner ING in everyday business.

Moira Lovegrove, Archivist in front of a display of Herculaneum creamware jugs which the artists George Blacklock and Geoff Quilley both used as inspiration for new artwork in re:Searching.

Moira says:

Having a collection with a particular collection policy focused around a company, and thus telling the story of that company - that’s something that people can choose to use at any time at ING [Commercial Banking] to make it stand out. ING is a new company - it was founded by the merger of two companies in 1991 so it is a very new company but it has very strong historical roots and that can be used in a variety of ways to differentiate ING.

People internally using the Baring Archive would generally be people doing client focused [projects] and then [there is] Baring Asset Management where again it tends to be more client focused but they use it in a bit more detail to get more information [for] brochures and [materials]. So perhaps there’s a deeper level of use there.

I wanted to dig deeper, how did Baring Asset Management use the archive literally, Moira talked of a person visiting the archive, what was their experience of using the archive and why do they use it? Moira kindly put me in touch with Alasdair Anderson, Investment Communications Manager at Barings Asset Management and up and off I went one morning with my yellow bag office to their offices at Liverpool Street.

I met Alasdair Anderson at their presentation room area on the 12^th floor of their office building, and was shown around the reception and presentation rooms. Contemporary artworks fill the walls and in the reception area a designated cabinet shows selected items from their archive. Alasdair works closely with Moira or her colleague Clara to choose relevant and interesting objects with a story to tell that is in accordance and relevant to clients that will be visiting their offices. Displayed to the right of the archive materials are their corporate history brochures, which Alasdair creates using archive materials and says:

We are proud of the Barings heritage and make good use of it in our corporate literature, where we talk about having a “history of innovation”. We combine current examples with historical ones such as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the largest land transaction in history, to illustrate this.

We’ve always worked with The Baring Archive to produce displays and commemorative material for particular clients, but as we’ve started to expand our sales presence in countries such as South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, we’ve also found demand for local history brochures, translated into local languages. We produce these with the help of The Baring Archive and use them to remind people that Barings have been active in that market for many years and that we understand it. The feedback from our sales teams has been very positive: there is no question that they help open doors.

The Barings reception area: the archive display cabinet is to the far left and you can see the prominence of the corporate history brochures in their display area to the right.

So we can see that a business archive has tangible functions that enable a company to:

be unique, giving it an independent identity,

tailor brochures and marketing materials to their clients needs to show ‘they know what they are doing’,

understand their client markets and develop innovative ideas by looking at past experiences,

outreach to future employees and customers through collaborations,

‘give something back’ through soft skill training through collaborations.

In summary an archive or the use of an archive can enable companies to grow a ‘soul’ potentially enabling employees to connect with the outside world through reflection, emotion and the senses enabling them to have the room and space to be innovative and forward thinking rather than reactionary in a time of crisis. But how do you see a business archive having value to its strategy and everyday running; if you don’t have an archive would you want to create one or use a museum archive for your business needs?

More uses of how Barings and businesses like law firms use archives and some ideas of how you could use an archive will be explored in Imaginative Muscle: Knowledge, Leadership and Strategy in a 21st Century Business.

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With thanks to:
Alasdair Anderson, Investment Communications Manager, Baring Asset Management
Moira Lovegrove, Archivist, The Baring Archive
Professor Eileen Hogan, Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London
Brian Webb, Designer, Webb and Webb
Jane Collins, Readers, Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London
Peter Farley, Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London
George Blacklcock, Dean, Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts London
Baring Asset Management
ING Commercial Banking
London Development Agency
MLA London
Wellcome Collection

1 year ago

the ‘heritage object’

A blog exploring the journey of a nomadic worker; finding the story of Standard Chartered through heritage objects.

Over these last couple of months I have been out and about around the City of London, a nomadic researcher, with a camera, Zoom H2 recorder, laptop and files in my bag. Sometimes, you have to be thankful to be a woman and to be able to get that right size colourful plastic work bag! This journey of the City has taken me from Canary Wharf, another blog, another short story, to the mind blowing office space of Standard Chartered at Basinghall Avenue and this is where this little snapshot is going to take you.

Victoria had dropped in by chance to visit an old friend at Standard Chartered Bank for a coffee to catch up and for some research input, and was blown away by the use of artefacts and objects in the Bank’s internal architecture; reception space, corridors, meeting rooms, and office spaces. We were just coming to a close of the MLA London Knowledge Exchange programme exploring conversations of what is knowledge transfer for business and museums, libraries and archives and how could they work together in strategic ways. So after her visit Victoria emailed me and said:

‘you have to go and visit Standard Chartered,it is a great place where objects and artefacts are integral to the business, - go and investigate.’

So with my research hat on, I contacted Lin Dore, Corporate Real Estate Services and arranged a visit and tour of the offices. After going to the old address and going into a building that seemed like any other building, Lin came out to meet me and walked me over to the new Basinghall office. We approached the building with its glass fascia, the large proud sign and logo above the revolving doors, another office building of a large corporate business I thought. We made our way through the revolving doors and bam there was the Sala (a building for religious objects) (see picture) which had been rescued from a rice field in Thailand.

This is a very large object that hits you as you enter the reception, you have to go around it to the left to talk to the reception staff. You then have the choice of where to sit whilst waiting for your meeting. Lin talked about the Sala, and the two reception areas which are housed on either side. They both have large comfy sofas and chairs. There are artefacts in specially designed recesses in the red walls (see picture).

The use of materials and the overall look, feel and ambience reflect the Bank’s origins and history In Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Lin then took me through the security gates to their museum, which houses notes and coins displaying Standard Chartered’s banking history. The story of Standard Chartered was being told to me through these objects through Lin, knowledge was being transferred. Lin is a proud staff member of Standard Chartered, proud of its heritage and culture and proud of how it operates now.

Lin then took me to the ladies toilets, to show me the sustainable technology; automatic lights when entering, sensor activated taps to preserve water usage. She also explained how the design and lay-out of the building reflects and responds to the principles of Feng Shui. This is reflected through the corridor design and in a piece de resistance at the Core of the headquarters. This is a space where a café resides in the middle of the 5th floor where office and resource spaces, all with glass walls, face onto the core. You can look up to the light well of a ceiling on the upper 10th floor. Here you can see walkways that staff use to go between floors, to the customer meeting floor etc. and there are some people on walkways but they seem to be still, some of which are sculptures of employees by Sean Henry, a contemporary art intervention (see picture).

Well from this visit, I was looking forward to going back, to find out; what is the importance of objects in relation to Standard Chartered’s business strategy? A meeting was set up with Andrew Hunter, Group Head of Corporate Real Estate Services, Ana Maria Herrera, Manager, Engagement, Culture and Communications, and Emma Humphrey, Project Team, Basinghall Avenue, and I was back in this wonderful ‘exhibition’. I say exhibition, as the building is not a normal business environment. In talking about how the headquarters building design is influenced by the business culture, it can be seen how their culture is embedded and that the staff, the objects and the building all come together to represent the pride and culture that is at the heart of their business strategy and this can be seen at this ‘exhibition’ in their headquarters:

‘Standard Chartered is known for its strong values driven culture. Our values: courageous, responsive, international, trustworthy and creative, were here before this building. When our buildings are designed and planned our values are always at the back of everyone’s mind. The reception reflects our business focus in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The different artefacts were picked to reflect out interesting history and culture. Art and artefacts are moved around the building from time to time to create freshness and surprise.’

So where does this culture come from?

‘Our whole focus is Asia, Africa and the Middle East that is our heritage and that is at the heart of our strategy. Our strategic intent is to be the Best International Bank, Leading the Way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We aim to reflect those three continents in our headquarters building and across the Group.’

Again, the staff from Standard Chartered talk with pride; shoulders straight and back, about who they are, their strategies and the importance of joining together to, at the end of the day, make sure that whichever office you are in throughout the world, the building, the staff, the objects communicate that Standard Chartered provides banking services to Asia, Africa and the Middle East and knows it customers and their needs.

One story told, that other businesses would find useful, especially if they are looking at creating an organisational culture, is Standard Chartered’s recent creation of a ‘heritage object’ a 150 Hong Kong Dollar note (see picture).

This was created to commemorate Standard Chartered’s presence in Hong Kong for 150 years to communicate their long history in many countries including Hong Kong and China. Also more widely, Standard Chartered have developed a reputation for not turning their back on markets when times get tough – this is rather apt and is embodied in their recent brand promise ‘Here for good’ So in their own words why did they create this ‘heritage object’?

‘For 150 years, Standard Chartered has been firmly embedded in Hong Kong. During this time, we have not only witnessed and celebrated the city’s historic moments, but we’ve also created history ourselves. To celebrate our 150^th anniversary in the city, we launched the world’s first banknote with a denomination of 150 dollars.

As the longest-serving note-issuing bank in Hong Kong, we have always had a strong connection with the city. Our achievements are Hong Kong’s achievements. The idea of a commemorative charity banknote originated from our wish to present a special gift to the people of Hong Kong, allowing us to give back to the community but also creating something that the citizens of Hong Kong could be proud of. With full support from our regulator and the Hong Kong Government, we had the privilege to issue the unique 150 dollar banknote which was offered for public sale and auction.

With a daring and unconventional design under the theme “A Shared History”, the banknote has a nostalgic feel, featuring iconic Hong Kong characters from different eras and walks of life. It has attracted an overwhelming response from the Hong Kong public and collectors, and the special editions, including lucky numbers and uncut sheets, were completely sold out. A large sum has been raised, with net proceeds from the sale going to the Standard Chartered Hong Kong 150th Anniversary Community Foundation, to support local charities and community projects, with a focus on the environment.’

Actions and events of this type are broadcast across the company through their intranet site or through other communication channels. Staff in other parts of the world who have not seen a 150 Hong Kong Dollar note, will get to hear about it which reinforces the company’s cultural heritage and the value placed on the societies in which the Bank operates.

From the moment I touched, saw and heard Standard Chartered’s story through their objects, creation of objects, their staff, their building, their museum and the overall exhibition, I was curious, thinking how can other businesses learn from their uses of heritage as an asset within business strategy? these will be included in the book by Victoria and I: Imaginative Muscle: Knowledge, Cultural Strategy and Leadership in 21^st Century Businesses published by Gower Publications at the end of 2010.

Written by Julie Reynolds, with thanks to Standard Chartered Bank.

1 year ago

what is an archive?

What is an archive? a lawyer recently asked a colleague. A blog follows exploring telling the story of a business archive, uncovered in research for the book; the knowledge muscle; cultural leadership, strategy and imagination in 21^st century business practices

It was the spring of 2009 and I started work with Victoria on the Knowledge Exchange Programme, one of the pilots of the Knowledge Exchange Programme of MLA London and the London Development Agency. A pilot bringing business, museums and archives together to have conversations in collection/archive spaces in the City of London; London Transport Museum, The Wellcome Collection, UCL Museums and Collections, The Foundling Museum, London Metropolitan Archives. One of the first tasks was to research and recruit businesses to take part. I knew of Thomson Reuters, well Reuters news service, from my days for a financial communications company; retrieving fast, accurate news from the moment the stock exchange opened, so I contacted the Group Archivist, John Entwisle to ‘sell’ the Exchange Programme. John was enthusiastic from the very first time we spoke, and he had an interesting story to tell being the holder of a 150-year archive. This is an archive that lives, through John, by the company’s principles:

The Trust Principles were created in 1941 in the midst of World War II in agreement with the Newspaper Publishers Association and the Reuters shareholders at the time. The Principles imposed obligations on Reuters and its employees to act at all times with integrity independence and freedom from bias and fortified them in carrying out the difficult and delicate tasks with which they were faced.
http://thomsonreuters.com/about/tr_trust_principles/

Let’s look at what the Thomson Reuters principles are:

* That Thomson Reuters shall at no time pass into the hands of any one interest, group or faction;

* That the integrity, independence and freedom from bias of Thomson Reuters shall at all times be fully preserved;

* That Thomson Reuters shall supply unbiased and reliable news services to newspapers, news agencies, broadcasters and other media subscribers and to businesses governments, institutions, individuals and others with whom Thomson Reuters has or may have contracts;

* That Thomson Reuters shall pay due regard to the many interests which it serves in addition to those of the media; and

* That no effort shall be spared to expand, develop and adapt the news and other services and products so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business.
http://thomsonreuters.com/about/tr_trust_principles/?view=Standard

Part of John’s role as an archivist, is to be there as point of contact for all staff throughout the organisation, in the UK, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East etc. He is the core conscience of the organisation’s principles. When a journalist is far from home on the field, having to make fast, accurate, independent news in fluid environments, the conscience and the principles of the business are embedded within and are their moral compass. They are not an add on to their everyday work, they are integral to their everyday work and the archive is a repository that is fed into the organisation through an archivist who; tells the story of the business through a monthly newsletter, and is able to retrieve relevant information from the vast archive to enable staff in the present to look at the past and learn and put often turbulent situations into context and to ensure that ‘no effort shall be spared to expand, develop and adapt the news and other services and products so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business’.

In the first workshop, everyone was asked to bring an object to introduce themselves to the group, John brought along two objects:

* a photograph of John Buchan, author of the 39 steps and ex Chairman of Reuters

* a photograph of the first telegraph which reported on the Atlantic cable.

These two objects, captured two different aspects of Thomson Reuters, one the importance of the human being to the organisations story; famous authors have worked in important positions there. Secondly, technology development, and the role Reuters had and Thomson Reuters has today of been a successful communication organisation utilising new technologies and adapting to their environment to deliver intelligent and accurate news. John was thoroughly engaged with the Exchange Programme (see the picture of John talking part in a workshop at the Wellcome Collection) and in talking about why he was taking part in the programme John said:

As a business archivist of almost 30 years experience I will bring my knowledge of how to ensure that a business archive remains relevant and highly-valued within the business environment whilst also remaining open and accessible to who wish to use it from an academic environment.

It became evident throughout the workshop conservations that the Thomson Reuters archive that John is a living archive resource for staff representing the past and soul of the company. He has grown into the role, he has become the role, he has created his role, effectively sharing his knowledge of the archive to the benefits and integrity of the organisation. Daragh Fagan, General Counsel, EMEA (see picture) talks about how the he uses the archive and the living archive:

I wouldn’t necessarily have access to the materials in the archive, so I go and ask John and say “I’ve got an idea of something I’m looking for. Can you help direct me?” because he knows his way around it much better than anybody else and he’s pretty creative about finding links or suggestions that I might not have thought of.

If I seek to answer the question of this blog, ‘what is an archive?, I would say that an archive is an important business asset created and developed by a skilled archivist like John Entwisle, capturing the appropriate; legal documents, photographs, news stories, company and business records, to tell the story of the business. The archive can then be used for a multitude of business transactions, for example at Thomson Reuters:

* staff engagement; staff induction, monthly newsletter of interesting stories of the innovation and conscience of the company

* bridge-building in mergers and acquisitions

* legal issues; assisting the legal department with contentious and business matters

* soft marketing; through external talks

* reflection and learning; journalists talking to the archivist about past events and relate them to current financial situations or world event. Things aren’t so scary if you can see that they have happened before, it enables the human being to put things into perspective!

Can you think of how you or a business could you use an archive to look at the past to help make strategy decisions to solve current business problems of today or beyond? How could an archive assist with; having to downsize a company? Help the public image of a business at the centre of an environmental disaster?

The business assets of an archive will be explored in the book; The knowledge muscle; cultural leadership, strategy and imagination in 21 century business practices illustrating in more detail how an archive is incremental to the everyday running of business and more importantly its long term sustainability.

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Article and photographs by Julie Reynolds.

With thanks to the Wellcome Collection and Thomson Reuters.

1 year ago

Knowledge Transfer webinar

Victoria and I preparing for the start of the Knowledge Transfer webinar for ark-group.com, yesterday.

Context:

In an early event for the London Development Agency knowledge transfer programme run by the Museums, Libraries and Archives of London last year, there was frank discussion about the difference between knowledge transfer and any old exchange. One of the key attributes, the group decided then, was there has to be something more than a transaction, a deal. For example, in its relationship with a company using archive materials on posters, the London Transport Museum, where the event was held, imposed certain standards on the way the materials were used, and so used the closeness of the relationship to insist on certain standards.

Something has to change as a consequence of the encounter for it to be knowledge transfer.

Sparknow have spent last year researching knowledge transfer between businesses and the cultural sector in London and running pilots that text, and experiment with, knowledge transfer in action. They’ve just completed a final report on this work and will be sharing this at the webinar.

We’ll look at the historic context of knowledge transfer, first in technology transfer in higher education sector, in science and technology, then spreading to other domains and sectors. We explore some of the findings and implications of this three year project and use examples from a range of businesses, museums, libraries and archives to examine what knowledge transfer, and its connections with knowledge rich businesses and a knowledge economy in the current economic and political landscape.

1 year ago

An appropriate knowledge transfer definition

the process of communicating knowledge that has been developed in one part of an organization to other parts of the organization or to customers
Knowledge Transfer definition from Macmillan dictionary (British)

I found this today whilst searching for more definitions of knowledge transfer in preparation for Victoria and I’s webinar presentation tomorrow at a Knowledge Management conference for ark. I really like this definition as it describes the knowledge transfer, well the transfer of knowledge, from a business archivist, to their work colleagues, and then ultimately to the organisation as a whole.

1 year ago

a holding place…

…..a place where Victoria and I will be writing about our research journey….a holding place for the present….the first blog will follow soon.

in the interim, here is an image of a medical collection being used in a knowledge transfer workshop exercise exploring innovation and bridge-building.