James Kochan (February 10, 1958 - ) is a noted expert in Knowledge Management concepts, and was an early pioneer in the development of Knowledge Management practices. Biography Kochan was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Cleveland State University in 1980 with a BBA in Quantitative Business Analysis, after which he received his MBA in 1985. He worked for Ernst & Young for 17 years where he was one of the 2 lead pioneers of their Management Consulting Information Center (MCIC) in 1990, which later became their Center for Business Knowledge (CBK) in 1994. He also founded and ran the Ernst & Young CBK-EMEA (Europe, Middle-East & Africa) in Paris, France from 1997-2000. He has pioneered many concepts in Knowledge Management that are in wide use today, including concepts on collaboration and how to build and operate collaborative communities (also known as communities of practice, or "networks"). Kochan is the founder of Vitesse Solutions LLC, which has created Knowledge Management processes for large companies. Many of these companies have become noted winners of the coveted MAKE Award (Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise). These companies include ConocoPhillips, FMC Technologies and Nalco-Champion. ConocoPhillips has won the MAKE award numerous times using the Vitesse model, and has hence been honored by achieving the MAKE "Hall of Fame" (the MAKE Hall of Fame also includes Ernst & Young) and is widely recognized as a global best practice in Knowledge Management. Kochan's opinions and model is often sought in Knowledge Management circles, most notably in the Oil & Gas industry.
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