Barroga, K. E. T. (2017). Ricesolutions: Institutionalizing knowledge sharing and learning on solutions to operational challenges at PhilRice (Unpublished master's thesis). Public Management Development Program, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Public Management Development Program. Middle Managers' Class. Thesis (MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

With the new mission of improving the competitiveness of Filipino rice farmers and the rice industry, it becomes imperative for the Philippine Rice Research institute (PhilRice) of the department of agriculture (DA) to enhance its responsiveness and productivity. One of the ways the institute intends to do this is by enhancing knowledge management, which has always been focused on scientific and technical knowledge. Experience-based solutions to operational challenges that help to successfully generate these sets of knowledge are often lost of forgotten for various reasons. PhilRice has not systematically and strategically addressed this over its 30 years of operations. The project attempted to address this shortcoming through a practical, replicable, adaptable, and low-cost knowledge management intervention hat enjoins PhilRice staff to capture, share and scale up their solutions to operational challenges. The intervention supports PhilRice's transition from ISO 9001-2008 to 2015 certification and, in the long run, is expected to help PhilRice safeguard itself from knowledge loss; avoid repeating efforts as well as costly and serious mistakes; lessen waste of resources; and minimize expenses on recruitment and training. The ultimate aim is PhilRice's continued growth and productivity for the benefit of the Filipino rice farmers and the rice industry. In its 4-month implementation, the scholar and her team engaged in activities to institutionalize knowledge sharing and learning (KSL) on solutions to operational challenges at PhilRice, starting in its development sector. A KSL mechanism was developed, pilot-tested, applied and promoted at PhiRice with the participation of its seven stations nation wide and fourth Development Sector divisions. Sharing was done through group discussions and interviews, or was self-administered. Variants of the KSL mechanism to capture other solutions were also developed as a result of the pilot-testing. About 300 internally and externally sourced solutions to PhilRice's operational challenges were documented. Some of the solutions were synthesized and packaged as prototype Rice solutions in print and info graphics series and a talk series was negotiated as a regular potion in the annual National Rice Conference that PhilRice leads. The scholar was also able to negotiate for archiving of the shared solutions at the PhilRice Database Management Portal. Finally, a memorandum was crafted, which the PhilRice executive director approved and issued on 19 June 21017, with the improved KSL mechanism and usage guidelines as attachment. Evaluation results revealed a favorable KSL experience among participation staff, with the majority suggesting to make it an integral part of PhilRice's work processes to minimize knowledge loss and that documented solutions be read by newly hired staff to learn faster and avoid mistakes. For the project's sustained use, the scholar recommended to intensify its promotion by sharing evidence of benefits from KSL in improving operational processes and by producing more RiCESOLUTIONS; to put up a rewards system for shared solutions that greatly improved PhilRice's productivity and to include KSL in project targets or milestones, among others. For the project's wider use, the scholar would be sharing the project's results with the other agencies. Project implementation required the scholar to apply her managerial and leadership skills using concerts and tools learned from PMDP-MMC; to document lessons and insights gained from the project; and to present her development plan as a manager. The KSL on solutions to operational challenges, currently promoted as RiCESOLUTIONS, is now actively being used at PhilRice, not only in its development sector, but also in its research and administration sectors.