Knowledge Management Program - Essay Example

Knowledge Management Program Step 1: Knowledge creation- this entails the registration of businesses knowledge and understanding the interactions between the tacit and explicit knowledge. Step 2: Knowledge management system registration- entails a clear understanding of reusable knowledge as identified in a predetermined framework. Step 3: Knowledge master notification-this step in the knowledge management program entails verification of the request to the relevant knowledge master. Step 4: Knowledge review-this step entails the evaluation of the registered knowledge by the associated knowledge. Step 5: Return phase- this is where an evaluation may result to the rejection of knowledge. This may be because there is inadequate content. Step 6: Knowledge approval- this step takes place when there is adequate content in the KMS knowledge Step 7: Search for necessary knowledge Step 8: Knowledge operation control – this is where specific knowledge is commented on according to the assessment done. In order to transform an actual organization into a more knowledge-based organization, a person should consider improving the work processes that leverage knowledge, technology infrastructure to support knowledge and transfer and its culture, customs and practices. These components of change are important to effective knowledge use and transformation to a knowledge-based company. Altering the culture of the actual organization also helps in transforming an organization. This is because organizational knowledge and culture are interrelated. Therefore, in order to apply new knowledge and implement changes and improvements in KM, the culture should be modified to support the new behavior. Moreover, organizations should match leadership culture with the operational need. This is done independent of the level of culture in the organization. Improved technology infrastructure eases communication that forms a core component of effective KM. as a result, efficient communication helps in knowledge transfer and adoption, and this forms a good foundation of transforming an actual organization to a knowledge-based organization (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Firms should also leverage knowledge in order to create a more knowledge-based organization. This entails the use of the abundant knowledge available in managing business operations. This is because knowledge is a critical resource that demands for more consideration. Other ways to transform an actual organization to a knowledge-based one include sharing knowledge and best practices, allowing the employees to solve their problems encountered during business operations with minimal management interference. The second-generation KM elevates the understanding of the fact that knowledge is created with differing levels of quality. Therefore, individuals can improve the quality of knowledge possessed by aggressively managing knowledge production. In this case, people can enhance the quality of their decisions, operations, and results owing to the quality of knowledge possessed. An organization can be changed to align its operations and KM with the top three principles from second-generation KM. These principles include: “Learning and innovation is a social process, not an administrative one (strong affinity with organizational learning theory)”. “Organizational learning and innovation is triggered by the detection of problems” “Valuable organizational knowledge does not simply exist- people in organizations create it” These three second-generation top three principles are more inclusive of human resource, process, and social initiatives. The principles bring about the introduction of new concepts, ideas, and insights on KM. These ideas, unique to the second-generation thinking are categorized as follows, the knowledge life cycle, knowledge claims, KM versus knowledge processing, supply-side versus demand-side KM, nested knowledge domains, containers of knowledge, organizational learning, the open enterprise and self-organization, and complexity theory (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Many organizations today have adapted the second-generation KM because of its revolutionary ways of systematic processes of identifying, selecting, organizing, and presenting information in an approach that boosts employee’s understanding of a definite area of interest. The integration of the top three principles enables an organization to remain successful and maintain their competitive advantage. Google Inc. is one of the major international organizations that implement KM. Google Inc. owns one of the most famous brands in the world. The company concentrates more on its customers’ needs and works towards satisfying them through excellent services. The company is dedicated to its working principles using an effective KM to identify the latest trends and customers’ needs and preferences. The KM also helps the company in guiding the employees towards the right direction of achieving their personal and organizational goals. To change the Google inc., encourage knowledge processing, and improve the quality of knowledge in the company, the company needs to re-define KM as implemented in the organization. The company should adapt the organization beliefs and increase sharing of information in the workplace in order to encourage knowledge processing. In addition, there should be more interactions with the people to share ideas and innovations in order to improve the quality of knowledge in the company. Google Inc. must also keep track of the commonly ignored small-scale ideas and control such information for quick and uncomplicated access. The knowledge managers in the company should be more aggressive in sorting out valuable information encountered during business operations and make them explicit to facilitate easy understanding by the employees in order to exercise better judgment. Job rotation should be practiced more in the organization in order to effectively transfer corporate knowledge from one division to another and encourage developmental experience for the participants of the rotation (Collision & Parcell, 2004). The speedy development of information and communication technology in the world has made knowledge management a principal tool for success in all organizations. Consequently, numerous regional and international firms have established knowledge management (KM) programs as a mandatory requirement for their prospective development strategies. Moreover, many organizations have recognized KM as a major management tool leading to the formation of KM departments. Despite the popularity and implementation of the KM, it remains multifaceted and a demanding task for international organizations. To overcome some of the challenges, organizations seek the best KM system used to support the KM specifically on knowledge generation, codification, and transfer. However, the KM systems usually do not support effective KM because of lack of understanding of users’ prerequisites for the knowledge management system and inadequate understanding of organization obligations (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Designing a new knowledge management system (KMS) for the Google inc. Company would be an opportunity to ensure that expected effectiveness in the organization is achieved. It is paramount to examine the existing KMS and its shortfalls and make the necessary changes to create a new and more effective KMS. This requires prior knowledge of the knowledge life cycle and the four pillars of KM. Furthermore, prior understanding of the organizational requirements from the new KMS and identification of the main functionalities needed is important. While creating the new KMS, it will be important to consider the challenges involved namely culture diversity, knowledge evaluation, knowledge processing, and implementation (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Knowledge Life Cycle Knowledge is divided into two main approaches namely tacit and explicit knowledge. The tacit knowledge is contained in a person’s brain and usually utilized in creativity and innovation of new things. The explicit knowledge represents articulated, codified, and stored knowledge. Managing knowledge in any organizations uses five basic processes that constitute the knowledge life cycle. The lifecycle helps people to understand the KM process in hierarchical order where each step is adequately represented in order to eventually achieve an organization’s objectives. The first stage of the knowledge life cycle is knowledge creation that depends on both the tacit and explicit knowledge (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Second stage entails knowledge sharing that is normally done through social communication infrastructure or technical communication infrastructure. The third phase is knowledge structuring that entails information mapping, storage and retrieving. The fourth step of the knowledge lifecycle entails using the knowledge. The knowledge can be used to maintain and/or improve an organizations products, services, or processes. The last stage of the life cycle is knowledge auditing. This entails the evaluation of the knowledge and measuring resultant intellectual capital in an organization. A clear understanding of this life cycle helps in designing an appropriate KMS for use by this company. Four Pillars of KM The four pillars of knowledge management include leadership, organization, learning and technology. Leadership is a process that is concerned with promoting change, setting new directions for a group of people to follow and creating a vision and a mission to achieve certain outlined objectives. It also deals with the environmental, strategic, and decision-making processes. The organization pillar concentrates on operational features of knowledge assets. This entails the integration of the business operations and the KM. The learning pillar represents the acquisition of knowledge, skill, experience, or instruction. It deals with organizational behavioral features and social engineering. The last pillar is that of technology that concentrates on information technologies that maintain KM strategies and operations. A good understanding of the four pillars of knowledge management helps in creating an effective KMS for the organization. This entails the use of defined framework of key elements, the four pillars of KM, to create an effective KMS (Collision & Parcell, 2004). Reference Collision, C., & Parcell, G. (2004). Learning to Fly: Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Limited/Capstone Publishing Limited. Read More