Introducing and Maintaining the London Taxi Drivers Knowledge Management System - Business Plan Example

KNОWLЕDGЕ MАNАGЕMЕNT by Student’s name Code+ course name Professor’s name University name City, State Date Introduction Majority of enterprises are continuously accepting the concept of knowledge management system (KM) as a fundamental component for their remaining aggressive in the dynamic commercial set up and are progressively devoting their finances in different types of Knowledge Management systems. Being aware of the fact that Knowledge Management System is an intricate activity that involves individuals, processes, and expertise, there is a growing requirement for a logical and lucid set of values and practices that would be used in guiding the implementation of Knowledge Management System whenever on wants to become a London Taxi driver (Wong and Aspinwall 2004). As information technology is transforming from providing elementary data handling support to being very critical in majority of organizations, additional life cycle models are being developed with the motive of depicting the advancement of more innovative systems, for example, the end-user calculating (Henderson and Treacy 1986; Huff et al. 1988) and inventiveness resource planning systems (Holland and Light 2001). For one to become a London taxi driver it is not a process one can easily achieve within a few weeks, or months, not until one has a brain of a superman. Since, on one is allowed to use of sat navs, recalling the numerous points of interest and fastest routes throughout London City can, eventually, take learners two to three years while mastering and usually longer. Objectives 1. Reducing the cost and time needed in developing skills and knowledge 2. Reducing the incidence of exploitation of immigrants. Strategy Identifying knowledge sources and steward One starts by writing to the PCO requesting for the application pack. It would be essential to capture the content of this application pack. Then the person gets a copy of Blue Book and then starts learning the routes within London City until one is fully conversant with these streets. Then on fills the forms and sends them back together with the relevant documents. These documents include: the medical and character check from a family doctor for a time frame of at least 12 months, character check from the criminal records. Then if one's application succeeds, one is issued with an introductory suite that entails a DVD and a guide that has all the essential information about London streets. It is only after learning the first 80 runs that one can contact the PCO for a self-assessment test. However, this test doesn't count towards the final test. One has to attain at least 60 % so as to proceed with the assessment. If one is competent for the second part, one is given three points within London and asked to state the shortest routes to a certain point. Then oral examinations follow regarding the shortest means possible from one point to another and the examination becomes complicated as on progresses and thus consumes much time in this. After one has succeeded, one would be invited to apply for a green badge licence and thus becomes a London taxi driver (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Capturing the best practice The basic information required in the application for an application pack needs to be captured. Also, a copy of Blue Book is also essential. The time used as one waits for a response from PCO regarding one's application is also raising concern. Everyone, who is at least 18 years old, is advised to have regular health records from the family doctor. One's health record should be about heart condition, any blackout, diabetes, epilepsy that one might have had. The introductory pack i.e. DVD and a guide throughout London should be accessible to the majority so as to save time during the application process. There should be a system that would deter any exploitation of the immigrants by the tutor. Also, a system that would make the applicants learn the routes within London City quickly would help in reducing the time wasted during the training process. If the oral exams could be done online, it could save time and minimize the chances of the exploitation of the immigrants by the tutors. One should be given the opportunity of sitting for these online tests at some regulated intervals. E.g. two exams in a month so as to ensure that one is seriously researching on the points of interest within London. Meaning that, after one has failed two consecutive online exams, one can only re-sit for another test after one month is over. After the applicants have passed the online test, the system should be set in a manner that the applicants would invited for the application of the green badge licence and eventually become a London taxi driver within a short duration of time and under minimal experiences of exploitation (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Share skills and understanding Ongoing review of competency The knowledge would be shared according to the following Nonaka’s SECI Model. Socialization: I.e. Tacit to tacit. The driving knowledge will eventually be imparted on to the applicants through their practical, guidance, imitations, and observations. Externalization: i.e. Tacit to explicit. This method is perceived to be a mainly hard and usually particularly essential conversion approach. The Tacit knowledge used for training will be codified and be used in the form of documents and manuals. This codification will facilitate the spreading of the information from to the applicants throughout the London City. The Combination: i.e. Explicit to explicit would also be applied. This is deemed to be the simplest form. This is whereby; the codified knowledge resources (e.g. the documents and manuals) will be combined in such a manner to develop with an advances form of knowledge. Internalization: i.e. Explicit to tacit. As the explicit resources will continue being used and learnt, the knowledge will eventually be internalized and thus would change the user's current tacit knowledge (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Address cultural issues All the employees involved in the issuing of the driving license to those wishing to be London Taxi drivers will be required to be ready to share their understanding regarding the matter of driving. The trainers will be required to appreciate the cultural issues as both an organizational and community factor. Since cultural issues will exist on a structural level, each community might have its specific norms, perceptions, and joint understandings regarding a particular issue. Thus, the sharing and seeking knowledge by the workers and applicants would be impacted by these shared opinions (KMT 2010). Development of the London Taxi Drivers Knowledge Management System (LTDKMS) The LTDKMS will have different sub-branches that will be used in reducing time and exploitation of immigrants during the application for a driving licence for those wishing to become London Taxi drivers. The database that will be entailing the basic information required in the application for an application pack as well as a copy of Blue Book. A periodical information regarding health records from the respective family doctors for all citizens in the country. There will be an online system that would enable the applicants learn the routes within London City quickly would help in reducing the time wasted during the training process. Whenever one has passes the online test, the system will automatically be informing the applicant on when to go for a driving licence (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). This knowledge management system will help in equipping the drivers to be with sufficient knowledge in regard to the shortest routes within the London city. The drivers will also be able to apply for their green badge license within few months or even days depending on the commitment of the individual. The LTDKMS will also minimize the interaction of the applicants with the workers, who might be maliciously slow down their application process. This LTDKMS could therefore minimize both duration of time as well as the exploitation of the immigrants in the processing of the green badge license (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Actors The PCO – management team Users – trainers, Applicants for the green badge license. It department – senior system administrator Infrastructure Facilities – stationery Equipment – learning resources Intranet website with content management system Alternatively, use of a Learning Management System (LMS) Quality Management System Access to web via browser and network Functionality This Learning program will develop driving skills in the applicants who intend to attain the green badge license. Since not all users will be conversant with the system, the training process will be documented. Some of the training resources will be reinforced through the pages and YouTube videos. This will be a suitable Scenario for the use of the LTDKMS. There will be various online Questions and Answer that would be part of the training of the applicants regarding the understanding of the street of London. In case an applicant fails any of the online assessments, one would be given a second chance for a different assessment within that month. There will also be some online assessment on the trainers regarding their understanding of the content they offer to the applicants. The learning and training content would be in the form of manuals, Blue Book, CMS and LCMS. There will be regular reporting on online replies. There will be a tracking of monthly assessments in regard to the knowledge of shortcuts and point of interest in the London streets. However, the marks attained by the applicants in these monthly assessments will be recorded towards one’s final results (Williams 2014). Mode The Blended/optional learning model would be used together with both online/face to face (F2F) mode of learning. The learning resources would also incorporate the concept of stories and metaphors so as to ensure that the learners grasp and retain the learnt content. The training process would be supervised by the senior training officers. The face to face mode will provide option for personalization in the addressing of cultural or learning matters. The training of the applicants would incorporate various online videos and web pages (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Knowledge The knowledge on how to use the LTDKMS effectively would be required by both the trainers and the applicants. They would also be required to know the available services on the LTDKMS and the time frames when the services would be available. The users would be required to be conversant on where to find out more information regarding the process. The trainers would be required to know how to help those applicants, who might not be conversant with the application of the LTDKMS, in using the system (Williams 2014). How the LTDKMS will function It will be integrated into the initial PCO training crew. The system administrators will initially train the senior training officials. The training on both the trainers and applicants would be a continuous process. The LTDKMS would have a robust support via the Intranet pages and the YouTube videos. The YouTube videos would consist of the guidelines regarding the use of the LTDKMS and would be available to the public. The LTDKMS would be refreshed after every 12 months with testing so as to upgrade the system based on any new improvements that would make it more efficient. This amendment of the LTDKMS would be based on the opinions that would be gotten from the general public regarding the service offered by the system (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Continuous improvement There will be a continuous feedback from the trainers on how user friendly the LTDKMS is. There will be a regular review of the LTDKMS effectiveness in serving the applicants. The application of the LTDKMS by those looking forward to attaining the green badge license would be evaluated to make sure that the LTDKMS is relevant to the users. There will be some annual competency assessment that will be undertaken to evaluate the quality of learning by the users. There would be some regular Risk Analysis being undertaken to the LTDKMS on its speed of operation, virus attacks, backup of the resources and alternative sources of power in case there is a power back-out (Theknowledgetaxi 2014). Conclusion By introducing and maintaining the London Taxi Drivers Knowledge Management System (LTDKMS) aims to improve the competency of the service offered to the applicants who wish to be awarded the green badge license. The system would help reduce the time taken by the applicants to have their application approved and their assessments done. The system would also reduce the direct interaction between the trainers and the applicants. This reduction of direct contact between the workers and the applicants would eventually reduce the instances of immigrant exploitation by the employees. Reference list Henderson, J.C. & Treacy, M, 1986, Managing end-user computing for competitive advantage. Sloan Management Review, 27(2), 3-14. Holland, C.P. & Light, B 2001, A stage maturity model for enterprise resource planning systems use. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 32(Spring), 34-45. KMT, 2010, The Significance of Organizational Culture, Viewed on 8 July 2014, http://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/organizational-culture.html Theknowledgetaxi, 2014, The knowledge Taxi-London Knowledge, Viewed on 8 July 2014, http://www.theknowledgetaxi.co.uk/becoming-a-london-cabbie/ Williams, D 2014, Designing Knowledge Management Systems, University of Canberra, p 1-4. Wong, K.Y. & Aspinwall, E 2004, Knowledge management implementation frameworks: a Review. Knowledge and Process Management, 11(2), 93-104. Read More