The Vitality of Knowledge Management in Corporate World - Term Paper Example

Knowledge Management Introduction Knowledge management is often confused with information management and is usually taken in the context of advance technology used to save and access information. Hence before we start discussing the various aspects of knowledge management it is very important that we clarify the concept as to what information management is all about. Knowledge management is defined by Steven Mcshane as any structured activity which essentially bolsters an organization’s drive to attain, share and make use of the knowledge in a number of different ways, all of which enhance its long term survival as well as success. Now the question arises as to what exactly is knowledge and how is it different from information (Han 2001). Information is data organized in a proper form and in a way so that interpretation and analysis of the material is easy. Whereas when information is acquired by an individual it becomes knowledge. Knowledge is formally defined as acquaintance to information present. Objective of Knowledge Management The main aim of knowledge management is to make knowledge available in a way to all those concerned in a way that it can be utilize in the best possible way so as to benefit the organization as a whole. This includes both social and technological effort. This subject has gained a lot importance in the corporate environment in the recent years because of several benefits it offers. For instance it reduces the chances of repetitive and redundant work. Everyone in the organization will know what information is already present and they will not waste time and resources on acquiring the same data and they will move ahead from that point, extending the thread from there (Steyn 2003). Apart from this in today’s world where the external environment is so volatile and fast changing that internal stakeholders especially decision makers have to work really fast to catch up with the fast changing trend and stay competitive. In circumstances like these information becomes a vital resource. Those who know are the ones who will survive. Apart from this another advantage that knowledge management offers is the reduction in time required to train new employees or to bring about a change in the organization (Foote 2001). Another aspect of today’s corporate world is that organizations have to stay flexible and to adapt to changes of the market. For this purpose change management has become a famous topic now a day’s for research and development and adequate knowledge management improves this process. The main argument that will be presented by this paper is that knowledge management goes beyond simple game of technology. The first proof supporting this argument is that it is a topic that is taught to and researched by people in many diversified fields showing that it encompasses several aspects and not just technology. The fields include human resource management, business strategy and management in addition to computer sciences. Another argument to support our side of the debate is that knowledge management existed before the spread of computer technology in the 20th century. It is true that knowledge management gained more importance and attention after the advent of technology because it made managing and sharing knowledge a lot easier. Dimensions of Information Management To elaborate further on this matter we can identify that knowledge management has three dimensions, namely, techno-based, organization and social. The first one refers to the various technological tools that are used to create and share knowledge for instance; intranet, expert system, group decision support system and many others. Then the second one being organizational in which the concern is the setting and culture of an organization should be designed in a way that the chances of knowledge sharing are increased readily. For instance, the physical environment of any organization should be such that it increases the chances of human interaction and thus sharing of important and even crucial information to a certain extent. And finally the third one is the social aspect, which is how people should be trained so that they share knowledge more readily with their office mates and colleagues. Taking the second dimension first, we will discuss the process adopted by organization in implementing the knowledge management process. This process is also referred to as organizational learning because it involves learning to acquire knowledge (Milner 2000). There is a need that certain values are embedded in the organization to make this process more effective. We can see the strategies used by organization in more detail by dividing the process into three steps, namely, acquisition, sharing and use of knowledge. Acquisition is basically the capacity of the organization to pick up knowledge from its surrounding and identify what knowledge is valuable and which one is worth discarding. Organizations acquire knowledge through various sources of information available such as the internet or annual reports of other companies. Apart from this another technique used by organization is keeping corporate spies. This is an illegal and ethically wrong method but is still readily used by organization to get access to crucial information about competitor’s plans and actions. Just like valuable machine if unused depreciates and loses its value same is the case with information and knowledge capital. Many organizations have the right type of knowledge but the real problem is it does not reside with the person who truly needs it and can use it best. This is why knowledge sharing is as important as knowledge acquisition. This is the reason why organizations have formal networks and chains of information and also encourage informal groups and social mingling (Veltman 2006). Organizations have a belief that the more its members interact the stronger will be the bond and level of trust between them. This in turn will increase the chances of them sharing crucial and also important information with each other. Apart from this they even form groups such as communities of practice i.e. a group that has members that are bond together because of a common passion for a particular thing and similar expertise. The last step is use of knowledge. This step is comparatively simple and the easiest strategy applies to implement is to create a culture and spread the word that the employees are free to use the knowledge available to them and they are expected to do it in the best possible way. The only difficult step involved is creating an experiential culture. That is people should be encouraged to try out new things and carry out their jobs in ways they have not been carried out before. Now we can move on to the third perspective which is the social perspective. Hereby the focus is on how individual members of the organization can be motivated or encouraged to support knowledge management especially sharing. Different firms implement different policies to achieve this. For instance some firms include it in their reward system or employment evaluation. That is every individual is rated against a pre set standard of information creation and sharing and then they are evaluated and rewarded accordingly (Foss 2005). Another method to encourage internal stakeholders that has been adopted in the recent decades is the use of social software and social network such as Facebook.com and other social blogs. This way people can interact without getting up from their seats and it is shown through various studies that people find it to share confidential information more easily if they are not interacting on a personal basis. These are just a few examples there are many other ways people can overcome their fear because of which they do not share knowledge. Now we shall discuss the third aspect which is the technological aspect though it is not the only part, but definitely a major one under the knowledge management realms. This can range from simple help desk system to advance technology used in video conferencing. The level and complexity of both hardware and software will depend on the level and size of the organization and the knowledge and interaction requirement of its various stakeholders. This concept of knowledge management includes another concept which is knowledge transfer. This is slightly more than dealing with communication problem (Sitkin 2002). The idea here is to transfer knowledge efficiently from the source of its origin to the destination where it is required most. This is not that an easy task because an organization has many sub divisions and groups that are sometimes not very friendly and corporative and thus a barrier is formed which hampers successful knowledge transfer (Carter 1999). The process usually involves recognizing the person with whom the knowledge resides and then these people have to be motivated to share that knowledge. This process then takes place and later it is insured that it was successful and that information is properly utilized. Knowledge Management Helps the Organizations Immensely It is a fact that in the time and age of today, knowledge management is being seen as the next best thing after the middle tier of any organization. Because of this, there is a need to have well-crafted avenues of knowledge that are easily accessible and implemented within the organizational contexts. This will help develop the very basis of significance for the tasks and activities of an organization, all of which are seen from a very do-able perspective. The knowledge management takes into consideration the essential roles of acquiring the tenets of learning, the dispersal of knowledge across the varied cross-sections of the organization, the management of information and communication, and lastly the smoothening of actions and behaviors amongst the people who work alongside each other on a consistent basis (DeLong 2004). What is most important is to realize that knowledge management will have a long-lasting effect on the attitudes and relationships of the people working in the organization. In fact, this will suggest the varied ways under which an organization would be able to spread the knowledge base and make the tenets accessible in more ways than one can think of. One must believe that knowledge management is indeed the beginning course for a long journey that seems improbable to resist. These aspects would receive the backing and support of the top management realms, all of whom are depending heavily on the knowledge and information that has been summed up by the middle tier and the knowledge base within the organization itself. In essence, knowledge management will touch upon aspects which have remained unthinkable from the long term standpoint of the business as well as bring to light the salient factors of growth and development for the sake of the organization in the long run scheme of things. Undoubtedly knowledge management has opened up new avenues for the sake of the businesses worldwide as these have benefited the people who are the direct stakeholders as well as those who are indirectly related with business regimes. What is best is to understand that knowledge management will pave the way for newer and sounder technological processes and facets in the coming times. This can only happen when the collective efforts are adequately designed and in place to reach new heights and break new grounds. Strategies of Applying Knowledge Management After clarifying the various dimension of knowledge management, we can now move on to focus on the various strategies applied for increasing and improving this aspect of the organization. These strategies can also be to introduce knowledge management from scratch. These types of implementations and changes only do not require a goal or a mission statement but a proper framework that they can used to enforce these strategies successfully and intelligently. For this first it is important to identify the requirements related to information and knowledge by an organization. These will include a survey of problems and shortcomings of the past or limitations that can be overcome by implementation of this strategy. Once these issues are realized and recognized and the organization knows what areas it has to cover then it needs to move on to making a plan that is in line with the unique environment of the organization (Stein 2001). This will include factors such as the culture of the organization, spread, resources available and many others. For this reason every organization has to develop its own knowledge management strategy and it cannot copy it from another organization. The problem with knowledge management is not a lack of awareness. It is not the problem that organization do not know that they require knowledge management strategies but they tend to speed through it and jump to the solution mode directly. What they do not realize that every solution may not be the best for them. A medicine can be cure for one person but at the same time poison for another. So organizations need to keep both a personalized and holistic approach when designing their strategy. When it comes to deriving a strategy for knowledge management we need to divide the strategy into two major division and deal with each individually. These two sub categories are tacit knowledge management and explicit knowledge management (Theirauf, 1999). First is the understanding of the tacit knowledge, which is basically the implicit knowledge or underlying information that is embedded in the culture, attitude and behavior of people. A popular technique that is used here is brainstorming. We perceive brainstorming as an idea generation, problem solving and innovative techniques but it can also be used to bring subtle and underlying phenomena on surface. One person starts revealing the other ads to it and the chain goes on until everyone has contributed something or the other. According to Parsaye, there can be three different ways of transferring knowledge of this level of subtlety. The first one is that learners observe the behavior of other and learn through that, another way is that they are guided as to what to do and what not to and knowledge is transferred to them through words and guidance. The third method that he suggested was that experts can be interviewed and knowledge gained through the experience of people who are aware of the underlying information (Bounfour 2003). Organizations usually put a lot of effort in abstracting and transferring tacit knowledge because this is the major part of the knowledge held by an organization. It is usually said that the explicit knowledge is only the tip of the ice berg and the rest of it which is under the water is implicit or tacit knowledge. This is the place where true and crucial knowledge lies and which can be lost with employee turnover or workers retiring. So organizations thrive to secure this knowledge and one popular way is to transfer it to other internal stakeholders (Thompson 1999). Now next is the tip of the ice berg. Explicit knowledge even requires proper transfer and sharing. Though it is easier with this type but still many organizations and firms fail to carry it out successfully and smoothly and much of the valuable information is lost in the process or remains idol or is misused. Therefore this should also be taken as seriously as the previous one and made sure that knowledge which is worth diamonds in today’s world is not wasted away (Mortlock 2002). Example from the Corporate World Many concepts are easier to understand through live examples, something one can relate to within the corporate world. Moreover, many applications sound less bookish and more practical if one sees a live demonstration in the corporate world around us. Keeping this in mind I decided to explain the concept with the help of an organization that implements this management system. The firm that I chose is P&G which is a multinational fast moving consumer good and has managed to stay ahead of competition by being responsive to the changing market and consumer need. According to them one of the reasons they have been able to do that is their efficient knowledge system and strategies related to its management which has enabled their workforce to excess the right type of information at the right time. From the layout of the office to the culture everything is designed in a way that the transfer of knowledge is made easier and more convenient. The layout of the office is like a maze. There are small cubicles but hardly any separate rooms or cabins (Johanson 2000). This increases the chances of interaction and communication between different employees. Apart from this informal grouping and teams are also encouraged. This is down by providing a common lunch room where employees can mingle and talk about things other than everyday work orders and responses. Additionally, they organize picnics and off the work activities so that people become closer and a level of trust are built up so they do not hesitate and are not reluctant in sharing vital information. Apart from this as part of their culture they discourage politics using information. They encourage people who shared anything important with their colleagues and peers by public appreciation or by formal appreciation in the form of points in the appraisal plan or financial benefits. In the technical aspect they have a proper intranet that not only helps them communicate within the office premises but also with continental or regional partners. For example, people sitting in India can communicate with those living in Pakistan and Singapore. This ensures that there is no duplication of resources and unnecessary delays not only within the country but throughout the sub region (Romhardt 2000). Apart from this other type of knowledge for instance what to do in case of certain problems is passed on through stories and legends. As it is said learning the history is the best way to prepare for the future as history repeats itself therefore this practice is very popular when it comes to P&G. These stories are usually not written down or documented and thus there is a high probability that they will be lost once the crowd who has witnessed it retires or leaves. Thus the only way to save this from extinction is to share it with other people and secure it in their minds. Apart from this they even have training session for better team work in which there is always a workshop activity reserved to encourage people to share information which they consider confidential. One such activity was this that a team was formed taking people from different departments and then they all were asked to share a personal and deep dark secret with their group. This helped them open up with each other and remove any communication barriers that were present due to lack of trust (Hyde 2000). By the end of the activity the employees who had participated were interviewed regarding the activity and they all responded positively saying that they are feeling closer to their colleagues and they feel that they oath to tell them more information that might be presently available to them only. Conclusion In the end, it would be adequately sound to justify the very basis of having knowledge management up and running for the sake of the organization in the long run. However this could only be done when there is a clear cut vision and foresight in front of the organizational decision-makers. This can only happen when the top management understands its respective responsibilities and goes about putting the best foot forward. What is also important is a sense of purpose on the part of the employees to guarantee that their actions and behaviors would manifest growth and development and nothing else as far as the organization’s weapon (knowledge management) within the strategic zone is concerned. Basically knowledge management highlights those grey areas which have been left untouched and this is one worrying aspect which needs to be addressed in a proper way (Chatzkel 2003). Therefore now we have witnessed that knowledge management coming to a corporate environment is not only about advanced technology, a well developed database and a well connected intranet system. It is way beyond that. It requires effort on an individual level as well as group and corporate level. A proper planning and strategy building is required to build and manage this system. Even changes in this system require a proper framework. It cannot be merely based on technology, training or the right type of culture (Desenberg 2000). To carry this out successfully a combination of all these techniques and much more is required, only then will it generate the desired returns and benefits. Many organizations conduct this mistake that they only carry out technological reforms and they expect that the flow of knowledge will become smooth by its own. Then they are disappointed as they find that the changes did not produce the expected and required outcomes. It is a fact that no matter how advance the machinery is, if it does not have a trained user will not produce its optimum outcome (Kamph 2006). Therefore it is important that the concept of sharing knowledge and its importance is embedded amongst the various internal stakeholders so that they take initiative and strive to create a better learning environment, using the technology in the path to their targets. This clearly shows that introduction of knowledge management involves a lot more than introduction of new technology related to data and information management Bibliography BOUNFOUR, Ahmed. (2003). The Management of Intangibles: The Organizations Most Valuable Assets. Routledge CARTER, Martin. (1999). Managing Cross-Border Complementary Knowledge: Conceptual Developments in the Business Process Approach to Knowledge Management in Multinational Firms. International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol. 29 CHATZKEL, Jay L. (2003). Knowledge Capital: How Knowledge-Based Enterprises Really Get Built. Oxford University Press DeLONG, David. (2004). Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce. 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