Key Characteristics of Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is key to success of any organization. Factoring in new employees, organizations need to provide crystal clear guidelines about how knowledge flows and is shared at their new paces of work. This report will provide a well elucidated snapshot of knowledge management, its characteristics, how its acquired, its principles, and an exploration of how businesses can enhance knowledge. Work than knowledge workers do in an organization and their specific roles respective of their designations will be explored. Stages of organizational knowledge and its creation is key since it affects the organizational technical, social and managerial infrastructure, (Saslis-Lagoudakis et al 2014). A case sturdy of an organization including its operating knowledge environment will be presented, features portrayed in the knowledge environment and their relationship with reality. Functions of some ranks in the organization such as a mentor will be covered and the kinds of support they offer. What such leaders’ ca do to help new members of organization gain operational knowledge will be presented. Different forms of knowledge that might be of value to newbies in an organization will be presented by a review of KM viewpoint 2.1 and 2.2. An intensive evaluation of social capital factors evident in the case study will be covered with the key weaknesses. Lastly, approaches to how managers of organizations can disseminate their knowledge, and some strategies that can be considered in sharing the information will be highlighted, (Lee et al 2009).
In the study at Manic marketers, the interview was carried out smoothly. Various admirable features about the knowledge environment are portrayed. One, a very comprehensive portfolio was provided to the interviewee. This is positive because it ensures the interviewee has adequate knowledge about the operations of the organization including its goals. The interviewers outlined their positive, accommodative and inclusive culture, technology systems, and their incessant focus on the management of knowledge. They literally carried out the interview and provided the information in a way that filled the interviewee’s heart with enthusiasm. Peer feedback, wide know-how, information sharing sessions in the organization, a focus on long term relationships and collaboration among the staff and management were key features that facilitated flow of knowledge in the organization, (Kümmerer 2009).
However, there was a relatively big rift between the features that Manic marketers boost during the day of the interview and the facts in practical daily operations of the organization. Some of the differences from reality in the organization were:
Organizational Knowledge Creation
According to (Burns et al 2013). The know how that is highly praised among the members of the organization disappears when Damon comes about an abbreviation np whose meaning was hard to understand in one of the documents. Interestingly, most people in the organization didn’t understand the meaning too! He struggles over and over to find out who BG is. The database unfortunately doesn’t know that either.
Damon had no tangible knowledge of any previous projects the organization had undertaken, didn’t know anyone else who had handled old projects and absolutely no knowledge of what other resources might be useful for the apparent project. There was no real history of the organization documented and there being no one keen to provide some help on all these issues might suggest maybe they didn’t know either. These was just unbelievable for a knowledge organization.
The know-how of Manic Marketers as expressed during the interview further differs from reality when another staff member advises Damon that, it wasn’t what someone knew nor what they can find out. Who they know was the most important of all. Here, it’s definitely not the knowledge or ideas they have. They simply know people which is not enough and contrary to what say in the interview. In addition, this is a tall order as Damon insists.
It’s clearly expressed during the interview there is collaboration among the employees. This is in contrast with reality since few people if not none notices or helps Damon in his struggles searching for information. When Damon contacts his mentor and nearby colleagues who had helped him the week before, they all appeared threatened and harassed by his presence at their desks. So much for collaboration. It’s clear how hard it was to learn from anyone in this organization. the Garabaldon Brothers he calls for help turn out very unhelpful, (Escribano et al 2009).
The technology systems in the organization were not much helpful, or they didn’t just have enough information. The organization claims that everything they do is documented disseminated to everyone in the organization. This is different from what is seen in the case study, since previous projects can’t be found, and the history of the organization, if it were documented would been easily found. The database lacks adequate information and is barely useful, (Wu 2009). Damon looked for who BG was in the firm and couldn’t anything even in the database. A good technology system would have allowed him to find any information about the firm in just a click. He also took a long time go through the organization’s website. A good website should have allowed him to get a rough sketch of the site in a few minutes or hours. What a technology system!
Organizational Knowledge Environment: A Case Study
It’s not evident anywhere that the sharing sessions to facilitate exchange of information in this firm took place. Everyone appeared to be busy at their own desk. The unwillingness of other members to help points out how sharing sessions if they were ever there, were not fun at all.
The supervisor claims all their knowledge is documented for easy retrieval. On the contrary, it’s hard to retrieve any information about anything in the organization. it’s even hard to tell who worked on what project and when.
The Role Of a Mentor
A mentor is very important in an organization and serves several roles. In the Manic Marketers case study, several types of support are offered by the mentor. First, the mentor clarifies the main goal of the organization, and the goal was interesting. They don’t want to re-invent the wheel. The mentor also points out the source of any information Damon would need. Its cited that everything was documented. Next, the mentor exposes Damon to all the various systems in the organization; the financial system, the human resource process, the in-house records management system, the knowledge objects and library systems. These seemed too many systems but it calls in another role of a mentor. Assurance. The mentor assures him it was very easy to navigate, with just a little more extra time. The mentor helped him get to know more about the knowledge environment of the organization, though he had to learn the bigger junk by himself, (Harvey et al 2010).
There is more that the mentor could have done to improve Damon’s organizational knowledge. Some of the things the mentor could have done to help Damon better include:
- Introducing Damon to all the members and staff of the organization and their functions. This would have made it easier for Damon to know who to consult for what specific problem. Knowing the location of everyone and their role would have made it easier for him to connect, ask for information and share knowledge easily.
- The mentor should have shown Damon where exactly to find any information he needed. Where in the documents certain details pertaining her work desk are located, such as the history of the organization.
- The mentor should also have been clear on the objectives of the organization. Damon should know exactly what their business is, which is not the case. Working smarter, not harder, is not a goal at all. The goal should have been stated in way that mentions or hints exactly the service or products they deal in. There is no point in working smart when you even don’t know what you are working on the first place.
Types Of Information And Forms Of Organizational Knowledge
In reference to (Vahlne & Johanson 2017)During recording data about a client, which is beneficial to the organization, various types of information should be included. These pieces of knowledge include the identity of the client, the organization or group and more importantly any methods of connecting with them. Previous meetings and deals with the clients and any future planned meetings should be recorded. In the context of the Manic Marketers case study, this information should have been entered in the database and the clients given an index (number) for example, client 100/2018 to display even the time when the client was last engaged. The clients name and other information should then follow in the subsequent columns. This way, all the information should have been easier to retrieve any time his name, the code (100/28) or any other piece of information about the client is invoked.
Functions of Organizational Leaders: Mentors
Other forms of knowledge that could have been important to Damon include:
- The “know where”: this refers to the identification, evaluation and access to the appropriate sources of knowledge which Damon appeared to lack.
- The “know when”: this would help him know how to apply strategies in order to balance activities, dynamic requirements, competing demands and multiple projects.
- Damon needed to know people and organizations that the firm usually transact with from day to day.
Key Weaknesses In The Social Capital
Some social capital factors that were evident in the context of Manic Marketers include: documentation of key outcomes of business activities, expectations of knowledge sharing were incorporated into staff during orientation sessions and the staff focused on what was best for the organization. however, many weaknesses came out clearly in the social capital of the organization. These include:
- Sharing of intelligence was mentioned but not put into action and valued among the staff. They were not willing to help Damon with the knowledge hiccups he was going through.
- The people in the organization did not collaborate to share intelligence as illustrated above.
- Key experts such Damon’s mentor were not readily available when contacted.
- Development of the capabilities of knowledge workers and competence wasn’t supported well enough in the organization. When Damon fails to find answers to who BG is. He gives up and forwards a name he doesn’t know at all. He also claims nobody cares after all!
- The staff are not at ease with consulting others for guidance and help in the organization.
Knowledge Sharing Strategies
Different approaches or strategies can be considered. Knowledge can be shared through:
- Training: training can be implemented by assigning a mentor for each new hire, choosing another member of the team with the same rank as the new employee or working in the same department.
- Designing an environment that’s conducive for sharing of knowledge: this can be implemented through making conference rooms, coffee tables where staff sit and talk, and making common spaces where employees can sit casually.
- Encouraging different forms of knowledge sharing within the organization. This can be implemented by setting aside time to contribute and share content and setting aside face-to-face collaboration time.
- The organization can come up with a software for sharing knowledge.
Impediments to sharing of information can be little know-how about the organization among the employees, inadequate resources to facilitate sharing, uncooperative staff members and lack of motivation to share knowledge. A poor knowledge environment in general is in itself an impediment to sharing of knowledge.
Conclusion
The knowledge environment is a determinant of smooth operations of an organization. organizations have knowledge workers such as mentors that help providing knowledge to other employee. Some organizations however, have a poor knowledge environment making it difficult for new staff members to catch up with the system. Organizations should put in place working knowledge sharing strategies to improve their success.
References
Saslis-Lagoudakis, C.H., Hawkins, J.A., Greenhill, S.J., Pendry, C.A., Watson, M.F., Tuladhar-Douglas, W., Baral, S.R. and Savolainen, V., 2014. The evolution of traditional knowledge: environment shapes medicinal plant use in Nepal. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 281(1780), p.20132768.
Kümmerer, K., 2009. The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment due to human use–present knowledge and future challenges. Journal of environmental management, 90(8), pp.2354-2366.
Burns, R.G., DeForest, J.L., Marxsen, J., Sinsabaugh, R.L., Stromberger, M.E., Wallenstein, M.D., Weintraub, M.N. and Zoppini, A., 2013. Soil enzymes in a changing environment: current knowledge and future directions. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 58, pp.216-234.
Escribano, A., Fosfuri, A. and Tribó, J.A., 2009. Managing external knowledge flows: The moderating role of absorptive capacity. Research policy, 38(1), pp.96-105.
Harvey, G., Skelcher, C., Spencer, E., Jas, P. and Walshe, K., 2010. Absorptive capacity in a non-market environment: a knowledge-based approach to analysing the performance of sector organizations. Public Management Review, 12(1), pp.77-97.
Vahlne, J.E. and Johanson, J., 2017. The internationalization process of the firm—a model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. In International Business (pp. 145-154). Routledge.
Lee, O.K.D., Wang, M.W., Lim, K.H. and Peng, Z.J., 2009. Knowledge management systems diffusion in Chinese enterprises: A multistage approach using the technology-organization-environment framework. Journal of Global Information Management, 17(1), p.70.
Wu, W.L., Lin, C.H., Hsu, B.F. and Yeh, R.S., 2009. Interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing: Moderating effects of individual altruism and a social interaction environment. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 37(1), pp.83-93.
Greene, J.A., Costa, L.J., Robertson, J., Pan, Y. and Deekens, V.M., 2010. Exploring relations among college students’ prior knowledge, implicit theories of intelligence, and self-regulated learning in a hypermedia environment. Computers & Education, 55(3), pp.1027-1043
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