Knowledge Management System in TPG Telecom Limited
Question:
Discuss about the Implementation Process of a new Knowledge management system in a company named TPG Telecom Limited.
Knowledge management system is very effective e to enhance the performance of a business process in the competitive business environment. The current report focuses on the implementation of knowledge management system in TPG Telecom Limited. Knowledge management is the most important corporate asset for any business as knowledge possessed by the employees is helpful in gaining competitive advantage. So, employees within the company must have clear communication regarding the process of knowledge management (Dalkir & Liebowitz, 2011). Once employees would be capable to identify with the significance of knowledge management process then it would not be complicated for the company in the implementation of the knowledge management system in the business. Previously, it was analyzed that company has to face some major challenges while capturing organizational knowledge. This report focuses on some recommendations to implement knowledge management model in the company which was previously provided. Report also provides the implementation roadmap of knowledge management system.
Knowledge management system is an integral part of the process of KM. Knowledge management system can be defined as any IT system used by the business organization in order to gain knowledge, improvements of collaboration and to locate the source of knowledge. In case of TPG Telecom, company is using Data Mining and Data Warehousing as the knowledge management systems. But there are some issues and challenges faced by the company related to KM process. Company has to face challenges in terms of providing proper security to the important information. Thus, there is the need of a new knowledge management strategy in order to minimize the challenges faced by the company (Hislop, 2013). Previously, a new knowledge management strategy i.e. KM model of Gamble and Blackwell is recommended.
Figure 1: KM Model
(Source: Gamble and Blackwell, 2001)
Gamble and Blackwell (2001) identified social capital as the characteristics of communities of practices that impact on the creation and sharing of knowledge within an organization. They basically defined inter-related dimensions of social capital. In the figure, the model includes four key stages. In the first stage, the role of the organization is to provide various resources of knowledge among the employees. Developing knowledge sources is a significant factor of this model (Argote, 2012). Further, in the second stage, the accountability of the supervision of organization is to acquire the knowledge to analyze the strength and weakness of the organization. So, second step is organizing the information. Third stage is socializing that is helpful for the management of the company to use various techniques and methods to share the knowledge within the organization. Fourth and last stage is internationalization by which management can internationalize the knowledge. This model is helpful in implementing effective knowledge management. So, it is advised to TPG Telecom to implement KM Model of Gamble and Blackwell.
Gamble and Blackwell KM Model
Knowledge management is the set of procedures that is helpful in eliminating the business problems within the organization. Additional issues in the business are resolved by the knowledge management system. Knowledge management is highly interdisciplinary filed that attracts various authors and scholars from various fields (Barnes, 2002). Various scholars have stated that knowledge management gets the correct information in front of correct people at the accurate time. There are some crucial aspects that important to implement knowledge management in the organizations and those factors are competitive differentiation, globalization effects, organizational survival and aging workforce. This is the fact that every organization competes based on their knowledge as products and services are becoming very complex (Solano, 2010). There is the requirement of life-long learning because the rate of innovation is rising. That is the reason that knowledge management is important. Along with this, knowledge management system is important as increasing mobility of workforce and early retirements lead to the loss of knowledge in some specific areas. Managing knowledge provides primary opportunity to the companies to achieve the considerable savings important developments in the performance of the employees and competitive advantage (Holsapple, 2013). It is important to align the knowledge management strategy with the organizational strategy. According to Plessis (2007), the knowledge management strategy is helpful in developing a considerate of the knowledge management resources of the organization for the long term benefits.
Various models, strategies, tools and techniques are introduced by various researchers for knowledge management. Ali and Fehmida (2004) have designed a mapping model that described about explicit and tacit knowledge. Along with this, Naveed and Kathwala (2004) have developed knowledge city model based on futuristic technologies. This model is useful for enhancing education, business, socio-cultural, and business. Another researcher Saba (2012) designed a conceptual model in order to share the knowledge based on qualitative research on existing tools and models. For the Company TPG Telecom Limited, knowledge management model of Gamble and Blackwell is recommended.
Knowledge management model of Gamble and Blackwell depicts the process of implementing the strategy for management in order to divest, build, and improve the knowledge assets. This is the model that focuses on ‘when’ and ‘why’ aspects. This model basically puts the knowledge management actions into context. This KM model provides general hypothetical structure and detailed procedures for the execution (Cham, Lim Cheng and Lee, 2016).
In TPG Telecom, there are two knowledge management process used by the company i.e. Data mining and Data warehousing. Along with this, the company is using centralized system in order to store the organizational data. Now, there is the need of new knowledge management system in order to fill the gap of knowledge. After identifying the new knowledge management strategy for TPG Telecom, it is important to develop an effective process to implement the KM strategy. There are various steps i.e. strategy, planning and requirement gatherings that would be included in the implementation process of new strategy (Alavi & Leidne, 2001). The decision to apply new knowledge management process can be a critical task for the company TPG Telecom. So, it is necessary to have a strong management support for KM to be successful. First, it is important to understand that KM is the organized procedure in order to create, maintain and look after the company in order to make best use of knowledge so that sustainable competitive advantage or high performance can be achieved (Rao, 2012). The implementation process for new KM strategy in TPG Telecom is described below:
Importance of Knowledge Management
Before implementing new strategy, defining the process and developing workflows, TPG Telecom needs to identify the key objectives for knowledge management. In order to establish suitable program objective, it is important to identify the business problems. In case of TPG, there are various challenges like cultural changes and conflicts in the leadership. It is observed that company is facing challenges in terms of motivating the employees to overcome the cultural changes. Along with this, keeping the information relevant is another challenge for TPG Telecom. There are some security issues also in the company as it is important to provide security to the relevant information. So, there is the need to implement new KM strategy in order to deal with all these challenges (Abbasi & Farashahian, 2011).
Knowledge management is more than just a function of expertise. It basically involves cultural changes among the employees. In case of TPG Telecom, company needs to create a collaborative culture which is required to redesign the organizational values and implementing incentives to meet the organizational goals. For the company, time and support are two important success factors to knowledge management and employees with the time for knowledge management also require coaching and help. Company will provide required training and coaching with the technical tools. Successful implementation of new knowledge management program needs changes in the shared values and norms of the company and employees might resist in the company. In order to minimize the negative impact of the changes, company will establish the approach for managing cultural changes (AlRowaily & AlRowaily, 2012).
TPG Telecom will perform a knowledge audit in order to solve the business problems. The knowledge audit will identify the sources of knowledge which are required in the company to solve business challenges. In the knowledge audit process, management of the company will work with the employees to locate the knowledge which they need to solve the business related problems. The audit will start by breaking the information into two catagories i.e. what knowledge is currently used by the company and what knowledge is required. In case of TPG Telecom, there are some factors i.e. leadership, culture, knowledge processes organizational structure and technology infrastructure that impact on the knowledge management system (Albers, 2009).
Figure 2: Factors affecting KM strategy
(Source: Albers, 2009)
In the company TPG Telecom, the knowledge audit will identify what, where, and how exiting knowledge resources are used. In the audit process, there will be cycle processes i.e. acquisition, formation, codification, sharing, access, function and recycle. In the company, management will focus on the business needs, gaps and issues and knowledge required to fill the gaps.
Various Models and Strategies for Knowledge Management
In the company, management will focus on information technology assessment including diagnostic areas i.e. IT assets, IT management process, and IT investment performance. Based on the objectives, management will identify the knowledge management technology needs. TPG Telecom needs to provide security to the relevant and important information so; management of the company will identify the right applications and functionality in order to support the business process (Borghoff & Pareschi, 2013). The management of the company will examine the IT project management skills i.e. strategic and technical direction setting, and execution and review of the projects. TPG Telecom needs to redesign its IT infrastructure in order to implement new knowledge management system effectively (Martin, 2015).
For applying the knowledge management system, there is the requirement of a phased approach. In case of TPG Telecom, management will use technological building blocks and will take a phased approach that will balance the need of knowledge in order to achieve long-term goal. Every block will contribute to the ultimate knowledge management system. Blocks will provide beneficial outcomes to the entire company and each phase in the process will provide the foundation for the implementation.
Figure 3: Implementation Roadmap
The above given figure describes the roadmap of implementing knowledge management system in TPG Telecom. The process of implementation is as follows:
This is the first step of developing KM initiatives. The overall strategy of the company is to provide high-quality services with the focus on development, productivity and consumer faithfulness. So, the management of the company will perform ‘back-office’ functions in order to analyze the required business functions in the effective and efficient manner (Albers & Whitmore, 2006).
This will be the second stage while implementing the knowledge management system. Knowledge audit will be done in order to identify the gaps between what is known and what must be known. TPG Telecom is currently lacking with the cohesive knowledge management program. The company is not focused on developing dedicated platforms for sharing the knowledge. This is a basic strategy to focus on the own business objectives (Kebede, 2010).
After identifying the gaps, it is important to develop appropriate knowledge relationships in the company. Aligning knowledge strategy with business strategy will be helpful in maintaining the efficient process to record the accurate and desired results. This process will be accurate easily understood and readily available. For this manner, communication is the best element that can be used by the management of the company. So, management of the company will connect the identified knowledge strategy with the business strategy (Rollett, 2012).
Implementation Process for New KM Strategy in TPG Telecom Limited
After completing the strategic reviews, management will focus on identifying the resources and knowledge management initiatives with the dedicated employees. New initiatives will be sponsored as they will present high probability of success and benefits to the company. Knowledge management team will be prepared that will identify the opportunity cost for implementing new KM system. The KM program will be successful by establishing benefits, determining value and associating benefits with the costs. In the KM team, there will be senior manager, knowledge manager, and knowledge committee including cross-functional team members (Omotayo, 2015).
The KM framework will focus on the IT resources i.e. how those resources can be used for the knowledge management. The company relies on providing effective communication services to many customers. IT department operates in the production environment so; management would request to update other production platforms. This competitive industry needs the continuous changes in the services and new offerings so, more business analysts will be assigned to gather the functional requirements. It is observed that there is the lack of exchange and capture of the information. So, there would be organizational learning facilities in order to implement the change and make the employees ready to adapt the changes (Kuo & Lee, 2011).
The value and objectives of new knowledge management system is clearly defined. The principles of management provide an environment to the employees to operate efficiently. The culture of TPG Telecom needs to become more collaborative. For this manner, team-building events will be conducted by the management of the company. The employees need to rely on each other for solving the problems in order to reduce the time wasted. The reward system i.e. rewards and recognition, gifts and certificates will also be redesigned. In order to achieve benefits from the KM system, the leadership team in the company will develop an approval for ‘knowledge management’ and hold the official execution of KM process.
KM system and initiatives will be most successful when it will be implemented in phases over a period of time. In case of TPG Telecom, company is using Data Mining and Data Warehousing as the knowledge management systems. But, after identifying the issues in current knowledge management system, KM model of Gamble and Blackwell will be implanted. In order to implement successfully, there would be some efforts i.e. make knowledge associable, conducting employees training, enhancing the flow of information, reducing the work cost and productivity losses. Management of TPG Telecom will deploy number of KM initiatives during the short term (Groff & Jones, 2012).
Management of the company will measure the effectiveness of knowledge management program. For this manner, various feedbacks will be taken from the employees who are using new knowledge management process. The manager will be accountable to take feedback from this team. Other measures will also be helpful in determining the effectiveness of knowledge management. Employee satisfaction survey will provide the indicator of employee perception and morale.
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it is analyzed that there is the need of new knowledge management system in TPG Telecom as the current knowledge management system is not so much effective to deal with various challenges. There are two knowledge management process used by the company i.e. Data mining and Data warehousing. But, it is recommended that company should use Knowledge management model of Gamble and Blackwell in order to provide the effective and appropriate knowledge to the employees. The roadmap of the system implementation is provided in the report that would be helpful for the company for the effective implementation of new KM system.
References
Abbasi, A. & Farashahian, Y., (2011). Design & the Implementation of Knowledge Management System. Retrieved on 11th February 2018 from https://www.community-of-knowledge.de/beitrag/design-the-implementation-of-knowledge-management-system/
Alavi, M. & Leidne, D. E. (2001). Review: knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues: MIS Quarterly. 25 (1). pp. 107-136
Albers, J. A., & Whitmore, B., (2006). Knowledge Management In An Accounting Organization: Journal of Knowledge Management Practice. 7(4).
Albers, J. A., (2009). A Practical Approach To Implementing Knowledge Management: Journal of Knowledge Management Practice. 10(1).
AlRowaily, K & AlRowaily, A. O. (2012). Integration of Knowledge Management system in Telecommunication: A case Study of Saudi Telecom: IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security. 12 (11).
Argote, L., (2012). Organizational learning: Creating, retaining and transferring knowledge. Springer Science & Business Media.
Barnes, S. (2002). Knowledge management systems. Austalia: Thomson Learning.
Borghoff, U.M. and Pareschi, R. (2013). Information technology for knowledge management. Springer Science & Business Media.
Cham, T.H., Lim, Y.M., Cheng, B.L. and Lee, T.H., (2016). Determinants of knowledge management systems success in the banking industry: VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems. 46(1). pp.2-20.
Dalkir, K. and Liebowitz, J., (2011). Knowledge management in theory and practice. MIT press
Groff, T. and Jones, T., (2012). Introduction to knowledge management. UK: Routledge.
Hislop, D., (2013). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
Holsapple, C. (2013). Handbook on knowledge management: Knowledge matters. Springer Science & Business Media.
Kebede, G., (2010). Knowledge management: An information science perspective. International Journal of Information Management. 30(5). pp.416-424.
Kuo, R.Z. and Lee, G.G., (2011). Knowledge management system adoption: exploring the effects of empowering leadership, task-technology fit and compatibility: Behaviour & Information Technology. 30(1). pp.113-129.
Martin, (2015). How to Implement Company-Wide Knowledge Management System. Retrieved on 11th February 2018 from https://www.cleverism.com/how-to-implement-knowledge-management-system/
Omotayo, F. O. (2015). Knowledge Management as an important tool in Organisational Management: A Review of Literature. Retrieved on 11th February 2018 from https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3330&context=libphilprac
Rao, M., (2012). Knowledge management tools and techniques. UK: Routledge.
Rollett, H., (2012). Knowledge management: Processes and technologies. Springer Science & Business Media.
Solano, B. R. (2010). Organizational politics, personality and willingness to share knowledge: The meditational role of employee engagement. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
