The Importance of Knowledge Management
Discuss about the Knowledge Management Principles.
According to Ritika (2010, p. 68), knowledge management is crucial because it plays a pivotal role in enabling employees to learn from one another and also to gain skills which assist them to overcome some of the issues that challenge them in accomplishing their task. Knowledge is the ability of a person to accomplish a task successfully (Sambasivan 2012, p. 45). To manage this knowledge, organizations implement a process known as knowledge management which employs various principles, rules, and tools. This paper will discuss knowledge management by looking the case of manic.
From the interview and orientation, the company was portrayed as one which manages knowledge, one which has positive and inclusive culture as well as sufficient technology systems. According to Costarides (2010, p. 795), organizations which have these features are highly characterized by the management of knowledge because of having the ability to handle information and resources in their operations efficiently.
The interviewer also portrayed the company as one which works smarter not hander. This statement implies that maniac has knowledgeable professionals who strive to accomplish things beyond anyone’s expectations. Working smart also means the company has maintained employees who do things to satisfaction.
However, what he was told was far from reality. Despite of having these systems, and being told that what the company does is documented and shared for easy access of corporate knowledge, this was not the case. This aspect is portrayed by the fact that some of the crucial information, like for instance, ones related to client information was not adequately captured and maintained in the database. After Damon strived to use various mechanisms including searching the database and company website to identify if he could attain information concerning what was BG and at least some information concerning what the new project entailed, he realized there was nothing that could assist him.
Lack of know-how in this organization can also be portrayed by the fact that even after requesting those who had stayed in the organization for a while, no one had an idea concerning the things that Damon wanted to be assisted on. Irrespective of having technology systems and having been told that the company focuses on knowledge management, Damon lacked anything that could give him real knowledge concerning the past projects, other resources that could be used, history of the organization, or anyone who worked on recent projects.
The Case of Manic
When Damon was hired, the mentor played various roles which were helpful to some extent. One of these roles comprised giving him an insight concerning available systems. According to Corney (2016, p. 169), introducing a new employee to the systems available in an organization is fundamental because it helps him/her to be aware of how the company uses technology to accomplish tasks.
The mentor also gave him an insight of the company’s goals so that he could understand what it targeted to attain. According to Singh (2013, p. 59), informing new employees concerning the goals that an organization has set is crucial because it enables them to know how to commit their efforts towards attaining them. He was also shown some of the sources were he could achieve knowledge concerning the vital company activities such as the library and knowledge object collections, the record management system among others.
Although the mentor did an excellent orientation to Damon, there are various other things that he failed to do. For instance, he could have assisted him to know where he can access which type of information, and what the company was preparing to do in the future (Michael, M & Kellen 2015, p. 53). This would have assisted him to overcome the challenge he faced in trying to access data concerning what BG was and also in understanding the real concepts of the project. Informing him concerning where he could obtain information would have assisted in avoiding time wastage because he took a lot of time because of not knowing where he could attain the knowledge he required.
The mentor was also supposed to inform Damon concerning the specific responsibilities concerning his position and what the company was planning to accomplish in short-term (Becerra-Fernandez, I & Sabherwal, 2015). This would have enabled him to prepare in advance and avoid the challenge of being unable to access some of the details concerning the project
According to Olubunmi (2015, p. 124), recording client data is fundamental because it assists in implementing strategies or making decisions on how to serve him/her to satisfaction. The company should have recorded some of the vital information concerning their clients such as their address, their names, the kind of services they had requested, and how the services were offered. For the client information that requires confidentiality such as anything to do with his/her financial information, the company should have recorded it and safeguarded with the best security measures in their database.
Types of Knowledge Useful for Employees
This information can be recorded as codified knowledge first by making the client to be aware that the company has captured and stored it for future references. If the customers consents, it can be recorded in various sources which allows information to be easily transmitted to others. According to Elena (2015, p. 71), one of the characteristics of codified knowledge is that it is easy to identify, store and retrieve. For this reason, the client details should be stored in databases that allows easy access such as books or the company website.
The other type of knowledge which would be useful for Damon in his initial stages would be expert knowledge. This would assist in identifying someone who could easily inform him concerning how to go about the project. Other fundamental types of knowledge, in this case, would be tacit knowledge. According to Ramanigopal (2013, p. 78), this type of knowledge is hard to verbalize because it is expressed through action-based skills and cannot be reduced to rules. However, it plays a key role in informing employees to perform work and in the right manner.
Using collective knowledge would also be of assistance to Damon in his initial stages. According to Mildred (2013, p. 127), this type of knowledge is not an individual thing; it should be applied by group individuals to achieve some of the things that seem impossible. From this case, if this type of knowledge was available, Damon would have worked with other people who had worked with the company for some time to accomplish this project. Other forms of knowledge that would be of help to Damon in his initial stages comprise of situated knowledge and organizational knowledge.
According to Gottschalk (2014, p. 47), social capital is derived from workers’ professional and business networks. From the case, the company portrays itself as one which has positive and inclusive culture. This means that it accommodates people with varying views, opinions and beliefs. It also implies that it encourages interaction of people while undertaking their tasks.
The other evidence that shows there is an investment in social capital in this organization is having a lot of technology systems. According to Schimitt (2018, p. 18), incorporating technology in business operations plays a significant role in enhancing interactions. Having these systems can enable the staff members to share information across the departments. Gfgf affirms that organizations which share information perform well because it helps the management to understand some of the key factors that affect performance, and also to enables employees to accomplish what seems impossible through sharing of ideas.
Social Capital in the Company
Although this organization seems to have good social capital, it has not utilized it properly. The interactions in this organization seem positive during the initial stages of hiring. This is evident by the fact that when Damon was hired, there were good interactions with his mentor during the orientation process but after that things started becoming individual tasks.
One of the primary weaknesses with the social capital in this company is that it is not supportive. This is because irrespective of having enough systems which can improve employees to interact and attain knowledge, most of them are not helpful. This is evident from the fact that Damon was unable to achieve simple information concerning who BG was and the meaning of NP.
The other weakness associated with the social capital in this organization is that the people around do not socialize well to share information and assist each other in some of the things that challenge their colleagues in their attempts to accomplish tasks. This can be portrayed by Damon lacking someone who could help him to find out some of the things that were challenging in the tasks that were ahead of him.
From this case, one of the factors that could hinder success is lack of having proper tactics of sharing information. To succeed in its operations, the management needs to implement more effective ways of sharing knowledge among its employees. One of them could be implementing a database that is well equipped with every sort of information which employees require to complete tasks that challenge them Joseph (2014, p. 59). The database, in this case, should be easy to use and reliable.
The other mechanism which the company should use to enhance the manner in which it shares information is encouraging peer assist and teamwork. According to Ali (2013, p. 121), teamwork helps employees to share ideas concerning how tasks should be completed in the right manner. It also enables new employees to make use of the old workers to learn some of the things concerning the organization. From this case, there was lack of teamwork because Damon lacked people who could assist him to understand the things that were challenging him.
The other mechanism which this company can use to enhance information sharing is through coaching. According to O’Connor (2010), this strategy plays a crucial role in information sharing and in understanding some of the critical aspects concerning how tasks are completed in an organization. It focuses solely on the employee’s predefined needs as these relate directly to his/her job. Some of the advantages of this mechanism include improving employees’ chances of success, attaining information concerning the systems available in the company, giving the employees an opportunity to learn through the coaching experience and so forth. Other knowledge sharing methods that can be used by this organization comprise after-action reviews, proper mentoring, and storytelling among others.
Limitations of Social Capital in the Company
To implement these strategies, it is advisable to first inform the employees concerning what is knowledge sharing and its importance. After this, it is vital to identify the areas that need to be considered for knowledge sharing, and who should be in charge of ensuring employees get every detail they want to complete their tasks. Finally, after identifying the person’s in charge of knowledge sharing, it is fundamental to come up the mechanisms that will be used to ensure information is available when required. This could be through using information systems, mentors, coaches and so forth. Training employees concerning this aspect is also crucial because it helps them understand how to access information and how it can be used to accomplish tasks.
Conclusion
From the initial interview and orientation, Damon was given information which portrayed manic as an organization which values knowledge management. However, this was not the case because irrespective of having sufficient technology systems, they did not serve the purpose of enabling employees to access information which could assist them to complete their tasks.
When Damon was hired, the mentor played a crucial role in taking him through some of the things that could assist him to attain knowledge concerning the key things dome in the organization. However, this assistance was not sufficient because there were other things that he failed to do as a mentor. Some of them comprise of informing him concerning the short-term goals, where he could attain supportive information and so forth.
Apart from codified knowledge, the company could have implemented other forms of knowledge such as tacit knowledge, expert knowledge and collective knowledge to assist Damon in his initial stage. Although various capital factors can be identified from the organization, they are not promoting proper interactions among the staff members. This is because irrespective of having a lot of systems, they are not enabling the staff members to share information and interact with each other.
To attain better performance, manic marketers need to implement different approaches concerning how they share knowledge. Some of the strategies which the management can consider include proper mentoring, coaching, peer assisting, storytelling, after action review among other. To implement these strategies, the company should first train the employees to understand what knowledge is sharing, its importance, and how each method works.
References
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