Knowledge Management in an Organisation
Knowledge management enables the members of organisation in dealing the situations effectively and creating the vision to their future. There are certain needs for Knowledge Management practices in Organisation workplace in order to promote knowledge sharing among the managers and the employees of the organisation. Knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout the organisation [Zack, 1999]. In addition to the organisational Knowledge Management, the KM of the people and KM of infrastructure and process [Sveiby, 1994] are the subsystems that are to be balanced in order to attain a successful KM effort. It is very important to assign a KM strategy to the overall business of the organisation [Carlson, 1996].
Fig. Extracted from Theoritical Framework of KM by Nakkiran, 1996.
Designing Framework
It is more important to focus on the employees and their contribution towards the organisation. Each should be motivated thoroughly in order to make them feel that they are also a part of it. This can be done by encouraging them in individual learning [Holland, 1998], creating vision [Tiwana, 2000] and announcing rewards to those employees who come front with innovative ideas.
Performing a knowledge based SWOT analysis [Humphrey, 1998] is also recommended which helps in identifying the organisation in filling the knowledge gap by designing the organisation strategy. This is one of the best ways to achieve better initiative growth in the organisation.
For example, TVS is a motor company in India. In this company, the KM of the people and KM of the organisation is managed by allocating incentives to the employees who are with good customer service record and feedback. It is also important to motivate members so that they can see themselves as part of organisation, so that it would be easier for them to take up the values and standards of their organisation. They are set to some goals and objectives. In addition to these, they are also awarded with best titles for their service. There was a gradual growth in sales after this attempt and it is in better position by implementing this innovative idea.
As discussed above, creating vision [Tiwana, 2000] helps in designing the organisation. It helps the employees in creating better understanding in what they are being asked to contribute to the knowledge management effort. Vision also creates a sense of belonging for the employees and make them to participate in change process. The CEO should act as a barrier between employees of organisaiton and the Knowledge Management hierarchy that exists in the organisation.
REFERENCES
1. Desouza, K. C., ‘’ Facilitating tacit knowledge exchange: Communications of the ACM ‘’ , 2003, pg: 85-88.
2. Grover, V., and Davenport, T. H., ‘’ General perspectives on knowledge management: Fostering a research agenda, Journalof Management Information Systems ’’, 2001, pg : 5 -21.
3. Maier, R. and Remus, U. ‘’ Towards a framework for knowledge management strategies: Process orientation as strategic starting point, in Proceedings of the International Conference on System Sciences’’, 2001.
4. Lee, H., and Choi, B.,’’ Knowledge management enablers, processes, and organizational performance: An integrative view and empirical examination, Journal of Management Information Systems’’, 2003, pg: 179-228.
5. Jennex, M. E., and Olfman L., ‘’ Development recommendations for knowledge management /organizational memory systems, in Contemporary Trends in IS Development ’’, Kluwer, 2001.
6. Misra, D., Hariharan, R., and Khaneja, ‘’knowledge management framework for government organizations, Information Systems Management’’, 2003, pg: 38-48.
