Knowledge Management Not Forgetting the Techniques -Free Samples

Question: Discuss About Knowledge Management Not Forgetting the Techniques? Answer: Introducation: The usage of Knowledge management dates to the 1980's like a confluence of a myriad of factors, some with pure intellectual basing, while others were born of pragmatism and the need for innovation as a way to secure innovative performances. According to Ghani (2009), knowledge management is not a single discipline, but a conglomeration of various disciplines and fields of study among them KM tools and Techniques. Ghani pools the definition of knowledge management from a couple of other scholars such as Dancesport and Prusak outlining that KM: "takes an interest in the exploitation and development of knowledge assets of an establishment with the thought of expanding the objectives of knowledge." As such, it involves discoveries, retentions, and exchange of expertise so as to take to the next level the pre-existing efficiency levels. The other disciplines and fields of Knowledge management include KM models and KM processes, organizational learning and learning organization, knowledge sharing and trust, communities of practice, applying knowledge and innovation, new knowledge creation, KM and organizational culture, KM governance and organizational memory. Literature Review There exists a large pool of literature on the theme of Knowledge management techniques and tools. One of the key assets in the maintenance of a competitive advantage in businesses is efficiency in knowledge management, Obancea, (2009) explains. He adds, there exists a wide range of techniques in Knowledge management that are being applied more and more in the representation and management of codified knowledge. In addition, Knowledge management tools are on the offering taking up various functions. There are various advantages to knowledge management tools (Ghani, 2009). Firstly, it allows organizations to handle problems about knowledge management with increased effectiveness and at relatively reduced costs. Secondly, the tools go a long way in leveraging knowledge and experience amassed by different employees in an organization. This allows for the acceleration of innovation initiatives and sharpening of the competitive advantage of the organization (Ghani, 2009). Studies have been conducted in a bid to attain a broader understanding of the tools on knowledge management not forgetting the techniques. This has led to a development of what are understood as the featured tools of an ideal Knowledge management platform. To begin with is the creation of knowledge bases that takes the form of frequently asked questions in the establishment, descriptions of technical procedures, among other things. Moreover, communities of practice where the employees in the organization are brought together by a common set of activity. Different technical means are used to achieve this in an attempt to enable the personnel to share their expertise. Furthermore, the knowledge management platform constitutes a bank of ideas that entails collection and storage of ideas and the best of practices nurtured within the confines of the organization. The ideas are solicited from all the employees top down and considering that not each idea is right up for implementation at it s inception; continuous storage is what constitutes the bank of ideas. A review of the KMS Knowledge management is defined simply as: "the art of creating value from an organization's tangible assets(Ransbotham, 2016). Knowledge management systems refer to an application designed to collect most if not all of the information within an organization with the aim of making it readily available to employees. A majority of these systems, as is the case with Wiki at Peacock, provides a central point for creation, organization, and redistribution of knowledge(Ransbotham, 2016). Over time, certain tangible benefits have been attributed to the use of KMS. First, with KMS the distribution of knowledge is highly improved, i.e., the knowledge that was initially at the hands of certain individuals is made available to all. Second, the accuracy and consistency of information is hugely improved due to contribution of knowledge by different individuals in the organization(Karlinsky-ShichorZviran, 2016) Third, KMS increases employee satisfaction as it provides a platform for employees to give out their knowledge and earning due recognition for it. Fourth, much time is saved through the comprehensive internal knowledge base brought about by the KMS. In its absence time is usually lost through a search for answers and interruption of the older employees by the new recruits(Karlinsky-ShichorZviran, 2016). Fourth, a factor related to the time-saving aspect of the KMS is the fact that it allows for the faster integration of new personnel acquisitions as the amount information at their disposal is insurmountable. Lastly, and importantly, the KMS allows for knowledge retention within an entity, therefore, ensuring that the poll of information dos does not flow away in the event certain employees move on to different roles or positions. A critical discussion There are aspects of KM tools and Techniques evident in the provided case study of Peacock. Just like any other organization inexistent without application of Knowledge Management systems, a large amount of the business content at peacock productions was initially unstructured. A specific factor with regard to the above mentioned they recognized that with the help of knowledge management tools such information, could be available and in a favorable format to other personnel within the organization. From the provided case study, the use of the social media as a mitigation towards knowledge management is apparent. The case of peacock depicts two sides of the whole idea surrounding the relevance of KM tools and Techniques in an organizational setup in relation to knowledge management. Peacock lacked a primary channel of communication that capitalized into the challenges of knowledge management at the peacock. These include organizational conflicts, a lack of appropriate systems and a la ck of sufficient time to educate new hires by the core employees. The challenge, or rather the need for a Knowledge management system emanates from the fact that Peacock is not only a huge entity but also has had considerable growth. For instance, the media house has put in efforts to restructure itself into an agile organization. It has added short-term contractors and freelancers to its full-time staff. It has three internal divisions- Editorial, Operations and Development and two support divisions- software development and legal all under the stewardship of NBC universal. It is important to note that the rate at which employees leave and join peacock is an indication of the need for quick information sharing methodology and prevention of knowledge loss due to attrition. The inclusion of Wiki as a knowledge management tool has allowed for knowledge retention within the establishment, therefore, ensuring that the pool of information does not flow away in the event certain employees move on to different roles or positions. Even more, Peacock lacked a full integration of information. Integrating information encompasses a bank of ideas that entails collection and storage of ideas and the best of practices nurtured within the confines of the organization. The techniques used for knowledge creation at Peacock 7 are as follows: data mining where seemingly raw data is turned into useful information using a Knowledge management tool to find patterns in certain pieces of information; business simulation, content analysis, environmental scanning. The commonly used techniques for knowledge sharing are communities of practices, sharing the best practices, after action review, cross-functional teams, storytelling, white pages. The techniques being used for organizing and managing knowledge are; knowledge harvesting, knowledge mapping, and knowledge audit. Tools and techniques used for knowledge management have brought sanity at Peacock and Victoria expresses that, "At this point, it makes sense to go through it and make sure everything looks good." The Application of these tools and techniques comes with ease of usage, cheaper in management, readily available and the platform requires little effort in installation. The social media has been im pactful in knowledge management at Peacock, a fact that Victoria was very much aware of. Some of these benefits that are in line with the benefits brought about by knowledge management systems include channel specific presentation of content unlike earlier on when certain pieces of information were carried only by the core staff. It allowed sharing of knowledge across online channels and lastly, it facilitated access and sharing of content sourced from crowds. Manifestations of KM tools and techniques in an organization Before the Wiki, the situation at Peacock was dire and was a demonstration of the need for a Knowledge Management System. It Significantly wasted productivity for new freelancer contractors and for the core staff. The time that the core staff members were supposed to invest in developing and producing programs was instead devoted to answering repeated mundane questions. The director of operations, Victoria notices the chaos in knowledge management at Peacock and the need for KSM brings about Wiki. After the Wiki Victoria realized that proper way to drive KM is by managing knowledge like an asset which principally entails incorporation of KM tools and techniques. Knowledge is created, codified and shared throughout the whole organization. There are a regular maintenance and update of the knowledge base. The option used in the case of Peacock to build a knowledge base is the Wiki software Wiki is ideally a collection of interlinked web pages in which each pages' contents is a reflection of a specific idea. The operations director recognizes the capabilities of social media and the part it could play in search of a relevant KSM. Peacock utilizes Wiki as a knowledge management tool while there are other measures put in place to be used as a knowledge management technique. These are in the following ways: wiki provides multiple channels through which knowledge is defined in line with the needs. As a result, the core knowledge base is used adequately by the wide range of employees- some long term staff and others contractors and freelancers. The knowledge management tools through Wiki allow for indexing and filtering of content thereby having considerable control with regard to the content accessible to all personnel. There are continuous integration and organization of content into the existing bank of knowledge that is frequently done by Victoria with the assistance of the task force in charge of the implementation. Through Wiki, the operations manager has ensured that the users have access to knowledge about their line of work at Peacock. Knowledge management tools include data mining, content management tools, groupware, wiki The outcome of the of the implementation of a knowledge management system with a social media foundation at Peacock has been superb in comparison to other KM aspects. Despite the notion that the application of Knowledge management tools and techniques equates to surrendering one's own wisdom and that there are difficulties in codifying tacit knowledge, the success of Wiki at Peacock tells a whole lot different narrative. Conclusion Judging by the above critical look into the application of KM tools and techniques at Peacock the following conclusions are conceivable: the use of Wiki at Peacock has been a success particularly in knowledge management. In as much as Wiki was present but uncommonly used at Peacock is an indication of the effort that was needed at the institution to ensure that other stakeholders came on board. As a result, a huge amount of the information of the company is integrated thus available to the personnel hence portraying a high knowledge penetration. The most commonly used method of knowledge creation is data mining. Others include data mining the most commonly used method of technique for knowledge sharing is followed by References Obancea, G. (2009). Knowledge management tools and techniques.Annals of DAAAM Proceedings, 35-37. Treser, M. (2016).Knowledge Management: Processes, Techniques, And Tools - eLearning Industry. [online] eLearning Industry. Available at: https://elearningindustry.com/knowledge-management-processes-techniques-tools [Accessed 21 May 2017]. Ghani, S. R. (2009). Knowledge management: tools and techniques.DESIDOC Journal of Library Information Technology,29(6), 33. AisenbergFerenhof, H., Durst, S., Hesamamiri, R. (2016). The impact of social media on knowledge management. 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