A seminar paper on

THE COVER STUDY OF ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

By

Sundar Bashyal

Udhir K.C.

Mahima Ghimire

Rupa karki

Pusspa Kafle

Dinesh Timilsina

First Semester, Batch V (2018)

Department of MBM

Nepal commerce campus

Tribhuwan University

'Emerging concept of Management'

 ABSTRACT

Knowledge Management is the term especially used more in Artificial Intelligence and less about

human elements. It clarifies that how knowledge mgmt. plays dominant role in the current market

and in the days to come.

The psychology behind the study of our report on the topic "Role of Knowledge Management" is

to ensure the reader to understand something more about how to manage the knowledge. The topics

has been fragmented into several small portions like introduction, objective, importance of KM,

Role of knowledge Management., steps to implement Knowledge Management, recommendations

and so on.

We have extracted the ideas and concept from various websites and previous literature Analysis

paper. Reader can acquire deep lesson about the topic so far we have prepared but have to learn

more by themselves to reach the deepest.

Hence, this report can be fruitful for every managerial level workers, students of commerce &

MGMT and all the related parties.

 INTRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

In simple words, knowledge is the understanding and awareness of facts, truths,

experiences and learning. It includes information and possesses inter-related details. Moreover, it

is the internalization of facts and feelings. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieving

organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge and resources. In brief, knowledge

management programs can drive impressive facilities to individuals and organizations if they are

focused, concrete and action-orientated.

Knowledge management is generally classified into two types:

i) Tacit Knowledge:

It is based on personal knowledge, intuition of an individual, behavior and perception.

ii) Explicit knowledge:

It is a systematic knowledge or formal recorded in the form of scientific formulae,

procedures, rules, principles etc. which can be accessed, transmitted and stored.

Management has become a thrill word and has occupied a vital place in all kinds of business

organizations. Those organizations are realizing that knowledge management is a valuable

instrument and element in improving their performance. Liang et. al. (2007) found that

implementing knowledge management programs enhance an organization competitive advantage

and increase productivity. An organization’s ability to effectively implement knowledge-based

activities becomes increasingly necessary for the development and cash the competitive advantage

(De Carolis, 2003; Grant, 1996). Knowledge mgmt. activities include the creation and integration,

accumulation, utilization and learning and sharing of knowledge. (Shieh-Chieh et. al., 2005).
Knowledge Management efforts typically emphasis on organizational goals such as improved

performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration

and continuous learning of the organization. These efforts are connected with organizational

learning and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge

as a strategic asset and on encouraging the sharing of knowledge. KM is an enabler of

organizational learning.

This study aims to explore the extent of adoption of knowledge management processes in

organization and examine the relationship between knowledge management and organizational

performance.

ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The emergence of knowledge management approach has brought revolution in organizational

competitiveness. Knowledge management, as a process by which enterprises generate value,

becomes an imperative for modern business in the new economy. Knowledge management is

viewed in the light of critical issues of adaptation of enterprise and its survival in the conditions of

constant changes in business environment. So, it is obvious that knowledge management plays

fruiting roles in organizational success. Some of which I have highlighted as follows:

1. Codifying and sharing tacit knowledge:

Tacit knowledge is a personal knowledge inherited within mind, perception and behavior

of individual that is not coded or explicated in understandable form. Organizations are not

aware of the volume of tacit knowledge, which is available to them and they do not have

developed mechanisms to access it. Knowledge management helps codification and

conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge which is necessary for future

innovation processes.

2. Acquiring and sharing explicit knowledge:

Knowledge management helps to acquire and share formally recorded or systematic

knowledge to initiate innovation and growth of organization. Artificial knowledge are also

keeps in ambit of explicit knowledge management. This also blends existing tacit

knowledge with available explicit knowledge in order to facilitate an organization for

growth. Further, stored and unused knowledge gets materialized through knowledge

management.

3. Enabling cooperation within and outside the enterprise:

The very crucial role of knowledge management is to enable an organization to collect and

share ideas from customers, suppliers and employees from within and outside of

organization to strengthen organization efficiency. This practice contributes to the

achievement of a common business goal that will bring benefits to all parties. Knowledge

management, in this ground, is a mechanism for cooperating of people within and outside

of organization for knowledge sharing and explicating.

 4. Integrating the ideas:

Knowledge management is most reliable tool for mixing up the various innovative ideas

available within and outside the organization which, in turn, produces best way through

which organization runs. It seems easy to integrate knowledge but to work properly with it

is difficult. The mechanism of knowledge management gives basement for collecting,

integrating and generalizing ideas available in order to put organization in success.

5. Promote innovative culture:

Regardless of how efficiently knowledge management system is used, organizations need

a culture that promotes creativity, in order to actually succeed in generating ideas, which

stimulate innovation. Here, role of knowledge management happens to be vital and

undeniable.

Knowledge management, in this context, stands as the basis of implementations of values and

innovative culture that can encourage and sharing of ideas among people. This practice enthuses

all the human beings to think creatively and bring innovative ideas for organizational success.

IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

There are some reasons why actively managing knowledge is important to a company’s success.

Some of them are as follows:-

1. Improve decision-making processes

Knowledge management is the process of collecting, organizing, classifying, and

distributing information to the needed authority. Employees can improve the quality and

speed of decision-making by accessing the knowledge of the entire organization when they

need it. When making decisions, enterprise collaboration tools facilitate the access to

opinions and experiences of different people, which may contribute additional perspectives

to the choices made. By delivering relevant information at the time of need through

structure, search, and subscription knowledge management environment can provide the

basis for making good decisions.

2. Timely availability of information

Knowledge management facilitates to make information available to employees whenever

it is needed. It helps to eliminate time-wasting for distribution of information to the

concerned authority.

3. Availability of usable knowledge

Knowledge management makes knowledge available wherever it is needed whether in

office, on the road, or customer side. This enables increase responsiveness of employees to

customer, shareholders, coworkers and other stakeholders. The easily available of

information facilities to the needed person or institutions helps to maintain reputation and

image of organization.

4. Accessibility of information
 All the employees can use the organizations combined knowledge and experience in the

context of their own roles. When they faces any problem while discharging their functions,

they can solve problem by getting information from concerned authority.

5. Reducing cost and risk

Knowledge management initiates for creation of knowledge from internal sources and also

acquire from external sources. It helps to minimize cost for accumulating information for

decision making and implementation.

6. Improve strategic planning.

Knowledge management initiates storing past and present information and estimation of

information related with future perspective. It helps to prepare actionable and achievable

strategic plan of the organization.

7. Stimulates Cultural Change and Innovation

Most businesses want to increase their revenues, but it becomes increasingly difficult as

industries mature and competition increases. Creating new knowledge through effective

knowledge sharing, collaboration, and information delivery can stimulate innovation.

Actively managing organizational knowledge can also stimulate cultural change and

innovation by encouraging the free flow of ideas.

BARRIERS IN IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN AN ORGANIZATION

There have been many barriers while implementing the knowledge management activities in an

organization. Problem such as culture resistance, the pace of change, technological

difficulties/immaturity, cost of technology process social obstacle cause hindrances to knowledge

management.

1) Barriers in technology

Information sharing, communication, data interchange, can be done easily due to the

presence of software. However technical knowledge in employees when it comes to handling the

software, lack of bandwidth, lack of hardware can create the obstacles while implementing the

knowledge management. As well as resistance of employees towards the technical development

in an organization can cause problem in knowledge management.

2) Cultural Differences

In an organization there is the presence of people from different cultural background, social

structures, norms, values, work practices and environmental factors. This lead to cultural

resistance. Every employee has a unique identity formed by education, ethical background.

Because of different cultural background of employees implementing the knowledge management

can became difficult.

3) Cost of technology

The cost of technology can also create the obstacles/barriers in implementing the

knowledge management in many organizations. As modern technology (software) helps to

eliminate the workload but those elegant software are quite expensive. Even if free software is
available, there is often lack of hardware. Establishment of advanced technologies in an

organization means requirement of more budget and this can easily became a giant constraint.

4) Social obstacles and certain human attributes

Social obstacles and certain human attributes cause hindrances to knowledge management.

Work force comprises employees from different social and economic backgrounds that emerge as

social obstacles in knowledge management practices in an organization.

5) Barriers in an organization

In any organization there is the presence of hierarchy. High ranking staff consider as the

core part of the organization. If the top level members do not follow up on activities or do not

show any interest in knowledge management then the middle level staff may imitate the high level

staffs which only make the implementation of knowledge management unsuccessful

All above mentioned points cause hindrances to knowledge management. However, all

these barriers can be solve by the efficiency of the organization and employees.
 PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Analyzing the existing infrastructure

Align knowledge management and business strategy

Design the knowledge management and Business management

Audit existing knowledge assets and system

Design the knowledge management team

Create the knowledge management system blueprint

Develop the knowledge management system

Develop using the result driven incremental methodology

Manage change, culture and reward structures

Evaluate performance, select metrics, and measure

Figure: Implementation of Knowledge

Step 1: Analyzing the Existing Infrastructure:

In this step, you gain an understanding of various components that constitute the knowledge

management strategy and technology framework. By analyzing and accounting for what is already

in place in your company, you can identify critical gaps in the existing infrastructures.
Consequently, you will be able to build on what already exists. Although leveraging existing

infrastructure is the logically, scientifically, rationally, theoretically and financially right

approach, it also stands a better chance of generating stronger management support for your

knowledge management project because of the perception that you are not completely abandoning

the old existing investments.

Step 2: Align Knowledge Management and Business Strategy:

Business strategy is usually at a high level. Developing systems is always at a low level,

specifications and features are needed, not abstractions or visions. This step allows you to make

the connection between these two: Rise knowledge management platform design to the level of

business strategy and pull strategy down to the level of system design.

Step 3: Design the Knowledge Management Infrastructure:

As the third step toward deploying knowledge management, you must select the infrastructural

components that constitute the knowledge management system architecture. Knowledge

management systems use seven-layer architecture, and the technology required to build each layer

is readily available. Integrating these components to create the knowledge management

System model requires thinking in terms of an info structure rather than an infrastructure.

Step 4: Audit Existing Knowledge Assets and Systems:

A knowledge management project must begin with what your company already knows. In the

fourth step, you audit and analyze knowledge, but first you must understand why a knowledge
audit is needed. This team performs a preliminary assessment of knowledge assets within your

company to identify those that are both critical and the weakest.

Step 5: Design the Knowledge Management Team:

To design an effective knowledge management team, you must identify key stakeholders both

within and outside your company and identify sources of expertise that are needed to successfully

design, build, and deploy the system while balancing the technical and managerial requirements.

We examine the issues of correctly sizing the knowledge management team, managing diverse

and often divergent stakeholder expectations, and applying techniques for both identifying and

avoiding critical failure points in such teams.

Step 6: Create the Knowledge Management Blueprint:

The knowledge management team identified in step 5 builds upon a knowledge management

system blueprint that provides a plan for building and incrementally improving a knowledge

management system. As you work toward designing knowledge management architecture, you

must understand its seven layers specifically in the context of your company and determine how

each of these can be optimized for performance and scalability as well as high levels of

interoperability. You will also see how to position and scope the knowledge management system

to a feasible level where benefits exceed costs.

Step 7: Develop the Knowledge Management System:

Once you have created a blueprint for your knowledge management system, the next step is that

of actually putting together a working system. If you choose the Internet rather than depend on a

proprietary collaborative platform, you can convert your company intranet to a front end for your

system. Web-friendly document standards such as DMA (Document Management Alliance) and

WebDMA provide a great opportunity to build collaborative document systems to industry

standards.

Step 8: Deploy, using the Results-driven Incremental Methodology:

A large-scale project such as a typical knowledge management system must take into account the

actual needs of its users. Although a cross-functional KM team can help uncover many of these

needs, a pilot deployment is the ultimate reality check. In the eighth step on the knowledge

management road map, you must decide how you can select KM releases withthe highest payoffs

first. You will evaluate the need for a pilot project, if it is needed, select the right, and

representative pilot project.

Step 9: Manage Change, Culture and Reward Structures:

The most erroneous assumption that many companies make is that the intrinsic value of an

innovation such as a knowledge management system will lead to its enthusiastic adoption and use

by their employees. Knowledge sharing cannot be mandated: Your employees are not like troops;

they are like volunteers. Encouraging use and gaining employee support require integration of
business processes with knowledge management system use, and new reward structures that

motivate employees to use the system and contribute to its infusion, championing, and training.

Step 10: Evaluate Performance, Select metrics, and Measure:

The tenth step measuring return on knowledge investment (RoKI) must account for both financial

and competitive impacts of knowledge management on your business. This step guides you

through the process of selecting an appropriate set of metrics and arriving at a lean but powerful

composite. We will evaluate many ways in which real options data can be tracked.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, knowledge management simply refers to the process of managing, creating, using,

sharing the knowledge and information of an organization. The main objective of knowledge

management is to implementation of ideas and experiences in the competitive field to achieve

common organizational objective.

It is also known as the strategy of the firm in which people can share and put information into

practice which helps to improve quality productivity. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to

achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of resources and

knowledge. Achieving sustainable competitive advantage depends primarily on the ability

of innovating, developing and implementing newly develop knowledge.

Knowledge and Innovation have essential importance as driving forces for long term success of

an organization. So, actively knowledge management is very important to a company’s

success. Knowledge management is very important for the innovation capability of company,

which is prepare for its strengthening and endurance of competitors' pressures.

However, knowledge management simply guide to increase operational performances in an

company by providing deduction of mistakes and costs in its daily business activities, greater

labor productivity, better and faster problems solving, better decision making, more better business

cooperation, deeper understanding of needs and requirements of customers and improving goods

, services and business processes.