Keys to Success in Multinational Companies - Case Study Example

Knowledge management system Introduction For the efficient operation of any multinational company, there is need for maintaining an appropriate and efficient system for knowledge management. Every initiative taken in any multinational company is taken with a knowledge focus and many of these companies are now aiming at creating knowledge leaders and knowledge teams. The international business environment is considered as being uncertainty and the only way that any company operating in such an environment can acquire a competitive advantage is through efficient knowledge management. Success of a company is defined by how well the company is able to create new knowledge and disseminate it throughout the organization. Organizational knowledge originates from various sources including data stored in the systems, documented knowledge and knowledge held by the stakeholders of the organization. International corporations and other big corporations may still hold it in their databases, company websites and in archives and libraries. Knowledge management supports generation of new ideas, innovation and exploiting the thinking power of organizations. Knowledge management considers knowledge as an organizational and therefore a knowledge management system is a system that manages how knowledge as an organizational asset that is created disseminated and shared in order to make sure that the company delivers the best quality of the products and services. The paper will therefore focus on designing an appropriate knowledge management system for Pandora Jewelry Company (Kumar, 2012). Designing a comprehensive practice policies Pandora Company will be required to design various best practice policies that will enable it to maintain an efficient knowledge management system as it expands its operations to foreign countries. The first policy will be on sanitation and this will involve coming up with integrated resources of water management. It will also involve coming up with facilities for providing safe water for drinking, ensuring hygienic conditions are maintained and implementing systems of managing waste. The company will also need to improve the systems that enhance treatment of wastewater and ensuring that there are systems of recycling this water. There will also be the need for improving the efficiency of using water and ensuring that any effect of salt water is cleared. This policy will ensure that the company incorporates into the system of knowledge management, a strategy that will ensure that the stakeholders have an access to pure drinking water and other sanitation facilities. The next policy that Pandora will need to design is on eating and drinking in the company and the appropriate policy in this respect will be that eating and drinking will not be allowed at the desks and in the manufacturing areas and there will be only one room where people will be allowed to eat and take their drinks. The next policy that we will need to design at Pandora is with respect to resolving of conflicts and the most appropriate method of conflict resolving conflicts will be using out of court settlements. Disputes between employees will be resolved by the manager involved at that particular level while conflicts arising from or resulting from other stakeholders will be addressed by the board of directors. The policy regarding in house teams will ensure that teamwork is allowed and will require all the employees to work as a team towards the goals of the organization. This will require that the goals of the company be made known to all the employees to ensure that they combine their efforts towards achieving the goals. The policy will also involve setting the minimum number of times that meetings should be held in the company and the appropriate number will be at least one annual meeting at the financial year-end and other sub meetings that the managers might consider appropriate (Dataware Technologies, 2002). Another policy will be with regard to the online team and in this, the company will be required to establish an online and telephone platform, which will ensure that it is able to serve and reach its customers at all time. The policy regarding security will help to ensure the safety of the company at all time. The company will also need to establish a single person among the employees, who will be responsible for opening the doors to the company in the morning when the employees arrive and one who will be responsible for closing at the departure of all the employees. The person will be expected to return the key to the company at times when they are on leave or when they cease to be employees. The company should also consider the policy on emergency and should establish a certain door that employees should use in case of an emergency. It should also ensure efficient installation of alarm systems and availability of fire extinguishers. Benefits of creating the policies Creating the policies will ensure that Pandora Company will implement these policies in the knowledge management system and this will enable the company to be able to increase its basis for creation of knowledge. They will ensure that the ideas in the policies are incorporated in the knowledge management system to ensure that the company has access to knowledge regarding what is expected to be followed in the company. The policies also form a knowledge base on which employees can have an access to the information that they might want. They also keep the employees informed about the changing rules and policies of their company and will also enhance the communication, commitment and engagement of the employees. The policies created will also be useful for the company to measure its accountability in the various areas covered. Overall benefits of the policies will be to ensure that the company is able to attain a competitive advantage in acquiring and disseminating knowledge and is able to produces products and services that are of good qualities to its customers and other stakeholders. Ramification if the policies are not created In the absence of these policies, designing of an efficient knowledge management system will not be possible. Communication and engagement of employees will not be efficient and this will lead to their low performance, not performing at the required standards and not delivering their best to the company. It will also not be possible to measure the accountability of the company in various issues. The company will lack organization in the various aspects such as dispute resolution, with lack of a common method through which disputes can be solved. The company will therefore not have an efficient basis for knowledge and will consequently not be able to create an efficient system of knowledge management. The company will therefore not be able to achieve high quality and will end up producing compromised products and services to the customers and other stakeholders. The compromised levels of information will then result to low levels and ability of creating new ideas and innovativeness (Kumar, 2012). How the created policies will lead to sustainability of the company The policies created will lead to the sustainability of Pandora Company since they will result to effectiveness in the management of knowledge. This is because the company will be able to incorporate the various policies such as policies on sanitation, which will ensure availability of clean water and maintenance of hygienic conditions. The policies on eating and drinking will ensure that there is organization in terms of where people are allowed to take their meals and where they are not allowed. Those regarding resolving of conflicts will ensure that there is coordination in terms of how issues that arise should be dealt with and those concerning security will ensure that the company observes safety in its operation. The policies regarding emergency will ensure that all employees are aware of what they are required to do in case of an emergency and those regarding in house groups will ensure that the employees work towards attaining the goals of the organization and that they are aware of when they are expected to hold meetings in the company. Incorporating all these aspects and benefits into the knowledge management system therefore will ensure that the system is effective and the company attains sustainability (Mudambi, 2002). Whether best practice policy would provide a competitive advantage The best practice policy will ensure that Pandora Jewelry Company attains a competitive advantage in the global jewelry industry. It will be a leader among the other companies in the industry since it will be able to maintain an efficient and effective knowledge management system that will enable it to manage knowledge that it gets in the best way. Knowledge being a fundamental asset will ensure that it is able to provide quality jewelries compared to the other companies in the industry and will also be a leader in provision of quality service. McKinsey is an example of a multinational company that has acquired competitive advantage by using best practice policy. The company offers management consultation services and has been able to be a leading company in the industry (Dataware Technologies, 2002). Conclusion In conclusion, an efficient and effective knowledge management system is important for the success of any company. Knowledge is an important asset in the operation and success of any organization and therefore there is a need for a system that will ensure that management of collection dissemination and sharing of this knowledge is efficient. The policies that have been discussed therefore will ensure that Pandora Company is able to design the best system for knowledge management, which will enable it to attain a competitive advantage in the Jewelry industry. References Kumar, S. et al. (2012). Knowledge Management in Multinational Organizations: A Literature Review. International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology, 2, 1: 9-20. Dataware Technologies. (2002). Seven Step To Implementing Knowledge Management in Your Organization. Corporate Executive briefing, 1-16. Mudambi, R. (2002). Knowledge Management in Multinational Firms. Journal of International Management, 8: 1-9. Read More