Interim Data for the Head of Electrocom Ltd - Essay Example

?Interim report for the Head of Electrocom Ltd Interim Report for the Head of Electrocom Ltd Currently at Electrocom Ltd, the culture among the employees is such that even when innovative knowledge is provided to them, it becomes a part of their personal development and does not contribute positively to the organization’s learning curve. Thus the company is reaping no benefit and not moving towards improvement as expected by these initiatives. What Electrocom needs to strive for is becoming a ‘learning organization’. A learning organization is one in which the organizations keeps evolving and learning from past and present practices. The notion of learning is applied to the organization as a whole, not as a sum of the parts of individual learning of individual employees. Organizations like these encourage continuous learning and innovation and advocate an integrated knowledge management structure for the organization. Other features of such organizations include being proactive, flexible, innovative and able to tap into potential to gain competitive advantage. (Cors, 2003). Another important introduction is one that focuses on organizational learning. Organizational learning in an organization relies on three factors, the first one being routine, the second being dependency on the company’s history and the third one being the targets that the organization has set for itself. Organizations add to their knowledge bank through practice and over time, that is through practical experience. This experiences interpreted and the lessons learned are applied to future scenarios to ensure that mistakes are not repeated and good practices are adopted. Learning can also occur by looking at other organizations, competitors or those who are similar to the organization in question so that generalizations can be studied and applied to own organization. (Levitt and March, 1988). Electrocom needs to focus on knowledge acquisition; this will have two pronged benefits for the organization. First, it will provide them further consumer insight which will help them better understand, connect with and cater to their consumer base. Second, it will help them build a knowledge bank from which they can take assistance in the decisional process and which will enable further learning for the company’s employee base. Knowledge acquisition can be done through surveys, R&D activities, reviews of performance and a thorough analysis of competing firms in the market. Another aspect to be focused on is how this knowledge and information is disseminated throughout the organization. Organizational structure should be flatter so information can flow quickly from source to destination without any hold ups or barriers to stop the flow. Electrocom also needs to focus on how the information is interpreted, for this will determine how the information impacts the organization, if at all. Lastly, through revision and incorporation of this knowledge over and over again in practice the organization needs to make sure that it remains fresh in the organization’s memory. (Huber, 1991). In the same vein, Schein (1993) writes about how it is important for organizations on the modern business environment which is becoming increasingly globalised and culturally diverse, to engage in dialogue. To effective in this business environment, it is necessary for Electrocom to increase and improve communication to enhance levels of integration within the organization and across borders and cultures. Organizational learning will only take place once there is an established healthy level of communication and integration internally and creating dialogue will be the first step in this direction. This approach will also improve cohesiveness of work groups, thereby improving their performance. Once a healthy level of communication has developed internally within the organization, subcultures will develop, often providing a motivational source for better performance at work because they promote a sense of ownership and belonging for the organization from the side of each individual employee. Dialogue, thus is the one component that brings together the elements of cultural diversity in the organization and organizational learning by bridging the gaps in the former and consequently promoting the latter. Another area that comes into consideration when looking at organizational learning and knowledge management in the modern, globalized and diverse business environment is that if the role of human resource management in this regard. Organizations value knowledge a lot these days and their knowledge resources often give them an edge over their competitors. HRM helps the organization realize the full worth of its knowledge resources by knowledge creation and mobilization. Thus managers of HR can be knowledge facilitators; helping the rest of the employees acquire the correct knowledge, they can be development specialists; helping the organization grow through managing its knowledge resources, they can also be relationship builders by crossing over cultural borders to integrate and disseminate information to the employees for their efficient use and benefit of the whole organization. In this way, HRM has become a critical element for the modern business organization. Electrocom UK needs HRM to manage its deteriorating situation and bring it back up to a sustainable growth level by performing the above mentioned functions to manage its knowledge resources and develop its human and knowledge capital, while integrating it with the other global branches of the company that are performing better than it is, at the moment. (Chivu and Popescu, 2008). Looking at the issue in light of increasing globalization and due to the relevance of the factor due to the fact that Electrocom has a global presence, we see that in the corporate sector, knowledge management and organizational learning have picked up critical level importance and have yielded results that keep improving with time. The author of this study says that the effectiveness of this program boils down to how well it is implemented in the organization. Another area to focus on that comes up is that of ‘participatory development’. It is said that if the employees invest their time in synergistic efforts of knowledge management, they can produce more substantial effects for the overall organizational learning. (Hovland, 2003). Electorcom Ltd should thus consider the factors and steps mentioned in the report to successfully develop its knowledge management through HRM and improve its organizational learning. This process will be gradual, while the organization achieves each milestone. But with each objective achieved in this pursuit, the organization will be moving away from its current dismal state and towards a successful state of being. Reference List Chivu, I. and Popescu, D. 2008. Human Resource Management in the Knowledge Management. Informatica Economica, Vol.4, No.48. Accessed on 31st October 2012. Cors, R. 2003. What is a Learning Organization? Accessed on 31st October 2012. Hovland, I. 2003. Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning: An International Development Perspective. Accessed on 31st October 2012. Huber, G. P. 1991. Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literature. Organization Science, Vol. 2, No.1. Accessed on 31st October 2012. Levitt, B. and March, J. G. 1988. Organizational Learning. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 14. Accessed on 31st October 2012. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0360-0572%281988%2914%3C319%3AOL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23 Schein, E. H. 1993. On Dialogue, Culture and Organizational Learning. Organizational Dynamics, Vol.22. Accessed on 31st October 2012. Read More