Knowledge Management of Intel Corporation Inc - Essay Example

Knowledge Management Executive summary Knowledge Management is the process of converting a firm’s knowledge from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. Many firms in the modern world face this challenge. Intel, despite it being at the heart of information technology, faces this very problem of Knowledge Management. This is especially with regard to its legal department which is facing knowledge management studies. The main issues include lack of modern systems to help in better knowledge management, lack of better ways to convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. The other main problem is the fact that there is less support from top management with regard to implementing proper Knowledge Management system and strategies in Intel’s legal department. Lack of motivation to employees to engage in correct knowledge management practices is also another issue. Because of the grave nature of the need for better knowledge and information management in any legal department, Intel’s not exempt, the recommendations that have been made include buying a new IT system, keeping a constant maintenance and updating of knowledge and increased support from the top management. Introduction Intel Corporation Inc. was founded in 1969 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. It has constantly grown to become the one of the most valuable companies in the world. As of 2014, its annual revenues had reached over $54 billon. The firm serves millions of customers from over 120 countries around the world. Its main focus is manufacturing of computer motherboards, computer processors and networking and communication products. The firm has over 100,000 employees who work in over 168 sites including its headquarters. Knowledge Management Knowledge Management has been given many definitions. To most experts, Knowledge Management is the process of converting knowledge of a firm from a tacit form to an explicit form. When knowledge is in the explicit from, it is more likely to help the firm to function better than when the knowledge is held in tacit form. Others have argued that Knowledge Management is about taking the knowledge that is in the employees and holding it in the firm’s knowledge base so that the continuity of knowledge is achieved even after such an employee moves from the firm, through retirement, termination of employment, or even death. A look at Intel Corporation indicates that the firm has problems with regard to Knowledge Management in both these two areas of Knowledge Management. Analysis of Intel Internal environment The firm is one of the firms with a good working environment for most employees. The innovation-oriented firm has been able to place itself at the top of the sector in which it operates. With its value growing on an annual basis, the firm knows that it has a good future. External environment The external environment in which the Intel operates is supportive of future growth. The following is a PESTEL analysis of Intel Corporation Inc. Political factors With regard to political factors, Intel can be said to have a strategic advantage. Although some of its markets are in places where there is no political stability, this is not likely to negatively impact the operations of the firm because its main markets are politically stable. Economic factors Economic issues for Intel can be said to have to do with the affordability of the firm’s products. In this regard, the economic factors that are within the market are in favor of the firm. A lot of people can afford computers and other products which come with computer processes embedded into them. Social factors Intel has placed itself as the de facto manufacturer of computer motherboards and CPUs. This, combined with the fact that computers continue to become the centre of the people’s lives, the demand for more and more computers will continue to increase. Technological With technology growing at a very high rate, this can only be said to be both advantageous and disadvantageous to the firm. It being a technological company that is the one that sets the pace for technological growth, especially in the computing sector, means that this may not be a big problem for the firm. However, this also means that the firm has to consider growing at a very high rate because any lag will lead to its competitors taking over. Legal factors Being an innovation firm, legal issues are bound to come its way. Legal issues have mainly to do with patent rights. With regard to this, legal issues for the firm can come from the firm being sued for perceived patent violation. The legal issues can also come up when other forms have violated the firm’s patent rights. The legal factors with regard to the firm are the ones that have been affected most by the Knowledge Management issues in the firm. In Intel, the main Knowledge Management problems are in the legal department. These are described as below; Motivation As Wallace (34) says, the main issues that come up with most Knowledge Management problems are the social issues. Most employees are likely not to have the motivation to share their knowledge because of a number of reasons. For Intel, the main issues that comes up with regard to Knowledge Management in its legal department is the lack of cooperation in Knowledge Management processes. This makes it difficult for the firm to convert its Knowledge into explicit knowledge that can be used to help the firm more. According to Liebowitz (154) the main Knowledge Management processes at the Intel legal department have to do with both repetitive and discretional function of the employees, especially at the first legal line of defense. Security This is in twofold, access levels within the firm (need to know basis), and protection of information and knowledge from malicious outsiders. Intel’s legal department does not have system to ensure that the knowledge and information they have in their systems is safe from both internal and external threats. Keeping up with technology Knowledge Management and technology are like two sides of the same coin. The high pace of technology growth provides both advantages and disadvantages for knowledge management for Intel Corporation. The advantages are that new technologies, especially the IT based technologies, provide for better tools to manage knowledge and information. On the other hand, this means more costs, both initial and ongoing, as well as the ability to get people to keep pace with new technologies. Converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge One issue that is found in Intel’s legal department is that some people may not be willing to share their knowledge while some others may be prejudiced with regard from learning from others. This means that the knowledge they have will remain in them and that they cannot learn from other people. When such employees leave the firm, they are will leave with the knowledge and this creates a challenge for knowledge management for the firm. Leadership restructuring As Morey, Maybury and Thuraisingham (215) say, one issue that comes with knowledge management, especially when implemented to the letter is that fact that everyone gets a voice. When their knowledge and ideas can be formally appreciated by the firm, they have the ability to now show who is more valuable to the firm. In such a case, the junior employees may in some instances prove that they are better than their managers. This can lead to leadership wrangles and conflicts as the managers try to protect their territory (Miltiadis 285). No professional and dedicated resources knowledge management in the legal department One of the issues that Intel’s legal department has is lack of technical resources to manage the knowledge in this area. Although the department acquired LegalWiki, a platform for managing legal knowledge and information in the department, this has proved to be inadequate and therefore the knowledge management in this department is not efficient. This continues to offer various types of threats to the firm’s legal department. For instance, there is no system to manage the extra work done by attorneys who spend extra time in the office doing extra work related to knowledge management. This is risky because it is likely to cause lack of motivation among the knowledge management staff. The other problem that is seen in Intel is the low accessibility of explicit knowledge bases where employees can access the knowledge they want to access. This makes it hard for the firm to be able to process the information. As a result, even though the firm has managed to convert most of its tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge, it cannot benefit from it because it is not accessible to those who need it. This is caused by lack of good knowledge management systems that can help the firm to be able to develop with better ways to manage the knowledge it has in its legal department. Old, out-of-date information The department has a lot of old and outdated information and this has led to decreased usability and efficiency. This old and outdated information also means that the return on investment from the knowledge is low. As Buono and Poulfelt (154) argue, the whole point of having knowledge management is to make sure that the firm can have financial benefit from the knowledge it has, whether explicit or tacit. However, as is the case with Intel’s legal department, when the knowledge and information that a firm has is old and outdated, this leads to lower inefficiencies and also low returns on the investment that the firm has made on the knowledge management. This kind of scenario is caused by the fact that the knowledge the firm has is not updated and kept to date. Managing old information costs the firm its resources such as money, human resources and even time. Yet, there is no return gained from such information. As such, this reduces the overall utility of the information, both the updated and the old one. This is the case in Intel legal department and this has made it hard for the firm to have efficiencies with regard to its information. One of the biggest challenges that Intel’s legal department is facing is with regard to the tacit knowledge that is held in the brains of its attorneys. While the firm does have some good legal knowledge, most of this important knowledge is held in the collective brand of the attorneys and this means that it cannot be useful to the firm in case the attorneys left the firm. At the same time, it also means that the newer lawyers are not able to learn from the experienced lawyers, and these counts as a loss for the firm. Recommendations Support from above In any firm, when there is something that needs to be achieved, support from the senior management is always key to success. In the case of Intel’s legal department, this will be very important. The managers from the top right from the CEO should understand the need for a good knowledge management systems and strategies in order for the firm to be able to be efficient regarding to the way it is able to support its future business. They must support the agenda both financially and philosophically so that the others will follow. In this regard, the senior management must be willing to work together with knowledge management experts, specifically those in the legal department in order to give them the financial resources needed to implement a knowledge management strategy. At the same time, they must offer philosophical support in terms of campaigning and selling this idea to everyone else who is involved. This will make it possible forth Intel’s legal department to be able to gain a better knowledge management system and strategy that will help the legal department to be able to have a better way to manage its knowledge. The other main recommendation for Intel’s legal department with regard to its knowledge management is to acquire professional knowledge management systems that will help in overcoming most of the challenges that have been identified in this report. Technology and especially information technology is a good way to help a firm to create a good knowledge management system. While technology in itself does not provide all the solutions for knowledge management due to the fact that the users have to support the system, it is a good start and Intel’s legal department. This will help the department to have a searchable explicit knowledge database. Active maintenance The third and last recommendation for Intel’s legal department is to have a well maintained and updated system that will help the firm to have a way to have up-to-date knowledge. This is in line with the recommendation number 2. This is because IT systems make it easier for knowledge to be edited and managed in an easier way while avoiding errors. However, the main purpose of this recommendation is to bring to light the fact that the Intel’s legal department needs to have a way of having updated information and knowledge. This must be done, even if the department will not implement a new system and do away with the one that is already in place. Up-to-date information and knowledge is crucial, especially to a legal department because they deal with sensitive information and missing just a word, in a piece of information can lead to them losing a major case in a court of law. Old and outdated information poses a big risk to a firm’s legal security because this can lead to it not being able to protect the firm in an effective way, because as the learned friends say, law is an accurate and to the point Endeavour. Works Cited Buono, Anthony and Flemming Poulfelt. Challenges and Issues in Knowledge Management. New York, NY: IAP, 2005. Print. Liebowitz, Jay. Knowledge Management Handbook: Collaboration and Social Networking, Second Edition. New York, NY: CRC Press, 2012. Print. Miltiadis, Lytras. Knowledge Management Strategies: A Handbook of Applied Technologies: A Handbook of Applied Technologies. New York, NY: IGI Global, 2008. Print. Morey, Daryl, Mark Maybury and Bhavani Thuraisingham. Knowledge Management: Classic and Contemporary Works. New York, NY: MIT Press, 2002. Print. Wallace, Danny. Knowledge Management: Historical and Cross-disciplinary Themes. New York, NY: Libraries Unlimited, 2007. Print. Read More