Knowledge Based Asset Management - Term Paper Example

Knowledge Based Asset Management Knowledge Based Asset Management For Waveriders to achieve its goals it needs a formidable knowledge-based asset management strategy that will guarantee the success of its operational processes Therefore, it would require a well-established strategic program focused on helping it to carry out its mandate. The program would assist the company to account properly for its financial resources as well as organize its personnel and would be effected over a five-year time framework. During the first year, the company will focus on maximizing organizational resources to achieve long-term goals. The company should be able to build on its capital and asset base within the first year to actually realize its full potential of meeting its goals. It should be able to formulate a policy to accomplish this objective The second year will in essence revolve around setting up a growth strategy and formula to promote company growth in all the necessary sectors. This approach would ensure that the enterprise strengthens its asset base and share value within that set time frame of a year. In the third year the company’s mandate would be to open up and expand all its communication channels within the third year. This move would guarantee that the enterprise strengthens its client base by upgrading all its communications systems thus improving its communications network. During the forth year its focus will be strengthening its administrative base and leadership to streamline service delivery. By overhauling the entire organizational setting, the company is injecting new life into its core to ensure efficient service delivery. The fifth year would encompass rebranding and formalizing new business practices within the enterprise. This strategy would ensure that the enterprise can present itself as an entirely different and fresh entity with a new identity and a new objective. To espouse the out and out implementation of the tenets ascribed to each year of the knowledge-based asset management process, certain essential modus operandi would enable Waveriders’s journey to excellence. Highlighted herein guidelines for consideration in the Excellence Model: 1. Establishment of a Planning Committee. It is important that the organization set up a planning committee with immediate effect. This committee would help in organizing affairs as well as creatively bringing up suggestions and ideas of benefit. The committee would also change the order of the planning stage. This would enable the board to return and address the problem at a later stage when it is of more benefit. Furthermore, the committee would also publicize the outline of the plan. This would probably happen through the organization’s newsletter (Lucey, 2005). The newspaper should be able to table a debate or discussion among the stakeholders, so the newsletter should be as attractive as possible, and should bring out comments from the management and other stakeholders. By doing so, the newsletter will have achieved its purpose. 2. A Review of the Current Plans It is essential that the organization consider its old plans. Such a move will ensure that all the members of the committee are conversant with its existing plans. It will be a central reference from where they can begin. It is also important to consider the amount of effort that the predecessors made while writing the previous report. Furthermore, by familiarizing themselves with the old strategy, the members of the committee will gain confidence as they seek to make a new one. It will increase the inflow of ideas among the board members as they try to come up with a new strategy. When everyone has familiarized himself or herself with the whole of it, it should be put away, and members begin forming a new one. 3. Definition of the Mission of the Organization. The organization should also find a way to establish a new mission. This would enable the members to provide comfortably, a clear statement of the overall purpose of the organization. The committee should be able to reevaluate its mission every five years to see if it is achieving its goals. 4. Definition of the Issues. The committee should be able to define comfortably and outline all the issues that need to be addressed. Both the current questions and the future issues ought to appear for debate and discussion. Ways of achieving this include collective brainstorming, the survey of opinions and the use of note cards. 5. Establishment of Objectives. The members should confidently set up goals that are attainable over a set time frame. This will indeed be possible if the members can correctly understand the issues that the organization faces. This will enable the committee to set achievable goals. These objectives will actualize the mission of the company by achieving the established goals. 6. Development of Implementation plans. After the goals have actualized, the next process would be developing the detailed objectives and strategies that will help to accomplish the set tasks. They can be broken down into long-term tasks and short-term tasks according to the urgency and practicality of implementation. 7. Implementation of the Tasks. Before the tasks execution, the strategic plan should receive approval from the Board of Directors. The committee head should be able to explain himself properly to the Board and highlight all that the committee discussed and arranged (Tuzhilin, 2011). He should also give an estimated budget for the achievement of all the goals that were set. Furthermore, he should also provide quarterly progress reports to the board if the decision is approved. He should also arrange to give full evaluation reports to the committee as he completes all the tasks. 8. Structural Assessment After receiving a go-ahead from the board, the committee will proceed to assess the current organizational structures to see if they are competent enough to carry out the objectives. This may involve a total overhaul of all the current structures that are already in place, or if they are found to be lacking, they may be reorganization or a minor shakeup in the structure in order to boost its efficiency. 9. Identification of Resources. The committee would then begin to identify possible resources that are essential to the implementation of the policies as well as take the time to put in place a funding strategy to accrue the needed resources. These resources would include any useful acquisitions that would help ease the process of realizing their goals. 10. Developing an Evaluation Framework The committee would come up with strategies to regularly evaluate the process of goal implementation. This will help to see if significant changes occur and to see if there is progress in achieving the set targets and objectives. Furthermore, if there would be any hindrances in achieving these goals, the committee will come up with strategies to counteract this. It will also ensure that satisfactory progress is being made within specified time frames (Dabrowski & March 1989). 11. Measurement of the Organization’s Performance The committee would ensure that the performance of the organization in achieving its goals is regularly checked. It would also measure the performance levels and grade them to see whether the organization is doing well or badly. This process would also involve analyzing the performance of various sectors as well as comparing the performance with the set time limits. The committee would also measure the performance of the organization with the performances of similar groups (Pick, 2005). The quality of the work done would also be assessed and reviewed. It will also check to see if the employees are satisfied with the current situation that they encounter. 12. Corrective Action After measuring the organizational performance, the committee will seek to rectify any shortcomings that it may encounter in the project. It will also try to strengthen the project by improving organizational performance on all levels. This will enable the organization to achieve sustainability in the future (Halale, 2010). This phase is vital because it constitutes corrective actions aimed at capitalizing on the strengths, revising the objectives and missions of the organization, taking advantage of the key external opportunities, singling out and combating threats to the progress of the goals as well as uprooting any internal weaknesses that may be encountered. This five-year plan of action will actually guarantee the company a new program and setting. It would, therefore, be important to apply essential principles of knowledge management to secure sustentative progress in the achievement of these goals. First, it would be significant to understand that this entire process be an expensive one. It would need human investment as well as financial investment. Many areas would need streamlining to ensure a smoother flow of service. It would need some storage of knowledge on computers to keep track of the ongoing developments, as well as the editing and relaying of information that is passed on during the entire project (Halale, 2010). The knowledge would need to accumulate and then be stored systematically in easily accessible files. It would then be categorized in certain methods to enable effective storage. Again, this process would require the education of employees to be on par with the organizational developments that occur. Furthermore, the employees would have to understand the importance of sustaining these systems of information storage and service output. The knowledge would also be used to help improve the work processes. The knowledge attained is generated, used and shared within the work environment. This principle would also contribute to the guidance of the employees on how to handle the information and knowledge received. Such processes as market research, product design, and development, as well as transactional processes such as order pricing and configuration, would have to be studied and followed. If necessary, improvements in these processes would also be done. This would ensure that the organizations activities flow smoothly. Additionally, research, publishing and system development would also receive top priority. These major processes would help define the company and help it grow tremendously. It would be significant for any employee to master these procedures to have a safe outcome of events. The company would rely on accurate communication and the relaying of information. The principle of knowledge sharing at the right time would come into play. It is important that the company procedures apply and feedback be given at the right time. Communication within the organization would have to be of the best quality and rapid. The right information needs to be shared at the right time and to the right people. This would enable the proper flow of modus operandi within the organization. The importance of delivering the right knowledge would be stressed. The organization would have an enormous role in this because it is meant to determine what intelligence is and to whom it is sent, where and when it is sent and also why it is sent. This means that the organization is solely responsible for the flow of information. It can determine the purpose of sending the information as well. These mechanics are important in enabling a smooth flow of communication within the entire organization. It is also important to note that knowledge encompasses the social, organizational as well as the IT aspects of the organization. This means that the teams involved have to come up with IT solutions to most of their problems because the systems running the organization are IT based. Any managerial complications that occur would be solved using IT basis. This is because the systems running the organizations are centralized on IT systems (Gupta, 2004). Therefore, the primary method of solving problematic issues would be the use of IT solutions to address these questions. The organization would use this knowledge principle to help design the necessary set of structures, practices and interactions that are required for achieving the organizational objectives. Such a feat can only occur by using IT-based methodologies. Alas, these systems would help to safeguard the organization’s knowledge related business practices and the work habits for future reference. It would be vital for the organization to put into practice the Knowledge Management principle that ascertains that the knowledge obtained is different from the sum of its parts (Gupta, 2004). This means that many of the concepts encountered in problematic situations is interlinked and interdependent. This apparently means that for some issues to go, it would be necessary to analyze the particular situation by breaking it down into smaller parts for careful consideration. It would be easier to solve a problem if the principal factors causing the particular problem were separate from each other and were looked at individually. It would be much easier than looking at the situation holistically and eventually failing to resolve it entirely. Therefore, the principle would come in handy in solving complex situations within the organization that needs professional analysis for better solutions. Waveriders will have to implement the plan of action and effectively maintain a new image and profile. Such a move will guarantee that it establishes itself in the market with the aim of bringing up a new loyal customer base. Sometimes external studies would come in handy in solving such complexities. Many situations encountered are unpredictable and not easy to answer. These situations, if not properly addressed could cause chaos and confusion (Choi&Dow, 2008). Therefore, complex thinking is a prerequisite in situations such as these. It is concerned with the ability to tackle situations using Information Systems. This is based on solving complexity issues using evolved methods and systems that engage in self-organizing dynamics of self-maintenance. This would help solve unpredictability by bringing sense making into the various structures and activities that take place. It is critical in identifying as well as understanding all the inputs during the development process. By doing so, it would reduce unpredictability as well as manage the complex systems efficiently. Many organizations are practicing these theories of knowledge management, and the employees are becoming aware of the effect the strategies in the business setting. Similarly, Waveriders should apply these principles to the daily running of their organization to have a better work rate policy and higher rewards for the risks. The enlightenment of employees is a significant boost to any organization and will see an upsurge in the value of the group. It will also facilitate easier policy implementation as well as better long-term goal realization of the organizational objectives. This can only materialize if both the senior staff and junior employees on the ground adhere to these principles of knowledge management. With the use of Information Systems together with modern technological advances to gather and store vital data, it will be much easier for the organization to keep records as well as maintain business acumen. If the senior management actually provides the necessary leadership, the organization will be in a position to integrates and bond together as one formidable front. Long-term and short-term goals can materialize if the proper strategies are implemented. Furthermore, with the advancement of the Information Systems in the organization as well as the strict adherence to the knowledge principles, it will be more efficient for all the concerned parties to contribute to the success of the goals that have been set. Employees will be free to play an active role in the improvement of the organization. Though Waveriders as an organization has not established facility management, it would be prudent of them to set up structures that can keep the necessary processes in check. Such arrangements will ensure that set targets will be met as satisfactorily (Charney, 2006). The drastic implementation measures would be a significant boost to the organization as well. It would also be of great effect to retrain the staff on the Information Systems management as well as the proper handling of organizational resources. Such steps would improve the outlook and productivity of the organization as a whole, as well as that of individual employees. The overall growth of the Waveriders Company can occur if all these due processes are followed to the latter. It will eventually lead to the growth and stability of the company through the expert execution of these policies. Long term and short term goals will also be achieved successfully through the implementation of such policies and proper institutional management. With proper systems in place, the organization will successfully carry out its projects and attain its goals while satisfactorily catering to the customer base. In a nutshell, the implementation of all these policies will be effective so long as the knowledge principles effectively come into play and the relevant Information System technology becomes a part of the company’s organizational structure (Bonham, 2005). That is the ultimate method of achieving organizational goals and meeting the company’s targets successfully. Bibliography Abramowitz, W. and Flejter, D. (2009). Business information systems workshops. Berlin: Springer. Adekola, A. and Sergi, B. (2007). Global business management. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. Bonham, S. (2005). IT project portfolio management. Boston: Artech House. Charney, C. (2006). The leaders toolkit. 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