Knowledge, Innovation, and Learning Management Systems in HP - Essay Example

Knowledge, Innovation, and Learning Management Systems in HP Knowledge Management Systems Knowledge management systems involve the practical movement of information from one recipient to another, whilst ensuring that the data moved from one business division to another is received in a way that moves the business toward its long-term goals. Through the development of systems that are both technological and people-oriented, knowledge management represents the successful storage and movement of information throughout an entire organisation whether domestic or multi-national.

The launch of a successful knowledge management system begins with “optimising resources and strategies to remove organisational barriers and communicating with stakeholders the importance of ensuring a KM-friendly environment” (Conley & Zheng, 2009, p.334). In many instances, a knowledge management system is managed through organisational resources and is regulated at the organisational level rather than the decision-maker level. A strong knowledge management system “emphasises employee development, creativity, sharing and collaboration” (Tebbutt, 2009, p.15). This would then link a successful knowledge management system to the human resources function, yet another internal organisational-level linkage to knowledge transfer, making it people-oriented in order to find success.

As mentioned by Conley and Zheng, communications with stakeholders represents a human resources function both internal and external. Hewlett-Packard, in the case study, recognises the importance of building a strong organisational team, which is evident by leadership showing concern that a more well-developed knowledge management system might be rejected by the existing culture that is used to decentralised leadership at the company. At HP, decision-making is scattered throughout the organisation and does not trickle top-to-bottom as in other organisations.

Many of these types of businesses, where decision-making comes from senior-level administration, require sophisticated knowledge management systems (both technological and in terms of assigning a champion) in order to make them succeed. However, HP looks to have a culture that is more flexible and understands the importance of various marketing intelligence in order to make the brand stand out among competition. If setting up a better exchange of information were necessary, the company would be well-suited to set up a more formal knowledge database that can be accessed by all employees for routine knowledge transfer.

This is in reference to the web-based knowledge centre for HP which should house different secondary and business resource information. Innovation, for HP, actually comes from being able to recognise problems internally and consider the importance of changing how information is passed from one division to another. Some companies use document management, which is concerned with making content accessible and reusable at the same time (Barclay & Murray, 1997). Though document management has been phased out of many modern organisations, the concept is still valid for HP and the company is taking all of the right steps to build the database centres needed for success in information and knowledge exchanges.

The method by which internal members of the organisation perceive each other, or the quality of the information being exchanged, greatly impacts the success of successful message delivery. “Motivations might not always be compatible” for this to occur (Ensign & Hebert, 2010, p.79). Again, this reflects back to knowledge management being closely linked with human resources activities and should therefore recognise the human and emotional factors that are involved with how information is perceived and/or tolerated.

In the best case scenario, a company would not have to reorganise the entire business in order to have a successful knowledge exchange, but could use simple training and development techniques to overcome simple emotional angst against others in the organisation. However, at HP, this does not seem to be much of a problem and the company has well-developed systems and expertise that can handle successful information exchange without redeveloping the internal business architecture. Personal Reflection There is generally a complexity involved with knowledge transfer (Wang & Haggerty, 2009, p.571). The case of HP represented the importance of how reputation affects the dissemination of information and ensuring that it reaches its recipient without losing integrity or quality.

One author identifies that “some types of knowledge are difficult to transfer effectively” (Paswan & Wittmann, 2009, p.173) and this is a reality for any kind of business and is probably true for HP as well. The case study helped to consider the practical problems and opportunities that an active, multi-national business faces on a regular day, with different strategic ambitions and marketing objectives overlapping while also trying to pass information between busy and active professionals.

The need for some sort of system to manage the exchange of information would seem to have significant value if the business understands how to motivate others to become more active in the information exchange process. Stakeholders do not only recognise internal members, but external partners that are directly involved with the sales or competitive successes of the organisation. This shows how closely knowledge management systems are linked to strategic ambitions as the successful exchange of information must occur in order to make proper decisions or regulate the activities of different corporate divisions.

Knowledge management experts at US Aid describe the knowledge management system as a continuous, multi-tiered cycle of information exchange that is directly involved around the firm’s mission and goals (usaaid.gov, 2009). This cyclical nature of information exchange is directly tied to the presented literature showing the human resource linkage as well as involvement of key stakeholders. Goal-setting in a large organisation, like HP, cannot occur without the successful interactions between different managers and subordinate workers.

Knowledge-management acts as the linkage between goal setting and goal attainment and these systems need to work properly and have the right technological and human support in order to give long-term value. Costs for these systems, like those at HP, are not inexpensive however the business can fortunately consider this part of overhead and budget for internal improvements. The largest learning lesson with the HP case is that changing the architecture of the business is not necessary if human participation is considered and can be secured through making the process meaningful for all stakeholders.

References Conley, C. & Zheng, W. 2009. Factors Critical to Knowledge Management Success. Advances in Developing Human Resources. San Francisco. 11(3), p.334. Barclay, R. & Murray, P. 1997. What is knowledge management? Knowledge Praxis. http://www.media-access.com/whatis.html. (accessed 16 Feb 2009). Ensign, P. & Hebert, L. 2010. How Reputation Affects Knowledge Sharing Among Colleagues. MIT Sloan Management Review. 51(2). Tebbutt, David. 2009. Blow your mind. Information World Review.

Oxford, Iss. 256. Pp.15-18. Paswan, A. & Wittmann, C.M. 2009. Knowledge management and franchise systems. Industrial Marketing Management. 38(2), p.173. Usaaid.gov. 2009. Knowledge management support. http://www.usaid.gov/km/km.html. (accessed 16 Feb 2009). Wang, Y. & Haggerty, N. 2009. Knowledge transfer in virtual settings: The role of individual virtual competency. Information Systems Journal, Oxford. 19(6), p.571.