Knowledge Management and Its Benefit to Business - Research Proposal Example

Knowledge Management and Its Benefit to Business of Memo Proposal Knowledge Management and Its Benefit to Business 1. Purpose The purpose of the research is to find out what knowledge management is and how it can benefit business. The modern business environment is very dynamic and competitive as a result of technological advancements, increased number of competitors, and increased expectations among customers and shareholders. It is against this background that this research will seek to find out how knowledge management can benefit businesses and help them to survive in the competitive and volatile environment. 2. Background Knowledge management is defined as a concept through which a business or an enterprise collects, organizes, distributes, and analyzes individuals and groups’ knowledge within an organization in ways that affect the performance of the business directly (Oliver & English, 2007). Knowledge management has also been defined as the process of identifying and analyzing available, relevant, and required knowledge processes and assets within an organization with the primary aim of achieving organizational goals and objectives. Over the years, knowledge management has proved to be an effective tool in enabling organizations to achieve their objectives (Pauleen & Gorma, 2011). There are numerous benefits that are associated with knowledge management. The first one is that it helps to ensure that right information gets to the right individuals at the appropriate time in order to facilitate making of the right decisions. Besides, it has been associated with increasing efficiency in the organizations, and this is critical in improving organizational productivity and performance (Davidson, 2002). Also, knowledge management tends to promote growth and learning among employees. Employee learning and growth is not only crucial in boosting employee satisfaction but also in enhancing their productivity at work (Collins et al., 2010). Since knowledge management helps in making better decisions in the organizations, it enables organizations to reduce costs because decisions on cost-related issues are appropriate and aimed at reducing costs in order to increase profitability. Along with that, it helps business avoid unnecessary cost because people involved know what the right cost is to incur through knowledge management process (Esposto & Abbott, 2011). Moreover, knowledge management is beneficial in the sense that it improves team communication. The process of collecting, sharing, and analyzing knowledge with the organization promotes communication among those involved, and this significantly contributes towards improved team communication (Pauleen & Gorma, 2011). In addition, it reduces the time taken in problem solving process in the business because there is knowledge of what the problem may be in the business and what the possible solutions should be. More importantly, knowledge management enhances customer satisfaction and participation. Knowledge management involves collecting, sharing and analyzing knowledge on a lot of issues including those about customers. The knowledge analyzed regarding customers can be used to create ways through which customer participation and satisfaction can be improved (Collins et al., 2010). Additionally, it can help a business have a better understanding of the market; this is important in helping business to devise ways through which a business can increase its market share in order to increase its profitability. Furthermore, improved profitability is another benefit associated with knowledge management. Since knowledge management provides business with ways of reducing its costs, increasing market share, enhancing customer satisfaction, and improving team communication, business performance is bound to improve and, therefore, lead to improved profitability (Oliver & English, 2007). While it is understood that knowledge management is of great value and benefits, it appears that people have limited understanding of what knowledge management exactly is and how exactly it can benefit their business and propel them to greater heights of prosperity and success. According to Davidson (2002), the primary purpose of knowledge management must not simply be making people in organizations become more knowledgeable; instead, it should be to enable business to create, transfer or share, analyze, and thereafter apply knowledge with the main aim of achieving or even exceeding set objectives. What is more important is the fact that there should be a proper mechanism through which knowledge management is conducted. Like other processes in the business, the process of knowledge management should be well planned, well implemented, and well monitored and evaluated (Pauleen & Gorma, 2011). This is very critical in ensuring that knowledge management not only achieves its main objectives but is also improved in subsequent years of business operations. Oliver and English (2007) argue that several studies have shown that the objectives of knowledge management can only be achieved through deep understanding of what it is. Also, knowledge management can be effective and help business achieve its objectives and goals if all people in the organization know what it entails and are actively involved in the entire process. In the wake of immense changes in the business environment, many companies have adopted various strategies that will help them to remain relevant and competitive (Esposto & Abbott, 2011). It is evident from many studies that knowledge management is one strategy that businesses cannot ignore if they are to remain competitive and relevant. This explains why most of them have been trying to understand and adopt it in their overall strategies. Others have been successful in implementing it, while others have failed (Davidson, 2002). The research is informed by the need to have a better understanding of what knowledge management is and the benefits it has to business. Since the modern business environment is very dynamic and competitive, deeper knowledge of business issues such as knowledge management is extremely important. The main interest in this research is to have a better understanding of knowledge management and how it relates to the contemporary business environment. In particular, the research will seek to obtain a comprehensive understanding of how knowledge management benefits business in present times. In other words, the research will seek to understand how the particular benefits of knowledge management help business to survive and remain relevant in the challenging and extremely competitive business environment. The research will seek to achieve the following objectives: To understand what the concept of knowledge management is To identify how knowledge management relates to the contemporary business environment To comprehensively explain the benefits of knowledge management to business To give a detailed explanation of how the benefits of knowledge management enables business to remain relevant in the dynamic and competitive business environment 3.1 Scope Parts of this research will include understanding what knowledge management entails. In this respect, the research will only limit itself to the definition of what knowledge management involves in the context of business. Also, the research will limit itself to discussing the benefits of knowledge management to business. Again, the focus here will be on what benefit is knowledge management to business particularly in the modern business world. This research will investigate: The definition of knowledge management The aspects or elements of knowledge management in particular reference to business operations The relationship between knowledge management and business The benefits of knowledge management to business and by extension to the entire economy The factors that influence or affect knowledge management in business setting How the benefits of knowledge management help business to cope with the dynamism and intense competition of the modern business environment 3.2 Limitations Research is bound to have some limitations because of a number of factors including the scope of the research, the topic under study, and whether previous researches have covered some of the issues that the research is studying among other factors (Saunders et al., 2009). This research is no exception. Although this research will be conducted with due diligence, there are potential limitations that may arise, particularly time and access to relevant information. The first one is time. It is no doubt that the subject of knowledge management is relatively large and has numerous resources to research from (print, online, and academic journals). As such, researching on this topic may require a relatively long period of time. One is required to use a wide range of credible print books, academic journals, and online sources that are credible. This may prove to be cumbersome and time consuming. Also, time constraints of the semester will require that less time be used in research, even though the time might be ideal for this type of study. The time within which the research will be conducted may not be extensive enough. Nonetheless, this limitation can be addressed through careful planning. A plan of how to conduct the research would be developed, particularly of how to find information (Saunders et al., 2009). The plan would include through which sub-topics of the research will be researched and relevant and adequate information relating to each of them gathered. Also, relevant secondary sources including academic journals, credible online content and books would be identified. In addition, particular topics that are relevant to the study would be identified in order to reduce the time of searching for information. By choosing not to conduct primary research in this study will really help the research to address the limitations of time. Primary research would have required that more time be allocated for conducting fieldwork including administering questionnaires and conducting interviews. Primary research would also have required that extra time be allocated for data analysis (Saunders et al., 2009). Therefore, by avoiding this research method and focusing on secondary research, the limitation of time has been addressed to a considerable extent. The other main limitation that this research might face is access to information. Some of the relevant sources for the study may not be easily accessible. Some books may not be available in the library or may be few and number of students intending to use them more. Besides, accessing some relevant online content and academic journals may prove difficult because most of them require that one be subscribed to them and have the log in details. To ensure that this limitation is addressed, prior arrangements will be made to access the relevant book in the library in time. Also, library help will be sought regarding access to online content and academic journals. 4. Method Information would be sought from secondary sources only in order to complete the report. The secondary sources will include online content, academic journals, and print books. Individual sources are identified in the References. 5. Schedule The research will be conducted within a period of one month (30 days). The timeline is described below. Timetable Activity Duration Complete Proposal 7 days Complete research 15 days Complete Analysis 5 days Tutorial with tutor 3 days 6. Costs The research will incur some costs particularly in regard to photocopying and binding. It is estimated that binding the report will cost £1.50 and photocopying will cost £2. 7. Request for Approval I request your approval to start this research. References Collins, E., et al. (2010). Sustainability practices: Trends in New Zealand businesses. Business Strategy & the Environment, 19(8), 479–494. Davidson, C. (2002). Zen and the art of knowledge management. Retrieved on 24 August 2012 from www.nodoubt.co.nz/articles/zen_km.pdf. Esposto, A., & Abbott, M. (2011). Human capital: A comparative study of the skill and knowledge intensity of work in Australia and New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Applied Business Research (NZJABR), 9(1), 25–45. Oliver, L., & English, J. W. (2007). The small business book: A New Zealand guide for the 21st century. Crow’s Nest, N.S.W: Allen & Unwin. Pauleen, M., & Gorma, G. (2011). Personal knowledge management: Individual, organizational, and social perspectives. Auckland: Gower Publishing. Saunders, M., et al. (2009). Research methods for business students. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education. Read More