Knowledge Management and Human Resources Management - Annotated Bibliography Example

Knowledge Management and Human Resource management Annotated Bibliography Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name 13, 10, 2010 Introduction With the emergence of today’s knowledge based economies, organisations are bound to be equally competitive if they have to continue in business. The main assets of this knowledge driven organisations are knowledge workers which continuously strife to develop and implement organisation strategies (Kazi, 2005). Knowledge management process therefore becomes a key instrument of creativity and innovation necessary for development of innate and novel ideas. Human resource management on the other hand being a traditional function for acquisition and development of manpower becomes a critical function for managing intellectual property just like knowledge management. The two are different disciplines but human resource management entails acquisition and development of human resources while knowledge management substantially depends on human resources for the creativity and innovation (Kleynhans, 2006). The annotated bibliography therefore assesses various angles of interdependencies between human resource management and knowledge management relevant for the improvement of performance in the knowledge driven organizations. Annotated Bibliography Title and reference of article Henard, D.H. and McFadyen, M.A. (2008) “Making Knowledge Workers More Creative”, Journal of Research-Technology Management, pp. 40-46. Type of article Literature review- Industrial Research Institute Purpose of article The article seeks to illustrate how continuous development of the cognitive abilities of an individual within an organization leads to overall growth in innovativeness. Knowledge resource is one of the bases of competitive edge; the paper gives a guide to organizational management on how to continuously harness knowledge for their competitiveness. The article therefore provides hands on guide to managers on how to improve the overall organization innovativeness through management of their workers capabilities. Analysis [methodology] The article has gradually built on the knowledge utilization hierarchy categorizing knowledge according to their relevance to organization competiveness. The practical aspects of this knowledge categorization have been elaborated in different industrial case studies summary. Findings and Interpretation 1. Organization knowledge starts with individual capability, acquired knowledge, unique knowledge and creative knowledge which provide ultimate sustained competitive advantage. 2. Organization knowledge workers must be directed and trained to be receptive to unique and exceptional information so as to make them ascend the knowledge hierarchy. 3. In order to develop organizational knowledge workers’ cognitive capabilities, the management should always embrace individual knowledge as important, allow exchange of ideas through job rotation, encourage external interaction, reward knowledge sharing activities and maintain focus regarding knowledge management. Significance of article in relation to Knowledge management This article has clearly demonstrated that knowledge management has to start with the development of knowledge workers cognitive abilities by a deliberate management responsibility and a conducive environment. This contributes positively to the knowledge management arena by widening the knowledge management process not only to the source of knowledge but also to the ultimate benefit of unmatched organization competitiveness. Weakness/es of article The article is not based on measurable statistics but rather subjective judgments which make its information partially doubtful. The article has not clearly defined Knowledge management consequently being a source of vagueness in the information therein. Title and reference of article Afiouni, F. (2007) “Human Resource management and Knowledge Management: A Road map Toward Improving Organizational Performance ”, Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 11, Nr. 2, pp. 124. Type of article Research paper- American Academy of Business. Purpose of article The research paper aims at explaining how the integration of human resource management skill and knowledge management can result in organization competitiveness through improved performance. This research indicates that human resource management does not directly lead to improved performance but rather helps in facilitating employee knowledge creation capabilities and enable storage of knowledge in systems, processes consequently leading to improved performance. Analysis [methodology] The research paper is based on analysis of a wide range of literature in areas of human resource management, intellectual capital and knowledge management. From the analysis of this literature, the author has been able to deduce several findings. Findings and Interpretation 1. Human resource management is the key function for the conception of viable market oriented organization that is valuable. 2. Intellectual capital is the main resource and driver for the organizational performance and value creation. 3. The organizational ability to provide superior quality products and services to its customers depends on the collaborative efforts of a highly skilled, able, creative and knowledgeable human resource. 4. Firms can only access valuable human capital through good management; creativity focused human resource policies and conducive learning environments which encourages employees to create value through use of their knowledge. 5. Organizational human resource systems should be tailored to acquire and develop people of the required competencies, this people will therefore create competitive edge. Significance of article in relation to Knowledge management The article has been able to widen the domain of knowledge management to include areas that facilitate the process like human resource management. It has therefore enabled a holistic understanding of the interdependencies between knowledge management, intellectual capital and human resource management which are very critical in achieving competitive advantage. Weakness/es of article The article is not based on measurable statistics but rather subjective judgments through deductive reasoning. The articles’ explanation of the difference between human resource management and knowledge management has been narrowed so as to create room for the definition of knowledge management which in reality is usually one and the same systems. Title and reference of article Svetlik, I and Stavrou-Costea, E. (2007) “Connecting Human Resource management and Knowledge Management”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 28, No. 3/4, pp. 197-206. Type of article Literature review- International Journal of Manpower Purpose of article The research paper seeks to demonstrate the relationship between human resource management and knowledge management. It also illustrates the benefits of integrating the two areas with the individual at the interface in achieving the organizational performance improvement. Analysis [methodology] This article is a collection of research literature in the area of human resource management and knowledge management that have similarity of themes. Findings and Interpretation 1. The authors concurred that human resource management and knowledge management do have a synergetic relationship which requires being natured for the overall strategic development of the organization. Knowledge creation is therefore achieved through a conducive environment provided by the human resource management. 2. The article provides a practical advice on how the connection between the human resource management and knowledge management can enhance organizations strategy. Significance of article in relation to Knowledge management The article does provide a platform for further research in the relationship between knowledge management and human resource management it hence is a critical source of information not only to the scholars but also to the organizations management. Weakness/es of article The article is based on research literature and not actual empirical research, consequently not exhaustive in its analysis of the relationship between human resource management and knowledge management. Title and reference of article Gloet, M. (2006) “Knowledge Management and the links to HRM”, Journal of management Research News, Melbourne, Vol. 29, No. 7, pp. 402-413. Type of article Conceptual paper – Management Research News Purpose of article The research paper seeks to explore the linkages between human resource management and knowledge management as a means of establishing leadership and management capabilities to support sustainable organization development. Analysis [methodology] This article entails the exploration of literature in the area of Knowledge management and human resource management, an illustration framework linking the two domains and applications in leadership development and management capabilities are exploited in the article. Findings and Interpretation 1. The article provides a means of promoting sustainability through constructive knowledge management and human resource management linkages. The article also indicates how organizations can ensure sustainability through development of leadership and management capabilities. 2. The article provides a practical advice to manager through the framework for addressing sustainability issues for developing individual and organizational capabilities to support sustainability. Significance of article in relation to Knowledge management The article has brought in another dimension to the linkages between knowledge management and human resource management of sustainability which is a necessary organizational strategy implementation and competitiveness. Weakness/es of article The article is still a conceptual paper which requires thorough field testing for its practicability. Title and reference of article Raich, M. (2002) “HRM in the knowledge-based economy: is there an afterlife”, Journal of Journal of European Industrial Training, London, Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 269-273. Type of article Research paper- European Industrial Training. Purpose of article The research paper seeks to demonstrate the relationship between human resource management and knowledge economy. It illustrates that human resource management function transformations from a service provision to being a business partner in the knowledge economy where knowledge workers are the critical assets. Analysis [methodology] This article is a collection of research literature in the area of human resource management in the knowledge economy. The article has a number of illustration frameworks of the changing environment and roles of human resource management function necessary for knowledge driven organizations. Findings and Interpretation 1. The article clearly indicates that human resource management must be transformed to be relevant in the knowledge economy else it will be an irrelevant function and a liability to the organization. 3. The article provides a practical human resource management transformation framework for use by management and other scholars who need further studies in the area. Significance of article in relation to Knowledge management The article is an additional resource to knowledge management as it realigns one of the most important functional departments to support knowledge creation which is very critical to increased organization performance. Weakness/es of article The article is based on limited research literature and not actual empirical research, consequently not wholly practicable. The article is also one sided as it only indicates merely the required changes in human resource management function yet no necessary realignment has been recommended for knowledge management. Conclusion From the above annotated bibliography, it has become very clear that even though the area of knowledge management is still new, most of the authors agree that necessary realignment of the human resource management function is now a necessity. Knowledge enhancement is a necessity for ascending through the knowledge hierarchy whose output is creativity and innovativeness. These are critical ingredients to improve performance and therefore necessary systems designed to build cognitive capabilities of knowledge workers should be established in a knowledge driven organisation (Terziovski, 2008). Human resource management role of acquiring and developing knowledge workers is invaluable to the organisation competitiveness. Even though the impact of Human resource management is not direct, it helps increases efficiency through improvement of employee knowledge and skills, facilitating collaboration, knowledge sharing and knowledge storage through routines and processes (Bohlander & Snell, 2009). These processes in turn drive organisation performance. Human resource management is therefore necessary for faster knowledge creation and management. Bibliography Afiouni, F. (2007) “Human Resource management and Knowledge Management: A Road map Toward Improving Organizational Performance ”, Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Vol. 11, Nr. 2, pp. 124. Bohlander,G & Snell, S. (2009) Managing Human Resource, Cengage Learning, Sydney. Gloet, M. (2006) “Knowledge Management and the links to HRM”, Journal of management Research News, Melbourne, Vol. 29, No. 7, pp. 402-413. Henard, D.H. and McFadyen, M.A. (2008) “Making Knowledge Workers More Creative”, Journal of Research-Technology Management, pp. 40-46. Raich, M. (2002) “HRM in the knowledge-based economy: is there an afterlife”, Journal of Journal of European Industrial Training, London, Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 269-273. Svetlik, I and Stavrou-Costea, E. (2007) “Connecting Human Resource management and Knowledge Management”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 28, No. 3/4, pp. 197-206. Kazi, AS. (2005) Knowledge management in the construction industry: A socio-technical perspective. Idea Group Inc (IGI), Canberra. Kleynhans, R. (2006) Human Resource Management, Pearson South Africa, Cape town. Terziovski, M. (2008) Energizing Management Through Innovation and Entrepreneurship: European Research and Practice, Taylor & Francis, Melbourne. Read More