The Wiig Knowledge Management Cycle - Coursework Example

Running Head: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CYCLE Knowledge Management Cycle Wiig Cycle Name Institution Introduction Knowledge Management is the aspect of co-ordination and restructuring of the factors in an organization so as to try and achieve the best results possible. In this manner, there is an organization of the company’s labor resources, working procedures, available technology and the overall organizational structure with an aim of optimizing the productivity of the company as well as maintaining quality and uniqueness of the products (Wang, 2007). There are a lot of factors that have to be considered in determination of the best way to re-organize the resources in an organization. There is a need to manage all the knowledge resources and applications so as to ensure there is enough collection and accumulation of knowledge, better facilitation of its application in the different facets of an organization, better sharing of the already available knowledge and even establishment of better modes of knowledge preservation so as to ensure the already existing knowledge is properly stored even as more knowledge is being acquired (Wiig, 1993). In any organization, the way knowledge is managed affects very many aspects of the company both directly and indirectly. In fact, the overall success of a company is mainly determined by how much knolwledge has been acquired and how the acquired knowledge has been applied in the running of the processes and structures in the organization. It is therefore an important thing for every organization to invest more in facilities and spheres aiming at facilitate knowledge acquisition, utilization and preservation. In this way, the organizations will be able to manage their knowledge resources better for the best results in its processes so as to help in reaching the organizational goals (Wang, 2007). Literature Review There are many definitions that have been suggested for knowledge. One of its definitions is that it is the perception of things and concepts and good judgment that has a well-elaborated and rational account. In this way, knowledge is deemed as the ability to be able to understand the different spheres of a phenomenon or any existing thing or concept and hence be able to explain how and why different events associated to such a phenomenon occur in the way they do. Also, knowledge enables one to make proper judgment of different phenomenon in way that one is able to give an account of their judgment by making a reference to a certain idea or occurrence in a rational manner hence enabling them to properly defend and convince on their judgment (Wang, 2007). In an organization, there are many factors of production that are involved in ensuring that the organization is able to achieve its goals and plans by offering the right products and services that it is processing. One of the most important resources in an organization is labor, which is the manpower invested into the production process so as to facilitate combination of all the other factors so as to acquire the required goods and services to be offered for sale hence providing an organization with profits. There is therefore a need to ensure that labor of the best form is engaged in the process of production and in all the other functionalities of a company so as to achieve the best quality, most attractive and satisfying goods or services to be offered to customers. Hence, a lot of care must be taken in the choice of labor y using different factors that determine the level and quality of labor and how well it helps in achievement of organizational goals. One of the main factors to consider in the choice of labor in an organization is how knowledgeable it is. There are different levels ad forms of knowledge that exist in any employee to be considered as a labor resource in an organization. However, the most important this to consider is how well the employee is able to utilize their knowledge in their positions in the organization so as to give the best results. There is therefore a need to ensure that every person involved in the production process and in the overall functionalities of an organization is in a good position to acquire knowledge and is provided with the best facilities and tools to facilitate acquisition of knowledge. An important factor to note is that there is no limit on the amount of knowledge acquired therefore there is always room for increase in the amount of knowledge one possesses. Also, it is important to keep adding more knowledge since the form of knowledge in existence changes with time and if an organization is not careful, it may end up with labor that has very outdated and unhelpful kind of knowledge leading to failure to acquire the organizational goals. In an organization, there is also a need to facilitate proper and maximum utilization of all the knowledge acquired over time. There is a lot of knowledge that is available to all the employees in an organization and actually, it is good to assume that all the labor resources in an organization may have acquired a lot of different forms of very important and useful knowledge over time. However, there is always a greater challenge of ensuring that the available knowledge is utilized and applied into all the processes in an organization in the best way possible so as to facilitate acquisition of the best results possible. It is therefore important to realize that there is abundance of knowledge all over in different forms, quantities and quality. However, there is a great scarcity of ability to utilize knowledge, which is the most important part of knowledge management. “It does not really matter how much knowledge one possesses since without ability to apply it in the required manner, such knowledge is irrelevant” (Fernandez, Gonzales, and Sabherwal 2004, p.64). There is therefore a need for emphasis of knowledge utilization in the best and most productive manner. In the organization, there is also a need for establishment of ways of sharing of knowledge amongst the employees with an aim of facilitating more sources of knowledge, better utility and even utilization of the knowledge already acquired. Usually, if knowledge is just utilized, it may end up being consumed with time and by the end of the day one realizes that he/she has no much knowledge in his line of activity. However, if sharing of knowledge is encouraged, it ensures that one has a constant source of knowledge reducing any instances of loss of knowledge. In this way, if knowledge is shared, it is never lost. However, if it is not shared, it may end up either being under-utilized or eventually being fully lost. Finally, there is a need to put in place ways aimed at preservation of already acquired knowledge in an organization. Such knowledge may be preserved either in tangible form such as keeping of notes and other information or in intangible form by undertaking different activities such as training of new recruits or attending seminars and workshops involved in re-training of employees in their fields. It is therefore important to note that knowledge is a resource that is very rare to come across and very difficult to utilize yet it is the most important resource in an organization as it dictates most of the ways in which an organization is structured and how it’s processed are undertaken. As a resource existing in labor resources of an organization, knowledge determines how decisions are made in an organization, how an organization is managed, how its production process is undertaken and more importantly how the other factors of production are combined so as to achieve the expected and desired results (Nonaka, 1998). Knowledge Management Knowledge Management is an important discipline that focuses on determining how best knowledge is acquired, maintained, utilized and preserved for the best combination of all the factors of production, instillation of the best organizational structures and even best formulation of processes to be involved in an organization so as to ensure that the organization is able to achieve its goals by acquiring the desired products (Wang, 2007). There is a great need for all organizations to take caution of their knowledge management schemes as they affect the overall performance and productivity in the organization. Therefore, how well an organization deals with knowledge management determines how successful an organization is (Wiig, 1993). The Wiig Knowledge Management Cycle Knowledge Management is a process that involves different stages and levels which culminate into a cycle. There are different cycles that have been formulated to try and explain the whole Knowledge Management process. One of the best cycles is the Wiig Knowledge Management Cycle (Nonaka, 1994). The Wiig KM cycle is a cycle that identifies and explains the different facets of Knowledge management that result to better knowledge management is an organization. The cycle involves different stages that must be undertaken in order to acquire the right knowledge and utilize it in the best ways for best results in an organization. It also shows the different ways that may be used for better acquisition, utilization and preservation of knowledge. The cycle is very advantageous as it gives clearly outlined and detailed description of the best ways to acquire, utilize, pool and even preserve knowledge for acquiring best results in an organization (Wang, 2007). First of all, there are various ways that are deemed to be associated with building of knowledge. There are many sources of knowledge at the exposure of employees that may be beneficial in ensuring the right form and amount of knowledge is obtained. For this to be achieved, employees must analyze the knowledge presented to them and determine the best and most important knowledge to consider for their functions in an organization. Once this has been considered and the right knowledge is acquired, channels must be formulated to ensure better synthesis of such knowledge so as to ensure it is properly internalized in the employees involved. Then knowledge must be modeled to ensure it is utilizable in the right way and at the right time. Also, acquired knowledge needs to be organized in a manner that ensures it is easily accessible and utilizable (Wiig, 1993). There are ways that are formulated for holding and maintenance of knowledge in employees. The best way for holding knowledge is through internalization into the brain and memory so that it is easily accessible and not easily lost for whatever reason. There is a need, however, to ensure proper distribution of such knowledge so as to protect it from loss incase one of its holders fail for whatever reason, especially if they die or drop out of the organization. Other forms of holding knowledge include saving it on computers, hard copy, encoded knowledge and many other forms in which knowledge is stored and preserved for future access and use (Wang, 2007). There is another facet of knowledge that involved pooling of knowledge. In this facet, different channels are formulated and used for sharing of knowledge from one person to another, and more importantly amongst the employees in an organization. This way, knowledge is easily accessed by more employees and also easily preserved. With knowledge possessed by more people after its sharing among workers, it is utilized in better ways in the processes of the organization and in the overall organizational structures. It is also made more accessible for better productivity of the employees in an organization (Wiig, 1993). Finally, the other most important facet of knowledge management is its utilization. Knowledge becomes useful in an organization only when it is utilized. Without being utilized, knowledge is useless and irrelevant in the organization and cannot contribute in any way to the betterment of an organization. Therefore, there is a need to formulate ways of utilization of knowledge in the best and most productive ways in the organization (Krogh, 1998). Conclusion Knowledge management is a very important factor in any organization as it gives good directives on the best ways to acquire, maintain, utilize and preserve knowledge for the better of the organization. With an organization having many factors of production in place for procession of its products, there is a need for better emphasis on proper management of knowledge present in its most important factor of production, labor. This consequently implies better combination of all the other factors of production leading to better quality of products and more productivity from labor hence ensuring efficiency and satisfaction from the organization and generally achievement of the organizational goals (Fard, & Selseleh, 2010). References Fard, D., and Selseleh, M. (2010). Measuring Knowledge Management Cycle: Evidence from Iran. London: John Willey& Sons. Fernandez, I., Gonzales, A. and Sabherwal, R. (2004). Knowledge Management: Challenges, Solutions, and Technologies. London: Chapman and Hall. Nonaka, I. (1998). The knowledge creating company. London: John Willey& Sons. Nonaka, I. (1994). A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. New York, ACM. Krogh, G. (1998). Care in Knowledge Creation. London: Pitman. Wang, J. (2007). Knowledge Management Cycle. New York, ACM. Wiig, K. (1993). Knowledge Management Foundations. Texas: Schema Press. Read More