Knowledge Management Systems - Australia - Essay Example

Course name Professor’s name University name Date of submission Introduction The main reason of this report is toexplain critically how the exchange of knowledge and information affects our life experiences. I have also demonstrated the difference between information and knowledge by showing how usage of each one of them affected my stay in Australia. It helped me to incorporate new experiences and information. In the case study, I have used my personal experience to demonstrate the interaction between people of different cultures. This got inspired by experiences in Australia where I moved stay with my husband as I study. This paper shows that I have understood the concepts that underline KMS. KMS concept that I am going to use in this document include; knowledge memory; collection of practices, documents and other texts. In the end I am also able to contrast and identify the different elements of tacit and explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge involves organizing and systemizing, whereas, tacit knowledge is characterized by expertise and know- how in a particular field or event [Kim11]. Included also is an analysis of the event of meeting a girl using the three world model. The event helps me link world 1 and 2, as well as, world 3.The event comes upon my stay in Australia and it is linked to experiences and challenges that I have faced since I moved, this is with reference to the case study. Case study: interaction between people from different cultures My stay in Australia inspires this case study. Case study description Adjusting to a new culture is not easy. It requires one to learn values, beliefs and language of other people. One requires having knowledge and information on the customs of the group of people he or she is to join. At first, when I and my husband moved to Australia from the Middle East as he came to stay with me as I study, I experienced challenges adjusting to the new cultures. The main challenges were a language barrier and the difference in religion. It was difficult for me to interact with Australian people since I am a Muslim. However, after staying in Australia for a while, I acquired knowledge and information about their culture. Learning their culture enabled me to make new friends and made my stay in the country beneficial. Due to my experience, I decided to come up with a case study that demonstrates how people from different cultures interact. To come up with a comprehensive analysis, I have used knowledge learnt from KMS concepts. Case study analysis in terms of KMS concepts Knowledge management is the process by which people or organizations manage their knowledge assets to create value and meet their tactical and strategic requirements[Fro12]. It is made up of strategies, initiatives, processes, and systems that help in enhancing procedures used in storing, assessing, sharing and creating knowledge[Dav00]. It is a strong tie to a person’s targets and strategies thatare very helpful in managing knowledge that is useful for their personal use. In my case study, knowledge management system helps one to know to provide best-required knowledge to help in learning a new culture. It also helps acquire the right knowledge that they need in understanding other people’s culture. Also, it helps in knowing how to manage the acquired knowledge in order help people from different cultures interact freely without racially profiling each other because of their origin, beliefs, and religion. To fully analyze the case study, I used knowledge management system concepts. They include: Knowledge memory This is a collection of practices, documents and other texts that are made to help a person learn how other people conduct their daily practices. Interaction between different cultures requires one to take initiative and study written documents on other people’s culture. By use of written texts on Australian culture, I was able to learn important facts about their culture. I was able to know that their religionbases on stories associating with brave soldiers, bushrangers and battles[Aus15]. Today, Australia is defined by its Aboriginal heritage. It consists of people from different cultures that have innovative ideas, and it makes Australia have a thriving art scene. I also learned that they are very friendly and helpful and love telling jokes. Most Australian people live close to the beach, and their women wear clothes that leave most of their body parts uncovered. This is very different from my culture. In our culture, women wear Bui to cover all their body parts and expose only the face. At first when I arrived in I was confrontedwith challenges trying to fit into their culture. After, I was able to balance my beliefs and their beliefs. From the documents, I gathered information on religious beliefs of the Australian people. This enabled me learn the main difference and similarities between my religion and their religion. Studying the information provided me with enough knowledge on the subject and it made me know what to say in the case of a religious discussion. Moreover, it allowed me and my husband to continue practicing our religious practices without conflicting with the practices of the Australian citizens. This also made my studying easier since I was able to understand their education system in a short period. I was able to overcome the challenge of difference in religion practices. The event As I was walking by, my attention was caught by a lady who coincidentally was attracted with the way I was dressed, unique morose, by the mode of dressing. The lady was in a Bermuda short and a sleeveless top. With a smile on her face, The lady walked towards and gave me a hand shake accompanied by “hello” (West & Murphy 2007). We introduced ourselves to each other but for her, she had problems with pronouncing my name and requested me to repeat my name severally and even slower. With this, we even became closer and open to each other as if it was not our first meeting. We were attracted to each other’s mode of dressing and she told me in Australia they wear what they feel they are comfortable in. For me I was in a Bui which covered my whole body as a result of religion. Amazingly, she told me that women can freely breastfeed in public something that was not familiar in my culture. As we continued to chat, I realized that she was addressing me using my first name and she was humbled. Concerning educational issues, the lady seemed to downplay her academic achievements which seemed to me as if she was not objective oriented. She made me know that in Australia education was important and anyone with education could not face risks of unemployment. Also, she let me know that in Australia men and women are treated equally and about 50% of the workforces are women (West & Murphy 2007). After marriage, and childbirth women still maintain their jobs. Unlike in my country, where men are dominant, they dominate the women, in the society and women are subject to them. Also, I came to realize through our conversation it came to my notice that are no social rules governing relationship in Australia. Again, the issue of servants was not common in Australia and women and men equally shared the domestic duties and cooking equally unlike in my culture where women are the ones to do the domestic chore. Moreover, Australia is a Christian dominated county unlike my country where Islam is the dominant religion (Daalder & Fryar 1982). Analysis using KMS concepts Tiwana (2000) states that Applying Popper’s three world’s model in analysis of this situation, the ideas that are bought up in this case study can be explored and relationship between them analyzed. The model identifies world 1 with the physical universe, world 2 concerns our personal perceptions cognition and experiences and world 3 represents the human minds’ abstract product. World 1 is, therefore, represented by Australia as a country (in this case the lady represents the country), world 2 is represent by me who is subject to world 2,and world three represents the data I have about Australia, information regarding the Australia and my perception towards the country. Linking World 1 and world 2, from my experience in Australia and the discussion with the lady, I came to realize the aspects of Australian culture, religion and lifestyle. From the conversation and the previous experience, I came to world three. I realized that Australia is a Christian dominates country, in the tropics; people wear the way they feel they are comfortable and that the modes of dressing do not depicts someone’s character (Daalder &Fryar 1982). Also, from what I had heard earlier about the Australians addressing people with their first name, I came to prove it through my experience with the lady. Also, the social and friendly part of the Australians was revealed to me through the easy interaction I had with the lady. Moreover, about the gender equality, it came to my notice that men and women are treated equally in Australia and that domestic chores are equally shared between men and women (West & Murphy 2007). On the other hand, Gourlay (2006) argues that SECI model outlines the pattern I used to come up with my judgment. Through socializing (tacit to tacit) with the lady, we shared information face to face. Also, through externalization or tacit to explicit (reading on the Australian culture), combination, (combining information about Australia from different sources) also called explicit to explicit and internalization also known as explicit to tacit (learning by practicing the Australian culture) contributed to my judgment. Conclusion Coming to judgment about Australia, I used the popper’s 3 world’s model where world is Australia itself, world 2 being me and world 3 being my judgment. Through my interaction with the people of Australia (relationship between world 1 and world 2), I came up with judgment(world 3) about Australia. Likewise the SECI model helped me in the judgments; through interaction with the lady, reading about the country, dominating knowledge from different sources and getting into the actual practice of the Australian culture. Glossary • Knowledge This is a body of understanding and skills that are constructed by people and improved through interaction with other people (King & Marks 2008). • KM This is the process of sharing, developing, capturing, and effective use of organizational knowledge (King & Marks, 2008) • Information It is that which answers a question and knowledge and data can be derived from it (Lin & Huang 2008). • Tacit knowledge This is an information that is not easily transferred to another person in verbal or in writing (Gourlay 2006) • Explicit knowledge This is the knowledge that can be easily transmitted to others verbally, coded, emphasized and accessed(Gourlay 2006) • SECI model This is a knowledgeconversion method outlined by Takeuchi and Nonaka (Gourlay 2006). • SWOT This is a structured planning method used in the evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a project or a business venture (Tiwana, 2000). • Organizational Learning Is the process of transferring, retaining and crating knowledge in an organisations (Tiwana 2000) • Storytelling This is the conveying of events in images and words often by embellishment or improvisation (Lin & Huang 2008). • Internalization This is the conversion of exploit to tacit knowledge by participating in the events (Gourlay 2006). • Combination This is the conversion of explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge; merging information from different sources to come up with judgment (Gourlay 2006). • After Action Review Is a structured review process that analyses what happened, why it happened and how it can be improved by the participants (King & Marks 2008). • Anecdotes This is an amusing but short account that can depict real or fake character or incident (Lin & Huang 2008). References Kim11: , (Kimiz, 2011), Fro12: , (Frost, 2012), Dav00: , (Davenport, 2000), Aus15: , (Australia.com, 2015), Read More