Innovation, knowledge and learning - Assignment Example

? Innovation, knowledge and learning Table of Contents Introduction 3 Critical Literature 4 Methodology Employed 7 Data Collection and Analysis Techniques 8 Quality Findings 9 Recommendations 11 Conclusion 12 Reference 14 Bibliography 18 Introduction Knowledge management is undertaken with great zeal and initiative in today’s organizations and accounts for a key success factor for them too. It primarily addresses the ways in which organizations might manage the knowledge existing within its systems and its employees. It also provides the basis on which information technology may be used for leveraging the existing knowledge and creating or generating new knowledge too (Levine & Gilbert, 1998, p.1). A more effective solution is reached at when this knowledge is transferred or integrated into sets of policies for capturing and generating more knowledge. The firms are considered to be a network of relationships existing between individuals, groups and sub units who are further embedded into a broader network of relationships with competitors, customers, suppliers, and other organizations (Capasso, Dagnino & Lanza, 2005, p.181). However, the superficial aspects of contexts and problems would have to be eliminated for the transfer of knowledge to be successful. This is also true that in cases where knowledge is applied inappropriately or in such contexts where is does not fit rightly, it is likely to result in fall in performance. That is why the topic of knowledge transfer has attained great importance and the field of research (Baum, 2002, p.198). The project seeks to make a critical evaluation of an article on knowledge management through making a comprehensive review of the case study of ‘InTouch’ within Schlumberger. It evaluates the ways in which knowledge is created, mobilized and diffused within the organization. The analysis of the paper in conducted with the use of adequate academic references. The project is conducted using qualitative research techniques in which the literature review provides critical analysis of the researches conducted before providing statements for or against the topic; and the data analysis is done using secondary research techniques. The data are integrated and compiled to arrive at the research findings and analysis. Critical Literature Globalization and the innovation are very closely related in the modern era. Globalization is one of the most important events of the civilization (Ervin, Smith, 2008, p. 7). The concept has brought immense changes in the thinking process of the human beings and development of new ideas and innovations in the world. Innovation is used in every field of the social behaviour of human beings and new things are generating every day for the enhancement of the lifestyle and business processes. Innovation in the field are also used in the industries and for the enhancement of the business functions knowledge management system is the latest technology used to build a knowledge base for the employees in the organization for the learning and innovation process. According to the author Robert Thierauf, in a knowledge management system the most important aspect for the firm is the storing of data which acts as the real knowledge of the firm. The collective knowledge of the different employees and the experiences from the different sources of the organization are organized at a single database for discovering at later stages (Thierauf, 1999, p. 72). But on the contrary by the author Stuart Barnes, knowledge reflects a phenomenon which is very difficult to quantify as it is the most difficult activity to segregate knowledge from other activities. Each and every aspects of the daily life can be a dynamic source of knowledge for everyone. Rather than its theoretical aspect it is more about practical implementation of the daily understanding of business processes (Barnes, 2002, p. 99). According to the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), organizations need to evaluate their activities and implement strategies for building an efficient framework for the knowledge management system. By the source the framework is mainly based on several principles of the management which in turn will help the management to access the knowledge management practice of the firm and facilitate the process of identification of the best practices in the field. A well designed knowledge management framework will help to target at the right direction and judge the effectiveness of the activities of the business processes. A common belief of the experts regarding knowledge management practice is that most KM is effective with time with the gathering of information from the organizations practices (EFQM, n.d). The implementation of the knowledge management system is the most challenging activity for the firm to adopt the process. This implementation is not an easy task for the organization as there are various consequences and requirements which are needed to be understood by the company managers for the successful implementation. As cited in the book, ‘Knowledge science, engineering and management’, author Zili Zhang and Jorg Siekmann mentioned, it’s not only about the knowledge and information which is needed to be understood rather the manager should also have a clear view of the technologies and the implementation process with proper use of technologies which can produce an effective system for the business process (Zhang, Siekmann, 2007, p. 378). Since the modern business techniques are constantly changing with the rapid changes in the environment the business process are needed to be modified with the ongoing characteristics of the environment. As mentioned by Yogesh Malhotra in one of his journal an effective knowledge management system can facilitate the new business environment of the society due to its dynamic and discontinuous nature and its rapid changes in every aspects of business process (Malhotra, 2000, p. 1). The distributed structure of the system helps the people to access data from the historical time and applies to their recent business processes gaining experiences from the past experiences. According to Mark Easterby-Smith and Marjorie A. Lyles in their book ‘The Blackwell handbook of organizational learning and knowledge management’, this knowledge management and IT implementation of the stem have recognized several factors which influence the implement process of the system in a business environment. Various factors like cultural, organizational, technological and strategic planning can influence the designing process of the system. Thus according to the author the future focus of implementation process should be concentrated towards the opportunities and challenges of the IT tool to develop the knowledge management system which can integrate the various dimensions of business and enhance the effectiveness of the system (Smith, Lyles, 2005, p. 115). Knowledge management are concerned with supplying information at the right time at the right place and to the right people who are in need of the information. In this context in a journal Lisa A. Petrides mentioned that people need to manipulate data and form it in their own way of application due to the dynamic process of the business in the modern era (Petrides, 2004, p. 4). The changing business process of the modern era is in constant need to flexible model of information provider for prompt action at the right time. Distributed system is not providing adequate data and the major challenge is due to its availability which is most important for the organization. As cited by Carol Hildebrand in a magazine called Intellectual Capitalism, he has mentioned the needs of IT in implementation of Knowledge Management system. By the author the most important aspect is the information technology which drives the system. It provides information to the people just when it is needed which is the major usefulness of the system (CIO Enterprise, 1999, p. 69). Knowledge management system is concerned with the storing of information which is accessed by the people at later stage for references and this stored data can act as the human intelligence for the business process. As mentioned by the author Vijayan Sugumaran the stored data acts as the explicit representation of the experienced person who can provide the intelligence to cope with the various critical situations of the business process (Sugumaran, 2002, p. 184). Methodology Employed Research methodology is the technique solving the research problem in a systematic manner (Kothari, 2008, p. 8). While defining the research problem it is needed to understand the concept and analyse the issues related to the problem (Khanzode, 2004, p. 25). Conducting research on Knowledge management is one of the crucial activities to understand the effectiveness of the system in the business process. Theoretical foundation of the concept is not adequate for finding the conclusion of the effectiveness of the knowledge management system (Lehaney, 2004, p. 147). It’s the practical implementation process for which the effectiveness differs in the different business areas and the environment of adaptation also plays a vital role in its implementation process. The methodology which has been used for the theoretical foundation of the different related concepts is primarily secondary research. Various concepts like organizational culture, structure of the company, behaviour of the organization, strategic management issues and quality management process and understanding the IT implementation on the organization are some important topics for the evaluation of the concept (Feher, 2006, p. 509). Through secondary research the attitude of the organizational culture and adaptation of the system are understood for successful implementation of the system. Innovation of technologies and IT tools are providing great support to diversified business processes. The literature review on the topic gave a vivid insight how the technological advancement are facilitating the process of innovation and offering dynamic solution to the management for deciding and implementing prompt actions on the various critical business situations. The theoretical foundation gave huge information about the process of implementation and the techniques to identify the effectiveness of the knowledge management system in an organization. The secondary research from various articles, books and journals provided a strong base to quantify the nature of implementation process and also at the same time the hindrance and problems the management might face for the implementation process of the knowledge management system. Data Collection and Analysis Techniques Secondary research techniques are employed for the research for uncovering the information which has already been collected and compiled in certain forms. The research primary aims to be based on the collection of qualitative data. Secondary data are collected with the help of using research articles and journals on the subject. Secondary research presents such data which reflects that organizations try to manage their knowledge effectively as the basis for attaining comparative advantage (Kusek & Rist, 2004, p.84). The secondary data collected also supports facts how technology and information systems used in organizations for supporting knowledge management has been accepted widely. The secondary data is collected through previously conducted research reports, magazines, journals, new articles, NGO and government statistics, etc. Since the secondary data is presented which was already collected by someone else, it is able to save a considerable amount of times and cost. Collecting the same data through primary sources would be time consuming and would require high quality data bases. In this case a large amount of data is collected through case studies, published texts and statistics. Qualitative analysis is done by integrating the data collected over some time and finding the trend through the same (Amedeo, Golledge & Stimson, 2008, p.33). Quality Findings The first and most important finding is that knowledge intensive activities and technical service delivery are the most important in knowledge management. This is apparent from the fact before the launch of InTouch, there used to be a wide gap between the place of service origination and the service delivery. InTouch was able to bridge this gap by linking the two directly. Knowledge must be allowed to go through a forward and a reverse flow of direction. In other words the use of technology on knowledge management was considered to be imperative as it was able to link the different sectors easily and faster which consequently facilitated knowledge transfer (Gottschalk, 2005, p.95). It was also found that knowledge management plays an important role in attaining tangible benefits. This is demonstrated through the fact that Schlumberger’s business advantage was considerably strengthened through the implementation of InTouch and through the development of the technological capabilities of the system. Organizations realizing the importance of capabilities of knowledge management systems are found to dominate those without the same realization. This is because the products produced in organizations are actually the physical manifestations of the same knowledge and they also represent the worth of that knowledge. Additional surveys also reveal that the application of InTouch resulted in savings and costs amounting to more than $200 million. The studies also depicted that the same application helped to save 95% of the time which was used for solving operational problems and 75% of the time used for updating engineering modifications (Howlett, 2010, p.259). Knowledge management was found to be specifically helpful in creating new and different forms of communication. Generally emails and phone calls were more conventionally used for discussing the technical details and issues with regards to the making of decisions in business. The important contribution that InTouch has provided is that it has generated a single channel of communication through which the company was able to apply its knowledge efficiently and provide with operations having innovative solutions. Moreover it also provided sustenance of previous knowledge flow within the new matrix organization. This throws further insight into the application of technology in knowledge management for facilitating the creation and mobilization of knowledge considerably (Batten, 2008, p.53). The case reveals the importance of training for mobilizing the knowledge and that community facilitate this mobilization considerably. The reason why knowledge is considered to be difficult concept to be incorporated is because the process keeps expanding, is recursive and is often discontinuous. Knowledge management can only be effective if the users in the organizations have accessibility to that knowledge. A well defined training and development would further facilitate the use of knowledge in the right direction and guidance. It must also be able to generate and provide answers to the queries of the users. It must have the characteristics of solving problems easily and quickly in order to be effective in the organization. A well defined awareness program would go a long way in complimenting the application of the system in organizational settings of today. It must also have a proper feedback system so that employees and users are able to find quick solutions in case of problems and resolve issues without hassles (Jennex, 2007, p.7). It is seen that all of the above attributes collectively contribute towards enhancing possibilities of improving performance and productivity of organizations. In other words it can be said that knowledge creation and accessibility plays the important role of complimenting the organizational efficiency for delivering output and generating revenues (OECD, 2004, p.161). Recommendations It is recommended that organizations develop enterprise wide system of management of knowledge. The case study reveals that if the system is not widely interconnected throughout the organization then it would not be possible to yield results (Epstein & Lee, 2006, p.214). All employees must be empowered to use the system effectively to their advantage. It is especially applicable in the complicated bureaucratic structures and hierarchical organizations because of its effectiveness in integrating the sub units of the organization completely and bringing it to a common platform. Researchers have found a positive link between the effectiveness of collaboration of knowledge management and attainment of competitive advantage of the same. This follows from the fact that the stiff level of competition existing between firms requires extensive coordination of their knowledge assets between departments and their functional teams (Wolf, 2000, p.252). It is also recommended that organizations must have a proper system of evaluating the effectiveness of knowledge management systems. This necessarily requires making a cost and benefit analysis for the purpose. This must reflect of the result of the system in the organization and also measuring its extent of acceptance to the end users. The evaluation can be done on the basis of the customer value that it contributes to, the extent of collaboration with its customers, degree of knowledge sharing between employees in the organization and extent of enhancement of productivity and performance (OECD-a, 2003, p.49). Knowledge management systems must be complimented with proper and effective training programs which would employer employees to use them to their advantage and benefit. One important aspect would be to create an environment which would encourage the emergence and generation of new ideas and concepts. These concepts could be used by managers and employees for their use. Also in case of any queries, the system would help to provide an instant solution which could save considerable time, costs and energy. Conclusion It is seen that organizations make a great deal of investment for promoting creativity and innovation, however it is seldom realized that the ideas already exists and prevails within the organization in some form or the other. The key to using this idea effectively is to capture the knowledge from inside as well as outside and adopting those which are most relevant. Organizations have been increasingly referring to knowledge transfer through creation, sharing, dissemination, evaluation and adoption of ideas. The success factor in organization laid in their extent of realization that importance of stages of knowledge creation and transfer, and towards creation of a culture of continuous sharing and improvement (Schneider, Pan, & Hitzler, 2011, p.322). The critical literature on the subject reveals that researchers are optimistic about the application of the system for generating positive effects on the company’s businesses. However, it is realized that employees must have a clear notion of what the system exactly is and its implications. This requires a comprehensive and complete training on the subject. Empirical evidences have revealed that organizations investing in knowledge creation, mobilization and transfer have emerged to be more successful in comparison to those not making such investments (Beazley, Boenisch & Hardan, 2002, p.12). Lastly it is recommended that the system can only be effective if it integrates the entire units and sub units of the organization making its accessibility easy and quick. It must be ensured that there are no gaps between the users and the service providers. Moreover, the system must also help users and employees gathering any information and for answering to their queries. Users must not be faced any kind of accessibility in accessing the right information and knowledge through the system and must be provided with the training for having a comprehensive knowledge of the same. Only after meeting the above criteria could knowledge management systems made effective in organizational contexts. Reference Amedeo, D., Golledge, R. G. & Stimson, R. J. (2008). Person-environment-behavior research: investigating activities and experiences in spaces and environments. Guilford Press. Barnes, S. (2002). Knowledge management systems: theory and practice. Cengage Learning EMEA. Batten, L. (2008). 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