Knowledge management - Essay Example

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENET …………………. College/ ………….. …………. Discuss the use of games and simulations in Knowledge Management? What techniques and technologies might be most important? Knowledge Management, one of the most significant interdisciplinary to HRM involves people, process and technology within an organization. Its fundamental objective is to create knowledge, share it or transfer among the people and use it for the benefits of the organization (Noe, 2002, p. 168).

In creating, sharing and making use of it, gaming, simulation, calculations, data base and many other information-managing strategies have been found to be extremely important. Knowledge management theorists categorize tacit and explicit knowledge. Using simulation, graphs, games and other materials will be part of explicit knowledge, which relates to the use of knowledge or information stored in a data base, games etc. As Wiig (2004, p. 98) noted, making use of stories, simulation and games for knowledge management essentially requires that the recipients must have sufficient background and prior knowledge.

Games, simulation, calculation, recreation, graphical representation are some of the techniques and strategies that can be used for creating knowledge, sharing it between people, transferring it from one group to the other and making use of it for the overall benefits of organization. In using or depending on gaming, simulation and other tools for knowledge management, computer or any other electronic media can be used for storing information in useable data base, converting them to more convenient forms and getting them highly useful for the organizational requirements.

The main techniques to be used for this purpose include maintaining accuracy, reliability, dependability and flexibility etc. Provide an overview of the 4 key enablers (Infrastructure, Culture, Measures, and Technology) and provide at least one outside resources that substantiates one of the enablers. Knowledge Management is essentially an organizational process. It is critical to management and key element to organizational success. Various Knowledge Management models suggested that there are mainly four (in some literatures five) key enablers namely Infrastructure, Culture, Measurement and Technology (Girard, Girard and Girard, 2009, p. 33). The fundamental elements of knowledge management are knowledge creation, sharing and transferring it and use of it and these can be smoothly functioned only when there are sufficient infrastructure in the organization, there is an organizational culture that is more likely to motivate knowledge share among the people or create an organizational learning environment, measurement tools that management can make use of them to identify how effective is the KM and technology that enables creation, sharing and using of the knowledge.

In a knowledge driven organization, many of the significant functions like inventory, billing etc will be handled with extreme care of knowledge with performance targets. In today’s competitive business contexts, knowledge is greater power and is fundamental tool for strategic decision making. Where there are sufficient infrastructure facilities, effective measurements tools, successful organizational culture and proper technologies, knowledge can be managed effectively, because these are the main enablers of the knowledge management.

One outside enabler to the knowledge management is leadership which can be considered as an enabler that substantiates organizational culture. References Girard, J, Girard, JP & Girard, J 2009, A Leader's Guide to Knowledge Management: Drawing on the Past to Enhance Future Performance, Business Expert Press Noe R.A (2002), Employee training and Development, McGraw Hill Irwin Wiig, KM 2004, People-focused knowledge management: how effective decision making leads to corporate success, Illustrated edition, Butterworth-Heinemann