Concept of Knowledge Management
Concept of Knowledge Management
Concept of Knowledge Management
1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 2 2.0 Concept of knowledge management ................................................................................................... 2 3.0 Model of knowledge management ...................................................................................................... 4 4.0 Strategy for implement knowledge management ................................................................................ 5 4.1 Alignment of knowledge management with business directions ...................................................... 5 4.2 Identification of the benefits of knowledge management efforts...................................................... 6 4.3 Appropriate knowledge management program................................................................................ 6 4.4 Other strategy of implement the KM .............................................................................................. 6 5.0 The strategy role of human resources department in knowledge mapping ........................................... 7 6.0 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 9 7.0 References ....................................................................................................................................... 10
1.0 Introduction
Human capital is the most important matter in the organization, Hayton(2005) defined that human capital is the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees (Hayton, 2005). In other work, human capital is mean that people who burn with their personal unique traits such as intelligence aptitude, tacit knowledge, and ability and use the unique traits to contribute to the organization. However, human resource management (HRM) is consists of all activities related to the management of employment relationships in the firm (Lin et al., 2008). While, the Strategic HRM is provides firms with the internal capacity to adapt and adjust to their competitive environments by aligning HRM policies and practices (De Saa Perez and Garc a Falcon, 2004; Kidwell and Fish, 2007). Examples of these policies and practices are recruitment and selection, training and development, and reward systems with business strategies (Leingnick-Hall and Leingnick-Hall, 1988; Delery and Doty, 1996; Svelik and Starrov-Costea, 2007; Petrescu and Simmons, 2008; Verano-Tacoronte and Melian-Gonzalez, 2008). For the firms to who are able to develop HRM practices aligned with business strategy is a source of sustainable competitive advantage (Dyer and Reeves, 1995; Huselid et al., 1997; Barrett and Mayson, 2007; Andonova and Zuleta, 2007). As a result, organizing work system in the organization is very important because this system is managed by the HRM, and the HRM must use the suitable management structure to manage the organization to retain the sustainable competitive advantage for the organization. Due for the changing dynamic for the business environment, the organizing work system had change over the past decade. In the 18th century, the organization is adopting the traditional model of employment to manage the worker. Under this traditional management, the management had emphasis the internal rules to manage the worker. When turn to the 20th century, the organizing work system have change from the traditional model of employment to scientific management to increase worker efficiency through a scientific study of the work task and to improve the productivity. But in the 1960s, because of the declining of the productivity, increase the industrial disputes, and worker dissatisfied led to new structure work system which is concern to the worker autonomy and participation through job enrichment or modern management. Example of modern management is Japanese management, knowledge management, and reengineering. When move on to the 1990s, due to the technological change and the processes of globalization, the management style trend to flexible employment. In this paper, will deeply discuss one of the modern management, which is knowledge management (KM). This paper will focus to the reason for KM become important, the relationship between HRM and KM, the effect of the KM.
Currently, there are many scholar define the meaning to the knowledge, one of the scholar, Sanchez et al. (1996) defined knowledge as the ability to sustain the coordinated deployment of assets and capabilities in a way that promises to help the firm achieve its goals. These assets, or which is classified as the ``Knowledge Treasures'', is need a knowledge map which describes how to find, what to find and where to find useful knowledge within the organization. Stewart (1997) believes that knowledge can be found through the human capital, structural capital; a customer capital and the treasure map needs to cover all three areas for both tacit and explicit knowledge. Furthermore, currently there have view that knowledge based view is the extension of the resource-based theory which states that the sources of competitive advantage are not all the firms internal resources, but just the intangible or knowledge-related assets of the organization and its capability to integrate knowledge (Grant, 1996). Knowledge, especially tacit knowledge, can be explain that source of advantage because it is unique, imperfectly mobile, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable (Ambrosini and Bowman, 2001), and knowledge is the fundamental basis of competition (Zack,1999). In addition, there are still have many of definition to define the meaning of knowledge, are present in below table:
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Interactions between these types of knowledge with individual employee knowledge greater support firm to create organizational knowledge, and thus, firms exploit the benefits of competitive advantage when the developed organizational knowledge is rarely available in other firms, valued more in current firm, and cannot copy by other firms (Perez and de Pablos, 2003; Barney, 1991). As the result, organizations are highly concerned about the issues of managing knowledge. Maier (20050 states that knowledge management (KM) is the management function responsible for regular selection, implementation and evaluation of knowledge strategies that aim at creating an environment to support work with knowledge internal and external to the organization in order to improve organizational performance . But, this definition mostly focus on strategic process of KM according to Bukowitz and Williams (1999).Besides that, literatures emphasize that the process involved in KM should be integrated with employees who lead their organization towards achieving competitive advantage (Yahya and Goh, 2002; Perez and de Pablos, 2003; Davenport and Prusak,1998). So, tactical KM process is given much consideration,
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and it consists of knowledge acquisition, knowledge documentation, knowledge transfer, knowledge creation, and knowledge application (Filius et al., 2000).
3.0 Model of knowledge management Nada K et al.(2003) state that the literature and praxis found out that there are many KM models as there are practitioners and theorists from specialized functional to diffused KM.. The model of knowledge management included of philosophy-based model, cognitive model, network model, community model, and quantum model. Table 2 will provided a summary for the perspective of models. According to the Swan and Newell(2000), in all the model, the cognitive model of KM is receiving considerable attention in the literature and praxis, other models like network model, community model and philosophical are also receiving attention. However, the quantum model is emerging. Besides that, Swan and Newell (2000) also claim that each model treats knowledge in its own particular way; so has different KM approaches.
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should focus on tacit knowledge example hiring the expertise. So, the role of human resources management in identifying where the tacit knowledge resides and how best it may be utilized is important for the success of this strategy.
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which are the strategic gap and the knowledge gap. The figure 1 have show the role of knowledge mapping (KM) in the identification of strategic and knowledge gaps. Figure 1: The role of knowledge mapping (KM) in the identification of strategic and knowledge gaps
The purpose of the role of forward knowledge mapping is to identify any strategic gap that might exist. Forward knowledge mapping identifies what organizations can do, while the backward knowledge mapping identifies what organizations must know. The difference between what an organization can and must do highlights the strategic deficiencies and here the human resources department can ensure that future recruitment is aligned with the strategic plan of the organization. Backward knowledge mapping identifies the knowledge gaps. Assessing what employees know against what they should know identifies training opportunities to overcome existing knowledge deficiencies.
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6.0 Conclusion
According to the Gustafson and Kleiner (1994), knowledge management activities should result in improving productivity, enhancing the business environment and increasing levels of innovation and the activities also may assist organizations to address human resources management problems on local and global levels, and transform human resources managers into knowledge practitioners or facilitators, with responsibility for developing employee competence. Even though the human resources management has played an important role in the structure of organizations in current years, there are still areas where it can progress even further to improve the competitive position of organizations. In addition, the limitation of the KM is effective knowledge management can be very costly for organization. Furthermore, ineffective knowledge management is inevitably far more expensive.
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7.0 References
Gustafson, K. and Kleiner, B.H. (1994), ``New developments in team building'', Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 26 No. 9, pp. 7-22. Zack, M. (1999), ``Developing a knowledge management strategy'', California Management Review, Spring. Soliman, F. (1998), ``Optimum level of process mapping and least cost business process reengineering'', International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 810-16. Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H. (1995), ``The knowledge creating company, how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hansen, M.T., Nohria, N. and Tierney, T. (1999), ``What's your strategy for managing knowledge?'', Harvard Business Review, March-April, pp. 106-16. Eginton, K. (1998), ``Knowledge management Librarian, Vol. 6, December, pp. 247-55. law firms can do it too!'', Australian Law
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Sbarcea, K. (1998), ``Know what, know how, know why: implementing a knowledge management system the Phillips Fox experience'', Australian Law Librarian, Vol. 6, March, pp. 4-8. Nada K. Kakabadse, Andrew Kakabadse and Alexander Kouzmin (2003), Reviewing the knowledge management literature: towards a taxonomy , Jounal of knowledge management, vol 7, pp.75-91. Swan, J. and Newell, s. (2000), Linking knowledge management and innovation , in Hansen, H.R., Bicher, M. and Mahrer, H.Proceedings of the 8th Euripean Conference on information system, Vienna University of Economics and Business Admonistration, pp. 591-8. Hayton, J.C. (2005), Promoting corporate entrepreneurship through human resource management practices: a review of empirical research , Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 21-41. Lin, C.H., Peng, C.H. and Kao, D. (2008), The innovativeness effect of market orientation and learning orientation on business performance , International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 29 No. 8, pp. 752-72. De Saa Pe rez, P. and Garc a Falco n, J.M. (2004), The influence of human resource management in savings bank performance , Service Industries Journal, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 51-66. Leingnick-Hall, C. and Leingnick-Hall, M. (1988), Strategic human resources management: a review of the literature and proposed typology , Academy of Management Review, Vol. 13, pp. 454-70. Delery, J. and Doty, D. (1996), Modes of theorizing in human resource management: tests of universalistic, contingency and configurational performance indicators , Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 802-35. Svelik, I. and Starrov-Costea, E. (2007), Connecting human resources management and knowledge management , International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 28 Nos 3/4, pp. 197-206. Petrescu, A.I. and Simmons, R. (2008), Human resource management practices and workers job satisfaction , International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 651-67. Verano-Tacoronte, D. and Melian-Gonzalez, S. (2008), Human resources control systems and performance: the role of uncertainty and risk propensity , International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 161-87. Andonova, V. and Zuleta, H. (2007), The effect of enforcement on human resources practices , International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 344-53.
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