MBA Essay:知识管理对组织绩效的影响
发布时间：2016-06-11 06:23
MBA essay:知识管理对组织绩效的影响
The impacts of Knowledge Management on Organizations Performance
在过去的二十年中，，知识管理一直是一个热门话题。人们提到知识管理是影响组织绩效的重要因素。然而，重要的是要注意，知识管理不仅是一个复杂的信息技术系统。正如在本报告中讨论的，知识管理是一个集策略、工具和技术，以方便组织中的知识的创建、开发、共享和存储。在知识管理系统中，人与技术的相互作用和相互依赖。人们已经积累了他们的知识（即隐性知识），知识管理有助于把这些知识传递给对方（即显性知识）。
In this report, I discuss about the nature of knowledge (i.e. the differences between data, information, and knowledge), how a KM system works (i.e. based on Wiig KM cycle), as well as how KM influence the operations of an organization (i.e. in term of performance, employees, learning organization, and management).
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION 知识管理导论
Data, Information, and Knowledge:
Before deeply discussing about knowledge management system, it is worth to understand the differences among data, information and knowledge.
Data consists of raw facts. For example, at Raffles International College (RIC), the numbers of students enroll in different faculty each term, the results of lecturers' evaluation (made by students), and the number of students defer a special subject are all data.
Information is a set of analyzed and organized data which have additional values beyond the value of the facts themselves (Stair R. M & Reynolds G. W., 2008, p.5). For instant, by collecting and organizing the figures occur in each term, RIC's managers realize that there are twice as many students enroll in Fashion courses as in Business courses in recent years; or students tend to defer those classes of strict lecturers or theory-oriented, and so on.
Knowledge is the awareness and understanding of relationships among concepts relevant to a particular area; and then, using the gained information to perform a specific task or to make better decision. Back to RIC, for example, by analyzing relevant information about the enrollment and students' attitude towards the subjects, the lecturers, and the school, then comparing to the performance of competitors and external environmental impacts, the school director can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current Business faculty and make instant modification.
In addition, there are two types of knowledge: tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the intangible knowledge that lies in the mind of individuals, and takes years to earn through learning, practicing and experiencing. Meanwhile, explicit knowledge is the "touchable" knowledge that can be shared and learned in tangible forms such as stories, records, books, images, sounds, and so on.
Defining Knowledge Management:定义知识管理：
According to Dalkir (2005), Knowledge Management is a systematically and coordinately process to utilize the organization's resources - i.e., people, capital, technologies, processes, and structure - in order to create, share, apply, and develop knowledge. Then, all the valuable lessons learned and best practices are stored in the corporate memory for future retrieve, as well as, support organizational learning.
Knowledge management is not neither merely information technology nor the collection of all knowledge existed in the world. Instead, it is the connected procedures to control and improve the ability of the organization to perform better as a whole through innovation, mistake learning and best experiences. Besides, an effective knowledge management system helps to distinguish between profitable knowledge and the obsolete one; as well as "divest" the nonuse knowledge (i.e. through externalization) and refresh the organization.
In addition, a huge repository which stores thousands of experiences, facts, and events does not guarantee that the company is or should be a knowledge oriented organization. Take the library of RIC as an example. The library is full of books, from management to fashion. Yet, it does not mean that all students are knowers. Students can read; but transforming words, sounds and pictures in to something having meaning is a different story. Without the ability to be analyzed, understood, applied, developed and disseminated, those experiences, facts, and events are still information, not knowledge at all.
In short, knowledge management system consists of strategies, tools and techniques that can be used to access, process, use, and improve and disseminate the knowledge assets.
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - HOW IT WORKS 知识管理系统-它是如何工作的
Knowledge management has been a hot topic. Many authors write about it, many theories and models have been set up. However, in my opinion, Wiig Knowledge Management Cycle is a good model to explain what a knowledge management system is. Accoriding to Wiig, a KM cycle consists of four stages: build, hold, pool and apply knowledge (Dalkir K., 2005, p.39-42).
Build knowledge is the process of creating the knowledge with many activities including obtaining, analyzing, and organizing (of knowledge). For example, at Toyota Motor Corporation, through observing, recording, and analyzing the daily performance of the workers and the machineries, the managers develop new theory about "non-value-adding" wastes in manufacturing process, as well as solutions to avoid these wastes. The sources for capturing knowledge diversify from personal experiences, training, observations, books, media, and so on.
Hold knowledge relates to tools and techniques to embed the knowledge in organization's memory. Sometimes the knowledge is stored in tangible forms (i.e. explicit knowledge) such as reports, milestone, patterns, real objects, recipes; and sometimes it is keep in minds of individuals (i.e. tacit knowledge).
Pool knowledge stage involves collecting knowledge from different sources. There are many ways to pool knowledge: collaborative teams, peers discussions and brainstorms, expert consulting, and so on. After collecting, the knowledge will be assembled and ready to serve the next function: using or applying.
A perfect example for hold and pool knowledge is the ShareNet system of Siemens. ShareNet was an intranet-based knowledge management system which collected and utilized knowledge of individual employees in its network regardless to their geographic locations. ShareNet consisted of chat room, a database and search engine. Through the system, one employee could store his/her thoughts, ideas or critics about a project. Then another Siemens worker can learn about the information through browsing by project, and could contact with the authors for more details (BusinessWeek, 2001).
Apply knowledge: the usage of knowledge strongly depends on what kind the knowledge is as well as who is the knowledge user. Knowledge can be used to perform the routine task in a better way (e.g. Toyota uses its understanding about wastes to reduce unnecessary moves/steps in production and speeds the process), to develop new product/service (e.g. Apple uses its knowledge in IT to create iPods and iPhones), to analyze the situation (e.g. marketers use their knowledge to make SWOT analysis), to support the decision making (e.g. to enter a new market), and so on.
There is one important notice about the knowledge. As the world keeps changing, new knowledge is created every day; and organization, to avoid being obsolescent, accumulates knowledge in its memory. The problem is not all knowledge kept in the repository is profitable or value-creating. Therefore, Bukowitz and Williams added two more essential steps into Wiig model, which were assess and divest (Dalkir K., 2005, p.32-33).
Today, people are "overwhelmed" with the information and knowledge, therefore, it is crucial for organizations to choose the most valuable knowledge to keep and implement. This requires the KM system to have the power and ability to evaluate the value of "intellectual capital", and retain the most profitable one in the system. The unnecessary or outdated knowledge should be divested. Moreover, in many case, though the knowledge is useless in an organization, it is still valuable when being transferred outside the organization.
ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACTS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 知识管理的组织影响
KM has large impact on the organization in terms of: operation, employee, learning organization, and management.
Impacts on organizational performance:
An effective KM system has significant contribution to the establishment of productive procedures and the innovation of new product. Back to the case of Toyota, for example, the corporation has turned it operational excellence into a strategic weapon. The knowledge management system in Toyota consists of problem-solving groups of workers, effective learning resource center for employees (i.e. know-how database), on-job training, relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen). Through utilizing its KM system, Toyota has developed famous methods such as Just In Time (JIT), one-piece flow, kaizen, jidoka, and heijunka to eliminate the adding-cost-without-adding-value wastes. As the result, Toyota owns the world's fastest product development process. It takes Toyota maximum 12 months to design a new car while it takes two to three years for the competitors to achieve the same task (Liker J. K., 2004).
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In addition, a good knowledge management system also influences the prosperity of the corporation. Take the ShareNet system of Siemens as an example. With original cost of $7.8 million, ShareNet had created additional $122 million in sales. Not only increased the revenue, ShareNet also supported the performance of Siemens' workers in different nations. An example about ShareNet's outstanding performance related to the accomplishment of a Siemens' sales group in Malaysia. This group needed to develop a pilot project to win a $3million bid. By using ShareNet, they learnt that there was another team in Denmark had successfully developed a similar project. They contacted with their colleagues to gain valuable information about the necessary hardware and software, and finally won the contract (BusinessWeek, 2001).
Impacts on employees:对员工的影响：
First of all, knowledge management system provides amble knowledge to the workers so that they can well perform their job. When task is well done, it creates a sense of achievement and success for employees.
Take Eureka project of Xerox as an example. Through the maintenance of copiers, printers and networks, employees discovered many problems that had never been mentioned on documentations. The findings and solutions would be recorded and freely shared through the Eureka grassroots, so that every Xerox employee could learn about it and save for future use (Powers V. J., 1999).
Secondly, an effective KM system will benefit the organization in term of employees' loyal commitment. Nowadays, salary is no longer the main motivator for people to go for work. Instead, the empowerment plays important role in influencing employees' attitude and behavior. Through KM system, employees have chance to earn knowledge for their use and, as the same time, contribute back to the organization via sharing their know-how. The interesting point about knowledge management system relates to the blur in the boundary between the managers and subordinates; instead, there are only know-how sharers and know-how receivers.
Thirdly, KM encourages employees to make innovation. In my understanding, innovation is the ending result in the process of making assumptions and hypothesis, testing them, analyzing and evaluating the findings, choosing the best alternative and developing it. When applying KM in the organization, employees can freely discuss and share their ideas, thoughts, problems, and even solutions with the others; and great ideas are often born during these discussions. Remember, iPods and iPhones are not Steve Jobs's innovation; and MS Offices is not Bill Gates' work. Instead, they are the results of Apple and Microsoft' collaborative teams' ideas and creations.
Impacts on learning organization:对学习型组织的影响：
People are often reluctant to changes because they worry about the risks accompany with changes. Organization also behaves in same manner. Due to the perceived costs (either really or imaginarily) accompanied with the changing (i.e. in infrastructure, systems, effort in performing, etc.), the organizations (especially those are giant), have tendency to retain the old knowledge and lose the ability to recognize the value of the newer knowledge (Ishikawa & Naka, 2007, p.52). Therefore, the existence of effective knowledge management system will leverage the understanding of managers and employees about the necessary of change and flexibility in sustainable development. In KM system, employees are stimulated to make suggestions, seek new ways to solve problems, or challenge the current performance; so that, their capability can be enhanced. As a result, their fear about uncertainty will be reduced, and organization can quickly accept and adapt to new changes.
Furthermore, to retain the competitive advantages and survive in a tough global competition, it is essential for the organization to identify and choose the most valuable or profitable knowledge, and disseminate it among the employees, as well as get rid of those that are irrelevant or out-of-date. A healthy learning organization is the one that can enhance the value producing by knowledge at the minimum cost. To be so, learning organizations rely on the facilitation of KM system in classifying, preserving and developing industry knowledge.
Impact on Management:对管理的影响：
The success of a KM system requires the free float of information and knowledge within the organization, as well as the empowerment of employees. To delegate and empower employee needs the cooperation of both side: the employee and the management. From side of management, KM affects their understanding and willingness in delegating tasks and authority to right people at right time so that the organizational objectives can be achieved successfully and productively. In addition, thanks to best practices, lessons learned and experiences archived in the corporation memory, managers can develop their capability in leading people, allocating resources, handling disturbance and making decisions. The stories, lessons, discussions about leading style of Jack Welch, problem-solving of Donald Trump, lean manufacturing of Toyota, et cetera, have been learnt and applied by many management and corporations to leverage their operations, and gain the sustainable development. Moreover, the mistakes recorded, analyzed and stored in corporation's memory also support the manager's decision making. In general, KM facilitates management in establishing better strategies and plans, retaining and accumulating talents, making correct choices (and decisions), reducing risks and improving the management competency.
CONCLUSION 结论
Knowledge Management is not a new topic in management's discussions. However, it gradually gain important role in deciding the success of a corporation. In the past, people often thought of IT system when talking about knowledge management system. Yet, in the modern environment, a successful KM should be people-oriented. Knowledge does not only lie on the corporation's memory, but also stays in mind of individuals. Therefore, an effective KM system should allow a smooth flow of knowledge within organization through peer discussion and brainstorm, collaborative team work, expert consulting, and so on. In addition, KM system must acknowledge and support the contributions of individuals in disseminating and upgrading knowledge of the organization. However, knowledge is not always good and useful. Thus, KM system should have the ability to choose the most profitable knowledge - which creates the highest value for the organization - and get rid of those no-longer-useful one. Finally, KM benefits both the organization at the whole and the individual employees. In the world where costs is the main concern of most managers, KM provides chances to improve organization's productivity at minimum costs while maximizes the empowerment and self accomplishment of human factor.
LISTS OF REFERENCES 参考文献
Stair R. M. & Reynolds G. W., 2008. Fundamentals of information systems - A managerial approach., 4th edn. Canada: Cengage Learning.
Dalkir, K., 2005. Knowledge management in theory and practice. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Ishikawa A. & Naka I., 2007, Knowledge management and risk strategies. Singapore: World Scientific.
Liker J. K., 2004. The Toyota way. New York: McGraw-Hill
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