Dada Adefolami

Dada Adefolami

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge

Talent is capability and knowledge is ability.’ Talent is intangible and embedded within people. Knowledge can be tangible and explicit if it is planned, controlled, facilitated and monitored, as is standard with other assets or processes in an organization. The management of knowledge adds strategic value. Knowledge is the tacit constituent that comes about when applying information to a decision-making process. This article focuses on the management of this knowledge.

In any economy, the aim is to maximize the advantage from a source of competition. If knowledge is a basis for the economy, then this economy has to be formed around maximizing the use and the management of knowledge in businesses.

The knowledge, as currently exists within an organization, is already a major contributor to success, in conjunction with the obvious contributors of the 9 MS, which include money, machinery, materials, manpower, makeup, MIS, management, machinery, methods and markets.

THE ORGANISATION, ITS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, AND KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge management (KM) plays an indispensable role of acting as a precursor to attaining a more comprehensive and sustainable competitive advantage. It is imperative therefore that each and every organization takes as a necessary step, self-reflection and audit areas of its gain and those that require redemption and correction.

The process of organizing, planning, leading and controlling resources within an entity with the overall aim of achieving its objectives. The organizational management of a business needs to be able to make decisions and resolve issues in order to be both effective and beneficial.

The basis of competition is shifting from having a unique raw material or production system in manufacturing, to differentiation though the building of knowledge. ‘Having knowledge can be regarded as even more important than possessing the other means of production – land, buildings, labour, and capital – because all the other sources are readily available in an advanced global society, while the right leading-edge knowledge is distinctly hard to obtain.

Companies have already moved from being labour intensive to process intensive, to carry out tasks most efficiently, effectively, economically and productively as possible while all the time introducing new techniques or elements to the process, product or service.

A company’s success is dependent on adding value. This requires creativity based on the current knowledge position of the company. Organizations should not have to relearn on a regular basis but should be in a position to retain the knowledge they already have in their possession. They should then reinforce the use of this knowledge in processes and approach to the management of this knowledge. This is done by maintaining what is already known and then continue to maintain their position based on this unique knowledge, and finally renew and update the knowledge continuously.

This is a transparent approach to the handling of knowledge, which is the approach needed across the entire organization so everyone can contribute.

With reference to knowledge management, the challenge in the context of adding value is that organizations have to reorganize themselves around the scarce resource of talented human capital and manage the constraining elements and strategic resources of information, knowledge and expertise. Obtaining this talented human capital is another task that requires human resource management and the involvement of the wider organization

Competitive Strategy is defined as the long-term plan of a particular company in order to gain competitive advantage over its competitors in the industry. It is aimed at creating defensive position in an industry and generating a superior ROI Return on Investment

HUMAN RESOURCES AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge is now seeming to be the significant to organization success where organization able to secure its competitive advantage and competent to achieve sustainable superior performance.

As organizations have changed, downsized or expanded, there has been an increase in technology and in redundancies. In knowledge management terms, a reduction in employee numbers implies that those remaining must demonstrate their value. Employee turnover of, or the rise of the free agent implies that long-term contracts are on the way out. Loyalty is much reduced or, as suggested, ‘loyalty is dead – commitment and drive are lost, on the way out or gone’ both from the organizational and employee perspective, as neither can afford loyalty in rapid dynamic markets. Organizations affected by such changes, through the loss of people and then talent, can’t keep relearning all the knowledge lost when people leave the company.

One such approach, which considers the individual rather than the process, is social network analysis. This helps identify and manage the hidden networks within an organization.

According to Karen Stephenson, social network analysis is increasingly recognized as a means of leveraging organizational learning, retaining key workers, planning succession, harvesting innovative ideas, and managing both the rate and quality of change. This collective capability, Stephenson argues, depends on trusted relationships between individuals and has more power to influence the success or failure of an organization than any managerial hierarchy.

In this approach, employees are a key consideration, with individual requirements which should be acknowledged. Employees want freedom, autonomy, space, and flexibility enables intellectual capital to be assessed. By offering these, the opportunity for knowledge growth and retention can be developed.

Application of Technology

Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation

Other components of the knowledge management environment include computing systems.
With these systems, knowledge can be gathered by monitoring the phases or steps that creative workers go through in their daily work, and by identifying the information and decision making methods they use and follow.

There are both manual methods of knowledge collection, and systems that can manage the collection and dissemination of that knowledge.

Some applied business examples demonstrate where these existing IT systems become knowledge-based systems. Internet-based systems have reduced control over information distribution and intellectual capital, and have an effect on information formation.

The internet infrastructure, as a tool to access information, is key and has value as an access route. However, the value lies not in having access to privileged information, but rather in the way the internet by offering new opportunities for those with the knowledge to start new businesses and share new ideas.

Communication is essential to successful business operations, and the technology of the twenty-first century has become completely integrated in business interaction. Company networks are faster, the Internet has become a powerful force, and wireless communications have transformed the way business is performed

The value gained for the organization is that, from now on, they have the ability to apply new process to other projects. This positions them towards the mature end of the capability maturity model.

Companies implementing effective knowledge management systems expect to incorporate a variety of technologies, supported by a leadership approach that values learning. They also need an organizational structure that supports communication and information sharing, which in turn facilitates the processes for managing knowledge and change.

Technology is important in today’s society because it creates business competitiveness, economic growth and addresses the challenges of the present. With economic growth, a country is able to create more employment for its people.