Information_and_Knowledge_Management_for_Managers

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the current uncertain and ever-changing business environment, knowledge has become the most important basis for sustainable competitive advantage. Learning from past mistakes and avoiding repeating the mistake are essential tasks and all organization today must look for ways to make the best use of its knowledge. With Canon being a multinational company which mainly involves in inventing new products and enhancement of existing products, leveraging the organization‟s knowledge becomes important. The purpose of this report is to gain better understanding of how company with entirely knowledge-based services are using information and knowledge management. It was found from the studies that the company has been focused on the management of explicit knowledge rather than creating an atmosphere for transforming tacit knowledge of experts to explicit knowledge. However, the necessity of managing the tacit knowledge sharing is becoming more important due to the upcoming demographic changes faced by all companies. The staffs who were born in the middle part of the 20th century will soon reach the retirement age and this is anticipated to create an extensive loss of knowledge. Due to this, company is actually facing dilemma of over bridging the knowledge gap between the more experienced senior employees who have accumulated plenty of knowledge and the novel ones. In order to improve the knowledge sharing among staff, continuous lessons learned gathering throughout the project or work cycle needs to be put into practice. This can be primarily achieved through collecting lessons learned at the regular project meetings and implementation of reporting system after completion of each project. Creations of forums for knowledge sharing together with management support through actions, feedback and the introduction of a culture aimed at knowledge learning will further improve the retention and reutilization of the company‟s knowledge-base. It is concluded that barriers of knowledge sharing need to be overcome by the support of management to change management programmes which can lead to the knowledge sharing through the suggested implementation of knowledge management system. TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of Canon …………………………….. 1.2 Problem Description ……………………………… 1.3 Purpose …………………………………………… 2.0 Main Body 3.0 Conclusion ....………………………………………... …………………………….……….…….. 1 2 3 4 - 13 14 15 Reference …………….…………………………………………. 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Canon Canon is a Japanese multinational corporation which specialised in manufacturing imaging and optical products, including cameras, photocopiers, steppers and computer printers that meet a diverse range of customer needs. It was founded in Tokyo in 1937 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda. Canon has regional headquarters in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Japan, Asia and Oceania (including Australia & New Zealand) . A report by the environmental organization Clean Air-Cool Planet puts Canon at the top of a list of 56 companies (survey conducted on climate-friendly companies). Canon has also launched three new calculators in Europe, called "Green Calculators", which are produced in part from recycled Canon copier. The company has a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy in Europe, named „Green is just a shade of blue‟. The company‟s main objective is to “Turnaround the total growth through improved management quality and global management”. The Canon brand is well recognized and trusted throughout the world by the individuals, families, offices and industries that use Canon products. 1|P a ge 1.2 Problem Description As described above Canon can be categorized as a company which need to improve their products in short term in meeting its main business. Company‟s products are generally of standardized character with a certain degree of enhancement requirements. Experience and knowledge that the company has accumulated over the years has provided the company with opportunity to further improve and streamline operations through a greater focus on knowledge management. However, the efficiency potential lies on dissemination and utilization of the knowledge and experiences which gained from previous projects. The distribution of responsibility for the products‟ sales and production department increases the demand and need for a straight and clear communication of knowledge and experience between individuals involved in the different phases. Most of the time, sales department defines the project scope, time schedule and contract without any major inputs, and sometimes beyond the control of the succeeding executing project manager, creates risks and complications that in many cases relatively easy could have been avoided. Besides insufficient knowledge sharing between sales and production department is also a lack of in-house knowledge and experience sharing among the staff. Neither at the project start-up nor during the project execution knowledge and experiences from previous projects within the company is re-utilized. Normally project manager handles projects in their own way based on the experience and knowledge possessed. Without the sharing of knowledge and past experiences, chances of mistakes made by one project manager are repeated by another. However something can be done to avoid such mistakes through structured dissemination and re-use of knowledge. Today the evaluation and control of project outcome is solely of financial character. The gaps in knowledge retention and sharing in company indicate a need for improved processes and tools. 2|P a ge 1.3 Purpose The focus of this paper is to introduce the needs of knowledge management system in the company. The study will elaborate how Canon should improve their management process in order to better preserve and utilize the knowledge and experiences acquired from ongoing and completed projects. By introducing knowledge management system into the operations of a business, the efficiency of the project execution is expected to be increased and eventually improve the profitability. As the organizations experience problems with gathering knowledge and learning from previous projects and experiences, hence company is expected to be in a position to benefit from the elaborations, recommendations and conclusions provided by this study. 3|P a ge 2.0 Main Body Definition of Knowledge Management There are various definitions for knowledge management (KM). KM is defined narrowly by O‟Leary (2001, pg 44), as a process of collecting and identifying useful information (knowledge acquisition), transferring tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (knowledge reaction or transfer), storing the knowledge in the repository (organizational memory), disseminating through the whole organization (knowledge sharing), enabling employees to easily retrieve it (knowledge retrieval) and exploiting and usefully applying knowledge (knowledge leverage). Today, many organizations are putting a great emphasis on the discipline of knowledge management. The organization is developing tools, systems and awareness among Knowledge employees that capturing and sharing knowledge is an important practice. management creates value when the knowledge is shared and reused. The main goal of knowledge management is not to manage all knowledge but to manage the most important knowledge to the organization. It involves the application of collective knowledge and abilities of the entire workforce to achieve specific organizational objectives. According to Bose (2002, pg. 89), it involves getting the right information to the right people at the right time and helping people create and share knowledge and act in ways that will measurably improve individual and organizational performance. According to Bose (2002, pg 89), the discipline of knowledge management has three major components:   People – who create, share and use knowledge, and who collectively comprise the organizational culture that nurtures and stimulates knowledge sharing. Processes - the method to acquire, create, organize, share and transfer knowledge. Technology – the mechanisms that store and provide access to data, information and knowledge created by people in various locations. 4|P a ge (1) People Component People component is the most vital even tough all three elements are necessary for a successful knowledge management venture. Overall success is dependent on people‟s willingness to share their accumulated knowledge to others who can later reuse it. On the other hand, the willingness to share is heavily depends upon the atmosphere of trust. Smaller organization (with less than 150 employees) is easier to adapt knowledge management as the workers tends to know more co-workers and is more often face-toface. In this atmosphere, the sense of trust is stronger hence knowledge share is easier to facilitate. Whereas in a larger organization, knowledge sharing is more difficult as staff were distributed into a smaller group which tend to cluster their interaction among themselves. People across the organization are less likely to know each other, thus trust is harder to build among stranger. However this does not mean that knowledge sharing is impossible in large organization. The organization must work toward creating an environment which will foster knowledge management as an organization principle and stresses the importance of knowledge sharing. In this case, processes and technology become more vital in large organization. Normally, a well-respected staff is likely to be looked to first for information, based on her or his expertise rather than a newer or younger employee. Besides, people will contact their co-worker before tapping into a database or calling technical support staff when help is needed. The successfulness of knowledge management initiatives depends heavily on people‟s willingness to share knowledge. Many people are reluctant to share knowledge as they fear they are relinquishing their power. This can translate into perceived lower marketability, job treat and loss of organizational status. Besides, low morale, conflict and mistrust also act as barriers to willingness to share. Management must be take step to minimise the negativity by creating an atmosphere that encourages and rewards knowledge sharing 5|P a ge (2) The Process Component Organizations will create and implement processes to acquire, create, organize, share and transfer knowledge. These processes include the following:- - Determine and locate the area of knowledge that is needed. - Create knowledge maps which allow quick access to the knowledge required. - Creating communities of practices or interest to share tacit knowledge. - Collect the best practices and lessons learned - Managing content to keep knowledge up to date and ensure the knowledge being retained if it is relevant. - Telling stories to convey knowledge - Encouraging learning to facilitate the transfer and use of knowledge. (3) The Technology Component Generally computer and telecommunication technology is probably most organization will choose to store and manage information as it allows easy access, reduces time and effort and saves space. This component provides the means for people to gather, organise, store and access explicit knowledge. Besides, it also allows staff to share tacit knowledge without being face to face. Technology can increase the accessibility of knowledge, reduce the time and effort to record and keep it current and facilitate interaction among staff. Networks and computers are able to connect people around the world and store information which can be retrieved easily and quickly. In summary, knowledge transfer is the process of sharing knowledge between one person with another. The knowledge must be first transmitted and absorbed or learned before another person can use it. If knowledge is not absorbed, then the knowledge can be considered as not transferred. To have effective transfer knowledge, it is important to have willing provider and interested recipients. 6|P a ge There are a variety of aspects that must be taken into account when we aim to examine knowledge management in a company. Leavitt's (1965, pg 1144) model provides an essential basis with the rationale that all of the aspects in the model are relevant to the study. Leavitt‟s model consists of four different perspectives and the relationships between them. As seen in Figure 1 the four different variables are; organizational structure, task, technology and people. Organizational Structure People Task Technology Figure 1. Leavitt’s Model. (Leavitt, 1965 pg. 1144) Leavitt‟s (1965 pg. 1144) view that if one perspective is changed it will automatically affect the other three to some extent. Thus, a changed task will automatically affect the people involved in it, the structure in which they work, and the technology which they are using. Throughout the years, Canon has managed its business according to its own perceptions and wishes. Despite the open culture and flat local organization, employees are poor at sharing knowledge and learning with each other in a structured way as there is no proper system or document found to write down or store the knowledge or experience gained from each project. Knowledge management is a very important aspect in the business world as the knowledge is the fundamental feature to sustain a business. In defining knowledge, and especially when it comes to the transferability of knowledge, there are two different forms of knowledge, namely tacit and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge refers to knowledge that is difficult to codify and teach; hence it is difficult to transfer. This type of knowledge is attained trough experience and observations from the previous project and not trough formal learning. On the other hand, explicit knowledge refers to knowledge that is much easier to share and 7|P a ge formally. According to Nonaka (1991 pg. 96), explicit knowledge can be transmitted through by using blueprints or manuals. EXPLICIT Expressed by writing Highly impersonal Technical Tangible Easy to share IMPLICIT - Subjective - Personal - Communicated by interactive collaboration - Intangible As Canon is a multinational company, expatriates and repatriates play an important role as unique vehicles of knowledge transfer and organizational learning, a process essential for creating organizational competitiveness in today‟s global knowledge economy (Berthoin, 2001, pg 89). It means the importance of transferring knowledge between headquarter and the subsidiaries of the company by the staff (Vernon, 1966, pg 190). Downes and Thomas (2000, pg 131) has highlighted two main types of knowledge flows that are essential in the mission of the expatriate. Firstly, is the organizational knowledge (corporate policies, philosophies and procedures), transferred from headquarter by the expatriates to the subsidiary. Second is the market specific knowledge which was gained by the expatriate and then transferred back to the parent company. This second knowledge flow can occur both during the expatriate assignment as well as upon repatriation (Downes & Thomas, 2000, pg 131). The results from the reverse flows are expected to contribute comprehensively to the foundation of the firm‟s competitive advantage, and accordingly, headquarters will increasingly act as a receiver of knowledge from their internationally dispersed subsidiaries. Similar to Downes and Thomas (2000 pg. 131), they acknowledge that expatriates can act as agents of knowledge transfer as they are responsible for transferring headquarter routines to subsidiaries abroad as well as “agents of learning” by captivating new knowledge on behalf of the headquarters. Expatriates are able to gain new knowledge about local cultures as well as knowledge about the way business is done in different countries (Tsang, 1999, pg. 591). The following are the advantages of sharing knowledge among all level and staff in the company. 8|P a ge 2.1 Project Routines The first advantages of using or implementing a knowledge management strategy into organization is the reusing knowledge from old projects. By reusing old solutions and knowledge of similar project it would definitely increase the rate of delivery. This is due to lesser time is needed to prepare and complete the project, the time from initiating to delivery could be reduced significantly. Besides, the quality of the delivery would increase significantly if one were to reuse the knowledge which is already exists within the area. The staffs‟ knowledge can be pack together into different tools and packages in order to complete tasks faster with a higher rate of success due to the refining processes of reusing old solutions. The tools and packages can be in forms of services offered to clients, or other more or less off-the-shelf solutions. The success rate will increase since less time is needed on planning each assignment. Therefore, knowledge and experience can be stored in archives as reports and outcomes from different projects with the main objective to reuse as much knowledge as possible in every project. It is timesaving and at the same time, by reusing old solutions, the stored knowledge is refined and constantly updated. 2.2 Knowledge Knowledge is used as by the authors Little and Ray (2005 pg. 25); that knowledge is not just what you know but also that it includes experience, values, intuition or conviction. The old knowledge and experience from previous projects will play an important role in the future projects since a ”know-how” is gained and the staff do not have to start from square one. Knowledge can be split into two parts that is knowledge and competence. Knowledge is created through interaction between tacit and explicit; no part is less important than the other since the one cannot exist without the other. Competence is also call practical knowledge, which is what you can do with your knowledge. Therefore, knowledge is seems to have a focus on what one can deliver and produce rather than the theoretical knowledge one might posses. 9|P a ge 2.3 Knowledge conversion Generally staff will apply different types of knowledge conversions in different situations. Recruitment of new personnel to the company, generally a kind of apprenticeship will applied. The newly hired employee will gets a mentor that he/she follows, imitates and asks questions during the apprenticeship. However some staff might not want to share all their knowledge as the specialised knowledge possessed is their competitive advantage. Hence, the approach of “learn-by-doing” is commonly used. Nevertheless, company can also conduct an educational seminar, which is held periodically, where interesting subjects or newly acquired knowledge are spread throughout the organization. The approaches of the seminars can be different depending on the office in charge for planning it. However some of the knowledge from projects, educations and similar is shared through informal gatherings such as coffee breaks or during the informal face-to-face meetings. The socialization form of knowledge conversion is an effective way of knowledge sharing. Socialization is important in the terms of building up good relations between the workers within the organization and fosters a caring environment according to the respondents. 2.4 The shared context of knowledge creation According to Tuomi (1999 pg.14), the requirement to be able to share the knowledge among staff, a trust among the staff is needed. This trust can be obtained in different kind of ways; it can be obtained by motivate the persons, make them responsible for different areas or just make them feel as a team with no prestigious-boundaries. Hence, the work culture in a company is very important when come to sharing knowledge. In an open environment, where criticism can be accepted by each other without any hard feelings is important. The existence of competition will create competition among staff and this will stop the staff from sharing information. Therefore, competition should be eliminated or reduce as no one will proud of their solutions and help or suggestions will be given to others. Hence, staff will not be afraid of using co-worker‟s solutions or ask for help. Hence, company can foster a love, care, trust and commitment among the staff. In order to reach this objective the employees´needs to be highly motivated and inspired (Little et al., 2005 pg. 25). Motivation and inspiration among the personnel can rise out of responsibility. Using this strategy, company can strive towards reaching a synergy. 10 | P a g e Based on the above points, sharing plays an important role in learning processes due to the following advantages:Approachable Fast and free Reliable as knowledge has been used and tested Applicable as it is specific for the working environment Fast and effective to evaluate More efficient Based on the above benefits, sharing knowledge is an effective way for learning. In other words, realizing the importance of learning from others can enable learners enhancing and improving learning and sharing process. Eventually it will add advantage to the future projects. 11 | P a g e Suggestion to implement knowledge management system DeLong (2004 pg. 171) suggested four practices for sharing knowledge which is the focus of this study. Mentoring This method also named both mentoring and coaching which mean to be responsible for one or several employees within a department or work team. How the actual mentoring was performed in the company depends on the work situations the mentor and mentored person was faced with as well as the involved persons‟ personalities. Generally it will enhance the learning process of everyone involved. Furthermore, it was rewarding in terms of knowledge sharing as it enable a flow of knowledge between the parties involved. This goes in line with what theory state about mentoring as one of the most effective ways to share implicit knowledge. If the management provide with a formal structure on how to conduct mentoring together with an increased understanding of the necessity for good personal chemistry between the mentor and the mentored will result in better sharing of tacit knowledge during the execution of this practice. After-action review After-action review, is also important as the creation and circulation of report after completion of a project will improve the turnaround time to complete the similar project in the future. A format should be prepared by management and requires the project manager to complete it after completion of certain project. With this implementation, the sharing of implicit knowledge and experience can be done through reading this report. Through this report, the junior staff will know what to ask in order to receive the implicit knowledge which will be most useful for them. Moreover, the next project manager does not have to struggle to find time enough to perform their work effectively as the knowledge and experience would have stated in the report Storytelling Normally staff wanted to have access to more stories regarding successful projects or how a senior managed to get a contract or a client. Management can encourage this practice through sharing the greatest success cases by posted on the intranet or under a formal setting. 12 | P a g e Communities of Practice or Informal Networks Generally, people in a network were more willing to share knowledge with people in the same network than with people outside. The formal settings which will encourage the sharing knowledge is through meetings, newsletters or during project work. Staffs have limitation of knowledge and experience to their own department, team or profession. It is useful as different lines of service often have different clients or working methods and therefore differ in their need regarding knowledge. 13 | P a g e CONCLUSION The report has shown that the lack of capturing; spreading and reusing acquired knowledge from projects within the company which will affect the delivery time and product‟s quality. Problems have been identified and advantages of the knowledge sharing have been highlighted in this report. The suggested method to improve knowledge sharing among the staff such as mentoring, storytelling, after action review and communities of practice or informal networks has been outlined in this report. Hence to achieve the company‟s goal of improved quality and global management, it is essential to implement Knowledge Management System in the company by using the suggested solutions as it will foster the relationship among staff. When the relationship among staff is good, unintentionally trust among them has been built. Thus, the tendency of the staff to share their knowledge and experience will increase and the chances of repeated mistake which will jeopardise the production time and quality of the product will be reduced. 14 | P a g e REFERENCE Berthoin A. A. (2001) Expatriates contribution to organizational learning, Journal of General Management, 26, pp. 62-84. Bose R. (2002) Customer relationship management: key components for IT success, Industrial Management & data systems, 102 (2) , pg. 89-97 DeLong, D (2004) Lost Knowledge, Confronting the Threat of an Aging Workforce, Newyork : Oxford University Press pg 171- 188. Downes, M. and Thomas, A.S. (2000) Knowledge transfer through expatriation: The Ucurve approach to overseas staffing. Journal of Managerial Issues, 12(2). Pg. 131-149. Leavitt, Harold J. (1965). Applied Organizational Change in Industry - Structural, technological and humanistic approaches in: James G. M. (Ed) Handbook of Organizations. Chicago: Rand McNally. Pg. 1144 – 1170. Little S and Ray T (2005). Managing knowledge: an essential reader. London: Sage Publication. Pg. 25 Nonaka, I. (1991) The knowledge-creating company, Harvard Business Review, 69, pp. 96104. O'leary, D.E. (2001) How Knowledge Reuse Informs Effective System Design and Implementation, IEEE Intelligent Systems, 16(1), pg. 44 - 49. Tsang, E.W.K, (1999), The knowledge transfer and learning aspects of international HRM: an empirical study of Singapore MNC‟s, International Business Review, 8, pg. 591-609. Tuomi I. (1999), Data is more than Knowledge, Journal of Management Information Systems, 16(3), pg 14. 15 | P a g e Vernon, R. (1966), International investment and international trade in the product cycle. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 80, pg. 190-207. Website :http://www.canon.com 16 | P a g e