Knowledge and Information Management of Amazon.com

This report discusses the knowledge and information management system of Amazon.com. It includes the evaluation of knowledge and information management models and investigation of knowledge management techniques used by Amazon.com. The report also covers the importance of standard operating procedures in Amazon.com. The subject is knowledge and information management, and the course code and college/university are not mentioned.

Knowledge and
Information Management
of Amazon.com

Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Section 1: Knowledge and information system...........................................................................1
Section 2: Evaluation of knowledge and information management models...............................4
Section 3: Investigation of knowledge management techniques used by Amazon.com.............6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................9
Covered in PPT poster.................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................12
TASK 2......................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Knowledge and information management system is an exercise of seeking and using
principles related to managing data which enables personnel and consumers of an organisation to
share, find and create reliable as well as relevant facts in a quick manner. Application of this
system is helpful for those entities whose business is related to selling their products and services
on online platforms. In this report, Amazon company is taken into consideration in order to
better understand the benefits of knowledge and information management system. Amazon is an
American multinational company which was founded in 1994 and has its headquarter at Seattle,
Washington, United States. Within this assessment, nonoka model of knowledge conversion is
included as it guides organisation in adopting relevant framework for collecting data. This report
includes wiig model which is beneficial for an organisation to keep valuable knowledge or data
in an organised way. This project encompasses the understanding of management information
system which plays an important role for entities in generating relevant information, identifying
problems and creating effective communication channels. It also comprises standard operating
procedures which benefits company in increasing efficiency. Major outcome of this report is to
have a better understanding about knowledge and information management system which helps
company in taking innovative and quick decisions.
TASK 1
Section 1: Knowledge and information system
Background of Amazon
Amazon is a America based multinational company that concentrates its business
operations mainly on e-commerce, streaming digitally and machine learning. It continuously
expands its business in differential product lines such as retail, electronics, digital platform,
publishing books and many more. It is one of the biggest e-commerce giant which provides
essential services to its huge customer base working on serving worldwide approach. Even in
corona pandemic it provides jobs to large number of people and also bought various warehouses
for storage. Amazon enhances customer and information relationship through using differential
knowledge management techniques. It operates its business through its vision including
customer- focused approach by collecting information about them which aids them in generating
more profits. It uses various knowledge management techniques to gather information from
1

customers and employees about its services or products in order to align that with goals or
objectives of organisation. Company has clearly laid down stated standard operating procedures
to bridge the gaps or discrepancies in processes.
Knowledge management
It is an practice which includes various activities such as capturing, setting aside and
managing data or information in relation to employee's experience effectively(Świgoń and
Weber, 2017). It is beneficial for organisation in order to increase productivity, retain relevant
information within entity and improve organisational efficiency. Knowledge management can be
considered as most valuable asset for an organisation as it aids employees in gaining expertise
and knowledge about consumer preferences as well as perceptions which further assists in
maximizing efficiency and ability for critical decision making. In order to better conceptualize
knowledge it s divided into two types, namely, tactic and explicit. Tactic knowledge illustrates
person's skills and ideas which are with them but not in a documented form. Explicit knowledge
depicts articulated and easily accessible information includes reports, research articles, factsheets
etc. Employees can gain tacit knowledge from experienced peers, training and development
sessions.
Importance of Knowledge management
Implementation of quantifiable knowledge management system effectively as well as
strategically would help every business in various functional areas. Benefits of efficient
knowledge system in accordance with Amazon are discussed below: Aids in decision-making process- By strategically acquiring access of information about
entire organisation, perceptions of consumers and emerging market trends enables top
management to take critical decisions in timely manner(Nývlt and Prušková, 2017). At
the point of decision making, Amazon collaborates its various tools which enables it to
access differential opinions and experiences as people have diverse viewpoints and
judgements towards situations. Increase customer satisfaction- Effective knowledge management system aids
organisation in satisfying its customers in an efficient manner. Amazon collects data
about consumer preferences, tastes and perception towards their products and services.
This gathered data assists company in solving consumer queries and make improvements
as well as modifications in them.
2

 Promote innovation and cultural changes- Knowledge management is beneficial for
organisation as it ensures collaboration and acquires latest information. Amazon procures
data by various sources which helps them to understand various market trends that further
assists in promoting innovations and creative techniques in their products. Helps in avoiding redundant efforts- Knowledge management system allows
organisation in keeping collected data in an organised way so that it can be used
effectively in improvising business operations.(Orna, 2017). It aids employees in not
avoiding their efforts in collecting information again and again as well as they can invest
their time in other functional areas.
 Aids in employee retention- Effectively implementing knowledge management system
boost employee morale and happiness. They can easily and quickly find the needed
information so that they can speed up their work and also do not disturb their superiors
more often(Levykin and Chala, 2018). Amazon has adopted this practice effectively to
keep the collected data in an organised way in order to assist employees to perform their
job by providing direction to them.
How Knowledge management helps in customer satisfaction and achieving competitive
advantage ?
Customer satisfaction illustrates the value or experience they get from a specified brand.
Knowledge management plays a significant role in making long-lasting relationships with
customers by satisfying their needs and interacting with them(Mehdikhani and Valmohammadi,
2019). It identifies and evaluates crucial information, accumulates and keep it in organised
manner. It also facilitates that organised information can simply flow to relevant people.
Through understand consumer behaviour, perception and preferences organisation can learn
which products or services are working well so they they can make improvements where it is
needed. Amazon collects relevant data from customers through conducting surveys and asking
for feedback from them. Under this consumers can rate the products or services of Amazon
using metrics or rater scale from 1 to 5 and also give their opinions. This exercise assists
Amazon in scanning any discrepancies in its services and improve them accordingly.
Implementing knowledge management system aids organisation in capturing and sharing
knowledge that would further helps in company success by consistently collecting data (Soto-
Acosta, Del Giudice and Scuotto, 2018). It assists company in eliminating departmentalization,
3

encourage innovative practices and timely respond to dynamic market trends. These practices
helps entities in attaining competitive advantage over its competitors. Knowledge management
helps Amazon in providing right information to relevant people in order to improve their
efficiency and gain sustainable competitive advantage. It helps Amazon in building business
strategy in accordance with organisational objectives and also about new as well as advanced
technologies which keeps it informed against its competitors. It aids in combining knowledge
and technology to build strategic business plan which further helps Amazon in staying one step
ahead over its competitors.
Section 2: Evaluation of knowledge and information management models
SECI model is information conceptual technique which illustrates how various kinds of
knowledge is generated, shared and stored in an establishment (Ma and Zhang, 2017). It
essentially depicts the importance of interacting with peers or colleagues which aids in
generating new ideas. It is beneficial for organisation in order to better understand knowledge
implantation with products or services. It assists company in appreciating changing approach of
knowledge and its creation. This model works on exchange of explicit and tacit knowledge
between individuals. All the elements of SECI model in relevance to Amazon is as follows: Socialization is an exercise of sharing knowledge. It principally includes imitation,
observation and practice through mentoring as well as training programs (Pushkarev and
Pushkareva, 2018). It majorly focuses on direct interaction from customers about product
or service. It also concentrates on direct conversations among employees which keeps
them satisfied throughout performing business operations. It aids Amazon in collecting
feedback from customers through direct communication channels by calling them on
making a purchase. Externalization essentially focuses on crystallisation of knowledge which enables it to be
shared among peers or colleagues. Sometimes, it becomes the basis of new information in
organisation creating it to be tangible and permanent. It includes written documents,
images and concepts. Amazon use this technique of knowledge creation in executing its
employee's innovative ideas into successful avenues. Combination is a practice of blending various concepts or tools into a well-defined
knowledge system. This information is collected from inside and outside the organisation
from employees about company's environment, different marketing as well as HR
4

practices and from consumers about their perception towards products or services.
Amazon uses this technique effectively by collecting relevant information from their
personnel as well as customers.
 Internalization focuses mainly on concept of learning by doing. By applying this practice
individual's explicit knowledge turns into tacit one which proved as an asset for an
organisation (Baporikar, 2017). For instance, at first company rules are written document
but as the time goes by, it makes impression into the mind of employees and there is no
need for them to see that again. Amazon successfully implements this knowledge
conversion technique in its workings providing quantifiable space to its employees to
develop innovative ideas.
It is very crucial for large organisations to manage their collected information in
systematic and organised manner. For this very purpose they use management information
system. It aids an organisation in identifying uncertainties and risks (Buenechea-Elberdin, Sáenz
and Kianto, 2018). It also assists in taking critical decisions which help entities to survive in
marketplace. Amazon has implemented successful management information system in order to
manage data effectively, analyses market trends and aids in strategic planning. Wiig model is
used to better understand systematic and organised approach in management information system.
It essentially concentrates on storing useful and valuable information or knowledge in an
organised way so that it can be used in relevant situations. All the dimensions of wiig model in
relevance to Amazon are discussed below: Completeness is a practice which exhibits information in a complete manner. It says that
knowledge should be complete in every sense whether it is collected by tacit or explicit
means. Knowledge is taken as complete when all the relevant information from various
sources are collected correctly and accurately. Amazon uses management information
system in order to get correct data from differential sources which aids company in
planning its operations strategically. Connectedness refers to well-defined relationship between various knowledge parcels in
order to get a clear and big picture of all the relevant information. Interconnected
knowledge base creates coherent and reliable content and increases its value to
organisation. This factor aids Amazon in pulling out different pieces of information and
5

aggregates them to generate a bigger knowledge base. This further assists company in
articulating and assimilating its decision-making process effectively. Congruency knowledge base can be attained when all the collected facts, figures,
concepts and opinions are aligned with achieving bigger organisational objectives.
Collection of this congruent knowledge aids top management of Amazon in solving
varied problems related to customers about products and services they offer.
 Purpose and Perspective can be described as phenomenon by which data is gathered
from different point of views and judgements for a specified motive. For instance,
customer feedback is asked for a specified newly launched service or product. Amazon
uses management information system to check its relevancy which aids in creating
knowledge base for a specific purpose or motive. This also saves huge cost as it focuses
on gathering relevant data and that amount can be used in differential operations.
Section 3: Investigation of knowledge management techniques used by Amazon.com
Importance of knowledge in Amazon's SOP (Standard operating procedures)
Standard operating procedures can be defined as document which provides clear
directions and instructions to employees or workers within an organisation to complete specified
processes(Sun, Liu and Ding, 2020). In other words, it is detailed statement tells about how,
when as well as which activity is to be performed and at what time. It is beneficial for
organisation as it allows to perform the processes in a systematic manner, aligning
organisational objectives with stakeholders and team members and to move business operations
in a cohesive manner. It is beneficial for managers of Amazon.com as it aids in developing target
areas and also perform varied assessment of individual's performance. By implementing this
process company can easily appraise the performance of its personnel on a regular basis. Major
benefits of standard operating procedures in relevance to Amazon.com are as follows: Aids in future growth- Effective implementation of standard operating procedures aids
company in understanding various market trends and can plan strategically to maintain its
future growth (Zhang and Liu, 2021). Specific knowledge about organisational objectives
helps in planning for future avenues by keeping coming opportunities and threats in
mind. This also called for a proactive approach towards business operations. It assists
Amazon.com in planning for future long-term goals as its operating procedures give it a
clear and systematic direction.
6

 Promote positive changes- Employees remain confused and redundant in case of any
changes in operating procedures of organisation. Applying standard operating procedures
aids entities in stating its employees the systematic way to perform their jobs. These
procedures are flexible and can be modified in case of any discrepancies. This assists
Amazon's employees in appreciating positive changes in business operations. Produce reliable results- There are large number of establishments performing varied
business activities in differential fields but all those organisations want consistency in its
operations. This consistency can be attained by successful execution of standard
operating procedures in an organisation. Superiors of Amazon.com ensures that all their
operations work in a standardised and systematic format in order to achieve consistent
and reliable results from its team members. Improves training and development programme- By clearly stating how an organisation
wants to achieve its objectives, SOP provides room for managers to design training and
development programmes in accordance to set goals or objectives. This exercise makes
employees more productive and efficient. Top management of Amazon.com encourages
its employees to work efficiently so as to leave no room for ambiguity and error in
operations. This also assists top management in delegating their job and responsibility to
subordinates as they know employees are aware of what organisation wants from them. Helps to find loopholes- By writing down standard operating procedures as a document
or statement, it helps an organisation in solving varied business related problems. It is
easy to find gaps in processes by clearly stating the procedures of performing them. It is
beneficial for managers of Amazon.com to find any loophole or variances in its business
operations and also provides a room for improvising them.
 Improves operations efficiency- Standard operating procedures are generated for every
process in organisation such as production, recruitment and billing process etc. This
benefits a company in running its business operations with efficiency. Effective
application of standard operating procedures aids managers of Amazon.com in
elimination of various questions from employees about different processes that slow
down the speed of operations. This provides a sense of direction to its employees and
getting the things done right in first attempt.
Outcomes achieved by Amazon by implementation of standard operating procedure
7

It has been assumed that applying standard operating procedures is only relevant to large
and complex organisation. There are businesses where practice of standard operating procedures
is highly acknowledged (Baporikar, 2019). It benefits managers of Amazon.com in curbing
errors which are caused due to misinterpretation and miscommunication of relevant data. It
assists Amazon's employees in speeding up consolidation with business in initial phase of his
job. It also improves transparency in operations. It successfully improvises internal
communication channels within organisation. It majorly effects Amazon's customer service in a
positive manner. With the help of this practice, customer support of Amazon quickly solve
buyer's queries as they know in an exact manner what they have to do in particular situation.
Because of applying this practice effectively in business, Amazon not only adds efficiency to its
operations but also generates high profits, brand loyalty and awareness in markets. Writing down
clearly illustrated standard operating procedures is job of top management but its execution and
follow-up is duty of middle managers. Contribution of all employees towards this is important.
Amazon is a large company so it is difficult for them to consistently following the processes.
Lack of efficient retention practices is another challenge faced by Amazon. It looses it
experienced and talented individuals in fast and consistent manner which results in lose of
assimilated knowledge and skill of establishment.
Improvements can made by Amazon.com to overcome challenges
It is an inevitable fact that Amazon has successfully implemented standard operating
procedures effectively in its business operations. But there are some areas which needs
improvements and modifications (Javaid, Soroya and Mahmood, 2020). Managers of
Amazon.com should improve its hiring and recruitment procedure. Company should modify its
business operations at regular intervals. It should follow- up the processes after its execution. To
get the expected output and high production, it is needed that all employees should perform in
consistent manner. If there is a change in operations, Amazon should provide proper training to
its employees to boost up their morale and increases their level of performance. Managers should
encourage involvement of workers actively (Alshehri and Cumming, 2020). It helps in
generating creative and innovative ideas which aids Amazon in maintaining a competitive image
in industry. Writing and executing standard operating procedures needs investment of lot of time
which further hampers other functional areas of an establishment.
8

TASK 2
Covered in PPT poster
CONCLUSION
From the above project, it has been concluded that knowledge management can be
termed as a discipline which is beneficial for establishments for keeping it informed about
customer's perspective and employee's influenced behaviour. It assists in solving customers
queries, analyse market trends and plan strategically. If information is documented in well-
defined manner, it helps in reusing those ideas, concepts and judgements. By using this,
employees can take advantage of experience and expertise of their peers as well as superiors.
There are certain knowledge management tools where employees can gather, organise and
accumulate data for example feedback forums, information base etc. Management information
system aids an entity in managing significant business data that would assist in critical decision-
making process. It also assists in comparing business performance with other competitors so that
it can attain competitive advantage. SECI model is beneficial for establishments as it creates
knowledge of relevant processes. Wiig model helps to create value for employees and
organisation by providing clear and comprehensive description. Standard operating procedures
ensures that employees understands their role so that they can perform effectively thus increases
organisational efficiency. Better implementation of standard operating procedures helps to check
quality assurance of varied products. As providing quality products aids in satisfying customers
and also sustain in competitive environment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Some of the recommendations in context to adoption of knowledge management
framework to mangers of Amazon.com are as follows:
 Top management of Amazon.com should adopt intelligent techniques as a knowledge
management framework. They can take use of artificial intelligence and machine learning
in capturing and organising differential information. It is very helpful in generating
solutions to problems and discovering massive and complex information which can not
be identified as well as evaluated by human beings. It can capture and organise
organisational knowledge in a constant manner.
9

 Managers of Amazon.com can make use of digital channels to initiate intelligent
techniques framework such as it can ask for feedback from consumers about products and
services. It can take help with google analytics or can launch its own tools to collect
information about consumer's preferences, buying patterns and behaviours.
 After covid pandemic, people rely more on online transactions and shopping which opens
the way for online sites to expand their business in a significant manner globally. Hence,
it is best time for Amazon.com to come up with improvised version of knowledge
management framework. By February 2022, they can adopt this framework in their
organisation with proper preparation.
 Adoption of this framework would benefits Amazon.com in reducing time and money
spent in manual reports and training to employees in generating them. It will generate
automated reports. It will also provide updated and latest information to managers that
stimulates them to take better decisions. It will assist in aligning organisational objectives
with modern techniques in order to generate relevant information. It will aid organisation
in having proactive approach to opportunities and threats.
10

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Alshehri, A. and Cumming, T. M., 2020. Mobile Technologies and Knowledge Management in
Higher Education Institutions: Students' and Educators' Perspectives. World Journal of
Education. 10(1). pp.12-22.
Baporikar, N. ed., 2017. Knowledge integration strategies for entrepreneurship and
sustainability. IGI Global.
Baporikar, N., 2019. Knowledge Management Dynamics and Public Sector Organization
Development. In Handbook of Research on Implementing Knowledge Management
Strategy in the Public Sector (pp. 55-71). IGI Global.
Buenechea-Elberdin, M., Sáenz, J. and Kianto, A., 2018. Knowledge management strategies,
intellectual capital, and innovation performance: a comparison between high-and low-
tech firms. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Javaid, J., Soroya, S. and Mahmood, K., 2020. Impact of personal and organizational factors on
knowledge sharing attitude of university teachers in Pakistan. The Electronic Library.
Levykin, V. and Chala, O., 2018. Method of determining weights of temporal rules in Markov
logic network for building knowledge base in information control systems. EUREKA:
Physics and Engineering, (5), pp.3-10.
Ma, Y. and Zhang, H., 2017. Enhancing knowledge management and decision-making capability
of China’s emergency operations center using big data. Intelligent Automation & Soft
Computing, pp.1-8.
Mehdikhani, R. and Valmohammadi, C., 2019. Strategic collaboration and sustainable supply
chain management: The mediating role of internal and external knowledge
sharing. Journal of Enterprise Information Management.
Nývlt, V. and Prušková, K., 2017, October. Building information management as a tool for
managing knowledge throughout whole building life cycle. In IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 245, No. 4, p. 042070). IOP Publishing.
Orna, E., 2017. Making knowledge visible: communicating knowledge through information
products. Routledge.
Pushkarev, Y. V. and Pushkareva, E. A., 2018. Philosophical interpretation of knowledge and
information: Knowledge value and information diversity in modern
communication. XLinguae. 11(3). pp.176-184.
Soto-Acosta, P., Del Giudice, M. and Scuotto, V., 2018. Emerging issues on business innovation
ecosystems: the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for
knowledge management (KM) and innovation within and among enterprises. Baltic
Journal of Management.
Sun, Y., Liu, J. and Ding, Y., 2020. Analysis of the relationship between open innovation,
knowledge management capability and dual innovation. Technology Analysis &
Strategic Management. 32(1). pp.15-28.
Świgoń, M. and Weber, K., 2017. Knowledge and information management by
individuals. Theorie, Semantik und Organisation von Wissen. 13. p.373.
Zhang, X. and Liu, S., 2021. Understanding relationship commitment and continuous knowledge
sharing in online health communities: a social exchange perspective. Journal of
Knowledge Management.
11

APPENDICES
TASK 2
Notes:
Challenges of knowledge management in context to Amazon.com are discussed below:
 Complex in approach- Knowledge management framework is very complicated, to make
it execution understandable, Amazon has to give expensive training to its employees.
 Motivated workforce- Amazon's employees are not so motivated that they store collected
information to be used further. Motivating and encouraging employees to perform this is
an another challenge for company.
 Incomplete and irrelevant information- It is a difficult task to collect relevant and
reliable data from different sources. It is yet another challenge for Amazon to gather
correct and relevant information from trusted sources.
Recommendations of knowledge management in relevance to Amazon are as follows:
 Amazon can encourage its employees through intrinsic motivation so that they can
provide innovative ideas.
 Amazon can starting use of varied softwar which makes this process from complicated
to simple and quick.
12

 Amazon should use trusted and verified sources in order to remove any discrepancies or
error in gathering knowledge.
Benefits of knowledge management
Customer satisfaction- Amazon.com can satisfy its customers through asking for
feedback from them. Satisfied customers can aid company in generating brand awareness and
increased profits.
Competitive advantage- Amazon can take help of information in staying ahead before
competitor’s aids in attaining competitive advantage.
13