Tesla's Knowledge Management Strategies

This assignment analyzes Tesla's strategies for knowledge management. It examines how the company fosters a culture of knowledge sharing, seeking, and creation to drive innovation and growth. The analysis highlights Tesla's utilization of various media platforms, including social media and traditional publications, to communicate with stakeholders and gather valuable feedback. The emphasis is on understanding how Tesla leverages knowledge management to maintain a competitive edge in the industry.

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E-business
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Executive summary
The paper attempts to critically evaluate the role and the impact of traditional media and social
media for knowledge sharing, seeking and creation. The paper takes the automotive industry and
Tesla Motors as case studies for the chosen topic. Tesla motors encourage its employees to share
information without following the laid down protocol or company hierarchy. The company as
also invested in R&D to seek more knowledge to run her operations and remain in business. In
addition the company has patterned with a number of other companies such as Panasonic to
streamline business and acquire knowledge.
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Table of Contents
1.0Introduction...............................................................................................................................3
2.0 Knowledge Management..........................................................................................................4
2.1Knowledge sharing.................................................................................................................4
2.2Knowledge seeking................................................................................................................4
2.3Knowledge Creation/Acquisition...........................................................................................5
3.0 conclusions...............................................................................................................................5
4.0 References................................................................................................................................6
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1.0Introduction
The role of media in today’s business world is significant. The competition in the market has
continually increased forcing companies to invest in ways through which they can acquire
competitive edge in the market and remain in business. To do this companies continually share
or compare notes, seek and create knowledge for the purposes of learning new ways of doing
business through various forms of media such as television, company publications and social
media. This paper will zero in on critically evaluating the impact and the role of traditional
media and social media on knowledge sharing, seeking and creation in relation to Tesla Inc, an
American automobile company based in California. The company is famed on making electric
cars and other machines that do not depend on fossil fuels.
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2.0 Knowledge Management
2.1Knowledge sharing
Tesla Inc encourages her employees to communicate to anyone within the company in order to
solve any problem or issue affecting the company. The employees can share the information
amongst each other by communicating directly through face to face conversation or send an
email. These traditional forms of communication plays great role in ensuring that the employees
at Tesla share communication without any form of hindrance. The fact the employees at the
company do not need to follow protocol such as talking to the immediate manager before who
will then share with his or her immediate manger underpins the impact traditional form of media
can have on Tesla’s knowledge sharing. For example, an employee could be having a good idea
on how Tesla can further improve its technology on coming up with a more efficient electric car
but his/her immediate manager may not see the sense in the idea being suggested by his junior
staff. (Tesla motors vehicles, 2010)The junior staff is allowed by the company to proceed and talk
to any other manager or the any of the founders of the company regarding this technology he/she
feels can help the company solve some of the problems or challenges it is facing in the market.
This sharing of information can also be done through sending of email or any other for of
communication that the concerned employee deems most appropriate. Thus emails and company
write ups act as a medium through which knowledge is shared in the company. (Albarran, 2013)
The overall impact of these types of media is that it enables that company to leverage more on it
human resources in terms of knowledge sharing without relying on external sources of
knowledge such as research conducted by separate entities within the industry. (Larcker and
Tayan, 2011) The shared knowledge can further undergo some changes or improvements based
on the input from fellow colleagues at work whom the knowledge was shared with. The Actor-
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Network theory opines that no one person or individual is solely responsible for advancements
that are realized as a result of input from a system or a network of both human and non-human
factors. Thus according to this theory technological innovations are can be best realized through
a chain of inputs that makes it more suitable and efficient in resolving challenges that the
company might have been facing. (Haerens and Zott, 2014)
Tesla Motor website contain useful information about the company innovations and products
which provides an opportunity to all the employees to learn from each other or share knowledge
for the overall benefit of the company. To elaborate on this Tesla has information on it’s website
on how one of its electric car brand is able to operate on an autopilot that is designed to make
highway driving more comfortable, safer and stress free. (Bryfonski, 2012) Thus an employee in
any of the Tesla’s branches can be able to gain this information without necessarily researching
the whole topic or concept altogether. This platform therefore offers an opportunity to Tesla
employees to concentrate their efforts in improving on the innovation as opposed to working on
a technology that has already been discovered and implemented. (Doeden, 2015)
2.2Knowledge seeking
Tesla Company has heavily invested in Research and Development (R&D) by opening a number
of R&D centers across the world. The company has an R&D center in Michigan US and recently
(2017) another one in China. The research and developments centers act as the primary sources
or points through which the company seeks more knowledge regarding the technologies and
innovations that they have put in place. These centers employ various form of knowledge
seeking methods such reading publications and other forms of secondary data regarding similar
technologies or concepts. Thus the role of the traditional media and social media in these R&D
centers is to act as points through which knowledge can be sourced. Through this source the
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company has been able to come up with innovative technologies that have transformed the entire
sector or industry of sustainable energy. The experiments that have been conducted in these
centers have resulted to new pieces of information discovered about the existing technologies
that have made them better in terms of responding to the market needs and desires. (Tesla motors
vehicles, 2010) Engineers and technicians in these centers seek information amongst each other
through writing of emails and reading write ups about innovations developed in the center.
(Bryfonski, 2012) Once they have sought information from their colleagues it makes it easier for
them to advance on the innovations that had already been developed by the company. The
engineers and technicians also leverage on the information available on the social media
especially on pages that are dedicated in helping its followers to gain more knowledge on
technological innovations and advancements. An example of the innovation gained through
R&D at Tesla is the Silicon Valley innovation where much of its innovation stems from the
commitment the company has on research and development. To put this into perspective the
company in the financial year at the end of 2015, the company had invested 717.9 million US
dollars on R&D alone since inception in the year 2003 setting a clear upward trend. (Williams,
Calow and Lee, 2011)
The company also has presence in all the social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter
through which it occasionally asked her clients to give response concerning a certain technology
or innovation launched in the market. These social media interactions a times lead to generation
of new information regarding the products that the company may not have been aware about.
Thus providing an extra source where the company can obtain information. For example
whenever Tesla launches new product the company request her social media followers to
commend on the experience the get from the new product. These information are used to further
improve the quality of the product as desired by the consumer preferences. The client
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engagement on social media enables the company to view the product from the customer or the
user perspective thus providing new viewpoints that enable the technicians and engineers at the
company to get more knowledge regarding the innovation. (Doeden, 2015)
The company also has big motor shows where customers across the world come to view the
company innovations displayed for customers to sample and buy if they are interested. The
galleries have Tesla employees who are stationed strategically to field questions from customers
and receive feedback concerning company product. These social gatherings impact knowledge
seeking in that it has the ability to change the company position or approach on certain
innovation if a considerable number of customers do raise the same concern or question. The
company also participates in other motor shows or events and gets an opportunity to interact with
her customers who provide valuable information that helps the company to improve on the
quality of its products. (Taras and Waddell, 2012) The feedback gathered from these social
gatherings gives the company new dimension through which her innovations can be improved so
as to gain more customers in the market. Social media has also made Tesla one of the most
trending motor companies in the world despite its relative young age in the market. The company
has been able to compete favorable against motor gains in the world such as Audi and Mercedes
which started business way before Tesla was formed. This shows that social media and
traditional media have been able to provide Tesla with a lot of information through commends
and mentions in the social media. Each time a client or a social media follower of the company
commends or mentions Tesla the company has the opportunity to learn from such tweet or any
other social media interaction to better its pool of knowledge. (Tesla motors vehicles, 2010) The
company CEO has been on the forefront in communicating through social media by announcing
various company projects that the company ha already intends to roll out or launch. This can
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explain the reason why Tesla is doing well in terms of social media popularity compared to other
companies that have been in business for long duration compared to Tesla. (Larcker and Tayan,
2011)
The company has also invested in Call centers and channels, through which online queries can be
raised. With this information clients can write emails, drop a message to the company or decide
to call the company is the client deems fit to do so. The role of this form of commutation is to
provide another channel through which the company can be able to seek information from the
clients and other external sources for the overall benefit of the company. From these calls and
online inquiries the company gains valuable feedback or information from the clients which have
significantly affected the manner in which the company runs its business. (Lin, 2016) For example
the company can receive complain from one of the client concerning a certain aspect of the car
that does not perform as expected or contained in the car manual. (Tesla motors vehicles, 2010)The
company might not be aware of such problems because testing does not always yield results that
will ensure the car will fully perform as expected in the filed. The company can therefore make
use of the feedback to change a few aspects of the car in order for it to be more responsive to the
market needs. (Yu and Chen, 2015)
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2.3Knowledge Creation/Acquisition
Tesla partnered with Toyota in the year 2010 to manufacture electric cars. This opportunity
provided Tesla with the platform to create and/or acquire knowledge from Toyota that will go a
long way in ensuring the company is able to produce quality cars in the market. One of the
primary aims of the project was to ensure that Tesla produces Model S of the electric cars that
will go for a price of 50,000 USD a price which is a great departure from 100,000 USD price of
the electric Roadster brand. Tesla would therefore learn from Toyota’s lean production line to
ensure that the company achieves the targeted price. This correspondence was done through
various forms of communication such as company documents or write ups such as manuals,
emails as well as one on one apprentice trainings. These mediums of commutation played the
integral role of acting as a conduit through which the two companies acquired knowledge from
one another. (Bardone, 2013)The email correspondence for example would provide an opportunity
to the technicians and engineers from both companies to learn from each other without
necessarily making arrangements for face top face meeting. For those innovations that could not
be learned through sharing of company documents the two companies arranged for face to face
trainings for their technicians to meet and acquire knowledge from each other. The social media
of both companies also provided and opportunity to acquire knowledge from respective clients
especially after the two companies announced joint venture. The clients through feedback written
through various platforms such as social media and email provided extra information through
which the two companies learned from. These impacted more on Tesla especially on the ratings
it received on Wall Street due to consumer confidence on its products. The increased confidences
or rating enabled the company to attract more researches by scholars and other interested parties
which further provided avenue for knowledge acquisition. (Tansel, 2015)
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In the year 2013 Tesla hired ex apple retail chief to build new model for distribution. With the
vast knowledge and experience working for apple the new employee acted as a resource person
through which other employees at Tesla would learn and acquire knowledge from. The resource
person would write documents and manual through which the rest of the employees can gain
knowledge and further their respective skills that would benefit the company. The resource
person would also communicate by sharing his work through email or responding to inquiries
from the fellow colleagues at work. Therefore the role played by traditional media as well as
social media was central to the work and communication between the newly employed expert at
Tesla and the rest of the employees with regard to knowledge acquisition. These forms of media
improved the quality of communication between the new employee and the rest of the team at
Tesla. The improved commutation can be attributed to the fact that with multiple forms the
media available the process of communication is improved owing to the fact that more than one
channel is available which increase the chances of quality communication. (Kallen, 2016)
The partnership between Panasonic Corporation and Tesla Motors where the two companies
agreed that Panasonic will manufacture batteries for the Tesla’s electric cars saw skills and
knowledge transferred from one company to another. The role of traditional media as well as the
social media was such it allowed the two companies to share company documents such as
manuals that would ensure that the batteries manufactured by the Panasonic were compatible to
the electric cars manufactured by Tesla Motors. Thus the role of media was to ease the process of
communications between the two teams in the joint venture. For example, through the use of
emails the companies communicated with each other with ease without having to set up physical
meeting that would have otherwise consumed time and resources. These mediums of
communications also ensured that the two companies were in agreement on the level of
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production that each of the company envisaged in the plan. For example, Tesla Motors required
supply of over 80,000 units of batteries over the next four years from the year 2011 so that it can
be able to meet the demand of its market. On the other hand there was need to establish whether
Panasonic was capable of meeting this demand. These forms of communication therefore ensure
that the two companies are in sync with each other regarding all the details concerning the joint
manufacturing process they were about to begin. Thus the main role therefore for these mediums
was to provide a channel of communication between the two companies. (Tesla motors vehicles,
2010)The impact of these forms of media is that it leads to better understanding between the two
companies. They also ensure that the workers or employees of the two companies get to gain
valuable skills and knowledge from both companies for the overall benefit of the partnership.
(Doeden, 2015)
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3.0 conclusions
In conclusion knowledge sharing, seeking and creation are most fundamental aspects of growth
of any company. Tesla significantly invested in this area to boost its chances of staying in
business for long period of time. The company also utilized various forms of media to ensure
that it maximally leverages on the process of knowledge sharing, seeking and creation. The fact
that Tesla continually sought ways through which it can reinvent itself showed that the company
placed a lot of premium on the concept of knowledge management. The company utilized social
media and the traditional forms of media such as company publications to communicate with the
stakeholders within the industry. In particular, the company utilized social media to receive
feedback from her clients which proved to be a reliable source of information as it emanated
directly from the market. These communications resulted into changes that would have otherwise
not be effected had there been no communication between the stakeholders.
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4.0 References
Albarran, A. (2013). The social media industries. New York, NY: Routledge.
Bardone, E. (2013). Sharing Tacit Knowledge via Chance-Seeking. International
Journal of Knowledge and Systems Science, 4(3), pp.39-54.
Bryfonski, D. (2012). The global impact of social media. Detroit, MI: Greenhaven
Press.
Doeden, M. (2015). Spacex and tesla motors engineer elon musk. Minneapolis: Lerner
Publications.
Eliot, G. (2016). The mill on the Floss. 1st ed. New York: Open Road Integrated
Media, pp.1-9.
Haerens, M. and Zott, L. (2014). Mass media. Farmington Hills, Mich: Greenhaven
Press, A part of Gale, Cengage Learning.
Kallen, S. (2016). Elon Musk and Tesla. 1st ed. New York, pp.2-4.
Larcker, D. and Tayan, B. (2011). Tesla Motors: The Evolution of Governance from
Inception to IPO. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Lin, Z. (2016). Traditional Media, Social Media, and Alternative Media in Hong
Kong's Umbrella Movement. Asian Politics & Policy, 8(2), pp.365-372.
Tansel, A. (2015). Marketing Report on "Tesla Motors". 1st ed. New York, pp.4-11.
Taras, D. and Waddell, C. (2012). Traditional media. Edmonton: AU Press.
Tesla motors vehicles. (2010). 1st ed. Michigan: General Books, pp.1-7.
Tesla, N. (2016). A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers.
Lanham: Dancing Unicorn Books.
Williams, A., Calow, D. and Lee, A. (2011). Digital media contracts. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Yu, Y. and Chen, H. (2015). Interplay between Social Media and Traditional Media:
A Study in the Motion Picture Industry. SSRN Electronic Journal.
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