Knowledge Management and Information Systems

This report explores the concept of knowledge management and information systems. It discusses the corporate objectives, business overview, and corporate structure of Sainsbury's. It also examines different models to understand the company environment and strength and weakness. The report provides recommendations for implementing knowledge management information systems and improving business performance.

Knowledge Management and
Information Systems

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
Different models to understand the company environment and strength and weakness............3
Recommendation the most appropriate information system for Sainsbury's ............................8
The challenges while implementing the recommendation..........................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Knowledge management system is defined as any form of IT system that mainly store
and acquire knowledge, locates sources of knowledge, make significant improvement in
collaboration, mines repositories for hidden knowledge and enhances KM process in any manner
(Berkemeier and et., al., 2019). In simple terms knowledge management is defined as
understanding or awareness associated to set of information in order to use them in particular
way to effectively reach to a decision. With the help of this process organization can successfully
create, share, use and manage information and knowledge in a well define and effective manner.
Present report has been conducted on Sainsbury's. Company is operating their business functions
in retail industrial sector and was founded in the year 1869. With having more than 116, 400
employees this entity is satisfying needs and demand of customers with high quality products
and services. In this report formative discussions has been made on business overview, corporate
objectives, corporate structure and business model of company. In addition to this report also
include environmental factors that are required to be consider by organization along with the
challenges that can be faced by entity. Lastly report include recommendation to company for
appropriate knowledge management information system and the manner through which they can
improve their business performance to accomplish business objectives.
MAIN BODY
Corporate objectives
Tesla is operating their business functions with great efficiency and aim towards
satisfying needs and demand of customers at great extent with their high quality products and
services. Company is having many corporate objectives that include generating demand of entity
products as well as services and drive up sales effectively. In addition to this, entity is having
significant objective related to building brand awareness for long term and ensure efficient
management of eBusiness Overviewntity corporate reputation. Lastly, is having main objectives
to Sainsbury's offer world class services to their customers by offering them high class services
in competitive price range.
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Business Overview
Sainsbury is third largest chain of supermarkets in the provinces of United Kingdom.
Entity was founded in the year 1869 and are operating their roles and responsibilities in retail
industrial sector (Carvalho, Rocha and Wetering, 2019). Company offer their products and
services via Hypermarket, convenience shop, superstore, forecourt shop and forecourt shop.
With having more than £29.007 billion by the year 2019 and 116, 400 more than employees this
organisation is serving customers in best effective manner.
Corporate Structure
Sainsbury is having hierarchal form of corporate structure in which there is presence of
series of degrees of individuals and each degree get further controlled by degree. For example,
senior directors of entity is having responsibility of line director and further line directors are
holding responsibility for gross revenue helpers.
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Outline the business model of the organisation
Sainsbury effectively develops value for their consumers, shareholders and colleagues for
present and future. If it is talked about company supply chain, they basically source their
products from approximately 70 countries as per according to the suppliers ability to fulfil
sainsbury's ethical, quality and safety standards. In addition to this, entity is duly engaged in the
process of 12 research projects in order to make significant improvement in agriculture
productivity. Company is having business value to serve highest quality of services and products
to customers at lower price range. If it is talked about channels Sainsbury's is having estimated
number of 2,300 supermarkets and stores. In addition to this entity is also having 20 % if their
food orders via Groceries online app. With having multi-channels company aims towards
offering easy and accessible services to customers.
Different models to understand the company environment and strength and weakness
Business environment include different type of factors that are having direct and indirect
impact upon business operations. For this it is essential for organisation to have proper
understanding of all the factors in order to further develop strategies and policies to gain
maximum competitive advancements. In this, entity can take significant advantage of various
form of models through which they can identify challenges and can overcome threats in time
effective manner. In addition to this, it will also allow company to ensure more market share
holding along with high level of of productivity. Mentioned below there is formative evaluation
of Pestle analysis in context with Sainsbury's:
Political factor: This factor include elements related to extent of political interference
upon organisation functioning. It has been evaluated that Sainsbury can undertake advantage of
United Kingdom stable political environment along with many relaxations that are being
especially provided to retail sector. With the help of this entity can enlarge their profit sharing
capabilities and can maximise their market share holding. While on the other hand, due to Brexit
there are many political hindrances that are having tendency to lower down entity profitability.
Along with this, dynamic changes in political laws can also affect entity smooth operations.
Thus, in this entity is required to develop strategies and policies accordingly to gain maximum
opportunities.
Economical factor: This factor of Pestle analysis include elements that are related to
disposable income of individual, GDP, inflation, currency rate etc. It has been evaluated that UK
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is offering attractive economical opportunities for companies with many financial benefits. This
can provide many significant opportunities for Sainsbury through which they can maximise their
level of profitability (Martins and et., al., 2019). However, it has been identified that there is high
labour rate in UK that can have negative impact upon entity profitability. For this, it is essential
for company to develop effective strategies to hire and retain skilled and potential employees for
long period of time. This will allow entity to enhance their competitiveness in market segment.
Social factor: It include elements like preferences, taste, beliefs, preferences, age
discrimination and more. This is being determined that in United Kingdom individuals are
having comparatively high level of income. This makes them to spend more on products and
services. Sainsbury by taking advantage of this opportunity can maximise their overall
profitability. However, due to continuous change in needs and demands of customers entity can
face many challenges, for this it is essential for respective organisation to implement change
management system in their workplace and product system as to serve customers needs and
demands as per according to current trends.
Technological factor: Technology is updating on continuous basis which is creating
significant opportunity for entities to expand their rate of profitability. This is being identified
United Kingdom is technology advanced nation and offering numerous form of advantages to
companies. It has been evaluated that, by taking use of high tech technology Sainsbury can serve
their customers with more improvised products and services. In addition to this, entity can also
offer their consumer with the facility of online shopping experience with many associated
benefits in order to gain more competitiveness in retail sector. Technology is having significant
tendency to drive profitability of company great extent. Thus, it is essential for company to have
proper understanding of regular up gradations in technology as to implement the same in
organisation workplace structure to gain more competitive advancements advancements
comparatively to rivals. However, this has been identified in order to implement new technology
Sainsbury require heavy investment along with this, they are also required to offer training to
employees in order to make them compatible with technology update. In order to overcome this
issue it is important for respective entity to adopt strategies and policies accordingly.
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Legal factor: This element of Pestle evaluation involve factors that are related to legal
objectives and government laws. All these are required to be implied by organisation in order to
smoothly conduct their business operations. It has been evaluated that there are many legal laws
that has been enforced by United Kingdom government upon organisations operating their
services in retailing sector. Thus, in order to conduct their business functioning effectively it is
essential for Sainsbury to have proper understanding of all the laws that are imposed upon
respective sector. It will allow entity to gain government support for many activities. Negligence
of this may lead entity to face many legal consequences and heavy penalties.
Environmental factor: This has been determined that individuals and government now
days are having more concern towards environment safety and security. Further it has been
evaluated that there are many environmental protection acts and measures have been imposed
upon retail sector (Owens, Wilson and Abell, 2019). Thus, it is important for Sainsbury to have
positive concern towards environment as to gain maximum advantages. In addition to this entity
is also required to implement environment safety policies and measures, it will help in increasing
their brand image among public that will allow entity to increase their profitability base at great
extent.
SWOT analysis
STRENGTH WEAKNESSES
 Sainsbury's is third largest supermarket
and is having attractive brand image in
retail industrial sector. It helps entity to
increase their overall base of
profitability in a significant basis.
 Entity is offering their customers with
wide range of products and services
options in affordable price range.
 Entity does not take appropriate
advantage of technology is their
organisational operations which is
impacting upon their overall
profitability.
 Sainsbury's is having weak promotional
channels and marketing options
comparatively to other competitors
which is decreasing their overall ration
of sales.
THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
 It has been evaluated that retail sector is  Sainsbury by taking advantage of
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facing the issue related to aggressive
competition which is affecting profit
generation capabilities of Sainsbury's.
As it has been evaluated that rival firms
like ASDA, Walmart, Tesco is creating
threat upon Sainsbury's business
operations.
 Company is also facing threat due to
Bexit, as it increases obligations of
taxation, laws and legal obligations on
entity operations.
opportunities from technologies can
enhance their overall profitability ratio.
As it has been identified that high tech
technology is offerings aid to entity to
enhance efficiency of their business
operations through which they can
serve their customers better. In addition
to this, it also allow entity to expand
their online market presence and serve
more customers effectively.
 Entity can take advantage of UK
government relaxations that are being
offered to entities in retail sector. With
the help of this company can ensure
their long term existence in respective
market place.
Porters five forces
Porter five forces is an effective tool that allows an organisation to evaluate numerous
form of factors that are prevailing in external environment along with their impact upon entity
operations (Turner and et., al., 2020). This model include five elements that are required to be
effectively evaluate by organisation in order to gain more economic advancements. Mentioned
below there is porter five force force evaluation of Sainsbury's:
Barraging power of customer: According to the evaluation, it has been evaluated that
there is aggressive form of competition prevailing in retail sector, in addition to this this has been
evaluated that there many leading organisations offering same or similar form of products and
services to customers. This lead towards high bargaining power buyers. In order to overcome
this challenge it is essential for Sainsbury to take advantage of effective strategies and measures
to offer high quality products and services to customers. In addition to this, entity is also required
to take advantage of attractive pricing strategy in order to provide organisational offerings to
customers in price effective base.
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Barraging power of supplier: Sainsbury is having low level of bargaining power of
supplier, as it has been determined that respective company is conducting their operations as
third largest supermarket store. This makes suppliers to perform their operations with leading
organisations in order to ensure their continuous growth and long term sustainability. By taking
advantage of this Sainsbury can negotiate price of raw materials and can further offer high
quality products and services to customers in cost effective way. It will help entity to
significantly increase their productivity and profitability at great extent.
Threat of new entrants: There is low level of threat of new entrants in retail segment, as
it has been evaluated that in order to execute business operations in this sector, it is essential for
new entrants to make high investments and also make periodical capital investments for growth.
Thus, Sainsbury does not have any threat from new entrants (Gaviria-Marin, Merigó and Baier-
Fuentes, 2019). It enhances company opportunity to serve large base of customers in a well
defined and effective manner. For this entity is required to take advantage of many attractive
strategies and measures to influence purchasing behaviour of customers. In this, entity can also
widen their products and services range for all income level groups. This will lead entity to
increase their overall productivity and sales ratio in effective way.
Threat to substitute: Due to the presence of many organisations Sainsbury is facing
high threat of substitute, as per according to the evaluation this is being identified that rivals of
respective entity is providing similar form of services and products to customers. It is increasing
threat upon profit and revenue generation capability of Sainsbury. In order to overcome this
challenge in a well define and effective manner it is essential for respective organisation to
attract customers with more efficient products and services with high quality and in affordable
price range. In addition to this, entity is also required to offer many attractive benefits, coupons
etc. to customers in order to gain more competitive advancements.
Rivalry among the competitors: There is respectively high rivalry among competitors
in retail sector due to the presence of aggressive competition. It has been evaluated that entities
like ASDA, Tesco and more are attracting large base of customers with many offers and cost
effective products and services. Thus, it is vital for Sainsbury's management to undertake
advantage of attractive pricing strategies, high tech technology and policies and to increase their
performance efficiency in order to satisfy large number of customers in a well defined and
effective manner. Along with this, entity is also required to abide and have positive attitude
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towards environment safety, as it will allow entity to maximize their brand image in respective
entity through which they have more revenue generation options.
As per according to the above mentioned evaluation it has been determined that by
evaluating porter five force analysis Sainsbury can gain advantage of many opportunities through
which they can ensure their long term sustainability and growth. It will further allow company to
increase their overall productivity and profitability at great extent.
Recommendation the most appropriate information system for Sainsbury's
Information system it is being recommended to Sainsbury's management to undertake advantage
of high tech and improvised information system, with the help of this entity can not only able to
serve their customers but can also allow themselves to fulfil organisation aims and objectives in
best effective manner. In addition to this, company is being recommended to take use of
electronic market as with the help of this they can satisfy more number of customers around
world. By taking advantage of effective information system entity can track their customer
informations and current prevailing trend in a well defined and effective manner.
In addition to this, respective company management is recommended to implement and
enforce updated information technology version in their organisational workplace structure, as it
will allow them to fill up inventory in their stores in time effective manner. With the help of this
company can serve their customers in best effective manner. By taking advantage of advanced
technology entity like cloud computing entity can effectively forecast needs and requirements of
and can further fulfil them. Thus, as per according to the above mentioned analysis it as been
evaluated that it is essential for management of Sainsbury's to take significant advantage of
information system as it will further facilitate them to gain more market share competitively to
other rivals. Along with this, with the help of this entity can ensure their long term sustainability
in respective industrial sector.
Method through which can create customer relation and supply chain
In this competitive environment this is crucial to have more better customer relation as it
helps in increasing the customer and help in exploring the larger market share effectively. There
are different ways through which information system is used which by Tesco to provide better
service to consumer. The system has large amount of information of customer through which
company identify the needs and buying behavior of the customer and offer the product as per the
satisfactory level of user. This system allow customer facing employees in the different areas in
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sales and marketing get major advantage and provide better to have better decision-making
ability through which they can achieve desire outcomes effectively.
Performance objective for the company:
Sainsbury is operating their business functioning as third leading organisation in
supermarket stores, however in order to overcome aggressive competition it is essential for
respective organisation to undertake significant measures and plans in order to improve
efficiency of their operations. With the help of this entity can assure their long term sustainability
as well as profitability:
 By making advanced development in company IT solutions and adopting high tech
technologies into operations Sainsbury can maximise their overall profitability and
productivity at great extent. In addition to this with the use of effective information
system company can have accurate purchasing process through which they can deal with
their suppliers in a well defined and effective manner.
 As to gain more competitive advancements competitively to their rivals it is essential for
Sainsbury's management to improve quality of their products and services, for this entity
by taking use of efficient software like screen capture platform company can effectively
assure quality measurement. It will allow entity to serve their customers in best effective
manner.
The challenges while implementing the recommendation
It has been evaluated that in order to implement changes there are number of challenges
that can be faced by organisation which can further affect their overall profitability and
productivity. For this it is essential for entity to significantly take use of advanced and effective
strategies and measures. In addition to this, this is being identified that while implementing
change company can face resistance from their employees which can further lead towards
conflicts. Thus, it becomes essential for company to take use of effective strategical measures as
to overcome this issue and gain opportunities for future growth and development:
 This has been identified that up gradation or implementation of new software of IT
system may find difficult for employees to understand, this can lower down their overall
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level of performance and can further further affect relationship between employees and
management. In order to overcome this situation it is essential for management of
Sainsbury to ensure that they offer proper and effective training and development courses
to each and every employees in order to make them compatible with change.
 Another form of challenge that can have negative impact upon company operations is
related to cost, as in order to implement change it is essential to ensure that each and
every activity is going as per according to budget (Dingsøyr, 2019). With the help of this
manager can have proper track and can further accomplish their operations in cost
effective manner.
 It has been identified that as to adopt new delivery system organisation logistic
department can face numerous form of challenges which can further affect their overall
sales, in addition to this extensive use of online delivery system can increase job security
issues among employees. Thus to overcome this challenge it is essential for Sainsbury
management to take advantage of Six sigma as to make significant reduction on failure
chances.
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CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report it has been concluded that, knowledge management is
termed as a tool through which an organization can effectively organize documentation. In
addition to this, it has been evaluated that with the assistance of this software entity can keep
their process of documentation up-to-date assist customers in finding their own answers and
manage knowledge access and permissions across user groups. Along with the this, this software
allows entity to provide answers to frequently asked questions to consumers through which
entity can further convert them into potential buyers. Thus, entity is being recommended to take
use of effective and efficient form of knowledge management software as it effectively aid entity
to determine out-of-date articles in timely manner and further allow them to update them with
new form of informations. It is an efficient way that significantly benefit entity to improve
consumer experience in a well define and effective manner. With the help of this system, entity
can reduce wait time and can provide more effective satisfaction level to customers, as with
having online system available for 24/7 customers can easily find answer by their own. By taking
advantage of effective knowledge information system entity can gain many internal advantages
such as scaling of team more effectively, onboard new employees quickly, keep organizational
continuity and more. It allow entity to maximise their profitability and productivity in a well
defined and effective manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abubakar and et., al., 2019. Knowledge management, decision-making style and organizational
performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), pp.104-114.
Berkemeier and et., al., 2019 Engineering of Augmented Reality-Based Information
Systems. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 61(1), pp.67-89.
Carvalho, J.V., Rocha, Á., van de Wetering, R. 2019. A Maturity model for hospital information
systems. Journal of Business Research, 94, pp.388-399.
Dingsøyr, T., 2019. Knowledge management in medium-sized software consulting companies:
An investigation of intranet-based knowledge management tools for knowledge
cartography and knowledge repositories for learning software organisations. arXiv preprint
arXiv:1903.11854.
Gaviria-Marin, M., Merigó, J.M. and Baier-Fuentes, H., 2019. Knowledge management: A
global examination based on bibliometric analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, 140, pp.194-220.
Gunjal, B., 2019. Knowledge management: why do we need it for corporates. Malaysian Journal
of Library & Information Science (ISSN: 1394-6234).
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Martins and et., al., 2019 Knowledge management in the context of sustainability: Literature
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500.
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Turner and et., al., 2020. Accounting information systems: controls and processes. John Wiley &
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Owens, I., Wilson, T. and Abell, A., 2019. Information and Business Performance: A Study of
Information Systems and Services in High-Performing Companies. Walter de Gruyter
GmbH & Co KG.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2019. Managing and using information
systems: A strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Shujahat and et., al., 2019. Translating the impact of knowledge management processes into
knowledge-based innovation: The neglected and mediating role of knowledge-worker
productivity. Journal of Business Research, 94, pp.442-450.
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