Knowledge Management

This article discusses the concept of knowledge management and its importance in organizations. It explores different models and practices of knowledge management, including the virtualization of knowledge-based processes. The article also critically analyzes a case study on the impact of virtual technologies on knowledge creation.

Running Head : KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
A review of relevant literature.....................................................................................................3
A review of the Knowledge Management System......................................................................5
The knowledge management in theory and practices..............................................................5
The knowledge management models.......................................................................................5
The sharing of knowledge and communities of practice.........................................................6
A critical discussion.....................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The knowledge management is the systematic approach which helps the organizations
and people to share, access and update the business information and knowledge. The knowledge
management comes in different forms and can be conducted within the organization through
various ways such as the cross-training programs, the document management system, the content
management systems, social networking tools, chatbots and many others. There are various
benefits of the knowledge management system in the organizations. It spends less time in the
recreation of the existing knowledge (Davenport 1997). The errors in the organization are
reduced, information is found sooner, the processes are standardized, and the employees and the
customers are provided with better service. It has been found that one of the biggest hurdles in
the implementation of the knowledge management system is in making the employees embrace
it. It can be said that knowledge management is all about making the right type of knowledge
available to the right type of people. It helps to ensure that the organization can learn and retrieve
the knowledge assets in the current applications where they need it. In the era of knowledge, the
progressive change of emphasis starts from data, to information to the knowledge. It has become
the primary organizational resource (Nonaka 1991). The good understanding of the market
demands help to produce a competitive advantage. The present report will analyze the case
study, critically discuss one KM aspect in the case study which relates to the KM tools and
techniques, models, processes and few other aspects. It will also discuss the outcomes of the
implementation and compare this against the KM theories discussed in the lectures.
Discussion
A review of relevant literature
The given case study examines the organizational knowledge creation method in two
virtual teams which are involved in the new product development projects in the automotive
industry.
The knowledge management aspect

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The case study explores the virtualization of the knowledge based processes having used
the Nonaka’ model of the knowledge creation. It is one of the biggest aspects of knowledge
management as pointed out in the case study. The virtualization is a hot topic in the IT world and
the virtual machine technology dates back to the 1960s. The benefits of virtualization is lower
hardware costs, a streamlined data centre and greater flexibility in the allocation of the IT
resources. It explores the knowledge based processes such as the information and the
communication technologies (ICTs) which have led to new forms of knowledge creation in the
organizational and the individual level too. The case study provides detailed micro-level
evidence regarding the virtual technologies for supporting the transfer and creation of new type
of knowledge. This is both explicit and at the same time tacit too.
The knowledge based resources and the theoretical studies belong to a variety of
research fields. The studies mainly focus on the theme of knowledge management and its impact
on the performance of the firm. The past researches give better insight into the knowledge
creation processes which occur at the group, individual or organizational level. The knowledge
based processes are helpful for the business practitioners to improve the effectiveness of
innovation in the firms. The communication technologies have greater impact on the knowledge
management of the organization. The main theme in the case study is the virtualization of the
knowledge based processes. The virtualization is the use of the software which allows a piece of
hardware in order to run different system at the same time. The technology started decades ago
which allowed administrators for avoiding wasting the expensive processing power. The
virtualization is a technology which is an application of the operating system abstracting it away
from the true underlying hardware/ software. It allows the creation of multiple simulated
environments from a single, physical hardware system. The software is called the hypervisor that
connects directly to the hardware.
One such virtualization of the knowledge process is the information and the
communication technologies leaving significant impact on the knowledge vase activities. The
information and communication technologies support the collaboration with people of different
capabilities and competencies that facilitate accessing the knowledge and sharing. The ICTs
enhance the knowledge having enabled the virtual joint work and at the same time supporting
easier and effective simulation. There is a micro –level relationship found between the ICTs and

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the knowledge based processes. There are some positive impacts of the ICTs such as in problem
solving, prototyping, the safety testing or the roboticized systems. The contribution of the ICTs
in the knowledge based processes emphasize on the capability of the ICs in the creation of virtual
dimensions by which the individuals can easily share the knowledge and create new knowledge
both at the explicit and tacit level. The impact of the virtualized knowledge based processes on
the creation and establishment of the new knowledge is the primary theme of case study.
A review of the Knowledge Management System
The knowledge management in theory and practices
The knowledge management is required for better understanding of the market demands
for producing better competitive advantage. It is true that in the highly competitive market the
organizations are competing both at the product level and the service level. In such scenario,
knowledge is the primary organizational resource which requires a constant assessment of “ what
works and what does not work”. Since knowledge is power, the sharing of knowledge
strengthens the organization. As per the theories of Post Capitalism, power comes from
transmitting information which makes it productive. In most of the companies, the executives
suggest that the greatest asset is knowledge and it is now more valuable than the physical “
things “ (Drucker 1999). The interdisciplinary nature of knowledge management would highlight
the different aspects of the knowledge disciplines. In a particular modern organization, the main
focus is on the creation of knowledge, the sharing of knowledge, the deployment of that
knowledge which gives effect to the business initiative. The three generations of Knowledge
management are the IT, PEOPLE and CONTENT. There are two different dimensions of
Knowledge management such as the tacit knowledge and the explicit knowledge. The tacit
knowledge is deeply rooted in the ideas, experiences, social activities and values (Garvin,
Edmondson and Gino 2008).It is highly personal, hard to communicate, cognitive and has not
been yet abstracted from practice. On the other hand, the explicit knowledge is the formally
actualized knowledge, the knowledge of evidence and rationality, expressed in numbers and
words.

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The knowledge management models
There are different knowledge management approach which stress on the stress making,
the decision making and the knowledge creation. The Choo’s KM approach directs how to select
the information which could fulfill the organizational actions. The organizational actions result
from the concentration along with the absorption of information from the external environment
into every successive circle. The KM model of 1998, suggest that the individuals create new
knowledge about the external world along with the transformation of the knowledge into the
sharable information. When an organization is prepared to act in a rational manner and select an
alternative which is based on the organizational goals, strategies and objectives. On the other
hand, the rational decision making models are used for the identification and evaluation of
alternatives by processing the information and the knowledge which are collected to date. The
Bounded Rationality Theory is probably the most relevant to the knowledge management as it
suggests that the capacity of the human mind for solving and formulating complex problems
which is required for the rational behavior in the real world. It is characterized by the
individual’s use of limited information analysis, the evaluation and the processing. The WIIG
KM model suggests that knowledge is valuable and it must be organized because the organized
knowledge depends differently on the purpose of the knowledge (Jennex and Olfman 2002). In
this model , there are different dimensions to consider such as completeness, the connectedness,
the congruency, perspective and purpose.
The sharing of knowledge and communities of practice
The concept of “communities of practice “ in the knowledge management world refers to
the group of individuals who are informally bound together through the shared expertise and the
passion for a joint enterprise. It is focused on the more professional nature of work and tries to
find a better way of working. It is related to the concept of virtual community which refers to the
social aggregations which emerge when people carry on the public discussions long with the
sufficient human feeling in order to form webs of personal relationships (Jennex and Olfman
2002). There are various benefits of the communities of practice both for the organizations, the
community and the individuals. For the organization, it helps to drive strategy, solves the
problems quickly, diffuse the best practices, cross-fertilizes the ideas, increases the scope for
innovation and builds the organizational memory.

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A critical discussion
In the case study, there is change associated with the virtualization of the organizational
knowledge creation process. It has provided a theoretical, empirical and normative indication of
the chances offered by the ICTs for the successful conduction of the R & D. It provides an
insight into the innovation processes and how knowledge management facilitates the
organizational innovation (Braganza. A, Awazu Y and Desouza. K C (2009). The micro –level
analysis of the effect of ICTs on the organizational knowledge creation has been done along with
the analysis of one of the four models of Nonaka. The micro –level analysis has also provided
insight into the effects of ICTs on the different mechanisms adopted by the R & D groups. The
best part is that there is a clear demonstration of the use and implementation of the virtual
technologies towards the creation of virtual medium. It fundamentally impacts on the knowledge
creation at organizational and individual level. It has been found that the ICTs help to grow a
greater amount of simulations and a higher precision of the design practice (Nonaka and Konno
1998). The consequence is that, the new tacit knowledge is generated through the virtual
experimentation which is difficult to express in the explicit form. The micro-level analysis shows
that the ICTs highly contribute to the tacit and the explicit knowledge. They also allow the
socialization of the geographically dispersed individuals which help to resolve a particular
question which has vexed the scholars from various disciplines. It includes the information
management systems and the innovation management too. The focus on Nonaka ‘a model
provides the new micro-level evidence on the way various tools support this mode. The case
study provides deeper insight into the impacts of design tutorials for the practitioners. The
improvements are there in the internalization processes which are driven by the virtual tools
suggesting that they must be widely adopted in contexts which require the development of the
homogenous organizational culture (Moultrie et al. 2007). Those organizations where there are
higher rates of employee turnover cab also use the KM tools in order to reduce the expenses of
personal trainings and maintain a homogenous organizational culture.
Conclusion
Therefore from the above discussion, it can be said that knowledge management is all
about making the right type of knowledge available to the right type of people. It helps to ensure

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that the organization can learn and retrieve the knowledge assets in the current applications
where they need it. In the era of knowledge, the progressive change of emphasis starts from
data, to information to the knowledge. It has become the primary organizational resource. The
case study of Vaccaro, Veloso and Brusoni reflecting on the impact of the virtual technologies on
the knowledge based processes has been analyzed in this report. The case study has been
critically analyzed reflecting on the theories, models and practices of the knowledge
management. It report also has critically discussed one KM aspect in the case study which relates
to the KM tools and techniques, models, processes and few other aspects. It has also discussed
the outcomes of the implementation and compare this against the KM theories discussed in the
lectures.

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References
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Drucker, P. F. (1999). Knowledge-worker productivity: The biggest challenge. California
Management Review, 41(2), 79.
Garvin, D.A., Edmondson, A.C. and Gino, F., 2008. Is yours a learning organization?. Harvard
business review, 86(3), p.109.
Husted, K. and Michailova, S. (2002). Diagnosing and Fighting Knowledge-Sharing Hostility.
Organizational Dynamics, 31(1), 60-73, in the Science Direct Database
Jennex, M and Olfman, L. (2002) Organizational Memory/Knowledge Effects on Productivity, a
Longitudinal Study, HICSS’35
Leonard‐Barton, D., 1992. Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing new
product development. Strategic management journal, 13(S1), pp.111-125.
Moultrie, J., Nilsson, M., Dissel, M., Haner, U. E., Janssen, S., and Van der Lugt, R. (2007).
Innovation spaces: towards a framework for understanding the role of the physical environment
in innovation. Creativity and Innovation Management, 16(1), 53-6.
Nonaka, I. (1991). The Knowledge-Creating Company. Harvard Business Review (November-
December), 96-104.
Nonaka, I., and Konno, N. (1998). The Concept of "Ba": Building a foundation for Knowledge
Creation. California Management Review, 40(3), 40-54.
Senge, P. M. (1990). The leader's New Work: Building Learning Organisations. Sloan
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