Knowledge Management Issue at Grocery Outlet: Analysis

This report examines a knowledge management issue at Grocery Outlet, a supermarket chain. It highlights a conflict between senior management's emphasis on codified knowledge and younger employees' belief in the value of tacit knowledge. The report analyzes the gap between research and practice, noting that the organization's bureaucratic structure hindered knowledge transfer. It emphasizes the importance of tacit knowledge and its role in innovation, recommending the use of social networks and information communication technology to facilitate knowledge sharing. The report concludes that effective knowledge management is crucial for organizational success, and that Grocery Outlet should focus on integrating both tacit and codified knowledge to improve its operations.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Knowledge Management
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The primary purpose of this report is to elucidate on a knowledge management issue that
occurred in Grocery Outlet. The report elaborates on the gap between that of research along
with practice and the steps that could be taken for closing the gap. The report talks about the
recommendations that the organization can make to solve the issue related to knowledge
management.

2KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis of the problem................................................................................................3
Gap between research and the practice......................................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

3KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Knowledge Management refers to process of sharing and managing knowledge within
an organisation. It is indicative of a multidisciplinary approach that helps an organisation in
achieving the objectives by taking recourse to knowledge. Interplay between the aspect of
‘hard’ and that of ‘soft’ knowledge can ensure the sustainability of a business. Grocery Outlet
is the name of a supermarket company that is instrumental in offering discount products in
United States (Groceryoutlet.com., 2018). This report focusses on a knowledge management
issue that occurs at Grocery Outlet in United States. The report elaborates on the gap that
exists between research along with practice in the organisation. The report also suggests
recommendations that can help the organization in managing the knowledge efficiently that
can help in the functioning of an organisation.
Critical Analysis of the problem
In the event of working as sales co-ordinator in Grocery Outlet I saw that there was an
issue in relation to the managing of knowledge in the organization. The senior management
of the organization laid stress on the aspect of codified knowledge that can help in the
formalization of the management process within an organisation. The leadership at Grocery
Outlet created a bureaucratic organizational structure at Grocery Outlet which was inflexible
that was hindering transfer of knowledge in Grocery Outlet. The young people in the
organization however believed that innovation can be brought about with the help of dialogue
occurring between tacit along with codified knowledge in an organization. It was difficult to
formalize the tacit knowledge within the framework of an organization. According to Hislop,
Bosua and Helms (2018), a company can enjoy competitive advantage if it knows how to
expand and disseminate the organizational knowledge. The knowledge that an organization
receives from the business partners should be utilised by an organisation that can help it in

4KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
evolving as an efficient organisation. It was difficult to share the tacit knowledge in an
organization that made the senior management not believe in the concept of tacit knowledge.
The issue that occurred was that there was a rift between the employees and the management
of Grocery Outlet regarding the aspect of knowledge management. It was easier for the
management to communicate with the help of hard data along with scientific knowledge that
made them make use of codified knowledge at Grocery Outlet. It has been argued by
Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal (2014) that the reconciling of the two kind of knowledge
can help in the building of a transparent process in an organization. The company was
suffering owing to the fact that they did not value the aspect of tacit knowledge that was
causing the company to incur loss. Tacit knowledge was not communicated in the right
channel that was acting as a roadblock for progress of organization. The company could not
enjoy competitive advantage due to the fact that they did not make adequate use of tacit
knowledge that can help in opening range of opportunities for the company. Tacit knowledge
was not encouraged at Grocery Outlet that caused many of the new employees to leave the
company. According to Donate and de Pablo (2015), the new employees brought with them
creativity along with new ideas that was neglected by the top management of Grocery Outlet.
The issue arose at Grocery Outlet because communication of the tacit knowledge was not
being encouraged by the management that was creating hindrance for the employees working
at Grocery Outlet.
Gap between research and the practice
The flow in relation to knowledge management can prove to be strategically
important for an organization. Knowledge flows can help in transmitting the know-how that
can prove to be vital for the success of an organization. Knowledge flow can help in
facilitating co-ordination of the work flow that can help in linking the multiple sub-units.
Knowledge creation can take place in an organization with the help of co-existence of tacit

5KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
along with codified knowledge. Codified knowledge can help in the functioning of an
organization and the tacit knowledge should be encouraged that can ensure the success of an
organization (Dayan, Heisig & Matos, 2017). A gap however existed between research along
with practice as the senior management was averse to the utilisation of tacit knowledge at
Grocery Outlet. The organization was not open to new ideas along with skills of the new
employees that hampered the growth of Grocery Outlet. Tacit knowledge can act as an
important resource that can help an individual in accomplishing a task. Research has
suggested that the eliciting of explicit along with implicit knowledge can help in building
competence of the employees within an organization. It is held according to popular view that
tacit knowledge should be communicated with the help of stories along with demonstrations
that can help the employees in delivering effective performance in an organization (Wang,
Noe & Wang, 2014). A gap existed between that of research and practice because tacit
knowledge was not being communicated in the right channel at Grocery Outlet that was
acting like a hindrance for the progress of the organization. It is generally ascertained that
mentoring, internship along with internship can help in communication of the tacit
knowledge in an organisation (Martín-de Castro, 2015). It was however being seen that there
was gap in relation to the transmission of tacit knowledge at Grocery Outlet that was acting
like a constraint for the development of Grocery Outlet. For closing the gap, online
discussion forum can be used by Grocery Outlet that can help in validating the aspect of
collective empirical knowledge among the individuals within the organization.
Recommendations
It is recommended that Grocery Outlet make use of extensive personal contact along
with regular interaction that can help in sharing tacit knowledge in the organisation. Social
networks should be built by Grocery Outlet that can help in building the tacit knowledge of
the company. The relationships should be shaped among the co-workers that can help in

6KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
solving the issue of knowledge management arising in Grocery Outlet. The social networks
can help in assisting the exchange pertaining to tacit knowledge that can help in the removal
of the barrier lying before the organization. Information communication technology can be
used by Grocery Outlet that can help in the arena of transmission of tacit knowledge at
Grocery Outlet. Direct interaction of the performing of tacit knowledge can be performed
with the help of collaboration of that of knowledge sharing between the members of
organization. Grocery Outlet should identify the valuable tacit knowledge that can help them
in realizing their aims within the competitive environment. Tacit knowledge can be
transmitted at Grocery Outlet with the help of expert systems, e-mail, bulletin board, video
conferences and teleconferences (Geisler & Wickramasinghe, 2015). Collaborative software
like that of groupware can be used by Grocery Outlet that can help in developing the
organization.
Conclusion
Knowledge Management is indicative of managing of knowledge in an organisation
that can help an organization in realizing the vision. The senior management of Grocery
Outlet put importance on the aspect of codified knowledge that can help in formalizing
management process in organization. Bureaucratic organizational structure was created at
Grocery Outlet that hindered the transferring of knowledge in organisation. Young employees
believed in the idea that the amalgamation of tacit and that of codified knowledge can help
successfully in innovating the organization. There occurred conflict between employees and
management of the company in relation to knowledge management. The management wanted
the usage of hard data in the organisation. Tacit knowledge in Grocery Outlet was not being
transmitted along the right lines that hampered the growth of organization. Social networks
can play a crucial role in knowledge exchange that can remove a roadblock from the path of

7KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
organization. Grocery Outlet can take recourse to information communication technology
that can help in the transmission of tacit knowledge in organization.

8KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
References
Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2014). Knowledge management: Systems and
processes. Routledge.
Dayan, R., Heisig, P., & Matos, F. (2017). Knowledge management as a factor for the
formulation and implementation of organization strategy. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 21(2), 308-329.
Donate, M. J., & de Pablo, J. D. S. (2015). The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in
knowledge management practices and innovation. Journal of Business
Research, 68(2), 360-370.
Geisler, E., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2015). Principles of Knowledge Management: Theory,
Practice, and Cases: Theory, Practice, and Cases. Routledge.
Groceryoutlet.com. (2018). Discount Groceries - Supermarket | Grocery Outlet. Retrieved
from https://groceryoutlet.com/
Hislop, D., Bosua, R., & Helms, R. (2018). Knowledge management in organizations: A
critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
Martín-de Castro, G. (2015). Knowledge management and innovation in knowledge-based
and high-tech industrial markets: The role of openness and absorptive
capacity. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 143-146.
Wang, S., Noe, R. A., & Wang, Z. M. (2014). Motivating knowledge sharing in knowledge
management systems: A quasi–field experiment. Journal of Management, 40(4), 978-
1009.