Knowledge Audit for Business Analysis: A Malaysian Electricity Case

This case study explores the importance of knowledge management (KM) in modern business, particularly within the Malaysian electricity sector. It highlights the benefits of effective KM and its direct impact on organizational performance. A research conducted on two major electricity companies in Malaysia reveals inconsistencies in KM implementation, with a significant portion of respondents indicating a lack of formal KM processes. The study identifies challenges such as busy experts, insufficient expertise, unavailability of KM experts, lack of rewards, and rigid business processes. The research emphasizes the need for a more structured approach to KM implementation, addressing issues like coordination, teamwork, and employee involvement. The document concludes by summarizing the current problems and stressing the importance of integrating KM to improve business operations. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Knowledge Audit for Business Analysis
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Authors Note:

1
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Contents
Business context and business case:................................................................................................2
Statement of current business processes and problems:..................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................7

2
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Business context and business case:
Knowledge management and its importance in modern day business management is the
main topic of discussion here. Over the years the importance of knowledge management in
efficient management of an organization is understood by the managers in all across the globe.
There are number of benefits of proper knowledge management (KM) within an organization.
Many studies have shown that effective knowledge management is directly related to the
performance of an organization. The impact of KM on entities and their operations has to be
documented to correctly assess the importance of KM in business organization (The Importance
of Knowledge Management in Staff Empowering in the Training Complex, 2018).
A research was conducted on two biggest electricity companies in Malaysia to understand the
impact KM on the functioning of these organizations and their performances. Interviews and
survey questionnaire were used to collect information about the impact of KM on organizational
performance of these two electronic companies. 45.2% of the respondents to the survey said that
the companies have implemented KM within the organizations and practiced accordingly.
However, a larger portion of the respondents, i.e. 54.8% suggested that no such KM processes
have been implemented within the organization. Thus, majority of the respondents in the survey
answered that the companies were yet to implement KM processes within the organization. In
fact in the organizations where the KM processes have been implemented only 1/3 of the total
employees and workers were directly involved in the implementation process. Thus, 2/3 of the
total employees and workers were left out of the KM implementation processes. Despite lack of
initiative on the part of the companies to bring all the employees and workers up-to-date with the
KM processes it was quite refreshing to find out that most of the participants were quite aware of
KM. So the fundamental understanding amongst participants of KM was very much clear from

3
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
the findings of the study (Mobile Cloud Computing and Its Effectiveness in Business
Organizations, 2019).
Lack of formal method in implementation of KM processes within companies were more than
evident from the study. Despite lack of formal method and haphazard implementation of HM the
benefits to the companies were beyond any doubt. The mean score of perceived benefits from
KM as per the study is attached below to understand the benefits properly.
The above table clearly shows that the three groups namely, management, executive and non-
executive all have agreed on the problems and challenges in implementing KM within
organizations. They have also agreed that it is not only about implementation of KM but also the
problems and challenges are faced at the time of practice.
The screen shot below shows the mean score obtained from the study on the problems and
challenges faced by the companies while implementing and practicing KM within companies.

4
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
From the above it is clear that in number of respects the p value is high, i.e. it is greater than 0.5
suggesting that the respondents have statistical similarity in terms of opinion on the matter. The
factors and matters they have mostly agreed are as following.
I. Busy experts.

5
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
II. Expertize in KM is not sufficient.
III. Unavailability of KM experts with sufficient knowledge.
IV. Lack of rewards and recognition.
V. Business processes are rigid and inflexible.
Statement of current business processes and problems:
The research on two of the main electricity companies in Malaysia has showed that there
is a lack of motive and method behind the implementation of KM within the organizations.
Instead of implementing KM within the organizations at rapid speed the management, executives
and non-executives are quite happy with the existing systems. The inability of the management
to use services of proper experts to implement KM is quite visible from the findings of the study.
The statement of current business processes and problems is given below in a summarized form
to help the readers to understand the importance of implementing KM within the organizations
(Gilaninia, Askari and Dastour, 2013).
No proper system in place to implement KM:
The businesses in the country lacks the proper system to implement KM. There is no standard
system in place developed by the management to implement KM processes within the business
organizations.
Non-availability of proper experts:
Lack of experts in the field of KM has also influenced the implementation process of KM within
business organizations in the country. Thus, it is important to provide professional education on
the subject to develop their skills to be used for the benefit of the business organizations in the
future.

6
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Coordination and team work:
The business organizations certainly lacks coordination within themselves as there is no
exchange of knowledge between them. Exchange of knowledge could help both the
organizations sharing knowledge. Lack of team work in business organization is very much
visible from lack luster implementation of KM within the business entities (Babu, 2012).
Employees are part of the process but however the business have failed to take them along:
Employees and workers are the most important part of an organization and must be taken into
confidence by ensuring they are aware of any changes in the process and system. However, in
implementation of KM the companies has failed to take the employees into confidence as only
1/3 of the employees were involved directly with the process leaving 2/3 in the dark.

7
KNOWLEDGE AUDIT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS
References:
Babu, K. (2012). Importance of Knowledge Management in Recent Business. SSRN Electronic
Journal, 2(5), pp.17-23.
Gilaninia, S., Askari, M. and Dastour, M. (2013). Overview of the Importance of Knowledge
Management and Its Agents. Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management
Review, 2(12), pp.23-29.
Mobile Cloud Computing and Its Effectiveness in Business Organizations. (2019). Information
and Knowledge Management, 2(3), pp.45-51.
The Importance of Knowledge Management in Staff Empowering in the Training Complex.
(2018). Asian Research Journal of Business Management, 5(3), p.14.