Knowledge Management Strategic Plan for Woolworths: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of a knowledge management strategic plan designed for Woolworths Ltd. The report begins with an abstract summarizing the key aspects of the plan, followed by an introduction that highlights the importance of knowledge management in enhancing organizational productivity and efficiency. The core of the report addresses the key objectives of the plan, such as providing employee training, developing an effective information-sharing system, and guiding management in building strong customer relationships, aligning these objectives with Woolworths' overarching organizational goals. The report then delves into the strategies, tools, and methods required to achieve these objectives, including on-the-job training, technology-based learning, network structures, and promotional offers. It identifies the personnel involved, such as HR managers and department heads, and emphasizes the importance of democratic leadership and employee involvement. Finally, the report discusses the evaluation and monitoring practices necessary for effective plan implementation, including examinations, the Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Training Evaluation model, and performance metrics. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, reinforcing the significance of a well-executed knowledge management strategy for Woolworths' success. The report emphasizes the importance of ongoing evaluation and monitoring to ensure the plan's effectiveness.

Knowledge Management

ABSTRACT
This report is a comprehensive summary of understanding about the process of creating a
knowledge management strategic plan which can be used by a company for enhancing theory
productivity and information flow. Objectives are the base to such type of plan as they provide
direction of the effective knowledge management strategies. These objectives must be set in such
a way that these can be achieved with the help of strategies, tools and models. Effective training
and structure are the few strategies which are used in this report. At last, it is also summarised
that implementation of Knowledge management strategic plan requires few evaluation and
monitoring practices for effective implementation.

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
QUESTION 1...................................................................................................................................4
a) Key objectives of plan and how they integrate with organisational goals.........................4
b) Strategies, tools & methods required to achieve objectives & type of personnel involved5
C) Evaluation and monitoring of plan implementation..........................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
A knowledge management strategic plan helps an organisation to develop strategies from
which company can manage its information, data and knowledge to improve its overall
productivity and efficiency. It is important that these plans are formed in such a manner that they
align with company objectives which help it in accomplishing them in an effective and timely
manner (Jennex, 2015). A good, clear KM strategy can help in increasing the awareness and
understanding about KM in organisation, receiving the attention of senior management,
communicating in an efficient manner, help the company to progress efficiently in market etc.
This report is based on Woolworths Ltd. which is a large scale Australian company dealing in
retail industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. The company is the second largest
organisation in Australia in terms of revenue which deals in takeaway liquor retail, hotel and
gaming poker machine operator. In this report, a strategic knowledge management plan will be
designed while specifying its key objectives. Also the tools, methods and strategies that will be
required to achieve these objectives will be identified along with an explanation of type of
personnel who will implement the plan. Further the monitoring and evaluation of plan will also
be done in this report.
QUESTION 1
a) Key objectives of plan and how they integrate with organisational goals
A knowledge management strategic plan helps the company in managing information,
data and knowledge in such a way that the efficiency and productivity of company gets
improved. These plans need to be formulated in such a direction that company goals and
objectives are achieved within the set deadline while using resources of company. Woolworths
Ltd is a large Australian company that deals in retail, hotels, liquor, general merchandise and
everyday services (Tseng, 2014). The company is on its journey of becoming a purpose-led
organisation by grouping various purposes in order to provide high satisfactions to customers by
focusing more on their experience. It is important that company use the information, data and
knowledge of all its groups in such a manner that it can provide maximum benefits to all its
stakeholders. The chosen company aims at providing customer-centric goods and services so that
their brand image can improve and customers put Woolworths first over all the other companies.

It also aims at bringing improvements in all its products and services so that the changing needs
and wants of customers can be efficiently met.
Objectives
 To provide training to employees for enhancing their current level of knowledge in order
to manage the organisational knowledge.
 To develop an effective system of sharing information to achieve better co-ordination
among different departments in order to create innovative products as part of knowledge
management.
 To provide effective knowledge about building healthy relationship with customers in
order to make them highly satisfied.
The above-mentioned objectives of the current knowledge management plan of
Woolwoths which is properly integrated with its main objectives. The first objective of KM plan
is about imparting necessary information to the existing employees for making them more
capable to carry the tasks appropriately. This can be achieved through training which will be
given to those personnel who have potential to handle the pressure and contribute in strategic
decision-making (Bosua and Venkitachalam, 2013).
Second objective being designing and development of a system free from errors so that
flow of information does not get interrupted. It is significant as all the units can synchronise with
each other only when there is proper sharing of information.
The last objective is providing useful and right guidelines to the management for
establishing strong relationships with customers. This is going to help Woolworths in retaining
them for a long time. Ultimately, all the above objectives are going to provide it competitive
advantage leading to remarkable position in the market. This can be reflected in the profit and
sales.
b) Strategies, tools & methods required to achieve objectives & type of personnel involved
The above mentioned objectives of Woolworths can be achieved by proper
implementation of strategic knowledge management plan so that all its data, information and
knowledge can be efficiently stored and utilised. The strategies, tools and methods which can
help in achieve the above mentioned objectives of Woolworths are:
Objective 1- Training to employees for developing team with strategic capabilities

Training is the process through which helps in human resource development. It is useful
in building new skills together with enhancement of existing ones with a view to improve
(Pfeffer and . et. al, 2013). It is important for Woolworths to make its staff aware about the
changes that have taken place for carrying their job effectively. For this purpose, it has opted for
on-the-job training in which employees are going to be given training at the workplace. The
main benefit of this is that every individual in the company can attend it without any excuse
which makes it easy for the management to explain things at one place. Apart from this,
technology-based learning is also going to be used by Woolworths for making the employees
understand the practical scenarios. Since, it is a new way of teaching the staff by showing them
how the activities are going to be carried. This is going to help in clear division of activities on
the basis their existing as well as new skills resulting in development of strategic capabilities. For
this purpose, human resource manager should be assigned who is the authority to manage the
employees, determine their needs and provide training for their development. It is going to be the
responsibility of HR manager only to implement plan. With this, Woolworths can have better
management of knowledge the workforce can have the adequate information for undertaking the
tasks assigned to them (Cohen, and Olsen, 2015).
Objective 2- Development of effective system of sharing information
Information is the key to success in every task. Without proper guidelines and details, it
is impossible for the management to have a system through which information can be
exchanged. It is useful for long term success as everything depends upon the system which can
be used for extracting the necessary information. The main use of this is to make decisions which
may be strategic as well. The structure adopted by Woolworths is network structure in which
every team and employee is given their own portal through which the head of every department
are going to co-ordinate. Network structure assists in developing decentralization in the
organisation where there are managers for controlling and co-ordinating. It is going to use e-mail
and videos for having communication from one location to another (Farsani and. et. al 2014).
The manager of every department is going to be held responsible for the implementation of
knowledge management plan. In addition to this, IT department will make the information
system by mitigating the errors. These tools are going to be beneficial for various departments
for communicating in a better way so that existing knowledge about the internal activities can be

put at one place. This can be used by the heads of department resulting in good knowledge
management.
Objective 3- Guidance to management for building healthy relationship with customers
Customers are the valuable asset for every organisation which help in increasing the sales
and profit. They have certain expectations and demands which should be met by the companies
in order to provide them high satisfaction. There should be proper guidance to the management
for helping it to formulate policies for engaging the customers. For this purpose, it can provide
special offers to target consumers in order to attract them to buy the products of Woolworths.
Every individual look for promotional offers before buying things from a store (Karamitri,
Talias and Bellali, 2017). The person responsible for this is top management who should develop
appropriate policies which are to be used by rest of individuals. There can be a separate section
for this purpose. Also, higher authorities are going to be the one for the implementation of
knowledge management plan. The benefit of the same is that target customers can be attracted to
the goods and make the purchases on a regular basis. Also, there can be different analysis for
gathering the information about customers' choices and preferences on the basis of which various
strategies and policies are to be developed. This is the way in which Woolworths can attain
success in every tasks. Having the right knowledge about customers can help the company
become successful as compared to its competitors.
The type of personnel that will be required to implement the strategic KM plan are the
HR manager and leaders of the company who can by their efficient management and leadership
can integrate the KM plan in company (Ooi, 2014). Democratic leadership style and participative
management can help the company in implementing the KM strategic plan in an efficient
manner. It is important that the employees are involved by managers and leaders in making
efficient decisions as their opinions and views can also be involved. This can help in increasing
the involvement of employees and encouraging them to accept changes so that implementation
of plan can be efficiently done. It is also important that competencies and skills of employees
must help the company in implementation of law in an appropriate manner. If the employees lack
required efficiency and skills, then they must be properly trained so that plan can be
implemented effectively. Necessary training, seminars and workshops can help employees in
becoming more equipped and ready for integration of KM plan.

C) Evaluation and monitoring of plan implementation
Monitoring plays an important role in efficient implementation of plan in desired manner
and also measuring the results that are expected to be achieved. This is important so that any
problems that are faced while plan implementation can be eliminated so that integration of plan
can become smooth and effective. It is also important that the effectiveness of plan after getting
implemented is evaluated on a regular basis so that positive results can be drawn and company
can be benefited from it (Lee and. et. al., 2016). On the other hand, evaluation is the process of
measuring the actual output with the standard in order to determine the variance. This help in
implementing and integrating the plan with existing processes so that the objectives of strategic
KM plan can integrate with the organisational objectives. Monitoring and evaluation of
implementation of Knowledge management plan of Woolworths are as follows:
Objective 1- This objective of KM plan is concerned with the training of employees with
a view to develop skills which can further help in building strategic capabilities. For the purpose
of monitoring this, Woolworths is going to conduct an examination of whatever they have learnt
in training sessions. The results of such exams can be helpful in tracking the extent to which the
skills and techniques are used by employees in strategic operations. In addition to this, evaluation
can be done by applying the Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Training Evaluation model. This model
analyse the effectiveness of the training provided in the organisation. It is specifically designed
for trainings offered in the corporates. In the context to Woolworths, with the use of this model
reaction of employees is going to be assessed and to what extent they will be able to learn the
things. The current level of knowledge will be measured with the new level of knowledge so as
to judge the capabilities of the staff. Furthermore, their behaviour is going to be considered by
looking, whether Woolworths sees a positive change or not. This will reflect the true picture of
the employees about the knowledge gained by them. Followed by this, results obtained with the
use of this model can provide some helpful information on the basis of which improvements in
upcoming training sessions will be carried (Liu and Lee, 2013).
Objective 2- According to this objective, the main target is to focus on building effective
information system to be used in the organisation for smooth flow of information. This is going
to be monitored by conducting system audit. It helps in ascertaining the errors or defects with a
view to reduce them. It gives real time information on the basis of which existing system can be
adjusted. On coming to evaluation, the Kirkpatrick model can be used in which the reaction of

managers of every department will be observed. This will present a view of the level of
acceptance by the managers as they will provide guideline to employees for using the system.
Learning factor of this model will assist Woolworths to examine that every head of the unit has
understood the utilisation of information system. Positive outcomes can be obtained by making
them familiar how to operate them. Behaviour can reflect the extent to which employees will
show the resistance to change. If the system is easy to use, there will be positive outcomes and
vice versa. Furthermore, the results obtained with this can help Woolworths to simplify the
information system in order to make it successful for the company. In this way, Woolworths can
use the outcomes for making a decision whether to stick with the same information system or
build a new one. This can be judged on the basis of time taken in obtaining the knowledge which
is to be used in making decisions (Merat and Bo, 2013).
Objective 3- The third objective is related with providing guidance to organisation’s
management and employees so that they can build health relations with customers. This
objective is related with the concept of Knowledge management as it requires sharing of
knowledge from managers to employees regarding the ways in which customer relations can be
effectively build. This objective requires the strategy of promotional offers to be achieved. The
strategy of promotional offer includes coupons and discounts due to which customers will be
attracted towards the products of Woolworths and ultimately an effective relationship with
customers will be build.
The above mentioned strategy of promotional offers requires extensive monitoring and
evaluation. The model of Kirkpatrick evaluation has four levels which are reaction, learning,
behaviour and results (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2014). For the evaluation of promotional offer
strategy, the level of behaviour and results can be effectively utilised. In the third level of
behaviour, the management of the company will evaluate the behaviour of their customers in
regard to identify whether customers are satisfied by the given offers. In the last step of this
model, the results of this strategy will be analysed. If the sales and brand equity of Woolworths
has enhanced, then it can be said that the strategy of promotional offers has been effectively
implemented to achieve the objective of providing guidance to employees to build good
customer relations.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that in order to utilise the intellectual and
knowledge based assets of company it is important that a strategic knowledge management plan
is implemented so that company objectives are achieved efficiently. It also helps in improving
the way in which information flows in company thus enhancing effective communication which
improves the motivation of employees thereby increasing their productivity. Also KM plan help
in utilising information efficiently and improving business processes so that company goals are
effectively achieved.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bosua, R. and Venkitachalam, K., 2013. Aligning strategies and processes in knowledge
management: a framework. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Cohen, J. F. and Olsen, K., 2015. Knowledge management capabilities and firm performance: A
test of universalistic, contingency and complementarity perspectives.Expert Systems
with Applications. 42(3). pp.1178-1188.
Farsani,and. et. al 2014. Geo-knowledge management and geoconservation via geoparks and
geotourism.Geoheritage.6(3). pp.185-192.
Jennex, M. E., 2015. Knowledge management. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management. pp.1-6.
Karamitri, I., Talias, M.A. and Bellali, T., 2017. Knowledge management practices in healthcare
settings: a systematic review.The International journal of health planning and
management.32(1).pp.4-18.
Lee, V. H. and. et. al., 2016. Can competitive advantage be achieved through knowledge
management? A case study on SMEs.Expert Systems with Applications.65.
Liu, S. H. and Lee, G. G., 2013. Using a concept map knowledge management system to
enhance the learning of biology.Computers & Education.68. pp.105-116.
Merat, A. and Bo, D., 2013. Strategic analysis of knowledge firms: The links between
knowledge management and leadership. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Ooi, K. B., 2014. TQM: A facilitator to enhance knowledge management? A structural
analysis.Expert Systems with Applications.41(11). pp.5167-5179.
Pfeffer, K.and . et. al, 2013. Participatory spatial knowledge management tools: empowerment
and upscaling or exclusion?.Information, Communication & Society.16(2). pp.258-285.
Sigala, M. and Chalkiti, K., 2014. Investigating the exploitation of web 2.0 for knowledge
management in the Greek tourism industry: An utilisation–importance analysis.
Computers in Human Behavior.30. pp.800-812. pp.136-151.
Tseng, S. M., 2014. The impact of knowledge management capabilities and supplier relationship
management on corporate performance. International Journal of Production Economics
.154. pp.39-47.