Knowledge Management Practices: A Case Study of Qantas Airways

This report delves into the realm of knowledge management within organizations, defining its core principles and processes. It explores various knowledge management models, such as the WIIG, Nonaka, and Zack models, highlighting their structures, components, and applications in fostering knowledge creation, sharing, and utilization. The report then applies these concepts to a case study of Qantas Airways, examining how the airline implements knowledge management to enhance its operations, manage its staff, and maintain a competitive edge. It highlights the company's adoption of IT systems, development of expert teams, strategic alliances, and innovative approaches to information management. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of effective knowledge management for organizational sustainability and success, particularly within dynamic industries like the airline sector.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................2
2. Literature Review.......................................................................................................2
3. Discussion..................................................................................................................4
4. Conclusion..................................................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................6

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1. Introduction
Knowledge management can be defined as the process that is based on the proper
creation, sharing, using and also managing the levels of information and knowledge that has
been gained by the organization. This also refers to the multidisciplinary approach that is
implemented in order to achieve the objectives of the organization and using the knowledge
as well. The main purpose of the report is to analyse knowledge management based activities
that are performed by a modern organization (Akhavan et al. 2016). The issues that are being
faced by the organization in implementation of knowledge management will also be analysed
in detail. The organization that has been considered for analysis based on the implementation
of knowledge management theories is Qantas Airways.
2. Literature Review
As discussed by Dayan, Heisig and Matos (2017), a knowledge management model is
mainly structured in order to understand the process that is used by the organization for the
purpose of investigating the properties and tailoring them with respect to needs of the firm.
The four major parts of the models include, information capture, storage, customization and
use. A major knowledge management model like Nonaka Model mainly elaborates on the use
and the creation. On the other hand, the Zack model is mainly based on the proper refinement
or customization of the information (Dingsøyr 2019). The information that is stored within
the organization in usable forms is termed as knowledge. On the other hand, effective
knowledge needs to be distributed to relevant groups or targets which helps the users so that
they are able to solve different problems that are faced by the organization. The process that
is implemented in order to convert information into the knowledge which can be used is
termed as the Knowledge management cycle (Donate and de Pablo 2015).

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The WIIG model is a four step based knowledge management model that is used for
the proper management of knowledge that has been gained by the organization. The four
major steps of this model of knowledge management are, building knowledge, holding
knowledge, pooling knowledge and applying knowledge. This model was proposed by Karl
Wiig in the 1993 and model also claimed that the valuable knowledge needs to be
synchronised and organized in an effective manner (Fidel, Schlesinger and Cervera 2015).
The major purpose of knowledge management that has been explained by the author is based
on the ways by which intelligent operations of the organization can be facilitated with the
help of proper creation, accumulation and also deployment of high quality based knowledge.
The major characteristics of knowledge management model include, completeness,
connectedness, congruency and the purpose and perspective (Hislop, Bosua and Helms
2018).
Nonaka and Takeuchi model has the focus on the proper creation of knowledge. The
model mainly states that for the purpose of proper implementation of innovative processes
the bar of the organization has to be raised. The model defines and also elaborates the two
major types of knowledge that include, explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. The process
of knowledge creation is continuous in nature and is able to affect the ways by which experts
are able to apply this in order to maintain the operations. The four major methods based on
knowledge creation that have been explained by the author include, socialisation,
externalisation, combination and internalisation (Inkinen 2016).
The third model of knowledge management is named as the ZACK knowledge
management model. The model was developed by Zack and Meyer and is able to define the
different stages that are a part of the knowledge management cycle. The KM cycle mainly
provides emphasis on the proper refinement of knowledge that has been gained by the
organization in order to use it for different purposes. The different stages of the model are

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thereby networked with the proper usage of pure logic for the purpose of facilitating the
analysis of knowledge repository (Hislop, Bosua and Helms 2018). The stages that are a part
of ZACK knowledge management model are based on the implementation of pure logic in
order to convert the information into effective knowledge. The process of acquiring
information and data is the first step that is a part of the knowledge management based
model. The process of refinement is considered to be another major step that is a part of the
proper conversion of information to develop knowledge (Dingsøyr 2019).
3. Discussion
Knowledge management can be applied in Qantas Airways in order to manage the
employees and staff of the organization in an effective manner. WIIG KM model can be
applied in order to develop the knowledge that can be used by the organization in an effective
manner. The information systems developed by Qantas Airways have been supported in a
huge manner by the IT implementation of the organization. Qantas Airways has been able to
developed a team based on experts who are a part of different fields that include, customer
service, engineering and the safety procedures. More than 500 services are operated by
Qantas Airways at an international level (Qantas.com 2019). The organization has been able
to develop promising methods and innovative processes in order to manage information and
knowledge. The strategic alliances that have been Qantas Airways with different telecom
based organizations are considered to be an important part of the knowledge management
process. Qantas has been able to form strategic alliance with Telstra in order to offer the web
based services to customers in different parts of the country (Qantas.com 2019). Qantas is
also known in the industry for the adoption of different methods in order to generate the
strategies that are related to proper information management. The reliability of data, levels of
accuracy, preciseness levels and competitiveness are considered to be important factors that
have an impact on the operations of Qantas (Hislop, Bosua and Helms 2018).

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4. Conclusion
The research report can be concluded by stating that proper knowledge management
is considered to be an important aspect of the proper operations of different organizations.
Qantas Airways is an organization that operates in the highly competitive airlines industry.
The organization will be able to maintain its operations in the industry in a sustainable
manner with the proper management of knowledge levels of the staff and their work process.

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References
Akhavan, P., Ebrahim, N.A., Fetrati, M.A. and Pezeshkan, A., 2016. Major trends in
knowledge management research: a bibliometric study. Scientometrics, 107(3), pp.1249-
1264.
Dayan, R., Heisig, P. and Matos, F., 2017. Knowledge management as a factor for the
formulation and implementation of organization strategy. Journal of Knowledge
Management, 21(2), pp.308-329.
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.
Donate, M.J. and de Pablo, J.D.S., 2015. The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in
knowledge management practices and innovation. Journal of Business Research, 68(2),
pp.360-370.
Fidel, P., Schlesinger, W. and Cervera, A., 2015. Collaborating to innovate: Effects on
customer knowledge management and performance. Journal of business research, 68(7),
pp.1426-1428.
Hislop, D., Bosua, R. and Helms, R., 2018. Knowledge management in organizations: A
critical introduction. Oxford University Press.
Inkinen, H., 2016. Review of empirical research on knowledge management practices and
firm performance. Journal of knowledge management, 20(2), pp.230-257.

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Qantas.com 2019. More careers at Qantas | Qantas Careers AU. [online] Qantas.com.
Available at: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/qantas-careers/more-careers.html
[Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].