Report: Analyzing Knowledge Management Principles and Practices

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of knowledge management, utilizing a case study centered on Manic Marketers to illustrate key principles and practices. It begins by outlining the importance of a robust knowledge environment, emphasizing the role of technological systems, positive orga...Read More

Running head: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
Knowledge Management Principles
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Executive Summary
The following report has been prepared to discuss about the different features of Knowledge
Management. The report has taken the help of a case study based on a practical example of
the practice of knowledge management. The following report begins with a introductory part
and then proceeds with different chapters, each related to some elements of Knowledge
management. The formulator of the report has tried to evaluate different questions arising
from the following case study in the report. The report ends with a short but compact
concluding part which highlights its importance.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
The knowledge environment......................................................................................................3
The role of a mentor...................................................................................................................5
Types of information and forms of organisational knowledge..................................................6
Key weaknesses in the social capital.........................................................................................7
Knowledge Sharing Strategies...................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The purpose of the report is to throw light on the knowledge characteristics as well as
principles, which may help in enhancing the businesses. The knowledge management system
innovations help in influencing the success of any business. There is a growing recognition of
the knowledge management and how it relies on the social capital for establishing an
effective cultural context. Organizations need to pay attention to people, processes, planning,
products as well as performances in order to ensure a strategic knowledge management
within the workplace (Donate and de Pablo 2015). The report will highlight the knowledge
characteristics of a company named Manic Marketers and how its features are being
portrayed. In addition to this, it will discuss about certain functionalities of the mentor within
the organization. Lastly, the report will recommend some strategies and identify the way it
can be implemented within the organizational setting for its betterment.
The knowledge environment
The initial interview as well as orientation presented a very strong message regarding
the knowledge environment operating at the Manic Marketers. It is evident from the fact
when a comprehensive portfolio was being provided to a new candidate, named Damon. The
detailed interview procedure outlined the technological systems, positive as well as inclusive
culture and moreover, the focus on knowledge management systems of the organization. The
whole interview process was quite positive and Damon gained an understanding regarding
the company’s policies as well as procedures. In addition to this, Damon was quite
enthusiastic regarding the feedback sharing procedures, long term relations and others.
Damon instantly accepted the job and was ready for the orientation program. The
orientation program also went well as it clearly stated the organizational mission, vision,

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goals and objectives. Moreover, the supervisor mentioned that everything is shared and
documented within the organization and thus, the employees can access corporate knowledge
very easily. There was a one to one knowledge sharing session as well, which continued for a
week. Damon was introduced to several systems like house records management systems,
financial systems, library as well as knowledge objects’ collection, human resource processes
and records management systems. His guide assured him that all these systems can be easily
navigated. In addition to this, Damon was allowed to take some time on working through the
systems as well as the company’s official website, for understanding their working
procedures.
However, this differed from the reality to some extent. The knowledge workers
possess various forms of organizational knowledge, which are being discussed in this part of
the report. The knowledge workers in the real world need to understand the characteristics,
usefulness and features of various sources, systems or processes that may be found within the
organization (Heisig et al. 2016). Taking the case study of Damon, it took him some time to
get into the organization’s operations. Moreover, the knowledge workers need to have
knowledge regarding the identification of various people, organizational units, groups that
can act as the knowledge sources (Barnes and Milton 2015). However, Damon was
successful in that as he was able to identify a person named Baby Garabaldon, whose
information was missing from the company’s file. In addition to this, in real life knowledge
workers are required to carry out complex tasks including analytical as well as reflective
strategies, like testing, researching, innovating and developing. Moreover, they should have
the abilities of reviewing and evaluating options in order to identify a proper solution to the
issues, faced within the workplace setting (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal 2014).

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The role of a mentor
A mentor is responsible for performing different activities within the organization. A
novice in the organization needs to work under a mentor for gaining valuable experience. The
interaction between the mentor and mentee will be helpful for both in achieving their career
objectives. According to Seibert et al. (2017) the role of a mentor is outlined below:
 The mentor acts as an advisor and coach to provide guidance and feedback to the
mentees. He shares his own experience so that the mentees do not repeat similar kinds
of mistakes. In the case of Manic marketers, the new employee Damon had
approached his mentor and co- workers, when he was clueless about his work and
previous records. However, none of them came to his help and each of them felt
threatened by his entry into the company. He tried to take help from a telephone call
but the respondent was unable to help him with his queries. Damon started feeling
restless and had no idea about whom to approach for enquiry.
 In general, the role of a mentor is to help the mentees understand the working of the
organization and guide them when things go unplanned. It was on the contrary to the
instance at the Manic marketers. When Damon was feeling clueless regarding BG and
left none to ask about him, everyone denied help. This is not how a mentor should act
in a situation (Shillingstad 2015).
 A mentor should help the mentee from the first day to be acquainted with the
resources, which will help them in personal growth and development. The mentors
recommend books, article, workshops and other learning tools and give them a brief
idea about whom to approach in different kinds of situation. None of these criteria
was followed in the case of Damon at the Manic marketers. Wherever he went for
help, he faced rejection and denial (Mitchell, Eby and Ragins 2015).

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Therefore, it can be recommended that, this company should focus on proper knowledge
management. They have previous record of making the client angry due to the gap in
knowledge sharing. At present, they should fix strategies to help the mentees move out their
comfort zones by interacting with them freely. It should be the role of the mentor to provide
them with the necessary resources of the company so that the new employee can get
everything handy and need not search in the dark.
Types of information and forms of organisational knowledge
From the case study of Manic marketers, it was understood that client data is a major
source of information for proper functioning of the organization. According to ( ), there are
different types of information such as instructions, prediction, historical, command, answers
and advisory. Among these categories, the prominent ones that need to be included in the
organization are instructions, answers and advisory. These three types of information will be
helpful in proper knowledge sharing within the organization. The knowledge workers of the
company will be able to achieve different types of organizational knowledge by
implementing the same (Wilensky 2015).
Other types of organizational knowledge, which would be effective for Damon in the
initial stages are- knowing about the ‘who, what, why, where, how, if, when’. The forms of
organizational knowledge are detailed below:
 What: knowing about the knowledge features, characteristics and effectiveness of
different sources in the organization
 Who: knowing and being acquainted with the identity and image of people as
individual or in groups who can be an important source of knowledge

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 How: it refers to the implication of knowledge for conducting critical activities in
the organization by analytical and reflective means such as test, research,
development and innovation (Rowley and Hartley 2017)
 Why: it is the potential to review and analyse the available options and choose an
appropriate one
 Where: the potential to recognize and analyse the knowledge sources for proper
accessibility
 When: it is the implementation of process and strategies to create balance among
the activities carried out in the organization, demands of the consumers and the
necessities of different projects
 If: it refers to the power to assume further possibilities and plan accordingly as per
the scenario so that it can be tested and checked before final implementation
(Dixon 2017)
Therefore, it can be recommended that the team of Manic marketers need to analyse
different forms of organizational knowledge and practice them accordingly. It will help them
in bridging the gap in the process of knowledge management. In future, the new employees
will not have to face similar kind of issues as experienced by Damon.
Key weaknesses in the social capital
According to, García et al., (2015) social Capital can be defined as the types of
relations that exist between the different individuals and the relationship that exerts a strong
bond over the levels of different professional achievements. The view of linking the
relationships within the different families and communities as a determinant of the social
capital by the identification of the different achievements as strong if on the other hand the
relationships are equally strong enough. A lot of negative effects may have a solid influence

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on the social capital. The most prominent among them is the exclusion of the person or a
group from the community. It is often seen that if a particular person or a group fails to
reciprocate the ideas and beliefs of a larger and stronger group he or the group may face a
social exclusion which leads to a tremendous negative factor. There are groups that are
treated with hatred and exclusion from the community which make them prone to the
negativities of Social Capital. The social capital can also be used for other wrong purposes
which include the likes of taking undue advantage of someone or some group on their
expense. This is done mainly for the purpose of profit on the expense of someone’s
professional or personal life. The social capital is also criticised over some other reasons
(García et al. 2015). It is often compared to a concept that is based on misleading metaphor.
The different economists who have researched on the following term explains that social
capital lacks the three basic elements of capital namely an intended sacrifice for deferred
benefit, alienability and an extension in time (Chang and Lin 2015). Thus the economists
conclude that social capital can be in no way compared to a form of capital.
In the following case study the person named Damon who took a job at Manic
Marketers was a victim of the negative effects of social capital. The mentioned person was
unable to get quality help from the others in the organization so that he could progress with a
new project. The lack of help from the other colleagues and the absence of any data made
Damon feel helpless and made it hard for him to continue with the project. The analysis of
the particular study has revealed the social capital factors and the different kinds of other
analysis results that is being followed in the company. Some of them are;
1. New staffs are recruited on the basis of their knowledge management skills. However
the management of manic marketers have failed to develop their own skills in
knowledge management as they are unable to disseminate the earlier information or
the files to the new workers.

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2. The key experts in the organization are not easily identified within the organization
which makes it tough for the new workers to find the ideal channel for
communication thus making it tough for them to settle ion the company.
3. The social climate is not trusted enough as because it was seen that the old employees
of the organization failed to help Damon to identify the person called BG. He
identified him by searching different types of the organization records and using his
own knowledge management expertise.
Thus it can be said that the organization can be provided a rating anything in between 0 to
5 to show the low social capital, and individualistic culture followed there.
Knowledge Sharing Strategies
Knowledge sharing system supports the process through which explicit or tactic
knowledge is communicated to the different individuals. The knowledge can be sharing
system can be segregated according to the attributes of the knowledge. They are as follows;
1. Incident Report databases- This is used to determine the information related to the
incidents or malfunctions. Incident reports typically describe the incident. Together
with different explanations of the following incident. However this might not suggest
any type of recommendations.
2. Best Practices Databases-The best practice databases describes the successful efforts
typically from the reengineering or business processes that can be applicable to the
organizational processes (Albers et al. 2015).
3. Lessons learned Systems- The lessons learned systems are used to capture and
provide different lessons that can be benefits for the employees who encounter
different situations and are able to make the most of the business situation.

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Manic Marketers must use any of the three mentioned strategies to make sure that the
knowledge is passed on in a continuous flow from one person to the other and from one
department to the other to ensure a proper organizational structure.
Conclusion
The following report highlights the importance of knowledge management and the
implementation of the right set of knowledge management strategies that enables the business
to make the most of the knowledge management strategies. The analysis of the provided case
study is an additional profit for the readers as because the analysis has provided the different
concepts and elements that form a part of the knowledge management. The report has been
able to meet the pre fixed aims and objectives set by the formulator.

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References
Albers, A., Reiß, N., Bursac, N., Schwarz, L. and Lüdcke, R., 2015. Modelling Technique for
Knowledge Management, Process Management and Method Application-a Formula Student
Exploratory Study. In Modelling and Management of Engineering Processes (pp. 151-162).
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Barnes, S. and Milton, N.J., 2015. Designing a successful KM strategy: A guide for the
knowledge management professional. Information Today, Incorporated.
Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R., 2014. Knowledge management: Systems and
processes. Routledge.
Chang, C.L.H. and Lin, T.C., 2015. The role of organizational culture in the knowledge
management process. Journal of Knowledge management, 19(3), pp.433-455.
Dixon, N.M., 2017. The organizational learning cycle: How we can learn collectively.
Routledge.
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.
García-Holgado, A., García-Peñalvo, F.J., Hernández-García, Á. and Llorens-Largo, F.,
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knowledge management process via social media in the IT organisations: A conceptual
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