INTE2397 Assessment 2: Knowledge Management Report on Zendesk

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Zendesk's knowledge management (KM) strategy. It begins with an introduction to KM, defining it as the process of creating, sharing, and utilizing knowledge within an organization. The report then introduces Zendesk, a customer service software company, outlining its objectives, which include providing excellent customer service and a unique customer experience. The core of the report analyzes Zendesk's KM strategy, including its knowledge-based administration, efficient KM team structure (knowledge management executive, knowledge base owner, knowledge worker, knowledge editor, conversational designer, and knowledge base administrator), and content management practices. It also identifies strategic and knowledge gaps, specifically in technology and innovation. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, such as incorporating AI and promoting unconventional thinking. The report references various sources to support its analysis and recommendations. This report is a valuable resource for understanding KM strategies and their application in a real-world business setting.

Running head: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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Introduction
Knowledge Management can be defined as the process of creating, sharing, utilizing and
managing the information or knowledge of a commercial (or a non commercial) organization
(Dalkir 2013). Knowledge management is a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach
which utilizes the knowledge or information in the best possible ways to achieve the goals or the
objectives of the respective organization (Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal 2014). The
respective paper is a report about the knowledge management condition and strategy of the
American customer service software company Zendesk along with the recommendations that
might be made to the organization in terms of its strategic and knowledge gaps. The respective
paper exhibits the significance of knowledge management and its strategies, introspects and
analyzes the strategy of the respective company Zendesk.
Background
Overview of the company
The company Zendesk is a customer service software enterprise which has its
headquarters in California, USA. The company was founded in America in the year 2007 and
provides employment to 2000 individuals and professionals while catering the needs of more
than 119,000 customers in almost 150 countries across the globe. The company has global
employees of approximately 3000 in number. The company is a diverse and innovative
enterprise that seeks to cater the needs of all communities across the globe. Zendesk provides
software solutions to the new and innovative customers in various fields of study, profession and
work (Zendesk.com.2019).
Organizational Objectives

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The objectives of the company Zendesk is to provide effective and expertise service to
the customers with deep knowledge of the products to provide the customers, a differentiated
experience. Zendesk, with the help of its best strategic designs and premium service, the
objectives of the company is to provide the maximum output to the customers through the
company. Zendesk seeks to provide a completely unique yet effective experience to the global
customers along with extension of its business in a wider context (Zendesk.com.2019).
Knowledge Management Strategy
Knowledge management can be defined as the method of creating, sharing, utilizing and
managing the information or knowledge of a commercial (or a non commercial) organization.
Knowledge management is a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach which utilizes the
knowledge or information in the best possible ways to achieve the goals or the objectives of the
respective organization. The efforts of knowledge management quintessentially focus on the
goals and objectives such as performance of the organization, competitive and comparative
advantage, innovation and renovation, integration and a continuous improvement of the
organization. Knowledge and information is an asset to the organization and therefore, it
demands protection, management and maintenance. Intellectual properties of an organization is
considered to be a boon for the organization as it gives valuable knowledge and insights which
are further utilized in building and implementing strategies. Knowledge management has turned
into an academic discipline in the contemporary times and all the organizations throughout the
globe are taking up knowledge management strategies in order to survive and thrive with
efficiency and higher level of performance in the fiercely competitive world (Noruzy et al.
2013).

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Knowledge Management strategy of the company
The company Zendesk is a customer service software company. Customer service
software is a kind of application which helps the business in the management, organization and
tracking of customer queries and concerns. The respective application has also a store house of
all relevant information regarding customer service that can be used in order to receive and
comprehend valuable insights of business and market condition. Customer service software is
exploited and utilized by dime- a- dozen of companies across the globe in the modern world of
business. Customer service software is a highly integrated and advanced technological
application (Zendesk.com.2019).
Knowledge management strategies can be defined as a plan that describes in details how an
organization is going to create, manage and maintain its information and knowledge in a better
way in order to enhance the performance of the company and also help the stakeholders to get
benefitted from it. A good knowledge management strategy is closely aligned and linked with
the overall strategies and objectives of the respective organization. A proper knowledge
management strategy would include an increased awareness of understanding the KM of the
company and opportunities in order to progress in the practice of knowledge management. The
respective company Zendesk has taken up certain strategies of its knowledge management which
are enumerated hereafter.
1. Knowledge based administration: Knowledge based administration is the process of
administration which is carried out with the help of the existing as well as acquired
knowledge of the organization. Zendesk has its own library which is a powerful

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storehouse of knowledge and information. With the help of the outstanding and rich
source of data and knowledge, the company is able to harness its efficiency and be
enriched with the insights given by the respective academic information sources. With
the rich insights that they are able to gain, they utilize the respective insights to build up
efficient and effective strategies and schemes for the respective organization.
2. Efficient team of KM strategy: The team of the Knowledge Management strategy of the
respective company that is proposed by the quality analysis panel of the company is
efficient and effective at the same time. The knowledge management team of the
company constitutes of:
a. Knowledge management executive who would be responsible for approval of knowledge
management strategies that would be taken by the team. Funding and staffing of the
knowledge management programs are to be done by the respective executive responsible.
b. Knowledge base owner who would be responsible for the diplomatic implementation and
tactical execution of the knowledge management programs. Some of the very customary
and secondary tasks of knowledge base owner of the respective company include
defining overall taxonomy of the knowledge base, defining the standards of the content,
defining the knowledge management authoring and process of its publications. The
respective role takes care of the overall well being of the knowledge base by ensuring
proper creation of the required contents and the fact that knowledge based contents can
be accessed through customer self- service.
c. Knowledge worker: the knowledge workers of the company would be having technical
writing skills and core competency of a particular subject where he/she would be
concentrating on.

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d. Knowledge editor: knowledge editor would be having good writing and editing skills,
and a good understanding of the right content for customers.
e. Conversational designer: conversational designers are the individuals and professionals
who are good at creating and writing customer facing dialogue. They have good writing
and editing skills, and they have a feel for pragmatic, practical, instrumental and intrinsic
conversations. Such individuals and professionals can be utilized for the benefit of the
company in terms of knowledge management as they can provide the company with
premium contents which would have qualities such as creative and qualitative at the same
time.
f. Knowledge base administrator: a knowledge base administrator is a technical resource for
the company who would have the expertise to maintain the storehouse of knowledge.
3. Keeping contents up to date: Keeping contents up to date is one of the most important
phases of knowledge management. Content must be continually refreshed so that it is in
line with user demand, whether that be for use by customers and the stakeholders via self-
service or for use by agents. The company might be having a dedicated team of content
providers who provide regular content and keeps the contents updated along with the
dynamics of the contemporary times (Zendesk.com.2019).
Strategic and Knowledge Gaps
1. Technology: The Company has not yet incorporated the most advanced technology in
order to gain special leverage in case of knowledge management. Technologies such as
artificial intelligence and other advanced technological portals that work as virtual
libraries and maintenance software must be incorporated by the company. Usage of such

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technologies might provide extra competency to attain a smooth flow of work in the
organization (Holtshouse 2013).
Recommendations
1. Technology: The company can utilize technologies such as artificial intelligence in the
organizational operations. Technologies such as artificial intelligence and other advanced
technological portals that work as virtual libraries and maintenance software must be
incorporated by the company. Usage of such technologies might provide extra
competency to attain a smooth flow of work in the organization (Kianto, Vanhala and
Heilmann 2016).
2. Innovation: The Company can encourage its employees and professionals to think
unconventionally and out of the box. Good ideas or great ideas can come from anywhere
and from people with any background. Collective and collaborative brainstorming can
provide the company with new dimensions and range of perspectives (Kianto, Vanhala
and Heilmann 2016).
Conclusion
The respective paper concludes to be a report about the knowledge management
condition and strategy of the American customer service software company Zendesk along with
the recommendations that might be made to the organization in terms of its strategic and
knowledge gaps. The paper has especially focused and highlighted the importance and
significance of knowledge management and its strategies within the context of organization. The
respective paper concludes to exhibit the significance of knowledge management and its

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strategies, introspects and analyzes the strategy of the respective company Zendesk. The paper
also provides certain recommendations for the better KM of the respective company.

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References:
Becerra-Fernandez, I. and Sabherwal, R., 2014. Knowledge management: Systems and
processes. Routledge.
Dalkir, K., 2013. Knowledge management in theory and practice. Routledge.
Holtshouse, D.K., 2013. Information technology for knowledge management. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Kianto, A., Vanhala, M. and Heilmann, P., 2016. The impact of knowledge management on job
satisfaction. Journal of Knowledge Management, 20(4), pp.621-636.
Liebowitz, J. and Frank, M. eds., 2016. Knowledge management and e-learning. CRC press.
Noruzy, A., Dalfard, V.M., Azhdari, B., Nazari-Shirkouhi, S. and Rezazadeh, A., 2013.
Relations between transformational leadership, organizational learning, knowledge management,
organizational innovation, and organizational performance: an empirical investigation of
manufacturing firms. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 64(5-
8), pp.1073-1085.
Zendesk.com.2019. Available at: https://www.zendesk.com/about/
Zendesk.com.2019. Available at: https://www.zendesk.com/customer-experience/
Zendesk.com.2019. Available at: https://www.zendesk.com/resources/knowledge-management-
best-practices/