KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE ORGANIZATION essay

”¢ Provide leadership and decision making. Knowledge management provides the necessary information in a context that helps decision-making process; it generates new knowledge in the process of knowledge sharing and cooperation in the joint decision-making processes; and it uses the information and knowledge to bring the actions of the organization in line with its mission and vision.

”¢ Increase the level of customer satisfaction. Knowledge Management improves customer service by streamlining their response time, it helps organization to focus on the needs of the client; it also improves the results and lessons learned from clients using the products/services provided.

Ӣ Create a competitive advantage / market differentiation. Knowledge management assists in achieving the highest quality of knowledge; helps to get expertise and it focuses knowledge of the organization on the needs of clients while achieving its business missions / goals.

The main purpose of knowledge management is increasing and improving the strategic knowledge to improve organizational performance. This goal is achieved by providing a positive synergy effect of explicit and implicit, collective and individual knowledge, by organizing networking between employees (through personal contacts, electronic and other means of communication) and the environment for the efficient exchange of knowledge and information, enhancing the effect of increasing returns of knowledge use.

The most popular and widely used today are the following knowledge management strategies:

1. The strategy of knowledge as a business strategy that involves the formation and use of “best” of knowledge in any job. Knowledge becomes the center of all activities of the company, used to create customer value, and in some cases the final product. Typically, this strategy is used by consulting companies. (Bellinger 1997)

2. Intellectual capital management strategy assumes that all knowledge in the organization and management system are aimed exclusively at the creation, maintenance and development of intellectual assets – patents, technology, know-how, etc. (Bellinger 1997)

3. The strategy of knowledge formation assumes deepening of the existing and generation of innovative knowledge (conducting research, innovative solutions and continuous improvements) that enhance the competitiveness of the company. This strategy is usually made by higher education institutions (for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which trained more than 40 Nobel laureates) and research laboratories, manufacturing companies (Palo-Alto Laboratory in the company of Xerox, exploring the possibility of improvement of copiers and develops innovations in this direction). (Bellinger 1997)

4. Knowledge-sharing strategy focuses on the systematic exchange of knowledge – obtaining, structuring, storing, use and distribution between certain workers or teams. Such a strategy was implemented by “Kodak” when its competitor “Fuji” brought to market a new disposable camera that uses 35 mm film. To accelerate the development of a similar product, “Kodak” has created an integrated database for the design and manufacture of the product, which received on daily basis the results of the work of all engineers and combined all individual effort into a single knowledge. Access to the shared knowledge base has allowed in a short time to create a better product than the competitor. (Bellinger 1997)

Thus, these knowledge management strategies can be used in any organization: both at the industrial enterprise, and at the educational institution. As a result, such strategy should increase the competitiveness of the organization and increase the stability of its competitive advantage.