Evaluating the Knowledge Management (Term Paper Sample)

Knowledge Management
Name
Institution
Knowledge Management
Introduction
Knowledge is an asset that every organization uses in its day-to-day operations. There are many forms of knowledge. The ability to get the best out of this asset depends on the organization’s knowledge management systems and strategies. In today’s economy, it is crucial for business organizations to establish knowledge management systems. Knowledge management can be defined as a field that promotes the process of identifying the knowledge, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing it among the employees of the organization. Here, an organization’s knowledge assets to be shared include documents, policies, databases, procedures, employees’ experiences, and previously un-captured expertise. Knowledge management is a process that existed before the term was even introduced. Organizations would apply mechanisms and procedures which create, share and use the information to run their operations. The KM process was then promoted among organizations because of its importance in retaining skills, making coordination work easy, and enhancing smooth transitions. Promoters of KM cite its characteristics which include: Using of knowledge does not consume or complete it; no one loses knowledge by transferring it, and most valuable knowledge in an organization is owned by people who walk out at the end of the day.
The case study organization is Barbican Can-Do which is a family company with 250 people employed as consultants. The organization deals in knowledge creation and sharing through developing import and export strategies, developing market strategies, and legal issues among other services in the European Union. Due to the size of the organization and the nature of the services it provides, it should have a knowledge management system. This paper aims to create a strategy for implementing Microsoft Office 365 as a KM solution.
Leadership and Management Considerations
Barbican Can-Do is an organization with a well-defined leadership structure. The organization also operates in more than one country making it have a multinational and multicultural outlook. Its top leadership is based in New York which is also considered as the organization’s headquarters. The overall leader who is also the founder is Bob Johnson. He is assisted by other senior management members and the General Managers from the other locations in Europe such as London, Lyon, Madrid, and Milan. The organization’s leadership holds regular meetings at various levels. For example, each General Manager from the various locations holds meetings with his/her staff; senior staff members also hold weekly meetings via video teleconference. During these meetings, decisions are made and communicated (Karami, Alvani, Zare, & Kheirandish, 2015).
Implementing the KM strategies is a decision that must be made by the organization’s leadership (Dalkir, 2013). Barbican Can-Do already has a decision-making strategy through the senior staff meetings held on Mondays. Each member of the staff is allowed to give an opinion which is considered in the final decision making. In this case, Sam Silver, the General Manager for of Consulting Services based in NY, proposed the idea of implementing the knowledge sharing system. Even though it received enough support, it was not welcomed by a section of the leaders including three members of the senior management. For this reason, the concept was not discussed further. Such decisions need the full support of the company leadership as well as from the staff members.
The first approach, in this case, is to investigate the concerns of the leaders and individuals against the idea. A possible take-over by Pop Rocket International also depends on the establishment of this system. Therefore, this is the right time to discuss the implementation of the KM system with the leaders. The discussion with leaders should focus on the pros and cons of implementing this system and how it would affect the organization's performance in the market (Karami et al., 2015). It should be an idea that almost all leaders agree with.
Cultural Issues
Implementation of KM system is dependent on the organization’s culture. It either requires a complete cultural change for organizations which did not support the system or an upgrade for the organizations with a system to build on. In most cases, implementation of the KM requires a cultural change. Organizational change is not a process that is welcomed easily by most staff members. However, change is always necessary to keep up with market trends and patterns. One factor that leads to resistance to change is how it is implemented (Karami et al., 2015). Some organizations conduct the process as an imposition rather than improvement. In such cases, staff members will be reluctant to accept the change.
Implementation of the Microsoft Office 365 KM Strategy is a perfect idea for the growth and development of Barbican Can-Do. However, it must depend on both the organizational and national culture of the organization (Dalkir, 2013). Already, the organization has a culture of sharing information through meetings and regular phone calls. General Manager from Madrid, Jose Revilla argued that his staff members meet to discuss their work all the time and there was no need for the KM technology. Debbie Daniels also argued that her consultants already laptops connected to the internet and VPN access to the internal systems. This means that the organization already has a culture to build upon. Implementing the KM system will not be a complete change in the organizational culture but an upgrade.
Another cultural consideration, in this case, is the multinational nature of Barbican Can-Do. The company is based in NY, but it has branches across Europe. These are regions with different cultural beliefs and practices. They also deal with international clients who have different cultural backgrounds. One key cultural aspect that must be considered is the language. The company has employees who speak different languages. When developing common information sharing systems, the multi-language options should be available to make it easy. Also, the organization will need to ensure that the system is accommodative enough to take care of the cultural needs and beliefs of all its employees (Dalkir, 2013). Being an international organization, Barbican Can-Do is affected by the economic situations of the international market which is affected by the different cultural considerations. Therefore, the culture will be a crucial factor when developing the Microsoft Office 365 KM System.
Technology and Technology Integration of Office 365
Even though knowledge management practice began with traditional organizations whose operations were not technology-based, technology has impacted and improved it greatly. Knowledge Management relies on information technology systems of an organization (Crosby, Kahn, & Schneider, 2018). For Barbican Can-Do to implement the technology, it will rely on the available information technology and also acquire other necessary tools. Already, there is an existing system that promotes creating and sharing of information among the employees of Barbican Can-Do. Every Monday, senior managers meet via video teleconferencing to share information on the organization’s issues. General Managers also hold regular meetings to discuss their work and share crucial information. As Debbie Daniels explained, the staff members all the consultants have laptop computers and smartphones that are connected to the organization’s internal systems. All these will form the technological foundation upon which the organization will build when developing the Office 365 KM Technology.