Danone - Key Issues Essay

In a modernized and globalized world, knowledge creation and synergization of knowledge in an organization is truly crucial. As data and information are readily available, and information communication technology (ICT) has highly advanced, organizations such as B&Q need to understand how knowledge creation can assist to improve internal and external processes and also encourage innovation.

Since the mid-1990s, knowledge management has become increasingly significant for business managers and companies. ‘It is broadly accepted that systematic knowledge management is tightly linked with gaining and sustaining competitive advantage.’ (Bogner & Bansal, 2007, p658-6 as cited in Hislop, 2009, p1) The definition of knowledge management is various because of the wide range of this concept and its complexity (Al-Hawamdeh, 2003). For example, the broad definition provided by McAdam and McCreedy (2000, p155 as cited in Hislop 2009, p53) note that: ‘KM relates to the management of anything classified as knowledge’ Furthermore, Hislop (2009, p59)

The paper points at the analysing and evaluating the reason of Danone’s agility and key factors in the current environment present opportunities and threats in the relation to Danone’s agility. Lastly, a series of strategic and operational recommendations to senior management regarding the preservation and enhancement of the Danone’s agility have been provided in this report. In this paper, we did research and discussion to enhance the quality of the report and we have used calculations and table to prove our opinions, we compared Danone with its competitor in Diary industry –Nestle. The information are used in the paper can be found in the references.  Initially, The research draws attention to the fact that Danone’s agility because the

As a trainer, teacher and assessor my roles are many and varied. As part of my day to day work I may not only deliver lessons but also carry out theory assessments, practical assessments and sometimes interviews. I may have to motivate and liaise as well as guide and assess. I will have to keep records and be a subject specialist as well as liaise internally and impart information and advice sometimes on a personal level. The first impact I play regarding my role is either interviewing possible candidates or meeting and greeting them on the first day of their course. Meeting potential apprentices/apprentices on their first day induction requires me to make a good

Where there is knowledge, there is a need to manage it. To disseminate this knowledge, there is a new term “Knowledge Management (KM)”.

Danone Group is a French-based company that specialized in producing qualified dairy products worldwide. Danone South Africa (Danone SA) is established in 1997 as one of Danone Group’s country business units (CBUs), located in the heart of local economy and market attraction in South Africa. However, despite considerable R&D and flexible organizational structure has performed, several internal and external problems still limited Danone SA to a fully successful business.

Common Knowledge : How Companies Thrive By Sharing What They Know Dixon, Nancy M. Harvard Business School Press 0875849040 9780875849041 9780585258171 English Organizational learning, Business enterprises-Communication systems, Intellectual cooperation, Information networks--Economic aspects, Success in business. 2000 HD58.82.D585 2000eb 658.4/5 Organizational learning, Business enterprises-Communication systems, Intellectual cooperation, Information networks--Economic aspects, Success in business.

Knowledge management is defined by Sallis and Jones (2002), as “a systemic method for managing individual, group and organisational knowledge using the appropriate means and technology”. In short, it involves various fields of expertise in achieving organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge at the same time.

Studies show there is a direct relationship between organizational culture and organizational effectiveness. To support a simple organizational structure, a knowledge management approach will be implemented. This is a managerial practice that focuses on developing a knowledge-friendly environment and can be promoted by utilizing culture-building activities. Organizational objectives are achieved by sharing and managing knowledge. Four dimensions of organizational culture contribute to knowledge management: adaptability, consistency, involvement and mission. Organizations that are adaptive, consistent in their values, engaging to employees, and embracing common missions in their cultures are more likely to probe into issues, seek methods to reduce costs, focus on the future, and be proactive in their strategies (Zheng, Yang, & McLean, 2010). These dimensions will also align with Advanced HR Solutions’ decentralized structure.

Knowledge is defined as “an understanding and one that gains knowledge through experience, reasoning, intuition and learning” (Cong, & Pandya, 2003, p. 2). Individuals can inflate their knowledge when they share their knowledge with others, and when knowledge is combined with other people’s knowledge they will begin to build new knowledge. It is also considered as a mixture of values, experience, background information, grounded intuition and authority insight that offers a framework and environment for integrating and gauging new information and experiences. It “is applied in the minds of knowers and in organizations, where it is often embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices and norms” (Cong, & Pandya, 2003, p. 2).

Knowledge is considered as one of the most important and competitive resource for sustenance of the organisation (Zack, 1999). It can be compared to the strategic resource that can be used and applied in various frames of the organisation. Experienced managers in the organisations believe that company can receive strategic advantage through knowledge and not the strategies or actions implemented by competitors. Knowledge can be regarded as a strong approach that opens numerous ways of success. It is that weapon that help organisation to evaluate solutions in financial and other professional difficulties.

A web-enabled platform was introduced, which was integrated with group-work, whereby the specially-trained ‘coach’ of the group could relay feedback and advice to participants. Bajer, the specialist who came in to aid the process, noted that after 100 days new behaviours and new ways of doing things had formed, with new language coming with this. Employee engagement, measured each year, was at an all-time high. The message that was taken from this was ‘it is possible to change the culture of an organisation... no matter how challenging it might seem at the start’ (Losada and Bajer, 2010). Similar success can be seen with NUMMI, a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, outlined by John Shook (2010). What was seen here mainly affected the chronically under-performing Fremont plant of GM, but did have significant effects across the company. Previously there had been a culture upon which management had no control over. Quality had been known to be sabotaged and absenteeism often reached 20%; more than anything the culture was ‘anti-General Motors’. However, after the majority of workers were sent to Japan for training and then the adoption of not only Toyota’s stop-the-line production system1, as well as some of their key principles, a mutual trust was formed and the culture was reformed. Toyota’s ‘Respect for People’ tenet (Shook, 2010) summarised the vast change that had

Danone’s success is largely attributed to the knowledge and abilities of its employees. The sharing and retaining of this knowledge is extremely important in ensuring the long-term effectiveness of Danone. The Networking attitude initiative was launched at a Danone conference in the fall of 2002 as a means of circulating good practices and enabling the sharing of knowledge across groups in the geographically dispersed company (Edmonson et al, 2008, p. 1-8). Several tools have been developed as part of the initiative, most notably knowledge “marketplaces”, a “who’s who” internal directory system and sharing networks (Edmonson et al, 2008, p. 1). From 2004 to 2007, Danone employees shared almost 640 good practices with colleagues and overall, the Networking attitude initiative has made practical information accessible to about 5000 of the more than 9000 Danone managers around the world. The initiative has incurred very little cost and was seen highly successful by 86% of general managers according to an internal survey (Edmonson et al, 2008, p. 1).

This initial setback with dairy products drove Danone to copy in China the alliance strategy used with great success to expand into Italy and Spain in the 1980s. Danone decided to capitalize successful local businesses rather than build its own businesses from scratch, resulting in a strong focus on joint ventures and acquisitions. Unlike most multinationals, Danone gave these acquired local businesses a great deal of autonomy. The joint ventures and acquired firms continued to sell their products under their own brands. Until late 2002, 80 per cent of Danone’s sales in China were under local brands. Furthermore, Danone let the former executives run the businesses and didn’t get involved much in daily operations. In fact, Danone functioned more like a capital investor, linking its joint ventures through capital investment rather than joint products. This expansion strategy in China worked very well. In 2001, Danone had become one of the largest food concerns in China, with $1.2 billion in sales, more than 50 plants and around 25,000 employees.14 Accounting for 9 per cent of Danone’s international sales in 2003, China became Danone’s third largest

DANONE is one of the largest multinational companies in the food and beverage industry. By the end of 2016, counting from the consolidated companies to the sub-divisions in more than 130 countries, DANONE has 99,187 people as full-time employees (Danone, 2016). Base on the geographical area, majority of the employees, they work in European countries