Knowledge is the product of the professional services organisations. It is the essential element that allows the organisation to operate in its industry sector. The knowledge of the organisation is within the human capital of the organisation, which are the workers. This paper will look firstly at current literature on knowledge and professional services organisations, what this knowledge is how this knowledge can be managed. Secondly the paper will review relevant theories and practices associated with Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and how these theories and practises can assist in managing the organisation knowledge. Lastly the paper will attempt tie to together knowledge, SHRM and how the use of SHRM can impact on the …show more content…
Tacit knowledge is also associated with elements such as feelings intuition and beliefs (Tithe). Tacit knowledge is associated with an individual, explicit knowledge, on the other hand, is that knowledge that be formulated, structured and made easily accessible (Razouk).
Knowing the types of knowledge can lead Knowledge Management (KM). KM is therefore concerned with the collection, sharing, development and application of that knowledge (Edvarsen 2007). KM needs to be concerned with both types of knowledge encountered in the professional services organisation that is both explicit and tacit (Thite 2004). Explicit knowledge can be collected and managed via infrastructure and information technology solutions such as knowledge management database solutions (Fawzy 2000, Edvarsen 2007), allowing the organisation to take advantage of this accumulated knowledge. Tacit knowledge is associated with the individual and due to its ‘emotional’ or personal nature, requires alternative techniques in order to transfer this knowledge from the individual owner to another employee (Razouck, edvarsen 2007 ).
SHRM
But what SHRM practices can help in assisting the transfer of both explicit and tacit knowledge between employees and the retention of this knowledge within the organisation? HRM can impact knowledge within an organisation in many different ways such as motivational aspects, leadership aspects and
In order to manage knowledge successfully, it is essential to clarify the essence of knowledge before identifying the importance of knowledge management. The perception of knowledge has been varied broadly; however, one of the generally accepted defintion is from Davenport and Prusak (1998). According to their points of view, knowledge is defined as a set of experience and values, it either comes from individuals ' mind or roots in the organisation, which can be found in the documents, routines, practices and norms, and is assumed to flow between individuals through various networks, being used to assess and embody new
According to Davenport et al (1998), Knowledge Management is concerned with exploitation and development of knowledge asset of the organization with a view of the objective of the organization. Knowledge can be managed by explicit, documented knowledge, tacit and subjective knowledge. It also associated with knowledge creation as well as knowledge sharing. Thus, requires systems for creation and maintenance of knowledge repositories to cultivate and to aid knowledge sharing. Organizations that succeed in knowledge management are likely to view knowledge as an asset and to develop organization culture which support knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. Jennifer Rowley (1999) describes the implementation of knowledge management has the importance consequences for structure and culture of the organization, and the roles of managers as well as workers. We can say that knowledge management implementation is crucial as it will lead an organization to be at competitive advantages. There are two types of knowledge mainly explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Different people convey their knowledge differently. The philosopher Polanyi (1967) described tacit knowledge as knowing more than we can tell, or knowing how to do something without thinking about it, like ride a bicycle. Tacit knowledge is automatic, requires little or no time or thought and helps to determine how organizations make decision and influence the behavior of their member (Liebowitz and Beckman, 1998). Sternberg (1997) states that tacit knowledge is technical or cognitive as it made up of mental models, values, beliefs, perceptions, insights and assumptions. Technical tacit knowledge demonstrated when people master particular knowledge or skills whereas cognitive tacit knowledge include implicit mental models and perceptions that are ingrained they are taken for granted. Tacit knowledge basically is the “know-how” based on practice, experience and seldom expressed
Hislop, D. (2013). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Knowledge management was defined as the turning of information into actionable knowledge which can be accessed by people who can apply it. Robbins (2003) gives a time perspective in his definition of knowledge management. He mentions as part of knowledge management the distribution of the right information to the right people at the right time. Lytras et al (2002) gives a definition of knowledge management which emphasises the purpose of knowledge management. In the definition creation of new capabilities, enablement for superior performance, encouraging innovation and enhancement of customer value were mentioned. For the purpose of this study the researcher summarised knowledge management as the intentional process of coordinating people, technology and systems to optimise creation and sharing of intellectual
The superior capabilities of knowledge management systems provide an opportunity for the business to engage the most effective components and recognize the importance of communication to make informed, accurate decisions (McGrath, 2001). This system can organize the company’s knowledge resources, knowledge obtaining, organizing, and applying to make a sound routine the will enforce effectiveness (Niu, 2008). The dynamic function of knowledge management to create, capture, and apply knowledge to achieve an organization’s objective will allow them to be more profitable and successful (Zucker, 1986). In addition to increasing profits, the system can be also used to reduce costs and enhance research and development (DeTienne & Jackson, 2001). With all of these advantages, it would be wasteful for a company to not employ knowledge management. As seen in the Discovery Communications, Inc. example, the company can attribute their new productivity levels and increase in ease of securing documents to the knowledge management system that put into place by Carefree Technology. Like Discovery Communications, Inc., knowledge management is so popular today because companies can collect, process and share knowledge to ignite employees ' creativity which in turn will make the business grow. Wenhong and Jianhua (2009) explained the core of knowledge management is to convert company’s knowledge resources into an increased company
By definition , Knowledge is the state of awareness gained by experiences , facts , information and skills by a person . In other word , knowledge is the grasp a person has over his environment .it’s a condition of understanding that a human being acquired thru his experiences and facts and that will manifest by a control of his environment.Power , in the other hands is the ability to influence
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).
The problem for this dissertation study test the challenges associated with creating, capturing and sharing knowledge. Doda (2017) describes this method as knowledge management. This method uses a critical goal of improving learning and performance in an organizational framework. Knowledge management as theory and a model was improved by Dalkir in 2005 (Atieh & Somayeh, 2017).
The literature has been unable to agree on a definition or the concepts behind KM (Bhatt, 2001; Hlupic, et al., 2002; Neef, 1999). For instance, Snowden (1998) defines KM as the identification, optimization and active management of intellectual assets, either in the form of explicit knowledge held in artifacts or tacit knowledge possessed by individuals or communities; Hedlund (1994) suggests that KM addresses the generation, representation, storage, transfer, transformation, application, embedding, and protecting of organizational knowledge; Brooking (1997) suggests that KM is the activity which is concerned with strategy and tactics to manage human centered assets; De Jarnet (1996) defines KM as knowledge creation, which is followed by knowledge
With the benefit of hindsight, it is apparent that in the knowledge era, creating and leveraging knowledge is the business of business. By all available measures, the stock market is already providing handsome rewards to companies that successfully leverage their knowledge--a phenomenon that will almost surely grow in significance as knowledge-based organizations increase in size and number. A number of firms are anticipating this and looking to knowledge management to enhance, measure, and manage the knowledge of their employees and organizations more effectively.
Understanding the nature, role, importance, and value of tacit knowledge at individual or group level, is imprudent to formulating a KM strategy You must also formulate decisions about the organizations cultural change, picking the appropriate tools and finding a suitable measurement system. Without awareness of tacit knowledge any KM program is unlikely to maintain perspective and balance. In contrast to the views held by the tacit knowledge approach, the explicit knowledge approach shows that knowledge is something that can be explained by individuals. The explicit knowledge takes some effort and assistance may be required to obtain the desired knowledge. As a result, the explicit knowledge approach assumes that the useful tacit knowledge of individuals in organizations can be articulated and made explicit. The explicit knowledge approach also shows that explicit knowledge assets can then be dispersed within an organization through documents, drawings, standard operating procedures, manuals of best practice, and the like.
Several factors influence the application of knowledge management in healthcare. Attitudes, as well as technical aspects, greatly impact knowledge management applications. One of the greatest determinants for successful development and implementation of knowledge management in healthcare is motivating employees to share data. Broadly speaking; knowledge management aspects may be further classified to include the people aspect and the approach to manage communication and information. Knowledge management strategies may be broadly divided into codification and personalisation approaches. The codification strategy entails codifying, storing and reusing knowledge. The personalisation approach entails in establishing successful dialogue between individuals.
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.
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)
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