Knowledge Management ReportEssay Preview: Knowledge Management ReportReport this essayA Report on Knowledge Management Systems1.0 IntroductionOver the years Knowledge Management has been defined in many different forms by various people such as Swan et al 1999 and Hibbard. One of the best, simplest definitions which we have come across when conducting our research is, �KM is getting the right knowledge to the right people at the right time so they can make the best decision.’ (Petrash in Jashapara 2004). In the modern world in which we live where technology is advancing at an astonishing rate it is extremely important for businesses to invest in knowledge management in order to survive in the competitive environment. Knowledge management is extremely useful as everything is now becoming computerised therefore specific information can be located using a simple search function. On a business and personal level new lessons can be learnt everyday which can then be used to eradicate repetitive errors in the business environment.
2.0 Types of Knowledge Management SystemsVarious research and reading has provided six knowledge management systems which can be identified as; Document Support Systems, Decision Support Systems, Group Support Systems, Executive Support Systems, Workflow Management Systems and Customer Relationship Systems (Jashapara 2004). What is evident from these systems is that they all incorporate a supportive nature, developed to assist different areas of business activity. A common trait within knowledge management systems is that they are predominantly computer based, and this raises issues regarding user-friendliness with developing technology which will be discussed within the report.
2.1 Document Support SystemDocument Support Systems are used to address the problem of storing numerous paper documents published by companies for internal sources (such as board members, managers and employees) and external sources (such as competitors, suppliers and customers)’ (Jashapara 2004). They work through an intranet (a private network connection contained within an organisation using a web server to provide information) to organise and distribute corporate documents in order to cut costs from storage and allow continuous updates. The type of corporate documents a company could or want to store within this system are examples such as procedure manuals, corporate phone directories and marketing literature such as consumer trends for promotion departments.
As with the majority of computer based programmes, consumers have a choice between off-the-shelf systems or custom-made systems. The difference between the two is that with an off-the-shelf system the user has the benefit of low cost and easy access but the drawback comes in the form of the system being generic to company solutions within the same industry. However custom-made systems can be expensive and time consuming to construct, but the benefit is that it is specifically designed to the company’s needs. This enables a company to gain a competitive advantage in terms of document support systems through explicit knowledge already within the company being stored or incorporated into their custom-made system. For example in a custom-made system, a company could include their own corporate phone directory with contacts they may have made which other competitors may not have. An example of a custom-made system is the University of Hertfordshire Study net Portal which allows lecturers and students to publish and access lecture notes for example, and the way in which it can sustain a competitive advantage is by giving access to academic literature from sources such as Emerald and Voyager, which other universities may not provide.
While it is obvious that such a system can provide many benefits, there are issues and limitations involved for example privacy. This can be important as within a company there can be a large number of employees accessing information, and monitoring the number of visitors is a key element in ensuring safety when transferring sensitive information. The currency of the information can also be a limitation of the system as old information can build up and become irrelevant in which case the system administrator needs to update the content on a regular basis. A common problem intranet systems face is performance in situations with a high volume of users. While this problem has an easy solution, which is to increase the number of servers and bandwidth, servers can be costly and it is important to make sure the company utilises the full potential of each server.
In this way, it can be a difficult task to maintain a document support system, and with the ever changing face of technology, companies face the challenge of keeping up-to-date with new programmes, faster systems and also maintaining compatibility with users who work from home.
2.2 Decision Support SystemsWhile there are drawbacks in relation to technology, the basis of decision support systems for example can raise other issues such as reliability. A decision support system is designed to combine data and business models in the form of a graphical user interface with which the user can interact and make decisions. In this case, it could be argued that the system provides accurate and quality decisions, through analysis of relevant and current data. However, what the system lacks is the ability to predict future variables such as fluctuation of interest rates and new legislation, which results in the limitation of �what-if’ analyses. Therefore the system cannot be completely relied upon, and the successful use of this type of system requires the user to apply personal logic to business decisions.
2.3 Group Support SystemsGroup Support Systems use various methods of communication to allow companies to interact from different areas through video conferencing. For example, Cisco Systems recently acquired a company known as WebEx which they believed �would help it develop communications and collaboration services for small and medium-sized businesses and, eventually, large corporations’ (Financial Times 2007). A company which is most likely to use such technology are multi-national companies which have a need to interact and communicate over long distances and a group support system makes this easier by creating virtual conferences in which executives can have the feel of being in a real meeting. Cost, technology and reliability have all been identified as limitations to different types of knowledge management systems, and all of these can be applied at various stages, but a major issue which has to be taken into consideration is resistance
Efficiency, security and communication: what is the most valuable use of the resources available to manage and optimize the organization and the user of information, as well as other resources? One of the major challenges facing this and related issues has been the increase in access to information and the high concentration and availability of software and data resources in the organization. A number of companies have been developing systems with low-cost solutions including high performance servers, and this has forced them to reduce their use of resources as much to maximize efficiency. These low-cost solutions often lack the technical agility needed to enable a consistent, efficient level of performance, and to deal with many technical challenges in a timely manner. Many companies can’t provide these solutions with enough data storage without requiring the use of complex, costly, and high quality data storage technology.
The availability of highly reliable, highly available information, such as social networking and other social networking programs, has been a very real area of concern for organizations throughout the industry. Some people are working online at a large company. Many employees are working within a small, low number of organizations. What can businesses do to increase their productivity and help solve those problems in a less-intensive business? In the end, it can help businesses to increase and improve their IT readiness because there is always more time when the task of managing data and managing data needs to be done in the shortest possible time. As more and more information becomes available about the specific problem in the organization, those tasks will be easier solved and fewer and fewer people who need to be on staff may have to be on a day to day or project.
The amount of data in a large organization can also have tremendous impact on efficiency as well. The need for long term information management solutions will mean that many organizations are required to rely on some sort of data management system for all their data and that data management systems must have all the necessary information available to meet the needs and demands of a full-fledged organization. The problem that has arisen is that businesses are now in the position of storing more information than it needs to in order to meet many of their operating needs through data backup systems. Data retrieval is one of the most frequently mentioned issues in the security industry and this is a major barrier to increasing the availability of and managing more information.
How is the world changing to achieve higher data efficiency and higher speed of data processing tasks? The latest technologies are creating an increased challenge for data scientists to maintain a high level of efficiency in the process. Most organizations are now relying on data backup and management and data analytics software and are relying on the Internet to manage and manage large, large volumes of data. Companies are also focusing on improving information storage and organizationability in relation to these large volumes of data. Such an approach requires a great deal more data and is becoming highly prevalent. Organizations need to adapt their systems to new and different data requirements because they are starting to understand these requirements and create more efficient operations. Data management software is also changing. While many organizations are using data management systems, there are also systems based on network infrastructure such as firewalls. Data storage software such as Google Earth, cloud computing platforms, or VMware VMware Enterprise (UE) are using different data management systems. As this is a new area of enterprise, as information is becoming increasingly stored in a wide variety of data centers to facilitate data transfers, a shift in business model models has resulted in enterprises that are making data management systems based on this data storage approach more effective and efficient.
How is data management and the organization as a whole evolving in new and unique ways? While many organizations do not have the information resources to effectively manage and manage data as they would find it on a computer, it becomes imperative for agencies, organizations, and their customers to keep up with evolving technology. Data is growing rapidly and people are looking to increase their compliance to better understand