Change Management & Innovation in Knowledge Management - Econwash Mobile - Case Study Example

Introduction The changing business environment is putting extra pressure on the business to look towards developing strategies to ensure changes in their strategies, work culture and spread of knowledge management for the growth of business. Looking into different factors helps to contribute towards developing a sustainable strategy to facilitate growth. This requires that the business is able to identify the different factors that have relevance on their strategy and looks towards developing mechanism to deal with it. Ecowash Mobile shows the manner in which different factors have an effect on their business strategy and the manner in which transition in business is required to facilitate the required changes. This paper thereby looks to work on different issues of culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management which have an effect on the business outcome. This paper presents different articles which helps to understand the manner in which the different factors like culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management has an effect on the business on Ecowash and the strategies which will help the business to deal with the rising issues. Thus, the overall paper dwells on different aspect of culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management backed by past studies which helps to understand the relevance it has on the business outcome and future development strategies. Change Management & Innovation in Knowledge Management An article in the same direction where a research was carried out by Albers & Brewer in the year 2003 shows that change management and innovation is a important consideration for the business as developing new ideas through the process of knowledge management has helped the business to ensure better returns (Albers & Brewer, 2003). This has a strong relevance as identifying the manner in which knowledge management helps in innovation process develops a strategy for change in the organization (Von, Ichijo & Nonaka, 2000). This brings forward the notion that business being able to ensure proper knowledge management helps to transform the culture present in the organization which helps in the generation of new ideas thereby enabling to get new and better ideas. The article is relevant to Econwash Mobile as the article requires the use of knowledge management to develop new ideas so that business is able to reflect new developments. This is clearly relevant in case of Econwash as having a knowledge management have ensured that the company has being able to develop new ideas. This is seen from the point that Econwash Mobile through the process is able to develop new products which is seen from the increase in product line and addition of new products. Further, the process of knowledge management has enabled Econwash to even use the idea and develop a new product which was not available in the market where they use other things apart from water to clean the cars and also ensures that the paint or polish of the car is not hampered. This article reflects the same and shows the manner in which Econwash has developed the use of knowledge management base to develop their business process. The article further supports the research and present working strategy of Econwash as it clearly highlights that developing a mechanism through which knowledge management is developed helps to improve the prospects of the business and ensures better return. This is along the guidelines taught in the readings as it brings forward the fact that being able to develop a strategy which looks at development of knowledge management helps to multiply the productive ideas for the business. This in addition helps to inculcate the culture of organizational change and provides the required basic infrastructure through which the business is able to gain effectiveness. This article further helps to understand the manner in which knowledge management contributes towards innovation and change in organizational culture which benefits the business over a period as better strategies and options are developed. Organizational Culture & Knowledge Management Another research carried out by Leidner, Alavi & Kayworth in the year 2006 shows that organizational culture and knowledge management are not mutually exclusive concepts as culture shapes up the knowledge management process (Leidner, Alavi & Kayworth, 2006). The research shows that businesses that have been able to ensure a mix of culture and knowledge management brings an evaluation on the process of knowledge management and helps to achieve better goals. The article shows the manner in which culture and knowledge management are related and having a culture which ensure smooth transition of knowledge to develop new ideas. This helps the business to deal with the intricacies and develops a process through which the process of learning management develops and helps to achieve better results (Brown & Duguid, 2000). This brightens the understanding that developing a culture which helps in ensuring proper knowledge management strategies helps in future development of the business. The article is relevant to Econwash Mobile as having the required culture has transformed their business and ensured that a opportunity to transact with other countries is developed. The Econwash Mobile case clearly highlights cultural integration has ensured that the business is able to perform at all the regions without any cultural clashes as the local culture has been absorbed. The present culture looks towards accepting new things and are ready for changes. This is evident from the different training programs and skills that the employees are imparted from time to time. It has thus enabled to ensure a linkage between knowledge management and culture and the manner in which one reflects the others and plays a role in determining the future strategies. The article contributes towards future learning as it brings forward the underlying values which helps to ensure the development of knowledge management. The article strengthens the learning that developing a culture and having a linkage between culture and knowledge management ensures smooth transformation of ideas and makes the employee to accept the changes easily. Further, this also instigates the argument that businesses that are able to ensure collaborative system which fosters the development of both culture and knowledge management are able to ensure better opportunities of growth which was highlighted in the different learning and thereby helps to consolidate the position with regard to Econwash Mobile. The article thereby proves its usefulness with regard to the case of Econwash Mobile as it reflects the underlying areas which when worked on ensure smooth transformation and development of new ideas thereby facilitating the process of knowledge management. Development of Organization Culture for Change The research carried out by Lorenzo, Kelly & Galliers in 2003 brings forward the fact that interaction between the employees through the development of social interaction process helps to magnify the importance of knowledge sharing and highlights the organizational culture (Lorenzo, Kelly & Galliers, 2003). The authors clearly through their research shows that organization that are able to develop a process which helps in interactions among the employees helps to improve the process of knowledge sharing as the culture of the organization ensures that all sections are treated equally and an opportunity to present their case and situation. This develops to a process which involves in active participation of all the employees and helps to ensure that all are able to contribute their ideas which transforms into better decision making and guides the management towards better decisions (Okhuysen and Eisenhardt, 2002). This thereby helps to ensure better strategies and knowledge sharing process which helps in the development of the entire process. The article is relevant to Econwash Mobile as the article highlights the importance of developing a mechanism through which there is interaction between the employees so that the process of knowledge management can be developed. This is clearly evident in case of Econwash Mobile where the employees are allowed to communicate even with the top level managers. This has facilitated the process of knowledge management and has thereby developed the process in which culture has helped to develop the entire business. The article highlights the manner in which the process of developing interaction helps to improve the process of developing new ideas which Econwash Mobile has been able to do which has thereby enabled them to improve their product line and ensure a business strategy where the business is able to gain effectiveness and ensure long term development mechanism. The article contributes to my area of learning as it helps to understand the manner in which developing interaction among the employees ensures better results for the organization as the process of knowledge management can be developed so that better results are achieved for the business. This helps to strengthen my learning as it ensures that if organization is able to develop a culture which helps in developing interaction among the employees helps to build a positive relationship and ensures better knowledge management strategies across the organization. This thereby provides strong evidence as being able to deal with the culture and strengthening the knowledge management process ensures that the business is able to contribute positively which will help the business to deal with the changes and develop the business process effectively. Knowledge Management in Innovation The research carried out by McAdam in 2000 shows the importance of knowledge management in ensuring innovation (McAdam, 2000). This study based on past literatures and studies carried out over 25 different business looks towards ascertaining the manner that knowledge management holds a key in incorporating innovation (McAdam, 2000). This brings to an important finding that developing knowledge management in the organization transforms into increased communication which thereby leads towards innovation (Davenport, Jarvenpaa & Beers, 1996). The article state that developing a process where the business looks towards ensuring better process of managing the knowledge management process helps to improve the manner in which the work process is carried out and helps to positive results in the form of new ideas and innovation that helps in the development of the business and ensure effectiveness of entire process. The article is relevant to Econwash Mobile as the article highlights the importance of having a knowledge management process being developed in the organization which facilitates innovation. This is something which was witnessed in Econwash as the company due to their culture and flexibility looked towards developing different tools which helped them to improve their product line. This is clearly relevant in case of Econwash as having a knowledge management have ensured that the company has being able to develop new ideas. This is seen from the point that Econwash Mobile through the process is able to develop new products which is seen from the increase in product line and addition of new products. This process of knowledge management has also ensured that the business is able to look into factors which helps to improve the entire process of thinking and develop new ideas as incorporated by Econwash Mobile who have looked towards using products other than water to clean the cars. This in itself shows the mechanism which has developed the entire framework through which the business is able to generate new products and ideas. This article contributes towards learning as it helps to understand the manner in which improving knowledge management contributes towards improving innovation and finding new products and services which will benefit the business. This was one of the prime learning in the course which dwelled on the fact that improving the process of knowledge management is vital for business as it helps to make the required changes in the process of managing change and thereby helps to come up with need ideas which leads towards the development of the business. This article also substantiates an important finding as it looks towards conducting research on 25 companies which helps to identify the fact that improving the overall process of knowledge management contributes towards the growth and development of innovative ideas as compared to organizations which didn’t look into the aspect of knowledge management which thereby had an concern in developing new ideas. Thus, the article was very useful and helped to substantiate the actual facts and learning in the real world which thereby reflected on the performance of the organization through new ideas. Leadership & Innovation The research carried out by Crawford in the year 2004 throws important light on the relationship that exists between leadership and knowledge management (Crawford, 2004). This article researches and establishes the fact that some degree of relationship exists between the manner in which knowledge management evolves in the organization and the presence of leadership structure in the organization. This affects the manner in which the process of knowledge management is developed in the organization as having an effective medium and leadership is vital for the process of knowledge to pass from one section to the other which facilitates the change in the business culture and generation of new ideas (Johnson, 2002). This also presents that the degree of knowledge management varies based on the manner in which the business looks towards using the leadership approach in the business to develop effective workplace scenario which facilitates communication and the independence to communicate with people at all levels. The article is relevant to Econwash Mobile as the article highlights the importance having effective leadership so that the process of knowledge management can be developed. This situation was seen in Econwash Mobile as the flexibility in approach taken by the leaders to allow communication to all levels ensured that the business was able to gain efficiency and deal with the process of knowledge management better. This flexible approach taken by the leaders ensured that the employees were allowed to communicate with each other which helped to remove the differences that existed between the employees and coordinated the team. This ensured that the efforts were directed together and helped the management in generating better ideas from the employees. This also helped in sustaining the business for a long period of time as this methodology ensured that the company was able to work on different aspect of the business and ensured long term productivity and growth for the business. Further, having a policy where the employees were allowed to communicate with the top management helped to motivate the employees and facilitated the overall process of knowledge management. This reaped rewards and the business was able to improve its product line and distribution network over different regions of the world. The article contributes towards my learning because the article is based on the fundamental that having a proper linkage between leadership and knowledge management helps the organization immensely. This helps to understand an important underlying fact that leadership holds an important position and if the leaders are able to ensure flexibility it helps the organization to ensure that the process of knowledge management passes freely. This thereby helps in the generation of new ideas and ensures that the business is able to gain efficiency. Further, the process of having the linkage between leadership and knowledge management also provides the required flexibility which every organization looks at. This helps to develop the required momentum which helps in the generation of new and better ideas to facilitate the changes and helps the business to ensure better ideas. This article is further limited to the fact that it doesn’t highlights the degree of dependence that leadership and knowledge management has which would have further helped to brighten the understanding and would have helped to understand different aspect of the management through which the process of change in the organization can be developed. This was one of the prime learning in the course which dwelled on the fact that improving the process of knowledge management is vital for business as it helps to make the required changes in the process of managing change and thereby helps to come up with need ideas which leads towards the development of the business which is facilitated through the process of effective leadership. Conclusion The different aspect of issues of culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management brings forward important information which is vital for the success of every organization. Econwash Mobile was successful in their endeavor because the business was able to develop a model which suited them. The fact that the management ensured flexibility and desire to change was accepted by all. The management ensured that the different aspect of issues of culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management was present in their working environment which helped them to ensure transformation of their business and developing a structure through which the business was able to gain efficiency and ensure maximum use of the resources in the most productive manner. The paper thereby present the manner in which the different issues pertaining to issues of culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management was dealt by Econwash Mobile. The importance of this issues is strengthened by the fact that the different past literature reviews and research substantiates the strategies adopted by Econwash Mobile. The previous research shows the linkage between organizational change, dealing with culture and knowledge management so that new and innovative ideas can be developed which will help the business in gaining relevance and ensures that the long term growth aspect of the business is considered. Further, the previous findings and the issues substantiated in the case are the different aspect which were taught in the class and helps to highlight the different application in the real world situation. This also shows the different areas which when worked upon will help to improve the relevance of the past studies and will help to generate new and better ideas that can be used in different direction for the growth and development of strategies. Thus, the overall study presents important findings on the issues related to culture, management for change, innovation and knowledge management and also presents the importance it has in organization. Further, dealing with this issues and developing a mechanism through which the issues are dealt will help to ensure that the business is able to gain efficiency and improve the performance through better decisions. References Albers, J. & Brewer, S. (2003). Knowledge Management & the Innovation Process: The Eco-Innovation Model. Journal of Knowledge Management Practices, 2 (5), 73-83 Brown, S. J., & Duguid, P. (2000). Balancing act: How to capture knowledge without killing it. Harvard Business Review, 78(3), 73-80 Crawford, C. (2004). Exploring the Relationship between Knowledge Management & Transformational Leadership. Knowledge Management & Leadership, 5 (1), 1-13 Davenport T, Jarvenpaa S, Beers M. (1996). Improving knowledge work processes. Sloan Management, 37 (4), 53-66 Johnson, J. R. (2002). Leading the learning organization: Portrait of four leaders. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 23(5):241-249 Leidner, D., Alavi, M. & Kayworth, T. (2006). The role of culture in knowledge management: A Case Study of Two Global Firms. International Journal of e-collaboration. 2 (1), 17-40 Lorenzo, G., Kelly, M. & Galliers, R. (2003). Organizational Complexity: Organizing Through the Generation & Sharing of Knowldege. International Journal of Knowledle, Cultue & Change Management, 3 (3), 1-22 McAdam, R. (2000). Knowledge Management as a Catalyst for Innovation within Organizations: A Qualitative Study. Knowledge & Process Management, 7 (4), 233-241 Okhuysen, G.A. and Eisenhardt, K. (2002). Integrating knowledge in groups: How formal interventions enable flexibility. Organisational Scienc,e 13 (4), 370-386 Von Knogh G. & Ichijo K. & Nonaka, I. (2000).  Enabling knowledge creation: How to unlock the mystery of tacit knowledge and release the power of innovation, New York: Oxford University Press Read More