Organization Development and Change - Essay Example

Introduction Knowledge management (KM) refers to the process of effectively and efficiently using the organizational knowledge for better and improved performance and decision making. The structure requires that knowledge and information in the organization be captured, codified and be effectively shared to improve performance and profitability of the organization. It is a multi-disciplinary approach where decisions are made purposely using the knowledge available for the different department in the organization. Since the development of the knowledge management and organizational learning theories in the early 90’s, most organizations including but not limited to public institutions, large companies, government divisions, and non-profit making organizations have dedicated a sizeable amount of resources to promote the internal knowledge management efforts. Scholars believe that knowledge management is a discipline that differentiates between the performances of the different organizations. KM involves planning, control of the people, processes, and systems, organization and the motivation of stakeholders in the organization. It is done to ensure that there is proper management of resources in the organization and to ensure that the assets are put into maximum usage in the organization. The term KM was developed to promote the management of the assets of the organization. As research continues to be made on the KM theory and its practice, the adaptability approaches used by different organizations usually vary. The discipline as been developed to include such perspectives as the ecological perspective, the techno-centric perspective, and the organizational perspective. Regardless of the perspective taken by the organization, the major components that determine the success of the component are the processes, organizational culture, and structure of the organization, people, and technology [Phi111]. Knowledge management typically works in line with the objectives of the organization. It helps to promote innovations, improved organizational performance, creating a competitive advantage for the organization, integration of better processes and sharing of lessons learned for the continuous improvement of the organization. Some of the motivating factors that make organizations to continuously adopt and concentrate resources on the KM theory and practice include the achievement of shorter new product development cycles, increasing the internal and external network connectivity between individuals and increasing the knowledge content that organizations use in the development of new products and services. Other factors include the management of capital and assets in the workforce of the organization, allowing employees to obtain relevant information for better management of the business environment and controlling and management the expertise that the different people have within the organization. A complete knowledge management system usually involves some stages among them being the acquisition of information from the sources that are available to the organization, refinement to ensure that only the necessary information in the organization is left for the management process to be made effective. The third step involves the sharing, transfer, and utilization of the information using the technologies available to the organization to manage the process of knowledge management. The study will focus of Nokia PLC, a multinational organization in the telecommunications industry to determine how they can adopt knowledge management processes to improve their performance [She06]. Analysis of knowledge management problem for Nokia PLC For the better part of the last thirty years, Nokia PLC had been a global giant in the phone manufacturing business. The organization has managed to stay ahead of its competitors by employing cutting edge technology and development of products and services that satisfied the customer’s needs. This was the case till about a decade ago when new technology in the industry brought new tidings for all the phone manufacturers. The electronics and software industries have experienced a wide range of changes that have seen some companies grow in leaps and bounds, overtaking former global giants while others have lagged behind and have been overtaken by the chain of events. In analyzing such changes in the telecommunication industry, Nokia PLC would be a perfect example of how changes can spell doom for a global giant if it fails to go with the tide of the dynamics of the industry [Ste07]. Nokia is a multinational public company that deals with communication and information technology. Nokia PLC was registered as a public limited liability company which is incorporated under the Republic of Finland laws. Nokia was founded in 1865 by Eduard Polón. Having been founded at this time, Nokia was incorporated as Nokia in 1871. Nokia has its headquarters in Espoo, Finland and has its products being sold worldwide. The company usually produces telecommunication equipment like cell phones, the internet and other computer software. Currently, the company employs a total of 90,981 employees around the world. Regarding its revenues, the company ranks among the top 300 companies in the World with highest revenues. Reports, however, indicate that the company has been underperforming, judging by its previous revenues and in comparison to its competitors in the mobile telephony market. Such performances are triggered by weaknesses in the company, threats, and opportunities that the company fails to deliver. This could also be as a result of the company failing to capitalize on factors such as the knowledge management practices that have been developed to guide organizations into profitable ways [Tho141]. To identify the areas that are usually affected by the knowledge management processes, it is best to understand the cycle of processes involved in the knowledge management. KM Processes Organizational Processes Intermediate Outcomes The knowledge management processes involved in knowledge management are acquisition, creation, sharing, refinement, storage, transfer and re-use. These are majorly the tasks of the human resource managers as they are usually tasked with the role of creating a vision and ensuring the objectives of the organization are achieved. Organizational processes are majorly based on the objectives of the organization and include innovation, collective learning, individual learning and collaborative decision making. An organization relying only on the organizational processes may not achieve the full potential and thus needs also to incorporate knowledge management processes. Transfer of knowledge into organizational processes can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the innovation being considered. Knowledge management thus does not only influence business processes’ and employees’ benefits but also all the stakeholders of the organization. The introduction of the knowledge management processes into organizational processes would help bring in improvements into the organization. With knowledge management, the expected outcomes are improved organizational behaviors, improved business processes, products and services and better quality relationship with the customers, suppliers, and partners in the organization [Adr09]. For Nokia PLC, the poor performance over the years could have been as a result of communication lapses and lack of a well-developed information channel to enhance the flow of information. The organization operates in the information and communications industry and as a result, technological advancements are not the problems that they face. The organization is already well developed when it comes to technology. Communication and information flows could, therefore, be the major problem that the organization faces. By the time other players in the market came into operation, the organization was well developed. However, due to some problems in the organization, the other competitors such as Apple Inc, Motorola, and Techno Mobile have become better players in the market and their products are increasingly being accepted by the consumers in the different markets around the world. The lack of communication and proper management of information have reduced the competitiveness of the organization. This is because the miscommunication and poor management of information have reduced the rate at which the organization develops new products, services, and processes. Currently, Nokia relies on the old products and services that they had produced previously. The poor performance in the previous years has seen Nokia sell the assets of the company that was once the largest producer and vendor of the mobile phones to Microsoft. The purchase deal cost Microsoft mobile €5.44 billion in April 2014. The structure of the company never changed, from the managers to the employees. The competition pushed Nokia to greater transition that entailed switching from Symbian operating system to Windows phones software developed by Microsoft. These created a big loss to the company since it reduced generated sales from their Symbian based phones in the sense of regaining it from windows based phones. Windows based phones that are sold under generation of Lumia devices has become a great disappointment to the company making them lose more revenue thus making the situation worse. Using technology to solve the business issue It is also important to consider a change when it comes to the knowledge management. Change is usually a gradual process irrespective of where it is to occur. However, for a change to occur, it should be profitable to people or have a positive impact on the firm. It should be embraced by the people, and they should see its importance. It should be, however, noted that change is inevitable for any given society. For this reason, it only bests that the organization embraces it and immediately identify the means through which they can reduce the consequences associated with change. He argues that effective change in an organization should consider resource utilization. Positive change should be as a result of better utilization of the human and natural resources that are available for the business. The employees of most organizations usually exceed the optimal size thus; as a result, the employees rely on others to work. Thus, the organization does not meet the required output [Law12]. The future of most companies is reliant on the knowledge management. It is through the knowledge management that the companies can develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Each organization has its goals, visions, and plans which it hopes to achieve in a given time frame. Leadership is particularly a very vital requirement for an organization to achieve its set targets. Good leaders in an organization should promote the adoption and implementation of change and innovation. In most organizations, there are leaders that are averse to change and do not support any form of innovation, and there are those who seek the smallest opportunity to adopt changes and innovation in the organization. It takes knowledge management for such available opportunities in an organization to be noted and worked on for future improvements on the organization. For this reason, knowledge management on an organization does not only affect business processes’ and employees’ benefits but also all other stakeholders of the firm including the shareholders and the customers [Eli04]. KM can be applied to distinct departments in the organization. This is possible because the application of knowledge management practices is not solely in the storage of information for future use but also in the sharing of information and ideas to develop better processes, products, and services to ensure that the organization remains competitive in the market. Among the areas that benefit most from the application of knowledge management in the workplaces include corporate governance, operations, human resources, marketing, research and development, staff training and information technology. Technology today has led to the development of management information systems that allow for the proper management of data and information in the organization. They allow for the analysis of data in good time so as to allow the business to stay ahead of their competition. The current competitors of the organization have encouraged knowledge management and its processes to be used in the different departments of the organization. As a result, there has been an increase in the size and variety of goods and services produced by the organizations. It is, however, possible for the organization to adopt new information management systems that could be used to help develop new products and services in the organization. In this way, the organization may improve and may end up becoming a better player in the market through increased competitiveness. Managerial recommendations By simply arguing that knowledge management is important for the management activities or an organization is not a substantial background for the development of the system for Nokia PLC. It is, therefore, important to state and identify the benefits that the system is likely to provide the organization so that its implementation can receive the full support of the management, staff and other stakeholders of the organization. Among the identifiable reasons for the introduction of the knowledge management systems for organizations include issues such as the development of an organizational culture that allows for information flow and sharing, the development of a learning environment for everyone and the use of the knowledge management to improve the experience of the customers. Similarly, the system also allows for the directors and employees to identify the gaps that exist in the business that needs to be resolved and as a result work towards improving the overall performance of the organization [Car02]. Knowledge management is directly related to the organizational performance. Knowledge management involves some factors being put into consideration. These factors are acquisition, storage, creation, sharing and implementation. Normal organizational structures usually have already set objectives that aim to encourage innovation, collective learning, individual learning and collaborative decision-making processes. It is, however, hard for the organizations to achieve the set objectives. For this reason, the knowledge management is introduced into the firms with the help of the human resource manager as the head of the knowledge management. With the introduction of knowledge management processes in the organizational processes then the organization expects to achieve positive outcomes (Carl, 2002). The expected outcomes from a combination of knowledge management and organizational process are organizational behaviors, decisions, products, services, processes and relationships that exist with the suppliers, customers, and partners. Knowledge management focuses primarily on strategies but the since it is not possible to have all the strategies being implemented by the organization. Businesses must consider revolutionary activities to ensure that they stay in the market. Given the fact that competition is a major problem faced by most companies, it necessitates companies to identify means through which they stay ahead of the others regarding performance. The business revolution leads to companies trying to be innovative. The businesses continuously try to identify ways in which they can satisfy the demands of their customers. Innovation in this instance is thus achieved through advancing technologies in the company and identifying means to improve the products and services through improved quality, durability, and reduced prices. REFERENCES Phi111: , (Philipp & Jens, 2011), She06: , (Shelda, 2006), Ste07: , (Stern, 2007), Tho141: , (Thomas & Christopher, 2014, p. 20), Adr09: , (Ryans, 2009), Law12: , (Lawrence, et al., 2012, p. 68), Eli04: , (Elias & Hassan, 2004), Car02: , (Carl, 2002), Read More