Knowledge Management and Learning Challenges

With Reference To the Article, “Crowdsourcing the Future: The Foresight Process at Finpro,” And Broader Literature, Critically Evaluate the Extent to Which Digital Tools and the Capacity

For Mass Participation Have Addressed Knowledge

Management and Learning Challenges

Prepared by

Rogers Akatwihayo B

Submitted to

South Wales University

For the award of

MBA

 01 October 2017

Introduction

Digital tools have addressed knowledge management plus learning challenges in organizations, it is very important to draw on the understanding of the link between “Knowledge” and “Learning” from two mutually dependent perspectives; the “individual” and the “organization” in this case. That level of understanding the epistemological and ontological dimensions of knowledge and learning will not only root organizational challenges to those prime challenges on the “individual” level, but will pave the way towards discovering their characteristics giving us the ability to evaluate digital tools and the mass participation that addresses them. Basically, the main objective for most knowledge management models and learning frameworks is to assist in wisdom seeking actions being done every day in making decisions by enabling reflection on the past which eventually positively impacts efficiency plus effectiveness on productivity and performance in an organization.

Digital tools, capacity for mass participation and how they have addressed knowledge management and learning challenges.

Digital transformation is mainly about creating a work environment in which digital tools information, applications, and processes are used to create business advantage. But to put those tools to work, you need a way to easily control and manage the digital environment. A good knowledge management solution gets you there by providing a way to capture knowledge from everyone across the organization, as well as to organize it so that it’s widely accessible and usable. Without those capabilities, what’s the point of digitizing everything in the first place? If an organization has a very reliable and effective knowledge management solution, you can easily eliminate risks of losing access to information resources in the crush of data, or losing individual knowledge in scenarios of employees leaving that organization and taking with them their knowledge because it has was never shared.  Good knowledge management ensures that the information you create and collect as part of your digital transformation remains consistently available to be used for business improvement.

Digital tools used for Knowledge management

Intranet Based Systems

Intranets are private networks. Teach target defines an intranet as a private network contained within an organization and it may consist of many more interlinked LANs (local area networks) and also use leased lines in the WAN (wide area network). This environment facilitates management knowledge and sharing of information and knowledge in an organization. Different departments and offices within the organization can utilize this to share information and knowledge.

Groupware, Business Dictionary describes this as a specialized work group software such as Lotus notes that provides means for example through shared folders to enable collaboration, exchange of ideas and information in an organization. This is usually accessed via a LAN or a WAN.

Workflow systems, This is usually referred to as a workflow management system. Ceiton Technologies defines work flow management systems as software that helps to define, administer and coordinate different business processes. This helps monitor and make management of the organization’s work flow and processes easy to manage and maintain.

Enterprise Content management and document management; According to Swan (2015), document management software or DMS deals with how documents are stored, organized, tracked and managed. And content management system or ECM is a set of strategies with powered enterprise management software. Content management entails the systematic collection, logical organization, accessibility, and delivery of content and documents to a designated audience. Swan (2015)

Enterprise portals; Business Dictionary defines it as an entry point to the intranet and is meant to serve employees, customers and suppliers of an organization. An example is Microsoft SharePoint.

eLearning; also known as electronic learning. According to a website called economic times, this refers to a learning system based on formalized teaching but with the help of electronic sources.

Planning and scheduling software; this is a software which automates creation of schedules and maintenance for SMEs. An example of this is Access Orchestrate.

Telepresence; these are systems that enable meeting without being in the same are or not face to face. An example of this is Videoconferencing.

Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning 

Knowledge Management Koening(2012) indicates that  "Knowledge management is the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using knowledge."  He goes further to indicate that knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving and sharing an organization’s information assets. These assets are the ones used to store and manage the organisation’s information and we all know that information  is knowledge. These assets could include databases, policies, procedures, among others.

Basics of Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning

King (2009) in his article titled knowledge management and organizational learning indicates that “To understand KM and OL, one must understand knowledge, KM processes and goals and knowledge management systems (KMS)”. King goes further to define knowledge as a justified personal belief. He indicates that knowledge is usually tacit knowledge or explicit knowledge.

Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning

“Explicit knowledge exists in the form of words, sentences, documents, organized data, and computer programs and in other explicit forms. If one accepts the useful “difficult-to-articulate” concept of tacit knowledge, a fundamental problem of knowledge management is to explicate tacit knowledge and then to make it available for use by others. One can also distinguish among “know what,” “know how” and “know why” levels of knowledge. “Know what,” knowledge specifies what action to take when one is presented with a set of stimuli. For instance, a salesperson who has been trained to know which product is best suited for various situations has a “know-what” level of knowledge.” King (2009).

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