HOw to build Productivity

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION:There has been a discussion going on about knowledge work,

knowledge-intensive firms and the critical role of organizational competencies.

Knowledge in organizations is considered to become an increasingly important

source of value creation and competitive advantage for them. Therefore the creation,

sharing and protection of knowledge are crucial to the success of a modern

organization. Especially knowledge-intensive organizations depend upon the

generation, utilization and uniqueness of their knowledge base. The analysis ofthese issues deserves the attention of researchers, and in these discussions, the

necessary attention should be given to the role of HRM in KM.

Organizations nowadays also undergo organizational changes, changes in

leadership and employee roles. They use information and communication

technologies in order to enable a quick flow of information, and to improve their

performance. The growing role of innovation also shows the need for looking at

human resource management from the knowledge perspective.

Why are professional service organizations the right organizations

to be studied in connection with knowledge management and human resource

management?

The answer can be found in the typical characteristics of professional services.

When we try to understand the knowledgedevelopment processes, insight is more

likely to come from studying knowledge intensiveservice firms than from traditional

firms for they employ mostly people with higher education, and they depend very

much on their ability to attract, mobilize, develop and transform the knowledge, and

they also depend on the way of the value creation and knowledge delivery by these

employees. Services are based on a professional assessment by experts involved

and, partners may be personally held legally responsible for potential liability claims.

They create value for their clients.

The aim of this paper is to show certain aspects of the relation between knowledge

management and HRM theory and practice. In accordance with this aim, this paper

highlights different issues, insights and findings which can have significant


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implications for the management of human resources in organizations in the

knowledge era

A) KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT:

Intellectual capital and related knowledge need to consciously manage to best

developed and leverage their potential value to the organization. The field of

knowledge management is little more than 10 years old. Kael Wiig, a consultant and

A1 specialist, is one of the fields most prominent advocates and most likely the

probable founder of knowledge management movement. He coined the term at a

1986 conference in Switzerland sponsored by the United Nations- InternationalLabour Organization.

Knowledge management is a systematic, explicit and deliberate building, renewal

and application of knowledge to maximize enterprise knowledge related

effectiveness and returns for its knowledge assets.

Knowledge management is the formalization of an access to experience, knowledge

and expertise that crew new capabilities, enable superior performance, encourage

innovation and enhance the customer value.

Critical importance of knowledge management in organization:

We have seen the industrial age to be eclipsed by the information age between 1960

and 1990. And then, during the 1990s, the knowledge age has emerged to

supersede the information age. Much of the value added work in enterprises today is

primarily knowledge-based and there seems to be no end in sign to this trend. For

example, the work of the following functions or departments is nearly totally

knowledge-based.

Customer service

Information system

Finance

Hr / Administration


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Management

Even in the manufacturing, where there is a physical product, much of the work

revolves around computer-aided and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) work flow

management and just in time scheduling and deliver.

Knowledge management process:

Knowledge management is considered an important part of strategy to use expertise

to create a sustainable competitive advantage in tomorrows business environment.

Beckmans has proposed comprehensive eight-stage process for knowledge

management---

a) Identify stage,

b) Collect stage,

c) Select stage,

d) Store stage,

e) Share stage,

f) Apply stage,

g) Create stage and,

h) Sell stage.

The identify stage determines which competence are critical to success. For

example, every organization needs robust knowledge about its customer needs and

expectations, product and services, finance, processes management, employees

and other organization and environmental aspects. Then the related strategic and

knowledge dominants are identified. Knowledge dominants are specialized subject

matter areas where recognized experts can demonstrate superior performance. Nextthe existing levels of expertise in the workforce are assessed for each knowledge

domain. Once the gap between existing and needed expertise are determined, the

domain, experts can be constructing education programmes and performance

support system to improve expertise level.

The collect stagedeals with acquiring existing knowledge, skills, theories and

experience needed to create the selected core competences and knowledge

domains. In order to be useful, knowledge, expertise and experience must be


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formalized by making it explicit. In addition, practitioners should know where and ow

to purchase the needed knowledge and expertise in the form of database and

expert system. In order to acquire expertise, valid knowledge sources should be

identified. For example, employee suggestion programmes, domain experts and best

practices database might provide a valuable source of knowledge.

The select stage takes the continuous stream of collected and formalizes

knowledge and assesses its value. Is their insight within the acquired information? Is

this piece of knowledge already in the organizational memory? Is the acquired

knowledge a new plausible domain theory that needs to be added to the knowledge

repository? Clearly dominant expert must access and select the knowledge to be

added to the organizational memory. Without a strong filtering mechanism, the

corporate memory will be nothing more than tour of sable. Where the valuable

nuggets of knowledge are lost in sea of informational data. However, it is important

that, a diversity of viewpoints from multiple dominant experts is represented where

appropriate. Initially, one framework should be selected as the basis for organizing

and classifying knowledge to be stored in the knowledge repository.

The store stagetakes the nuggets of knowledge and classifies them and adds

them to the organizational memory. This corporate memory resides in different forms

of human minds, on paper and electronically. Knowledge in human minds needs to

be made explicit and formalized in order to be useful. Knowledge mist be organized

and represented into different knowledge structure within a knowledge repository just

as the data and information are organized and represented in differing types of

database. Much of this knowledge can be represented in electronic form as expert

systems.

The share stageretrieves knowledge from the corporate memory and makes it

accessible to use. The workforce makes their needs and personal interest known to

the corporate memory which then automatically distributes any incoming new

knowledge to its subscribers either electronically or on paper. In addition,

individuals, groups and departments often share ideas, opinions, gossip, knowledge

and expertise in meetings. It is crucial that the potentially valuable portions of these

communications, discussions, arguments and collaborations are made available to

the capture stage of knowledge management process, for example--- differing points


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of view and their ratio should be captured as part of any decision-making process as

well as the method used to reach the final decision.

The apply stage retrieves and uses the need knowledge in performing tasks,

solving problems, making decision, researching ideas and learning. In order to easily

access, retrieve and apply the right pieces of knowledge at the right time in the right

form more than a query language is needed. Integrated Performance Support

Systems (IPSS) Uliuslow and Bramer are being used by leading organization too

greatly increase the performance and capabilities of knowledge workers. First to

easy the access, natural classification systems need to be built for browsing or

retrieving knowledge. To retrieve just the right knowledge the system is required to

understand the users purpose and content. To receive the knowledge at the right

time requires a proactive system that monitors the users action and determines

when it is appropriate to intervene in the form of a job or training module. Users can

easily customize the format in which knowledge is presented. Finally, users can

request reference, advisory, testing and certification modules for the same.

The create stage uncovers new knowledge through many avenues. Such as

observing customers, customers feedback and analysis, casual analysis, bench

marking and best practices, lesson learnt for business re-inquiring and process

improvement projects, research, experimentation, creative thinking and automated

knowledge discovery and data mining. This stage also covers how to elicit

nonverbal, unconscious knowledge from domain expert and turn it into documented

formal knowledge.

New source of knowledge and insight are formalized and captured by knowledge

management process and made available to users who need the knowledge.

An eight stage may be added, that is, the sell stagein which new product and

services are crafted from the intellectual capital that can be marketed external to the

enterprise. Before this stage is possible, considerable maturity should be attained in

the other seven stages.

There appears to be two paradigms for knowledge management. The one that has

the greatest currency at this point is concerned with managing information contained

in some kind of repository or other, be that a set of electronic database, a professors


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collected lectures or company archives going back 37 years stored in stable that

nobody dares to dispose of because of fear of law suit. The archival paradigms are

well represented in corporate processes management consultants expertise, and a

variety of tools.

Second paradigm for knowledge management has to do less with the administration

of existing information than with the creation of new knowledge of the known

practices of construction of the work scopes where knowledge is generated.

There is the knowledge of management of knowing rather the management of

knowledge. Another productive way of thinking about the role of tools in knowledge

management is to consider what shorts of knowledge and knowing practices are

readily available in a organization are easily identifiable, and attract in general the

greatest efforts.

Knowledge management and the links to HRM:

In an era where competitive advantage is perceived to be linked to knowledge,

considerable interest in knowledge management continues to be the trend. Given the

broad scope and interdisciplinary nature of KM, this interest spans traditional

functional and professional boundaries ranging from IT professionals, to

accountants, marketers, organizational development and change management

professionals. A notable common feature of this widely divergent activity is an

emphasis upon knowledge work, knowledge workers and the nature of knowledge

within organizations. While this debate at times results in professional turf battles, it

may also lead to new opportunities for collaboration across traditional professional

and functional boundaries. One potentially rich area for collaboration is that between

that emerging group of professionals, who irrespective of training or title, have as

their number one priority a focus on management of the knowledge resource in

organizations and the more established and functionally embedded group of HRM

professionals. Indeed, interest in the relationship between KM and HRM has

increased over recent years as both KM and HRM have grown more sophisticated

and complex.


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While it can be argued that there is a reasonable consensus on the nature and

scope of HRM, its components and principles, this is not the case where KM is

concerned. Accordingly, before one can undertake an analysis of the relationship

between the two areas, it is necessary to state as clearly as possible what is

understood by KM. Much of the literature of KM continues to reflect a techno-centric

focus, similar to that of information management, which in essence regards

knowledge as an entity that can be captured, manipulated and leveraged. This is a

limited and ultimately hazardous perception. Critical to any realistic understanding of

knowledge and its incorporation into the management of organizations, is awareness

of a range of views on the concept, which includes perceptions of knowledge as an

entity (akin to information), as a resource, as a capacity and as a process. For

present purposes, it is important that knowledge is viewed as a social creation

emerging at the interface between people and information and especially within

communities engaged in communication, knowledge creation, knowledge sharing

and learning. From an operational perspective, KM can be described as the

systematic processes by which an organization identifies, creates, captures,

acquires, shares and leverages knowledge.

For instance, while knowledge in itself may be difficult to manage, all the related

technologies, structures, instruments, stocks, flows and even people are susceptible

to a range of management disciplines and activities, including accountability and

control. Given that these activities largely concern intangibles, it is important to think

of management in a post-industrial context, with implications for organizational

structures, resources, cultures and strategies, management styles and the roles and

expertise of staff. When this is coupled with a focus on sustainability, the level of

complexity only increases.

In terms of the HRM function, the rise of the so-called knowledge economy has had

a major impact, with a considerable shift from HRM as a bureaucratic personnel

management operation to the development of discrete HRM functions over the past

few decades. This has been accompanied by the integration of these functions to

support competitive advantage and a more strategic thrust. Having said this, a

considerable number of experts in the area warn that HRM faces extinction if it does

not respond to changes brought about by the shift from a traditional to a knowledge

based economy. Unable to add value under these conditions, the HRM function is

perceived to be under extreme threat. It has been suggested that one way for HRM


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to reinvent itself is through its contribution to effective linkages between human

capital management and knowledge management within organizations.

The rapid growth of technology has led to an economy where competitive advantage

is increasingly based on the successful application of knowledge. Knowledge, with

its intangible aspects, is becoming a defining characteristic of economic activities, as

opposed to tangibles such as goods, services or production processes. The rise of

the knowledge economy has seen a proliferation of information and communication

technologies, coupled with greater organizational complexity, the growth of virtual

and global organizations and rapid change. This in turn requires drastic change

within HRM to respond to changing demands of the knowledge economy. Traditional

HRM functioned under narrow operational boundaries; in the knowledge economy

the role of HRM needs to expand, looking both within and outside the organization.

The traditional focus on managing people has been broadened to managing

organizational capabilities, managing relationships and managing learning and

knowledge. The emphasis on discrete HRM practices is also broadening to a focus

on developing themes and creating environments conducive to learning, as well as

to the acquisition, sharing and dissemination of knowledge within organizations. A

revitalization of the HRM function to respond to the demands of the knowledge

economy and to develop linkages with KM requires major changes across four key

areas:

a) Roles,

b) Responsibilities,

c) Strategic

d) Focus and

e) Learning Focus (see Figure 1).


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Figure 1: Mapping the Relationship Between KM and HRM

Roles: In the knowledge economy, organizations will need HRM that is

characterized by a new set of roles that can assist in generating and sustaining

organizational capabilities. These new HRM roles are those of human capital

steward, knowledge facilitator, relationship builder, and rapid deployment specialist.

The human capital steward recognizes the value of intellectual capital, must ensure

that human capital is available, effective and that it will grow in value; this means

brokering the services of knowledge workers. The knowledge facilitator places

emphasis on learning and development, the effective management of knowledge,

and creating environments conducive to knowledge creation, sharing and

dissemination. The relationship builder focuses on creating and sustaining networks

and communities of practice, of joining together people in various parts of the supply

chain in new ways. The rapid deployment specialist faces the challenge of rapidly


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structured across individual capabilities, organizational capabilities, and knowledge

architecture. The role of the HRM professional will then focus on integrating

individual, team and organizational learning for the benefit of both customers and

shareholders. HRM can play an important role in creating and developing the

organizational capabilities that form part of contemporary KM strategies geared to

creating wealth from intellectual capital while maintaining a commitment to

sustainability imperatives.

Learning: A pivotal aspect of life in the knowledge economy is the need for

learning. The emphasis on discrete HRM practices is broadening to a focus on

developing themes and creating environments conducive to learning, as well as to

the acquisition, sharing and dissemination of knowledge within organizations. This

includes creating and sustaining learning environments and nurturing communities of

practice. The new role for HRM includes managing intellectual capital and

developing human capital within the organization. There is the need for a strong

emphasis on constant renewal, or revitalization of the organization. Fitz-enz views

human capital as the only active asset within the organization. In referring to the four

human capital domains of acquiring, maintaining, developing and retaining, Fitz-enz

views the development aspect as unique in the sense that only people can be

developed. The development domain holds the key to achieving organizational

change, growing individual and team capabilities and creating value while

simultaneously attending to sustainability imperatives.

Knowledge, Skills, Competencies, Expertise:Employees can carry

out their tasks only if they possess the necessary knowledge, skills and

competencies. This is why one of the obvious tendencies in HRM is competency

development and management. Knowledge, skills, expertise are major factors to be

considered at the hiring process, career development and annual performance

evaluation. The demand also increases the recruitment of staff which reflects the

consumer and client base of the organization (e.g. diversity).

Organizational framework to support knowledge management:

In organizations which have no separate unit for knowledge management in the

organization, we usually find three organizational units which are responsible for the


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coordination of KM efforts and activities. These units are the HRM-department, the

library and the IT-department. They can work together well if their responsibilities are

clearly stated. Obtaining and storing knowledge is the responsibility of the library. For

employees to have access to knowledge the right technological background must be

provided, which is the task of the IT department. The HR leadership provides the

human factor required for knowledge creation and sharing (Table 1).

Organizational

unit

Function Tasks

HR

department

Provides the human factor

and organizes theintellectual capacity.

Hiring process,

psychological tests,evaluating annual

performance, career

management program,

competency management.

IT

department

Facilitates communication. Assuring internal and

external communication,

providing dataflow

between departments,

between the organizationand other organizations,

providing technology for

the storage of documents.

Library

Functions a knowledge

source.

Supplying information,

gathering and analyzing

data, special training.

Table 1: Organizational units supporting knowledge management.

Organizational culture as enabler of knowledge processes:

A supportive, collaborative organizational culture is important from the perspective of

knowledge creation and sharing. Characteristics of this culture are change,

innovation, openness and trust. If we look at the organizational culture the starting

point should be the value system of the organization because knowledge-oriented

organizational culture is a value-based culture. The main values which have an

impact on the development and are critical elements of a knowledge-oriented

organizational culture, are: quality, knowledge, skills, competencies, expertise,


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knowledge sharing, and innovation. The successful utilization of employee

competencies is the base of

an organizations quality performance, which is why personal competencies also play

an important role in the value system of an organization with knowledge-friendly

culture. In connection with this, we have to consider people, processes, technologies

and supporting structures. It depends on several factors, how important knowledge,

or learning in the organization is, or if the organization has a learning culture. These

factors are the following: defining the place of learning and knowledge in the

organization, the way individuals and the organization as a whole learn, and the

facilitation of learning in the organization (Figure 2).

This means that the organization has to have appropriate philosophy, knowledge

oriented mission. In the organizational philosophy learning, and organizational

knowledge creation they must have the place they deserve, which leads to the

individual improvement of employees, and at the same time contributes to the

fulfillment of organizational objectives.

A similar approach to knowledge processes can be seen at Stonehouse who

stresses the role of the value system of the organization among the characteristics of

a learning culture, attitudes, motivation (learning has great importance,

empowerment of the individuals enhances challenging existing systems and

facilitates experiments, and trust is a base for improving knowledge). Mutual trust is

a background for employees to openly formulate their ideas in front of their

colleagues, and to try those out. A key to successful knowledge management is that

the most successful organizations develop their knowledge oriented culture not by

changing the existing organizational culture, but by adjusting their knowledge

management projects to the existing organizational culture (Davenport et al. 1998).

3.

Individual learning

Organization

Mission

1.


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Staff

Resources

Figure2: Characteristics and framework of a learning culture.

Skyrme and Amidon presented a model for knowledge sharing organizational

culture, presenting three organization levels: organization (enterprise) level, work

group (team level), and the individual (Figure 3.). Organizational enablers are the


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framework, which have been created by the top management with the aim of

knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. From these elements, culture seems to

be most important, however is tightly connected to efficient knowledge leadership.

Another important factor is organizational structure: knowledge sharing functions

better if organizational structures are more informal and more flexible.

Organizational Enablers

Leadership Structures Cultures

Physical

settings

Figure 3: Factors of the development of a knowledge culture.

The success of changes depends on the effectiveness of the four pillars (building

connections, team building, physical setting, and HR policies). For a successful

knowledge management the knowledge of individuals, the members of an

organization is crucial, so this gives the basics of the model. Individual and

organizational learning can be faster and can be facilitated by information and

knowledge sharing, if openness and trust are characteristics of organizational


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culture. Thus challenging, discussing and improving the present practice and

processes are supported. If we want to have people working for an organization who

are ready to share their knowledge with other organization members they have to be

motivated, and this again can be supported by an organizational culture, which

acknowledges risk taking, and which does not take mistakes for a failure but as a

chance to learn something. Knowledge-based activities need employees with

commitment to knowledge-related activities.

The role of the human factor in knowledge processes:Although

in successful knowledge management an important precondition is the abolishment

of organizational hierarchy; and although supporting structures help carry out a

successful knowledge management, it is the human factor which plays the major role

because knowledge management is basically a human-intensive activity.

Knowledge workers: Knowledge work means the creation, transfer, transmission

and utilization of knowledge. Between these processes there is a permanent

relationship. A tight cooperation between the different units of an organization

supports the creation of new knowledge. In connection with knowledge work, in the

field of knowledge management a trend can be observed. In earlier history of

knowledge management organizations treated their knowledge assets like their

physical assets, and placed them in knowledge repositories. This huge amount of

knowledge requires professional improvement of knowledge work.

For this, creative knowledge workers are needed. This suggests that in the future the

role of knowledge work and knowledge workers and also that of technologies, which

are used by knowledge workers in their carrying out tasks, will grow.

Who is a knowledge worker?Knowledge workers are people, who as a primary

aspect of their work create knowledge, share it with other people or use it to make

decisions or to act. To this category of the labor force belong 30% of all employees

(research scientists, ITengineers, strategic planners, doctors, lawyers etc.).

Owners of the knowledge are experts, and they are good qualified people with a lot

of experience. Their most important power base is their expertise. Their power

position is especially strong if they are the owners of knowledge which is importantfor the organization, and which is not substitutable knowledge. These factors have


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an impact on their behavior, often in contrast to the aims of knowledge management

and of the organization.

North identifies five categories of people working in a knowledge-based organization.

The first group is the group of the so called professional staff, the experts, who carry

out professional assignments under the leadership of middle level leaders, and at the

same time they learn continuously themselves. They play an important role in

shaping the image of the organization, and they have an impact on the customer

satisfaction. It happens often that many knowledge workers are employed by the

same employer for example by an accountancy firm. All these knowledge workers

use their own knowledge, skills and experience. At the same time, however, they

also use the synergy which is the result of the cooperation between them and their

colleagues, the complex processes and procedures which have been developed by

the firm, and the collective knowledge within the firm. These people could be self

employed knowledge workers, but they decide to work together with other people as

part of a larger organization as employees.

Knowledge workers and knowledge entrepreneurs are middle level leaders, who

know market potentials and solve customers problems. Middle level leaders play a

key role in the knowledge transfer, for they usually have been working for the

company or organization for a longer period of time, and they enjoy the trust of their

superiors (upper level managers) and also that of their colleagues. They have

connections to the customers, and are motivated to changes and to initiate new

things (North 2002). They play a central role in synthesizing the tacit knowledge of

professionals and that of upper management and in making it explicit. They integrate

it into technologies, products and systems, and take care of knowledge conversion.

Upper managers are visionaries and context builders, who recognize market

chances and build knowledge supporting framework, particularly through supporting

systems. They facilitate knowledge development and knowledge transfer. They are a

pattern for other people. Professionals, who carry out their activities in the fields of

information and communication, are information brokers and infrastructure

managers. Since knowledge workers use and produce information, the quality of

their work is influenced by the accessibility of information sources that they need, or

the relevant information. It also depends on how fast they can get the information

they need. In this situation it is the supporting employees who can help. They work in

secretarial offices, telephone centers, or in Back Office and support the work of other


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colleagues. The organizational framework and other supporting features enhance

that organization members take part in the knowledge processes, so everybody can

contribute to common success. Each group of knowledge workers shall well defined

tasks (upper management, middle management, IT workers, supporting workers,

experts); if they are loyal to the company, they strive for its best.

Role of the leadership: In the knowledge transfer of an organization,

leadership plays the most important role through motivating knowledge sharing in the

organization. This often concerns the motivation of employees to transfer knowledge.

In order to build trust and to decrease tension within the organization colleagues

need to have space for their activities. Most of all in creative processes they should

be allowed to make mistakes (Miller 1999), because it is a chance to learn at the

same time, to learn from failure. Measures aimed at trust building, a higher degree of

freedom, and people with diverse professional background make an ideal base for

team work. Task of the leadership is not only to ensure the framework for a

knowledge-friendly organizational culture, but to take part in knowledge processes

as well. Knowledge workers not only need good processes and technology, but also

an organizational structure which does not impede them.

Knowledge communities:An important aspect of a knowledge oriented

culture is where everyone thinks together for improvement and better performances.

This can be achieved through successful team-work, as teams give the right

framework for people to concentrate on the problems they have to solve. Knowledge

and learning are a crucial part of the success of organizations. A variety of

information and communication technology can be used to support learning in

knowledge communities. For the actions in this field, the involvement of

management is necessary, because the support of effective learning and knowledge

sharing in and between communities involves everyone in all job roles (Barrett et al.

2004, 10). Knowledge communities are connected by common interests and goals


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and work on achieving a common performance. The term knowledge communities

is used, on one hand, for learning in communities with voluntary participation, and

learning in communities with a more managed membership and, on the other hand,

for learning within the same community and between communities. They work

together and use their knowledge for the goal of developing and selling a new

product or improved service. Because there are people together from different

organizational units they play an important role not only in the creation of new

knowledge but also in the organization-wide knowledge communication.

Commitment and motivation:A major challenge nowadays involves the

ability of an organization to collect as much explicit knowledge as possible. However,

there can be a discrepancy between what is rational at organizational level

(contributing to the shared knowledge) and what is rational at the individual level.

Flexibility of general knowledge and skills is important both to the employer and the

employee. Management consulting firms, for example, often emphasize the

importance of developing specific models and approaches which cannot easily be

used in other firms. It is important that a knowledge worker likes his job, because

otherwise, if he leaves the organization, it will not be easy to replace him. Particularly

the creativity of colleagues in key positions can have a positive impact on the

organization. This is why managers motivate their employees to share knowledge by

implementing knowledge management systems and incentives structures. However

research demonstrates, that employees are mostly intrinsically motivated and they

prefer incentives like acknowledgements and personal development over higher

salary. The kind of knowledge management system used by the organization, also

affects preferences for the intrinsically motivated incentives. Rewards which

encourage individual knowledge sharing, are: salary increase, promotion,

acknowledgment of contribution, increased reputation in the organization, gaining

status as an expert, professional and personal development. Neither the extrinsically

motivated incentives nor the kinds of incentives which are usually assumed to be

effective, work at motivating knowledge sharing. People prefer intrinsically-motivated

incentives, such as colleagues acknowledgment and respect, improved reputation,

and the possibility of professional or personal development. These findings make


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sense, for an employee can increase his or her value by being positively positioned

as a trustworthy source of knowledge in the organizations.

One of the most important characteristics of the knowledge worker is effective

communication. Well documented and organized information carries less impact if

there is diminished communication involved. In order to accomplish communication

skill building, among others the following solutions should be considered: Closely

mentoring individuals that struggle to communicate effectively but show promise as

effective knowledge managers, or ensuring strong formal education for those

individuals involved in knowledge management. Effective communicators should be

put in positions where they manage knowledge. Moving knowledge from tacit to

explicit has a synergistic effect on the organizational communication the more

people create, the more can be shared among knowledge workers.

Fairness and commitment:In connection with commitment and motivation

the issue of fairness has to be addressed. It has been a highly discussed issue in

law and society for a long time. Nowadays it has become a popular topic in

organization theories as well. There are several fields in human resource

management where these issues arise over and over again: fairness practiced

during recruitment, the distribution of work among employees, fairness of

remuneration, bonuses, or of advancement. Fair process is very important in the

knowledge-based organizations the success of which is highly dependent on the

trust, ideas and commitment of colleagues. The problem is that most of the

organizations declare that they want to support creativity and innovation processes,

but they forget to apply fair process to reach this goal.

The reason can be that leaders find it a threat, because delegation of competencies

might diminish their authority. Procedural justice is not a decision based on

consensus or democracy in the work place. It means the engagement of employees

by asking for their input and using it during decision making processes.

Engagement is a good way to communicate the respect of management towards

employees and towards the ideas of employees. Fair process also means

explanation. Management has to make clear what considerations lead to a certain

decision. Explanation also assures people that their ideas, their input into the

decision have been heard and considered by leaders; and employees trust the


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management even if their ideas have not been accepted. Fairness also depends on

the formulation of clear expectations: people have to know, how they can contribute

to the performance of the organization, and vice versa; if employees dont trust their

leaders, they can be obstacles to the performance of the organization. Nowadays

this issue is even more important than earlier because knowledge-based

organizations depend more than traditional companies on the commitment of their

employees.

A challenge for todays organizations is that an organizational climate is to be

developed which helps people offer their creativity and expertise to the organization,

and this is a precondition for a fair process.

B) VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION:

In industries where organizations are required to be more adaptive in todays

environment and if flexible organizations are thought to be more appropriate

structures, then it follows that there should be a focus on implementing in-house

flexible components. Flexible or dynamic, organizations are said to have internal

structures and capabilities to facilitate responsiveness and adaptability to changes in

economic and market conditions, changes in government policy and employment

legislation, unemployment, development in technology and methods of production,

competitiveness and removal of skill boundaries.

Organizations have several options in considering flexible work practices that include

flexi time, part-time work, job-sharing, and home-based working. Organizations face

several operational influences in attaining increase in their responsiveness to

changes, both internal and external. One of the most important issues is determining

the extent of control or the amount of autonomy the organization must possess some

procedures that enhance its flexibility to avoid the state of rigidity and simultaneously

have some stability to avoid chaos.

The ready availability of information networks, e-mails, and portable telephones is

seen as accelerating the virtuality of work. A virtual organization is a network of

cooperations made possible by ICT, which is flexible and comes to meet the

dynamics of the market. In this way the virtual organization gains benefit with regard

to the traditional hierarchical systems. This new form of organization emerged in

1990, known as modular organization, network organization or digital organization.


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up with dispersed members who never or rarely come face to face. Here people

communicated online using links like WAN, video conferencing or e-mail.

The concept of virtual teams has gained considerable attention in recent years.

Within global organizations, the virtual team involves collaboration and teamwork

between geographically and temporarily separated workforces. Such collaboration

may also extend beyond the organizational boundary, linking partners in joint venture

and contractors who are in various locations. Emergency information and

communication technologies such as groupware, Internet and desktop video

conferencing systems are seen by global organizations as facilitating such

collaboration to enable the workforce to share knowledge and expertise. Virtual team

working is potentially necessary fir global organizations. It requires trust relationship.

Research findings suggest that personalized trust relationship is essential for

continuous virtual team working. Such personalized rust relationships are normally

established through face-to-face interaction and socializations. The use of

information and communication technologies appears to be inadequate for

establishing, reproducing such trust relationships owing to their inability to provide

access to the basic stage of participants activities.

The three primary factors that differentiate virtual teams from face-to-face teams are:

Absence of preverbal and nonverbal cues.

Limited social context.

Ability to overcome time and space constraints.

The advantages provided by such teams are as follows:

It saves time, travel expenses and eliminates lack of access to experts.

Teams can be organized whether or not members are in reasonable proximity to

each other.

Firms can use consultants from outside without incurring expenses for travel,

loading and downtime.

Virtual teams allow firms to expand their potential labour markets enabling them

to hire and retain the best people regardless of their physical locations.

Employees can accommodate both personal and professional lives.


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Dynamic team membership allows people to move from one project to another.

Employees can be assigned to multiple, concurrent teams.

Team communication and work reports are available online to facilitate swift

responses to the demands of a global market.

The disadvantages of virtual teams are: the lack of physical interaction-with its

associated verbal and nonverbal cues-and the synergies that often accompany face-

to-face communication. In paraverbal and nonverbal cues we use voice, eye

movement, facial expressions, body language which help in better communication

but are not available in online interactions. Virtual teams are able to work even if they

are miles apart allowing people to work in teams who never get a chance to meet

each other face-to-face. Despite these drawbacks, virtual teams are growing in

popularity. GroupWare, computer-based systems explicitly designed to support

groups of people working together, enables virtual interactions.

Features of virtual organization:

Without information and knowledge, workers in virtual workplaces becomeemasculated and effective. Fortunately technology and enlightened management

practices can ensure that this does not happen. The technology that keeps the

organization going is a seamless web electronic communication media.

Technology:New technology has transformed the traditional ways of working.

In particular the works of computing and telephony are coming together to open up a

whole new range of possibilities.

Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) will bring a new revolution to the desktop. CTI

has traditionally been used in all call centre applications.

E-mail integration:Integrating SMS (Short Message Service) into the existing e-

mail infrastructure allows the whole organization to take advantage of SMS products

such as Express Way.


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Office system integration:SMS technology can greatly enhance the existing or

new office system, e.g., Phone message can be sent via SMS rather than returning it

in a message.

Voice mail alert: SMS technology added to the existing voice mail system

builds an effective method of receiving voice mail alerts.

Mobile data: This enables a laptop to retrieve information anywhere throughthe mobile phone network. Mobile data communications revolutionize where and

how work is done. In the past corporate information has been inaccessible from

many places where it is needed.

The ability to link your laptop to your mobile phone means that you can remainconnected to your own virtual office from anywhere.

Types of virtual organization:

There are three types of virtual organization characterized by varying degrees of

virtuality.

The telecommunicating companies are at one extreme where the employees work

from their homes. They interact with the workplace via personal computer connected

with a modem to the phone lines.

Examples of companies using some form of telecommuting are Dow

Chemical, Xerox, Coherent Technology Inc.

The second type represents those that are characterized by the outsourcing of

most/all core competences. Outsourced areas include marketing and sale, human

resource, finance, research and development, engineering, manufacturing,

information system, etc. Virtual Corporation does one or two things extremely well.

Nike considers product design and marketing to be its core competences. Nike relies

on information technology as a means for maintaining inter-organizational

coordination with outsources.

The third type is completely virtual. It has metaphorically been described as a

company without walls that is tightly linked to a large network of suppliers,

distributors, retailers and customers as well as to strategic and joint venture partners.


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Examples of completely virtual organization are the Atlanta Committee for the

Olympic Games (ACOG) in 1996 and arguably the development effort of the PC

by IBM.

Emerging HR issues in virtual organization:

The HR issues such as recruitment, development, and socialization processes are

forms of management control. These inputs control and regulate the antecedent

conditions of performance, ensuring that the employees skills, knowledge, attitudes,

values and interest match those of the employing organization.

At the organizational level of analysis, the virtual organization is a loose web of

individuals, capital and technologies which may operate in amalgamation as a

flexible organization form. It involves project-focused collaborative networks

uninhibited by time and space. Driven by the necessities of globalization and

knowledge-based competition, it is staffed by knowledge workers brought together

under short-term market relationship. It operates without apparent structure (the

removal of traditional hierarchies does not remove structure in terms of power and

resource control), has ever-changing boundaries and dissolves as soon as a project

is completed.

In a virtual organization there are loose connections of highly proficient people who

are left to do their own thing in order to produce world beating products or services.

The shift towards virtual organization is associated with a fundamental re alignment

and reordering of jobs. Knowledge-based jobs are assumed to require greater skills,

have greater variety and offer more potential for a high quality of working life (QWL).

The positive side is that there is greater job autonomy and more financial stabilitybecause of the reduced commuting, launches and clothing costs. This is backed by

increased working hours; a perceived increase in performance; less work-related

stress and changed social relationship as barriers between the home-work interface

dissolve.

The negative aspects as involved in teleworking have been linked to psychological

well-being. They are increased reutilization; longer hours and increase in perceived

work demands, poorer physical working conditions; less social support from work;


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poorer social position; and fewer career opportunities. Moreover, in a virtual

organization highly skilled workers work. The jobs are variable and of short term.

People have to be multi-skilled and if they are in more than one functional area they

are valuable to the organization. This enables them to share information quickly and

assimilate them in a manner that facilitates quick decision and improves their own

ability to function.

A) LEARNING ORGANIZATION:

Of late, both academicians and writers of the most recent management books and

articles have identified people as well as knowledge as determiners of organizational

competitiveness. Pfeiffer (1994), for instance, argues that effective management of

people including developing and empowering people, sharing information, creating

self-managed teams, and training people are important determiners of competitive

advantage. Senge (1990) draws widespread attention to the notion of the learning

organization in his management best seller, The Fifth Discipline. Thus, much of the

focus of OD has been on encouraging commitment and participation by people

throughout the organization.

The earliest reference to the term learning organization in literature are probably

from 1978, when Argyris and Schon published Organizational Learning: A Theory inAction Prespective. The term learning Organization by Peter Senge (1990) may

also be understood as the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation

of those experience into knowledge-accessible to the entire organization and

relevant to its core purpose.

A learning organization can be defined as an organization that practices

organizational learning. Conversely, organizational learning is the distinctive

organizational behavior that is practiced in a learning organization. Thus, the two


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terms are effectively synonymous but there is difference in the nuance that should be

pointed out. Learning organization is an entity while organizational learning is a

process , a set of actions. Organizational learning is something the organizations do;

a learning organization is something the organization itself is. Denton, John (1998)

has developed a model of the creation of a learning organization. It shows the role of

six antecedents in creating first the opportunity and then the desire for organizational

learning.

Characteristics of learning organization:

A learning organization is one that is able to change its behaviors and mind-sets as a

result of experience. This may sound like an obvious statement, yet many

organizations refuse to acknowledge certain truths or facts and repeat dysfunctional

behaviors over and again. Examples include the number of times restructuring

initiatives are repeated because the previous attempt did not achieve the desired

outcomes or the failure of mergers and acquisitions to meet initial objectives.

Although there may be some metrics that can gauge and evaluate learning in an

organization, this discussion will offer an alternative perspective, not about how to

measure outcomes, but more about how to create learning environments that

facilitate the achievement of specific or of multiple, related objectives.

Such environments tend to promote learning and leadership at all levels (distributed

leadership) and they are likely to make the organization more accountable for its

actions as individuals tend to accept more readily responsibility for their actions.

Organizations, both in the private and public sectors that have adopted this approach

find that individual responsibility increases to a significant degree and accountability

becomes clearer and stronger. They also find that they develop true distributed

leadership (Maguire & McKelvey 1999), as everyone is a responsible agent working

towards a shared vision, exploring possibilities and taking initiatives that

nevertheless fit well into the overall strategic direction. Learning organizations

achieve this through a strong network of relationships and peer support (rather than

pressure). Enabling learning environments inform business strategy by taking

advantage of distributed intelligence throughout the organization; they fully engage

internal and external stakeholders by responding to issues identified by


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stakeholders; they change the behavior of the organization through mindset and

attitude change in individuals within the organization; and, finally, they help to

integrate sustainability thinking into the culture of the organization.

All human organizations are complex and one way of understanding their

characteristics is through complexity theory. The following characteristics are those

of complex learning organizations and are based on research with companies in both

the private and public sectors undertaken by the Complexity Group at the London

School of Economics, UK, over the past 12 years.

Organizational learning (OL) is more than individual learning and arises through the

interaction of individuals in groups and teams of different sizes. What is

characteristic of OL is that it is an emergent process in the sense that its outcome is

not predictable and it is more than the separate contributions of individuals. (The

principles of complex systems shown in italics are discussed in Mitleton-Kelly 2003)

OL needs the right environment to thrive, one that allows time for reflection on past

actions and outcomes and is prepared to accept some unpalatable truths and one

that is not a blame culture in the sense that mistakes are unacceptable. Such an

environment makes a distinction between mistakes that are the result of

irresponsibility and lack of forethought and those that are genuine explorations of a

new idea or a new way of working. If individuals and teams are encouraged to be

innovative then they need to explore alternatives and to take thoughtful risks. But not

all the experiments will succeed. For one to succeed many need to be tried. The

failures are not mistakes, they are legitimate explorations of the space of

possibilities, as part of the search to find new, innovative products, procedures, ways

of working, etc.

CONCLUSION: The aim of this article was to describe some aspects of knowledge

managements elements and HR. Focus was on human resource issues, which are

relevant from the perspective of supporting learning and knowledge sharing in

organizations, involving the hiring and selection processes, performance

assessment, recognition, and other fields of human resource management. It was

outlined that specific organizational structure, culture and behavior facilitate KM, and

that new roles are required for HRM. We can say, that basic cultural values influence


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the way in which an organization treats knowledge and the way it cares for the

learning processes, how organizations members communicate knowledge, how they

transfer it internally and externally. We are certain that effective learning and

effective knowledge transfer are beneficial for all those involved, because it can

result in a competitive advantage for the organization. Forming the necessary

framework is the task of upper management and the leaders in the different

organizational units, especially through ensuring a climate that allows effective

knowledge transfer in the organization. Not only the actors of the knowledge

processes (different groups of knowledge workers, communities, management and

employees), but also the basic value elements of a knowledge based culture, such

as, knowledge, knowledge sharing, innovation, quality, and their connection to KM

play a role in how knowledge processes are managed in an organization.

Reference:

Pattenaker, Biswajit.Human Resource Management. Delhi.

www.gti.ktk.pte.hu/files/tiny_mce/File/.../HRM-meeting-08-DK.pdf

www.actkm.org/userfiles/File/.../WHICKER_Leanne.ppt

www.infibeam.com/Books/.../hr-knowledge-era/9788131420720.ht...

www.hindu.com/edu/2003/12/29/stories/2003122900060800.htm

www.peoplepower.com/pdf/HR-Focus.pdf
http://www.gti.ktk.pte.hu/files/tiny_mce/File/.../HRM-meeting-08-DK.pdfhttp://www.gti.ktk.pte.hu/files/tiny_mce/File/.../HRM-meeting-08-DK.pdfhttp://www.actkm.org/userfiles/File/.../WHICKER_Leanne.ppthttp://www.actkm.org/userfiles/File/.../WHICKER_Leanne.ppthttp://www.infibeam.com/Books/.../hr-knowledge-era/9788131420720.hthttp://www.infibeam.com/Books/.../hr-knowledge-era/9788131420720.hthttp://www.hindu.com/edu/2003/12/29/stories/2003122900060800.htmhttp://www.hindu.com/edu/2003/12/29/stories/2003122900060800.htmhttp://www.peoplepower.com/pdf/HR-Focus.pdfhttp://www.peoplepower.com/pdf/HR-Focus.pdfhttp://www.peoplepower.com/pdf/HR-Focus.pdfhttp://www.hindu.com/edu/2003/12/29/stories/2003122900060800.htmhttp://www.infibeam.com/Books/.../hr-knowledge-era/9788131420720.hthttp://www.actkm.org/userfiles/File/.../WHICKER_Leanne.ppthttp://www.gti.ktk.pte.hu/files/tiny_mce/File/.../HRM-meeting-08-DK.pdf

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