Knowledge Management

First, a critical human capital for GDD is old and retiring. The company will have to replace the outgoing staff like Harr with young talents. This strategy will rely on KM to conduct a knowledge audit and make informed decisions, such as purchasing planes. Also, there is a limited time left for Harry to share his immense knowledge; GDD must quickly capture this tacit knowledge and leverage human capital (Harry’s brainpower) in its decision-making; otherwise, it will be lost (Dalkir, 2011, p. 335).

Capturing tactic knowledge is critical, and failure to do so will lead to financial mistakes. Considering that the knowledge is mostly stored in human capital (Dalkir, 2011, p. 61); in this case, Harry, it needs to be captured and codified to the company’s knowledge base. Should GDD overlook this need, it risks purchasing planes that will not be economically sound in pricing, carbon emission, and insignificant ROI.

Notably, the capturing and codifying tactic knowledge is essential for the organization’s culture and employee performance. Dalkir explains that tactic knowledge remains in the heads of the knowers (2011, p. 10). That is why Harry and Farthing have different strategic proposals. Without an efficient and efficient model to convert Harry’s tactic knowledge, Farthing will not embrace it, and she is likely to underperform compared to when the tactic is sufficiently captured and codified. In this case, developing a hybrid strategy using Harry and Farthing’s knowledge will create a communal culture by fostering a sense of belonging (Dalkir, 2011, p. 229).

Capturing the tactic knowledge will help GDD stakeholders work towards the company’s mission through effective communication since the basis of communication is learning (Dalkir, 2011, p. 373). Capturing this knowledge will reaffirm the “reasons why,” especially since it has already been in operation for so long. Secondly, tactic knowledge is developed over time through experience; thus, it will reveal case studies for how the company and its competitors have performed in the market thus far. Thirdly, information regarding the company’s mission, values, goals, and objectives and the relationship with competitors is kept to help future organizational staff stay on track when making decisions (Dalkir, 2011, p. 41). That is, retention of tactic knowledge severs as a mentor for future stakeholders. Lastly, capturing and retaining this knowledge improves productivity and innovation since it cautions things that the company may not do and suggests what it may do to maintain a successful trajectory.

Technology connects staff to the company database. This is where experts share their experiences and guide relevant departments in decision making (Dalkir, 2011, p. 332). This information remains in the database and may be accessed for use many years in the future. Also, technology provides an efficient knowledge audit tool to make the best management decisions in an organization (Dalkir, 2011, p. 319). Technology escalates the rate at which relevant information is obtained from a pool of general information. The collection process might take a more extended period to manually profile the information deemed useful, such as customer needs, compared to using technology. For instance, web analytics may profile customers and staff on the company website (Kumar & Ogunmola, 2020) – knowledge that managers might accumulate over a longer time.

Reference

Dalkir, K. (2011). Knowledge management in theory and practice. MIT Press.

Kozlowski, S., & Ilgen, D. (2006). Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams. Psychological Science In The Public Interest, 7(3), 77-124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x

Kumar, V., & Ogunmola, G. (2020). Web Analytics for Knowledge Creation. International Journal Of Cyber Behavior, Psychology And Learning, 10(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijcbpl.2020010101