Knowledge Management and Information Systems (GC021)

Table of Content

1.0 Introduction.

2.0 Strategic importance of knowledge management practices to achieve organizations’ long‐term objectives.

Tacit knowledge in helping an organization to achieve its long‐term objectives.

Explicit knowledge in helping the organization to achieve its long‐term objectives.

3.0 Impact of artificial intelligence (AI) based technologies on operational excellence (efficiency and productivity) of manufacturing processes.

4.0 Assess how manufacturing organizations can address the challenges arising from the integrating of AI-based technologies in their manufacturing processes.

Building trust and focusing on augmenting people.

Improving artificial intelligence (AI) human interface.

Planning for knowledge transfer

Selecting proper artificial intelligence (AI) solutions in the initial stage.

Improving privacy and security.

5.0 Conclusion.

References

1.0 Introduction

Knowledge management refers to a bottom-up ongoing process of finding value and using raw information across the boundaries of organizations (Smith, 2014). This organic and holistic process guides the organizations to develop and exploit their intangible knowledge resources and tangible assets (McCune, 2013). Garvin (2013) defined the term “knowledge management” as the formal and directed process of determining organizational information to benefit the stakeholders.

According to Chait (2016), this process includes how knowledge is gained, stored, used and evaluated. In the current emergence of knowledge-based economies effective management of knowledge plays a significant role in businesses to gain sustainable strategic competitive advantages. As knowledge management techniques businesses (mainly manufacturers) use artificial intelligence-based technology to improve their operational excellence. However, many manufacturers face several challenges in the way of integrating artificial intelligence-based technology into their businesses.

2.0 Strategic importance of knowledge management practices to achieve organizations’ long‐term objectives.

Managing professional intellect, networking knowledge, harnessing knowledge, managing and creating intellectual capital are keys to organizational success (Tobin, 2017). Organizations can gain and use tacit and explicit knowledge in their own ways despite the influence of cultural diversity and globalization (Quinn et al., 2016).

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Tacit knowledge in helping the organization to achieve its long‐term objectives

According to Liebowitz and Beckman (2016), classifies the knowledge as tacit and explicit and discusses how they help organizations to gain their long-term objectives tacit knowledge is automatic, openly expressed thoughts and knowledge that do not have words. Thus, this knowledge needs less time and support organizations in making quick decisions and influencing collecting organizational behaviors.

Sternberg (2017) stated that tacit knowledge is a highly personal, subjective and informal form of knowledge that is collected from the people statements that in turn increase knowledge and understanding of businesses. Tacit knowledge is cognitive and/or technical that develops organizational culture including values, beliefs, insights, assumptions, mental models, and perceptions.

Technical tacit knowledge (like the specific body of knowledge) helps businesses to develop activities gradually, where cognitive tacit knowledge (like perceptions and implicit mental models) affects how businesses make sense of events in the competitive markets. Stewart (2017) said organizations use metaphors, stories, demonstrations, and analogies to convey their tacit knowledge to the stakeholders.

Employees in an organization can evaluate story contents as well as actions to use tacit knowledge in the workplaces. For example, the staff of Toyota, an automobile company, captures photos at a business conference and shares these photos with colleagues. In this case, stories about how information could be applied as well as why things happened include tacit knowledge.

For example, Toyota applies a tacit knowledge approach to transfer its knowledge regarding production systems to new employees in new assembly factory-like in France. Toyota selects its core group of new staff and sends them for effective training for several months in its existing assembly factories. After a few months of intensive studying on the production system with the experienced workers, Toyota sends back the staff to the new factory.

Toyota also uses “Quality Circles” as a tacit knowledge approach to developing new knowledge, where production workers spend few hours to analyze their performance in terms of identifying potential problems and ensuring quality and productivity. In this quality circle group setting, Toyota staffs share their ideas that support to develop new ideas for improvement and assess the outcome of their tests.

This knowledge management practice at Toyota significantly supports its production system to identify, reduce, and prevent errors that in turn has made the Toyota’s production system as one of the highest quality of production process in the global automobile industry (Spear et al., 2013).

Explicit knowledge in helping the organization to achieve its long‐term objectives

Most of the explicit knowledge is academic and technical information that is disclosed as formal languages such as patents, copyright, mathematical expressions, and manuals. This knowledge is also systematic that is shared and communicated through several formal methods like printing and electronic methods (Tobin, 2017)……….