Introduction
Globalization has brought with it the need to have fully flexible production processes where the knowledge necessary to exercise the job is not only focused on a specialty, on the contrary, the profile of the average worker is to be multidisciplinary.
One of the clearest examples is in the techno-scientific professions, a mechanical, electrical or chemical engineer who practices within modern industry cannot be oblivious to the basic knowledge of the other areas mentioned, the management of SKUs, inventories, first entries -exits or even financial accounting when having to manage and create budgets; definitely the proactivity of the individual is going to be decisive to assume and fulfill the demands of their work.
However, derived from this poly-knowledge, scenarios of uncertainty can be found that can directly impact the utility of the business, for example the knowledge to perform a certain position within an organization is often tacit, that is, it is found within the brain of the employee and when for any reason he migrates to another position or another company that accumulation of experiences and wisdom will go with him, without first having made his knowledge explicit, and on the other hand, how many decisions are made within an organization Because it is the easiest way or because subjectively it is the best or because they have always been carried out in the same way and reason and objective knowledge are kept in a trunk?These two scenarios are repeated in organisms of all sizes and that is where knowledge management represents a priority need for industries.
Development
Knowledge Management is a comprehensive strategic approach to achieve the objective through the optimal exploitation of the company's knowledge. (Barragán Ocaña, Approach to a taxonomy of knowledge management models, 2009).
One of the basic concepts for understanding this topic is the differentiation of two types of knowledge that according to Nonaka and Takeuchi are: a tangible one (also called explicit knowledge) of the companies that appear in the databases or in any paper or documents electronic and tacit knowledge (also called intangible knowledge) which consists of the knowledge, know-how and skills of all staff (therefore speaking of "intangible capital"). The performance of a company depends directly on professional competencies, experience and individual strategic knowledge, but they are rarely shared by all (Reyes Meleá, 2005).
According to Palacios (2000) the creation of organizational knowledge can be represented as a spiral that goes vertically from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and horizontally from individual to inter-institutional knowledge, until it reaches the externalization and internalization of the knowledge that the human resource obtains from said spiral, the first refers to the conversion of intangible to tangible knowledge to integrate it into the organizational culture and the second vice versa in order to reflect and mature ideas that can contribute collective intelligence to the organization, and thereby achieve proper functioning of the company that also depends to a large extent on the ability to provide the right moment with the correct information (Rivas Tovar & Flores Muro, 2007).
On the other hand, with the development of information and communication technologies, the negative effect can be information overload (sometimes known as information pollution, even textual harassment): "too much information kills information", therefore that of the knowledge management project is to identify, take advantage of and value the intellectual capital of the company through the participation of all the personnel.
Many approaches have been created since 1996 when Petrash simply defined knowledge management as “the process by which organizations get the right knowledge, with the right people and at the right time and place” (Obeso & Sarabia, 2014).
However, two currents can be identified in the literature about said business strategy (Imani, 2011):
On the one hand, the studies carried out in the first stream, which consider knowledge as a strategic and fundamental resource for competitive advantage, that is, an organizational function such as finance or marketing and its role is to support the business strategy through static tools and knowledge Generics on "how to" establish knowledge management strategies.
The second stream, which arises mainly in response to the approach based on the simplistic tool, contains more sophisticated studies that offer a great variety of knowledge strategy models, of which there are countless formalisms for knowledge management, however according to their objectives, methodology and participants can be grouped into three (Rodriguez Gómes, 2006):
- Knowledge storage, access and transfer strategies: models that deal with technical strategies to store knowledge and make it easily accessible to members of the organization. Sociocultural: methods focused on the development of organizational culture and awareness of collaboration among its members. Technological: models in which the use of computer technologies for knowledge management stands out.
The same author proposes a comparative table of two basic models of Knowledge Management, which are described in the following table:
Essential characteristics of the organization in the process of adopting a knowledge management system
Each approach and existing models of Knowledge Management vary according to the social, political, technological and situational context of the company, so there are four characteristics or essential elements of an organization that must be considered in the process of adopting a system of knowledge management (Barragán Ocaña, 2009):
one. The nature of organizational culture
Organizational culture can be defined as the average with which it is perceived, thought, felt, shared and transmitted among the members of the organization. Commonly expressed as the means by which things are done, it is a social or behavioral manifestation that includes characteristics such as (Leidner & Alavi, 2006):
- The values and beliefs of employees, How people are and feel rewarded, organized and controlled, Professional guidance, work organization and management culture The degree of standardization, normalization and control systems, How it is exercised and power is distributed. The value attributed to various positions within the organization, Notions and concepts about the importance and use of time and space.
two. The processes that collect, manage and disseminate information
This element represents the knowledge to handle information, skills and experience that can be considered as sources of content in an organization. Organizations often create content on an empirical basis, without having procedures to make the information accessible to the personnel who work with such data. However, organizing the content available electronically does not necessarily mean that it is useful. It may be that the data must be reformatted, translated or integrated for its optimal use.
3. The status and availability of the organization's processes
Processes are the activities or initiatives that allow and facilitate the creation, exchange and use of knowledge for the benefit of an organization. The process also refers to the general infrastructure and ways of acting of your organization and the degree to which they promote good KM practices or obstacles to it. Data and information management processes exist in all organizations and in different forms ranging from formal to informal, but they are essential to ensure the effective creation, evaluation, management and distribution of knowledge.
Four. Technological infrastructure
Technology is essential for knowledge management, not just any technological product meets all the requirements. Before choosing a solution, organizations must clearly define their management strategy, flexibility and requirements, and must evaluate the technology products at their disposal to identify those that meet their needs.
The need for qualified personnel assigned to each central function is essential and has relevance through the four points discussed in the previous paragraphs. Therefore, the training and integration needs for industry personnel using various methods and tools according to the organization are essential for the success of Knowledge Management. Learning and knowledge from this approach are functions that the organization must promote since it learns only when a person can transmit their knowledge to the entire organization or the body to regulate the behavior of the individual. It is worth mentioning that an effective management system must be flexible and focused on the context in which the producing entity is located. As a last resort,Knowledge management needs a privileged place throughout the organization, especially in areas (Imani, 2011):
- Decision-making power about how to invest in Knowledge Management; Having financial funds; Being a premise of the top management; Making sure that the allocation of resources is consistent with the general strategy of the organization and the management model.
conclusion
Knowledge management is a fundamental tool for modern productive organizations and to the extent that it has an agile structure, according to the premises of the organization in question, it will be able to add value in such a way that new knowledge is generated. that are disseminated among the team members and materialize in the innovation and improvement of products and services to the consumer, however all the characteristics and needs described in this article would be without effect if the organizations do not take care to count on developing curves of learning that generate highly trained people and with the ability to decide what to do and how to act in particular situations.
Bibliography
- Barragán Ocaña, A. (2009). Approach to a taxonomy of knowledge management models. Intangible Capital, 5 (1), 65-101 Imani, Y. (2011). The formulatic and embryonic dimensions of knowledge management strategy: a social practice perspective. The electronic journal of knowledge management, 9 (2), 132-138. Leidner, D., & Alavi, M. (2006). The role of culture in knowledge management: a case study of two global firms. International Journal of e-Collaboration, 2 (1), 17-40.Obeso, M., & Sarabia, M. (2014). Managing knowledge in organizations: past, present and future. Intangible Capital, 9 (4), 1042-1067. Reyes Meleá, CF (2005). Analysis of the relationship between knowledge engineering and knowledge management based on the Nonaka and Takeuchi model. Intangible Capital, 1 (3). Rivas Tovar, LA, & Flores Muro, B.(2007). Knowledge management in the automotive industry. Estudios Gerenciales, 23 (102), 83-100.Rodriguez Gómes, D. (2006). Models for the creation and management of knowledge: a theoretical approach. EDUCATE, 37, 25-39.
