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Figure. 2a T radit ional Business
Figure. 2b. E-Business
Sour ce: Far r el l , et al . , 2001, ‘ E-busi nesswor k’ , p. 3-4
2. The Advantages of E-business
According t o Amor 2000, p. 13, t he st rengt hs of e-business depend on t he st rengt hs on t he Int ernet , which are t he inf rast ruct ure can be expanded in
t he f ut ure, t he avail abil it y of access f or 24 hours everyday and l ow cost as wel l . However what Amor want s t o show is t hat how Int ernet can change
t he t opol ogy of business. Amor 2000, p. 14 reckons t hat t here are seven advant ages t hat can be obt ained by t he e-business organizat ions see
Figure 3.
DeliveryShipping Customer
sales support
Customer Clicks and mortar
vendor BankingShopping
CartValidation Supplier or Service
Partner Warehouse delivery
agent
Web Shop
E-Business
Sales agent or vendor
Bank, outsourcers
Customer Warehouse or
delivery agent Supplier or
service
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Figure. 3. Advant ages of E-Business
Sour ce: Amor , D. , 2000, ‘ The E-busi ness Revol ut i on’ , p. 14 3.
Knowledge Management Implementation
Organizat ions shoul d be concerned in underst anding of knowl edge ut il izat ion and creat ion and consider t he t wo inseparabl e f act ors as an
organizat ional inf rast ruct ure t o maximize t he organizat ional perf ormance. According t o Dut rénit 2000, p. 35, t he process of knowl edge creat ion is:
‘ …t he cent er of at t ent i on and i ssues about t he management of
knowl edge ar e pl ayi ng an i ncr easi ngl y i mpor t ant r ol e i n t he expl anat i on of t he ef f ect i veness of t hi s pr ocess’
Furt hermore, t he use of knowl edge management f acil it at es t he process of creat ion and enhancement of knowl edge f or t he devel opment of st rat egic
t echnol ogical capabil it ies. According t o t he American Product ivit y and Qual it y Cent er 1996, avail abl e
at :
ht t p: www. st ore. apqc. org report s Summary know-mng. pdf ,
knowl edge management is a set of st rat egy t o acquire t he right knowl edge t o t he right peopl e at t he right t ime and hel p t he individual s or groups t o
share and use t he inf ormat ion int o act ion in a way t o enhance organizat ional achievement . Moreover, knowl edge management is a
compl icat ed process t hat shoul d be reinf orced by a robust f oundat ion of enabl ers – st rat egy and l eadership, cul t ure, measurement , and t echnol ogy.
Each enabl er shoul d be al igned t o generat e t he knowl edge process – procurement , present at ion, t ransf er, ut il izat ion, and removal see
Figure 4. To obt ain knowl edge, organizat ions shoul d be agil e in bal ancing t he
knowl edge management el ement s – peopl e cul t ure, processes cont ent , and t echnol ogy. Abel l and Oxbrow 2001, p. 37 reckon t hat t hose
el ement s have f ormed a knowl edge management phil osophy – t o manage t he knowl edge bal ance which f urt her det ermines an organizat ion and it s
rel at ionship in t he market see
Figure 5.
Advantages of e-business 1.
Gl obal accessi bi l i t y and sal es r each. Businesses can expand t heir cust omer base gl obal l y and even t heir product l ine.
2. Cl oser r el at i onshi ps. B2B sel lers shoul d be abl e t o const ruct cl ose rel at ionship.
3. Fr ee sampl er s. Product s can be sampl ed via t he Web quickly, easil y, and f ree of charge.
4. Reduced cost s. Businesses can minimize t he cost l y product ion by dynamical l y adj ust ing
prices. 5.
Medi a br eaks. The Int ernet reduces t he number of media breaks which are needed t o t ransf er inf ormat ion.
6. Ti me t o mar ket . Short er t ime t o market and f ast er response t ime t o changing and
compet it ive market demands. 7.
Cust omer l oyal t y. Improved cust omer l oyal t y and service t hrough easier access t o t he newest inf ormat ion and a never cl osing sit e.
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Knowledge Removal
Identification of Old and Irrelevant Knowledge
Removal of Knowledge from Active Repository
Archiving of Knowledge
Knowledge Transfer
Transmission of Knowledge
Provision of Knowledge
Searching and Finding of Knowledge
Searching and Finding of Knowledge Owners
Face-to-Face Knowledge Exchange
Knowledge Presentation
Documentation of Knowledge
Editing of Knowledge
Structuring of Knowledge
Linking of Knowledge
Documentation of Knowledge Meta-Structures
Knowledge Procurement
External Procurement of Knowledge
Creation of Knowledge
Development and Improve- ment of Knowledge
Updating of Knowledge
Knowledge Utilisation
Application of Knowledge in Business Processes
Knowledge Processing
Figure. 4. Knowledge Processing
Sour ce: Al l weyer , T. , 1997, A Fr amewor k f or Re-desi gni ng and Managi ng Knowl edge Pr ocesses, p. 5
Figure. 5 T he Knowledge Balance 4.
The Advantages of Knowledge Management
The rol e of knowl edge management of f ers a number of benef it s f or organizat ions in devel oped or devel oping count ries. Radding 1998, p. 61
ident if ies many subst ant ial benef it s t hat knowl edge management of f ers, incl uding: prevent ion of knowl edge l oss; st rong decision-making;
adapt abil it y and f l exibil it y; compet it ive advant age; asset devel opment ; product devel opment ; cust omer orient ed and; l everages invest ment s in
human resource capit al see
Figure 6.
The Knowledge Balance
PeopleCulture
Technology Knowledge
Management ProcessContent
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Figure 6 Knowledge Management Advant ages
Sour ce: Raddi ng, 1998, Knowl edge Management , p. 60-61 5.
Knowledge Management Benefits Tree
According t o Skyrme 2002, p. 1, t he use of t he benef it s t ree is t o show int er-correl at ions bet ween dif f erent t ypes of benef it . The use of t he
benef it s t ree is import ant f or senior execut ives bef ore t hey invest because t he benef it s t ree wil l apparent l y describe an expl anat ion of t he bot t om
l ine benef it s of knowl edge management . Commonl y, a knowl edge init iat ive is a base pl an where t he cost is obvious, but t he benef it s are dispersed int o
t he organizat ion. A benef it s t ree connect s t he immediat el y obvious benef it s, t hrough a series of ways t o t hose underst ood by senior execut ives
see
Figure 7.
Knowledge management advantages 1.
Prevent ion of knowl edge l oss – enabl es an organizat ion t o ret ain crit ical expert ise and prevent crit ical knowl edge l oss resul t ing f rom ret irement , downsizing, empl oyee depart ures,
et c. 2.
Improved decision making – decisions are made f ast er wit h great er qual it y and al so can be made at a l ower l evel in t he organizat ion.
3. Adapt abil it y and f l exibil it y – st af f s can work in cross-f unct i onal sit uat ions and t he
organizat ion i mproves empl oyee moral e. 4.
Compet it ive advant age – enabl es t he organi zat ions t o f ul l y underst and it s cust omers, prospect s, market , and t he compet it ion, t hereby enabl ing t he ident if icat ion of compet it ive
gaps and opport unit ies. 5.
Asset devel opment – improves t he organizat ion’ s abil it y t o capit al ize on l egal prot ect ion f or int el l ect ual propert y.
6. Product improvement – val ue of product s is increased in direct proport ion t o t he degree and
qual it y of knowl edge in t he product . 7.
Cust omer management – enabl es organizat ions t o sharpen cust omer f ocus and service. Increased cust omer knowl edge expedit es response t o cust omer queries, suggest ions,
compl aint s. It al so ensures t he consist ency and qual it y when servicing cust omers. 8.
Leverages invest ment s in human capit al – organi zat ions can bet t er l everage t heir invest ment in hiring and t raining workers such as t he abil it y t o share l essons l earned, document
processes, t he handl ing of except ions, capt ure and t ransmit t acit knowl edge, et c.
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Figure. 7 Benef it s T ree
Sour ce: Skyr me, 2002, KM Benef i t s Tr ee
6. Information and Communications Technology ICT
