t o Gain Compet it ive Advant age Saron K. Yef t a, Indra Gamayant o
113
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
The devel opment of ICT has produced opport unit ies and chal l enges. According t o Abel l and Oxbrow 2001, p. 52:
‘ …t he use of ICT enabl es vi r t ual wor ki ng t hat i s al most aki n t o
si t t i ng ar ound t he t abl e t oget her . But onl i ne wor ki ng needs car ef ul f aci l i t at i ng and l eader shi p. It r equi r es new ski l l s and mi ndset s, and
whi l e i t al l ows mor e i ncl usi on f or some i t pr esent s bar r i er s f or ot her s. Par adoxi cal l y, col l abor at i ve sof t war e enabl es peopl e i n one
r oom t o wor k cr eat i vel y t oget her by chal l enge i deas, and vot e f or out comes, anonymousl y, t hus al l owi ng t he gr oup t o have a f r ank
di scussi on wi t hout i ndi vi dual s f eel i ng i nhi bi t ed by t hei r l ack of conf i dence or st at us. ’
114 Earl y appl icat ions of t echnol ogy of f ered t he prospect of increased
product ion and l ess rel iance on human. The int egrat ion of communicat ions and inf ormat ion t echnol ogy int roduces opport unit ies t o operat e in new
market s, change ways of working, del iver dif f erent product s, and maybe t o devel op business rel at ionships wit h a variet y of suppl iers. ICT enabl es
f l exibil it y, al l owing inf ormat ion t o be exchanged across geographical and t ime barriers. Virt ual organizat ions, mobil e work f orces, and innovat ive
part nerships have al l been dif f used by ICT. ICT al so brings new probl ems, f or exampl e, t echnical direct ors and t echnical st af f argue t o ut il ize a
compat ibl e IT pl at f orms and sof t ware appl icat ions t o enhance f ast er and cheaper communicat ion.
7.
Virtual Organizations
ICT has made a new f orm of business named virt ual organizat ions. Skyrme 1999, p. 1 has def ined t he virt ual organizat ion as t he organizat ion
dif f used geographical l y and organizat ional work is dist ribut ed t hroughout el ect ronic communicat ions. Many smal l er organizat ions or even st art -up
companies are now concerning about t he advant ages of becoming or maybe as a part of a virt ual organizat ion, which can give t hem t he benef it s
of t he dif f erent resources of a l arge organizat ions whil e f ocusing on t he st rengt h and agil it y of t he smal l one. Furt hermore, Skyrme al so specif ies
t he advant ages t hat virt ual organizat ions of f er. The advant ages of virt ual organizat ions are: [ 1] provide access t o a wide a range of specif ic
resources, [ 2] shoul d enabl e t o present a unit ed f ace t o big corporat e cust omers, [ 3] t he organizat ions can keep concent rat ed t o operat e on t he
niche skil l s, and [ 4] easiness t o reshape and change personnel based on t he proposed t ask or proj ect .
8.
People, Process, and Technology
The t hree inseparabl e el ement s of knowl edge management – t echnol ogy, peopl e, and process – are pl aying an import ant rol e f or t he success of t he
virt ual organizat ions. First , t he knowl edge in t echnol ogy shoul d be abl e t o produce many benef it s t o users easiness, pract ical it y, f unct ional it y and
dif f erent iat e wit h ot her current product s compet it ivel y. Second, t he knowl edge in peopl e, peopl e in an organizat ion is considered as t he most
val uabl e asset because peopl e act as t he mot ivat or t o invent innovat ive ideas and generat e t he work process. Third, t he knowl edge in process can
be il l ust rat ed as t he st ruct ure – vert ical or horizont al – of t he organizat ion, t he way t he empl oyees work t oget her in an compl ex sit uat ion, and if t he
organizat ion has a f l exibl e management t hen can be wel l adapt ed t o t he dynamic of changes, because no mat t er what changes wil l appl y.
9.
The Success of Virtual Organizations
Todays business environment demands a new phil osophy f or accompl ishing t asks. The success of virt ual organizat ions principal l y is in t he hand of t he
st af f t eams t hat run t he j ob. Managers shoul d heavil y mot ivat e t he t eams t o produce new ideas or process t o f ast en t he work. As t echnol ogy workers
t o Gain Compet it ive Advant age Saron K. Yef t a, Indra Gamayant o
115 cont inue t o become un-t et hered, of t en wit hout warning t o t he ent erprise
and it s IT inf rast ruct ure, it is increasingl y t he responsibil it y of t he ent erprise t o provide t he educat ion and change management necessary f or
t he empl oyees success in a virt ual environment . IT execut ives shoul d ensure t hat t he appropriat e educat ion and compet encies are devel oped
among it s core st af f t o l everage t he f ul l pot ent ial of a successf ul virt ual t eam Ader, M. , 2003.
Successf ul virt ual t eams invol ve a st rong combinat ion of peopl e, process, and t echnol ogy. For peopl e t o work seaml essl y across boundaries,
dist ance, and t ime, col l aborat ion t ool s and services t o cat al yze product ivit y must be readil y avail abl e. IT execut ives shoul d eval uat e t ool s
f rom emerging prof essional services aut omat ion PSA vendors, proj ect management and col l aborat ion pl ayers, as wel l as l eading audio and video
st reaming t echnol ogy t hat can support t he act ivit ies of a virt ual t eam Hasel korn, M. , 1998.
10.
Challenge and Solution in Knowledge Management
Al t hough knowl edge Management can become a good st rat egy in many organizat ions t o achieve compet it ive advant age in compet ing wit h ot hers,
it al so present s signif icant chal l enges t o t he organizat ions especial l y t o managers and IT prof essional s. The compl exit y in def ining t he most
suit abl e knowl edge management model , ref ining inf ormat ion, choosing t he most appropriat e t echnol ogy are t he exampl es of issues t hat f ace by
organizat ions. However t hough t he probl ems are a l ot , it doesn’ t mean al l t he organizat ions f ace t he same issues. The issue wil l depend on t he
organizat ions t hemsel ves, what is t he core business and how t he organizat ion runs t he act ivit ies KMWorl d, 2002.
11.
Distributing Information
How t o dist ribut e and del iver t he inf ormat ion is one of t he issues which have impact organizat ion great l y. Spreading t he inf ormat ion among
workers in organizat ion, t o ot her branches of organizat ions and col l aborat ed organizat ions can det ermine t he f ait h of organizat ion it sel f .
Speed of dist ribut ion and avail abil it y of inf ormat ion are t he t hings t hat organizat ions t ry t o sust ain and achi eve. Bef ore considering a way of
dist ribut ing t he inf ormat ion, organizat ions have t o underst and cl earl y f irst , what kind of inf ormat ion t hose organizat ions have. According t o Vice
President of Hummingbird Lt d. , Pet er Audit ore KMWorl d, 2002, t here are t hree t ypes of inf ormat ion in an organizat ion, which are;
Expl i ci t Knowl edge, knowledge t hat can be ext ract ed f rom books,
document s, email s and dat abases. This is t he easiest way t o get and gat her knowl edge in an organizat ion.
Embedded Knowl edge, knowledge t hat f ound during running
organizat ion’ s t ask such as services and process. The knowl edge can be achieved is a person carries cert ain t asks in organizat ion.
116
Taci t Knowl edge, undocument ed knowledge. This kind of knowl edge is avail abl e inside t he head of workers and can be
spread among t hem via mout h t o mout h. Af t er underst anding what kind of knowl edge an organizat ion has, t hen
managers and IT prof essional have t o t hink t he scope of inf ormat ion dist ribut ion. There are t wo scope of inf ormat ion dist ribut ion, which are
di st r i but i on of i nf or mat i on among wor ker s i n an or gani zat i on and di st r i but i on of i nf or mat i on t o t he vi r t ual or gani zat i on wor l dwi de Int ranet
Journal , 2003. 12.
Distribution of Information among Workers in an Organizationfocus on people
Sharing inf ormat ion among workers in an organizat ion isn’ t a new probl em in knowl edge management issue however it is st il l exist . One of t he ways
t hat used nowadays is Int r anet t echnol ogy. Research has al ready
demonst rat ed t hat Int ranet t echnol ogy has showed signif icant increase in ef f iciency and product ivit y of an organizat ion. And al so t here is signif icant
correl at ion bet ween int ranet and j ob sat isf act ion Int ranet Journal , 2003. Int ranet t echnol ogy can bring a l ot of benef it in dist ribut ing knowl edge
management . Of course cost of t he t echnol ogy is one of t he benef it s however it ’ s not t he onl y advant age t hat organizat ion seeks. Int ranet can
al so benef it worker in many ways such as a t ool of communicat ion not onl y bet ween workers and organizat ion but al so among t he workers. Int ranet
t echnol ogy al l ows workers t o access knowl edge f rom organizat ion nevert hel ess, not onl y has t hat Int ranet st il l had ot her advant ages see
Figure 8 but al so hel p workers t o communicat e each ot her especial l y in dist ribut ing t acit knowl edge which is very hard t o be document ed by
organizat ion Int ranet Journal , 2003.
Intranet Features Advantages
•
Focuses on user needs — not t echnology promises
•
Direct l y support s t he organizat ions goal s and processes
•
Enabl es col l aborat ion and communit ies
•
Inspires l earning, innovat ion and new t hinking t hrough sharing best pract ices
•
Promot es and del ivers bot t om-l ine result s
Figure. 8. Int ranet Feat ures Advant ages
Source: Int ranet Journal 2003, ‘ Knowl edge Management and Int ranet s: Put t ing Peopl e’ , avail abl e at :
ht t p: www. int ranet j ournal . com art icl es 200304 ij _04_23_03a. ht ml
t o Gain Compet it ive Advant age Saron K. Yef t a, Indra Gamayant o
117
13. Distribution of Information to the Virtual Organization Worldwide
