In contrast of classical economy in neoclassical economy, knowledge is one of the main factors of production. Since the mid-1980s, there has been an increasing recognition that “knowledge is a fundamental factor behind an enterprise’s success”. Scholar emphasises on invaluableness of knowledge and its dominant role among the other competitive advantages. They argue that knowledge causes sustainability in volatile environment. And many executives inaugurated methods of knowledge management as a complementary process of previous activities; such as total quality management (TQM), to grab some more competitive advantages among their rivals.
The first brick of structuring knowledge management (KM) is identifying the meaning of knowledge, information and data. These definitions and their differences are mentioned beneath the literature review. And one of the most novel and powerful KM framework is introduced which comes from communication science. In the field of communication science, there is one dominant theory for process of information sharing which is based on mathematics and statistical analyses. By interpreting this model to organisation’s routine activities, companies can use it as a basic framework for the whole process of knowledge sharing.
This model of knowledge sharing (communication model) has a better control over finding barriers among the other frameworks. More than dozens of barriers are declared in the scientific journals, but some of them may reveal within the particular case and by utilising this model it is possible to categorised barriers in manifold ways. Besides, communication framework has more clarity. This model elucidates relations among various parts of organisations, so finding critical success factors are easier than before. This model also supports other dominant theories in KM and KMS; such as knowledge creation, which this part will be discussed concisely.
Suggesting a new KM method is based on communication framework model. Tesco has significant IT infrastructure and data mining. The new KM framework utilise current method and also use current KM for justifying the knowledge. This is very important that knowledge should be justified. This new KM framework focuses on employee’s perception that is not exploited by other retailers in UK; therefore, it can become one the key competitive advantages for Tesco.
Table of Contents
1. Executive summary
2. Literature review
2.1. What is knowledge? And what is tacit knowledge?
2.2. Competitive advantages of knowledge
2.3. What is knowledge based economy?
2.4. What is knowledge management?
2.5. What are knowledge sharing and its barriers?
3. Background of Tesco and range of products
3.1. Tesco’s business goals and objectives
4. KM in Tesco
4.1. Current method of Knowledge management in Tesco
4.2. The type and range of products to justify managing Tesco’s tacit knowledge
4.3. Develop a new framework for knowledge management in Tesco
4.4. Barriers and Critical success factors for new KM framework
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this work is to develop a new knowledge management framework for Tesco that effectively captures and utilizes the tacit knowledge of employees regarding micro-market trends and customer perceptions, thereby creating a sustainable competitive advantage.
- Theoretical foundations of knowledge management and tacit knowledge.
- Evaluation of current knowledge management practices at Tesco.
- Application of the communication model to identify barriers in knowledge sharing.
- Proposal of an integrated framework for employee-driven knowledge reporting.
- Identification of critical success factors and enabling organizational structures.
Excerpt from the Book
4.3. Develop a new framework for knowledge management in Tesco
This framework tries to gather the staffs’ knowledge regarding their market insight and justify it with current knowledge management system that the company already use. This framework is based on communication model which is discussed. Therefore, to avoid verbosity, directly translate the model into this situation. Based on this framework, the sender of knowledge is stores’ staff and supervisors and the receiver of knowledge is management in national regions and the knowledge is supposed the employees’ market perception and their market feeling.
In this framework employees are empowered to report their own orders and change the previous ordinary merchandise list based on their perception. So each individual employee regardless of position should be empowered to send an ostensible alteration on orders (or own perception) to main office. So, the encoding and decoding are any change from stores.
In the receiver side of knowledge, the national management office should evaluate the orders and compare them with the historical data. Tesco has a significant data history from various geographic regions regarding to sale of any particular product. In this new framework, some employees, who are expert in marketing and data mining, should delve the whole historical data of sales for those changes of previous ordering to prepare an appropriate feedback (acknowledge) to stores. Therefore, the current data mining (knowledge management) method should be used to authenticate the market perception (knowledge).
Summary of Chapters
1. Executive summary: Provides an overview of the importance of knowledge management in the modern economy and introduces a proposed communication-based framework for Tesco.
2. Literature review: Defines fundamental concepts such as tacit vs. explicit knowledge, knowledge-based economy, and examines various barriers to effective knowledge sharing.
3. Background of Tesco and range of products: Outlines the history of Tesco and defines its strategic business goals, emphasizing the importance of employee-customer interaction.
4. KM in Tesco: Analyzes current practices, addresses the need for capturing tacit knowledge, and proposes a new framework based on the communication model.
5. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, highlighting how the proposed framework leverages employee perception to gain competitive advantages.
Keywords
Knowledge Management, Tesco, Tacit Knowledge, Explicit Knowledge, Communication Model, Knowledge Sharing, Data Mining, Customer Relationship Management, Micro-market Trends, Competitive Advantage, Organizational Learning, Knowledge Barriers, Retail Strategy, Employee Perception, Knowledge Creation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores how Tesco can enhance its knowledge management practices by better capturing the tacit knowledge residing within its frontline employees regarding local market trends.
What are the primary thematic areas addressed?
The main themes include the definition of knowledge, the role of knowledge in competitive advantage, communication-based knowledge transfer, and the specific application of these theories to the retail environment.
What is the primary research objective?
The goal is to design a new, practical knowledge management framework that integrates employee market insights with Tesco's existing data mining capabilities.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The work utilizes a theoretical approach based on the communication model (derived from Shannon and Weaver), interpreted through the lens of organizational routine activities and knowledge creation theories.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the literature review of knowledge management, the business context of Tesco, an analysis of existing IT-heavy KM practices, and the development of a proposed framework with its associated barriers.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Knowledge Management, Tacit Knowledge, Tesco, Communication Model, and Competitive Advantage.
How does the proposed framework handle tacit knowledge?
The framework empowers employees to report their market perceptions as alterations to orders, which are then validated by data mining experts at headquarters.
What role do communication barriers play in this framework?
The framework identifies potential barriers (sender, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver) to ensure that the knowledge flow from store staff to management is clear and actionable.
- Quote paper
- MBA Payam Haerifar (Author), 2012, Knowledge management within Tesco, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/187175
