IT management report writing help: Report writing summary on Lanford 

1. 1.      Executive summary:

Intend of this report is to investigate and analyze the knowledge management in practice and its need in an organization by analyzing the case study based on Longford gas explosion. The main aim of the study is to present abstract background to KM and related concepts. This report considered the case study more in context of analyzing the idea behind knowledge management and the circumstances it deals with. Then a brief description of the Knowledge management (KM) in principles and in practices has been initially outlined. Moreover, the reason/factors behind for the need of knowledge management in an enterprise have also been put forward for the analysis and discussion. Further discussion focuses on the knowledge management situation which might have been addressed and determined by knowledge management system of an organization. The report also highlighted and acknowledged the sources of KM and analyzed its use in the business. It is believed that, an inclusive understanding of the idea behind each part of analysis will help update better judgment on the discussion.

1. Introduction:

Knowledge is acquaintance with someone or something, which can involve verity, information, descriptions acquired through experience/education. Here knowledge in this case study is, to transform the cold rich oil into hot lean oil at an appropriate temperature and then producing the gas and supply it to Victoria. It was used for supplying more to their city by using heat exchangers because Longford was the first gas supplying industry. Managers, operators, Engineers, Workers were involved in this. Longford was handled by two companies named Esso and BHP. Esso was the subsidiary of Exxon which then got merged with Mobil and became ExxonMobil. BHP got merged with Biltan and named as BHPBiltan.

Firstly, to find out the idea about knowledge management behind the case study, it is necessary to know what knowledge management states. Knowledge management system is referred by the organizations to manage their intellectual capital and also to utilize the knowledge in a better way for the benefits (Sherif, 2006). This also articulates the business case and recognize potential benefits and also provides a clear, communicable plan overall. A knowledge management system should have the factors listed below (Smith, 2005):

• purpose and problems that will be addressed
• Approach
• An action plan including activities and timelines in order to gain the benefits
• Budget addressing resources, outside expertise, technology and subscriptions
• Cost benefit analysis
• People, process data and assessment of technology
• Measurement of success and progress made

Taken together all above mentioned factors, an organization can have the appropriate knowledge management to avoid any incident. Usually, knowledge is related with money, power and success, then it should not pose too much of surprise to anyone that management of knowledge is highly responsible for an effective work operation. Knowledge management encompasses the knowledge of information, while information brings about an understanding of the relations between data/information. Afterwards, there is need to know the knowledge pattern, which exemplifies the consistency and totality of relations, because the pattern has the prospective to represent the knowledge. Moreover, knowledge becomes more effective and successful, when the principles of knowledge management are understood and taken into practices. In next section of this report, emphasis has been moved on to the Knowledge management principles analyzed in case study of Longford.

1. Knowledge Management Principles:

Going about KM principles, every organization considers and accepts that the knowledge of their employees’ is their most important asset. Knowledge management has been addressed at a technological level with little discussion of how knowledge can be used and managed more successfully. According to one of the authors (Davenport, 1996) the most appropriate form of knowledge management to be effective in any industry is its high-level principles. When an enterprise takes the decision regarding which principle it has to implement and to come up with in practice with respect to KM, then it create comprehensive approaches and devices based upon these principles. The next part of discussion involves the concept of knowledge management principles which have been applied by Longford in their organization.

3.1 Knowledge is expensive:

As knowledge is considered to be the most valuable assets, its principle articulates that its effective management needs investment of capital and labour. This investment helps in developing infrastructures of information technology for the effective distribution of knowledge. It is simultaneously cultivating people in creating, allocating and using knowledge to gain the efficiency and benefits.

3.2 Effective knowledge management requires hybrid solutions involving both people and technology:

Moreover, effective knowledge management entails hybrid solutions of people and technology. While technology based tools i.e. computer and communication becomes helpful with the capture and stream of the knowledge, human beings come into their own to interpret it within a wider context for problem/dilemma solving and decision making.

Agreed as a combination of skills, it is required to build a hybrid organizational environment for knowledge management. This mix environment utilize human and machine in a balancing way. The industries implying knowledge management in their work system should provide not only bits and bytes of a machine but also a name to talk to with it.

Instructional Knowledge Management System

(Source: Educational Technology & Society, 2002)

3.3  Knowledge management requires knowledge managers:

Additionally, Knowledge management principle comes forward in terms of requirement of the knowledge managers. Core business utilities and resources of an industry i.e. labour and capital has the functions to work upon that are devoted to their organizational management. In that case, complete instructions are required by a well-managed team, which can create, distribute and share the right information with respect to the work operation. In sum, it enables the managers to collect, categorize, and to establish a technology infrastructure which should be knowledge-oriented. Knowledge managers also tend to monitor the proper use of knowledge in work and to check the performance. They try to make the knowledge attractive and accessible as much as possible then it can be observed by managers that what kind of specific knowledge is more in use.

3.4  Sharing and using knowledge are often unnatural acts:

The availability of knowledge stipulates the use and sharing of knowledge. It is assumed that everyone has a natural tendency to store their own knowledge and look doubtfully on the knowledge coming from others. Both the sharing and using knowledge are perverted act. Knowledge managers has been adopted this principle and concerned about its widespread sharing by making it available and its use. They realized that usage and sharing have to be motivated through performance evaluation and compensation strategies.

3.5  Access to knowledge is only the beginning and knowledge management never ends:

A question arises where knowledge comes from? To access knowledge is the only beginning and if it would have possible to access knowledge easily, then there would be long queues outside the libraries. To give a start, access is valuable, and knowledge can be approached from the actions. Knowledge management Research & Practice articulates that, if something is known by someone or is in someone’s knowledge, then an action is taken upon that. It is simplified that knowledge develops and moves ahead with the action delivered upon it. The relationship between knowledge and action is helpful to derive the knowledge from the action and how to deliver it accordingly as well (Smith, Mckeen & Singh 1999).

But effective knowledge management requires concentration and engagement. It has been noticed out that, additional involvement with knowledge is achieved through summarizing and sharing it with others, through games and role-playings based on usage of specific knowledge and close links with the knowledge providers. Generally organizational managers feel that the knowledge is required until their work would be accomplished. However, Knowledge management’s task is never-ending. New emerging technologies, management approaches, customer concerns and regulatory issues always tend to change with the trend of time. Therefore, knowledge management becomes responsible for collecting, creating, distributing and sharing the required knowledge at the same time. Organizations are prone to change their strategies, structures, products & services, and this gives birth to the need for new knowledge (Davenport, 1996).

Furthermore, knowledge management can be seen in the practices in an industry or a company. For this, a brief description has been brought forward to show the knowledge management in practice based on the analysis done for the case study provided.

1. 4.      Knowledge management practices:

Today, the global stress on practices of management is basically the knowledge recognition, formation, modernization, dissemination and talent development. Keeping in view the abstract and pragmatic importance, the study on case study investigates the expecting role of organization, team work, formalization, dependence, intellectual capital, and learning, with reference to knowledge management practices. The study and research have been carried out from Longford gas explosion based case study.

Knowledge management practices take an array of forms, and this generates a need for a flexible move towards describing them all. On the basis of research on case study, Knowledge management in practice can be noticed or observed depending upon the knowledge process. Additionally, knowledge process encompasses generation, transfer and utilization of knowledge in an organization before operating the work.  Firstly, knowledge should be exercised by identifying it initially that may be useful while moving for an operation. Then it leads to the capture or retrieval of knowledge required for the specific work to be done and for future prospect as well.

Moreover, it also requires the alteration of format according to the organization need. In this framework, knowledge acquired can be coded onto paper or onto any technical infrastructure system, so that it could be possible for every worker to have in depth knowledge about their work process. The part, which is most noticeable on the basis of case study analysis, is validation of knowledge. It demands the confirmation of discussion with the peers, which approves the knowledge for use. It should also be confirmed and validated that the knowledge retrieved is not old (Edwards, 2012). Afterwards, the domains for which knowledge should be targeted by the practice are; extremely specified domain of technical knowledge; particular product’s and processes’ knowledge; organization’s particular feature’s knowledge; Knowledge of operation work-process and project management; Knowledge of unpredictable incidents ( Darroch, 2003). However, it also entails for the measurement of the knowledge practices and behaviors. It is likely to be alert and warn for future risks by keeping every aspect of knowledge in consideration.

Knowledge is seen in practice from the viewpoint of intercompany relationship, measuring the communication bridge gap. Communication gap in knowledge can also create a risky problem or situation for the organization.

The knowledge management situations can be addressed by KMS. This portion of report consists of the situation which may arise.

1. 5.      Knowledge management situations:

The development of knowledge management, its principles and practices as a concept and theory has brought about several problems. On the basis of research, it can be said that the key issues, a knowledge management went through are; approach to knowledge management; what is knowledge basically; what is knowledge management; knowledge management and data management; knowledge management and information management; KM and culture.

Framework of Knowledge

(Source: Knowledge Experts, 2012)

Usually the situation it addresses is defining the term “Knowledge”. Knowledge neither represents any consensus nor a specific definition. It is applied by the organizations differently based on experience, based on information, based on understanding. Then the next situation it attended was the delivery of knowledge. That is how to manage and allocate the knowledge in such a manner, so that it could be available and used by everyone presented in the organization at the time it is required. Integration of information technology system and knowledge management system can come forward to overcome this situation. Finally, by analyzing the case study, it was made a point to be noted that the main situation knowledge management addressed was, the poor communication between the Esso and Exxon shift workers. As Exxon’s consultant told the reason for the explosions in other countries, even then Esso started the operation without consulting therm. Lack of knowledge sharing culture can be observed by the analysis of case study. In this case, culture became the barrier in knowledge (Macintosh, 1999).

An organization wants to have effective and successful image and also want to avoid the risk associated with it. For this, need arises to take up knowledge management system in the framework. The need and use of knowledge management has been defined in the forthcoming section of this report.

1. 6.      Need and use of Knowledge management:

Knowledge management is a regulation that improves the organization’s ability to solve their problems in a better way, adjust, goes forward to meet changing requirements of business. By analyzing Longford case study, it was noticed that there were lack of effective knowledge processing, which is the need of a knowledge management system. As it was found out, that Exxon consultant and others presented there at the time they articulated about reason behind the explosion. They were aware of the solution to the related problem, but the organization as a whole was not aware. This can lead to a hazard and inefficiency. It is needed to correctly identify the problems/issues that require the solutions as they take place. Knowledge management is vital in embracing effective knowledge creation process. It also ensures that the knowledge is shared with and incorporated across the organization as a whole (Bounds, 2009).

1. Sources of Knowledge:

It is also an important part of this report, where the knowledge comes from? What all are the sources of knowledge?

Some of the sources have been listed below (Demartini & Whitbeck, 1997):

• Employee & Supplier relationships
• Business Environment
• Professional associations
• Organizational memory
• Gazetteers, Directories, Authority Files
• Semantic Networks

Furthermore, conclusion can be drawn on the basis of descriptive report.

1. 8.      Conclusion:

The preceding findings of this report suggest implementing an effective knowledge management system in an organization to avoid any issue, hazard. As previously noticed out, information technology system plays a vital role in distributing the relevant and best knowledge. Moreover, knowledge management and its principles as a concept are very striking and to the organization are trendy to be connected with. But it requires much concentration and commitment to avert the negative impact. In this case, organization’s safety culture became an obstacle causing worker’s protection and health. On the basis of research on case study, it can be concluded that the term knowledge should be defined precisely, so that it can be successful at the time it is required.

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