Evaluation of the concept and importance of knowledge management in the context of Apple’s knowledge assets

Knowledge management can be defined as the process of creating, using, sharing and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It can be regarded as a multidisciplinary approach for the achievement of organizational objectives through the best use of knowledge (Becerra- Fernandez and Sabherwal, 2014). On the other hand, information management can be defined as the cycle of organizational activity which involves information acquisition for different sources, then distributing such information to those who require it and finally ensuring its disposition through archiving or deletion.  

Apple Inc. has been selected as the organization for the purpose of this assignment. Apple Inc. is a technology company from America headquartered in Cupertino, California which serves countries in almost every part of the world. The company is engaged in the designing, development and selling of computer software, consumer electronics along with certain online services.  The company was founded by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne in the year 1976 (Apple, 2018).

This report focuses on demonstrating the importance of understanding that effective creation, sharing, storing and management of information is an essential prerequisite of the development of good knowledge management development practices. It evaluates the significance of knowledge management in the context of Apple’s knowledge assets along with understanding the importance of knowledge management processes in the context of organizational development. Furthermore, the report highlights the framework for the establishment of knowledge management culture.         

Evaluation of the concept and importance of knowledge management in the context of Apple’s knowledge assets

The concept of knowledge management provides that it is a collection of systematic approaches which assists in the flow of information and knowledge to and between right people at the right timing for the purpose of effective and efficient creation of value.

The term knowledge assets can be defined as the accumulated intellectual resources of an organization. In other words, knowledge assets is the knowledge possessed by the organization along with its workforce in the form of ideas, information, understanding, learning, insights, memory, technical and cognitive skills and capabilities. Knowledge assets reside within the suppliers, customers and the partners along with being held by the organization. Knowledge assets can be regarded as know- how which assists in the creation of value for the stakeholders and helps in sustaining the overall organizational performance success (Liu, Moizer, Megicks, Kasturiratne and Jayawickrama, 2014).   

As far as Apple is concerned, the knowledge assets play an important role in case of knowledge management activities within the organization as it allows more effective leveraging of knowledge along with improving the performance. The concept of knowledge management applied in Apple Inc. allows the knowledge assets to provide a means with the help of which one person or team can effectively transfer their knowledge to other people or teams, separated in distance and time. The success of the Apple Inc. depicts that it gives due consideration to the purpose of knowledge asset along with who the customer for the knowledge asset will be.

Face to face transfer of knowledge is regarded as the most effective mechanism; however, it is not always possible in big organizations like Apple. Therefore, large organizations, like Apple, aim at adopting a knowledge management system which assists in providing a means for the transfer of knowledge between people. The first task to be performed in this context is to clearly identify the purpose of knowledge asset (Chatzoudes, Chatzoglou and Vraimaki, 2015).                

Relationship between data, information and knowledge

Relationship between data, information and knowledge

In order to gain an understanding of the knowledge management system, the understanding of the relationship between data, information and knowledge is very essential.

 Data can be defined as the collection of discrete facts, objects or events out of the context without having any reference to rime or space. Data can also be referred to as the unprocessed information. After processing of the data, it gets transformed into information. Meaningful information can be derived from the collection of data. When the data is capable of providing a conclusion to its user, it can be regarded as information. After deriving information, an individual applies jurisdiction, experience and judgment for obtaining knowledge.  Knowledge can often be regarded as the result of learning. In other words, the internalization of data, information and experience is known as knowledge. There are two of knowledge namely explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (Erickson and Rothberg, 2015).   

The knowledge management of big organizations like Apple succeeds only with the help of gaining deep understanding of what constitutes knowledge. In simple words, the relationship between data, information is that information is derived from the data and knowledge is derived from the information. Apple firstly collects the data regarding different facts and events for the purpose of deriving information. The analysis of such information assists Apple in obtaining knowledge.    

Relationship between individual knowledge and Organizational knowledge

Individual knowledge can be described as the component of the firm’s knowledge which exists in the physical skills and minds of the individual and can be applied for the execution of tasks and effective resolving of problems. On the other hand, organizational knowledge is a company asset which resides in the groups and individuals and exists at the organizational level. When individual knowledge is paired with the knowledge of other individuals in the organization, it is known as organizational knowledge. Shared knowledge, individual knowledge and objectified knowledge are the diverse views or aspects of the organizational knowledge (Hislop, Bosua and Helms, 2018).

The relationship between individual knowledge and organizational knowledge can be depicted by the fact that individual knowledge is the origin of the majority of the organizational knowledge and is an essential concept for the purpose of understanding the organizational knowledge dynamics. The evolution of Apple has become possible only with the help of its learning capabilities. The organizational learning is affected to a great extent by the organizational environment and the complexity of the tasks. Both individual knowledge and organizational knowledge are diverse concepts but are still interdependent on each other (Botha, Kourie and Snyman, 2014).

The organizational culture of Apple is the major factor which defines the extent to which the individuals can interact with each other. Since Apple is a multinational organization, it is required to quickly respond to the problems faced by the customers in different parts of the world which, in turn, requires quick decision making. In other words, rather than following the proper rules and regulations provided by the hierarchy, the employees are forced for making quick judgments and resolving the business problems in an efficient manner.

Relationship between individual knowledge and organizational knowledge

On the other hand, when the situation is complex, there is higher degree of interdependency in the organizational tasks. In such cases, the employees of Apple require to collaborate with others for the purpose of sharing their expertise and knowledge when they do not have the required level of expertise for resolving the interdisciplinary problems. Individual knowledge is the capability of drawing distinctions within a domain of action. Organizational knowledge is the capability of individuals within the organization for drawing distinctions while carrying out their work (Kasemsap, 2017).

The knowledge management of Apple should be involved across the whole knowledge spectrum for the purpose of enhancing the organizational knowledge. The knowledge management system of Apple should be designed in a manner such that it assist in the knowledge development at each and every level along with ensuring the facilitation and promotion of diffusion to groups, individual and firms as per the requirements of the organization. The storage and retrieval capabilities of the organizational knowledge must be managed by the knowledge management along with creation of an environment which facilitates knowledge sharing and learning.      

Identification of Knowledge Assets

There are a number of modelling techniques which can be used for the purpose of identifying the knowledge assets of Apple Inc. which include flowchart technique, Gantt charts, UML diagrams, role activity diagrams, etc. The most essential knowledge assets of Apple are experienced workforce, information technology, know- how, ability to learn, networks and social relations, human skills, intellectual property rights, on- line databases and journals, web content, registered designs, organizational procedures and copyrights. Following are the four types of knowledge assets:

Experiential knowledge assets- these assets are gained with the help of mutual hands- on experience of the organization’s members and among the members and stakeholders. Facial expressions, trust, love, skills, gestures are some of the examples of experiential knowledge assets (Webb, 2017).

Routine Knowledge Assets- These are the tacit assets which are often reflected in the practices and actions of the organization. Culture, know- how and the manner of performing the daily business activities are the routine assets (Denicolai, Zucchella and Strange, 2014).

Conceptual Knowledge Assets- These assets are explicit in nature and are transmitted through language, symbols and images. Examples of conceptual knowledge assets are designs, concepts and brand equity (Denicolai, Zucchella and Strange, 2014).  

Systematic Knowledge Assets- It is an arranged and systemized explicit knowledge assets. For example, product specifications, technologies, documentations, manuals, etc.

Evaluation of actual and potential knowledge assets

Actual Knowledge Assets-

People, process and technology are the actual knowledge assets of the organization.   

People are the knowledge holders and the goal of knowledge management is to encourage them for the purpose of searching for and improving the knowledge along with applying it in the improvement of internal processes. This can be done through providing them with proper storage and sharing of knowledge systems (Dong, Bartol, Zhang and Li, 2017).  

Technology- Shared knowledge can be discussed only after associating with the use of technology. Technology assists Apple in the effective dissemination of information by providing speed and transparency. Technology also performs the function of facilitating the mapping of personal skills required for each task based on acquired knowledge.  

Importance of knowledge management processes in organizational development

Processes- The broader incorporation of tasks is possible only through the processes. Processes allow the effective sharing of knowledge with the company and the teams and in applying new knowledge in various activities.

Potential Knowledge Assets-

The future trends visible in knowledge assets highlight the prototype development. The prototype development is expected to provide competitive advantage of the knowledge management systems which can perform the function of linking processes, people and technology. This prototype development can become the potential knowledge asset of Apple as it will enable people in increasing their productivity within the available time constraints. In other words, improvements will be brought in the current knowledge assets of Apple in the future which, in turn, will become the potential knowledge assets.        

Understanding of important knowledge management processes in the context of organizational development

Those processes are involved in knowledge management of Apple which facilitate the application and development of organizational knowledge. Also, it involves processes that aim at the creation of value and increasing the competitive advantage for the organization in three dimensions namely managerial dimension, strategic dimension and operational dimension. Knowledge management is involved in the supporting and coordinating the generation of individual knowledge along with its codification, transfer and application. The four stages involved in the knowledge management processes are knowledge creation/ generation, knowledge codification, knowledge application and knowledge transfer (Dayan, Heisig and Matos, 2017).

Human resource management performs the function of supporting the development of the firm- specific skills and knowledge that are the outcome of organizational learning processes. Knowledge is used by the organizations for three specific reasons. One of the reasons include the fact that knowledge can be utilized for the determinations of work processes of the organization along with making strategies for ensuring sustainable competitive advantage. Another reason include the requirement of knowledge for the purpose of designing and marketing of the products and services offered by the organization. Also, an important role is performed by knowledge in the service quality of an organization.

Knowledge management processes of Apple creates an impact on the vision, strategy, revenues and costs of Apple which, in turn, enhances the performance of the organization by operating at economies of scale and sustainable competitive advantage. When the organizational performance improves, the stage of organizational development is attained (Dayan, Heisig and Matos, 2017).

Creation, storage, application and integration of knowledge

Certain aspects are considered to be very essential for the creation, storage, application and integration of knowledge in any organization. This aspects can often be regarded as the enablers of knowledge management. Following are some of the enablers of knowledge management for Apple:

Measures- The measures involve the development of a process along with a design which ensures the effective management of change.

Infrastructure- Infrastructure involve teams, support systems, collaborations and structures.

Culture- Culture should be such that which is supportive of knowledge management and assists in the process of knowledge sharing.

Technology- Technology available should be such that which is capable of offering advantages, specifically by way of managing the explicit knowledge in the form of a collaboration tool and as an expert locator. However, it should be ensured that no misuse of technology is made as it is an essential component of the knowledge management strategy.

Framework for establishing a knowledge management culture

These aspects play an important role in making knowledge management possible. Furthermore, as far as knowledge creation is concerned, knowledge sharing, access to relevant data and information along with collaboration is very important for this purpose. For knowledge storage, Apple can formulate a knowledge retention strategy which will depend upon which knowledge is most important for the company.

For knowledge acquisition, Apple requires the establishment of right channels such that it can ensure the transfer of relevant knowledge from existing partnership into the firm along with the integration of this knowledge in the best possible manner. For doing so, a number of knowledge management tools can be utilized by Apple such as cultural alignment, socialization and interactions, common IT systems setting up of right incentive systems, and identification and protection of crucial knowledge assets (Thalmann, Manhart, Ceravolo and Azzini, 2014).

Importance of Intellectual Property rights

The intellectual property rights have been accepted and recognized all over the world due to a number of important reasons. One of the reasons for accepting these rights is for providing the needed incentives to the individuals or organizations for their new inventions. It further provides due recognition to the inventors and creators. Intellectual property rights also ensures material reward for the concerned intellectual property. Furthermore, it ensures the availability of original and genuine products. Knowledge is the intangible property of Apple. This knowledge is used by the organization in the production of its products which are popular all across the world.

No limit is there on the number of persons which own the knowledge. Apple has made the use of intellectual property rights for the purpose of protecting this knowledge with the help of imposing limits on the number of owners of the knowledge for a particular period of time as defined by law. Through intellectual property rights, Apple is able to protect the investment required for acquiring such knowledge. It has further created incentives for the allocation of the resources required for acquiring the knowledge and ensures that such knowledge creation and allocation in a shorter period of time than otherwise might have occurred (Natalicchio, Ardito, Savino and Albino, 2017).  

Framework for establishing a knowledge management culture

The payoff of an effective knowledge management process is huge and therefore it is regarded as a key process. However, the establishment of knowledge management culture in an organization is not an easy task. Apple needs to consider overcoming the barriers to effective implementation of knowledge management for this purpose.

Recognizing that implementation of Knowledge Management is a strategic initiative- This will require Apple to implement organizational change plan in order to change the organizational culture over a period of time. This can be done with the help of using Kotter’s 8 step process of organizational change for the purpose of leading towards knowledge centered services organization (Inkinen, 2016).

Adopting a lifecycle approach to implementation- In order to implement the knowledge management culture, a service lifecycle approach should be adopted as an organization- wide process. It should be strategically initiated and its adoption should also be ensured across teams in a cultural sense.

Role of technology in knowledge management

Realizing that there are silos to overcome- Apple should start with compelling the mission and vision statement such that all the members of the group can deploy an ongoing communication plan and tear down the barriers in knowledge capture (Dehghani and Ramsin, 2015).

Focusing on Strategy-Apple should adopt a solid strategy along with defining and documenting the processes and deciding the appropriate tools and technology (Todorovi?, Petrovi?, Mihi?, Obradovi? and Bushuyev, 2015).

Making it easy for capturing knowledge as a by- product of work- Supporting tools and systems should be used for knowledge management embedded in the workflow.   This will ensure that adequate and accurate knowledge is added for the proper audiences.

Building it onto the way people work- Apple must focus on revising the its standard operating procedures such as request fulfillment, incident management, and problem management for the purpose of contributing towards the knowledge management system.  

Contribution of Knowledge Assets on an Organization

Knowledge Assets have played an important role in contributing towards the success of Apple Inc. This can further be explained in the form of a relationship between knowledge assets and competitive advantage. Knowledge assets can often be regarded as the source of the capabilities and competencies of Apple which are very significant for its human development, competitive advantage and growth. The most essential knowledge assets of Apple are experienced workforce, information technology, know- how, ability to learn, networks and social relations, human skills, intellectual property rights, on- line databases and journals, web content, registered designs, organizational procedures and copyrights (Wang, Noe and Wang, 2014).       

The contribution of knowledge assets on Apple can be defined in terms of knowledge retention. It contains the description of the main responsibilities of a job, issues, trends, relevant resources, etc. The knowledge management process results in the knowledge assets. The knowledge assets contributes towards the decisions and comprises of all the activities which are required for the purpose of acting upon the decision. Different forms are taken by the knowledge assets, for example, design ideas, proven approaches or concepts for resolving a problem and reusable output of project (like templates, generic project plans, software parks, etc.) (Wu and Chen, 2014).

This can be linked with the different knowledge management theories such as organizational, techno- centric and ecological. Organizational knowledge management have its primary focus on the organizational structures along with the cultural designing of the organization and its hierarchy for the management of knowledge and knowledge processes. Techno- centric theory have its prime focus on the technology for the purpose of facilitating the effective storage of information and knowledge flow. Ecological theory of knowledge management focuses on learning communities, people, and relationships including interactions among organizations and individuals and the external and internal factors which performs the function of drawing the people to share knowledge (North and Kumta, 2018).   Evaluation of Knowledge requirement for the Organization

Apple is first required to determine the knowledge necessary for the achievement of conformity of products and services and operation of processes. Knowledge requirement is essential for Apple due to the fact that it ensures all the relevant resources and information can be accessed by the employees and staff as per their needs. The expectations of the customers are required to be met in order to meet the organizational goals. For this, Apple needs to determine the expectations of the customers from the company and from the service provision and production processes (Patil and Kant, 2014).

Knowledge management challenges in multinational organizations

Knowledge is required by Apple for achieving the identified objectives and goals by means of learning on the job, training, or e- learning. This can be done by Apple through determination of particular methods of exchanging knowledge in- house and maintaining this knowledge. Employees who have completed projects or have failed at certain levels can also share their experiences with their colleagues. Loss to the company can occur from the employees who leave the organization or fuse to share their experience with the team members.

The evaluation of the new knowledge from time to time is a necessary process by way of interviewing the employees with regard to the status of their knowledge, communication in training and identification of improvement opportunities. In order to ensure the security of the organizational knowledge, relations with the clients, service providers and suppliers should aimed to be ensured by Apple along with the improvement in mechanisms (Geisler and Wickramasinghe, 2015).         

Evaluation of Organization’s Framework for Enabling Knowledge Sharing

Apple comes across a lot of knowledge within the organization, some part of which is easy to be codified or captured while the other part faces difficulty in its codification. Apple has firstly developed proper understanding regarding how to best commit the resources for the purpose of knowledge sharing such that it can assist in the decision making framework.

Apple enables knowledge sharing within the organization firstly by the creation of knowledge management culture. For this, it adopts the lifecycle approach and makes the use of a solid strategy for defining and documenting the processes and deciding the appropriate tools and technology. The values and beliefs of Apple are determined by its organizational culture. Group and community culture play an important role in determination of the conditions and willingness for knowledge sharing with the other members of organization. Therefore, knowledge sharing and knowledge can be regarded as an element which is inseparable for the organizational culture of the company i.e. Apple (Kianto, Ritala, Spender and Vanhala, 2014).

Apple designs a knowledge management team which consists of project leaders who possess the needed expertise for the management and leadership of specific tasks. They share the required knowledge with the team member for the accomplishment and the attainment of the objectives of the task (Azam, Khilji and Khan, 2016). This is being ensured by Apple by way of offering a number of positions to the individuals in the knowledge management area across their branches such as inventory specialist, area store manager, digital asset specialist, etc. (Cohen and Olsen, 2015)

The organization has also designed a knowledge management architecture which consists of seven layers such as expert system, data warehouse, case based reasoning system, etc. It further conducts knowledge audit and analysis which covers the identification of strong knowledge assets for each and every departmental unit such as research and development department, marketing and financial department (Donate and de Pablo, 2015).

This can be linked with the knowledge management process model by Botha et. al. (2008). This model aims at providing a more realistic view of the process of knowledge management. There is overlapping and interaction between the three broad categories with one another. The categories are more people oriented and are more focused on the technology (Knowledge Management Tools, 2012).

Importance of knowledge sharing in organizational development

Figure 1 Knowledge Management Process Model

(Source: Knowledge Management Tools, 2012)

Recommendations of Improvements to the Current Framework

The current framework of knowledge sharing adopted by Apple can be improved with the help of adopting management information systems which can provide effective data which can be used in the decision making process by the managers in the future. Decision support system can also be adopted for this purpose. It will assist the management of Apple in making the necessary decisions with the help of relevant data. It can further help the business in the finalization of the operational strategy. Both primary data and secondary data are covered under the decision support system. It further enables the editing of data and assists in converting the information in the desired format (Overall, 2015).

Knowledge management systems can also be adopted by Apple which can be defined as the kind of IT system which is capable of storing and retrieving knowledge, locating knowledge sources, improving collaboration, mining repositories for hidden knowledge, using and capturing knowledge and enhancing the overall knowledge management process (Wang, Noe and Wang, 2014). 

Furthermore, the current framework can be improved by way of converting Apple Inc. into a learning organization. Learning organizations are the organizations where people can easily expand their capacity for the achievement of the desired results. These organizations are also involved in the nurturing of expansive and new patterns of thinking and people are involved in the continuous learning (Wang and Hou, 2015).    

Following measures can be adopted for the purpose of improving knowledge sharing in Apple Inc.:

Participating in Multidisciplinary Projects- By way of including individuals having diverse skillsets that complement each other, a great team can be formed. Creation of multi- disciplinary projects can act as a great initiative for the purpose of improving the knowledge sharing in Apple Inc.

Organizing Brainstorming Sessions- With the help of brainstorming sessions the team members of Apple Inc. can meet each other along with meeting people from outside the team ad therefore, can throw ideas on each other (Mittal and Dhar, 2015).

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that knowledge management is the process of creating, using, sharing and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. This report focused on Apple Inc. which is a technology company from America headquartered in Cupertino, California serving countries located in almost every part of the world. This report evaluated the significance of knowledge management in the context of Apple’s knowledge assets along with understanding the importance of knowledge management processes in the context of organizational development. Furthermore, the report highlighted the framework for the establishment of knowledge management culture (Laudon and Laudon, 2016).

The term knowledge assets can be defined as the accumulated intellectual resources of an organization. In order to gain an understanding of the knowledge management system, the understanding of the relationship between data, information and knowledge is very essential. The evolution of Apple has become possible only with the help of its learning capabilities in which both individual knowledge and organizational knowledge have played an important role. Experienced workforce, information technology, know- how, ability to learn, networks and social relations, etc. are some of the most important knowledge assets of Apple Inc.

Conclusion

The adoption of knowledge management processes by Apple has improved its organizational performance which, in turn, have led to its development as well. Through intellectual property rights, Apple is able to protect the investment required for acquiring the knowledge.

For the establishment of knowledge management culture, knowledge management needs to be recognized as a strategic initiative. The barriers should be overcome through the adoption of a lifecycle approach and a solid strategy. It is the knowledge assets of Apple which have provided it a competitive advantage in the market. Knowledge is required by Apple for achieving the identified objectives and goals.

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