The Knowledge Management Issue at Grocery Outlet

Knowledge Management refers to process of sharing and managing knowledge within an organisation. It is indicative of a multidisciplinary approach that helps an organisation in achieving the objectives by taking recourse to knowledge. Interplay between the aspect of ‘hard’ and that of ‘soft’ knowledge can ensure the sustainability of a business. Grocery Outlet is the name of a supermarket company that is instrumental in offering discount products in United States (Groceryoutlet.com., 2018). This report focusses on a knowledge management issue that occurs at Grocery Outlet in United States. The report elaborates on the gap that exists between research along with practice in the organisation. The report also suggests recommendations that can help the organization in managing the knowledge efficiently that can help in the functioning of an organisation.

In the event of working as sales co-ordinator in Grocery Outlet I saw that there was an issue in relation to the managing of knowledge in the organization. The senior management of the organization laid stress on the aspect of codified knowledge that can help in the formalization of the management process within an organisation. The leadership at Grocery Outlet created a bureaucratic organizational structure at Grocery Outlet which was inflexible that was hindering transfer of knowledge in Grocery Outlet. The young people in the organization however believed that innovation can be brought about with the help of dialogue occurring between tacit along with codified knowledge in an organization. It was difficult to formalize the tacit knowledge within the framework of an organization. According to Hislop, Bosua and Helms  (2018), a company can enjoy competitive advantage if it knows how to expand and disseminate the organizational knowledge. The knowledge that an organization receives from the business partners should be utilised by an organisation that can help it in evolving as an efficient organisation. It was difficult to share the tacit knowledge in an organization that made the senior management not believe in the concept of tacit knowledge. The issue that occurred was that there was a rift between the employees and the management of Grocery Outlet regarding the aspect of knowledge management. It was easier for the management to communicate with the help of hard data along with scientific knowledge that made them make use of codified knowledge at Grocery Outlet. It has been argued by Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal (2014) that the reconciling of the two kind of knowledge can help in the building of a transparent process in an organization. The company was suffering owing to the fact that they did not value the aspect of tacit knowledge that was causing the company to incur loss. Tacit knowledge was not communicated in the right channel that was acting as a roadblock for progress of organization. The company could not enjoy competitive advantage due to the fact that they did not make adequate use of tacit knowledge that can help in opening range of opportunities for the company. Tacit knowledge was not encouraged at Grocery Outlet that caused many of the new employees to leave the company. According to Donate and de Pablo (2015), the new employees brought with them creativity along with new ideas that was neglected by the top management of Grocery Outlet. The issue arose at Grocery Outlet because communication of the tacit knowledge was not being encouraged by the management that was creating hindrance for the employees working at Grocery Outlet.

Research vs Practice

The flow in relation to knowledge management can prove to be strategically important for an organization. Knowledge flows can help in transmitting the know-how that can prove to be vital for the success of an organization. Knowledge flow can help in facilitating co-ordination of the work flow that can help in linking the multiple sub-units. Knowledge creation can take place in an organization with the help of co-existence of tacit along with codified knowledge. Codified knowledge can help in the functioning of an organization and the tacit knowledge should be encouraged that can ensure the success of an organization (Dayan, Heisig & Matos, 2017).  A gap however existed between research along with practice as the senior management was averse to the utilisation of tacit knowledge at Grocery Outlet. The organization was not open to new ideas along with skills of the new employees that hampered the growth of Grocery Outlet. Tacit knowledge can act as an important resource that can help an individual in accomplishing a task. Research has suggested that the eliciting of explicit along with implicit knowledge can help in building competence of the employees within an organization. It is held according to popular view that tacit knowledge should be communicated with the help of stories along with demonstrations that can help the employees in delivering effective performance in an organization (Wang, Noe & Wang, 2014).  A gap existed between that of research and practice because tacit knowledge was not being communicated in the right channel at Grocery Outlet that was acting like a hindrance for the progress of the organization. It is generally ascertained that mentoring, internship along with internship can help in communication of the tacit knowledge in an organisation (Martín-de Castro, 2015).  It was however being seen that there was gap in relation to the transmission of tacit knowledge at Grocery Outlet that was acting like a constraint for the development of Grocery Outlet. For closing the gap, online discussion forum can be used by Grocery Outlet that can help in validating the aspect of collective empirical knowledge among the individuals within the organization.

It is recommended that Grocery Outlet make use of extensive personal contact along with regular interaction that can help in sharing tacit knowledge in the organisation. Social networks should be built by Grocery Outlet that can help in building the tacit knowledge of the company. The relationships should be shaped among the co-workers that can help in solving the issue of knowledge management arising in Grocery Outlet. The social networks can help in assisting the exchange pertaining to tacit knowledge that can help in the removal of the barrier lying before the organization. Information communication technology can be used by Grocery Outlet that can help in the arena of transmission of tacit knowledge at Grocery Outlet. Direct interaction of the performing of tacit knowledge can be performed with the help of collaboration of that of knowledge sharing between the members of organization. Grocery Outlet should identify the valuable tacit knowledge that can help them in realizing their aims within the competitive environment. Tacit knowledge can be transmitted at Grocery Outlet with the help of expert systems, e-mail, bulletin board, video conferences and teleconferences (Geisler & Wickramasinghe, 2015).  Collaborative software like that of groupware can be used by Grocery Outlet that can help in developing the organization.

Conclusion

Knowledge Management is indicative of managing of knowledge in an organisation that can help an organization in realizing the vision. The senior management of Grocery Outlet put importance on the aspect of codified knowledge that can help in formalizing management process in organization. Bureaucratic organizational structure was created at Grocery Outlet that hindered the transferring of knowledge in organisation. Young employees believed in the idea that the amalgamation of tacit and that of codified knowledge can help successfully in innovating the organization. There occurred conflict between employees and management of the company in relation to knowledge management. The management wanted the usage of hard data in the organisation. Tacit knowledge in Grocery Outlet was not being transmitted along the right lines that hampered the growth of organization. Social networks can play a crucial role in knowledge exchange that can remove a roadblock from the path of organization. Grocery Outlet can take recourse to information communication technology that can help in the transmission of tacit knowledge in organization.

References

Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2014). Knowledge management: Systems and processes. Routledge.

Dayan, R., Heisig, P., & Matos, F. (2017). Knowledge management as a factor for the formulation and implementation of organization strategy. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(2), 308-329.

Donate, M. J., & de Pablo, J. D. S. (2015). The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in knowledge management practices and innovation. Journal of Business Research, 68(2), 360-370.

Geisler, E., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2015). Principles of Knowledge Management: Theory, Practice, and Cases: Theory, Practice, and Cases. Routledge.

Groceryoutlet.com. (2018). Discount Groceries – Supermarket | Grocery Outlet. Retrieved from https://groceryoutlet.com/

Hislop, D., Bosua, R., & Helms, R. (2018). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction. Oxford University Press.

Martín-de Castro, G. (2015). Knowledge management and innovation in knowledge-based and high-tech industrial markets: The role of openness and absorptive capacity. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 143-146.

Wang, S., Noe, R. A., & Wang, Z. M. (2014). Motivating knowledge sharing in knowledge management systems: A quasi–field experiment. Journal of Management, 40(4), 978-1009.