Page 233 - DCAP208_Management Support Systems

Management Support Systems

Notes Legitimating: Consensus between participants is not sufficient to validate the knowledge
put in the system. This one cannot be validated in the classic sense, because it deals with
personal and collective knowledge that is very particular to the enterprise, to the highest
level, and for which external model of reference never exists. The only possible validation
is obtaining a consensus from a “peer committee“, in general constituted by other actors
of the knowledge network or related actors.
Approval: The knowledge, once legitimized, must be endorsed by the hierarchy that
gives it an official and productive status in the organisation. This stage is the starting point
for project dissemination and use in the company.
Appropriation: It is clear that a Knowledge Management system doesn’t have an interest
if there is no appropriation and no evolution of the knowledge in the enterprise. It is an
ending step that initializes a “virtuous knowledge cycle”. Up to now, one knows very few
about how to correctly perform this phase.

This set of key factors show, if still needed, that the Knowledge Management in an enterprise is
a complex process, that must be implemented progressively and in a rather long perspective.
In this domain, as in many others, there are no miracle tools or methods capable to solve any
problems. In this domain, more that elsewhere, we deal with knowledge, a matter that concerns
human being since the beginning of mankind!

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
14. The ................... are the ferments of a global and strategic Knowledge Management
approach.

15. The ................... strategy is a strategy of constant effort and cumulative effect, which perfectly
suits the cumulative economic nature of knowledge.

Case Study Knowledge Management

Practice of Knowledge Management

Wal-Mart is an American multinational corporation running a chain of large discount
departmental stores and warehouse in several countries. Wal-Mart inc. was started in 1962
and incorporated officially in 1969 and began trading stock as a publicly held company in
1970. At current, Wal-Mart international experiences a rapid growth and it has acquired 4,
573 stores along with 730,000 associates evident in 14 countries that are out of the US
continent. The company has wholly owned operations in Brazil, Argentina, Canada and
the United Kingdom. In addition to these wholly owned international operations, Wal-
Mart has several joint ventures in China as well as a number of majority owned subsidiaries.
Wal-Mart operates under different banners in most of its international stores but they all
work towards the same goal; enabling their customers save money and live a better life.
Knowledge management refers to the practices and strategies that a company uses in an
attempt to create distribute and enable adoption of strategic insights and specific experiences
(O’Leary, 2002). This knowledge can be embodied in either individual or organizational
practices or processes. Successful business firms and companies have committed hefty
investments towards development of internal knowledge management efforts. One such

Contd....

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