Research Topics: Dissertation Proposal Methodology

An Investigation on Green Marketing – Case Comparison of Nokia and Sony Ericsson Dissertation Proposal

An Investigation on Green Marketing – Case Comparison of Nokia and Sony Ericsson     I Provisional Title             The working title of this dissertation is initially drafted as An Investigation on Green Marketing – Case Comparison of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. As such, the research aims to conduct an in-depth investigation on how committed are Nokia and Sony Ericsson when it comes to green marketing of their products and to develop comprehensive benchmarking of the strategies and practices of the two companies.   II Brief Review of Literature             Consumers of today are continuously associating themselves with social responsibility and marketers are expected to occupy a space in green revolution. In integrating environmental ethic into the operation, green consumers and green consumerism must first consider. Green consumers are those who identify themselves in accordance to their environmental ideologies and beliefs they believed in. Moisander and Pesonen (2002) states that ecologically oriented citizens are largely “marginalised” and positioned themselves in the dominant discourse of green consumerism. Because green consumers are more tended to reject subjectivities, they claimed to be caring, environmentally and socially aware and are demanding a say in the production, processing and resourcing of the products they regularly purchase.             Strong (1996) contends that the ethically-aware consumer has become ethically aware and is joined by many other consumers who believe in the principles of fair trade. These well-informed consumers not only demand for fair traded products but are also challenging manufacturers and retailers to guarantee ethical claims they are making about their products. Hence, the campaign for greener, more environmentally friendly ways of living and consumerism is rapidly gaining momentum (Tse and Yim, 2002).             Tse and Yim (2002) also noted for the purpose of creating a greater market share manufacturers and marketers adapt their production to effect a minimized toll on the environment and advertising themselves appropriately. Consumer perceptions about the typical attributes of green products are not necessarily incorporated in an environmentally friendly production process. Hence, capitalising on green marketing to modify green consumerism is prioritised.             Kilbourne and Beckmann (1998) contend that the growth of green marketing is in accordance with the emergence of topics related to individual’s motivation such as perceived consumer effectiveness and also cooperative behaviours and strategic alliances. Skepticism of consumers when it comes to green advertisement is a burden to companies because of the emergence of suspicions whether firms are able to produce genuine green products. Peattie (2001) states that this is the reason why identifying and reaching green consumer segments tend to be very difficult in practice.                In sum, what drives green marketing are green consumers. Based on this, the first sets of questions for this study are: 1) To what extent do Nokia and Sony Ericsson integrate the inputs of green consumers in their green marketing? 2) How do Nokia and Sony Ericsson make its consumers aware of their green products? 3) Are environmental improvements of products and services are aligned with the green consumer requirements? And 4) How do Nokia and Sony Ericsson reach its consumers?               It was long been emphasised by Kangis (1992) that green marketing presents challenges because of the absence of clear understanding of the cause and effect relationships in matters affecting the environment as well as the overt and covert reasons for such issue. Because green marketing is sustainable marketing, obtaining a greener strategy will be critical on greening corporate strategies in brands, setting standards, networking resources and green marketing (Grant, 2008). As opposed to common view on green marketing which mainly consists of promotion or advertising of products with environmental characteristics, green marketing covers a broad range of activities. Mishra (2007) relates that green marketing is a concept that is applied on product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes and advertising modification. Towards the end of utilising limited resources and satisfying consumers’ wants, green marketing was plausible. Peattie (2001) asserts that the main aims of green marketing are to minimise the dependency on product groups responsible for environmental pollutions and to increase awareness of new product categories.   Peatti (2001) traces the evolution of green marketing which initially is known as ecological where all environmental activities were concern with helping in mitigating environmental problems through provisions of remedies. This is followed by environmental marketing which focuses on clean technology that involved designing of innovative new products. Sustainable is the next and the present marketing phenomenon. Green marketing is important because of the following reasons. First, firms perceive green marketing to be an opportunity which can be used to achieve its objectives. Second, firms believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible. Third, firms are pressured by competition hence by changing environmental marketing activities. Fourth, costs of waste disposal and material usage reductions force firms to modify their behaviours (Mishra, 2007).             As such, green marketing benefits firms in ensuring sustained long-term growth along with profitability, being cost efficient in the long run and supporting companies in marketing products and services in line with environmental requirements. Broadly, green marketing benefits firms in accessing new markets and acquiring competitive advantage (Narayana and Babu, 2008).  Nevertheless, only those value-led firms could benefit in green marketing (Majlath, 2005). The marketing strategies for green marketing includes marketing audit, developing a marketing plan that outlines 4Ps strategies and implementing these marketing strategies (Narayana and Babu, 2008). Moreover, the marketing mix of green marketing is different from a typical 4Ps and is buttressed by three additional Ps as people, planet and profits. Products, which can be made from recycled materials or from used goods, have to be developed depending on the needs of the consumers. Efficient products are developed with saving water, energy and money as well as reducing harmful environmental effects as the primary motives. The role of marketers in product management includes providing product designers with market-driven trends and consumer requirements for green product attributes. Some of these attributes are energy saving, organic, green chemicals and local sourcing among others (Narayana and Babu, 2008). Bhat (1993) furthered this when he mentioned that green marketing programme starts with the green design since inputs, manufacturing processes, distribution, use and disposal methods are decided during the design stage. It is in this stage that comparison of green designs alternatives are achieved which can provide designers with guidance to select superior designs. Green pricing is also becoming a necessity. It was argued that green products are inclined to be more expensive than conventional ones, and was carried out to ensure efficient productivity. Value-adding features are integrated to change its appearance, functionality and through customisation, all of which contributes to prices (Narayana and Babu, 2008). Green place, moreover, is about managing logistics for the purpose of cutting down on transportation emission, in effect, aiming to reduce carbon footprint (Narayana and Babu, 2008). Finally, green promotion involves the tools of promotion such as advertising, marketing materials, signage, white papers, websites, videos and presentations (Narayana and Babu, 2008).               However, Mishra (2007) also noted that there are problems with green marketing. Firms which make use of green marketing must ensure that their activities are not misleading to consumers or industry, and conforms to the regulations or laws dealing with environmental marketing. As such, marketing claims must clearly state environmental benefits. Inaccuracy of consumer perceptions and negative future backlash of environmental decisions are other problems with green marketing (Crane, 2000).                         Because of the fact that environmental characteristics of the products should be evident, the question now is: 5) How do Nokia and Sony Ericsson perceptibly shows the environmental characteristics of its products? It would be also important to determine: 6) How do Nokia and Sony Ericsson design green products? Do green packaging and labeling helps? 7) Are sound green pricing strategies are inexistence? 8) Is effective green placement achieved? 9) Likewise, do green promotion practices exist?               The telecom industry is in the early phase of defining what ‘going green’ means wherein the possibilities of greening ranges from handset recycling programs, reducing hazardous materials within the handset and using energy-efficient equipment to evangelizing the environmental benefits of telecommuting and teleconferencing (RCR Wireless News, 2008). According to an article of Wireless Asia (2008), very few of the telecom companies are creating biodegradable and recyclable products from sustainable resources although these companies initially comply with regulations to ban toxic substances like heavy metals and PVC in their products. Less than 5% of these telecoms have effective recycling and ethical disposal programs. The problem lies in the development of the kind of scale that makes entire green product lines economically viable enough.             The marketing stories of each company had been their marketing stories, embedded on green corporate practices. As more telecom companies consider the marketing angle, they are trying to ‘out-green’ each other. For example, the claim energy efficient gets stretched to the breaking point and the dangers of rendering the message will cause large cost ramifications when proven untrue. The meaningful impact then on telecom companies is evident on the firm’s competitive position (RCR Wireless News, 2008). Sony Ericsson is lauded for marketing proof-of-concept green products in 2008 whereas Nokia presented various green initiatives. The question now for this study will be: 10) Which is greener when it comes to marketing – Nokia or Sony Ericsson?              III Aims and Objectives             Generally, the aim of this study is to investigate in-depth green marketing through comparing green marketing strategies and practices in the telecom industry. The study also aims to draw conclusions on which between Nokia and Sony Ericsson is more committed in green marketing and why is this so. With this, the specific objectives of the research are: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	To 	determine how Nokia and Sony Ericsson reaches its consumers through its 	green marketing strategies</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	To 	examine how consumer requirements are integrated in marketing green products</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	To 	analyse how green marketing builds consumer awareness of environmental 	characteristics of the products</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> 	To 	compare the similarities and differences of green marketing mix of Nokia and 	Sony Ericsson </li> </ul>   IV Statement of the Design and Methodology A comparative approach will be utilised. The research design for the study is descriptive as it aims to present current facts about the green marketing principles and strategies of Nokia and Sony Ericsson. According to Creswell (1994), a descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study. Best (1970) also notes that descriptive studies also concerns the relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. Case study method will be also applied. Robson (2002) defines case study as a “strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence.” Case study approach would be most appropriate to exclude occurrences of green marketing in electronics industry with its two primary players as Nokia and Sony Ericsson. One of the threats to reliability which is subject of participant error will be addressed by means of conducting survey at the closest time possible. Both primary and secondary data will be collected. Questionnaire will be the instrument. A semi-structured questionnaire will be thoroughly developed to ensure validity and it will be used as the survey tool for the study. It is planned that the questionnaire will have a 5 point Likert Scale, as well as ranking questions. The study will survey representatives from the companies. Previous study reports and journal contents and statistics will be regarded as the sources of secondary data. Moreover, annual reports, marketing reports and company statistics will be also obtained. Internet databases will be also consulted including Questia, Highbeam and Emerald.   V Sources and Acquisition of Data             Primary data will be acquired through key informant technique which considers the expert’s view to provide inputs on the subject. These are the individuals who are expected to have knowledge about the issue. For Nokia and Sony Ericsson, key informants are Marketing Directors. The Marketing Directors will be surveyed. I assume that it would not be very easy to gain access to the company and the target respondents but I will ensure that I will give all my effort as the researcher and negotiation skills to organise and conduct the interviews. One of the limitations of key informant technique is the extent to which they will reveal commercial information. Another limitation is the fact that their responses could have inherent subjectivity specifically because interviewees are more particular on the strength of their brands. The project will abide by the regulations outlined by the ethical committee on ethical approval process which identifies ethics procedure policies and principles in conducting research. Industrial will be collected. Nevertheless, the commercial information obtained from organisations will be treated with utmost confidentiality. Respondents of the survey will be able to choose whether to identify them or stay anonymous. Before sending out the questionnaires participation consent forms will be also accomplished. I will establish with the data providers the use of my data and will ask their permission in case of publishing data.   VI Method of Data Analysis             Deductive quantitative techniques of data analysis will be incorporated. One of the disadvantages of this method is that it may not be able to obtain adequate informations must from the informants as the statements are already limited within the questionnaire. To address this matter, it will be ensured that the questionnaire will be carefully designed and pre-tested prior to actual implementation. Results will be acquired by means of tabulating the data collected using SPSS software. Green marketing practices and strategies of Nokia and Sony Ericsson will be analysed with the use of ANOVA. Comparisons of data will be also obtained through ANOVA.   VII Form of Presentation The dissertation will be presented in written form with the addition of data charts which will present the project’s results. The dissertation will be divided into five chapters. The first chapter will present and discuss the problems and objectives of the study. The second chapter on the other hand will present the various related literatures that were reviewed for the study. Chapter 3, on the other hand, will discuss the methods and procedures that used in the study. Chapter 4 will present the results of the study in tables along with their specific interpretations. Finally, the fifth chapter will present the conclusion and discussion of the study. Further, pie charts and network charts will be needed to illustrate some of the analyzed data. This cannot be confirmed, however, until the research data have been analyzed.   VIII Timetable 		        TASK 		Weeks 		1st 		2nd 		3rd 		4th  		 		5th 		6th 		7th   		 		8th 		9th 		10th 		11th  		 		12th 		Read 		Initial Literature 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Finalize Objectives 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		Draft 		Literature Review 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Devise Research Approach 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Review Secondary Data 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Update Literature Read 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Organize Survey 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Develop Survey Questions 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Analyze secondary & primary data 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Evaluate data 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		Draft 		Findings Chapter 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Complete remaining chapters 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Submit to tutor and await feedback 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Revise draft and format for submission 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Print, Bind 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		 		Submit 		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		  		          References   Best, J. W. (1970). Research in Education, 2nd edn, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, Inc.   Crane, A. (2000) ‘Facing the backlash: green marketing and strategic re-orientation in the 1990s,’ Journal of Strategic Marketing, vol.8, no.3, pp. 277-296.   Creswell, J.W. 1994. Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.   Grant, J. (2008). ‘Green marketing,’ Strategic Direction, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 25-27.   Kangis, P. (1992). ‘Concerns about Green Marketing,’ International Journal of Marketing, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 21-24.   Kilbourne, W. E. & Beckmann, S. C. (1998). ‘Review and critical assessment of research on marketing and the environment,’ Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 14. pp. 513-532.   Majlath, M. (2005) Challenges in Marketing: Reasons for the Existence of Green Marketing.   Mishra, R. M. (2007). A Conceptual Framework on Green Marketing. IndianMBA.com.   Moisander, J. and Pesonen, S. (2002) ‘Narratives of sustainable ways of living: constructing the self and the other as a green consumer,’ Management Decision, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 329-342.   Narayana, V. M. & Babu, S. D. (2008) Green Marketing – New Hopes and Challenges. IndianMBA.com.   Peattie, K. (2001) ‘Towards Sustainability: The Third Age of Green Marketing,’ The Marketing Review, vol. 2, pp. 129-146.   RCR Wireless News. (2008) Going Green; And what that may mean to telecom.   Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research, 2nd edn, Oxford: Blackwell.   Strong, C. (1996) ‘Features contributing to the growth of ethical consumerism – a preliminary investigation,’ Marketing Intelligence and Planning, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 5-13.   Tse, A. C. B. & Yim, F. H. K. (2002) ‘How do consumers perceive clear and transparent products?’ International Journal of Commerce and Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 68-78.   Wireless Asia. (2008) Falling short on green phones.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

An Investigation on Green Marketing – Case Comparison of Nokia and Sony Ericsson Dissertation Proposal

An Investigation on Green Marketing – Case Comparison of Nokia and Sony Ericsson I Provisional Title The working tit...

Thesis Chapter 2 on An Evaluation of the Process and Effects of Knowledge Management in the Financial Sector

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE   This part of the study shall discuss the aspects of Knowledge management and its role as an integral factor in the success of an organization. The discussions on this portion of the study are based on studies and articles inclined on advocating KM.   Knowledge Management (KM) Knowledge management is a discipline best described as a continuing process that focuses on the creation of business performance improvements–centered on people and not technology. (Han, 2001) While technology enhances the feasibility of transferring knowledge between people, knowledge management includes creating and sharing knowledge as an organizational asset to drive the business. Moreover, The value proposition of knowledge management states that there are fundamental business reasons and expected benefits for pursuing this process approach. There are gains the organization can achieve by using knowledge management to measure results, such as creating an Intranet and knowledge repositories. Furthermore, the concept of knowledge management concerns the creation of structures that combine the most advanced elements of technological resources and the indispensable input of human response and decision-making (Raisinghani, 2000).  The notion of knowledge management is nothing new.  Corporations have always had some process to synthesize their experience and integrate it with knowledge acquired from outside sources (Sarvary, 1999).  However, not until recently have scholars and practitioners alike become increasingly attracted to the science of applied knowledge within organizations.  This movement is unique in combining information technology theory with pioneering work on models of learning organizations (Senge, 1994). On the other hand, Parikh (2001) posits that data are merely raw facts collected from business transactions and activities, and that data must be structured into a meaningful, composite model to become information.  Once information is created from such constitution of pure data sets, it is able to filtered through a relative model of understanding.  Thus, knowledge is created only as information is interpreted and evaluated from a contextual mental model.  Because individuals and companies as wholes have different mental models (Senge, 1994), the knowledge gleaned from the same compilation of information can differ greatly, not only in quality but also in applicability.  Knowledge management thus differs from information management because the former implies a persistent, intentional effort of extracting from available information what is critical for business success, while the latter is more concerned with making critical information available in a timely and consistent manner to end-users within the organizational structure.  Knowledge management is therefore the creative mining of information from diverse sources with the purpose of business opportunities in mind.  As a firm works diligently toward perusing its information assets through the multitude of perceptual filters available, high-impact, matchless gems are unearthed, which have the potential to substantially affect the bottom-line. The distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is critical to understanding the working mechanisms of knowledge management.  Lubit (2001) observes that explicit knowledge is codified and stored in the “organizational memory” and is available to employees throughout the structure.  Conversely, tacit knowledge is personal knowledge possessed by an employee that may be difficult to express or communicate to others.  Because a population of employees possesses a theoretically infinite number of mental models, or ways of perceiving information, tacit knowledge is often individualized and highly specific in scope.  Lubit (2001) argues that it is this knowledge that is often difficult to disseminate to others in the context of the workplace, but it is also invaluable to propagate because it is a unique asset that is very hard to copy by other firms.  Hence, given this premise, it can be logically understood that tacit knowledge can form the basis for competitive advantage, but to do so it must become manifest in the real world and utilized to actualize the strategic agendas of the organization.  Ideally, a firm can better manage its intellectual capital base by uncovering the tacit knowledge of its employees and turning that into explicit knowledge, available to others (Erickson & Rothberg, 2000). Moreover, Stonehouse et al. (2001) noted that the concept of knowledge management has evolved from research on organizational learning.  They argue that it is simply the next phase of an evolutionary process of strategic frameworks that seek to explain how an organization may generate superior performance relative to the competitors in its market.  Earlier approaches centred on the competitive position of an organization within its industry.  Subsequent attention was focused on the creative mastery of an organization’s core competencies to achieve competitive advantage.  Currently, the concentration is firmly upon effectively “working” knowledge to produce the fruits of fiscal gain, as reflected in the company’s financial statements and stock price. Concurrently, Senge (1994) contends that the only construct within grasp of an organization, which will produce lasting, sustainable advantage, is the usable knowledge produced from purposeful, well-orchestrated learning by all employees within the firm.  This collaborative effort toward an openness to learning and new ideas creates a culture of excitement and creativity, which forms the basis for the organization as a learning organism synergistically created by the steadfast efforts of individual employees committed to this underlying philosophy. Most investigation into knowledge management has been concerned with capturing the knowledge embedded inside of the heads of individual employees (Nidumolu et al., 2001).  This “within” approach is certainly a substantial place to begin the challenge of developing a thriving knowledge base, but appears to be less than holistic in its efforts.  The vast expanse of knowledge outside the traditional boundaries of the company may prove just as useful (Gold et al., 2001).  Nevertheless, the challenge of capturing functional knowledge in the midst of overwhelming information availability remains elusive (Oder, 2001).  If a company is bathed in the true spirit of learning (Senge, 1994), it will develop structures and processes which create a balanced and complementary effort toward combining knowledge acquisition from inside and outside of the firm.   Knowledge Management as a Strategic Tool The fundamental objective of any corporate Knowledge Management program is to support the achievement of strategic business objectives. In other words, the “starting-point” for KM is to understand what the organization’s business objectives are. (Hauschild et al, 2001)  Many KM projects fail because they are treated as technology-projects. In order to be successful, KM must not be an end in itself, but must be a strong enabler to achieving real business results. Moreover, consequent to understanding the basic strategic objectives, the next step is to identify key drivers including Knowledge Capabilities that are vital to achieve these business objectives. (Hauschild et al, 2001)  This is followed by a Knowledge Inventory. This is characterized by an identification of what knowledge capabilities currently exist – and where or with whom. At this stage, a Knowledge Map may be prepared. This is described as a graphical representation of the business objectives, critical knowledge capabilities to achieve them and where or with whom they reside in the organization. The Knowledge Inventory and Knowledge Map enable identification of the organization’s Knowledge Assets and where & how they can be accessed, Knowledge Gaps and definition of strategies & initiatives to bridge the gaps, which could include the implementation of appropriate IT tools to support knowledge-sharing & collaboration both within the enterprise and in the extended enterprise – including customers, partners and suppliers – to help the organization make better decisions. Another is the formation of communities of practice by experts in each of the critical knowledge-capabilities identified earlier. In addition to that is the sharing of relevant best practices, case studies, lessons-learned, etc. from both internal & external sources. Effective KM will enable the organization to become nimble and make well-informed business decisions. A key-objective of KM is to ensure that the right knowledge is available with the right person at the right time in a “consistent and systematic” manner to enable timely decision-making. (Hauschild et al, 2001)  An organization’s Knowledge Map must be a living organism that is updated continuously as Knowledge Gaps are filled, new Subject Matter Experts are identified or new Knowledge Capabilities are defined.   Critical Success Factors of Knowledge Management This part of the chapter shall be taking into account the aspects that consequently lead to the success of a KM program. One of these factors is technology. KM technology solutions provide functionality to support knowledge sharing, collaboration, workflow, document-management, to mention a few, across the enterprise and beyond into the extended enterprise. (Hahiran, 2002) These tools typically provide a secure central space where employees, customers, partners & suppliers can exchange information, share knowledge and guide each other and the organization to better decisions. The most popular form of KM technology facilitation is the knowledge-portal on the corporate intranet and extranets where customers, partners and/or suppliers are involved. Common technologies used for knowledge portals include standard Microsoft technologies or Lotus Notes databases. There are also vendors that provide specialized tools for collaboration, indexing & retrieval of content, Decision Support / Business Intelligence, Document-Management, just to mention a few. A company must choose a technology option that meets its KM objectives & investment plan. While technology is a key enabler to KM, it is important to ensure that the technology solution does not take the focus away from business issues and is user-friendly and simple to use. Many companies have made the mistake of expending a disproportionately high portion of their KM effort & resources on technology – at the cost of people-involvement or strategic commitment – resulting in zero or very limited business results. It is also important to remember that users of the KM system are subject-matter experts in their respective areas of specialization and not necessarily IT experts. Another success factor is the KM processes. These include standard processes for knowledge-contribution, content management such as accepting content, maintaining quality, keeping content current, deleting or archiving content that is obsolete; retrieval, membership on communities of practice, implementation-projects based on knowledge-reuse, methodology & standard formats to document best-practices & case studies, etc. It is important for processes to be as clear & simple as possible and well understood by employees across the organization. (Hahiran, 2002) Furthermore, the biggest challenge in KM is to ensure participation by employees and other members of the extended organization in the knowledge sharing, collaboration and re-use to achieve business results. In many organizations, this requires changing traditional mindsets & organizational culture from “knowledge-hoarding” to “knowledge-sharing” and creating an atmosphere of trust. This is achieved through a combination of motivation/recognition & rewards, re-alignment of performance appraisal systems, and other measurement systems. (Hahiran, 2002) A key to success in Knowledge Management is to provide people visibility, recognition and credit as “experts” in their respective areas of specialization – while leveraging their expertise for business success. And lastly, a Knowledge Management program cold be considered successful when it has a sustained strategic commitment. Strategic management has a key role to play in promoting the desired behaviours both through example and by constant communication across the organization of the strategic importance it attaches to KM. (Hahiran, 2002) A key to success in KM is for top management to provide sustained strategic commitment to KM. KM initiatives in several organizations have failed because KM was a fad for a short while – and attention was then diverted to the “next big thing”.   While all four are critical to build a learning organization and get business results from KM, a majority of organizations worldwide implementing KM have found it relatively easier to put technology & processes in place, whereas the “people” and “sustained strategic commitment” components have posed greater challenges. (Hahiran, 2002) In relation to the success factors of KM, a variety of measures of ROI from KM has also been proposed. Many of these measures focus on attaching a value to an organization’s intellectual capital. (Hauschild et al. 2001) However, to keep KM “implementation-oriented” and focussed on “real business results”, it is more important to have a set of measures that are directly related to achievement of business results. A combination of lagging, such as actual business outcomes, and leading measures such as performance drivers that would lead to business outcomes should be used. It is also important to remember that effective KM is an enabler for competitive success, market-intelligence, customer-knowledge, better & quicker decision-making, etc. (Hauschild et al. 2001) All these are key to survival in business, but the exact contribution of KM to these may be difficult to measure in quantitative terms. Organizations that have successfully implemented KM for business results do not focus on theoretical measures – but use a combination of quantifiable and subjective measures to evaluate KM success.   Furthermore, Pfeffer & Sutton  (2000) describe three approaches that move organizations from adopting an almost mindless reliance on things past that impede action in the present: building a novel sub organization liberated from the passive ways of being, making it difficult—sometimes by drastic means—to adhere to the old ways, and building an organization in which employees constantly question precedent.  The leaders of the firm must take the reins in galvanizing and maintaining a persistent effort towards an organizational culture of purposeful activity and knowledge application.  This may be done by clearing articulating new expectations for firm employees, and by socially and fiscally rewarding pro-initiative behaviour change, while penalizing lagging efforts toward organizational proactivity.  Learning from knowledge application involves post-analysis and critical process evaluation.  Such evaluations lead to managerial learning regarding what knowledge initiatives actually produced tangible business results.  This learning is difficult and often neglected by firms, but it is very important to maintain the wellspring of knowledge (Parikh, 2001).  This cycle of knowledge implementation and critical review helps bridge the gap between the possession of theoretical knowledge and the actual application of such.  In this sense, the speculative ideas regarding what will impact the bottom-line are empirically tested in the real world.  This is yet another crucial steps in moving from obscure conceptualizations to refined knowledge that can impact business decisions.  Knowledge management should ideally provide relevant knowledge to help knowledge workers make appropriate decisions to determine organizational actions (Parikh, 2001).   Knowledge Management as an Advantage Among the central measure of organizational effectiveness is the creation and continuance of a measurable competitive advantage.  Many broad initiatives such as efficiency, core competency advancement, actualization of customer-centric products and services, and limitation of the fixed costs of doing business can help to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage within the marketplace.  Knowledge management is a targeted expertise designed to impact productivity and innovation in profound ways.  It represents a new technology that is changing the competitive landscape of contemporary business (Sarvary, 1999).  Knowledge management may exploit supply-side or demand-side economies of scale (Ofek & Sarvary, 2001).  In the former case, the role is to reduce the operating costs of the firm, while in the latter case its role is to create added value to customers by appreciably increasing product quality.  Thus, the effective management of knowledge understandably has the capacity to deeply impact the way a firm does business from the minor details of daily operations to the broadest strategic decision-making processes.  There always exists better ways to transform inputs into outputs through the refinement of processes.  Both academics and business practitioners alike are beginning to grasp the power of knowledge in helping to do so. The science and art of knowledge management can be understood as a sequential framework of purposeful activity designed to produce tangible management decisions and resulting organizational activities, toward the ultimate purpose of producing gains in net income and market share.  Knowledge management is a strategic process, which implies the goal of differentiation from competitors such that a sustainable competitive advantage is forged.  One stage in the process may require the input of several other phases to galvanize its movement toward a usable “knowledge product”, appropriate in supporting concrete decision-making and business action.  In addition, the methodologies subsumed in each phase are presented as discrete activities unique to that step in the process, but in reality often overlap considerably. (Yli-Renko et al., 2001)  In this manner, the deliberate business behaviours that constitute the essence of any given stage may be strikingly similar to those of other steps, depending upon the specificity of the circumstances under which a firm operates. Furthermore, the dissemination of salient knowledge is surmised to impact the formation of competitive advantage. The two most cited mediating factors for ensuring proper dissemination of knowledge are communication facilitation and organizational culture development.  Buckman (1998) argues that one of the central purposes of knowledge management and sharing is to facilitate communication across all of the organization’s boundaries, so that the entire company works together to address given business challenges and seize covert opportunities.  In this way, knowledge managers need to look at specific tools and tactics that will encourage collaborative and productive exchange between employees.  Managing knowledge flow is a crucial step in moving the asset of quiescent knowledge into actualization (Fahey & Prusak, 1998).  With efficient dissemination of knowledge, the company’s ability to make impacting decisions increases dramatically, because individuals throughout the firm gain access to important strategic ideas, rather than merely retaining this knowledge within the ranks of high-level management.  By giving employees access to each other, rather than going through vertical channels of upper management, those with the most current knowledge can share it with those who will benefit most from it (DeTienne & Jackson, 2001).  This improves the organization’s ability to make rapid decisions and execute them effectively. On the other hand, Pfeffer & Sutton (2000) maintain that to create a culture appropriate for transforming tacit knowledge into communal, explicit knowledge fear-based approaches to management must be abandoned.  Despite the burgeoning literature within the field of leadership about the need to reconceptualize the control orientation of management and replace it with one that emphasizes facilitation and coaching, management practice remains dominated by control impulses (Beech & Crane, 1999).   A key in overcoming tendencies of employees to hoard knowledge or to remain cautious in sharing ideas with others is for management to take the lead in creating an environment of understanding, shared control, compassion, and learning.  All ideas set forth in good faith and backed by rational analysis should be reinforced as beneficial to the company’s efforts to create a cauldron of strategic innovation, even if such shared knowledge does not immediately produce resounding results.     Synthesis The chapter discussed the aspects of KM as a required factor for the efficient fulfillment of an organization’s goals. Moreover, the discussions above posit that knowledge movement is pervasive. Whether it is defined in terms of learning, intellectual capital, knowledge assets, intelligence, expertise, insight or wisdom, it consummates to one assertion, enhance the management of the organization or perish. Initiatives in industry, education and government are trying to tackle the same problems, issues and opportunities. Moreover, the discussions suggest that the immeasurable must be measured. Traditional financial accounting mechanisms fail to calculate/calibrate the most important resources of the firm – its intellectual capacity. Instead, current mechanisms treat people as liabilities or expenses instead of assets. The business case must be defined in order to justify necessary investment strategies in the human and social capital of the firm. In this light, a collaborative research base must be established. There is minimal research activity for service functions or the services industry of the economy. There is minimal government funding and few consortia, which are non-industrial in mission. Enterprises are embarking upon individual R&D efforts when a collective degree of research – on a pre-competitive basis – is essential for establishing a solid foundation for the future of the industry. Likewise, initiatives must be designed as ‘middle-up-down.’ Top down leadership continues to be essential for management because traditional hierarchical structures will not disappear overnight. Grass roots activities, which are networked, can have the insight for change validated by those closest to the point-of-sale. Oftentimes, those closest to service delivery are not the people empowered in an organization. The middle-up-down approach is described as a way to balance and integrate the best of both methods. Similarly, the discussion above suggests that in order to achieve success through KM, insight is being gleaned rapidly. For those who embrace change as reality, there is little time to be spent on barriers. The future is far more exciting to create. In each profession, those who were deemed philosophers and futurists are being sought for counsel on business operations. What was theory yesterday is fundamental to business survival tomorrow. There is a cumulative effect between and among disciplines as leaders seek to understand the principles and policies of one another. Indeed, the field has become sufficiently sophisticated to warrant the benchmarking of best practices for even further dissemination and leverage. Nevertheless, the implementation of the KM program takes many forms. The variety of new titles and program initiatives vary company-to-company due to the uniqueness of each corporate culture. New titles range from novel verbiage to re-labeling of traditional functions. There are many ways to configure the knowledge puzzle and leadership can come from any level, function or position in the company. Furthermore, management architectures are useful, but should not be limiting. A frame of reference is essential in order to scrutinize and interconnect the variables. However, exploration of the factors leads to identification of new variables and interconnections, which are fundamental to the business. The frame provides a way to organize the discussion and fuse the diverse values within the company culture. The process must be dynamic – not static – in order to capitalize upon new business opportunities coming from unserved markets and unarticulated needs. In addition, the discussions above also state that the nature of ‘the collective’ must be understood and harnessed. Enterprises are now defined as including multiple stakeholders: suppliers, partners, alliances, customers and – in some cases – competitors. These infrastructures are a combination of evolving, ecological systems and carefully premeditated schemes for profitable growth. The combination is what is of most value. Attention must now focus upon the definition of the whole and the interconnections of the pieces. Moreover, one could not discount the importance of technology. Technology is integral to the successful functioning of the knowledge enterprise. Similar to the misconceptions of computer-based education, artificial intelligence and the early renditions of groupware, there is confusion as to the appropriate role for the supporting technology. The ‘productivity paradox’ explains why there has not been a commensurate economic return for the investment on technology investments, but it does not provide a path forward for the ideal technical solutions. This will take some time and considerable trial-and-error. Recent literature also states that the knowledge phenomenon must be managed and not left to providence. As incomplete as the systems might be, some influence and control is better than nothing at all. There are the inevitable unexpected forces, which cause a major shift in orientation. Management must be understood as both a science and an art in order to reap optimal advantage. The objective of KM is to support the achievement of business-objectives. Both knowledge-contributions/ sharing as well as re-use need to be encouraged and recognized at the individual employee level as well as the company level. This is best done by measuring and rewarding knowledge-performance. Sustained strategic commitment and a corporate culture that is conducive to knowledge-performance are vital for success in Knowledge Management.  Measures used to evaluate success in KM must be related to business results.   References: Beech, N. & Crane, O. (1999). High performance teams and a climate of community. Team Performance Management, 5 (3), 87-102.   Buckman, R.H. (1998). Knowledge sharing at Buckman Labs. 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(2001). Tacit knowledge and knowledge management: The keys to sustainable competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics, 29 (3), 164-178.   Nidumolu, S.R., Subramani, M., & Aldrich, A. (2001). Situated learning and the situated knowledge web: Exploring the ground beneath knowledge management. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18 (1), 115-150.   Nidumolu, S.R., Subramani, M., & Aldrich, A. (2001). Situated learning and the situated knowledge web: Exploring the ground beneath knowledge management. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18 (1), 115-150.   Oder, N. (2001). The competitive intelligence opportunity. Library Journal, 126 (4), 42-44.   Parikh, M. (2001). Knowledge management framework for high-tech research and development. Engineering Management, 13 (3), 27-33. Pfeffer, J. & Sutton, R.I. (2000). The knowing-doing gap: How smart companies turn knowledge into action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Raisinghani, M.S. (2000). Knowledge management: A cognitive perspective on business and education. American Business Review, 18 (2), 105-112.   Sarvary, M. (1999). Knowledge management and competition in the consulting industry. California Management Review, 41 (2), 95-107.   Senge, P.M. (1994). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Currency Doubleday.   Stonehouse, G.H., Pemberton, J.D., & Barber, C.E. (2001). The role of knowledge facilitators and inhibitors: Lessons from airline reservations systems. Long Range Planning, 34 (2), 115-138.   Yli-Renko, H., Autio, E., & Sapienza, H.J. (2001). Social capital, knowledge acquisitions, and knowledge exploitation in young technology-based firms. Strategic Management Journal, 22 (6), 587-613.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Thesis Chapter 2 on An Evaluation of the Process and Effects of Knowledge Management in the Financial Sector

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This part of the study shall discuss the aspects of Knowledge management and its role a...