CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Knowledge management is concerned with the creation of structures that combine the most advanced elements of technological resources and the indispensable input of human response and decision making (Scarnbrough, 1999:70). Corporations have always had experience and integrate it with knowledge acquired from outside sources (Polanyi, 1958).
However, not until recently have scholars and practitioners alike become increasingly attracted to the science of applied knowledge within organizations. This work investigates the vital link between the management of knowledge in contemporary organizations and the development of sustainable competition for efficiency in the Nestle Food Nigeria Plc Enugu Depot. The researcher chooses Nestle Food Nigeria Plc as it deem necessary considering the fact that no virile manufacturing organization can perform effectively without adequate information gotten from reliable sources and from those who are knowledgeable about the facts. The promising field of knowledge management (KM) is differentially defined from other more traditional information technology functions and the evaluation of knowledge management discussed.
The abstract construct of knowledge can be understood through its relationship to data and information (Parikh, 2001:5), posits that data are merely raw facts collected from business transactions and activities and data must be structured into a meaningful, composite model to become information. Once information is created from such of constitution of pure data sets, it is able filtered through a relative model of understanding. Thus, knowledge is created only as information is interpreted and evaluated from a contextual mental model. Individuals and companies as whole have different mental models (Senge, 1994:40), 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, international effort of extracting from available what is critical for business success, while the latter is more concerned with making critical information available in structure. (Bolterll, 2001:19), knowledge management is therefore the creative mining of information from diverse sources with the purpose business opportunities in mind. As a firm works diligently towards pursuing its information assets through the multitude of perceptual filters available, high impact matchless gems are unearthed, which have the potentials to substantially affect the bottom line.
The recognition of knowledge management as an imperative for improving the knowledge base of an organization will provide an impetus for organizations to understand and nature their knowledge resources and activities. The current global financial and economic conditions have made companies realize the value of their corporate knowledge and seek effective methods to reuse that knowledge.
Since seventy percent of organizational knowledge is in the mind of employees (knows as tacit knowledge) while just 30 percent is in externalized forms (known as “explicit” knowledge), it has become very important to harvest and document employee’s long – term memory, therefore, the creation of a knowledge reserve is a necessary for capturing innovative ideas from individuals as well as groups while interpreting, congealing and repackaging the collective conclusions into organizational knowledge.
In the landscape of modern business, companies are persistently striving to create mechanisms for differentiating themselves from their competitors within given markets. Many markets are quite saturated with numerous firms endeavoring towards like core competencies, organizations are forced to dissect their business processes for the purposes of determining what can produce a sustainable competitive advantage. The information age and the changes created by it have shifted firms away from being myopically concerned with the exploitation of tangible assets towards a steadfast and holistic interest in leveraging in tangible assets towards a steadfast and holistic interest in leveraging intangible assets as well. The management of information as a key to grasping and retaining competitive advantage has recently evolved into the more strategically focused management of knowledge.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM