INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Information & Knowledge Management



Information & Knowledge Management

Introduction

Firms around the world are entering a new era of business competition. Globalization of supply chains and the escalating pace of technological change have set the stage for the emergence of global network competition. In network competition, firms must not only compete with other firms for favorable positions within a trading network but also collaborate with trading partners to secure competitive advantage for their global supply chains. The ability to win in network competition hinges on competent management of knowledge resources. Indeed knowledge management, information management and knowledge transfer are rapidly becoming a critical core competence for achieving a sustainable competitive advantage of Carrefour organization. However, the efforts of many firms to develop knowledge management competence have been disappointing (Arnold, 2009, PP: 35).

Effective information and knowledge management strategies of Carrefour organization ensure a holistic approach by developing knowledge management as a core competence of the firm. Building information and knowledge management competence of Carrefour organization is like constructing a three-legged stool that rests equally on the climate, processes, and infrastructure for knowledge management (Figure 1.1). The tendency to focus on one leg while ignoring the other two can produce unfortunate effects. For example, focusing solely on infrastructure by adopting the latest technology can rob a firm of rich knowledge gained in processes that promote social interactions, both across functions within a firm in a supply chain. Similarly, investing time and money in new knowledge-sharing processes will fail if the climate encourages counterproductive behavior, such as knowledge hoarding. In this paper, we discuss the components of information/knowledge management competence Carrefour organization with a problem scenario anlong with SWOT analysis and provide real-world examples of how these components work in global supply chains (Arnold, 2009, PP: 40).

Discussion and Analysis

For a productive discussion of information and knowledge management competence of Carrefour organization, we must first define what we mean by information and knowledge management. As a starting point, it is useful to distinguish data and information from knowledge. Data are raw facts, such as point-of-sale data from retailers. Information is data that have been organized for use. For example, a sales trend analysis extracted from point-of-sale data is information that can be used in collaborative forecasting. Although data and information are the essential building blocks of knowledge, information and knowledge management of Carrefour organization involves much more than bulking up a data warehouse or producing well-designed reports. Knowledge is the understanding gained through human reasoning and learning that results in increased capacity for decision making and action to improve performance (Cohn, 2008, PP: 65).

As it is with individuals, learning is integral to knowledge and information development in Carrefour organization. Carrefour organization learns through a cyclical process in which a Carrefour interacts with the environment, the environment responds, and the Carrefour updates knowledge about cause-effect relationships.

There are two types of knowledge and information to be managed in Carrefour organization: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge/information is what we know that can be ...