THE ANALYSIS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES IN IRAN (CASE STUDY: ALBORZ ELECTRICITY PROVINCE DISTRIBUTION COMPANY) *Mortza Shikhi Dpartmnt of Industrial Managmnt, Collg of Managmnt and Accounting, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad Univrsity, Karaj, Iran *Author for Corrspondnc ABSTRACT Todays, knowldg managmnt is an important and ky factor in organizational managmnt and productivity. Undrstanding th tchnology and slcting suitabl modl to dtrmin knowldg managmnt stratgy is on of th most important factors of organizational succss. Sinc th Probst t al., modl is a comprhnsiv modl; thrfor, in this papr, th modl is applid for th study of knowldg managmnt in Elctricity Distribution Company in Alborz Provinc. In this articl, using th rsults of fild rsarch and concptual modl of knowldg managmnt foundations (Probst t al.), lctricity distribution companis of Alborz ar analyzd through ight aspcts. At first, th concpts and dfinitions usd in this modl ar brifly rviwd and thn th distribution company is analyzd through this modl that includs 35 indicators and 8 aspcts. Th gap of ach aspct with favorabl situation is dtrmind th strngths and waknsss wr idntifid. In this company, knowldg purposs aspct (53.90%) has highst and knowldg sharing aspct goals (36.03%) has lowst rank. Finally, invstigating th waknsss of knowldg dimnsions, practical and appropriat solutions hav bn proposd. Kywords: Knowldg Managmnt Foundations, Probst t al., Modl, Knowldg Managmnt, Albroz Elctric Powr Distribution Companis INTRODUCTION Mark and Mac Alroy mphasizd th importanc of knowldg by stating that knowldg can b ncodd and transfrrd (Zafrian t al., 2008). Litnr and Jordan (2003) argu that socitis ar moving toward th knowldg conomy whr knowldg is an important lmnt to crat valu in organizations. Todays, in th comptitiv conditions, knowldg is th most important capital which is rplacd by physical and financial capitals (Chn t al., 2004). Transfrring knowldg in th first stp rquirs tndncy to shar and work two groups. Th transfr of knowldg cannot b don unlss th mploy groups show a high lvl of coopration (Bndr and Fish, 2000). Givn th importanc of knowldg, knowldg managmnt is managing to chang knowldg in th organization by gathring, sharing and using knowldg as an organizational capital and for organizational purposs (Hassanzadh, 2007). Thus, knowldg managmnt for many of th dvloping countris is a symbol of powr and achivs comptition (Druckr, 1998). Dvloping managmnt stratgy is On of th ky succss factors in th implmntation of knowldg managmnt. Knowldg managmnt stratgy is a ralistic and actionorintd procss that coms from th targts and includs promotion of organizational knowldg to dsirabl situation and collcting, crating and dformation of knowldg (Akhgar t al., 2012). Th companis which hav not conductd knowldg managmnt los comptitor advantags 30 to 40 % of thir comptitors (Gartnr group, 1998). Jnnx and Olfinan bliv knowldg managmnt systm valuation is important to rcogniz dvlopmnt of th systm (Jnnx and Olfinan, 2004). Masurmnt of knowldg capital is hard du to fatur (Ahn and Chang, 2002), and unlik matrials or quipmnt may not b distinctiv cor comptncis and abilitis of mploys considrd in th balanc sht (Austin and Larky, 2002). Intangibl proprty of knowldg maks masurmnt of past rcord difficult. Survy of 431 Amrican and Europan shows that 43% of thm bliv that masuring th valu and prformanc of knowldg capital is a difficult task of changing popl's bhavior (Rggls 1998) Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 525
instad fforts dirctly assss th knowldg, valuat thir past rcord of businss prformanc, is th most ffctiv approach (Ahn and Chang, 2002) as an xampl of th procss that maks a company to achiv highr fficincy and prformanc (Asol t al., 2002). Th main purpos of assssing thir past rcord of prformanc of knowldg managmnt is incrasing fficincy managmnt masurs knowldg to improv organizational prformanc (Toftn and Olsn, 2003). Knowldg managmnt prformanc valuation of thir past rcord suggsts th utilization of rsourcs is smart (Marr t al., 2003). In fact, in such circumstancs, knowldg managmnt is a spcial plac for companis and organizations and it is growing incrasingly on its importanc. Tabl 1 summarizs th main rsults of studis in th fild of knowldg managmnt. Tabl 1: Rsults of Knowldg Managmnt Authors Skyrm(1999) KPMG(2000) APQC(2002) O'Dll t al., (2003) Anatatmula and Kanungo (2006) Chong and Lin (2006) L and L (2006) Wi t al., (2009) Zack t al., (2009) Rsults Improv srvic quality, improv product quality, rduc oprating costs, nhanc mploy rcruitmnt, improv crativity, nhancs larning Improv dcision making, to srv mor customrs, improv productivity, rduc costs, offr innovativ ways to work Rduc costs, improv product quality and srvic, dlivring valu to th customr Incrasing innovation, improving oprations, improv customr satisfaction, improv organizational larning mpowrmnt Employ prformanc, organizational prformanc, intllignt capital markt prformanc Staff dvlopmnt, customr satisfaction, organizational succss, scinc activitis, rgular, good xtrnal rlations Corporat financial prformanc and customr satisfaction improv prformanc, bttr dcisions, improv accountability, crativity, improv comptitivnss and productivity, mploy rtntion, flxibility, improv larning curv, improv srvic and quality Financial prformanc, organizational prformanc: a mix of innovation, customr satisfaction, oprational costs In th companis lik powr distribution, somon blivs skillful individuals can provid bttr prformanc du to xprtis work. In ths companis, nw and updatd srvics ar rquird in th structur of th organization to obsrv spcific standards. Latr, litratur rviw is studid and in scond sction, concptual modl and mthodology ar prsntd. In th third sction, th obtaind data is rprsntd and in th final sction, practical rcommndations ar providd. Litratur rviw Knowldg is organizd and applicabl information to solv problms (Woolf, 1990). Knowldg has bn catgorizd to diffrnt kinds basd on structural faturs, prliminary faturs, purpos, application and concptual lvl (Backman, 1999). Basd on kind of catgorization, knowldg is dividd in two Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 526
sctions lik clar and scrt. This kind catgorization in th businss is contributd to Japans thorist (Nonaka, 1995). H blivs incidnt knowldg is hiddn in th mind and businss of individual and transfrring thm to othrs is difficult. Clar knowldg is formal and organizd and is transfrrd asily in form of product faturs, a formula or a computr program (Downport, 1998). Othr kind of catgorization divids knowldg managmnt to viwpoint and procss. In this study, procsss- basd knowldg managmnt is usd. MATERIALS AND METHODS Th study is applicativ in trm of purpos and is don through survy and fild mthod. Th qustions of th study ar: 1-what ar th lvls of dimnsions of knowldg managmnt in th Alborz powr distribution company? 2-what ar th gaps btwn knowldg managmnt dimnsions of Alborz powr distribution company rathr dsirabl situation? In tabl 2, 27 knowldg procss modls hav bn prsntd by diffrnt authors and instituts to valuat and masur knowldg managmnt. Tabl 2: Procss modl of knowldg managmnt modl Stps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hicks Crat Sav Publish Apply - - - - Knowld Marc & Knowldg g Mcltoj rptition cration - - - - - - APQC Crat Involv Broadcast / shar Exchang in th public lvl Expnd xchan g Makin g cultur AMS Find Organiz Shar - - - - - Andrson Consultin g Obtain Crat analyz Analyz shar Utiliz - - Di Blla Obtain Publish Apply - - - - - & Nvis Marquq Transfrrin Larning saving - - - - - t's g Wiig Crating gathring publish apply - - - - Maintain Knowldg Applid Spk & Crat nw and combinatio Spijkrn knowld - - - - availabl distributio n t g knowldg n knowldg Ruggls Crat, larning, combin Rprsnt or rprsntati v transfr - - - - - O'Dl Idntify Gathr adapt organiz Apply distribu t Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 527 - Crat -
Wggma n UTI L managu r dtrmin Arrang dvlop sav shar apply Rquirm nt rcognition shar crat Gathr / sav valuat - - rval - - Rstrain organiz Larn apply valuat - - - APOQ Crat rcogniz gathr Organiz shar adapt Apply - Kp & Daly & Ham Crat Rstrain f Sav shar - - - Grn Wood Davnpor t & Prusak Nwman & Conard Hjlmru ik & Kirkmo Crat rcogniz catgoriz communic at undrsta nd crat - - produc Organiz transfr - - - - - stabiliz transfr apply - - - - Rstrain Crat Snd apply - - - - Promot Targting rcogniz dvlop publish apply Sav Bk man Holsappl & Jashi Bukowitz & Willams Pawlows ky Probst & raub & romhard Nonaka & Takuchi idntify captur slct sav distribut apply valuat crat obtain slct Intrnaliz apply produc Rval - - Find apply larning shar crat Maintai n / rmov valuat idntify obtain broadcast dvlop transfr - Dtrmin th purposs of knowld g Socializ idntify obtain dvlop apply Extrnaliz communic at mainta in Intrnaliz - - - - Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 528 - busin ss - valua t Introducing th applid modl in th study Sinc Probst t al., modl is on of complt modl in th knowldg managmnt (Probst/ Raub/ Romhard, 2002), so it was usd in th study. This modl has 35 indxs and 8 dimnsions. Th dsignrs of foundation modl (Probst) know th knowldg managmnt as a dynamic cycl which is rotating.
Stags of this modl includ ight lmnts consisting of two intrnal and xtrnal cycls: Intrnal cycl: is composd of idntify, obtain, dvlop, shar, utiliz and maintain blocks of knowldg. Extrnal cycl: is composd of knowldg and valuation purposs blocks which spcifis th managmnt cycl. Fdback complmnts ths two cycls. Th lmnts of th modl ar shown in Figur (1): Knowldg purposs idntify باز خور د valuation utilization obtaining maintaining dvlopmnt sharing Figur 1: Th Elmnts of Probst t al., Modl (Knowldg Managmnt Foundations) Th prformanc of foundations in this modl is as following (Afzarh, 2005): a. Dtrmining th knowldg purposs: th knowldg managmnt purposs should b raisd main purposs of organization and should b spcifid in th practical and stratgic lvls. b. Idntifying knowldg: in this stp, knowldg is idntifid. Most of organization ncountrs som difficultis in th targting and dcision-making du to not undrstanding thir knowldg. Albit, idntifying xtrnal and intrnal knowldg ar don togthr. c. Obtaining knowldg: in this stag, knowldg should b obtaind of xtrnal and intrnal markt lik rlatd knowldg to customr, production, collagus, comptitors t. in this study, th capacitis should b providd and applid. d. Dvloping knowldg: in this stag, knowldg of th organization should b dvlopd lik dvloping capacitis, products, nw idas, procsss tc. Sharing knowldg: sharing th availabl knowldg and transfr it to th appropriat plac and transfrring knowldg from individual lvl and group lvl and finally organizational knowldg lvl. f. using knowldg: assur to us knowldg in th organization usfully g. maintaining knowldg: saving and maintaining knowldg and updating h. Evaluating knowldg: achiving to spcific purposs and using rsults as fdback to dtrmin or modify th targt. Statistical Socity In this study, ndd data to dvlop hypothss and qustions wr gathrd through librarian rsourc, concptual modl, and profssor and lits idas. Qustionnair was usd to tst hypothss and answrs of th qustions. Data was analyzd using qustionnair in two dscriptiv and dductiv analyss. Data Analysis First, Cronbah alpha was stimatd through qustionnair analysis using SPSS statistical softwar. Th stimatd valu was 0.82, so rliability of th qustionnair was confirmd. Thn, th gathrd data was analyzd using Probst modl and man tst through Excl softwar. Th mthodology was survy. th statistical socity includd xprts of diffrnt dpartmnts of customr srvics, dispatching and Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 529
utilizing, nginring and dsigning and somon who undrstood or rlatd knowldg managmnt. Finally, 24 popl with MA and BA dgr rplid to th qustionnair basd on tabl 3. Tabl 3: Dscriptiv Paramtrs of Rspondnts Row Education dgr Numbr of Avrag of work Prcnt of total individuals xprinc (yar) 1 BA 15 62.5% 18.5 2 MA 9 37.5% 20 Findings of th study Qustion 1- what ar th lvl of knowldg managmnt dimnsions in th Alborz powr distribution company? Th answr of th qustion is as tabl 4 aftr complmnting qustionnair by statistical socity and ntring information in EXCEL softwar: Tabl 4: Prcnt of Knowldg Managmnt Dimnsion dimnsion prcnt Knowldg purposs 53.90% Idntify knowldg 45.81% Knowldg obtaining 41.93% Knowldg dvlopmnt 44.97% Knowldg sharing 36.03% Knowldg utilization 47.20% Knowldg maintaining 43.01% Knowldg valuation 43.03% Total 43.66% Qustion 2- what ar th gap of knowldg managmnt dimnsions in th Alborz powr distribution company? Th gap of knowldg managmnt dimnsions with dsirabl lvl (100%) is shown in tabl 5 and diagram 1. Tabl 5: Qualitativ Amount of Gap btwn Availabl Lvl and Dsirabl Lvl Gap btwn Dimnsion Availabl lvl Dsirabl lvl availabl lvl and dsirabl lvl Knowldg purposs 53.90% 100% 46.10% Idntify knowldg 45.81% 100% 54.19% Knowldg obtaining 41.93% 100% 58.07% Knowldg dvlopmnt 44.97% 100% 55.03% Knowldg sharing 36.03% 100% 63.97% Knowldg utilization 47.20% 100% 52.80% Knowldg maintaining 43.01% 100% 56.99% Knowldg valuation 43.03% 100% 56.97% Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 530
Diagram 1: Eight Dimnsions of Knowldg Managmnt RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Basd on th obtaind data of tabls 4 and 5 and diagram 1, following issus ar xtractd: Highst dimnsion in Alborz powr distribution company was allocatd to knowldg purpos with 53.90% and lowst was allocatd to knowldg sharing with 36.03%. Qualitativ gap with dsirabl lvl in all dimnsions ar high. Qualitativ gap of highst dimnsion lik knowldg dimnsion is high rathr dsirabl lvl. basd on obtaind data, this company is lack of any dpartmnt as knowldg managmnt dpartmnt (du to low sharing, maintaining, valuating dimnsion) Rsults Sinc, thr ar high gap btwn availabl lvls and dsirabl lvls in th company, it is rcommndd that suprior managrs implmnt knowldg managmnt with appropriat planning to solv problms and promot knowldg managmnt indxs in this company. Structur part is on of th causs in th company which lads to low knowldg managmnt dimnsions. Informatics and IT activity is low in this company. So, sharing knowldg is lss than othrs and should b survyd. Basd on th indxs, long-trm and comprhnsiv approach is ndd to implmnt knowldg managmnt systm. It is rcommndd to implmnt such stratgis in th company to dcras cost, wasting and incrasing productivity. Suprior managr implmnt this systm in th organization using availabl facilitis. REFERENCES Afrazh Abbas (2005). Knowldg Managmnt: Concpts, Modls, Masur Implmntation (Amirkabir Univrsity Prss). Ahn J and Chang S (2002). Valuation of Knowldg: A Businss Prformanc-Orintd Mthodology. Papr Prsntd At Th 35 Th Hawaii Intrnational Confrnc On Systm Scincs. Akhgar Babak, Hassan Zadh Mohammad, Atashi Ali, Ghazi Pour Starh and Najaf Lu Fatmh (2012). Knowldg Managmnt Procssing: From Stratgy To Application Anantatmula Vittal S and Shivraj Kanungo (2006). Structuring th Undrling Rlations among Thknowldg Managmnt Outcoms. Journal of Knowldg Managmnt 10(44) 25-42. APQC (2002). Masuring Knowldg Managmnt. Availabl: http://www.providrsdg.com/docs/km_articls/masuring_km.pdf [Accssd on May 20 2011]. Copyright 2014 Cntr for Info Bio Tchnology (CIBTch) 531
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