Organizational Management and the “Rule of 7”

Why has knowledge suddenly been talked about so intensely and why has it become so important to us? Is this another fashion trend in the business environment, or has it always been of great importance?

Experience, expertise, insight, sense, and even intuition are very important for business and success. From time immemorial, there has been a belief that knowledge is power. This is one of the reasons for the eternal striving for it to be acquired, to be preserved, to be handed over.

What has changed the attitude towards knowledge today? What provoked this acceleration of changes in the scope, size, shape, pace of knowledge development? Probably the answer can be found by following what is happening in medium and large companies worldwide.

Globalization

The business is no longer tied to a specific territory. It does not comply with the boundaries, settles, develops, and is directed to another place of conquest. 

This relocation in space implies, in addition to the initial investment of resources, the provision of a continuous exchange of experience, knowledge, and intellectual capital between the individual units in an organization. Reference: "Management and engineering in organizations", https://www.worldforgemagazine.com/management-and-engineering-in-organizations/

The more manageable this process is, the more efficient it is for the respective business. This saves time and resources to reach a similar experience and greatly increases competitiveness.

Speed ​​/ acceleration /

One of the most valuable resources in business is time. The well-known thought "Time is money" is more relevant today than ever. 

The competition in the global and regional markets has its explanation, time seems "fast" and the reason for this is the constant changes in each area. Being competitive means being able to adapt, but at the same time constantly surprising the market and competitors with something new and different. 

Successful change planning requires good flexibility in creating and changing the business plan, which must be consistent with the ever-shortening market cycles, the changing market environment, and all factors considered external to the organization.

The role of knowledge management in overcoming acceleration.

Service orientation

Another trend in the business is the focus on meeting the specific needs of customers by expanding the variety of services provided. This is the next important criterion for competitiveness, which has a direct impact on the size of the consumer market. 

The requirements of the clients are not constant and it is up to the company to react in time to the provided opportunity to satisfy the new needs. To this end, the organization needs to have reliable indicators of current market needs and the ability to respond quickly to these needs. Here again, knowledge management comes to the rescue.

Online technologies facilitate the rapid exchange of information and know-how between employees, which shortens the time to respond to market needs and hence ensures the consumption of the product or service as meeting specific needs.

Territorial dispersion of employees

People are the most important resource. Employees are becoming more mobile. In 2000, more than 50 million people changed their geographical location, taking with them the knowledge and experience that are essential for the company. 

This process, no matter how uncontrollable it may seem at first glance, can be mastered. Knowledge management, supported by relevant technologies, can provide training and the timely introduction of new staff, provide rapid access to sources of information and knowledge, and provide an environment for this process. Reference: "Reorganization of business processes in the organization", https://w-europe.org/reorganization-of-business-processes-in-the-organization/

Closed business relations

Companies together with their customers, suppliers, and competitors form a closed system of business relations. In each one can be found many sources of knowledge that are in potential. 

Most companies perceive knowledge management as an activity that extends only to the company's internal sources. It is good to get ideas from companies that are engaged in various activities. This guarantees a unique approach to solving different tasks.

In a broader sense, the World Wide Web itself can be an incredible source of new knowledge. Every day he brings additional resources for the processes of building and developing knowledge within the company. Reference: "Business process reengineering", https://mstsnl.net/business-process-reengineering/

Knowledge management is a necessity

Technology

The fastest-growing area is that of information technology. As early as 1998, Lotus and IBM added "learning distance" and "same-time capabilities" to their products. 

At this stage, knowledge management as a process is fully technologically secured, sometimes even technology exceeds the needs of users and it is necessary to wait.

The competition

The frantic competition to maintain and expand market positions between individual companies in one industry implies a constant renewal of the goods and services provided. 

However, every innovation is subject to assimilation, and from the competitors, everything can be copied, imitated. In such a situation, how could a company follow the rule of the uniqueness of its goods and services, and can it maintain the pace of development by creating new and new products? 

According to some, the best recipe for this is the rule: to learn how to do things a little better and a little smarter every day. To this can be added: to learn how to learn from everything from ourselves, from the competition, from our own mistakes and those of others. Let's learn how to know, how to use, and manage what we know.