CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION:
Knowledge management (KM) is a newly emerging interdisciplinary business
model that has knowledge within the frame work of an organization as its focus. It is
rooted in many disciplines including business economics psychology and information
management. It is the ultimate competitive advantage for today firm, Knowledge
management involves people, technology and processes in overlapping parts.

In some ways KM is about survival in a new business world a world of

competition that increases in complexity and uncertainly each day. It is a world that
challenges the traditional ways of doing things the focus is not only on finding the right
answers, but also on asking the right questions what worked yesterday may or may not
work tomorrow. The focus is on doing the right thing rather than doing things right
so that core competencies do not become core rigidities in the future.
KM is the process of capturing

and making use of a firms collective expertise

anywhere in the business-on paper

in documents

in

databases

or in

people

heads(called Tacit knowledge)That up to 95 percent of information is preserved as tacit

knowledge .

Definition of Knowledge Management:

Knowledge is a state of being with respect to somebody of information. These states
include ignorance, awareness familiarity, understanding facility and so on.
As per Ron Young, CEO/CKO Knowledge Associates International
Knowledge management is the discipline of enabling individuals, teams and entire
organization to collectively and systematically create, share and apply knowledge, to
better achieve their objectives
As per west Midlands Regional Observatory, UK

Knowledge management will deliver understanding collaboration and partnership

working.

It will ensure the region maximize

the value of information

and the

knowledge assets and it will help its citizens to use their creativity and skills better,
leading to improved effectiveness and greater innovation .

We define knowledge management as a business activity with two primary aspects;

Treating the knowledge component of business activities as an explicit concern of

business reflected in strategy, policy and practice at all levels of the organization.

Making a direct connection between an organization intellectual assets both

explicit and tacit (personal Know how) and positive business results.

MIS relation with knowledge management:

Information systems (IS) and management of knowledge are often discussed either as
separate entities or alternatively as analogies. But what is the gap between information
processed with IS and human Information or knowledge? Is the gap insurmountable, or can
the subspecies be analyzed and selected, so that section of these two sets will be found or so
that the union of information and knowledge complete each other?
IS and users share information, which is why it is in this context more important than data, as
the basis for systems, but human knowledge is the final aim. As a background there is a
philosophical classification of knowledge. Positivism, post-positivism and critical theory is
briefly presented. This presentation is assuming constructivism as the most appropriate
viewpoint to knowledge.
There are various species of information, which are analyzed more deeply. ICT consists of
information processing and communication technologies. From philosophy, there can be the
same main streams found. Information theory gives us quantitative classes based on
probability. Semantics leads us to qualitative information categories.
Information and communication theory live along with systems theory. Systems analysis is an
engineering discipline based on this theory of the nature of systems. This analysis framework
for studying and modifying the world is used for the examples about engineering that are
3

mainly from a project WISE - Web-enabled Information Services for Engineering. WISE is
concerned with knowledge management (KM) in participatory design processes of complex
products, putting the engineer in the centre of the overall picture. Main objective of the
project is not on developing new specific KM tools and methods but rather to integrate and
exploit existing state-of-the art approaches oriented towards the needs of industrial users.
These research projects will prototype a meta-system for different kinds of information
sources. In this context, WISE can be an example to show what findings are observed from
engineering knowledge.
INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE:
Most definitions of KM share the perspective of collection and dissemination of knowledge
to benefit organization and its individuals. Typically knowledge is defined like information
that is relevant, actionable, and based at least partially on experience. We must take a look at
paradigms of philosophy and species of information to find out what is meaningful for KM.
Paradigms from Philosophy
The paradigms from philosophy can be distinguished by ontology, which (in philosophy)
concerns beliefs about the form and nature of reality, and epistemology, which concerns the
nature of knowledge and the relationship between those who know and knowing. Four main
paradigms are
1) Positivism, 2) post-positivism, 3) critical theory with a) postmodernism and b) poststructuralism and 4) constructivism.
Positivistic ontology the reality can be apprehended, and there are observer independent data
as facts. The positivistic epistemology is based on objectivity, a possibility to find universal
truths. Positivism is a simple belief in science in Western industrial history. The results are
mechanistic science extended to behaviorisms in psychology and nave systemic thinking.
Post-positivistic ontology finds an objective reality that is apprehended imperfectly and
probabilistically. The epistemology is confessing that only an approximate image of reality is
possible. As an "engineering view" the observers can have their own perspective that can
influence the way they see things. Observers have consciousness that (in extension to simple
behaviorisms) is seen to be a set of engineering processes converting information acquired as
4

observation from "outside" into information implemented. People can be better or worse at
this engineering process, and at least fuzzy optimization becomes relevant. Mind is biased
machine; reality is actually out there, and knowledge is objective.
Critical theory is based on the ontology that reality is virtual. Social, political, economic,
ethnic and other factors shape reality. The epistemology is subjectivist. Findings are value
laden with respect to the worldview of an inquirer. Inquiry is value determined in both
postmodernism and post structuralism.
This presentation is on the level of constructivism, according to which there exists both local
and specifically constructed realities. Ontology says that reality is relative phenomenon, and
Epistemological knowledge is created in interaction between inquirers and its participants in
a situation. Subjectivist epistemology relates to created findings.
There are no observers, only viewers. Views, like behaviors are derived from
worldview. Interaction of different worldviews occurs through a semantic communication
process or interaction occurs in a framework, "life world". Cognitive oriented constructivist
theories emphasize the exploration and discovery on the part of each learner as explaining the
learning process. Knowledge is still very much a symbolic, mental representation in the mind
of the individual. In socially oriented theory the context is part of the knowledge. Knowledge
is based on experience through worldviews, which are relative to the institutions that one is
attached to in a given society, and they change as the institutional realities change.
Knowledge is not explicit. To derive knowledge from information means that much of
knowledge is based on sensory or perceptual experience (a posteriori) but such knowledge
can be used to understand new things (a priori). Knowledge by acquaintance is based on
experience, but we can also recognize things without sensual experiences, which lead to a
distinction between direct and indirect knowledge. Propositional knowledge tells us that earth
goes around the sun and one plus one is two.
What then is explicit? Even IS functions, such as search, retrieval and filtering are
effective as long as they are processing data. They are working when applied to appropriate
tasks, such as sorting, comparing, or visualizing data, but their capabilities are rather limited
when applied to processing of any interpretation. The interpretation of information is always
constructivist.

Information Species based on Probability:

As the data, information and knowledge are separated, the middle layer remains crucial. The
probability interpretation of information is giving us three categories of physical, syntactic
and semantic information.
Physical information is the orientation degree of systems, opposite to entropy. It is the
common denominator that can bring matter, energy and time into a single, unified framework
of analysis. All matter-energy transformations are change of state information. Animate and
inanimate objects - information condensations of matter-energy, e.g. DNA, atom, galaxy - are
including the more information the more complicated they are. Actually, its impossible to
say confidently of anything that it could not be information. Physical information can further
be classified as natural and manmade artifacts.
Syntactic information is attached to communication in any channel where messages are sent
and received using some notation system. The amount of information is depending from the
rarity of each notation string. The theory of syntax is very close to the statisticalmathematical information theory.
However, when someone is creating or utilizing syntactic information, there is always
interpretation even with completely automatic IS.
Semantics is the branch of semiotics, the philosophy of signs that deals with meaning. The
other two branches are syntax and pragmatics. Its basically the study of the relationship
between what an object is representing, and the object itself.
Semantic information is attached to declarative sentences about states of affairs that have a
linguistic meaning. Information is therefore eliminating ambivalence. The probability of a
sentence is inversely proportional to its information. That is because information is the
amount of ambivalence, which disappears when we get to know that the sentence is true.
Pragmatic information, however, belong to qualitative interpretation.
Information Species based on Qualitative Interpretation:
Qualitative interpretation consists of 1) communication, 2) presentation and 3) information
processing interpretations that are giving us species of pragmatic (expressive and knowledgerelated) epistemic, doxastic, modal, data-derived and Meta information.

All propositional knowledge is derived from causal connections. Causalities are retrospective
(there has been this causality before) or prospective (this causality can be seen coming).
Linked with truth values there is a justification condition.
Pragmatic information is build into proposition and justification. It is related to the
significance of information to the person receiving it in a particular situation. For
communication it is the most important category. When converting it to an IS, it must be
noted that pragmatic information is including together with the actual sentence the
constructivist state of the surrounding world excluded from the sentence.
For IS, another aspect of pragmatic information emerges above others: novelty or newness. It
is a crucial component when measuring value of information. Three kinds of novelty can be
listed: 1) the amount of how meaningful or surprising the information is for the recipient, 2)
the utility value of information, and 3) the exchange value for information sharing, i.e. how
much others (co-workers) respect that information. Most of the characteristics of pragmatic
information are describing the value,
e.g. relevancy, accuracy, reliability, validity, readability and topicality.
Expressive information is covering assumptions, intuitions, beliefs, moods and non-linguistic
expressions, like sounds, pictures and artifacts. Belief is regarded as a way of reducing doubt
and uncertainty. Expressive information is obvious for engineering: this working method is
good, or you must do this next. Also questions, exclamations, advice, requests or orders
that have not got any truth-value are belonging to expressive information. But knowledgerelated expressive information has always got a truth-value.
An expression can be a communicated as verbal, aural, visual, based on sense of touch, or
based on artifacts. Presentation is also important for IS. Common knowledge and scientific
information are both platonic (epistemic) information. It has got a truth-value, but knowing
the value is not a required.
The truth-value of scientific information is heterogeneous; there are e.g. realist and
instrumentalist view of science, as well as relativists and objectivist.
Truth-value and evidence are requirements for epistemic information. When there is a truthvalue, but no evidence, we are talking about doxastic information, which is pertaining to
belief, or to states sufficiently like beliefs (thoughts, judgments, opinions, desires, wishes,
fears). We may know that something is so, and we may also believe that something is so.
Believing may be based on facts, opinion or both, and may be true, erroneous or both.
Something may be true but we may not believe it, and we may believe something that isn't
true.
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Beliefs, suppositions and hypotheses, have not necessarily got a truth-value. This kind of
expressive information is named as modal information. In the modal information category
there are absolute values or norms, commands, questions etc.
For IS the most obvious is data and dialogical or data-derived information. Raw data is
converting to data-derived information when processed. This is traditionally divided into
procedural information, which is a series of instructions following a specific algorithm or
heuristics, whereas declarative information is passive, non-algorithmic description of world
in a symbolic and explicit format. Data is finally numerical.
Meta-information management is nowadays a crucial component of organizational system
strategy. It can be further divided to system-specific meta-information and data-specific
information. The system information is about the media where the data is stored and
retrieved, while the data-specific information is solely data about data.
All information categorization is based on the same procedure where human
notice patterns from environment, and, when the perception of these patterns leads to the
interpretation of new information in the context of previous knowledge, the meaning occurs.
This notion of dynamic meaning is an important aspect for ICT. There are many other issues
of human knowledge not written here, such as the question of understanding and tacit
knowledge.

Need of knowledge management:

We need to manage knowledge that identifies some of the specific business factors including:

Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising.

Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal methods

Competitive pressures reduce the size of the work force that holds valuable business
knowledge.

The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished

Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge.

There is a need to manage increasing complexity as small operating companies are transnational sourcing operations.

Changes in strategic direction may result in the loss of knowledge in a specific area.
8

Importance of knowledge Management system in an organization:

Most companies are focused on producing a product or service for customers. However, one
of the most significant keys to value-creation comes from placing emphasis on producing
knowledge. The production of knowledge needs to be a major part of the overall production
strategy.
One of the biggest challenges behind knowledge management is the dissemination of
knowledge. People with the highest knowledge have the potential for high levels of value
creation. But this knowledge can only create value if it's placed in the hands of those who
must execute on it. Knowledge is usually difficult to access it leaves when the knowledge
professional resigns.
The only irreplaceable capital an organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its
people. The productivity of that capital depends on how effectively people share their
competence with those who can use it. Andrew Carnegie
Therefore, knowledge management is often about managing relationships within the
organization. Collaborative tools (intranets, balanced scorecards, data warehouses, customer
relations management, expert systems, etc.) are often used to establish these relationships.
Some companies have developed knowledge maps, identifying what must be shared, where
can we find it, what information is needed to support an activity, etc. Knowledge maps codify
information so that it becomes real knowledge; i.e. from data to intelligence.
In the book Value Based Knowledge Management, the authors advocate that every
organization should strive to have six capabilities working together:
1. Produce: Apply the right combination of knowledge and systems so that you produce
knowledge based environment.
2. Respond: Constantly monitor and respond to the marketplace through an empowered
workforce within a decentralized structure.
3. Anticipate: Become pro-active by anticipating events and issues based on this new
decentralized knowledge based system.

4. Attract: Attract people who have a thirst for knowledge, people who clearly
demonstrate that they love to learn and share their knowledge opening with others.
These so-called knowledge professionals are one of the most significant components
of your intellectual capital.
5. Create: Provide a strong learning environment for the thirsty knowledge worker.
Allow everyone to learn through experiences with customers, competition, etc.
6. Last: Secure long-term commitments from knowledge professionals. These people
are key drivers behind your organization. If they leave, there goes the knowledge.
Knowledge professionals will become the dominant force behind the new economy, not
unlike the farmer was once the key player behind the agricultural age. By the year 2010, onethird of the workforce in the United States will be comprised of knowledge professionals. It is
incumbent upon all organizations to embrace this need for managing knowledge. Just take a
look at those organizations that seem to create value against the competition. You will
invariably find a strong emphasis on knowledge management.

Principles of Knowledge Management:

Winston Churchill said, "The empires of the future are the empires of the mind." Tom Peters
said, "Heavy lifting is out; brains are in."
The knowledge economy has brought new power to workers. Many are "free agents,"
contingency workers that make up almost a third of the U.S. workforce. Workers own the
means of production-their knowledge. They can sell it, trade it, or give it away and still own
it. As a result, the ways we manage people have undergone a dramatic, fundamental shift.

Knowledge is perishable. The shelf life of expertise is limited because new technologies,
products, and services continually pour into the marketplace. No one can hoard knowledge.
People and companies must constantly renew, replenish, expand, and create more knowledge.

That requires a radical overhaul of the old knowledge equation: knowledge = power, so hoard
it. The new knowledge equation is knowledge = power, so share it and it will multiply.
Widespread noncompetitive benchmarking and best-practice sharing show how eagerly we
are embracing the concept of knowledge sharing.
10

Hubert St. Onge, who led the development of the knowledge management approach at
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, sees the primary challenge as making an
organization's unarticulated or tacit knowledge explicit so that it can be shared and renewed
constantly.
"It is important," he says, "to understand how knowledge is formed, and how people and
organizations learn to use it wisely."

A navigation technique is to look at the stars to tell you where you are. Similarly, we must use
a powerful new "knowledge lens" in order to navigate or manage our companies. But we can't
manage knowledge in a traditional way. Always changing, knowledge is more organic than
mechanical.

Nevertheless, here are 12 fairly steady principles about knowledge.

1. Knowledge is messy. Because knowledge is connected to everything else, you can't

isolate the knowledge aspect of anything neatly. In the knowledge universe, you can't
pay attention to just one factor.
2. Knowledge is self-organizing. The self that knowledge organizes around is
organizational or group identity and purpose.
3. Knowledge seeks community. Knowledge wants to happen, just as life wants to
happen. Both want to happen as community. Nothing illustrates this principle more
than the Internet.
4. Knowledge travels via language. Without a language to describe our experience, we
can't communicate what we know. Expanding organizational knowledge means that
we must develop the languages we use to describe our work experience.

11

5. the more you try to pin knowledge down, the more it slips away. It's tempting to try
to tie up knowledge as codified knowledge-documents, patents, libraries, databases,
and so forth. But too much rigidity and formality regarding knowledge lead to the
stultification of creativity.
6. Looser is probably better. Highly adaptable systems look sloppy. The survival rate of
diverse, decentralized systems is higher. That means we can waste resources and
energy trying to control knowledge too tightly.
7. There is no one solution. Knowledge is always changing. For the moment, the best
approach to managing it is one that keeps things moving along while keeping options
open.
8. Knowledge doesn't grow forever. Eventually, some knowledge is lost or dies, just as
things in nature. Unlearning and letting go of old ways of thinking, even retiring
whole blocks of knowledge, contribute to the vitality and evolution of knowledge.
9. No one is in charge. Knowledge is a social process. That means no one person can
take responsibility for collective knowledge.
10. You can't impose rules and systems. If knowledge is truly self-organizing, the most
important way to advance it is to remove the barriers to self-organization. In a
supportive environment, knowledge will take care of itself.
11. There is no silver bullet. There is no single leverage point or best practice to advance
knowledge. It must be supported at multiple levels and in a variety of ways.
12. How you define knowledge determines how you manage it. The "knowledge
question" can present itself many ways. For example, concern about the ownership of
knowledge leads to acquiring codified knowledge that is protected by copyrights and
patents.

12

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH:

The main objectives of the research are:
1. To know how helpful is knowledge management in the organization.
2. To know how knowledge management is implemented in the organization.
3. To know the results of knowledge management in the organization.
4. To know how responsible and accountable are the employees in the organization
about the knowledge management.
1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Data relating to HERITAGE has been collected through

PRIMARY SOURCES:
o Detailed discussions with Mr.RAVINDARNATH, (SENIOR PERSONNEL
MANGER, ISD, HERITAGE, Hyderabad).
o Collection of information with other employees in the personnel department
by the distribution of questionnaire at HERITAGE.
SECONDARY SOURCES:

Web site of HERITAGE.

HERITAGE Journals

In house magazines.

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CHAPTER - II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
14

A number of management theorists have contributed to the evolution of

knowledge management, among them such notables as Peter Drunker, Paul Stresemann,
and Peter Senge in the United States. Ducker and Stresemann have stressed the growing
importance of information and explicit knowledge as organizational resources, and
Senge has focused on the learning organization ; a cultural dimension of Managing
knowledge. ChirsiArgyris, Christoper Bartlett, and Dorothy Leonard-Barton of Harvard
Business School have examined various facets of managing knowledge. In fact Leonard
Bartons well-known case study of chaparral steel a company which has had an
effective knowledge management strategy in place since the mid-1970s inspired the
research documented in her wellsprings of knowledge-building and sustaining sources of
innovation
Everest Rogers work at Stanford in the diffusion of innovation and Thomas Allens
research at MIT in information and technology transfer both of which date from the late
1970s, have also contributed to our understanding of how knowledge is produced used
and diffused within organizations. By the mid-1980 the importance of knowledge (and
its expression in professional competence) as a competitive asset was apparent even
though classical economic theory ignores (the valve of) knowledge as an asset and most
organization still lack strategies and methods for managing it.
Recognition of the growing importance of organizational knowledge was accompanied
by concern over how to deal with exponential increases in the amount of available
knowledge and increasingly complex products and processes. The computer technology
that contributed so heavily to superabundance of information started to become part of
the solution , in a variety of domains .Doug Engelbart/s Augment (for augmenting
human intelligence), which was introduced in 1978, was an early hypertext/groupware
application capable of interfacing with other applications and systems. Rob Acksyns and
Don McCracken, Knowledge Management System (KMS).an open distributed
hypermedia tool, is another notable example and one that predates the World Wide Web
by a decade.
The 1980 also saw the development of systems for managing knowledge that relied on
work done in artificial intelligence and expert systems, giving us such concepts as

15

knowledge acquisition, knowledge engineering, knowledge-base systems, and

computer-based ontologies.
The phrase knowledge management entered the lexicon in earnest. To provide a
technological base for managing knowledge a consortium of U.S.companies
Started the initiative for managing knowledge Assets in 1989. Knowledge managementrelated articles

began appearing in journals like Sloan management Review,

Organizational Science Harvard Business Review and others and the first books on
organizational

learning

and

knowledge

management

were

published

(for

example,Senges The fifth Discipline and Sakaiya s The knowledge valve revolution)
By 1990, a number of management consulting firms had begun in-house knowledge
management programs and several well known U.S...European and Japanese firms had
instituted focused knowledge management programs. Knowledge management was
introduced in the popular press in 1991, when Tom Stewart published Brainpower in
fortune magazine. Perhaps the most widely read work to date is lkujiro Nonakas and
Hirotaka Takeuchis the knowledge creating company How Japanese companies create
the Dynamics of innovation (1995)

By the mid-1990s knowledge management initiatives were flourishing thanks in part to

the internet. The International Knowledge Management Network begun in
Europe in 1989, went online in 1994 and was soon joined by the us abased knowledge
Management Forum and other KM-related groups and publications, The number of
knowledge management conferences and seminars is growing as organizations focus on
managing and leveraging explicit and tacit knowledge resources to achieve competitive
advantage in 1994 the IKMN published the results of a knowledge management survey
conducted among European Firms and the European community began offering funding
for KM-related projects through the ESPRIT program in 1995

Knowledge Management which appears to offer a highly desirable alternative to failed

TQM and business process re-engineering initiatives has become big business for such
major international consulting firms as Ernst and Young Arthur Anderson and Booz
16

Allen and Hamilton In addition a number of professional organization interested in such

related areas as bench marking best practices risk management and change management
are exploring the relationship of knowledge management to their areas of special
expertise and ASIS(American Society for Information Science)

Knowledge and information have become the medium in which business problems
occur. As a result managing knowledge represents the primary opportunity for achieving
substantial savings, significant improvements in human performance and competitive
advantage.
Small companies need formal approaches to knowledge management even more because they
dont have the market leverage inertia and resources that big companies do. They have to be
much more flexible more responsive and more right because even small mistakes can be
fatal to them.

Categorization of knowledge management approaches:

The term knowledge management is now in widespread use having appeared in the titles
of many new books about knowledge management as a business strategy as well as in articles
in many business publications, including the wall street journal there are of course many
ways to slice up the multi-faceted world of knowledge management. However its often
useful to categorize them.
In a posting to the knowledge management Forum Karl Erik Shelby identified two tracks of
knowledge management:

Management of information. To researchers in this track, according to Shelby,

Knowledge objects that can be identified and handled in information systems.

Management of people. For researchers and practitioners in this field knowledge

consists of processes a complex set of dynamic skills know-how, etc that is constantly
changing.

APPROACHES TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT:

Approaches to organizational knowledge management we have adopted a three part
categorization:
17

Mechanistic approaches

Cultural/behaviorist approaches

Systematic approaches to knowledge management

Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management:

Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management are characterized by the application

of technology and resources to do more of the same better, the main assumptions of the
mechanistic approaches include:

Better accessibility to information is a key including enhanced methods of access

and reuse of documents.

Networking technology in general and groupware in particular will be key

solutions

In general technology and sheer volume of information will make it work

Assessment:
such approaches are relatively easy to implement for corporate political
reasons because the technological and techniques although sometime advanced in
particular areas are familiar and easily understood there is a modicum of good sense
here because enhances access to corporate intellectual assets is vital But it simply not
clear whether access itself will have a substantial impact on business performance
especially as mountain of new information are placed online Unless the knowledge
management approach incorporate methods of leveraging cumulative experience. The
net result may not be positive and the impact of implementation may be no more
measurable than in traditional paper models.
Cultural/behavioristic approaches to knowledge management:
Cultural/behavioristic approaches, with substantial roots in process re-engineering and
change management, tend to view the knowledge problem as a management issue.
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Technology through ultimately essential for managing explicit knowledge resources is not
the solution. These approaches tend to focus more on innovation and creativity than on
leveraging existing explicit resources or making working knowledge explicit.
Assumptions of cultural/behavioristic approaches often include:

Organizational behavior and culture need to be changed dramatically. In our

information intensive environments, organizations become dysfunctional
relative to business objectives.

Its the processes that matter, not the technology.

Nothing happens or changes unless a manager makes it happen.

Assessment: the cultural factors affecting organizational change have almost certain
been undervalued, and cultural/behavioristic implementations have shown some
benefits. But the cause effect relationship between cultural strategy and business
benefit is not clear, because the Hawthorne effect may come into play and because
we still cant make dependable predictions about systems as complex as knowledge
based business organizations.
Systematic approaches to knowledge management:
Systematic approaches to knowledge management retain the tradition fath in rational
analysis of the knowledge problem: the problem can be solved, but new thinking of
many kinds is required. Some basic assumptions:

Its sustainable results that matter, not the processes or technology or your
definition of knowledge.

A resource cannot be managed unless it is modeled, and many aspects of the

organizations knowledge can be modeled as an explicit resource.

Solutions can be found in a variety of declines and technologies, and

traditional methods of analysis can be used to re-examine the nature of
knowledge work and to solve the knowledge problem.

Cultural issues are important, but they too must be evaluated systematically.
Employees may or may not to be changed, but policies and work practices

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must certainly be changed, and technology can applied successfully to

business knowledge problems themselves.
Assessment: unrepentant rationalists in the business world are taking a systematic
approach to solving the knowledge problem. Systematic approaches show the most
promise for positive cumulative impact, measurability and sustainability.

The knowledge economy is the next booming economy in a world of recession:

In a world that is facing economic recession many are starting to ask what is going to be the
next booming economy, what are its characteristics and, how will it help us to grow out of
recession?
At knowledge-management online.com we strongly suggest that the next booming economy
is already here! Its the rapidly growing knowledge economy!
More individuals, teams, organizations and inter- organizations networks will be restructuring
and renewing themselves with the primary purpose of profitability trading their knowledge to
add even higher value, predominantly on the world wide web.
Already we see more enlightened organizations developing and applying the knowledge they
have about their industry, customers, partners and stakeholders, as their prime strategic asset,
and at the highest point in the value chain. And many are becoming less involved and more
open to profitably outsourcing the other business operations.
Around the world we hear automobile companies talking far more about their critical and key
knowledge areas of design, knowledge of manufacturing, knowledge of distribution,
knowledge of service and support etc as their crown jewels or master recipe.
Based on applying this key knowledge they then outsource the other business components.
We hear the same from the aerospace industry, the food and agricultural industry, the health
care industry, in fact most, if not all, industries.

Our knowledge mantra is known and apply what you know the best, and link to the
rest

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Knowledge has become the key strategic asset for the 21st century and for every organization
that values knowledge it must invest in developing the best strategy for identifying,
developing and applying the knowledge assets in needs to succeed.
Every organization needs to invest in creating and implementing the best knowledge
networks, processes, methods, tools and technologies. This will enable them to learn, create
new knowledge, and apply the best knowledge much faster.
Every individual who wishes to successfully participate in the rapidly growing global
knowledge economy must now consider the development of their personal knowledge
management competencies as an essential life skill for the 21st century.
It has been said many times, knowledge will radically and fundamentally transform
economies.
One thing is absolutely certain in this rapidly changing world.
The best knowledge will always be in demand.
In, say, fifty years time you can be certain of one thing. Leaders of economies, industries and
organizations will always be very interested in finding new and better ways to create and
apply knowledge.
Effective knowledge management is a timeless and changeless principle.
The strategies, methods and tools of knowledge management will undoubtedly
change, but the timeless principles will, of course, remain unchanged.
And to survive and succeed in the new global knowledge economy we must become far more
effective and more productive. We must always strive for the best relations and highest
quality.
To do that, the successful organizations and individuals will not allow themselves to keepreinventing the wheel or repeating the same mistakes. This is so costly and, we suggest that
good leaders will simply not tolerate, nor be able afford, such cost inefficiencies caused by
knowledge gaps and bad knowledge flows.
Would the global financial crisis have been prevented or minimized with far more effective
global knowledge management?

21

Finally, those individuals and organizations that can best sense, become quickly alerted to,
find, organize, and apply knowledge, with a much faster response time, will simply leave
the competition far behind.
All of this can only be achieved through good knowledge leadership that understands the
unchanging timeless principles for knowledge, that which transforms individuals and
organizations to become far more responsive and effective players in a growing knowledge
economy.
Knowledge management is for everyone.
Global and/or planetary knowledge management is becoming a reality today.
It is our belief that the knowledge economy is rapidly becoming the largest and most
successful and sustainable economy in the world.

Process of knowledge management system:

Organization will have many areas to improve but KM team should focus on all following
areas
.
Learning from Failures in KM
Chief knowledge officer
Generations of Knowledge Management
Key focus area for Knowledge Management
Web Based Knowledge Management.
Web based knowledge management software
Customer knowledge management.

Learning from Failures in KM:

22

Knowledge Management is not all about success stories. Crucial organization learning comes
from failures where planed effort is put to get a well targeted outcome. IN the process of
Knowledge Management we call it lessons learned. Experimenting and learning is a
continuous process for a learning organization but learning from failures is important in such
a process. Organizations should have a right frame work and attitude to learn from its
failures. Here are some of the key points to learn from failures.
We identify or discuss about successful implementation or developing a new concepts
by any organization. But we rarely discuss our failures. Organization has to understand that
every failure opens up way for improvements and triggers learning and unlearning process.
Organizations pass through a failures and learning process to develop a successful product or
services. Here we are discussing about success which is an outcome of well targeted
approach. Not a success happened by chance. Every failure is taken as a learning opportunity
in the process of developing better product and services in a learning organization. But we
rarely understand or discuss the process by which the new product or concept is developed.
This process which is developed keeping in mind the people and its culture, is unique to the
organization can't be copied by others.
Discussions on failures usually not takes place because of three main reasons. One is
organizational culture where failures are not taken in proper sprit. Often investigation carried
out to identify the person responsible than identifying learning and short comings. Second is
lack of trust among the employees. Sharing of success and failures comes if culture of mutual
trust and believe exists in the organization. Blaming others for failures leaves less chance for
learning. This behavior known as Defensive Reasoning is well explained in the article
Teaching Smart People How to Learn by Chris Argyris in HBR May-Jun 1991. Third is
availability of platform to interact. Interactions should take place in a structured process by
giving the members a free and open atmosphere to explain or project the failures. Root cause
analysis discussion of a maintenance group is a good example of this. Knowledge
Management encourages discussion on failures in a tool popularly known as Community.
Here members of a Cop having common interest regularly meet to share their failure and
success stories and help each other.
A productive failure is better than an unproductive success. We have little to learn where
success is not because of targeted efforts. Whereas each failure gives us insight and new way
to develop or improve. After a successful completion of projects often the key peoples are
23

shifted to other projects to transfer the knowledge gained or lessons learned from the
successfully or failed ones.
To encourage learning and to limit the damage due to failures, organizations often create
prototypes or models to experiment with different approaches. This active experimentation
usually does not affect the live system resulting in minimal consequence damage and
provides a platform to understand cause and affect events. Here productive failures are
targeted to develop new concepts and to better understand the system. Basic assumptions and
standard procedures are often challenged to create new and improved process. Without a
process of active experimentation organization remains in the captivity of old assumptions
and practices.

Learning from failure gives organizations the insight to move forward and develop new
learning. Organization should not forget its past and should never try to re-invent the wheel.
Organization culture, mutual trust creates an atmosphere of sharing among employees to
drive the organization in its journey of Knowledge Management.

Chief Knowledge Officer:

Do you have a chief knowledge officer in your organization? There are different opinions on
having a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) or not. If your organization is a learning
organization and knowledge is shared across all the platforms and innovation is part of the
culture then why you need a CKO? Before that let us find out what the roll and responsibility
of a CKO.
Chief Knowledge Officer has to facilitate knowledge creation, sharing, and innovation across
the organization to achieve its strategic objectives.
The ultimate success of CKO is to make all his or her responsibility or job a part of all the
organization process or DNA so the absence of the CKO is never felt. So it is more likely that
a successful CKO is who has no job. For this reasons some organizations don't have a CKO

24

post and expect all seniors or divisional heads to perform the role of CKO in their own
process. CKO is not the chief information officer and is different in many ways.
CKO have the knowledge of facilitating innovation in all process of the organization so he
who knows the strategic requirement and knowledge creation. It is more likely that CKO is
the next General Manager of the organization.

Generations of Knowledge Management:

Knowledge Available: First generation of Knowledge Management:
The KM system should able to deliver all the required knowledge to the Knowledge worker
as and when required with a little effort. The best practices should be shared among all the
employees to improve productivity. There should be a way to discuss or access the systems
for Lesions learnt, root cause analysis, success stories etc. Knowledge workers must learn
from each
other experience and would able to discuss freely with all other member of the organization.
All documents, procedures, maintenance practices, system tools etc should be available and
can be easily access by the knowledge workers as and when required. Experts yellow page,
community of practices encourages knowledge workers to innovate and share the
experiences. Frequently Asked Questions on various rules and procedures will help in
reducing time and efforts of different sections of the organization.

A free flow of

information and knowledge is what targeted here.

Know what we don't know: Second generation of Knowledge Management
Are we good in all the areas? Were we are lagging? How to bridge the knowledge gaps?
These are the questions the second generation of knowledge management will try to address.
Organizations must always evaluate its own performance with others and find out the scope
of improvements. All K-gaps need to be identified in a regular basis and to be presented to
the knowledge workers for discussion and innovation. The target is not only to bridge the Kgaps but to move ahead with the experience gained in the process. The door is always kept
open for new learning to improve the standard. The organization can't confined itself only to
facilitate required knowledge flow for its knowledge workers on their day to day activities
25

but will make it more challenging to explore the best possible way to do the same job.
Benchmarking standards always rose to new heights
Knowledge for the future: Third generation of Knowledge Management
Can the organization find out what is going to be the next technology in coming years? What
the customers are going to looking for the product and services in future? What is working
today for the organization is going to work tomorrow also? How fast the organization will
realign itself to change in market? All these falls in third generation of knowledge
management. Here all innovations, learning's are targeted to future market requirements.
Organization must find out the future requirement without any visible indication from the
present environment. Products are developed to set new standards. No one has asked Sony to
produce Walkman; neither had they found the demand for such a product from any market
research. Market may not know that such a product is required. MS Office developed by
Microsoft keeping an eye the growing use of PC in everyday life and long before they
anticipated the requirement

Key focus area for Knowledge Management:

Every organization has many areas to improve or give better result. It is known that an
organization exist for customers but the way to achieve this may not necessarily be same for
all. After returning from a conference one member of KM team has proposed to develop
customer profile in an improved & new manner. He was influenced by a success story of a
mobile service provider who has substantially increased its customer base by understanding
customer and providing a better service. This customer centric approach is to be copied and
applied in a manufacturing company. However in reality the company products were in high
demand and there is always shortage at market. The company was expanding its production
capacity. Because of high capital cost and delay from equipment manufacturers and long
installation process the expansion was getting delayed. Here in this case a faster completion
of capacity expansion would serve the customers interest better than providing a better
customer profile or service. The KM team has missed the focus area to improve and got
carried away by some other success story which has worked in a different industry.

26

Every organization has its unique strategic focus area. By focusing in this the KM team gets
maximum impact.
What are the strategic focus (or strategic) areas the KM team must identify. In a broad way
there are three areas and one of these three are to be the key (or strategic) focus area for the
organization.
1. Internal Process improvements or optimize operational efficiency
2.Fast & innovative product development
3.Customer centric approach.
Let

us take example of a pharmaceutical company manufacturing drugs. A new molecule or

fast to introduce a new drug can give better revenue to the company. Here the new product
development must be the focus of the KM team.
Now let us take the example of a mining company who supply raw materials to big
integrated industries. A high level of operational efficiency is what can give the organization
an edge over the others.
Now for a mobile service provider it is the customer centric approach which will help
it to gain more business in a congested market.
Keeping these three focus areas in mind we can try to map different industries to one of them.
Once we identify the strategic focus area let us think on how to design our KM platform to
help the organization to achieve its objectives.

Web Based Knowledge Management:

With recent development in Internet technology and its wider acceptance and popularity there
are many products available today to facilitate knowledge sharing and coloration using web
technologies. The main advantage of web-based technology is it can be deployed in Internet
or in intranet within the organization. Internet is also used to create a VPN (virtual private
network) using internet as medium of data transmission. We will discuss more about web
based KM system here. Organizations have used different platforms to deploy a KM system

27

but in all most all cases a web browser is used as client end tool to access the KM system.
Advantages of web based knowledge management system
1. This is easy to maintain as development requirements are limited to the server side.
Changes can be done to the system easily and continues improvement can be done to
the system.
2. The client side any web browser can be used to access the server. From the users point
of view they are comfortable with a web browser ( thanks to internet ) and they know
the common system of login / logout , form entry etc so using a browser at client end
is always advantages than using any custom maid front end tool. This is one of the
main reasons to go for a web based KM system. Any new employee joining the
organization can use the system without any formal training on portal.
3. Up gradation is also easy as one end at server the up gradation is to be done.
4. The reach of the portal is not limited as anyone can access from any part of the
intranet or internet. The access area of the portal increases with the expansion of the
network.
5. Easy to get technical staff as common features are used.

Requirements of a Web based KM system:

Web Server:

The hardware of the web server is to be decided based on the traffic, network configuration
etc. Web server operating system is the part of the system which delivers the required files to
the client browser after required processing. Web server is to be selected based on the
scripting (programming) language, database supports etc. There are many web servers
available in the market today and Microsoft's windows server is a major player in the
corporate market today. Windows 2003 server is the most recent one. In the other hand the
Linux server is of great demand as a part of open source community. Window server usually
runs IIS (internet information server) as the web server and in the same way Linux server
runs APACHE as the web server.

Programming Language and database

28

Depending on the server support the programming language can be selected. Some of the
languages popularly used for scripting are Java Server Pages (JSP), ASP or ASP dot Net,
PHP, Cold fusion, Perl, etc. Database support is a common requirement in such cases as
details of files, members, system tracking etc are to be stored. Popular database for web
applications are MySQL, MSSQL, Oracletc.

In the client side any web browser can be used to access the server. Popular browsers are MS
internetexplorer,NetscapeNavigator,FireFoxetc.
Network

An existing network can be used to develop a web based KM system. Internet also can be
used for this with required access limitations. Organizations with offices in scattered
geographical locations can use VPN (virtual private network) which uses internet to create a
private network. In such a system organization can keep its web server inside its premises and
through VPN outside offices can access the server.
KMPortal
One web portal can be developed using any internet hosting solutions and access can be
restricted by login systems. Users with different levels of permission can access contributions
/ articles of different authors. This type of system helps in sharing best practices, experiments,
innovations, failure stories etc. KM portals are developed with database support to keep the
records of authors, members, access levels, visitor tracking and many other requirements.
Usually all contributions of members passes through a veteran approval system before it
goes to the public view or the member view. Members posting to the author, rating system,
feedback of users members management, admin area etc are some of the features generally
used in KM portal.
Web Based discussion board or forum

29

A virtual community can be created by using Web based discussion boards. Different sections
or areas can be created to create different sections for discussions. Here the discussions are
available for all in the organization to view / post / reply to the topics. This is an ideal
solution for branch offices, communities located in different geographical areas but having
common area of interest. They can share their common problems, areas of concerns,
experience and help each other in building a strong bond of networking. Little help from
organization in creating trust among members by organizing face to face interactive sessions
will

encourage

the

members

to

actively

participate

in

the

forums.

There are many readymade scripts available in the market and one such system can be
developed in house keeping in mind the requirements of the organization. Under open source
community

some

scripts

are

popular

for

web

application

like

PHPBB,

BLOGS
Web blogs are popular now days and companies have utilized this tool to create awareness
and evolve opinions on different issues. Blogs can be hosted in the company intranet or
popular blog sites like blogspot.com can be used to give a platform to the employees to post
their

views.

Many

companies

have

their

blogging

policy

also.

Expert System
Many organizations don't know what they know. By encouraging employees posting their
problems or difficulties to an expert system organization can save time and money in finding
best solutions to the problems. Experts database with profile updating can be kept for the
public view and queries can be posted to specific experts based on the areas of domain and
expertise of the exports. This helps in creating innovation and learning culture in an
organization.

Web Based Knowledge Management software:

Web based knowledge management can be deployed in a company intranet or on the Internet
with or without secure login. Companies can develop a knowledge management system using
the Internet with login access to all its employees located in different part of the world. A
30

mobile work force can login to the KM (knowledge Management) portal from anywhere by
connecting to internet. Many such initiatives in the past have given good result to the
companies. Such systems help strategically to the company when company branches are
located in different geographical location and this gives a platform to the employees to share
best practices, problems, customer interactions etc and prevent reinvention of wheel. We will
discuss some of the tools here.

31

CHAPTER 3
INDUSTRY & COMPANY
PROFILE

32

INDUSTRY PROFILE
India is the world's second largest producer of food next to China, and has the potential of
being the biggest with the food and agricultural sector. The total food production in India is
likely to double in the next ten years and there is an opportunity for large investments in food
and food processing technologies, skills and equipment, especially in areas of Canning, Dairy
and Food Processing, Specialty Processing, Packaging, Frozen Food/Refrigeration and Thermo
Processing. Fruits & Vegetables, Fisheries, Milk & Milk Products, Meat & Poultry,
Packaged/Convenience Foods, Alcoholic Beverages & Soft Drinks and Grains are important
sub-sectors of the food processing industry. Health food and health food supplements is another
rapidly rising segment of this industry which is gaining vast popularity amongst the health
conscious.
India is one of the worlds major food producers but accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of
international food trade. This indicates vast scope for both investors and exporters. Food exports
in 1998 stood at US $5.8 billion whereas the world total was US $438 billion. The Indian food
industries sales turnover is Rs 140,000 crore (1 crore = 10 million) annually as at the start of
year 2000. The industry has the highest number of plants approved by the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) outside the USA.
India's food processing sector covers fruit and vegetables; meat and poultry; milk and milk
products, alcoholic beverages, fisheries, plantation, grain processing and other consumer product
groups like confectionery, chocolates and cocoa products, Soya-based products, mineral water,
high protein foods etc. We cover an exhaustive database of an array of suppliers, manufacturers,
exporters and importers widely dealing in sectors like the -Food Industry, Dairy processing,
Indian beverage industry etc. We also cover sectors like dairy plants, canning, bottling plants,
packaging industries, process machinery etc.
The most promising sub-sectors includes -Soft-drink bottling, Confectionery manufacture,
Fishing, aquaculture, Grain-milling and grain-based products, Meat and poultry processing,
Alcoholic beverages, Milk processing, Tomato paste, Fast-food, Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals,
Food additives, flavors etc.

33

The food industry includes:

Regulation: local, regional, national and international rules and regulations for food
production and sale, including food quality and food safety, and industry lobbying
activities

Education: academic, vocational, consultancy

Research and development: food technology

Financial services insurance, credit

Manufacturing: agrichemicals, seed, farm machinery and supplies, agricultural

construction, etc.

Agriculture: raising of crops and livestock, seafood

Food processing: preparation of fresh products for market, manufacture of prepared

food products

Marketing: promotion of generic products (e.g. milk board), new products, public
opinion, through advertising, packaging, public relations, etc

Wholesale and distribution: warehousing, transportation, logistics

Retail: supermarket chains and independent food stores, direct-to-consumer,

restaurant, food services

Consumer: End user has one of the highest influences on the food industry through
things like preference

Definitions
34

It is challenging to find an inclusive way to cover all aspects of food production and sale. The
Food Standards Agency, a government body in the UK, describes it thus:
"...the whole food industry from farming and food production, packaging and
distribution, to retail and catering."[1]
The Economic Research Service of the USDA uses the term food system to describe the same
thing:
"The U.S. food system is a complex network of farmers and the industries that link to
them. Those links include makers of farm equipment and chemicals as well as firms
that provide services to agribusinesses, such as providers of transportation and
financial services. The system also includes the food marketing industries that link
farms to consumers, and which include food and fiber processors, wholesalers,
retailers, and foodservice establishments."[2].

Industry size
Processed food sales worldwide are approximately US$3.2 trillion (2004).[citation needed]
In the U.S., consumers spend approximately US$1 trillion annually on food,

[3]

or nearly 10

percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Over 16.5 million people are employed in the
food industry.

Agriculture
Main article: Agriculture
Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by the
cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). The practice
of agriculture is also known as "farming", while scientists, inventors and others devoted to
improving farming methods and implements are also said to be engaged in agriculture. More
people in the world are involved in agriculture as their primary economic activity than in any
other, yet it only accounts for four percent of the world's GDP.

Food processing
35

Main article: Food processing

Food processing is the methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food
for human consumption.Food processing takes clean, harvested or slaughtered and butchered
components and uses them to produce marketable food products.there are several different
ways in which food can be produced.
One Off Production This method is used when customers make an order for something to be
made to their own specifications, for example a wedding cake. The making of One Off
Products could take days depending on how intricate the design is and also the ability of the
chef making the product.
Batch Production This method is used when the size of the market for a product is not clear,
and where there is a range within a product line. A certain number of the same goods will be
produced to make up a batch or run, for example at Greggs Bakery they will bake a certain
number of chicken bakes. This method involves estimating the amount of customers that will
want to buy that product.
Mass production This method is used when there is a mass market for a large number of
identical products, for example, chocolate bars, ready meals and canned food. The product
passes from one stage of production to another along a production line.
Just In Time This method of production is mainly used in sandwich bars such as Subway, it is
when all the components of the product are there and the customer chooses what they want in
their product and it is made for them fresh in front of them.

Wholesale and distribution

A vast global transportation network is required by the food industry in order to connect its
numerous parts. These include suppliers, manufacturers, warehousing, retailers and the end
consumers. There are also those companies that, during the food processing process, add
vitamins, minerals, and other necessary requrements usually lost during preparation.
Wholesale markets for fresh food products have tended to decline in importance in OECD
countries as well as in Latin America and some Asian countries as a result of the growth of

36

supermarkets, which procure directly from farmers or through preferred suppliers, rather than
going through markets.
The constant and uninterrupted flow of product from distribution centers to store locations is
a critical link in food industry operations. Distribution centers run more efficiently,
throughput can be increased, costs can be lowered, and manpower better utilized if the proper
steps are taken when setting up a material handling system in a warehouse. (1)
(1) http://www.groceryheadquarters.com/articles/2009-01-01/Boosting-efficiency-at-the-DC

Retail
With populations around the world concentrating in urban areas,[4] food buying is increasingly
removed from all aspects food production. This is a relatively recent development, taking
place mainly over the last 50 years. The supermarket is a defining retail element of the food
industry, where tens of thousands of products are gathered in one location, in continuous,
year-round supply.
Food preparation is another area where change in recent decades has been dramatic. Today,
two food industry sectors are in apparent competition for the retail food dollar. The grocery
industry sell fresh and largely raw products for consumers to use as ingredients in home
cooking. The food service industry offers prepared food, either as finished products, or as
partially prepared components for final "assembly".

Foodservice
Main article: Foodservice

Food industry technologies

Sophisticated technologies define modern food production. They include many areas.
Agricultural machinery, originally led by the tractor, has practically eliminated human labor
in many areas of production. Biotechnology is driving much change, in areas as diverse as
agrochemicals, plant breeding and food processing. Many other areas of technology are also
involved, to the point where it is hard to find an area that does not have a direct impact on the
37

food industry. Computer technology is also a central force, with computer networks and
specialized software providing the support infrastructure to allow global movement of the
myriad components involved.

Marketing
As consumers grow increasingly removed from food production, the role of product creation,
advertising, publicity become the primary vehicles for information about food. With
processed food as the dominant category, marketers have almost infinite possibilities in
product creation.

Media & Marketing

A key tool for FMCG marketing managers targeting the supermarket indusrty includes
national titles like The Grocer in the U.K., Checkout in Ireland, Progressive Grocer in the
U.S. and Private Label Europe for the entire of the European Union.
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into
food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in
the home or by the food processing industry. Food processing typically takes clean, harvested
crops or slaughtered and butchered animal products and uses these to produce attractive,
marketable and often long shelf-life food products. Similar processes are used to produce
animal feed.
Extreme examples of food processing include the delicate preparation of deadly fugu fish or
preparing space food for consumption under zero gravity.

History

38

Food processing dates back to the prehistoric ages when crude processing incorporated
slaughtering, fermenting, sun drying, preserving with salt, and various types of cooking (such
as roasting, smoking, steaming, and oven baking). Salt-preservation was especially common
for foods that constituted warrior and sailors' diets, up until the introduction of canning
methods. Evidence for the existence of these methods exists in the writings of the ancient
Greek , Chaldean, Egyptian and Roman civilizations as well as archaeological evidence from
Europe, North and South America and Asia. These tried and tested processing techniques
remained essentially the same until the advent of the industrial revolution. Examples of
ready-meals also exist from pre industrial revolution times such as the Cornish pasty and the
Haggis
Modern food processing technology in the 19th and 20th century was largely developed to
serve military needs. In 1809 Nicolas Appert invented a vacuum bottling technique that
would supply food for French troops, and this contributed to the development of tinning and
then canning by Peter Durand in 1810. Although initially expensive and somewhat hazardous
due to the lead used in cans, canned goods would later become a staple around the world.
Pasteurization, discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1862, was a significant advance in ensuring
the micro-biological safety of food.
In the 20th century, World War II, the space race and the rising consumer society in
developed countries (including the United States) contributed to the growth of food
processing with such advances as spray drying, juice concentrates, freeze drying and the
introduction of artificial sweeteners, colouring agents, and preservatives such as sodium
benzoate. In the late 20th century products such as dried instant soups, reconstituted fruits
and juices, and self cooking meals such as MRE food ration were developed.
In western Europe and North America, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a rise in
the pursuit of convenience, food processors especially marketed their products to middleclass working wives and mothers. Frozen foods (often credited to Clarence Birdseye) found
their success in sales of juice concentrates and "TV dinners".

[1]

Processors utilised the

perceived value of time to appeal to the postwar population, and this same appeal contributes
to the success of convenience foods today.

Benefits
39

Mass production of food is much cheaper overall than individual production of meals from
raw ingredients. Therefore, a large profit potential exists for the manufacturers and suppliers
of processed food products. Individuals may see a benefit in convenience, but rarely see any
direct financial cost benefit in using processed food as compared to home preparation. Poor
quality ingredients and sometimes questionable processing and preservation methods detract
greatly from the overall benefit gained by individual consumers.
More and more people live in the cities far away from where food is grown and produced. In
many families the adults are working away from home and therefore there is little time for the
preparation of food based on fresh ingredients. The food industry offers products that fulfil
many different needs: From peeled potatoes that only have to be boiled at home to fully
prepared ready meals that can be heated up in the microwave oven within a few minutes.
Benefits of food processing include toxin removal, preservation, easing marketing and
distribution tasks, and increasing food consistency. In addition, it increases seasonal
availability of many foods, enables transportation of delicate perishable foods across long
distances, and makes many kinds of foods safe to eat by de-activating spoilage and
pathogenic micro-organisms. Modern supermarkets would not be feasible without modern
food processing techniques, long voyages would not be possible, and military campaigns
would be significantly more difficult and costly to execute.
Modern food processing also improves the quality of life for people with allergies, diabetics,
and other people who cannot consume some common food elements. Food processing can
also add extra nutrients such as vitamins.
Processed foods are often less susceptible to early spoilage than fresh foods, and are better
suited for long distance transportation from the source to the consumer. Fresh materials, such
as fresh produce and raw meats, are more likely to harbour pathogenic micro-organisms (e.g.
Salmonella) capable of causing serious illnesses.

Drawbacks
40

In general, fresh food that has not been processed other than by washing and simple kitchen
preparation, may be expected to contain a higher proportion of naturally-occurring vitamins,
fiber and minerals than an equivalent product processed by the food industry. Vitamin C, for
example, is destroyed by heat and therefore canned fruits have a lower content of vitamin C
than fresh ones.
Food processing can lower the nutritional value of foods, and introduce hazards not
encountered with naturally-occurring products. Processed foods often include food additives,
such as flavourings and texture-enhancing agents, which may have little or no nutritive value,
or be unhealthy. Preservatives added or created during processing to extend the 'shelf-life' of
commercially-available products, such as nitrites or sulphites, may cause adverse health
effects. Use of low-cost ingredients that mimic the properties of natural ingredients (e.g.
cheap chemically-hardened vegetable oils in place of more-expensive natural saturated fats or
cold-pressed oils) have been shown to cause severe health problems, but are still in
widespread use because of cost concerns and lack of consumer knowledge about the effects
of substitute ingredients.
Processed foods often have a higher ratio of calories to other essential nutrients than
unprocessed foods, a phenomenon referred to as "empty calories". So-called junk food,
produced to satisfy consumer demand for convenience and low cost, are most often massproduced processed food products.
Because processed food ingredients are often produced in high quantities and distributed
widely amongst value-added food manufacturers, failures in hygiene standards in 'low-level'
manufacturing facilities that produce a widely-distributed basic ingredient can have serious
consequences for many final products.
The addition of these many chemicals for preservation and flavor have been known to cause
human and animal cells to grow rapidly, without going into Apoptosis.

Performance parameters for food processing

41

When designing processes for the food industry the following performance parameters may
be taken into account:

Hygiene, e.g. measured by number of micro-organisms per ml of finished product

Energy consumption, measured e.g. by ton of steam per ton of sugar produced

Minimization of waste, measured e.g. by percentage of peeling loss during the

peeling of potatoes'

Labour used, measured e.g. by number of working hours per ton of finished product

Minimization of cleaning stops measured e.g. by number of hours between cleaning

stops

COMPANY PROFILE
42

Heritage at a Glance:
The Heritage Group, founded in 1992 by Sri Nara Chandra Babu Naidu, is one
of the fastest growing Private Sector Enterprises in India, with three-business divisions viz.,
Dairy, Retail and Agri under its flagship Company Heritage Foods (India) Limited (HFIL),
one infrastructure subsidiary - Heritage Infra Developers Limited and other associate
Companies viz., Heritage Finlease Limited, Heritage International Limited and Heritage Agro
Merine Private Limited. The annual turnover of Heritage Foods crossed Rs.347 crores in
2006-07 and is aiming for Rs.700 crores during 2007-08.
Presently Heritages milk products have market presence in Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharastra and its retail stores across Bangalore,
Chennai and Hyderabad. Integrated agri operations are in Chittoor and Medak Districts and
these are backbone to retail operations.
In the year 1994, HFIL went to Public Issue to raise resources, which was
oversubscribed 54 times and its shares are listed under B1 Category on BSE (Stock Code:
519552) and NSE (Stock Code: HERITGFOOD)

About the founder:

Sri Chandra Babu Naidu is one of the greatest Dynamic, Pragmatic,
Progressive and Visionary Leaders of the 21st Century. With an objective of bringing
prosperity in to the rural families through co-operative efforts, he along with his relatives,
friends and associates promoted Heritage Foods in the year 1992 taking opportunity from the
Industrial Policy, 1991 of the Government of India and he has been successful in his
endeavour.
At present, Heritage has market presence in all the states of South India. More
than three thousand villages and five lakh farmers are being benefited in these states. On the
other side, Heritage is serving more than 6 lakh customers needs, employing more than 700
employees and generating indirectly employment opportunity to more than 5000 people.
Beginning with a humble annual turnover of just Rs.4.38 crores in 1993-94, the sales
turnover has reached close to Rs.300 crores during the financial year 2005-2006.

43

Sri Naidu held various coveted and honorable positions including Chief
Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Minister for Finance & Revenue, Minister for Archives &
Cinematography, Member of the A.P. Legislative Assembly, Director of A.P. Small Industries
Development Corporation, and Chairman of Karshaka Parishad.
Sri Naidu has won numerous awards including " Member of the World
Economic Forum's Dream Cabinet" (Time Asia ), "South Asian of the Year " (Time Asia ), "
Business Person of the Year " (Economic Times), and " IT Indian of the Millennium " ( India
Today).
Sri Naidu was chosen as one of 50 leaders at the forefront of change in the
year 2000 by the Business Week magazine for being an unflinching proponent of technology
and for his drive to transform the State of Andhra Pradesh .

Forward looking statements:

We have grown, and intended to grow, focusing on harnessing our
willingness to experiment and innovate our ability to transform our drive towards excellence
in quality, our people first attitude and our strategic direction.

Mission:
Bringing prosperity into rural families of India through co-operative efforts
and providing customers with hygienic, affordable and convenient supply of " Fresh and
Healthy " food products.

Vision:
To be a progressive billion dollar organization with a pan India foot print by
2012.To achieve this by delighting customers with "Fresh and Healthy" food products, those
are a benchmark for quality in the industry.
We are committed to enhanced prosperity and the empowerment of the
farming community through our unique "Relationship Farming" Model.

44

To be a preferred employer by nurturing entrepreneurship, managing career

aspirations and providing innovative avenues for enhanced employee prosperity.

Heritage Slogan:
When you are healthy, we are healthy
When you are happy, we are happy
We live for your "HEALTH & HAPPINESS"

Quality policy of HFIL:

We are committed to achieve customer satisfaction through hygienically processed
and packed Milk and Milk Products. We strive to continually improve the quality of our
products and services through upgradation of technologies and systems.
Heritage's soul has always been imbibed with an unwritten perpetual commitment to
itself, to always produce and provide quality products with continuous efforts to improve the
process and environment.
Adhering to its moral commitment and its continuous drive to achieve
excellence in quality of Milk, Milk products & Systems, Heritage has always been laying
emphasis on not only reviewing & re-defining quality standards, but also in implementing
them successfully. All activities of Processing, Quality control, Purchase, Stores, Marketing
and Training have been documented with detailed quality plans in each of the departments.
Today Heritage feels that the ISO certificate is not only an epitome of
achieved targets, but also a scale to identify & reckon, what is yet to be achieved on a
continuous basis. Though, it is a beginning, Heritage has initiated the process of
standardizing and adopting similar quality systems at most of its other plants.

Commitments:

45

Milk Producers:
Change in life styles of rural families in terms of:

Regular high income through co-operative efforts.

Women participation in income generation .

Saved from price exploitation by un-organized sector .

Remunerative prices for milk .

Increase of milk productivity through input and extension activities

Shift from risky agriculture to dairy farming

Heritage

Financial support for purchase of cattle; insuring cattle

Establishment of Cattle Health Care Centers

Supplying high quality Cattle feed

Organizing "Rythu Sadasu" and Video programmes for educating the farmers in dairy
farming

Customers:

Timely Supply of Quality & Healthy Products

Supply high quality milk and milk products at affordable prices

Focused on Nutritional Foods

More than 4 lakh happy customers

High customer satisfaction

46

24 hours help lines ( <10 complaints a day)

Employees:

Enhancing the Technical and Managerial skills of Employees through continuous

training and development

Best appraisal systems to motivate employees

Incentive, bonus and reward systems to encourage employees

Heritage forges ahead with a motto "add value to everything you do"

Shareholders:
Returns:
Consistent Dividend Payment since Public Issue (January 1995)
Service:

Highest impotence to investor service; no notice from any regulatory authority since
2001 in respect of investor service

Very transparent disclosures

Suppliers:
Doehlar: technical collaboration in Milk drinks, yogurts drinks and fruit flavoured
drinks Alfa-Laval: supplier of high-end machinery and technical support Focusing on Tetra
pack association for products package.

Society:

Potential Employment Generation

more than 3500 employees are working with heritage
more than 9500 procurement agents got self employment in rural areas
47

more than 5000 sales agents associated with the company

Employment for the youth by providing financial and animal husbandry support for
establishing MINI DAIRIES

Producing highly health conscious products for the society

Qualities of management principles:

1. Customer focus to understand and meet the changing needs and expectations of
customers.
2. People involvement to promote team work and tap the potential of people.
3. Leadership to set constancy of purpose and promote quality culture trough out the
organization.
4. Process approach to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of each process.
5. Systems approach to understand the sequence and interaction of process.
6. Factual approach to decision making to ensure its accuracy.
7. Continual improvement processes for improved business results.
8. Development of suppliers to get right product and services in right time at right place.

Product/Market wise performance:

The total turnover is Rs 341 Crores during the financial year 2006-07 against
the turnover of 292.02 Crores in 2005-06. Today Heritage distributes quality milk & milk
products in the states of A.P, Karnataka, Kerala & Tamil nadu.

48

During the year 2006-07 liquid milk sales was Rs.28329.79 lakhs against
Rs.24525.23 lakhs in the previous year. The sales of miik products including bulk sales of
cream, ghee and butter were recorded Rs 5781.59 lakhs against Rs 4677.21 lakhs.

Milk sales:
23% growth was recorded in AP 2.38 lakhs litres per day(LLPD) in 2006-07 against
1.93 LLPD in 2005-06. 13% growth was recorded in Tamilnadu-1.53 LLPD in 2006-07
against 1.35 LLPD in 2005-06. Over all growth of 6% was recorded- 5.49 LLPD in 2006-07
against 5.16 LLPD. Flavoured milk sales recorded a growth rate of 77% over 2005-06. Butter
milk sales have gone up by 45% over 2005-06.

Outlook:
Considering the growth potential in the liquid milk market, the company has
drawn plans to increase its market share in the existing markets and to enter into new markets
there by doubling revenues in dairy business in the next 3 years. To achieve this object,
company is undertaking major expansion in dairy business by inverting over Rs20 crores
during 2006-07 and over Rs10 crores during the current year to strengthen the milk
procurement.

BRANCHES OF HFIL:
HFIL has 3 wings. They are
1. Dairy
2. Retail
3. Agribusiness

1. Dairy:
It is the major wing among all. The dairy products manufactured by HFIL are
Milk, curd, butter, ghee, flavoured milk, paneer, doodhpeda, ice cream.

2. Retail:
49

In the retail sector HFIL has outlets namely Fresh@. In those stores the products
sold are vegetables, milk& milk products, grocery, pulses, fruits etc.
In Hyderabad 19 retail shops are there. In Bangalore& Chennai, 3&4
respectively are there. Totally there are 26 retail shops are there.
Fresh@ is a unique chain of retail stores, designed to meet the needs of the
modern Indian consumer. The store rediscovers the taste of nature every day making grocery
shopping a never before experience.
The unique& distinctive feature of Fresh@ is that it offers the widest range of
fresh fruits and vegetables which are directly hand picked from the farms. Freshness lies in
their merchandise and the customers are always welcomed with fresh fruits and vegetables no
matter what what time they walk in.

3. Agri Business:
In this business HFIL employees will go to farmers and have a deal with them.
Those farmers will sell their goods like vegetables, pulses to HFIL only. And HFIL will
transport the goods to retail outlets.
The agricultural professors will examine which area is suitable to import
vegetables from and also examine the vegetables, pulses and fruits in the lab. And finally they
report to the Head-Agribusiness. Representatives as per the instructions given by the agri
professors will approach the farmers directly and make a deal with them. It is the process of
registering the farmers.

50

CHAPTER IV

51

DATA ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS

1. The knowledge management system helps in fast and better decision making.

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

disagree
28

42

52

FINDING:
1. By this question we can say that the employees in the organization participate in
decision making.
2. The employees in the organization agree that knowledge management helps in better
and fast decision making.
3. The about 58% of the employees agree that knowledge management helps in better
decision making.

2. Knowledge management helps in enhanced productivity or service quality.

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

disagree
14

54

53

FINDINGS:
1. By this questionnaire we can say that the better usage of knowledge management helps
in increase of productivity.
2. The better usage of knowledge helps increase in output of the company.
3. About 73% of employees agree that improve of productivity is done by the knowledge
management.

3. Implementing knowledge results in sharing best practices.

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

disagree
24

42

54

FINDINGS:
1. By the implementation of knowledge management the employees can have better
options of sharing their practices with all.
2. This knowledge management enhances the employees in sharing their best practices.
3. About 58% of employees agree that they share their best practices with other
employees.

4. Knowledge management makes it easy to enter into different market type.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

52

disagree
12

55

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management helps to enter into different
market types.
2. The employees in the organization say that by the implementation of knowledge
management we can enter into the different market types easily.
3. About 72%of the employees on the organization agree with the knowledge
management there is increase of the market types.

5. Knowledge management increase innovation by the employee.

Strongly agree
10

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

50

disagree
8

56

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that by the knowledge management the innovations in the
organizations increase by the employees.
2. Knowledge management helps in increase of the innovations in the organization.
3. About 70% of the employees in the organization agree that innovations increase by
knowledge management.

6. Application of knowledge management system results in increased market shares.

Strongly agree
10

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

46

disagree
8

57

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management system helps in increase of
the market share of the organization
2. The employees in the organization say that implementation of knowledge
management results in the improvement of the market share.
3.

About 63% of the employees in the organization agree that the knowledge
management system increases the market share.

7. Knowledge management increases the learning/adaption capability of employees.

Strongly agree
14

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

52

disagree
4

58

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management helps in increasing the
learning/ adaption capability of the employee.
2. The employees in the increase there learning/ adaption capability by the knowledge
management.
3. About 72% of the employees agree that they increase their learning/ adaption
capabilities by the knowledge management system.

8. Knowledge management helps in better staff attraction/retention.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

54

disagree
6

59

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management helps in the employee
attraction and retention process.
2. The employees in the organization say that knowledge management also helps in
attraction and retention of employees.
3. About 73% of employees agree that by the knowledge management attraction and
retention of the employees is done.

9. Knowledge management helps to decreases the communication gap in the organization.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

54

disagree
8

60

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management decreases the
communication gap between the employees in the organization.
2. The employees in the organization say that by knowledge management the
communication of the employees increases.
3. About 73% of employees agree that knowledge management decrease the
communication gap.

10. Knowledge management results in increased delegation of authority and accountability to

individuals.

Strongly agree
4

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

46

disagree
14

61

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management increases the delegation of
authority and accountability of the employees.
2. The organization employees also agree that knowledge management helps to increase
the delegation of authority and accountability of the employees.
3. About 64% employees agree that the delegation if authority and accountability
increases by knowledge management.

11. Knowledge management helps in achieving better Returns on investment (ROI).

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

54

disagree
6

62

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that the organization return on investment improves by
the knowledge management.
2. The employees in the organization agree that the return on investment increases by the
knowledge management.
3. About 75% of the employees in the organization agree that knowledge management
system helps in improving the return on investment.

12. Information regarding process description can be uploaded in organizations database.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

42

disagree
10

12

63

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that all the information is uploaded in the database of the
organization.
2. The employees in the organization agree that all the information about the process
description and employees is uploaded in the database.
3. About 58% of the employees agree that all the information is uploaded in the database
of the organization.

13. Personal best practices can be shared with other employees.

Strongly agree
10

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

54

disagree
4

64

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can understand that by the knowledge management persons best
practices can be shared with other employees.
2. The employees in the organization also agree that the employees best practices can be
shared with other employees in the knowledge management.
3.

About 75% of the employees in the organization agree that the knowledge
management helps in sharing the personal best practices with other employees.

14. Enabling hardware and software technologies are available to support learning rather that
control it.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

32

disagree
24

65

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that enabling the hardware and software technologies are
available to support learning rather control it.
2. Most of the employees in the organization are confused to say either the hardware and
software technologies are available to support learning rather control it.
3. About 42% agree and 34% neither agree nor disagree of employee in the organization
are opinioned on this statement.

15. There are well defined processes for creation, capture and acquisition of knowledge.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

50

disagree
8

66

FINDINGS:
1. By this statement we can say that there are some processes of creation capture and
acquisition of knowledge.
2. The employees in the organization also agree that there are some specified processes
for creation, capture and acquisition of knowledge.
3. About 70% of the employees agree that there are specified process for the creation,
capture and acquisition of knowledge.

16. Useful knowledge can be easily shared and acted upon.

Strongly agree
14

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

50

disagree
4

67

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that useful knowledge can be easily shared and acted up.
2. The employees in the organization also agree that knowledge can be shared and acted
up.
3. About 70% of the employee in the organization agrees that knowledge can be shared
and acted up.

17. There is enabling structure in terms of hierarchy and communication flow that facilitates
learning.

Strongly agree
6

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

42

disagree
8

16

68

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that there is an enabling structure of hierarchy and
communication flow that facilitates learning.
2. The employees about 65% agree that statement.
3. But about 23% of employees disagree this statement.

18. There are cohesive teams in organization which facilitates sharing of experiences and
information among employees.

Strongly agree
8

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

30

disagree
16

18

69

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that there are cohesive teams in the organization which
facilitates sharing of experience and information among the employees.
2. Most of the employees of the organization agree with this statement.
3. The employees about 42% agree and 24% disagree that cohesive teams in the
organization will facilitates sharing of experience and information among the
employees.

19. The organization provides incentives to motivate users to learn from experiences and use
knowledge management system.

Strongly agree
6

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

42

disagree
6

18

70

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that employees in the organization are motivated to learn
from experiences and use knowledge management system by providing incentives.
2. Most of the employees about 24% of employees disagree this statement.
3.

But about 65% of the employees in the organization agree with the statement.

20. The organization continuously strives for learning and re-learning for its employees.

Strongly agree
10

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

36

disagree
14

12

71

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that the organization will continuously strives to learn
and relearn from its employees.
2. About 50% of the employees agree with this statement.
3. But about 20% of the employees neither agree nor disagree with this statement.

21. Knowledge management is responsibility of individual do you?

Strongly agree
12

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

40

disagree
8

12

72

FINDINGS:
1. By this question we can say that knowledge management is the individual employees
responsibility.
2. Most of the employee about 75% of the employees agree and strongly agree with this
statement.
3.

But about 17% of the employees in the organization feel that it is not the individual
responsibility.

22. Knowledge management responsibility of employer does you?

Strongly agree
10

Agree

Neither agree nor

Disagree

30

disagree
14

18

73

FINDINGS:
1. This question states that knowledge management is the employers responsibility.
2. About 56% of the employees in the organization agree with this statement.
3. But about 25% of the employee disagree and feels that it is the employee
responsibility.

74

CHAPTER -5
FINDINGS, SUGGESTION
AND CONCLUSION

CONCLUSIONS:
By the study of the knowledge management and analysis of the questionnaires we can
give some conclusions:
1. Knowledge management is the responsibility of the individual employee and the
employers in the organization.

75

2. Knowledge management helps in improving communication and coordination among

the employees.
3. Knowledge management helps in fast and better decision making in the organization
problems.
4. Knowledge management helps in increase of the productivity and service qualities in
the organization.
5. Knowledge management increases the learning and adoption capabilities of the
employees in the organization.
6. Knowledge management helps to enter into different market types and increase the
share in the market.
7. Knowledge management helps in increasing the innovative skills of the employees.
8. Knowledge management helps the employee in the organization to share their best
practices and experiences with their other employees which encourage the other
employees.
9. Knowledge management not only helps the employees but also it helps the
organization in learning and relearning.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Organization should give encouragement to the entire employee in sharing their

opinions with the management.

76

2. Management should educate all the employees in the organization about the
knowledge management.

3. The organization should provide some interaction programs to the employees in the
organization.

4. Organization should motivate the employees in the organization in the usage of

knowledge management.

5. Organization should make the employees to feel accountable and responsible about
their work.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. The knowledge management system helps in fast and better decision making.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

77

2. Knowledge management helps in enhanced productivity or service quality.

a)

Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

3. Implementing knowledge management results in sharing best practices.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

4. Knowledge management makes it easy to enter into different market types.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

5. Knowledge management increase innovation by the employees.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

6. Application of knowledge management system results in increased market share.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

7. Knowledge management increases the learning/adaptation capability of employees.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

8. Knowledge management helps in better staff attraction/retention.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

9. Knowledge management helps to address the communication gap in the organization.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

10. Knowledge management results in increased delegation of authority and accountability to

individuals.
78

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

11. Knowledge management helps in achieving better Return on investment (ROI).
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

12. Information regarding process description can be uploaded in organizations database.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

13. Personal best practices can be shared with other employees.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree.

14. Enabling hardware and software technologies are available to support learning rather than
control it.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

15. There are well defined processes for creation, capture and acquisition of knowledge.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

16. Useful knowledge can be easily shared and acted upon.

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

17. There is enabling structure in terms of hierarchy and communication flow that facilitates
learning.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree
18. There are cohesive teams in organization which facilitates sharing of experiences and
information among employees.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree
79

19. The organization provides incentives to motivate users to learn from experiences and use
knowledge management system.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

20. The organization continuously strives for learning and re-learning for its employees.
a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

21. Knowledge management is responsibility of individual do you?

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

22. Knowledge management is responsibility of employer do you?

a) Strongly agree b) agree c) neither agree nor disagree d) disagree

BIBILOGRAPHY:

INFORMATION FROM BOOKS:

Knowledge management:

Excel books, NEW DELHI,

80

A. Thothathri Raman,
First Edition-2004.

Knowledge management
WEBSITES:
www.knowledgemanagementonline.com
www.hrs.com

81