In offering a recommendation on the Organisational approach for AFL’s KMS (My previous post on subject matter), I opted to use The New Knowledge Management Model (TNKM) developed by Mark W. McElroy and Joseph M. Firestone as a base (Firestone and McElroy, 2001). This Model uses internal and external sources to classify itself into Knowledge production and knowledge integration. See diagram below.

This model was chosen because of the importance of AFL to produce new knowledge. This is because the company faces redundancy and needs to produce new products and enter new markets and also establish what its forte is. In addition, the increasing rate of staff turnover requires serious action on the Knowledge integration part.

The classification of TNKM Model

KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION

The activities below if undertaken by the management of AFL will lead to Knowledge production.

Knowledge Acquisition: One way of acquiring knowledge is by socialising and networking. First, we need to make the work system more relaxed than it currently is. Adopt an open door policy for teams to mingle freely with superiors. This is in order to create the ‘close knit’ environment, which is extremely important to give a feeling of ownership. Then management should encourage staff to attend external events with Clients and customers.

Knowledge Conversion: Staff Training. We recommend a regular training of staff on key skills and abilities needed (such as design skills, garment technology, marketing skills, managing time etc). The suggested training should be in-house for now. This option is less expensive and ideal, considering the present economic state of the Company. The drive here is to make sure that each staff attends training at least four times a year. After each training, the staff involved would summarise what they learnt in a report form which can be accessed by other team members. This should facilitate distribution of knowledge

KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION

The activities below if undertaken by the management of AFL will lead to Knowledge integration.

Knowledge Application: With the training received and knowledge from fashion and garment technology forums attended by staff, the knowledge can be applied by the development of new products. These new products, which would be a combination of knowledge from the designers and the garment technicians, may then be used to expand AFL’s market. Exposing staff to external interaction enables them meet their colleagues in the industry. These interactions can lead to innovative designs and ideas which can be ploughed into new products.

Knowledge Protection: Following the creation of designs by in house designers, and consequent matching to the right garments by the garment technician, A database should be created which should be held as property of AFL. The company may then need to explore patent licensing for this database to protect it from losing this knowledge.

References:

Firestone J.M and McElroy M.W. (2001) ‘Key Issues in the New Knowledge Management’, KMCI/Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam, Boston, MA.

Determining the Organisational/Structural KM needs of Albion Fabrics

We have established that there are three categories by which Knowledge management can be approached within an Organisation. We have also seen the interrelation between these three categories which are;

Technology,

Organisational/Structure and

Social/Cultural

We shall now establish the knowledge-work behaviour of Albion fabrics and then explore the Organisation/Structural aspect of the Company in order to design an appropriate KMS for it.
First we must understand the importance of structure in an Organisation. An organisational structure shows how an Organisation groups or categorises its processes, job functions or products. A clear structure makes it easy easier to see what which part of the business does what. It has been established over time and through several research that in a dynamic business environment, Organisational structures which supports flexible teams are more successful than those with more bureaucratic structures.

AFL Organisation/Structure
In the case of Albion Fabrics the Organisation is by Customer, i.e. 5 teams of Garment Technicians (GT) focusing of the 5 clients of the company. Each of these teams is made up of a buyer, a senior GT and other GTs

This structure has its advantages which are that there is clear focus on each client ensuring the Client is top priority at all times, better control as each of the teams can act as a profit centre, enhance healthy competition amongst teams, as each team strives to do better than the other. However it’s disadvantages may well outweigh the advantage; there is a duplication of functions, lack of central control, negative effects of competition such as resentment from performance due to peculiarity of other team’s client.

Based on the current structure, the problems we have identified are as follows:

Knowledge acquisition: One of the ways new knowledge is currently acquired is by informal discussions amongst staff and monthly inter-team meetings. The in-house designer also attends fashion seminars and workshops with external designers on a regular basis. This poses a problem because the process of Knowledge acquisition is not sufficient.

Knowledge Conversion: This poses a problem because knowledge is currently being stored tacitly by each staff of AFL and there is no medium through which the tacit knowledge is converted to explicit knowledge. Currently, AFL has a local area network with an e-mail system which all staff have access to. Through e-mail, calendars, documents and even designs can be shared.

Knowledge Application: Knowledge is applied when teams utilize information from their monthly meetings, which focus on each team’s experiences and solution with their clients and factories, to their job functions.

Knowledge protection: AFL currently has no trade secret or knowledge that is protected. This is probably because they have no unique designs or niche.

Knowledge questions: In order to strengthen the structure of AFL and develop an efficient KMS, we need to first identify the following:

What kind of knowledge is to be captured and managed? knowledge about clients (i.e. Tesco, ASDA etc), suppliers (i.e. factories used for production), products information, AFL’s financial information, HR information etc.

Why do we need to capture this knowledge? In order to retain existing clientèle , get the best service from customers, to be innovative (coming up with solutions before the problem arises) and remain relevant in the industry

How does this align with the company’s strategy? AFL’s strategy is currently to retain the major clients it currently has, reduce costs and increase turnover. In order to achieve this, innovative ideas are needed and having adequate knowledge of stakeholders needs, strengths and weaknesses will help AFL achieve its strategy.

Recommended Organisational/Structural changes

Knowledge Acquisition:
Networking: One way of acquiring knowledge is by socialising and networking. First, we need to make the work system more relaxed than it currently is. Adopt an open door policy for teams to mingle freely with superiors. This is in order to create the ‘close knit’ environment, which is extremely important to give a feeling of ownership. Then management should encourage staff to attend external events with Clients and customers.

Knowledge Conversion:
Staff Training: We recommend a regular training of staff on key skills and abilities needed (such as design skills, garment technology, marketing skills, managing time etc). The suggested training should be in-house for now. This option is less expensive and ideal, considering the present economic state of the Company. The drive here is to make sure that each staff attends training at least four times a year. After each training, the staff involved would summarise what they learnt in a report form which can be accessed by other team members. This should facilitate distribution of knowledge

Knowledge Application:
With the training received and fashion and other relevant forums attended by staff, the knowledge can be applied by the development of new designs which can be pitched to existing and new customers thereby expanding their market. Exposing staff to these general forums where others like them in the industry can interact, staff can come up with innovative designs which can be ploughed into new products.

Knowledge Protection:
Following the creation of designs by in house designers, and consequent matching to the right garments by the garment technician, A database should be created which should be held as property of AFL. The company may then need to explore patent licensing for this database to protect it from losing this knowledge.

What is the purpose of KM in Albion Fabrics Ltd (AFL)?

Several purposes exist why an Organisation would adopt knowledge management:

To be Innovative
To achieve competitive advantage
To reduce costs
To improve sales
To gain efficiencies in its processes!!!

This I believe should be the first purpose of AFL. Currently, there is no system in place that captures their business processes. An enterprise-wide KMS is needed to manage the Organisation’s knowledge in a digital content.

Their business knowledge is specialized and has a lot to do with visuals. Therefore, this specialized knowledge needs to be made unique to AFL. I would recommend a Knowledge Work system which can include: computer-aided design (CAD), 3D visualisation, Virtual reality, and investment workstations to enable AFL store and retain this knowledge.

Identified Problem areas in AFL
For Albion Fabrics, I have identified the following as problems areas:
• No digital content of their specialized knowledge, therefore inter team collaboration is absent,
• Organizational learning is slow because no tools to facilitate.
• No tool for creating and storing new knowledge from external sources (i.e. fashion updates)

HANSEN, M.T., NOHRIA, N. and TIERNEY, T., 1999. What's Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge? Harvard business review, 77(2), pp. 106-116.