Knowledge Management And Globalization
Companies and managers need new, innovative ideas. Because companies in advanced economies have become so efficient at producing physical goods, most workers have been freed up to provide services like training, entertainment, research, and advertising. Efficient factories with fewer workers produce the cereals and cell phones the market demands; meanwhile, more and more workers create software and invent new products. These workers, whose primary contributions are ideas and problem-solving expertise, are often referred to as knowledge workers.
Determining whether employees they are doing a good job can be difficult because the manager cannot simply count or measure a knowledge worker’s output. Also, these workers often are most motivated to do their best when the work is interesting, not because of a carrot or stick dangled by the manager.
Harnessing Intellectual Resources
Because the success of modern businesses so often depends on the knowledge used for innovation and the delivery of services, organizations need to manage that knowledge. Knowledge management is the set of practices aimed at discovering and harnessing an organization’s intellectual resources—fully utilizing the intellects of the organization’s people. Knowledge management is about finding, unlocking, sharing, and capitalizing on the most precious resources of an organization: people’s expertise, skills, wisdom, and relationships.
Typically, knowledge management relies on software that lets employees contribute what they know and share that knowledge readily with one another. As a result, knowledge management may be the responsibility of an organization’s information technology (IT) department, perhaps under the leadership of a chief information officer or chief knowledge officer.
Effective Collaboration
One of the most important processes of knowledge management is to ensure that people in different parts of the organization collaborate effectively. This requires communication among departments, divisions, or other subunits of the organization. For example, BP tries to encourage managers to break out of the traditional corporate hierarchy to share knowledge freely across the organization while remaining fiercely committed to the performance of their individual business units. This emphasis on dual responsibilities for performance and knowledge sharing also occurs at pharmaceutical giant Glaxo-SmithKline, the large German industrial company Siemens, and the London-based steelmaker Ispat International.
Toyota keeps its product development process efficient by bringing together design engineers and manufacturing employees from the beginning. Often, manufacturing employees can see ways to simplify a design so that it is easier to make without defects or unnecessary costs. Toyota expects its employees to listen to input from all areas of the organization, making this type of collaboration a natural part of the organization’s culture. The collaboration is supported with product development software, including an online database that provides a central, easily accessible source of information about designs and processes. Along with this information, employees use the software to share their knowledge—best practices they have developed for design and manufacturing.
Customers as Collaborators
At Toyota, knowledge management supports collaboration and vice versa. Customers, too, can be collaborators. Creating outstanding products and services can start with involving customers in company decisions. For example, Starbucks customers have a huge variety of drink options, and Zazzle customers can personalize products such as tote bags, pillows, and iPhone cases prior to purchasing them.
The labor force is becoming more and more diverse. This means that it is likely that your coworkers, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders will differ from you in race, ethnicity, age, gender, physical characteristics, or sexual orientation. To be an effective manager, you’ll need to understand, relate to, and work productively with these individuals. How diverse are we becoming at work? The following trends in the U.S. labor force are expected from 2016 through 2026:
• The labor force will continue to grow more diverse.
• The share of women in the labor force will increase to just over 47 percent.
• Fast growth of “older workers” will occur to the point that approximately one out of four workers will be 55 and older.
• Hispanics will grow to about 20 percent, African Americans to nearly 13 percent, and Asians to approximately 7 percent of the labor force.
• A higher percentage of women than men will join the labor force.
• White (non-Hispanic) workers’ participation in the labor force will decrease from 63 to 58 percent.
The increase in gender, racial, age, and ethnic diversity in the workplace will accentuate the many differences in employees’ values, attitudes toward work, and norms of behavior. In addition to leveraging the strengths of diverse employees, effective managers need to find ways to connect with diverse customers, suppliers, and government officials, both in the United States and internationally. As will be discussed in greater detail in later chapters, managers need to be acutely aware of these differences and be prepared to prevent (or deal with) miscommunication, insensitivity, and hostility on the part of an employee, customer, or other stakeholder who doesn’t embrace the benefits of diversity management.
Addressing Diversity Concerns
Fortunately, effective managers and organizations are taking steps to address these concerns and leverage the diversity of their resources and talent in new ways. Members of Target’s board of directors are 36 percent female and 45 percent racially diverse, while the store management workforce is 52 percent female and 33 percent racially diverse. Target has also taken steps to make its products more diverse, including carrying clothing lines specifically designed for kids with sensory-processing difficulties and other physical disabilities, carrying more than 1,000 beauty products that address different skin tones and hair types, and sourcing products from diverse suppliers.
Accounting, taxation, and consulting firm Deloitte LLP has undertaken several steps to break the “glass ceiling” and retain more of its talented female employees. The firm decreased the amount of travel for employees to allow them to have better work–life balance, created a Parents Transition Programme to help women and men with parental leave, and made diversity management a key priority for the entire organization. Deloitte created the Female Academy initiative, which features academic workshops, speakers, and events given to 25 promising female university students over the course of six weeks, to challenge and support them in their pursuit of creativity and growth. By making a concerted effort to retain and value female employees, Deloitte is managing its talent in a more effective and efficient manner. Twenty-five percent of board members and 31 percent of the leadership team are women.
Globalization, technological change, the monumental importance of new ideas, collaboration across disappearing boundaries, diversity—what are the effects of this tidal wave of new forces?
