Importance Of Knowledge Management In Apple

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Why is Knowledge Management Important

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What we are talking about here is the great importance attached to knowledge, skills, creativity, advanced learning practices, creating new ideas and developing innovative products, services and solutions, and to be able to do this even faster. I put to you that these words are even more important today around the world than they were then. But what exactly is the relationship between Knowledge and Innovation? Is there a strong link between Knowledge Management and Innovation? Does Knowledge Management fuel innovation, and if so, how? So is there a natural bridge to be found between knowledge management and innovation?

And if so, what are the intricate relationships between learning, knowledge, creativity and innovation? In this presentation, I would like to share some of my thoughts and experiences about these questions, and in developing knowledge and innovation strategies. It distinguishes here between invention and innovation. Invention is an idea that is made manifest, and innovation, is ideas that are applied successfully in practice.

I am happy to go along with this as, in my experience so far, organizations are certainly looking for increased growth and sustainability through new innovative products, services and solutions that can be successfully applied. That also means that, ideally, they can be easily replicated, and that they are scaleable. This was certainly the criteria set by IFAD to create more innovative solutions that could be implemented fast, around the world, to eradicate rural poverty..

But these definitions tend to describe innovators as individuals! Can we really have more innovative organizations or do we really have successful organizations led by innovative individuals? I am sure you have seen this table many times before. If we look at history we are told that, within an organization, only. So are we therefore pretending to ourselves to believe that we can really create mainstream innovation in our organizations today? Because it seems, from history, that only a small number of people are creative and innovative by nature. We can certainly mainstream knowledge management across the organization, with more collective, logical and systematic knowledge processes embedded in our daily work, and with more dynamic knowledge flows across common communities of practice and knowledge networks, but, as we discussed earlier, the characteristics and properties of innovation are, actually, diametrically opposed to those of knowledge management?

Well that may have certainly been very true for the past, but I wish to suggest to you today that there are now new developments, this past few years, that provide new and even better options for mainstreaming innovation across the organisation. I wish to propose to you that those organizations that are successfully practicing and mainstreaming effective knowledge management, across the organisation, now have a unique opportunity to successfully mainstream innovation too. I wish to demonstrate to you that the key to successfully mainstreaming innovation, in organisations, is to create a bridge from effective knowledge management to innovation.

There are several ways to create this bridge. I put to you that learning from the past, developing good practices, and harmonization around proven practices, that we seek in effective knowledge management, are predominantly logical, analytical, collective and systematic activities. You might say, for simplicity, they are logical left brain activities. On the contrary, new knowledge creation, experimentation and prototyping that involve taking risks, that we seek in innovation, are predominantly creative, and often, systemic, holistic, activities. You might also say, for simplicity, that they are creative right brain activities.

Communities of practice, marked by commonalities around specific knowledge domains have structure, whereas innovation, especially through challenging established knowledge, can be disruptive of structures. Good practices of today thrive on continuous and incremental change and improvement processes within an existing paradigm. Good practices of tomorrow can be formed through radical improvement, that is, discontinuous change, which can even change existing paradigms. Again, effective knowledge management is predominantly a logical left brain activity and radical innovation is predominantly a creative right brain activity. Interestingly, the left and right hemispheres of our brain are, also, diametrically opposed to one another. For example, the logical left hemisphere works in facts, black and white, judges and analyses breaks things down , whereas the creative right hemisphere works in feelings, colour, accepts and synthesizes into whole.

Most of us, in our organizations are working in, predominantly, left brain work activities. Some of us are working in, predominantly, right brain work activities. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci was a brilliant artist and engineer. The study will also use a deductive, scientific approach. In deductive research, the study begins with theories about how the world is expected to behave, and derives testable hypotheses from these theories. Deductive reasoning requires a logical approach. It is contrasted with an inductive approach, in which information is collected and patterns are found in the data, which lead to subsequent generation of theories about these patterns Babbie In this case, firm ideas about the impact of innovation and knowledge management lead to hypotheses suggesting that these factors can lead to competitive success.

The proposed research will use a case study approach, looking at Blackberry and iphone in the context of theories examined through the literature review. Data will be collected from secondary, as opposed to primary sources. In primary research, information is collected for the first time for the purposes of the study. Sources of primary data can include surveys, observation and experiments.

Secondary data is data which has already been collected. It can include academic journals and books, databases from industry and government sources, and official records McDaniel and Gates Given the relative lack of information about these brands use of innovation and knowledge management, there is an argument to combine secondary data with a primary study, for example carrying out interviews with key management at Blackberry and iphone asking about their use of innovation and knowledge management. This, like primary research in general, would allow the data collected to be tailored to the exact research questions Allen and Skinner , and also add to the body of existing studies.

However, this method was rejected in this case, as it was thought that a more extensive literature review based study would allow for the full development of useful theoretical models to assess the case of Blackberry and iphone. It was also thought that although there are no studies which look into the precise research area suggested, there is much material available about each of the brands concerned, and this material has not, so far, been approached in relation to wider research aims of this sort. It was also felt that a secondary-sourced study could form the backbone for subsequent primary research studies collecting data to be set in the context of the current research.

Key academic online and library sources will be used to collect papers, books and databases regarding the issues in question. The university library will give access to relevant journals and textbooks. There are also a number of specialist journals covering innovation for example Innovation Management and knowledge management Knowledge Management, the Journal of Knowledge Management and related areas. Online searches will be key in gathering data, as they allow numerous journals to be searched for key words. These databases will be interrogated through key word searches.

These terms will be used in combination together, to find literature which already covers the area of interest, but also alone and in combination of just two terms, in case a search on all terms yields insufficient information, and to get further background on theoretical approaches to knowledge management, for example. Should the searches return too much information, advanced search techniques will be used to restrict articles to those from the last five years only, or looking at the UK only. Overall, access to data should be unproblematic, to the extent that the data exists, as the author can use a number of these business databases and other information sources via the university. However, as pointed out above, there seems to be a relative lack of literature which looks at all aspects of the research study.

For this reason, academic data will be supplemented by information gleaned from commercial information sources such as Keynote and Euromonitor. These supply a number of reports looking at market areas, for example the mobile phone market, and include a wealth of useful statistics about phone ownership by brand, for example Keynote Mintel also produce useful reports, including a regular update on digital trends Mintel Another central source will be information from Research in Motion and Apple themselves, as well as the internet sites for Blackberry and iphone.

Their websites contain a wealth of useful information including annual reports on financial status. The sites also contain information for the press, though of course this is likely to be subject to bias. The reliability, validity and generalisability of information can usually be assured by using where possible, meta-analyses of data and avoiding non-academic sources such as unverified internet websites. However, it has already been established that there is relatively little available information of this type. With this in mind, the study will include information from a wider range of sources, but will bear in mind the issues regarding reliability and validity this might raise.

Because the study is primary research only, questions of ethics are less relevant, as the study does not involve human subjects direct. However, It is important to at least think about the ethics of the research, not just from the point of view of the researcher but from the position of all stakeholders interested parties. For example, the research should be carried out honesty and accurately Wilson In this case, I will attribute all textual sources to the correct author, and interpret the information as best as possible.

Data analysis will consist of interpretation of the data collected about iphone and Blackberry in the context of theoretical perspectives on the roles played by innovation and knowledge management in creating advantage. Do either organization display particular approaches which means they have been more successful? How do the approaches of Blackberry and iphone compare? The information discussed will also generate recommendations for other players in the mobile phone market. A number of considerations will be kept in mind, in order to analyse the data in the most appropriate and rigourous way.

As Boslaugh points out, it is vital to ask, for any piece of information, what the original purpose of collecting it was, what kind of data it represents, how it was collected and when. If the data is quantitative, for example a database, it is also important to know if it has been cleaned or recoded. Because at least some of the information from this study will be collected from sources which are likely to be biased towards a particular viewpoint, primarily the information from RIM and Apple, it is particularly important to be aware of the background, and separate out data which can be used from data which is being used for a promotional end by the organization.

This will be the case particularly for press releases and other data designed for the media. However, even with academic studies, it is also important to know as much as possible about the details of the study, for example, if questionnaires were used to collect data, how they were worded, and how respondents were selected Boslaugh. It will also be important to be aware of the size of any primary study how many cases were considered , and how any results are interpreted in terms of the research aims.

An effective business strategy which the company has applied has to a greater extent contributed to its success. Most of the successful companies have managed to develop and execute effective business strategy. This can clearly be described through the strategic positioning model. It has been revealed that the main problem which Apple faces is competition. In order to overcome this problem, there is need for the company to have an effective strategic positioning. Through this strategy, Apple has managed to position itself among other organizations in such a way that it has managed to stand out from many. Apple has managed to differentiate its product through innovation. Later, the company introduced into the market iMac, which was a device that was easy to use.

These were just some of the innovations which the company has developed. Through the strategy of the product differentiation, Apple has managed to reduce threats which are posed by a high level of competition. Although differentiation comes along with a cost, this costs acts as entry barrier to other companies. In its effort to maximize its performance and profitability, Apple has applied a diversified strategy in its production operation. Apple Inc is involved in production of both hardware and software. The company has managed to apply its wide range of competence to manufacture software and hardware that are compatible to maximize the performance of their products. The company also has resources which are necessary for production of both software and hardware.

Apple Inc is also involved in production of various computers. This has helped the company to make maximum use of its available resources. For instance, the company is able to distribute its resources in various businesses hence saving on costs. For instance, notebook and desktop are two kinds of products under Macintosh. Through such strategy, the company minimizes costs because various product lines can share resources. The products may also supplement each other.

This strategy has significantly helped the company in maximizing returns. In the contemporary world where the level of competition is extremely high, the need for a high competitive advantage has increased. Organizations with a high level of competitive advantage are mostly the top performing in their respective industries. Apple success can to some extent be attributed to its competitive advantage. For instance, the company has managed to retain a high level of performance while other companies face hard times. Apple has remained unstoppable while its competitors face difficult times. Since its development, Apple has managed to differentiate its products.

This is unlike its competitors who are now struggling to differentiate their products. The company has managed to develop both software and hardware. This combination has improved the quality of their products because they can manage to develop the software which is most compatible with its hardware. The company is led by the principle that an organization that is serious about coming up with an effective software must also be serious in developing an effective hardware Bajarin This is because in case one of these is not effective then the resultant performance will be poor. Therefore, in order to satisfy the needs of their customers, Apple Inc has managed to manufacture both the software and the hardware.

This strategy has significantly enabled Apple Inc to maximize the value of its software. This strategy has also helped the company to win a significant proportion of the market share. For instance, the company has managed to make high performing software known as ilife Bajarin This software is the best of the software used in creating music, DVDs, movies among other functions. In other words, Apple Inc has managed to handle successfully the production of both software and hardware. Many companies deal with either software or hardware. This combination is demanding and therefore most of these companies are forced to specialize in either production of software or hardware.

This has undermined the value of their products since they have to rely on the products from other organizations for compatibility. For instance, a company specializing in production of hardware will rely on software from another organization. Therefore, it is a great opportunity for Apple to handle the production of both. The company has come up with a strategy of coming up with its own retail stores. However, their idea to come up with their own retail stores was received with a lot of pessimism since many companies had tried and failed in this strategy before. Contrary to this conception, Apple did very well after launching its own retail stores. The main reason why Apple retail stores were success was because the company managed to identify the factors which contributed to the failure of many companies that attempted to open their own retail stores.

The main reason why these companies failed was because of improper identification of best location or even lack of priority. Apple managed to make perfect decision on both cases. This has helped the company reduce its operational costs, a thing that has helped in increasing its profitability. Apple has emphasized on the need for good services for its customers. It has been extremely careful on how people buy its products. Apple authorized small shops where it ensured that they provided all Apple products and accessories. In addition, these outlets provided repair and support for the customers.

By recognizing the need for quality service for its customers, Apple Inc has managed to maintain quality service for its customers throughout their market network. Close interaction with its retail shops has also enabled the company to build close relationship with its customers, a priority which most organizations in the industry have not managed to access. This can be attributed to the quality services offered by these stores. Through these arrangements, Apple Inc has managed to maintain an effective support strategy.

By provision of repair services and support to the customers, it generates even more sales. For instance, the customers can shop for other products in the store as they wait for their repair to be completed. This interaction has also enabled the company to have direct conversations with its customer as well as their potential customers. This provides good information to the company for the future decisions. For instance, the products may be modified depending on the needs of the customers. The VRINE model gives an analysis of Valuable, rare, inimitable or non-substitutable resources that an organization has. The ability of an organization to access such kind of resources or products contributes in developing its competitive advantage.

Apple has managed to differentiate its products through innovations. By maintaining continuous innovations in its products, Apple has managed to offer unique products in the market. This has helped the company in attracting and retaining a large number of customers. Through research and development, Apple has managed to acquire patents. Therefore, exploitation of such resources is restricted and therefore offers a great opportunity for the company.

However, the industry has been faced by a very high level of competition, the factor which has forced the company to improve on its products to retain its customers. Apple has also managed to provide both software and hardware. This provides a good opportunity for the organization because it can be able to develop best compatible software for their hardware. Apple has a very successful value chain which has been characterized with a high level of achievements.

Apple Inc distributes its market all over the world. Therefore, the company distributes its products to people from diverse cultural, geographical, administrative, and economic backgrounds. This can be viewed in terms of cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic distance framework CAGE distance framework. CAGE distance framework helps in identifying and assessing the impact of distance on various industries Ghemawat For instance, the European economy is different from the American economy. The economic condition can significantly affect the performance of a product in respective markets.

For instance, the economic downturn in the Euro region in led to unemployment and other economic uncertainties which led to cutting down of spending on electronics. The BCG matrix has been used by several organizations in their effort to realize their goals. The chart is mostly used to assist large organization like Apple Inc in making critical decisions on how to allocate their financial resources accordingly. The BCG matrix is very helpful to Apple Inc because it helps the organization in allocating resources in the best way. As already noted, Apple is involved in a number of businesses. For instance, it produces both software and hardware which is not the case with many organizations.

Through the BCG matrix, an organization categorizes its business into units. These include stars, cash cows, question marks and dogs. On categorizing their business units, the business would then move its finance from cash cows to stars and question marks that have higher growth rates. Therefore, more money should be allocated in its production. From the discussion above, it is clear that Apple Inc has recorded a commendable performance in the computer industry.

The company has managed to provide quality services to its customers to the level which majority of organizations has not managed to achieve. The company has also managed to maintain continuous innovation. This has helped it to differentiate its products. However, the high level of competition in the industry has subjected the company to a big risk. The cost of production has also increased which has posed a threat to its financial stability.

Therefore, there is need for the company to consider coming up with necessary measures to eliminate these threats. To start with, there is need for the company to consider production costs. This can be achieved by considering application of the most efficient methods of production, which minimizes their costs. For instance, the company may consider relocating some of its production functions in the regions where they can access cheap labour. It is also advisable for the company to consider formulating an effective knowledge management strategy. Knowledge management will help the company in improving the performance of its employees.

This strategy will help in reducing the total production costs effectively. Knowledge management will also help in maintaining continuous innovation hence attracting more customers. It is also advisable for the company to consider intensifying its research activities.