Knowledge management in textile industry of Punjab

Abstract

Knowledge has emerged as most critical competence for any business to survive, compete and grow in the world of heightened competition in the 21st century. Knowledge based economy is the new economy with new rules and new ways of doing business (Steward, 2001). The concept of knowledge is not new. The history of this word traces back to 1960 when Peter Drucker – the new age management guru coined the term “knowledge worker” and wrote extensively about it in his books (Myres, 1993). The concept of knowledge is generally confused with the term “information”, though all the information is not knowledge. As Drestle (1981) says, “Information is a commodity capable of yielding knowledge and what information a signal carries is what we can learn from it, whereas knowledge is identified with information produced belief”. Knowledge to Business Organizations: Knowledge basically is classified into two types: Explicit and tacit (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). Explicit knowledge can be codified and expressed easily and can be stored in documents, files, computers etc. Tacit knowledge is personal knowledge embedded in individual experience and cannot be expressed or codified. The best companies in the world have a strong knowledge base. These companies are especially good at bringing about innovation continuously. In this age of internet, which has provided us with vast pool of knowledge, fast changing concepts of customer service, new product development, expanding customer base across the globe and highly technology driven environment, the concept of doing business has entered into knowledge age. Creative solutions are required for business to adopt to a constantly changing environment. Much of the value added work in enterprises today is primarily knowledge based. For example in an organization the work in following departments is totally knowledge based: 1. Customer service 2. Information technology 3. Finance 4. Human Resources 5. Management Similarly in an industry also some sectors are highly knowledge oriented e.g. IT sector where companies are facing the challenge of being multicultural across geographies, development of new software and BPO. This demands for highly effective knowledge management systems that build critical capabilities. Consultancy is another prestigious sector. Now the tendency of consulting firms is to strive for long term relationships with clients than to working on one project per client. The trend is shifting towards collaborative working of clients and consultants together making it easier for clients to outsource problem solving of core issues. This industry is expanding fast where knowledge is of critical importance in building and sustaining organizational memory and leveraging the intellectual capital resources for formulation of innovative and effective solutions. Pharmaceuticals are the third major sector where R&D is the key to future survival and growth and therefore knowledge management has become functional necessity. Automobiles is an industry where newer technology is being developed day by day leading to improved products that cater to newer classes of customers. For survival in this sector good knowledge base is must.