The role of critical information in enterprise knowledge management
| Published date | 01 October 2003 |
| Date | 01 October 2003 |
| Pages | 484-490 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570310489188 |
| Author | Fawzy Soliman,Mohamed Youssef |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
The role of critical information in enterprise
knowledge management
Fawzy Soliman
School of Management, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Mohamed Youssef
Department of Management and Decision Sciences, School of Business and
Entrepreneurship, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Introduction
According to Ohmae (1989), the new global
marketplace requires that capital becomes
more mobile than ever and that relevant
competitive information should be made
readily available to industry competitors in
such a way that response times are
dramatically reduced. Accordingly, to
prosper in this competitive environment,
firms must adopt a competitive approach
which leads to continuous improvement in
strategic advantage. Information technology
has been recognised as enabling the
formulation of such strategies.
The business environment in which
organisations currently operate is extremely
competitive. Porter and Millar (1985)
reported that organisations are realising that
traditional approaches to achieving and
maintaining competitive advantage are no
longer sufficient. On the other hand, Gustin
et al. (1994) recognised that information and
knowledge are increasingly being regarded
as resources to be used by an organisation in
attaining and retaining competitive
advantage. In addition, Garcia (1997) and
Phillips (1997) highlighted how some
organisations, particularly professional
service firms, consider information and
knowledge as key business assets and how
they expend considerable effort to capture
the collective knowledge.
Porter and Millar (1985) reported that one
of the most important elements in
competitive advantage is information. Scully
and Fawcett (1993) supported this view and
added that the firm's competitive survival
depends on its ability to understand the
changing global environment and to adopt
the emerging rules of global strategy. In
addition, Gustin et al. (1994) highlighted the
link between information and competitive
advantage by stating that:
Computers and information are critical to
achieving integration and are increasingly
viewed as resources to be used by the firm in
gaining competitive advantage in the
marketplace.
n recent years, heightened attention to the
employment of information technology in
key global business functions is due in large
part to the total quality movement and
business process re-engineering. Overall
process performance, which depends upon
the close coordination of the participating
business functions, requires sound decision
making, which in turn requires information
to possess superior qualities.
IThe manufacturing industry is a good
example of organisations using information
to gain competitive advantages. This is
because the complexity of raw materials and
manufacturing processes, demanding
customers and fierce competition make it
essential that the manufacturer knows
exactly what is happening in the plant. The
better the quality of information, the better
the manufacturer's ability to assess the
situation and in turn to compete and respond
faster to customers' needs.
Akers and Porter (1995) concluded that the
provision of critical information at any level
of an organisation can have implications for
competitive advantage. At the highest
echelons of an organisation, critical
information is crucial to successful strategic
planning. Duff (1996) and Mitskavich (1996)
also reported that, at the operational level,
availability of critical information can result
in increased organisational efficiencies such
as increased sales, decreased inventory,
improved customer service, shortened
production lead times and lowered labour
costs.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
[ 484 ]
Industrial Management &
Data Systems
103/7 [2003] 484-490
#MCB UP Limited
[ISSN 0263-5577]
[DOI 10.1108/02635570310489188]
Keywords
Information management,
Knowledge management
Abstract
The role of quality of information in
decision making has been
highlighted in the literature.
However, little attention has been
given to the importance of critical
information for the management of
modern organisations. In order to
provide products and services to
customers, organisations need
information for making decisions.
Knowledge-based systems are
emerging as appropriate
technology to automate complex
decision making and processes, in
particular for managing enterprise
operations. Critical information
plays a key and essential role for
managing modern organisations.
Because of the large volumes of
information and the resources
required to process them, it has
become necessary to develop a
scheme for the identification of
critical information. In this paper a
new technique to identify critical
information for use in knowledge
processing is presented. Using an
example from the manufacturing
industry, it can be demonstrated
that the use of critical information
will result in more efficient
management of the enterprise
knowledge. This would ultimately
increase the competitiveness and
viability of the enterprise.
To continue reading
Request your trial