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KNOWLEDGE PROCESS IN HP COMPANY

Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is known as ‘The World’s Largest Technology Company’. This company’s headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was a provider of the technological products to the consumers that have more than 170 branches all over the world including Malaysia. The HP was consistently to offer span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services, imaging and printing. They are producing the products from digital photography, digital entertainment, software and hardware, computer, scanning and printing devices.

The company’s major assets are come from skillful and knowledgeable workers. The knowledgeable management team will support the HP activities properly. This is how HP utilizes their workers to create more green products towards safe environment campaign. This can be seen when they has use less carbon in footprints and they are focusing to help the customer to use less energy from their products. Because of that, HP has received several awards as they are very committed towards innovation and development safe facilities for their organization members. Hence, with skillful and knowledgeable workers, HP will continuously leading the technological devices provider in the worlds.

There are three (3) processes in knowledge management such as ‘knowledge acquisition’, ‘knowledge sharing’, and ‘knowledge utilization’. In HP, the first process covered in knowledge acquisition is referring towards how they develop the skills of creating technological devices. This is necessary to have the right tools in acquiring the knowledge among members in their company. The use of ICT tools helping the members of organization to make connection in sharing the knowledge that they have. For example, in HP they are creating the web-based knowledge management system (KMS) to develop all related technical knowledge and communication to be stored for the use of their workers. This system is able to improve the knowledge process among the organization members. Besides, the workers can easily get the right knowledge that they need to be observed.

Secondly, the second process that they use is knowledge sharing. In this stage, HP allows the knowledge sharing among the peers in the organization. This is very essential in order to develop the product that attach with the current technology world market. Moreover, the knowledge sharing needs to be support with a good communication among the members in the organization. In HP itself, they use the knowledge sharing to improve the productivity among their workers. This is how they develop the knowledge workers as the same value has been share among the members in the organization. For example, HP has use outsourcing strategy with their branches in getting the knowledge to improve their products. HP Singapore has contributed towards designing the patents, copyrights, models and other important materials that necessary for the development of HP products.

Thirdly, knowledge utilization is another process in knowledge management as the members in organization need to use the knowledge that they have and share with others in their organization. This can be seen as HP is the company that produces the technological product need to use and allocate the knowledge that they have. If one of their departments succeeds with the use of that knowledge, they need to share with other department in their organization. Form the knowledge utilization HP can diversify the knowledge to create different kind of product by using the core product that they have produced. For example, HP has use HP Customer Engagement Road Map as a tool for their workers getting the work based on knowledge through experience and learning in their organization. As the CEO of HP said, if they can utilize their knowledge effectively, they can make three times profit onwards.

VARIOUS DEFINITIONS / TERMS OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

According to Rebecca O. Barclay and Philip C. Murray, knowledge management can be defined as a business activity that consists with two primary aspects which are ‘treating the knowledge component of business activities as an explicit concern of business reflect in strategy, policy, and practice at all levels of the organization’ and ‘making a direct connection between an organization’s intellectual assets covered both explicit and tacit knowledge that leads to the positive business result. Both aspects have the rational as focusing to the use of knowledge as the company assets will leads the organization to succeed. The tacit and explicit knowledge is very important for the organization that will affect good outcome for their activities.

In other definition, knowledge Management is a system to facilitate learning, innovation and sharing to achieve the strategic objectives of an organization (http://www.allkm.com). This can be simplifying as knowledge is known as a system basis that the organization has use the knowledge to improve their productivity and achieve their goals and objective effectively and efficiently. The rational of this definition as the knowledge helping for better decision making and this will enhance the management performance in the organization.

Knowledge Management can also be referring as ‘caters to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival, and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change.... Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings’ (http://www.kmnetwork.com/). This definition has telling us about how the knowledge management is very important in the process of the organization as it will result to the achievement of the organization as the proper use of the knowledge has been utilize in their organization. This lead to the rationality on how the knowledge need to be manage properly as it will result the good outcomes for the company to have many knowledge workers that lead their organization to become knowledge company.

From various definition, we can differentiate it into four (3) points such as ‘focus’, ‘roles’, and ‘importance or significance’. The table as below:

Differences	Definition/ key terms
Focus	Knowledge including tacit and explicit knowledge. Knowledge leads to learning, innovation and sharing among the organization members. Knowledge is used to adapt with current environment.
Roles	Helping the organization in improving their activities and staff performance. To achieve desired goals and getting knowledgeable workers form long life learning.
Importance/significance	Knowledge is important in competitive world market. Knowledge is important to create more valuable task and reduce redundancy in task. To reduce complexity and high cost activities.

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE & HOW KN FUNCTIONS AS SOURCED OF WEALTH?

According to JP Moreland, knowledge can be defined in a simple way that represent reality in thought or experience the way it really is on the basis of adequate grounds. To know something is to think of or experience it as it really on a solid basis of evidence, experience and intuition. In addition, Thomas Davenport and Laurence Prusak had defined knowledge as fluid mix of frame experience, values, contextual information, expert insight and grounded information that provides environment and framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and applied in the mind of knower’s. In organizations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practice and norms.

As overall, the definition of knowledge from Thomas Davenport and Laurence Prusak means the knowledge that usually used in an organization are divided into two types which are tactic knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tactic knowledge refer to knowledge that are in the mind of knower’s while explicit knowledge refer to knowledge that can be observe, tangible and it had been documented.

Knowledge is very importance to knowledge based economy (k-based economy) as both of these types of knowledge which are tactic and explicit knowledge needed in k-based economy. Knowledge functions as source of wealth in k-based economy. This is because knowledge is truly an asset to those who have it and it also gives power to those who use it wisely. Knowledge also represents the basics of modern firm and management. It can be effectively and efficient thorough the management. Knowledge economy means the use of knowledge to produce economic benefits. By having the knowledge worker, a company can run their business effectively and can make more profit. Knowledge worker are also one of the asset to the company if they possess knowledge employees. Possessing knowledge employees make the company able to compete with their competitors. The knowledge that the knowledge employees have are valuable to the company and most of the company will effectively use their knowledge for the purpose of increasing company’s profit and for the long term growth.

K-based economy are not dependent on natural resources but it only depend on two types of knowledge that their knowledge employees have which are tactic and explicit knowledge. Both of this knowledge is very useful and important to company. Any companies that have both type of knowledge among their employees are benefit and easily can improve and achieve their objective in the future. In order to ensure that the company could remain possessing the knowledge from their knowledge employees, company should document the knowledge into written document and share this valuable knowledge with other staff. Thus when the knowledge employees move to other company or retire the company will still possess and use the valuable knowledge. For an example, Hp Company possess knowledge employee that expert in designing less energy in their product, thus to ensure that the Hp Company will remain to have this knowledge Hp Company should ask the employees who have that knowledge to train and share with others staff and documented it on written document.

As overall, knowledge is very important to every company. Knowledge is the asset for each company. Each company sometimes will have different knowledge employees with different knowledge based on their business activity. Having good knowledge employees with well manage on it could make the company excellent in their operation and obtain higher profit in their business. Thus, the more knowledge that employees have, the more benefit and profit can gain and expand in the business. That is why knowledge becoming source of k-based economy.

HOW HP COMPANY BECOME K-COMPANY & WHAT KIND OF K-WORKER THEY NEED?

In leading HP towards k-company the organization need to use valuable knowledge that it will contribute towards profitable outcome. It is not difficult to become Knowledge Company if the company is able to utilize the knowledge that they have in order to perform in world market economy. HP is known as the largest and successful technological devices provider that earns billions revenue each years. For that, only the best will survive in the market. First of all, HP Company needs to be in the competitive market. This is how the company struggle to maintain and improve their product competes with other similar producer like them. By using the knowledge the company will succeed towards achieving higher profit as they use all the values that they can get from their knowledgeable workers.

HP Company has also practicing open culture whereby all of their workers including CEO have work in open area. There is no partition that will hide any activities or task that have been done by the workers. It is good for them as knowledge sharing as at the higher level that leads towards productivity of the workers. This is because the technique that they use will increase their learning level and perhaps it will increase the workers to participate in each activities that the company done. Having knowledgeable workers is essential to leads HP to become k-company because in business today knowledge is the conductor towards business opportunist. The company must up to date, so that they will not left far behind in the current competitive market.

Why the title of k-company is so important? The answer is only companies that have the knowledge about markets, product and customers need and want can perform better. As HP developing their own research center, it will help HP to develop various product that parallel with technological advancement. With the research center, HP management will not having complexity in accomplishing their task as the investment in the research center have been facilitate with sophisticated and modern function of devices. The research center has plays an important role in collecting and documenting the knowledge that they have so that the other organizational members can easily utilize the sources that will help in complete their task. Besides that, the aims to towards k-company will ensure HP to produce the high quality of products and fulfill the customer’s needs and satisfaction.

As define by Davenport, k-worker (knowledge worker) refers to people whose primary job is to do something with knowledge like to create, distribute and apply knowledge. K-worker also refers to those who have a high degree of education or experience. K-Workers according to J.Phang means those who are computer-literate and who are able to choose the most suitable tool from a range of currently available IT tools to increase their effectiveness and to shorten traditional job processes.

HP is the company that provides technological devices to their customers. This company deals with technology devices as their business product. Thus as Hp is the company that supply technology devices, for sure they need workers that are very computer literate which is able to use computer efficiency in order to have k-worker in this company. This is the most basic requirement that HP Company needs for their k-workers. Ability of computer literate important for the k-workers in HP Company because of their works and duties mostly will need them to use technology and if they are not have this ability, it is difficult for this kind of workers to accomplish their job also it is wastage for HP Company hiring this kind of workers that cannot give them profit.

In addition, in order for the HP Company to have k-workers, the workers should have habits of learning. It means that their workers are continuously learned to improve themselves and also their productivity. Before the workers possess the habits of learning, firstly they should have self motivation in learning. If they are not motivated to continuously learn, workers may not have intention to learn and difficult for them to be more productive and become k-workers in their company. Habits of learn will improve the knowledge of that workers itself and also benefit the company as k-workers are one of the important asset of company in ensuring that company can gain more profit and for the long term growth purposes. That is why knowledge becomes source of wealth in k-based economy.

Furthermore, to be k-workers in HP Company they should have excellent thinking skills. This skill is essential for them to be practice in solving any problems. Problems are something that all companies cannot predict and run from it and they have to face it before it become worse and happen again in future. Then, by having thinking skill k-workers can create or generate new ideas in their products and can compete with their competitors. For the business that produce technological devices they always need to create new ideas or products because in technology there will always have changes and HP Company should aware on this advancement in technology to ensure they are not left behind from their competitors and will not lost their customers.