Comp Mapping and Knowledge Management

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A

Project Report On

Competency Mapping and Knowledge Management in

Krishak Bharati Co-Operative Ltd. HAZIRA

PREPARED BY:-

JIGNESH R LUHARIYA

SUBMITTED TO:-

Shree Samanvay Institute Of MBA, BOTAD

Bhavnagar University


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DECLARATION

I undersigned Mr. JIGNESH R LUHARIYA a student of MBA-II semester, Shree

Samanvay Institute Of MBA, BOTAD Bhavnagar University admit that this project report

with “KRISHAK BHARTI CO-OPERETIVE LTD” is the result of our study which carried out

during 04 May to 13 June, 2009 and has not been previously submitted to any other university or

institute for any other examination and for any other purpose by any other person.

Place: Surat

Date: 13.6.2009 JIGNESH R LUHARIYA


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am glad to express my profound sentiments of gratitude to all who rendered theirvaluable help for the successful completion of this project report titled, “A Project Report OnCompetency Mapping and Knowledge Management.”

I record my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. N K Sahoo (Chief Mgr.-HR) who had given

me a chance to do a project under this roof of KRIBHCO and given opportunity to work under

his guidance.

I would also like to thank sincerely from the deep of my heart to all those persons who

constantly guided me and gave me the practical knowledge and materials of the subject.

I would finally like to thank all employees of KRIBHCO for their kind cooperation,

guidance and support which lead us to right direction of our research.

My genuine sense of gratitude goes to my university that gave me a chance to brighten

my academic qualification that provided me this opportunity to have a practical knowledge of

relevant fields.


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PREFACE

The MBA training of the Shree Samanvay Institute Of MBA, BOTAD Bhavnagar

University, Bhavnagar provides the Students an opportunity to have and insight of any large

scale unit so that we get the exposure to an Actual managerial environment of company. I am

lucky to have vocational training in a company like KRIBHCO Ltd which is considered to be

one of the “largest fertilizer establishments” in India.

During this period, I had an overview of the human resource department within which I

could make a detailed study of all the section which comes under the roof of human resource

management in KRIBHCO. This training will help me to correlate theoretical knowledge and its

practical applications. It was a thrilling experience while studying working of KRIBHCO and

understanding it. This programme has led me to realize the contribution of KRIBHCO to the

Fertilizer Industry of India.

I am grateful to all the employees of KRIBHCO for their cooperation and interest in my

project without which it could not have been possible to go ahead with my project.

With due honor, I present this project which consists of a brief study of KRIBHCO Ltd.

JIGNESH R LUHARIYA

MBA (First year)

SHREE SAMANVAY INSTITUTE OF MBA

BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

BOTAD


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Success of any organization depends largely on its competent employees and the extent

to which the knowledge is shared in that organization. Competency Mapping is a process

through which one assesses and determines one’s strengths as an individual worker ad in some

cases as a part of an organization where as Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive

processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. Hence, competency

mapping and management of knowledge and its resources play a significant role in growth and

development of the organization. Knowledge Management ('KM') comprises a range of practices

used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. It is divided into

stages like acquiring knowledge, sharing, storing and leveraging the knowledge both at personal

level as well as professional level.

Competency mapping examines two areas: emotional intelligence quotient(EQ),and

strengths of the individual in Areas like team structure, leadership, and decision-making.

Knowledge management refers to all systematic activities for creation and sharing of knowledge

so that knowledge can be used for the success of the organization. KM processes provide aframework for connecting people to people and people to information, to develop and share

distilled learning and best practices.

This report is an attempt to check the competency level and study the status of the

Knowledge management in this organization. The report starts with Introduction of the

Company, its achievements and then elaborates the concept of competency mapping and

Knowledge Management; in KRIBHCO, and data analysis and interpretation on the basis of

perception of employees.


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CONTENTS

Declaration 2

A cknowledgement 3

Preface 4

Executive Summary 5

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Company Profile 7

1. Competency Mapping 212. An Introduction to Knowledge Management 27

3. Knowledge Management 29

4. Knowledge Management Roles and Organizational Structure 34

5. Why Knowledge Management 39

6. An Overview of Knowledge Process 40

7. Barriers for implementing Knowledge Management 41

8. Challenges for HR Professionals in Knowledge Industry 43

9. Research Methodology 47

10. Data Analysis and Interpretation 49

11. Questionnaire 78

12. Research Findings 84

13. Suggestions 86

14. Conclusion 87


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India lives in villages” said Mahatma

Gandhi decades ago. It is true even today. Like

every developing economy, the economy of India is

also agro-based. Agriculture accounts for nearly

1/4th of India's GDP and more importantly, about

2/3rd

of the country's population is dependent on

agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood.

As per statistics nearly 175 lakh MT of fertilizer

nutrients are required every year in this country.

The demand of fertilizers was so high that India had to import almost 30% of its requirement

from other countries. Therefore, to achieve the economic growth, agriculture base of the country

must be strengthened. To attain this objective, agriculture practices have to be improved from

their traditional pattern to a higher technological track involving better irrigation and use of

better quality seeds, fertilizers, insecticides & pesticides. Therefore, chemical fertilizers are key

player in this process and fertilizer industries plays quite a major role in increasing food

production in the country and also helps to modernize the out look of the common farmers and

make them innovative and respective to the new technology change.

A fertilizer is any material, organic, inorganic, natural or synthetic, that is placed on orincorporated into the soil to supply plants with one or more of the chemicals elements necessary

for normal growth. Fertilizer is the material, which supplies the chemicals elements required for

plant growth. Primary nutrients like nitrogen, phosphates and potassium (required for fertilizer

land) are supplied through chemical fertilizer. Fertilizer response studies have proved that one

kg. of fertilizer nutrient application can the food grain production by 8-10 kg.

Fertilizer production is of permanent importance for this country because fertilizer

increases agriculture productivity. One hand population increasing but on the other the supply of

Introduction to Fertilizer

Industry


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land is totally fixed. So we have to produce more without any increase in arable land area. This

can be done if productivity goes up. And fertilizer plays a major role in productivity escalation.

As this is a vital commodity it is in the interest of nation that farmers get fertilizers at

reasonable rate and in adequate quantity. Looking to the poor economic condition of Indian

farmers Government of India framed fertilizer policy in 1977 based on Maratha committee

report. The purpose behind introducing this policy was to supply fertilizer to resource poor at a

price they could afford, so as to increase the consumption of fertilizer, to increase food

production, and ensure fair return to fertilizer producers.

With this twin objective, Retention Price Scheme (RPS) for fertilizers came into picture.

In this scheme government has brought the fertilizer under the preview of Essential CommoditiesAct (ECA) in which the retail price of fertilizer to the farmer is notified by the Government of

India from time to time. This retail price to the farmer is uniform throughout the country and is

subject to local taxes applicable under the respective States.

Further under ECA, the government also operates a system of distribution control in

which the manufacturers including the handling agents for the imported fertilizers are directed to

sell specified quantities of fertilizers in given states/union territories. While doing so, the

logistics of fertilizer distribution including storage, transportation, handling etc. are also suitably

regulated conforming to overall supply plans of the government to meet the requirement in all

the parts of the Country.

Now manufacturers also should get reasonable rate of return as all incentive for

producing fertilizers. Manufacturers should get at least that much, which call enable them to

remain in the industry.

Government of India fixes the price of fertilizers in such a way that manufacturer's cost

of production including cost of marketing is covered and the manufacturer gets a 12% post tax

return on net worth of the unit at a pre-defined capacity utilization. Norms are fixed forconsumption of raw material, utilities, services, capacity utilization, depreciation etc. The price

so fixed is called Retention Price (RP). This price is reviewed every three years.

In a nutshell fertilizers can not be sold in open markets and producing unit has almost nil

say in fixing fertilizer price. Then how to increase profits? By operating plant efficiently only.


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The work of administering the Retention Price Scheme (RPS) is entrusted to Fertilizer

Industry Co-ordination Committee (FICC) which works under the control of department of

chemicals and fertilizers.

Growth of Fertilizer Industry

One of the most significant achievement of the post Independence period of our country

has been the ability to achieve self-sufficiency in food grain production. This achievement is due

to the rapid growth and improvement of Fertilizer industry. The Fertilizer industry is growing at

the rate of 4% for the last 10 years and has been contributing a significant part of G.D.P.

The growth and importance of Fertilizer industry in India can be divided in to three

distinct phases, these are given below.

1. Pro Green Revolution Period:

This period is described in 1952-1953 era where increased growth of food grains

took place however this increased production in food grains took place due to increased

irrigation methods. In this phase the land under agriculture was made more, during this period

about 80% of the country's population was involved in Agriculture either directly or indirectly.

During this period the fertilizer's which were manufactured were Super Phosphate & Ammonium

Sulphate. Irrigation was thought to be heart of Agriculture.

2. Green Revolution Period:

During this phase Government stated the programme aimed at making our

country self sufficient in Food Products. This was the period between the years 1959-1960. This

plan laid the emphasis on production of High Yielding Varieties. To make this plan a success

there was a high need to make soil fertile by providing it with nutrients like Phosphorus,

Nitrogen and Potassium.

During this phase Fertilizer industry tried to play a vital role, became one of the

most important, and inherits part of our economy.

3. The Post Green Revolution Period:

The world's population along with Indian population has kept on growing at a alarming

rate, the fertilizer companies all over India are trying to expand their scale of operations in order

to increase the production rate. The demand for fertilizers per year is increasing. The current

demand of fertilizers in India is 18 million tones.


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Fertilizer Industry Scenario in India

In India, First of all in 1906, A Single Super Phosphate (SSP) manufacturing unit

was set up at Ranipat near Chennai (Madras) with annual capacity of 6000 tones per annum.

1. Public Sector

The Fertilizer And Chemicals Travancore Ltd. (FACT)

Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd. (HFC)

Madras Fertilizer Ltd. (MFL)

Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL)

Naively Lignite Corporation Ltd. (NLC)

Pyrites, Phosphates And Chemicals Ltd. (PPCL)

Pradeep Phosphates Ltd. (PPL)

Rashtriya Chemicals And Fertilizers Ltd. (RCFL)

National Fertilizer Ltd. (NFL)

2. Co-Operative Sector

There are only two fertilizer manufacturing societies in Co-operative sector.

Indian Farmers Fertilizers Co-Operative Ltd. (IFFCO)

Krishak Bharati Co-Operative Ltd. (KRIBHCO)

3. Private Sector

There are 17 companies in private sector, which are producing fertilizer.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizer Co. Ltd. (GNFC)

Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL)

Hari Fertilizer

ICI India Ltd.

Indo Gulf Fertilizers & Chemicals Corporation Ltd.

Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (MCFL)

Southern Petro Chemicals Industries Corporations Ltd.

Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemical Ltd. (NFCL)


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Shri Ram Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd.

Tuticorian Alkali Chemicals & Fertilizer Ltd.

Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd.

Bindali Agro Chemicals Ltd.

Chambal Fertilizer & Petrochemical Corporations Ltd. (DEPCL)

E.D.I. PASSY (I) LTD.

Gujarat State Fertilizer Company (GSFC)


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Krishak Bharti Co-operative Limited

“KRIBHCO” the world’s premier fertilizer producing co-operative has an

outstanding track record to its credit in all spheres of its actives. Since 17th April 1980 as a

rational level Co-operative society to manufacturing and distribute. Chemical fertilizer and allied

farm imputes “KRIBHCO” imbibed the co-operative philosophy fulfilling its commitment to

strengthening and promoting the cause of agriculture development and co-operative movements

in the country.

Krishak Bharti co-operative limited popularly known as “KRIBHCO” has been

registered as national level co-operative society under the provision of the multi-state co-

operative societies act, 1984.

The”KRIBHCO” hazira unit is located around 15 kms, west of Surat and lies on

the north of river Tapti. An all weather road from Surat to hazira connects the plant site with the

city. The cannel belonging to irrigation department is running on the plant site and is feeding

water from ukai. A railway feeder line apporx.. 55 kms. Long has connected the site with

Bombay –Ahmedabad main line.

KRIBHCO Network: -

A. Head office: - fertilizer plant, Noida, Delhi

B. (i) Plant: - Surat Gujarat

(ii) Bio fertilizer plant: - Surat (Gujarat)

(iii) Seed processing plant: - Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, haryana, M.P. Punjab, Rajasthan,


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U.P. (For Punjab&Haryana)

C. Zonal offices: - Bhopal, Bangalore, Lucknow and Chandigarh.

D. State mktg. offices: - Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Banglore, Patna, Lucknow,

Chandigarh, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Dehradun, Kolkota

Besides marketing its products “KRIBHCO” carries out various other programmed

like farmers benefit programmed, sanket Haran bima yojana, marketing of BVFCL

(Brahmputra valley fertilizer corporation limited) vred seed multiplication programmer,

gramin vikas trust (rural development trust)

A cooperative thrives on the trust of, its members. Membership of “KRIBHCO” is open to

government of India, national state and district and village level cooperative society. At the

initial stage, way back in june, 1981 the total membership in ”KRIBHCO” was only 221

cooperative societies which rose significantly to 6044 cooperative societies as on march

31,2005 as against 5790 as on march 31 2004. Phenomenal progress made by the society

becomes a testimony to the ever-increasing membership over the years.

The total paid up share capital as on March 31, 2005 was rs.39, 354.15 lakh as against

rs.49, 170.72lakh in the previous year. During the current financial year, the society has

refunded share capital of rs.9700 lakh to “IFFCO” and government of India respectively .the

state –wise membership with share capital contribution as on March 31,2005 vis-à-vis march

31 2004.


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MISSION: -

A) To contribute to agriculture &rural development in the regins.

B) Services to members of cooperatives society by selecting financing

C) Managing society desirable and commercial profitable investment

opportunity preferable at multiple locations.

VISION:-

They want to be a world class organization that represents the farmer

community and maximizes returns to them through specialization in agricultural

inputs and products and other diversified businesses that maximize stakeholder

value.

OBJECTIVES: -

a) To undertake the activities for the rural upliftment and agriculture development.


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b) To promote economic interest of its members by undertaking manufacturing of chemical

fertilizer & allied product.

In furtherance of these objectives “KRIBHCO” may undertake one or more of the

following activities: -

(I) To undertake production processing, manufacture, sale distribution, marketing,

import export and to otherwise deal in agriculture production requisites.

(II) To set up storage units for storing fertilizer and other goods by itself or in

collaboration with other agency.

(III) To act as warehousing agency under the warehousing act and own godowns or hire

godowns for the storage of fertilizers and other goods.

AWARDS: -

The excellence performance of the society has brought a number of laurels from various

organizations .The awards received during year were as follows: -

(I) National productivity council has awarded productivity award the society for bio

fertilizer product for the year 1999-2000, 2001-2002 in the year 2003-2004.

(II) Certificate of merit by public relations society of India, Hyderabad chapter for house

journal of “KRIBHCO”

(III) Best technical innovative award for the year 2003 by fertilizer association of India.

(IV) Certificate of merit Gujarat safety council for relining 30 lakh accident free man-

hours.

(V) Hazira ammonia extension project (HAEP) rotating shield winner and certificate for

lowest disabling injury index in group-c industries.

(VI) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Agriculture and Technical University, Meerut – All India

Farmers Fair And agro Industrial Exhibition – First Prize To Kribhco on 10-03-2005.


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(VII) Kribhco has won first prize for Bio-Fertilizer Production, Marketing And Promotion

Award For the year 2003 And 2004 by National Productivity Council (NPC). Award

Has been given formal function held on 10 th May,.2005 by Honble Minister For

Agriculture Shri Shard Pawar Ji.

(VIII) Special Participation Award in Corporate Sector Event “ Vyapar 2005” Event

Organized By Southern Gujarat Chamber OF Commerce And Industries From

February 11 – 16, 2005, the theme of pavilion was “ Development OF Bio-

Technology In Kribhco “

HISTORY OF KRIBHCO: -

Encourage with the successful operation of fertilizer plant of Kalul, Kandla and

Phulpur in the co-operative Limited. (IFFCO) higher to the one and the only co-operative in

the fertilizer industry has promoted another co-operative namely

“KRIBHCO” Ltd to made the new giant plant of Hazira.

MILE STONES: -

(I) Project zero Date : 31/03/1981

(II) Foundation stone laid by Smt. Indira Gandhi : 5/02/1982

(III) Project completion : 31/03/1985

(IV) Plan completion : 26/11/1985

(V) Commercial production : 1/3/1986

(VI)Percent capacity utilization : Urea 99%

Ammonia95%

(VII) Plant ready of production : January/September 1985

(VIII) Gas available by ONGC : PHASE 1 & PHASE 2

18-9-85 6-11-85

(IX) Trial production Ammonia : PHASE 1 & PHASE 2

14-11-85 30-11-85

Urea (stream 11/31) 26-11-85 13-12-85

Ammonia (stream 21/41) 31-12-85 01-12-85


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(X) ISO certificate (I) KRIBHCO plant

ISO 9001-2000

(II) KRIBHCO plant

ISO 14001

(III) KRIBHCO Mktg office

ISO 9001-2000

DEPARTMENT AND MANPOWERS AT “KRIBHCO”

Director 05

Financing & Accounting 49

Vigilance 01

Training 09

HR 58

Security 72

Material 50

Medical 31

Mechanical 172

Transportation 39

Fire safety 29

Instrument 69

Electrical & civil 88

Ms System 13

Laboratory 35

Production 365

Technical 27

Total Manpower 1112


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PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHT

QUALITY POLICY

Management of KRIBHCO, Hazira plant is committed to operate and maintain its fertilizer

manufacturing complex through quality assurance, environmental protection and to the

satisfaction of customers.

KRIBHCO, Hazira plant shall achieve this quality policy through following objectives:

1. Continually upgrading technology to improve plant efficiency & reliability.

2. Maintaining & improving the safety & environmental performance.

3. Improving the skills & knowledge of personnel.

4. Continuously improving the quality Management system.

Highest Production Urea 18.06 Lakh mt(Previous Best 17.73 Lakh mt, 2003-2004)

Highest Dispatch Of Urea 18.05 Lakh mt(Previous Best 17.85 Lakh mt, 2003-2004)

Lowest Urea Energy Consumption 5.861 G.Cal/mt(Previous Best 5.886 G.Cal/mt, 2003-2004)

Lowest Ammonia Energy Consumption 8.204 G.Cal/mt(Previous Best 8.222 G.Cal/mt, 2003-2004)

Highest Production of Seeds 1.54 Lakh Qtls(Previous Best 1.21 lakh Qtls, 2003-2004)

Highest Sales Of Seeds 1.49 Lakh Qtls(Previous Best 1.11 Lakh Qtls, 2003-2004)

Highest Sales Of Bio-Fertilizers 611 mt

(Previous Best 516 mt, 2003-2004)Highest KBSK’s Turnover Rs.3608 Lakh

(Previous Best Rs.3052 Lakh , 2003-2004)

Highest KBSK’s Profitability Rs.72.91Lakh(Previous Best Rs.29.91Lakh , 2003-2004)

Profit Before Tax Rs.183.83 Crores

Profit After Tax Rs.140.59 Crores

Proposed Dividend 20 %


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FUTURE PLANS

A joint venture fertilizer project in Oman:

Society has invested US$ 80 million as equity in Oman India Fertilizer plant

which has achieved commercial production on 14th

July 2005. The Project has annual capacity of

16.52 lakhs MT Urea and 2.50 lakhs MT surplus ammonia and has been built at a cost of US$

969 million. Marketing of Urea produced by this plant has since been commenced by the society.

Hazira Phase-II

Society is in the process of setting up a state of the art mega size ammonia plant of

capacity of 1850 MTDP and urea plant of capacity of 3250 MTDP at existing fertilizer complex

at Hazira. Existing infrastructure facilities will be utilized resulting in saving of cost. Plant will

be based on natural gas and we have energy consumption.

Gujarat state energy generation limited (GSEG)

Society has diversified to power sector and has invested Rs. 48.75 crores being 30%

equity in Gujarat State Energy Generation Limited, a joint venture company promoted by

government of Gujarat, GSEG is operating 156 MW Power Plant at Mora, District Surat.

KRIBHCO’s Hazira plant is also going to be expanded. The society is also exploring the

possibilities to set up a 200 MW liquid fuel based power project at Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Society

has deposited a development security of Rs.25 lakhs with Rajasthan State Electricity Board

(RSEB). Minister of power has given No Objection Certificate (NOC).


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ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF KRIBHCO

GM

(P)

GM(Material)

GM

(F&A)

GM

(P&A)

GM

(Tech)

CM

(MIS)GM

(Mai.)

JGM

(P)

JGM(Material)

JGM

(F&A)

JGM

(P&A)

JGM

(Tech)

JGM

(Maintain)

CM

(P)

CM(Material)

CM

(F&A)

CM

(P&A)

CM

(Tech)

CM

(Maintain)

Government of India

Ministry of Agriculture

Department of fertilizer

& Chemical

Chairman

Board of Directors

Managing Director

Operational Director

Ammonia

Urea

Power

PHP

Transportation

Purchase

Store

Process

Project

Laboratory

F&S

Civil

Instrument

Mechanic

Electrical


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COMPETENCY MAPPING

In today’s competitive market, companies are aware that their workforce must be properly

trained and fully competent over a range of tasks within any given work discipline.

Competency mapping is a process through which one assesses and determines one’s strengths asan individual worker and in some cases, as part of an organization. It generally examines two

areas: emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ), and strengths of the individual in areaslike team structure, leadership, and decision-making. Large organizations frequently employsome form of competency mapping to understand how to most effectively employ thecompetencies of strengths of workers. They may also use competency mapping to analyze thecombination of strengths in different workers to produce the most effective teams and the highest

quality work.

Competency mapping can also be done for contract or freelance workers, or for those seekingemployment to emphasize the specific skills which would make them valuable to a potentialemployer.

Competency mapping also requires some thought, time, and analysis, and some people simplymay not want to do the work involved to sufficiently map competencies. Competency mappingalone may not produce accurate results unless one is able to detach from the results in analyzing past successes and failures. Many studies find that people often overestimate their abilities,making self-competency mapping results dubious.

The value of competency mapping and identifying emotional strengths is that many employers

now purposefully screen employees to hire people with specific competencies. They may need tohire someone who can be an effective time leader or who has demonstrated great active listening

skills. Alternately, they may need someone who enjoys taking initiative or someone who is verygood at taking direction. When individuals must seek new jobs, knowing one’s competencies cangive one a competitive edge in the job market.

Usually, a person will find themselves with strengths in about five to six areas. Sometimes anarea where strengths are not present is worth developing. In other cases, competency mapping

can indicate finding work that is suited to one’s strengths, or finding a department at one’s

current work where one's strengths or needs as a worker can be exercised.

A problem with competency mapping, especially when conducted by an organization is thatthere may be no room for an individual to work in a field that would best make use of his or hercompetencies. If the company does not respond to competency mapping by reorganizing itsemployees, then it can be of little short-term benefit and may actually result in greaterunhappiness on the part of individual employees. A person identified as needing to learn newthings in order to remain happy might find himself or herself in a position where no new trainingis ever required. If the employer cannot provide a position for an employee that fits him or her better, competency mapping may be of little use.


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However, competency mapping can ultimately serve the individual who decides to seekemployment in an environment where he or she perhaps can learn new things and be more

intellectually challenged. Being able to list competencies on resumes and address this area with

potential employers may help secure more satisfying work. This may not resolve issues for thecompany that initially employed competency mapping, without making suggested changes. Itmay find competency mapping has produced dissatisfied workers or led to a high workerturnover rate.

Competency also means the collection of success factors necessary for achieving importantresults in a specific job or work role in a particular organization. Success factors are

combinations of knowledge, skills, and attributes that are described in terms of specific behaviors, and are demonstrated by superior performers in those jobs or work roles. Attributesinclude: personal characteristics, traits, motives, values or ways of thinking that impact anindividual’s behavior.

Competencies in organizations tend to fall into two broad categories:

- Personal Functioning Competencies. These competencies include broad success factors nottied to a specific work function or industry (often focusing on leadership or emotionalintelligence behaviors).

- Functional/Technical Competencies. These competencies include specific success factorswithin a given work function or industry.

Three other definitions are needed:

• Competency Map. A competency map is a list of an individual’s competencies that representthe factors most critical to success in given jobs, departments, organizations, or industries that

are part of the individual’s current career plan.

• Competency Mapping. Competency mapping is a process an individual uses to identify anddescribe competencies that are the most critical to success in a work situation or work role.

• Top Competencies. Top competencies are the vital few competencies (four to seven, on

average) that are the most important to an individual in their ongoing career management process. “Importance to the individual” is an intuitive decision based on a combination of three

factors: past demonstrated excellence in using the competency, inner passion for using thecompetency, and the current or likely future demand for the competency in the individual’scurrent position or targeted career field.

Although the definition above for “competency mapping” refers to individual employees,organizations also “map” competencies, but from a different perspective.Organizations describe, or map, competencies using one or more of the following four strategies:

1. Organization-Wide (often called “core competencies” or those required for organizationsuccess)


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2. Job Family or Business Unit Competency Sets3. Position-Specific Competency Sets

4. Competency Sets Defined Relative to the Level of Employee Contribution (i.e. Individual

Contributor, Manager, or Organizational Leader)

How can it help the overall HRD process of an organization?

Competency is a vehicle for organizational HRD applications such as:

• Defining the factors for success in jobs (i.e., work) and work roles within the organization.

• Assessing the current performance and future development needs of persons holding jobs androles.

• Mapping succession possibilities for employees within the organization.

• Assigning compensation grades and levels to particular jobs and roles.

• Selecting applicants for open positions, using competency-based interviewing techniques ETC.

Why Should Individual Employees Map Their Competencies?

A list of compelling reasons includes, at a minimum, the following. An individual:

• Gains a clearer sense of true marketability in today’s job market; once the individual knowshow his/her competencies compare to those that are asked for by the job market in key positionsof interest.

• Projects an appearance as a “cutting-edge” and well-prepared candidate, who has taken the timeto learn about competencies, investigate those in demand, and map his/her own competencies prior to interviewing.

• Demonstrates self-confidence that comes from knowing one’s competitive advantages more

convincingly, and from being able to articulate those advantages in specific language.

• Secures essential input to resume development - a set of important terms to use in describingexpertise derived from prior career experience.

• Gains advanced preparation for interviews, many of which may be delivered using a

competency- based approach called “structured behavioral interviewing” or “behavioral eventinterviewing.”

• Develops the capability to compare one’s actual competencies to an organization or position’s

required/preferred competencies, in order to create an Individual Development Plan.


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How Do Competencies Relate to MANPOWER PLANNING?

COMPETENCE MAPPING PROVIDES THE MANPOWER PROFILE-1. Organization-Wide (often called “core competencies” or those required for organizationsuccess)2. Job Family or Business Unit Competency PROFILE3. Position-Specific Competency PROFILE4.INDIVIDUAL profile.

THE ANALYSIS OF THESE INDICATES TO THE MANPOWER PLANNERS-required manpower / competency profiles-current availability of manpower / competency profiles-estimated gap in manpower / competency .

THIS INFORMATION [COMPETENCY] IS USED BY MANPOWER PLANNERS IN-Recruitment/Section Process-Training-Development

Since competency mapping provides database information for manpower planning they areclosely linked

-without competency mapping it is not possible to complete a successful effective manpower planning.

How Does Competency-Based Interviewing and Selection Work?

Competency-based interviewing and selection presupposes that a set of organization-wide, jobfamily/department, or position-specific competencies have been identified by the organization.Interviewers are then trained in the art of Structured Behavioral Interviewing, which has severalhallmarks:A structured set of questions is used to interview all candidates. Each question is designed to

elicit behavioral examples from the candidate which demonstrate the use of one or more key

behaviors underlying each competency that is accounted for in the interview.

A team of interviewers is usually used and they typically divide the list of competencies amongthemselves so that each interviewer can focus on asking the related detailed behavioral questionsand documenting candidate responses.

Interviewers typically ask open-ended and situation-based questions such as, “Think of a specifictime when you faced ____________? How did you handle the situation? How did it turn out?”

Interviewers record evidence of behaviors that the candidate relates, and they ask probing

questions to gather complete behavioral evidence that includes details of the circumstance, theactions taken by the candidate, and the results achieved. This process is called the CAR


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(circumstance, action, results) Model.At the conclusion of the interview, all interviewers of a particular candidate meet and compare

the behaviors they heard from the candidate that support the assertion that the candidate

possesses a specific competency. If the candidate did not offer specific examples with relevant behaviors, after additional attempts at rephrasing the question or asking different but relatedquestions, then the determination is made that the candidate does not possess the competency.

The underlying philosophy here is that the best predictor of future performance is past

performance that was demonstrated by concrete, observable behavior.A final hiring decision is made based on the total strength of competencies demonstrated by each

candidate, compared with those competencies that are considered essential for success in the position and in the organization, and as compared with the competency strengths of theremaining candidates for the same position.

COMPETENCY MAPPING IS HR TOOL USED IN

-Recruitment /Selection-Training/Development-Performance Management-Career Planning/Development-Succession Planning-Manpower Planning-Human Resource Development-Human Resource Planning-Human Resource Strategic Planning.etc

How Do Competencies Relate to Individual Career Development?

First and foremost, competencies must be demonstrated by individuals. Perhaps the most

common place where they are demonstrated is within the scope of a particular job or projectinvolvement. However, competencies are also developed and demonstrated by individuals in thefollowing settings: volunteer roles in the community, professional associations, school projects,sports participation settings, and even within one’s own home life.

One of the first encounters with competencies for most individuals is in securing employmentwith a new organization. Organizations that are purposefully using cutting-edge methods tochoose talent for positions or project roles are engaging in what is called “competency-basedinterviewing and selection”. These interviewing and selection methods are being used not onlyfor hiring external applicants, but also for staffing internal roles.

Many organizations that use competency-based interviewing and selection are also later usingthe same competencies to assess performance, to encourage future development plans from

individuals, and to plan for succession in the organization. Therefore, the individual employeesin such an organization will have an ongoing need to use and map their competencies.


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Up to this point, it is implied that the main need for identifying and mapping competencies is forindividuals who may be pursuing full-time employment with an organization. However, the need

for mapping of competencies also extends to independent contractors seeking project work with

those organizations that broker their services.


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AN INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge is defined (Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i) expertise, and skills acquired

by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a

subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness

or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. Philosophical debates in general start

with Plato's formulation of knowledge as "justified true belief". There is however no single

agreed definition of knowledge presently, or any prospect of one, and there remain numerous

competing theories.

Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning,

communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the

confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose.

Reliable knowledge

The knowledge based on the logical considerations and scientific calculations is known as

reliable knowledge. The degree of reliability is high regarding the information here, hence

known as reliable knowledge.

Communicating knowledge

Symbolic representations can be used to indicate meaning and can be thought of as a dynamic

process. Hence the transfer of the symbolic representation can be viewed as one ascription

process whereby knowledge can be transferred. Other forms of communication include imitation,

narrative exchange along with a range of other methods. There is no complete theory of

knowledge transfer or communication.

Situated knowledge

Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a particular situation. Some methods of generating

knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience, tend to create highly situational


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knowledge. One of the main benefits of the scientific method is that the theories it generates are

much less situational than knowledge gained by other methods. Situational knowledge is often

embedded in language, culture, or traditions.

Knowledge generated through experience is called knowledge "a posteriori", meaning

afterwards. The pure existence of a term like "a posteriori" means this also has a counterpart. In

this case that is knowledge "a priori", meaning before. The knowledge prior to any experience

means that there are certain "assumptions" that one takes for granted. For example if one is being

told about a chair it is clear to him that the chair is in space, that it is 3D. This knowledge is not

knowledge that one can "forget", even someone suffering from amnesia experiences the world in

3D.

Partial knowledge

One discipline of epistemology focuses on partial knowledge. In most realistic cases, it is not

possible to have an exhaustive understanding of an information domain, so then we have to live

with the fact that our knowledge is always not complete, that is, partial. Most real problems have

to be solved by taking advantage of a partial understanding of the problem context and problem

data. That is very different from the typical simple math problems that we solve at school, where

all data are given and we have a perfect understanding of formulas necessary to solve them.


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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge management is a management theory which emerged in the 1990s. It seeks to

understand the way in which knowledge is created, used and shared within organizations. A

significant part of Knowledge Management theory and practice aligns two models:

(i) The DIKW model, which places data, information, knowledge and wisdom into an

increasingly useful pyramid.

(ii) Nonaka's reformulation of Polanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge.

Both of these models are increasingly under challenge with different schools of thought

emerging which are more fully described and referenced in the main article.

An objective of mainstream knowledge management is to ensure that the right information is

delivered to the right person just in time, in order to take the most appropriate decision. In that

sense, knowledge management is not interested in managing knowledge per se, but to relate

knowledge and its usage. This leads to Organizational Memory Systems. More recent

developments have focused on managing networks (the flow of knowledge rather than

knowledge itself) and narrative forms of knowledge exchange.

Knowledge Management ('KM') comprises a range of practices used by organizations to

identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. It has been an established discipline since

1995 with a body of university courses and both professional and academic journals dedicated to

it. Most large companies have resources dedicated to Knowledge Management, often as a part of

'Information Technology' or 'Human Resource Management' departments, and sometimes

reporting directly to the head of the organization. As effectively managing information is a mustin any business, and knowledge and information are intertwined, Knowledge Management is a

multi-billion dollar worldwide market.

HR has a key role in the KM movement. Key HR processes- corporate education, performance

management and nurturing culture, have a key role in the development of the knowledge based

enterprise.


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Sustainable competitive advantage a firm has come from what it “collectively knows,” how

effectively it uses what it knows and how readily it “acquires and uses new knowledge,” in short

by becoming a Knowledge Driven Organization. Knowledge Management (KM) provides an

enabling framework to derive this advantage. It helps institutionalize processes to fully leverage

the “collective knowledge” in an organization.

Knowledge management refers to all systematic activities for creation and sharing of knowledge

so that knowledge can be used for the success of the organization. KM processes provide a

framework for connecting people to people and people to information, to develop and share

distilled learning and best practices.

Approaches to Knowledge Management

There is a broad range of thought on Knowledge Management with no unanimous definition.

The approaches vary by author and school. Knowledge Management may be viewed from each

of the following perspectives:

Techno-centric: A focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge

sharing/growth.

Organizational: How does the organization need to be designed to facilitate

knowledge processes? Which organizations work best with what processes?

Ecological: Seeing the interaction of people, identity, knowledge and environmental

factors as a complex adaptive system.

In addition, as the discipline is maturing, there is an increasing presence of academic debates

within epistemology emerging in both the theory and practice of knowledge management.

Key concepts in Knowledge Management

Dimensions o f knowledge

A key distinction made by the majority of knowledge management practitioners is Nonaka's

reformulation of Polanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. The former is often


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subconscious, internalized, and the individual may or may not be aware of what he or she knows

and how he or she accomplishes particular results. At the opposite end of the spectrum is

conscious or explicit knowledge -- knowledge that the individual holds explicitly and

consciously in mental focus, and may communicate to others. In the popular form of the

distinction, tacit knowledge is what is in our heads, and explicit knowledge is what we have

codified.

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) argued that a successful KM program needs, on the one hand, to

convert internalized tacit knowledge into explicit codified knowledge in order to share it, but, on

the other hand, it also must permit individuals and groups to internalize and make personally

meaningful codified knowledge they have retrieved from the KM system.

The focus upon codification and management of explicit knowledge has allowed knowledge

management practitioners to appropriate prior work in information management, leading to the

frequent accusation that knowledge management is simply a repackaged form of information

management.

Another common framework for categorizing the dimensions of knowledge include embedded

knowledge (knowledge which has been incorporated into an artifact of some type, for example

an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design) and embodied knowledge

(representing knowledge as learned capability of the body’s nervous, chemical, and sensory

systems).

Knowledge access stages

Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after knowledge-related activities.

For example, individuals undertaking a new project for an organization might access information

resources to identify lessons learned for similar projects, access relevant information again

during the project implementation to seek advice on issues encountered, and access relevant

information afterwards for advice on after-project actions and review activities. Knowledge

management practitioners offer systems, repositories, and corporate processes to encourage and

formalize these activities with varying degrees of success.


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Similarly, knowledge may be accessed before the project implementation, for example as the

project team learns lessons during the initial project analysis. Similarly, lessons learned during

the project operation may be recorded, and after-action reviews may lead to further insights and

lessons being recorded for future access. Note: In this context recording knowledge relates only

to those aspects of knowledge which can be codified as text, or drawings.

Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making

content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans.

There is considerable controversy over whether incentives work or not in this field and no firm

consensus has emerged.

Drivers of Knowledge Management

There are a number of claims as to 'drivers', or motivations, leading to organizations undertaking

a knowledge management program.

Perhaps first among these is to gain the competitive advantage (in industry) and/or increased

effectiveness that comes with improved or faster learning and new knowledge creation.

Knowledge management programs may lead to greater innovation, better customer experiences,

consistency in good practices and knowledge access across a global organization, as well as

many other benefits, and knowledge management programs may be driven with these goals in

mind.

Considerations driving a Knowledge Management program might include:

making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of

products and services

achieving shorter new product development cycles

facilitating and managing organizational innovation and learning

leverage the expertise of people across the organization

benefiting from 'network effects' as the number of productive connections between

employees in the organization increases and the quality of information shared increases,

leading to greater employee and team satisfaction


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managing the proliferation of data and information in complex business environments

and allowing employees rapidly to access useful and relevant knowledge resources and

best practice guidelines

managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the

expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals) as individuals retire and new

workers are hired.


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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ROLES AND

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Knowledge management activities may be centralized in a Knowledge Management Office, or

responsibility for knowledge management may be located in existing departmental functions,

such as the Human Resource (to manage intellectual capital) or IT departments (for content

management, social computing etc.). Different departments and functions may have a knowledge

management function and those functions may not be connected other than informally.

Personal knowledge management

Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a label for the effort to integrate personal

information management (PIM), focused on individual skills, with knowledge management

(KM), which takes an organizational perspective, in light of expanding knowledge about human

cognitive capabilities and the permeability of organizational boundaries.

Focus on Individual Knowledge Worker

PKM is focused on personal productivity improvement for knowledge workers in this

environment. While the focus is the individual, the goal of PKM is to enable individuals to

operate better in both in formal organizations and in looser work groupings. This is as opposed to

the traditional view of KM, which appears to be more centered on enabling the corporation to be

more effective by "recording" and making available what its people know.

A core focus of PKM is 'personal inquiry', a quest to find, connect, learn, and explore.

PKM is a response to the idea that knowledge workers increasingly need to be responsible for

their own growth and learning. They need processes and tools by which they can evaluate what

they know in a given situation, and then seek out ways to fill the gaps when needed. This

frequently implies technology, but one can be good at PKM without much in the way of special

tools.


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Connections to Organizations and Groups

PKM has recently been linked to social book marking, blogging or knowledge logs (K-logs). The

idea is individuals use their blogs to capture ideas, opinions or thoughts and this 'voicing' will

encourage cognitive diversity, promote free exchanges away from a centralized policed

knowledge repository that is additional to ordinary work.

Some organizations are now introducing PKM 'systems' with some or all of four components:

Just-in-time Canvassing - templates and e-mail canvassing lists that enable people

looking for experts or expertise to identify and connect with the appropriate people

quickly and effectively

Knowledge Harvesting - software tools that automatically collect appropriate knowledge

residing on subject matter experts' hard drives rather than waiting for it to be contributed

to central repositories

Personal Content Management - taxonomy processes and desktop search tools that enable

employees to organize, subscribe to, publish and find information that resides on their

own desktops Personal Productivity Improvement - knowledge fairs and one-on-one training sessions to

help each employee make more effective personal use of the knowledge, learning and

technology resources available to them, in the context of their own work

PKM Skills

Skills associated with personal knowledge management.

Reflection. Continuous improvement on how the individual operates.

Manage learning. Manage how and when the individual learns.

Information literacy. Understanding what information is important and how to find

unknown information.

Organizational skills. Personal librarianship? Personal categorization and taxonomies.

Networking with others. Knowing what your network of people knows. Knowing who

might have additional knowledge and resources to help you


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Researching, paying attention, interviewing and observational 'cultural anthropology'

skills

Communication skills. Perception, intuition, expression, visualization, and interpretation.

Creative skills. Imagination, pattern recognition, appreciation, innovation, inference.

Understanding of complex adaptive systems.

Collaboration skills. Coordination, synchronization, experimentation, cooperation, and

design.

KM concepts

The Knowledge management discourse has adopted, invented and refined concepts from a wide

range of disciplines and practices. There follows a list of concepts and language in use in the

field. At the moment there is no clear consensus on what is or is not a core concept. The ordering

of the list has no significance. Some knowledge of these terms and their background could be

summarized as what one should know to be considered a proficient KM adviser and knowledge

worker

Corporate memory - a collection of best practices, heuristics, process documents andother texts that help define how a business operates. (Related terms: organizational

memory or group memory). Capturing, maintaining, and growing a knowledge base,

selecting appropriate technologies, and motivating quality contributions are all key KM

themes.

Intellectual capital - the intangible assets of a firm. These include competencies, culture

and connections that enable and foster innovation, agility, awareness, adaptation and

corporate survival. KM plays a role in mapping, recording, evaluating, stewarding,

marketing and growing intellectual capital and knowledge assets.

Personal knowledge management - a KM theme that focuses on individual responsibility

for learning, connecting, organizing and producing knowledge. This is closely tied to

blogging, personal information management and branding.

tacit knowledge


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knowledge harvesting

business intelligence

knowledge transfer

social capital

social networking,

Knowledge Ecosystems

Knowledge representation

DIKW (data / information / knowledge / wisdom)

codification vs. personalization - the trade-off between capture and storage of explicit

information and making connections to people who know as well as to acquire external

knowledge yourself.

Exploration vs. exploitation - Exploration focuses on discovery, opening up to new

concepts and ideas. Exploitation as it says is making those ideas work in practice. The

general argument is that you cannot focus on both at the same time, but that both are

necessary in a system

Practice vs. process - the balance between informal learning and strictly defined

repeatable activities. .

After action reviews (AARs) - learning by gathering participants after completion of a

significant project, exploring, reflecting, recording advances and mistakes.

Peer reviews - inviting colleagues who have experience with similar projects to share

their tips, tricks and lessons learned before starting out.


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Knowledge mapping & audits - discovering opportunities, knowledge gaps and charting

flows. A survey to understand where current knowledge is created and who needs it.

Lessons learned (learning histories) - a systematic review of failures and successes

conducted by a neutral party.

Narrative - growing in use in KM based on an adoption of "we always know more than

we say" to add "and we always say more than we can write down”. The use of narrative is

growing in knowledge management as an alternative to content management and CoP

and is linked in part to social computing.


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WHY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT?

In this competitive knowledge economy, our most valuable asset is the knowledge asset. It is

often said that, in this economy it is not what “we own,” but what “we know”. That would give

us the competitive advantage. We must therefore, quickly learn the strategies and management

techniques of knowledge Age. In short, we must adopt practice of knowledge management to

strengthen our competitive advantage.

KM provides an enabling framework to leverage “collective knowledge.” When KM becomes

“the way we work, it helps us deliver on strategic priorities and business goals – growth,

innovation, speed of response, quality of response, faster time to market, strengthen

organizational learning, protect functional and operational excellence in a dis-aggregated

organizational structure.


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AN OVERVIEW OF KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES

The key knowledge management processes are:

Linking people to people in teams through formal/informal structures, for them to effectively

share knowledge.

A community of Practice (CoP) is one such useful structure. In large organizations with

geographical spread, multiple business units, businesses, organizational silos are likely to

constrain effective knowledge of the enterprise. Communities of practice (knowledge

communities or teams) formed around core competencies of the company help overcome this

constraint.

A CoP is a team of people who are practitioners of a well-defined knowledge domain

(Packaging, engineering, sales etc.) who come together to capture, create and share relevant

knowledge, in pursuit of business excellence. Such a team is empowered to develop and deliver

relevant training programs to build the capability in the knowledge domain.

Linking people to information/knowledge repositories/best practices.

Intranets with efficient search engines provide an effective way to connect people to knowledge

repositories.


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BARRIERS FOR IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT

Conceptual/mindset related issues:

We need to create a culture of sharing. Often knowledge is seen as power and in a competitive

environment there could be a tendency to hoard knowledge. Key to success of KM is creation of

knowledge sharing culture and elimination of organizational and cultural barriers for

communication. We should move from “hoarding of knowledge to gain power” to “sharing of

knowledge to gain power.”

Operational issues:

Time – The typical executive is already hard pressed for time. He has no time for an additional

initiative, if it is seen as a diversion from focus on immediate results. So, it is important to

integrate KM into existing business processes in the company and embed into workflow. KM

should not be seen as a separate initiative, but should be integrated into current workflow as a

more effective way to achieve business results.

The experience of practitioners of KM demonstrates that it succeeds only when we are able to

signal to employees, strong senior management endorsement for KM. Like all organizational

transformation processes, KM needs to be led by senior management.

Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organizational objectives and are

intended to achieve specific outcomes, these can include, improved performance, competitive

advantage innovation, lessons learnt transfer (for example between projects) and the general

development of collaborative practices.

One aspect of Knowledge Management, knowledge transfer, has always existed in one form or

another. Examples include on-the-job peer discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion


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forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. However, with

computers becoming more widespread in the second half of the 20th century, specific

adaptations of technology such as knowledge bases, expert systems, and knowledge repositories

have been introduced to further simplify the process.

Knowledge Management programs attempt to manage the process of creation (or identification),

accumulation and application of knowledge across an organization. As such Knowledge

Management is frequently linked to the idea of the learning organization although neither

practice encompasses the other. Knowledge Management may be distinguished from

Organizational Learning by a greater focus on specific knowledge assets and the development

and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge flows.

Frequent Knowledge Management practices include:

enabling organizational practices, such as Communities of Practice and corporate

Yellow Page directories for accessing key personnel and expertise

enabling technologies such as knowledge bases and expert systems, help desks, corporate

intranets and extranets, Content Management, wikis and Document Management


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CHALLENGES FOR HR PROFESSIONALS IN THE

KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”

The new millennium is here & this is definitely not a bad time for professionals to gear

themselves up and think about the future, their future! It is time to plan, envision, prioritize and

set goals for the new millennium.

The challenge is not just in terms of updating technologies but also in terms of keeping young

workforce motivated and challenged at all the time. This breed of young and energetic

individuals is challenging a lot of the time-tested theories of employee recruitment, staffing,

motivation and general HR practices. There are lots of challenges while recruiting these young

bloods. They are as under:

Attract people with multidimensional experiences and skills.

Infuse fresh blood in the organization.

Develop a culture that attracts people.

Design entry pay that competes on quality and not quantum.

Hence it follows that the role of HR will be: -

To develop fully "self–expressed" individuals.

To enable and facilitate their effective participation in teams.

We need to increase the credibility of HR within the organization that can be done by:

a) Being accurate in all HR work

b) Being predictable and maintaining consistency

c) Meeting commitment to do what we say on time and within specified budget

d) Being personally comfortable with peers, subordinates and superiors.


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How then do HR processes and practices impact the knowledge sharing in

a firm?

Some of the HR processes and practices that should be aligned to strengthen knowledge

management are as follows:

Job rotations: Well-planned job (role) rotations across geographical locations and

businesses in a firm help not only people development, but also provide an important

vehicle for transfer of knowledge and best practices, even though an organization cannot

obviously depend on this as the main source of knowledge transfer.

Networked organization : A networked organization with people playing multiple roles,

being part of multiple teams- a vertical team (Business/category) as well a horizontal

team (functional/knowledge domain), is the way forward to effectively “leverage

collective knowledge” of an enterprise. HR should play a key role in developing such a

networked organization, through sponsorship and or facilitation of knowledge

communities, cutting across formal organizational silos.

Training: Learning and knowledge are inter-linked. Knowledge strategies should

encompass learning initiatives and knowledge initiatives need to converge with

training program needs to focus on functional and business specific skill development

programs as well as competency development focused programs.

Knowledge communities (Teams), as the owners and users of the knowledge, should play

an active role in developing suitable course material for the functional and business

specific courses.

E – Learning is on line learning. It is made available through company web sites and

even through CD – ROMs. It allows the learner to enroll in to courses or programs of


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their choice and acquire knowledge at their own pace at the place of their choice.

Corporate online universities, exclusive learning space to induct managers or develop

future leaders, ongoing programs for sales personnel and induction into new products and

services are some of the e-learning offerings, some of the companies are making

available to their employees to develop themselves. E- Learning provides the benefit of

convenience—allows the learner to do the learning at his or her pace, flexibility –Learner

does not have to sacrifice a training program because of its clash with customer or

personal visit, and ease of learning. Experience in US / Europe seems to confirm that e-

learning also saves cost. As of now Band width might pose some constraints, but with

fast changing IT infrastructure, even in India, this could offer interesting opportunities.

Another very useful role HR could play is to capture stories of success and failures in the

company, archive them in the company training centre for reference for future. This

would not only support learning but could prevent repeat same mistakes.

Culture Change: Leveraging collective knowledge is possible only when people value

building on each other’s ideas and sharing their insights. Much of this shaped by the

culture of the organization. In some cultures, where knowledge is seen as power,

knowledge sharing may be seen to be in conflict with individual’s personal interest.

Therefore, institutionalization of knowledge management requires HR to focus on the

managing the culture change/mindset of the people to strengthen collaborative team

working and knowledge sharing.


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How can we create a knowledge sharing culture?

Realign incentive and reward program:

“People do not do what you tell them, but what you measure them for.” HR needs to institute a

system of rewards and recognition, training and performance development practices- activities

that reinforce the discipline of sharing, documenting knowledge and reuse of others ideas with

pride to achieve business goals.

People in business most often behave in a way that increases their career opportunities, reward

individual effort or task achievement. They reward something done in a crisis, but most incentive

programs do not reward avoiding a crisis. The best KM practitioners reward employees for

learning, sharing and collaborating.

APQC’s four -step knowledge management strategy for human resources

professionals follows.

1. Identify -- Determine what knowledge is critical for the success of the enterprise.

2. Capture -- Collect critical knowledge using techniques such as interviews and best

practices submissions.

3. Retain -- Store the captured knowledge in a format where it can be easily retrieved for use

at a later time.

4. Transfer -- Transfer through training, apprenticeships, mentoring, and other opportunities.


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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objective of the study: There are three main objectives of the study as follows:

1. To study the status of KM in the organization and to check the competency of the

employees.

2. To study the perception of employees on the basis of job profile towards KM

3. To practice research methodology as a student

Research design: Exploratory as well as descriptive

Universe: Universe belongs to E, F and G grade employees belonging to KRIBHCO, out

of which 50 samples is selected.

Sampling design: Stratified random sampling design

Research method: Survey method

Research tool : Questionnaire and informal personal interview

Sources of data collection: Primary data and secondary data

Sample size: 50

Research area: KRIBHCO, SURAT(Hazira)


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Limitations o f research study: While conducting research, at most care was taken to collect

data in unprejudiced manner to make this study precise and truthful. But, due to certain

unavoidable reasons, there are certain limitations which are as mentioned below.

This study engrosses only a part of total number of employees working at Surat

manufacturing plant.

Research was to be conducted maintaining the decorum of the company.

Employees were busy in their work and thus did not spare much time to respond openly

to the questions asked.

Information and responses given by the respondents may be a biased due to several

reasons.

Limited time span for carrying out study also restricted the research work.

As company is too large, as per their tactics and guiding principle employees were not

ready to disclose confidential facets.


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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

As reported earlier, the objective of the research is to get an idea regarding the competency level

of the employees and to check status of KM in the organization. Through exploratory study data

collection was done. It is based on the main parameter namely job profile. Frequency distribution

method is used for data analysis.

Job profile includes following three main categories: Chief Managers, Sr. Managers,

Managers, and Dy. Managers.

Graph showing the age of respondents:

AGE 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 50 &

Above

No. of

Employees

0 0 0 1 3 18 28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 50 & >

AGE

Graph showing the years of experience of the respondents:

YEAR 0-5 6-15 16-25 26-30 30 & Above

No. of

Employees

0 1 17 20 12


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0

5

10

15

20

6--15 16--25 26--30 30 & >

EXPERIENCE

QUESTIONS

1. Do you feel you are doing the job according to your job profile?

ANSWER YES NO CAN’T SAY

No. of Employee 45 5 0

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 90% of the respondents agrees that

they are doing the job according to their job profile while the 10% disagree.


51/87

- 51 -

2. Do you finish every work assigned to you within the time limit?

ANSWER ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER


0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 84% of respondents always finishes

every work assigned to them within the time limit, while 16% sometime complete their work in

time.

3. Do you require the guidance from your superior?

ANSWER ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER


0

10

20

30

40

50

Always Sometimes Never

No. of Employees


52/87

- 52 -

Inferences: From the above table and chart it is clear that 90% of respondents sometimes need

guidance from their superiors while 8% never need any guidance from their superior.

4. Do you feel you need training to perform your work?



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart its clear that 28% of respondents feel they need

training to perform their work, 64% do not need training to perform their work, while 8% were

unable to say anything about this.

5. Do you feel the type of work you were performing at the time of your joining and today is

the same?




53/87

- 53 -

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 28% of respondents agrees that the

type of work they were performing at the time of their joining and today is the same while 72%

respondents disagree to the statement.

6. Does competency mapping helps you to do manpower planning?



0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees


54/87


55/87

- 55 -

0

5

10

15

20

2530

35

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above its clear that 70% of respondents agrees that Recruitment and Selection

processes carried out considering competency of the individuals while 10% respondents

disagreed.

9. Does competency mapping helpful in individual’s career development?



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above its clear that 84% believes that competency mapping is helpful in

individual’s career development while only 2% disagreed to the statement.


56/87

- 56 -

10. Knowledge is critical for your kind of organization?



0

5

10

1520

25

30

35

40

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above table and chart its clear that 78% respondents believes that Knowledge

is critical for their organization while 16% disagreed.

11. What are the sources of knowledge in this organization?

ANSWER A) Reports and

journals

B) Meetings and

group

discussions

C) Experience of

the incidence

sharing

D) Others

No. of

Employees

18 35 24 6


57/87

- 57 -

0

5

10

15

20

2530

35

A B C D

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above table and chart its clear that 18 employees feel Reports and journals, 35

feel Meetings and group discussions, 24 Experience of the incidence sharing, and 6 feels others

are the sources of knowledge in KRIBHCO.

12. How knowledge is shared among different departments of this organization?

ANSWER A) Formal meetings B) Informal meetings/chat

No. of Employees 42 17

0

10

20

30

40

50

A B

No. of Employees

Inferences: Looking to above graph it can be said that 42 respondents feel that knowledge is

shared among different departments through formal meetings whereas 17 says that informal

meetings is the way to share knowledge.


58/87

- 58 -

13. What is the current status of knowledge management in your company?

ANSWER A) Not in

existence at all

B) Nascent stage C) Introduction

stage

D) Growth stage

No. of

Employees

6 6 8 27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

A B C D

No. of Employees

Inferences: It can be inferred that 6 respondents believe that knowledge management is Not in

existence at all, 6 believe its in Nascent stage, 8 believe its in Introduction stage while 27 believe

its in Growth stage.

14. Does IT play a part in sharing knowledge in this organization?




59/87

- 59 -

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 92% of the respondents agrees that

IT plays a part in sharing knowledge while 2% disagreed and 4% didn’t answered.

15. Is available knowledge exploited to an adequate extent in this organization?



0

5

10

15

20

25

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above its clear that 46% respondents agrees that knowledge is exploited, 22%

believes it is not exploited while 30% didn’t answered.


60/87

- 60 -

16. Do you undertake additional personal efforts to enhance your knowledge level and improve

your competency?

ANSWER A) Invariably B) Frequently C) Rarely D) Never

No. of

Employee

13 36 1 1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

A B C D

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above its clear that 13 employees invariably undertake additional personal

efforts to enhance their knowledge level and improve their competency, 36 take frequently, 1

take rarely and 1 never take any personal efforts to enhance their knowledge level and improve

their competency.

17. What additional personal efforts do you undertake to enhance your knowledge level and

improve your competency?

ANSWER A) None

B) Further

education and

training in my

own time

C) Personal

effort

D) Private

research work

E) Magazines

No. of

Employee

0 20 30 4 18


61/87

- 61 -

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

A B C D E

No. of Employees

Inferences: The above table and graph are explanatory by itself.

18. Do you share your learning with your colleagues?

ANSWER A) Invariably B) Frequently C) Rarely D) Never

No. of

Employee

12 38 2 0

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

A B C D

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above its clear that 12 employees invariably share their learning with their

colleagues, 38 do it frequently, 2 do it rarely their learning with their colleagues.


62/87

- 62 -

19. Which one is the biggest cultural barrier in knowledge management in company?

ANSWER A) ‘I am in

position’ attitude

B) Indifference

of people

towards

developmental

processes

C) Lack of

significance and

recognition to

‘knowledge

sharing’

D) Lack of open

mindedness

No. of

Employee

10 16 7 19

0

5

10

15

20

A B C D

No. of Employees

Inferences: The above table and graph are explanatory by itself.

20. How significant is the role that effective KM can play in achieving the best result with

respect to the following in company?

NOTE: The answers to this question (i.e. from a to l) is given point-wise from 1to 5 in

ascending order.

a) Improving competitive advantage

ANSWER 1 2 3 4 5

No. of

Employee

1 3 13 8 18

8/20/2019 Comp Mapping and Knowledge Managemen

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Comp Mapping and Knowledge Management

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