• Oriston Cunningham

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information

Jiggs $ Riggs Super Stores Ltd

Table of Content (Jump to)

Executive Summary

Introduction

Discuss the Range of Decisions to Taken

Examine the Information and Knowledge needed to ensure Effective Decision taking

Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding

Justify Recommendation for Improvement

References

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Executive Summary

Business Profile

Sucker Business Consulting Ltd

Has over thirty years of experience which head office is based in New Kingston the business hub of Jamaica with functional offices across the Caribbean. We pride ourselves with the successes of our client base of over 2,500 business; micro, small and medium sized businesses that invest in our trusted professional consulting expertise to put them on a growth path, increase operational efficiency and a sustainable, profitability and revenue trajectory. We are a business of diverse professionals expertise with a focus to eliminate the complexity of problems faced by our client business’ and simplify business solution that will enable them to operate in a diversely competitive business environment.

Business Profile

JIGGS $ RIGGS Super Stores Ltd

JIGGS Super Stores Ltd is a family owned business enterprise that has three outlets located in the parishes of Kinston, Manchester and St. James of the island of Jamaica. Great grant father JIGGS as he was passionately called by his family and friends had started a sales business out his garage in Kingston where he sold clothes, shoes and home accessories to the surrounding communities. The business expanded to the extent where he began to drive around with a delivery van and drop off orders to his loyal customers, he later joined partnership with a returning resident passionately called Riggs hence the name JIGGS $ RIGGS Super Stores Ltd. The first location was on Trafalgar road Kingston, The business grew to the extent where they felt the need to care for other customers thus the two other locations in Manchester and St. James. Both men had died and the business passed on their grandchildren Byron and Simeon who are co-managers of JIGGS $ RIGGS Super Stores Ltd.

The recent performances of all three stores have declined steadily for past three years. The young partners tried a number of measures to stabilize the business: cut head count, extend operating hours, Increase longer payment terms and even turn off the air conditioning during operation hours but still operating at a loss and fail to breakeven. The co-managers have called a meeting and finally decided to sell and our client Private Partners (a group of small investors).

The current financial position of JIGGS $ RIGGS Super Stores Ltd is as follows.

Financial situation of Jiggs $ Riggs Super Stores Ltd

Introduction

Research Background

The business environment is regulated by laws which guide organizations and their operations. The ever changing business environment demands the growth and development of businesses due to continuous aggressive competition and changes in market trends, (Klein, 2013). The mergers, acquisitions and take-over of businesses increased due to the growth of medium sized companies in their current markets and expanding their reach to new customers adversely, micro business operators are discouraged due to low financial performance and access to the kind of cash injection that will boost their business outlook. Business acquisition may have some draw backs also advantages both for the investors acquiring the firm and also for the previous owner(s). There are several legal matters that must be addressed in order for mergers, acquisition, take-overs and investments to take place. The paper will focus on evaluating the existing communication systems, designing new communication strategies to involve all stakeholders to own and drive the new growth changes necessary to put the business on the path to growth. The repot will look at communication terms and how they can be used by all stakeholders in the business.

Germaine to the background of the research questions given, the researcher will establish a consultancy firm and present a case study of a small business Jiggs $ Riggs Super Stores Ltd owned by co-managers Byron and Simeon who have obtained new investors. The main impacts of this study is that for future referencing the researcher will have developed the skills necessary for understanding the relevance of communication within the context of business and how to use it to drive change and the overall growth of the business.

Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives of the research paper are as follows:

1. Assess how communications, knowledge and information can be improved within the business including making better use of IT systems.
2. Create strategies to increase personal networking to widen involvement in the decision-making processes in the business.
3. You will develop the communication processes, and improve systems relating to information and knowledge.
4. Assess how managers in the business can improve the planning of their communications
5. processes as well as their communication skills and can make the information and knowledge they gain accessible to other parts of the organization

Literature Review

(Michael E.D. Koeing) Knowledge Management, (KM) is a concept and a term that arose approximately two decades ago, roughly in 1990. This suggests that on the eve of the twenty first century and the advent of communication technology, managing communication knowledge and information or simply put knowledge management was seen to be very critical to join the bridges and make the links for individuals and business. In the early period of the knowledge management discovery Davenport (1994) originate version of definition:

“He sees information management as specialized skill set which is needed by organizations in the promotion and integrated approach to identify, capture, evaluate, retrieve, and disseminate its intellectual assets; such as databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured capabilities of the organization.”

The definitions though similar in nature are showing information as that vehicle that will bring the message of the organization to internal stakeholders and external stakeholders and will in effect create the intended model for success.

Knowledge management from an operational was created within consulting community hence the principles of knowledge management went viral by the consulting organizations to other disciplines. Consulting firms since realized the opportunistic use of the Intranet to create the linkage to narrow the geographically gap and provide a greater dispersion of a knowledge-based organizations.

(Steve Denning) make the contrast in his article (What is Knowledge) between the east and west, the interchangeable use of information and knowledge and the cultural preference of intuitive knowledge and the rational knowledge. He made the point that knowledge is sticky though information maybe transferable to other persons. In his discussion, the West depicted to lean more to the rational type of knowledge that is more scientific in nature and disregard on a high scale intuitive knowledge, some may argue the intuitive knowledge is not knowledge at all seeing that it is more implicit and tacit thus the movement of knowledge from person to person has deemed to be difficult which bring into focus the greater importance of rational knowledge. Polanyi (1975), and Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). Further discussion that seeks to strengthens the soundness of knowledge as to that of information Western analysts (Karl Erik Sveiby) seek to put his mark on the subject see “knowledge” as wholly tacit (i.e. as capacity in action), consenting to other discussion that explicit knowledge is mere information. The East conform to a more traditional purview to celebrate the importance of the intuitive, when compared with the rational. The Upanishads for speak about a higher knowledge and a lower knowledge, they classify lower knowledge to that of the various sciences.

Methodology

In the acquisition of information both the qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed in the research execution. Qualitative research according Parkinson and Drislane (2011) is defined as a “research method using methods such as participant observation or case studies which result in narrative or descriptive account of a setting or practice.”(Parkinson and Drislane, 2011). The qualitative methods that will be used include questionnaire and interviews. Qualitative research interprets data and analyses words and ideas.

The second research method that will be used is the quantitative method which is defined as an approach that assesses numerical data which can be used to support qualitative research findings. Quantitative method will be achieved using calculations and statistics gathered through questionnaires and surveys that will be administered to the entity selected for this research. Additional data comes from primary research tools that will be utilized by the researcher includes interviews, questionnaires and observations and the secondary tools that will be used are journals, books, newsletters, newspaper and online articles and documents.

The methods selected are most appropriate as they will allow the researcher through the combining of the quantitative and qualitative research to provide the readers with a higher degree of accuracy, easier representation of questionnaire and survey answers. The qualitative method is less costly and more flexible considering from a student researcher context.

TASK: 1

Discuss the range of decisions to be taken

The type and scope of information used in organizations are complex and vast in variation to the size of the organization and the type of market they are operating in. Information and knowledge needs are also specific to the different functional areas of the organization thus it is the fluid of every working communication system that result into the overall success of the whole. Davenport (1995) knowledge management is a process used to harness, transfer and make the effective use of knowledge.

Things to take into consideration are how information is harness and used at the different levels of the organization and the knowledge required, the different systems of information, their relevance, efficiency and effectiveness to the organization. The primary and secondary sources of information

Examine the information and knowledge needed to ensure effective decision taking

Information is knowledge obtained from investigation, study or instruction. e.g. Intelligence, news and facts or raw data (http://www.merriam-webster.com). According to the tripartite theory; knowledge is information that is processed that is believed, justified and is true. For effective decision making in the organization that will form part of its going strategy in a competitive business environment that is ever changing. The knowledge obtained by the sources of the organization internal and external must be in line with the goals of the business and fit with its different levels, strategic, tactical and operational.

Strategic information needs- are customer surveys, market research, and statutory accounts, economic and financial information which are used to make long term decisions and shape the business strategy with overall vision.

Tactical information needs- market reach, market survey, producers and consumers price indices, business performance indices, budget reports, consumer complaints departmental reports.

Operational information needs- product quality matrix, quality management reports, production outputs, workforce performance, machine and equipment management and performance, batch quantity, economic order quantity.

Assess internal and external sources of information and understanding

Internal sources of information – the means of data collection and compilation from systems internal to the organization which are used to enhance the decision making process and fuse the different linkages that enable the organization to achieve its objectives.

Internal information in Jiggs $ Riggs Super Stores Ltd. Are

Financial information – financial information on the three super stores profits and losses, revenues, cost of sales, rates and taxes, staff wages and salaries. The financial manager and use this information to manage the performance of the business and see that it is profitable.

Personnel Information – this is the compilation of information of personnel by the business that is made available to them when so requested. Information is used to monitor productivity performance, length of work life, remuneration, productivity rate, health reports, information on training and development.

Marketing Information – marketing team determine value added products and services and their performances, information is obtained from sales and the informal channel used for innovation and to promote product based on the going trends.

Purchase Information – information used by the purchasing team to procure raw materials, good, services, and other inputs required to run the business. This team also monitors costs and quality to ensure there is value for money.

Administration Information – makes the linkages with the business’ workforce on business overall performance, annual budgets and projections, structural changes, changes in market conditions, investment and make the link with external partners and build relationships.

External sources of information – are sources of information generated externally by agencies or individual researcher or consultant

Justify recommendations for improvement

In order to improve the communication situation at the business the new management will embark on a communication strategy that is geared to harness greater involvement of all employees and improve their empowerment in the decision making process and make them full aware of the business performance on a more frequent basis.

• Conduct monthly town hall meeting deliberating on business performance, projections and market conditions
• Train all employees on how to improve and own the systems of communication
• Provide regular feedback on employees recommendation and reward where necessary

References

Davenport, Thomas H. (1994), Saving IT’s Soul: Human Centered Information Management. Harvard Business Review, March-April, 72 (2) pp. 119-131.

Duhon, Bryant (1998), It’s All in our Heads. Inform, September, 12 (8).

Koenig, M.E.D. (1990) Information Services and Downstream Productivity. In Martha E. Williams (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology: Volume 25, (pp. 55-56). New York, NY: Elseview Science Publishers for the American Society for Information Science

Ponzi, L., & Koenig, M.E.D. (2002). Knowledge Management: Another ManagementFad?”, Information Research, 8(1). Retrieved from http://informationr.net/ir/8-1/paper145.html

Stephen Denning, The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations. Boston, London, Butterworth Heinemann, October 2000.

Nonaka, Ikujiro and Hirotaka Takeuchi. The Knowledge-Creating Company : How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of Innovation. New York : Oxford University Press, 1995.

http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/What-Is-…/What-is-KM-Knowledge-Management-Explained-82405.aspx

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/information

http://www.stevedenning.com/Knowledge-Management/what-is-knowledge.aspx

http://www.theoryofknowledge.info/what-is-knowledge/the-tripartite-theory-of-knowledge/

http://www.contentedwriter.com/internal-sources-of-information/