Applied Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Applied Research Methods - Essay Example This in turn should lead to the development of more efficient and effective business processes and organizational decision making systems. This entire system will enhance an organization’s ability to sense and respond to changes in its external environment, which will increase its chances of survival in today hostile business environment. Critical Literature Review: Knowledge Management Knowledge management is the vehicle by which organization enhance and encourage organizational learning. Knowledge management is a vehicle by which an organization can enhance its ability to learn from its environment and to incorporate knowledge into its business processes (McAdam and Reid, 2001). There are four value-adding steps in the knowledge management value chain, these are as follows (Wong and Aspinwall, 2005): Knowledge Acquisition: Organizations can acquire knowledge in multiple ways, this depends on the type of knowledge they seek to acquire. Industry libraries comprise of industry related documents, reports, presentations, and best practices. Moreover, employees of the industry are encouraged to add new knowledge based on their experiences. An industry can acquire new knowledge by developing online expert networks; this kind of network facilitates an employee to seek advice from an expert in the company who has the knowledge of the problem area in his or her head. A company operating in a particular industry can create new knowledge by discovering patterns in corporate data or by using knowledge workstations. Knowledge Storage: after discovering the fundamental patterns, documents and experts rules there need to be a repository of this industry. This data should be accessible to any new entrant or to any already operating in the industry. Knowledge Dissemination: Portals, e-mail, instant messaging and searching technology can bring about the dissemination of desired knowledge. These technologies in addition to an array of groupware technologies can increase t he rate of dissemination of information. Knowledge Application: Gathered knowledge that does not get shared and applied to a practical problem faced by a firm operating in a particular industry, than there would no value added in the current business practices of the industry. Thus in this scenario the only plausible outcome of this lackluster attitude of the firms of a particular industry is stagnation and in turn eradication from the industry. Role of Small and medium enterprises in Developing Economies One important aspect of a flourishing economy is its nourishing and germinating small and medium enterprise. The fundamental points that differentiate an SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE from large scale enterprises are uncertainty, innovation and evolution. This sector of SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE is further classified as micro enterprises, small enterprises, and medium enterprises. These small enterprises create the most fertile ground for the germination of industrial economy. Sinc e this industry plays a vital role in the following economic paradigms therefore it is of utmost importance that a country generates and gathers all the pertinent information that will allow the entrepreneurs of the company to nurture this sector: income distribution, tax revenue, employment, resource utilization, development of family life and etch. By having a major