The Role of Human Resources in CreatingKnowledge Organizatio.docx

The Role of Human Resources in Creating
Knowledge Organization – A Study of
SCCL (Singareni Colleries Company Ltd.)
Dr B Sridevi Dr V Maheshwar
Abstract
The 21st Century, however, presupposes an organizational
systemic
preparedness for gaining and retaining competitiveness in a
global and native
business scenario. Knowledge organizations bring in challenges
significantly
different from what has been so far experienced. The early 20th
Century
predominantly focused on the manufacturing or the production
priorities of
the firm. Knowledge Management has become a major
competitive tool for
the present day organizations. Knowledge management is the
acquisition and
use of resources to create an environment in which information
is accessible
to individuals and in which individuals acquire, share and use
that
information to develop their own knowledge. Further,
employees are
encouraged and enabled to apply their knowledge for the benefit
of the
organization. “Only a Positive Attitude changes our life, but it
will change the
world around us”. Know-how in the organization is built around

four areas
of action: Responsiveness, Innovation, Competency and
Efficiency. These
four areas, which is called as “RICE model”, cover all of the
different ways
in which can use knowledge to help the company succeed.
Responsiveness
Journal of Commerce & Management Thought
Vol. 5-2, 2014, pp.201-216
DOI : 10.5958/j.0976-478X.5.2.015
201
concerns how the company takes in vital information from its
surroundings;
its customers, competitors, suppliers, and others who affect –
and are affected
by-the company’s performance. Innovation concerns how the
company uses
ideas and information to change what it does and how it does it.
Competency
concerns to the skills that the people and teams need to deliver
products and
services. Efficiency concerns with how well processes for
product and service
delivered.
Keywords : Knowledge Organization, RICE model
Introduction

Firms today are beginning to realize that they attract and hire
top
intellectual talent only for them to manage and supervise yet
another team of
knowledge workers through the organization structure. This
imposes upon
senior management time and talent to focus on making such
knowledge
workers to work hand in hand with colleagues to experiment and
innovate, to
work in teams that have goals that cut across functions and job
competencies.
The wide use of teams and their consequent effectiveness has
proven beyond
doubt the success of making people work in structured as well
as
unstructured environments with only their goals in perspective.
The work force in turn having realized this potential are willing
to take
additional responsibilities, willing to be empowered and
consequently
operate with enhanced command over with their knowledge and
its
application in untested areas.

The Primary challenge of an entrepreneur is to motivate top
talent; to
seize opportunities by utilizing their human resources
effectively.
The 21st Century, however, presupposes an organizational
systemic
preparedness for gaining and retaining competitiveness in a
global and native
business scenario. Knowledge organizations bring in challenges
significantly
different from what has been so far experienced. The early 20th
Century
predominantly focused on the manufacturing or the production
priorities of
the firm.
The firm was treated as a mechanical outfit created to maximize
products with labour as an important factor in the process.
Journal of Commerce and Management Thought 5 - 2202
Thereafter, the sciences exposed manufacturing excellence with
speed,
automation of the human systems, socio-technical variables for

efficiencies,
scientific management, mass production, assembly line
advantages, single
product dominance and workers productivity.
The consumer era followed with the corporations prioritizing its
energies towards creating and sustaining brands, products and
life style
interventions for the consumer. Sales and distribution networks
were
expanded to ensure reach, effective market penetration,
identifying the
consumer in the common person and ensuring product
availability at their
point of purchase. Supply chain efficiencies were dealt with as a
single
largest independent variable for ensuring customer satisfaction.
The last two
decades and the last quarter of the century realized the potential
of the
computer Systems, electronic data processing, information
management
tools and technicians for corporate use and effectiveness.
Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the present study is to examine the role
of Human
Resource in creating knowledge organization. The -Objectives
of the present
study is as follows.
• To examine the responsiveness of employees of SCCL in
creating
knowledge organization.
• To study the Innovation of employees of SCCL.
• To evaluate the competency level skills employees of SCCL.
• To analyze the efficiency of employees of SCCL towards
knowledge
organization.
• To offer suggestion to improve the intellectual capacity of
SCCL in
creating knowledge organization.
Database Methodology
The present study is based on both primary and secondary data;
the
primary data was collected through questionnaire and personal
interviews
conducted with selected sample. The secondary data was
collected from the
books, journals and various websites.

The Role of Human Resources... 203
Sample Design
In order to evaluate the Role of Human Resources in creating
Knowledge Organization – A study of SCCL. Kothagudem
Region has been
chosen, SCCL is leading coal Mine Company as state owned
sector. The
sample of 200 employees has been chosen on random basis
which includes
all levels.
About the SCCL
The Singareni Colleries Company Ltd with a history of over 117
years
is moving ahead to retain leadership by being proactive in order
to meet the
mark challenges even while promoting better client
relationships.
The Singareni Colleries Company Ltd is the only Coal mining
organization in south India cater the needs of Power, Cement
and Other Coal
base industries in South India, Maharashtra, and Gujarat and its

registered
Office is located at Kothagudem in Khammam District, Andhra
Pradesh.
As India is the 3rd largest coal producer nearly 80% of this
outputs
dispatched to the consumers in the power sector. Public sector
coal
companies contribute 95% of India’s coal production of which
coal India
Ltd., account for 85% and Singareni Colleries Company Ltd for
10%. The
developing countries like India use coal as the primary source
energy supply.
Almost 75% of the electricity generated in the country is
through the coal.
The world’s third largest hard coal reserves of 233 billion tones
serve as
a source energy supplies to meet the requirement of a growing
economy,
expanding population and rapid urbanization.
Period of Study
The present study covers a period of five years, from 2008-
2013.

Tools of Analysis
While analyzing the collected Data various statistical
techniques like
chi-square have been computed.
Concept of Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management is a fairly modern concept. It refers to
an
enterprise that consciously and comprehensively gathers,
organizes, shares
and analyses its knowledge to achieve its goals. Therefore, a
company needs
to identify areas where sharing of knowledge and best practices
can help
improve performance. Knowledge Management has gained in
importance
because companies have discovered that people, their skills and
knowledge
are essential to gain competitive advantages.
Knowledge Management has become a major competitive tool
for the

present day organizations. Knowledge management is the
acquisition and use
of resources to create an environment in which information is
accessible to
individuals and in which individuals acquire, share and use that
information
to develop their own knowledge. Further, employees are
encouraged and
enabled to apply their knowledge for the benefit of the
organization.
Companies that are knowledge-friendly know that knowledge is
one of
the important asset and a core competency for moving ahead.
Knowledge
Management has identified with three characteristics that
differentiate a
knowledge organization from others. Knowledge organizations
invest in
developing knowledge in the key areas of core competency such
as the
process of product development or improving customer
satisfaction
Knowledge organizations emphasize on continuous learning.
British

Petroleum (BP), has a worldwide reputation for commitment of
knowledge
management. BP’s knowledge management has a simple
framework, which
describes a learning cycle – before, during and after any event –
supported by
simple process tools. Lessons from that learning loop are
distilled by a
community of practice that can include peers across the
organization who
have a stake in agreeing and defining BP’s best practice.
Finally, both
specific and generic reasons are incorporated into “Knowledge
Assets” on the
corporate intranet. Wal-Mart is another example of a company
that believes
in continuous learning of its employees. It effectively leveraged
knowledge
between suppliers and stores. Another factor that distinguishers
a Knowledge
Management company from other companies is its ability to
adapt to the
change. One example is that of Barnes & Noble, which started
terms as co-

operation and sharing of information brings in benefits for the
whole
organization.
Knowledge Management has profound implications for
organizational
culture, because it is the culture that helps to bridge the gap
between the
provision of technology and information and the effective use
for the benefit
of the organization by individual knowledge workers. Some
organizations are
caught in inter-departmental power battles where knowledge is
seen as
power, and not something to be shared, which is why they have
not managed
to shift to a culture which is fundamentally based on trust and
sharing.
Similarly, the level, or handling, of change is some
organizations have
created an environment where many employees feel insecure,
and so trust is

lost.
Building a culture for Knowledge Management on these values
will
require changes in systems and process, and a way of doing
thing which both
transmits the organizational culture to new employees are
reinforces it to old
employees. As with any change situation, conflicts can arise.
This is where
HR can contribute to the development of the Knowledge
Management
culture by handling such conflicts.
In a knowledge-based economy, managers become more of
facilitators
rather than controllers. They will have the support of HR in
making this
transition. HR will assume a more flexible role as a result of
changing roles
of business. Having a work culture where the majority of the
employees are
knowledge workers is not enough and the culture must be right
to enable their
full contribution. In addition to the full utilization of the
technical skills and

knowledge of employees, a team approach is essential for the
effective
acquisition of knowledge and skills. The reason of this is that
team skills are
inextricably linked with effective HR learning both in the
workplace and in
formal education and training.
It is the team approach that forms the mainspring of quality,
innovation,
service needed for competitiveness and success. Within the new
team culture
employees therefore will be required to develop not just the
knowledge and
technical skills relating to the particular area of work but also a
broad set of
interaction skills or thinking skills relating to problem solving
and decision
making. The skills of collaborative team work are linked with
effective HR
learning and training. The word collaborative is used to
distinguish genuine

teamwork from what might pass teamwork in some
organizations.
Positive Attitude Towards Knowledge Organization:
“Only a Positive Attitude changes our life, but it will change
the world
around us”. Know-how in the organization is built around four
areas of
action: Responsiveness, Innovation, Competency and
Efficiency. These four
areas, which is called as “RICE model”, cover all of the
different ways in
which can use knowledge to help the company succeed.
Responsiveness
concerns how the company takes in vital information from its
surroundings;
its customers, competitors, suppliers, and others who affect –
and are affected
by-the company’s performance. Innovation concerns how the
company uses
ideas and information to change what it does and how it does it.
Competency
concerns to the skills that the people and teams need to deliver
products and

services. Efficiency concerns with how well processes for
product and
service delivered.
The “Rice” Model for Knowledge Management
On the other hand, if the company is in a business in which
developing
and delivering new products and services that reshape markets
or create
entirely new ones that lead to success, then we are likely to
focus on
generating knowledge by hearing what the marketplace – and
enabling
employees to communicate with each other – and using that
knowledge to
innovate.
Most companies of course, must do both kinds of knowledge
management to thrive. They have current products and services
to maintain
in the marketplace, and they are developing the next generation
of offerings
to build a position in tomorrow’s marketplace. The purpose of
the RICE
model is not to assign a particular approach, but to help in

provide define the
key pieces of a knowledge strategy, assess the strengths or
weakness, and
focus on what will help to the company the most. The Rice
model is
presented in the figure 1.
Figure 1 : Rice Model
Competency and Efficiency
From Individual Competency to Organizational Efficiency:
Organizational learning builds organizational knowledge. But
all learning, all
knowledge, all know-how, starts in and resides with individuals.
People in
organizations often act collectively, but they learn based on
their own
interests, aptitudes, and motivators and based on what they
believe will
protect or improve their standing in the organization. Ideally,
they are also
motivated to learn the competencies that help the organization

most. But we
can’t always count on that to happen automatically.
Starting with Competency: The first stage in building the
knowledge of
the organization is to hire people who already have the needed
skills. The
hiring process begins with identifying the needed knowledge
and skills and
then builds a recruiting marketing, and retention program that
identifies and
attracts the right people with the right skills.
The second stage in building individual competency is
managing “time
to talent”. How quickly can an organization take novices or new
employees
and turn their talent into activity that adds value to the firm?
There are two
approaches to improving time to talent. Formal training program
Communities of practice
Formal training programs focus on giving people the tools they
need to
learn what they need just then (just-in-time learning)or what
they might need

sometime (Just–in–case learning). School like training – in a
group, with a
leader, at a specific time and place – still plays a large role in
training. More
and more, however, companies are using on-line, on demand
forms of
training that can be tailored much more precisely to individual
needs. Beyond
that, through distance learning or e-learning capabilities,
faculty members
and other experts become available as on-line consultants to
help
practitioners solve real problems. The problems and their
solutions can then
be integrated into the company’s knowledge base to share the
learning more
broadly and help employees bring the best approaches to bear
on real issues.
Moving to efficiency, Knowledge circulates in a company in a
very dynamic
way-moving, often erratically and unpredictably, to individuals

to teams, to
communities, and to knowledge bases – and changing along the
way.
Codifying knowledge is a key way of circulating it more
broadly and making
it usable throughout the organization.
Codification, where possible, becomes very important in the
cycle. By
codifying individual, team, and community know-how and
making it
reusable, companies can improve the overall efficiency of the
organization.
Efficiency, in other words, reflects a company’s ability to turn
individual
learning, knowledge and ability about getting things done into
repeatable
processes, many people can follow with good results.
The process of building organizational efficiency and
competency is
also the process of building organizational memory. Memory
allows us to
“know what we know” and supports the efficient use of
processes and

practices that have already been used successfully. Taking new
learning and
codifying it into organizational memory is an ongoing process.
Rapid pace of
change requires that new processes and practices be invented to
respond to
market and environmental demands. By intentionally linking the
learning
that takes place as work gets done into a codified process,
organizations can
increase the chances that everyone in an organization will learn
from a
particular experience and that organizational processes are
being redefined to
meet current needs the new process. The senior executive
thought the ideas
was promising and described it at the meeting he was traveling
to, which
happened to be about finding new business opportunities. Based
on a report
he wrote on the idea, the firm sent a delegation to the Asian
firm to look at

the process more closely. They liked what they saw. The
manufacturer
eventually licensed the process and used it to develop a
profitable new
product line.
Innovation and Responsiveness
From Enhanced Responsiveness to Sustainable Innovation:
Innovations
are responses to challenging problems or even desperate
situations.
Creativity emerges when the existing solutions no longer serve
their purpose
and new responses are called for. For example, the digital
revolution that is
turning the business world inside out traces some of its
technological roots to
the struggle to prevail in World War II and the Cold War. As
scientists and
mathematicians on both sides searched for ways to automate the
massive
calculations required to break enemy ciphers and determine
ballistic missile
trajectories, they developed new technologies that became the

seedbed for
today’s advances. In a period of crises, a century’s worth of
abstruse
theoretical work in mathematics was integrated into the
foundations of a
technological revolution that just keeps getting bigger.
Analysis of the Role of Human Resource in Creating Knowledge
Organization In SCCL
The role of Human Resource in creating knowledge organization
in
SCCL in analyzed with “Rice Model” for this purpose four
variables are used
which are:
• Responsiveness
• Innovation
• Competency
• Efficiency
Responsiveness concern to improve knowledge management
To examine the relationship between the executive and non-
executive
towards responsiveness concern, the distribution of responses in
rating of
strongly agree to strongly disagree were presented in the Table
1.

Table 1 : Responsiveness concern to improve knowledge
Management
(Source: Compiled from Questionnaire Data)
NOTE: Figures in parenthesis indicate percentage.
From the Table 1 it is observed that majority of respondents
i.e., 46
percent perceived that Responsiveness concern vital information
regards,
customers, competitor, suppliers and others. In that 24 percent
of respondents
are non-executives agreed and 22 percent of executives are
agreed regarding
responsiveness.
The 23 percent respondents are strongly agreed about
responsiveness
concern improves in knowledge management of executives and
non-
executives in that 13 percent are belongs Non-Executives and
10 percent of
executives are responds to responsiveness. The 18 percent of
respondents felt

neither agree nor disagree towards responsive concern in that 11
percent of
executives and 7 percent of non-executives express their
behaviour the
opinion about disagree has 9 percent expressed by executives
and non-
executives and 6 percent of respondent like executives, and
non-executives
strongly disagree.
In result of chi-square test obtained from the data revealed that
the
observed value is less than at 5% and 1% levels significance
therefore, the
hypothesis is accepted. It means that the responsiveness concern
to improve
knowledge of executives and non-executives.
Innovation is interactive to knowledge management
An analysis of the relationship of innovation to knowledge
management, the distribution of responses in rating of strongly
agree to
strongly disagree is presented in the Table 2.

Table 2: Innovation is interactive knowledge management
(Source: Compiled from Questionnaire Data. NOTE: Figures in
parenthesis indicate
percentage)
From the table -2 it is revealed that in Executive category 27.50
percent
majority of respondents agrees innovation of ideas are
interactive the
knowledge management. 12 percent of respondent expressed
neither agree
nor disagree. 5 percent respondent expressed strongly agree the
innovation is
more interactive tool for knowledge management, 3.5 percent
respondent
expressed disagreed and only 2 percent respondents strongly
disagreed that
the innovation is interactive to knowledge management.
In non-executive category a majority of respondents i.e., 21
percent
agrees that the innovation is interactive to knowledge
management, 15
percent of respondent express neither agree nor disagree 8.5

percent
respondents express strongly agrees innovation is more
interactive to
knowledge management. 4.5 percent respondents disagree and
only 1 percent
respondent believes that the innovation is not interactive to
knowledge
management. To test statistically applied in chi-square test, that
the
calculated value of X2 (6.24) is less than table values of 5% and
1% of chi
square. Hence, the hypothesis is accepted that it can be
concluded that the
innovation is more interactive to knowledge management.
Competency Concern Improves Skills of Employees
To examine the relationship between the level of employee’s
skills and
competency, the distribution of respondent’s executives and
non-executives
category is presented in the Table

Table 3: Competency improves skills of employees
(Source: Compiled from Questionnaire Data)NOTE: Figures in
percentage)
An observation of Table 3 indicates that, there is a maximum
difference
between percentages of respondents who perceived competency
program of
organization improves skills of employees. Among these
executives and non-
executives. 34 percent of majority of respondents perceived to
agree towards
competency to improve in skills (knowledge) in the category of
executives
and 30 percent of non-executives. The opinion about skill
improvement
strongly agreed by non-executive with 11 percent and 9 percent
executives
express same opinion.
By observing of these two ratings 46 percent expressed skill
improvement 41 percent non-executives are expressed same
above.
The expression of neither agree nor disagree has a percent in
that 5

percent executives and 4 percent non-executives. In the non-
executives 4
percent respondents, expressed and no one expressed strongly
disagrees. In
the executives category, no respondents expressed their opinion
towards
disagree and strongly disagree.
In this regard the chi-square test revealed that the observed
value (7.14)
is less than the expected value at both level (1% and 5%) of
significance.
Hence, there is reason to accept the hypothesis. Thus it can be
concluded that
there is a relationship between improve competency as well as
skill of
employees to knowledge management.
Efficiency Concern to Work of Employees
To examine the relationship between executives and non-
executives, the
efficiency contribution towards, work process of qualities of

product or
service the distribution of respondent’s executives and non-
executive
category is shown in the table 4.
Table 4 : Impact efficiency towards process of product/service
of work
(Source: Compiled from Questionnaire Data NOTE: Figures in
percentage)
By observing of these two ratings 46 percent from executive
category
and 41 percent from non- executive category expressed that the
competency
concern improves skills of employees towards that the
organization becomes
as knowledge organization
The Table 4 reveals that majority of respondents 51 percent
agree by
efficiency of employees in that 27 percent are belongs to non-
executives and
24 percent executives express their opinion towards efficiency
of work
process at product/service with quality. The 49 percent of
respondents

strongly agreed that the efficiency of work process is played a
vital role in
creating knowledge organization. Among these 26 present
represent with
executive category and remaining 23 percent respondents from
non-
executive category.
In this regard the chi-square test revealed that the expected
value in
(8.24) less than the Table value at both levels (5% and 1%) of
significance.
Hence the hypothesis is accepted then it can be concluded that
there is a
relationship of efficiency of employees towards contribution of
final product
of service attained quality.
Conclusion and Suggestions:
The major findings of the study are presented followed by a few
suggestions in the light of major finding.

The importance of knowledge for a clause competitive success
has been
recognized.
Knowledge management is having the greatest impact on rapidly
changing environment.
The competency development is important area of knowledge
management. It involves analyzing the HR skills an
organization needs to
meet the strategic objectives. Implementing to deliver these
skills, evaluating
the extent to concern the end-results.
The role of knowledge management is to help SCCL determine
what
their resources are, further investment should be placed to
maximized the
value of intangible assets, and learn how best to manage the
resources for the
future, to practices to assess the value and potential
improvement in
efficiency.
In light of above finding the following suggestion have been
offer to

make as meaningful tool. The competency and efficiency based
an
improvement through
• Formal Training Programme.
• Communication process
• Codifying – circulating team
The SCCL may concentrate to improve knowledge organization
specification.
The strategy assets where the weakness and focus the weakness
to build
the strengthen through
References
1. Davenport.T.H. & Short. J.E. (1990 summer)” The Industrial
Engineering. Information
and Business process Rode Sign” Sloan Management Review PP
11-27
2. King, W.R. (1995, Winta) “Creating a strategic capabilities
Architecture,” – Information
systems management 11 (3), PP 67-69
3. Prahalad C.K. and G. Hamel (1990),” The core competence of

the corporation” Harvard
Business Review (May-July 79-91)
4. Dr. B.Rathan Reddy, “Knowledge Management” Himalaya
Publishing House (2007)
5. Voci, Elaine, Knowledge Management and E- learning, tools
for the organisational
evaluation.
6. Argyrise “Organizational learning and management
7. Badet 2 E.B. “Making Brain Waves,” C/o. 9(7), PP 23-29
8. Bennis, W & Nannes B. Lerader, the Strategies for taking
charge New York, NY Harpee
& Rao 1985.
The Authors
Dr. B.Sridevi is a Lecturer in the Department of Commerce,
Govt. Degree College
for Women, Khammam, Andhra Pradesh.
Dr. V.Maheshwar is Grade – II Officer (Assistant) in Andhra
Pradesh Civil Supply
Corporation Ltd, District Manager Office, Khammam, Andhra
Pradesh.
Email: [email protected] • Received on: 14, Dec.2013

Copyright of Journal of Commerce & Management Thought is
the property of SSK Busilink
and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or
posted to a listserv without
the copyright holder's express written permission. However,
users may print, download, or
email articles for individual use.

The Role of Human Resources in CreatingKnowledge Organizatio.docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to The Role of Human Resources in CreatingKnowledge Organizatio.docx

Similar to The Role of Human Resources in CreatingKnowledge Organizatio.docx (20)

More from kathleen23456789

More from kathleen23456789 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

The Role of Human Resources in CreatingKnowledge Organizatio.docx