Domestic violence revised

Theories of Management Module
Name
Institution
Introduction
Majority of business organizations around the globe are currently facing diverse challenges such stiff competition, changes in products, the short lifecycle of products, technological advancement and many more. It is now becoming very important for business organizations to have competitive advantages through promoting creativity and innovation, developing and investing in learning as well as proper management of knowledge. With the increasing globalization, it is thus difficult for most business organizations to maintain their profit margins as well as achieving other objectives. To overcome these challenges, most business organization have channeled their resources into innovation. This is because creativity and innovation are the most crucial sources of competitive advantages that enhance the sustainability of any business organization. Other factors that are considered include constant monitoring of the business environment, exploring new technologies as well as evaluating the general performance of the organization.
In achieving the objective of innovation with improved performance, most business organizations are channeling different resources, but the most valuable resource an organization can have is their employees (the human resource) and the implicit knowledge they have. Knowledge diversity is very crucial resources for any successful business organization. This is because in every global organization, like the United Nations, the employee has important knowledge that is very crucial in the organization’s performance and the improvement of its general condition.

With stiff global competition at its peak, most organizations are aiming to be unique and different in the way they integrate the practices of knowledge management to promote innovation. The knowledge of employees has gained importance in the general running of the organization. According to Liao et al. (2010), capital, labor as well as equipment will be replaced by the employee’s knowledge in business organizations. Also, the competitive advantages, as well as innovation in the business organization, will highly be dependent upon the knowledge of the employees other than the acquired physical resources. According to Choy et al. (2006), the most valuable assets in every successful business organizations are the employees and their implicit knowledge. Thus, organizations are encouraging knowledge sharing among the employees as well as knowledge assimilation to improve and promote the innovation processes. Diverse and variety of knowledge base has a positive impact on the general performance of the organization which makes an organization to formulate new methods in which innovation can be shared among and within the employees. Some basic elements and factors promote and enhance information sharing among employees of an organization. These include the culture of the organization, employee’s trusts, teamwork among the employees, the motivation of employees and the information communication technologies available. (Gupta et al. 2009).
In a study by Lin et al. (2009), identified the factors that contribute to the sharing of knowledge in organizations. For instance, the leadership and the general management structure of the organization, networking with other stakeholders, the organization culture, information technology as well as the motivation of the employees to share information were the key contributors to the increased sharing of knowledge in most organizations. There was also a strong correlation between information sharing and teamwork among the employees. Thus, the organization positive performance and the corresponding competitive advantages are highly dependent upon teamwork, networking, information technology, trust among employees, organization culture and the motivation of the employees to share the knowledge with and among themselves. This paper aims at providing the literature review of the past research as well as identifying the factors that facilitate knowledge sharing in an organization.
Literature review
For purposes of improving performance, large and international organizations like the United Nations, try to develop an organizational culture of knowledge sharing among their employees. In achieving this objective, they focus on developing the human resources making it easy in sharing knowledge since knowledge is the most valued asset of an organization. (Kongpichayanond, 2009). To enhance successful knowledge sharing practices, it is important to apply proper strategies that promote employee motivation. The knowledge practices adopted should be in such a way that they form part of the strategies of the business given the fact that competitive advantages are dependent upon the implicit knowledge of employees. Thus, the management of this implicit knowledge is dependent upon other external factors like culture, technology among others. Also, information sharing reinforces the organization learning process leading to the creation of new knowledge as well as stimulating the innovation process.
Information technology
The world today is in an era where there is voluminous information which can easily be accessed and utilized in various ways. Information technology has transformed most of the global organizations like the United Nations to their competitive advantages. Proper utilization of information technology has a positive impact on the organization’s workflow as well as good communication channels. Technological advancement has become a key determinant in the management of knowledge and the general learning within an organization. Thus, the technical aspects of an organization play a crucial role in the knowledge accessibility and transferability from one employee to another. The organization’s policy on the technological framework is likely to directly impact the levels of commitment as well as attitude towards the innovation processes. Thus, for a global organization like the United Nations, they are likely to take part in recruiting highly trained and experienced technical personnel, channel a large number of financial resources in developing new technologies as well as maintaining and sustaining high-level technological advancement. This, in turn, results to high level of organization performance as well as gaining the competitive advantages when compared to other organizations. Large organizations thus employ numerous knowledge sharing resources that facilitate the capability for sharing compared to those organizations that do not promote the development of advanced information technological systems. (Kasper et al. 2009).
Increased interaction with advanced technological equipment such as the system databases and the intranet promotes and increases the chances of an organization in exploiting as well as applying new knowledge thus high chances of creativity and innovation. The transformation of implicit knowledge of employees to explicit knowledge majorly found in the databases increases the organization’s likelihood of sharing the knowledge as well as increasing the chances of innovation and improving organization performance. Information technological management practices promote innovation process in the sense that it enhances the capability, ability, and collaboration among the employees in creating new knowledge and information. Also, global organizations like the United Nations usually have a system of knowledge management, generally known as the Knowledge Management System (KMS) that provides feedback and updates. The system also provides a chance for making changes shortly and the addition of relevant or removal of unnecessary information within the organization. (Barber et al. 2006).
Thus, information technology provides easy access to knowledge which in turn improves knowledge sharing at all levels of organization management.
The culture of the Organization
Organization culture refers to the set of values, norms, and beliefs that aims at shaping the daily operations of the organization and improving the performance of employees and other personnel within the organization. (Lu et al. 2008). Organizational culture dictates the way employees interact with one another as well as shaping the general functions of the organization. The various aspects that form part of organizational culture include the organization policies, values, norms, the employees’ behaviors and actions as well as organization philosophies. Global organizations like the United Nations have the culture of developing their human capital. This makes the employees adapt to any changes in the working environment. As such, the training programs offered by the organization help employees develop a culture of problem-solving, knowledge sharing, creativity as well as innovation; which in turn contributes to the organization’s competitive advantage. A culture that encourages organization learning through employee participatory approach and practice improves the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the information processed. For example, job rotation, which is most common in United Nations (where one can be posted in any country that is within the United Nations) is likely to enhance adaptive learning among employees.
A participatory approach as a competitive advantage in successful organizations involves employees participating in the decision-making processes. It also involves proper and efficient mechanisms and channels of communication among the workers enhancing better ways sharing and managing of information. Organizational culture also helps to build trust among the employees. This improves the level by which workers interact with each other and participate in sharing knowledge. The United Nations, for instance, is characterized by global collaboration among workers with diverse language, origin, race as well as culture. Employee interaction improves the way they interpret and share the information. Thus, the sharing of knowledge within an organization largely depends on the organizational culture in which they work. (Neches et al. 2010).
Teamwork
Employees who work as a team are in a better position in sharing knowledge and experiences with each other. The possibility of quick problem solving within an organization is best achieved when workers are working as a team. According to Forrester (2000), teamwork plays a significant role in improving the general performance of an organization which eventually form part of the competitive advantage. Successful organization like the United Nations encourage teamwork. The organization provides necessary resources and ensures that the teams work in achieving their objectives, their duties and responsibilities as well as the organization’s targets. As explained by Cebrera (2002), one of the mechanisms that enhance knowledge sharing is through teamwork since it promotes employee interaction.
Successful teamwork and groups are achieved through effective communication strategies within the organization. Effective communication facilitates relevant new ideas to be exchanged among the employees who are likely to create and promote innovation. Organizational innovation is thus facilitated through proper and effective communication within the employees at all levels of management. Since teamwork increases the knowledge diversity and expertise among employees, there are high chances of increasing the creativity levels among such employees. In general, effective knowledge sharing is achieved through teamwork which in turn improves the general performance of the organization. Thus, teamwork among the workers of an organization is part and parcel of the organization’s competitive advantage as well as creating a pool of valuable information and knowledge.
Knowledge sharing and Knowledge management
Knowledge is an essential resource for any successful organization. Knowledge sharing within an organization is a process through which employees transfer their skills and experiences by sharing them with one another. Knowledge within an organization exists implicitly in the employees or explicitly in databases, where it can easily be accessed by any person within the organization. (Liao, 2007). Knowledge can as well as be obtained from other internal and external sources. The high performance of global organization like the United Nations is because their employees share their knowledge. Knowledge management, on the other hand, involves the sharing of existing knowledge as well as creating avenues of developing new knowledge within the organization. For purposes of competitive advantage, the organization must apply both the existing and new knowledge created.
Effective mechanisms of knowledge management and sharing play a critical role in the general success of the organization. The organization can improve its performance as well as gaining and maintaining sustainability in competitive advantages. (Wang, 2009). The culture of sharing knowledge is often encouraged at the individual level within the organization. For purposes of achieving long-term competitive advantages, knowledge sharing is regarded as a crucial factor in employee’s behavior. Knowledge development within an organization not only depends on the internal learning activities the firm provides but also through external linkages with other players. For instance, United Nations employees share and improve their knowledge through learning in external environments especially when they are employed in foreign countries. Knowledge sharing and management practice promote a culture where employees freely share their ideas within the organization. As such, incorporating technological advancement in knowledge sharing is likely to promote the performance of an organization.
Organizational learning
For purposes of adapting to the external business environment such as economic constraints, political environments, stiff global competition, social challenges, technological changes and advancement, global inflations among others; organizations must keep learning and applying new knowledge and information as well as technologies to gain competitive advantages. (Dixon, 1998). Learning enables an organization to develop a knowledge base which in turn increases the level of the organization’s competition as well as its creativity and innovation. For instance, personnel working with the United Nations are always learning about issues of global concern since they can be posted in any part of the world. This improves their competitive advantage in global recruitment processes since they know various issues that affect the different countries. Such employees are majorly recruited since they have implicit knowledge that helps in the improvement of the general performance and success of the organization.
Organizational learning is reinforced through knowledge sharing among workers from the high-level management to the low-level workers or employees. Learning within an organization helps in addressing issues such as competition, levels of interactions between the organization and the external environment as well as promoting the culture of knowledge sharing. Successful organizational learning involves various aspects. For instance, identifying the relevant information that facilitates organizational learning and generation of new and improving existing knowledge base. It as well involves knowledge sharing and exchange among the workers of the organization. It also integrates the new knowledge into the existing knowledge as well as transforming the knowledge resource in actions so that a significant effect can be achieved through the smooth, successful and improved performance of the organization.
The structure of the Organization
The structure of the organization should be flexible and able to respond positively to the rapid changes in the environment for it to gain from competitive advantages. The organizational structure, in essence, involves the various regulations, chain or management, departments as well as organizational processes. (Gold et al. 2001). The current environment is characterized by unpredictable and rapid changes that organization like the United Nations, must be foreseen. For purposes of maintaining competitive advantage, the organization has to predict the likelihood of certain changes to occur in the near future and provide timely mitigation measures. This is achieved through monitoring the environment, exploring new knowledge and technologies as well as making structural changes within the internal set up of the organization. For example, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), that deals with monitoring and evaluation of global, regional and local development programmes and projects. Workers in this organization majorly monitor global, regional and local environment in identifying and planning for the sustainable projects that need to be implemented. In such instances, the United Nation Development Programme employees and the management provide a framework and recommendations on what needs to be done. For instance, the amount of financial support required, the technology and the human resource to be deployed in the region.
Also, the organization structure should be in such a way that it encourages views of other employees in the decision-making process rather than being made by the top management only. This is because the significance of employees knowledge in decision making is dependent upon the organizational structure and top management. (Liao, 2006). Also, to cope up with rapid changes within the organization, the top management should be composed of an individual with flexible mindsets.
Conclusion
Organization performance concerning competitive advantages depends on the discussed practices. Organizations globally constantly try to implement this practices to help in improving their general performance when compared to their stiff competitors. According to Sheriff (2006), organizations will try to apply the best practices to create new knowledge and bring about creativity and innovation. This is because creativity and innovation play a very significant role in the performance and profitability of any organization. This explains why most global competitive organizations, like the United Nations, emphasize and encourage their employees to be creative. (Apostolou et al. 2008).
Knowledge sharing among the employees plays a crucial role in enhancing competitive advantages as well as promoting intellectual capital. This implies that the overall creativity within an organization depends on the knowledge sharing culture among the employees and the workers. Also, strategies for management of knowledge help an organization to gain competitive advantage. Thus, the success of knowledge management strategies is dependent upon the knowledge sharing practices. To achieve long-lasting advantages, organizations must manage the human resources available, their implicit knowledge as well as the explicit knowledge. Also, creativity and competitive advantages also depend on the internal conditions and the general structure of the organization. Thus, on the basis of the literature reviewed, it can be concluded that, for purposes of building strong and long-term competitive advantages, organizations should and must practise the following: encourage knowledge sharing among its employees, enhance organizational culture, promote new information technologies, encourage teamwork, enhance organizational structure, advanced knowledge management practises as well as encouraging organizational learning.
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