Knowledge Management

Tugas Personal 1
Week 1

Kadek Yud Prasadha

(1901582074)

BINUS ONLINE LEARNING

SISTEM INFORMASI
UNIVERSITAS BINA NUSANTARA
2016

Kadek Yud Prasadha (1901582074) 0224M – Knowledge Management

Essay
1. Berikan contoh data, informasi dan knowledge sesuai dengan pengalaman anda.
2. Salah satu alasan mengapa Knowledge Management (KM) sangatlah diperlukan bagi
organisasi adalah karena organisasi dapat mengalami “Corporate Amnesia”.
Jelaskan apakah yang dimaksud dengan corporate amnesia, apakah yang menjadi
penyebab dari corporate amnesia tersebut, serta berikan langkah strategis yang
dapat dilakukan oleh pihak organisasi dalam menangani hal tersebut. (10 poin)

Knowledge Management at 3M
Introduction: Knowledge Management at 3M

This article is about the Knowledge Management system in 3M Corporation. 3M is an

internationally known organization that places a premium on creativity, innovation, and
being “ahead of the curve” as far as its competitors are concerned. Towards this end, 3M
employs a wide variety of knowledge management systems that rely on the simple principle
of “tacit” creation and sharing of knowledge.

The propositions underpinning 3M’s Knowledge Management initiatives are that:

 Proposition 1: Tacit knowledge creation is higher in an organization that scores high

in team orientation dimension.
 Proposition 2: Tacit knowledge sharing is higher in an organization that scores high in
team orientation dimension. This principle translates into encourage people at all
levels to share knowledge openly and without blockages so that the flow of
information and its translation into knowledge goes on uninterrupted.

The way in which the KM system works in 3M is by nurturing of talent at all levels with a
long-term commitment from top management to the initiative, the recruitment and
retention of the right talent, followed by a strong support and recognition program. The KM
system at 3M has been described as an emergent and reactive bottom-up system where top
management’s role is that it legitimizes the initiative while the actual flow of information
starts from the bottom with the middle level acting as intermediaries. The emphasis is on a
multi-tiered system which is well oiled.

Kadek Yud Prasadha (1901582074) 0224M – Knowledge Management

Benefits to the Company

With this introduction to the KM system at 3M, we can now look at how the system actually
contributes to the benefit of the company. It needs to be remembered that the KM system
at 3M revolves around the principle of formalizing informal networks on the “tacit to tacit”
principle as described earlier.

With this system in place, 3M scores high on innovation and creativity as is evident from the
way in which the company consistently ranks high among companies making the best use of
their resources as far as knowledge creation and sharing are concerned. The extent to which
the company encourages employees to find innovative solutions can be seen from the fact
that the company allows them to work 15% of their time on projects of their interest.
(Brand, 1998)

The research and development initiative at 3M is another area where the KM system can be
seen as providing benefits to the company. The rule in the R&D department is that any new
products that evolve as a result of the research by the department belong to the division
whereas any new technologies that are developed belong to the company as a whole.

With these “rules” for cooperation between the different levels underpinning the KM
system at 3M, it is no wonder that the company files some of the highest number of patents
every year in the United States. Motivation of the employees is a key determinant of success
in any company and particularly when it concerns the KM system, employees must be
doubly motivated to expend that extra bit of energy to come up with “out of the box
solutions”.

This is provided by the organizational structure that is “flat” and the absence of hierarchies
encourages the employees to think creatively and be free from the “clogging” of
organizational arteries that happens as a result of too much red tape and bureaucracy. In
this way, the company benefits from the energy and motivation of its employees and this is
manifested in the perception among the industry experts and its peers that 3M is a
“knowledge organization”. The interaction between the KM system and the processes of the
company is symbiotic with each feeding into each other to produce synergies that are
otherwise difficult to achieve.

Conclusion

The preceding paragraphs have shown how the KM system at 3M stimulates creativity and
fosters innovation. The company benefits from the application of the “tacit” creation and
sharing of knowledge principle where informal channels are as much encouraged as formal
modes of knowledge creation and sharing.

Kadek Yud Prasadha (1901582074) 0224M – Knowledge Management

The KM system at 3M has indeed been the subject of much discussion and study as it
delivers benefits to the company in terms of high number of patents and other knowledge
artifacts that are developed by the employees of the company. In conclusion, it can be said
that 3M has one of the best KM systems in the United States and possibly the entire world
as well. It is no wonder that 3M is known as the innovation engine of the US.

Sumber:

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/knowledge-management-at-3m.htm S

Pertanyaan:
1. Jelaskan mengenai knowledge management system di perusahaan 3M.
2. “This is provided by the organizational structure that is “flat” and the absence of
hierarchies encourages the employees to think creatively…”. Jelaskan mengapa
struktur organisasi yang berbentuk “flat” dapat menumbuhkan kreatifitas karyawan.
3. Selain dengan menggunakan struktur organisasi yang berbentuk mendatar (flat),
jelaskan secara rinci bagaimana KM di perusahaan 3M dapat menstimulasi kreatifitas
dan membantu berkembangnya inovasi.

Jawaban Essay

1. Contoh data, informasi dan knowledge sesuai dengan pengalaman:

Data: harga apel perkilo Rp. 7000,-
Informasi: harga apel itu murah sekali
Pengetahuan: dengan uang Rp 14000, saya bisa membeli apel sebanyak 2 kilo.

2. Corporate Amnesia adalah frase yang digunakan untuk menggambarkan situasi di mana
bisnis, dan jenis lain dari organisasi koperasi, kehilangan memori mereka tentang
bagaimana untuk melakukan sesuatu.
Penyebab: Salah satu penyebabnya adalah pergantian karyawan. Para karyawan dalam
suatu organisasi sering kali berpindah dari satu perusahaan ke perusahaan lain, yang
mengakibatkan permasalahan dalam kontinuitas pengetahuan organisasi tersebut.
Penanganan: Sebelum melakukan pergantian karyawan, persiapkan karyawan pengganti
terlebih dahulu dan lakukan transfer knowledge.

Kadek Yud Prasadha (1901582074) 0224M – Knowledge Management

Jawaban Part II

1. Knowledge management system di perusahaan 3M adalah dengan memelihara bakat

di semua tingkat dengan komitmen jangka panjang dari manajemen puncak ke
inisiatif , perekrutan dan retensi bakat yang tepat , diikuti dengan dukungan dan
pengakuan yang kuat Program.

2. “This is provided by the organizational structure that is “flat” and the absence of
hierarchies encourages the employees to think creatively…”.
struktur organisasi yang berbentuk “flat” dapat menumbuhkan kreatifitas karyawan,
sebab tidak adanya “hierarchies”, sehingga hal tersebut secara tidak langsung akan
menuntut karyawan untuk lebih creative.

3. Selain dengan menggunakan struktur organisasi yang berbentuk mendatar (flat), untuk
dapat menstimulasi kreatifitas dan membantu berkembangnya inovasi,
Perusahaan memanfaatkan penerapan "tacit" penciptaan dan berbagi prinsip
pengetahuan di mana saluran informal sebanyak didorong sebagai mode formal
penciptaan pengetahuan dan berbagi. Sistem KM di 3M memang telah menjadi
subyek banyak diskusi dan studi karena memberikan manfaat bagi perusahaan dalam
hal tingginya jumlah paten dan artefak pengetahuan lainnya yang dikembangkan oleh
karyawan perusahaan.

Kadek Yud Prasadha (1901582074) 0224M – Knowledge Management