REPORT

ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION KRIBHCO the worlds premier fertilizer producing co-operative has an outstanding track record to its credit in all spheres of its actives. Since April 1980 as a rational level Co-operative society to manufacturing and distribute. Chemical fertilizer and allied farm imputes KRIBHCO imbibed the co-operative philosophy fulfilling its commitment to strengthening and promoting the cause of agriculture development and co-operative movements in the country. Krishak Bharti co-operative limited popularly known as KRIBHCO has been registered as national level co-operative society under the provision of the multi-state co-operative societies act, 1984.TheKRIBHCO hazira unit is located around 15 kms, west of Surat and lies on the north of river Tapti. An all weather road from Surat to hazira connects the plant site with the city. The cannel belonging to irrigation department is running on the plant site and is feeding water from ukai. A railway feeder line apporx.. 55 kms. Long has connected the site with Bombay Ahmedabad main line.

AN INTRODUCTION TO KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge is defined (Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of knowledge as "justified true belief". There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge presently, or any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories. Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning. The term knowledge is also used to mean the confident understanding of a subject with the ability to use it for a specific purpose. Reliable knowledge The knowledge based on the logical considerations and scientific calculations is known as reliable knowledge. The degree of reliability is high regarding the information here, hence known as reliable knowledge.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION Communicating knowledge Symbolic representations can be used to indicate meaning and can be thought of as a dynamic process. Hence the transfer of the symbolic representation can be viewed as one as creation process whereby knowledge can be transferred. Other forms of communication include imitation, narrative exchange along with a range of other methods. There is no complete theory of knowledge transfer or communication. Situated knowledge Situated knowledge is knowledge specific to a particular situation. Some methods of generating knowledge, such as trial and error, or learning from experience, tend to create highly situational Knowledge. One of the main benefits of the scientific method is that the theories it generates are much less situational than knowledge gained by other methods. Situational knowledge is often embedded in language, culture, or traditions. Knowledge generated through experience is called knowledge "a posteriori", meaning afterwards. The pure existence of a term like "a posteriori" means this also has a counterpart. In this case that is knowledge "a priori", meaning before. The knowledge prior to any experience means that there are certain "assumptions" that one takes for granted. For example if one is being told about a chair it is clear to him that the chair is in space, that it is 3D. This knowledge is not knowledge that one can "forget", even someone suffering from amnesia experiences the world in3D. Partial knowledge One discipline of epistemology focuses on partial knowledge. In most realistic cases, it is not possible to have an exhaustive understanding of an information domain, so then we have to live with the fact that our knowledge is always not complete, that is, partial. Taking advantage of a partial understanding of the problem context and problem data solve most real problems have to. That is very different from the typical simple math problems that we solve at school, where all data are given and we have a perfect understanding of formulas necessary to solve them.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Knowledge management is a management theory, which emerged in the 1990s. It seeks to understand the way in which knowledge is created, used and shared within organizations. A significant part of Knowledge Management theory and practice aligns two models:(i) The DIKW model, which places data, information, knowledge and wisdom into an increasingly useful pyramid.(ii)Nonaka's reformulation of Polanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Both of these models are increasingly under challenge with different schools of thought emerging, which are more fully described and referenced, in the main article. An objective of mainstream knowledge management is to ensure that the right information is delivered to the right person just in time, in order to take the most appropriate decision. In that sense, knowledge management is not interested in managing knowledge, but to relate knowledge and its usage. This leads to Organizational Memory Systems. More recent developments have focused on managing networks (the flow of knowledge rather than knowledge itself) and narrative forms of knowledge exchange. Knowledge Management ('KM') comprises a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. It has been an established discipline since1995 with a body of university courses and both professional and academic journals dedicated to it. Most large companies have resources dedicated to Knowledge Management, often as a part of 'Information Technology' or 'Human Resource Management' departments, and sometimes reporting directly to the head of the organization. As effectively managing information is a must in any business, and knowledge and information are intertwined, Knowledge Management is a multibillion dollar worldwide market. HR has a key role in the KM movement. Key HR processes- corporate education, performance management and nurturing culture, have a key role in the development of the knowledge-based enterprise.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION WHY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT? In this competitive knowledge economy, our most valuable asset is the knowledge asset. It is often said that, in this economy it is not what we own, but what we know. That would give us the competitive advantage. We must therefore, quickly learn the strategies and management techniques of knowledge Age. In short, we must adopt practice of knowledge management to strengthen our competitive advantage. KM provides an enabling framework to leverage collective knowledge. When KM becomes the way we work, it helps us deliver on strategic priorities and business goals growth, innovation, speed of response, quality of response, faster time to market, strengthen organizational learning, protect functional and operational excellence in a dis-aggregated organizational structure.

AN OVERVIEW OF KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES The key knowledge management processes are: Linking people to people in teams through formal/informal structures, for them to effectively share knowledge. A community of Practice (CoP) is one such useful structure. In large organizations with geographical spread, multiple business units, businesses, organizational silos are likely to constrain effective knowledge of the enterprise. Communities of practice (knowledge communities or teams) formed around core competencies of the company help overcome this constraint. A CoP is a team of people who are practitioners of a well-defined knowledge domain(Packaging, engineering, sales etc.) who come together to capture, create and share relevant knowledge, in pursuit of business excellence. Such a team is empowered to develop and deliver relevant training programs to build the capability in the knowledge domain.

Linking people to information/knowledge repositories/best practices. Intranets with efficient search engines provide an effective way to connect people to knowledge repositories

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION

BARRIERS FOR IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENT Conceptual/mindset related issues: We need to create a culture of sharing. Often knowledge is seen as power and in a competitive environment there could be a tendency to hoard knowledge. Key to success of KM is creation of knowledge sharing culture and elimination of organizational and cultural barriers for communication. We should move from hoarding of knowledge to gain power to sharing of knowledge to gain power. Operational issues: Time The typical executive is already hard pressed for time. He has no time for an additional initiative, if it is seen as a diversion from focus on immediate results. So, it is important to integrate KM into existing business processes in the company and embed into workflow. KM should not be seen as a separate initiative, but should be integrated into current workflow as amore effective way to achieve business results. The experience of practitioners of KM demonstrates that it succeeds only when we are able to signal to employees, strong senior management endorsement for KM. Like all organizational transformation processes, KM needs to be led by senior management. Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organizational objectives and are intended to achieve specific outcomes, these can include, improved performance, competitive advantage innovation, lessons learnt transfer (for example between projects) and the general development of collaborative practices. One aspect of Knowledge Management, knowledge transfer, has always existed in one form or another. Examples include on-the-job peer discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. However, with computers becoming more widespread in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technology such as knowledge bases, expert systems, and knowledge repositories have been introduced to further simplify the process. Knowledge Management programs attempt to manage the process of creation (or identification),accumulation and application of knowledge across an organization. As such Knowledge Management is frequently linked to the idea of the learning organization although neither practice encompasses the other.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION Knowledge Management may be distinguished from Organizational Learning by a greater focus on specific knowledge assets and the developmentand cultivation of the channels through which knowledge flows.Frequent Knowledge Management practices include: enabling organizational practices such as Communities of Practice and corporate Yellow Page directories for accessing key personnel and expertise enabling technologies such as knowledge bases and expert systems, help desks, corporate intranets and extranets, Content Management, wikis and Document Management

CHALLENGES FOR HR PROFESSIONALS IN THE KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRY Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success The new millennium is here & this is definitely not a bad time for professionals to gear themselves up and think about the future, their future! It is time to plan, envision, prioritize and set goals for the new millennium. The challenge is not just in terms of updating technologies but also in terms of keeping young workforce motivated and challenged at all the time. This breed of young and energetic individuals is challenging a lot of the time-tested theories of employee recruitment, staffing, motivation and general HR practices. There are lots of challenges while recruiting these young bloods. They are as under: Attract people with multidimensional experiences and skills. Infuse fresh blood in the organization. Develop a culture that attracts people.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION Design entry pay that competes on quality and not quantum.Hence it follows that the role of HR will be: To develop fully "selfexpressed" individuals. To enable and facilitate their effective participation in teams.

We need to increase the credibility of HR within the organization that can be done by: a) Being accurate in all HR work b) Being predictable and maintaining consistency c) Meeting commitment to do what we say on time and within specified budget d) Being personally comfortable with peers, subordinates and superiors

How then do HR processes and practices impact the knowledge sharing ina firm? Some of the HR processes and practices that should be aligned to strengthen knowledge management are as follows: Job rotations: Well-planned job (role) rotations across geographical locations and businesses in a firm help not only people development, but also provide an important vehicle for transfer of knowledge and best practices, even though an organization cannot obviously depend on this as the main source of knowledge transfer. Networked organization : A networked organization with people playing multiple roles, being part of multiple teamsa vertical team (Business/category) as well a horizontal team (functional/knowledge domain), is the way forward to effectively leverage collective knowledge of an enterprise.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION Training: Learning and knowledge are inter-linked. Knowledge strategies should encompass learning initiatives and knowledge initiatives need to converge with training program needs to focus on functional and business specific skill development programs as well as competency development focused programs. Knowledge communities (Teams), as the owners and users of the knowledge, should play an active role in developing suitable course material for the functional and business specific courses. E Learning is on line learning. It is made available through company web sites andeven through CD ROMs. It allows the learner to enroll in to courses or programs of Their choice and acquire knowledge at their own pace at the place of their choice. Corporate online universities, exclusive learning space to induct managers or develop future leaders, ongoing programs for sales personnel and induction into new products and services are some of the e-learning offerings, some of the companies are making available to their employees to develop themselves. E- Learning provides the benefit of convenienceallows the learner to do the learning at his or her pace, flexibility Learner does not have to sacrifice a training program because of its clash with customer or personal visit, and ease of learning. Experience in US / Europe seems to confirm that e-learning also saves cost. As of now Bandwidth might pose some constraints, but with fast changing IT infrastructure, even in India, this could offer interesting opportunities. Another very useful role HR could play is to capture stories of success and failures in thecompany, archive them in the company training centre for reference for future. Thiswould not only support learning but could prevent repeat same mistakes.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION

Culture Change: Leveraging collective knowledge is possible only when people value building on each others ideas and sharing their insights. Much of this shaped by the culture of the organization. In some cultures, where knowledge is seen as power, knowledge sharing may be seen to be in conflict with individuals personal interest. Therefore, institutionalization of knowledge management requires HR to focus on the managing the culture change/mindset of the people to strengthen collaborative team working and knowledge sharing.

How can we create a knowledge sharing culture?

Realign incentive and reward program: People do not do what you tell them, but what you measure them for. HR needs to institute a system of rewards and recognition, training and performance development practices- activities that reinforce the discipline of sharing, documenting knowledge and reuse of others ideas with pride to achieve business goals. People in business most often behave in a way that increases their career opportunities, reward individual effort or task achievement. They reward something done in a crisis, but most incentive programs do not reward avoiding a crisis. The best KM practitioners reward employees for learning, sharing and collaborating. APQCs four-step knowledge management strategy for human resources professionals follows. 1. Identify-- Determine what knowledge is critical for the success of the enterprise. 2. Capture-- Collect critical knowledge using techniques such as interviews and best practices submissions. 3. Retain-- Store the captured knowledge in a format where it can be easily retrieved for use at a later time. 4. Transfer-- Transfer through training, apprenticeships, mentoring, and other opportunities

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION

Knowledge Management In KRIBHCO

Employee in KRIBHCO believes that they are doing the job according to their job profile. They finish every work assigned to them within the time limit, which shows that they are competent, though many of them need guidance from their superiors sometimes. Knowledge is critical for this organization Formal meetings are the major sources of knowledge in this organization informal meeting and chats are also alternative for knowledge sharing. An excellent IT infrastructure exists in this organization. E-mail and intranet is the major source of sharing knowledge in the company as far as IT is concerned. Electronic media plays a significant role in networking of knowledge in this organization.

Knowledge is exploited to the adequate extent in this organization. Majority of employees frequently undertakes additional personal efforts to enhance their knowledge level as quest for knowledge is there in the employees. Though employees frequently share their learning with their colleagues after attending seminars or training but it is in a non regular manner through informal chats. It is not institutionalized but can be structured in a proper manner as scope is there. Some of the major cultural barriers are Indifference of people towards developmental processes, and Lack of open mindedness Major outcomes out of the implementation of Knowledge Management can be Improving quality, Improving delivery, Better decision making, Intellectual property rights management and cost reduction etc.

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REPORT ON KRIBHCO REGARDING KNOWLEDGE IMPLEMENTATION

Lack of understanding of KM and its benefits. and Lack of top management commitment to KM are the biggest hurdle in effective implementation of KM in company. Majority of employees believe that the organizational culture is supportive to KM and Critical technical knowledge is given more preference in your organization. Majority of employees agree with Knowledge created is being captured in theirorganization up to some extent CONCLUSION It can be concluded that the concept of Knowledge Management is in between the introduction and growth stage that is it is ahead of introduction stage and has not reached yet to growth stage. It has been also concluded that there is certainly a quest for knowledge in the employees and combining this factor with highly established HR Department and advanced Information Technology in the organization, competency mapping is need to be regularly carried out here and Knowledge Management will definitely reach to the growth stage in due course of time in this organization.

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