competency mapping and knowledge managemet at kribhco jignesh r panchal luhariya

8/8/2019 Competency Mapping and Knowledge Managemet at Kribhco Jignesh r Panchal Luhariya

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A Project Report On

Competency Mapping and Knowledge Management in

Krishak Bharati Co-Operative Ltd. HAZIRA

PREPARED BY:- SUBMITTED TO:-JIGNESH R LUHARIYA Miss. Ami Pandya

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DECLA RATION

I undersigned Mr. JIGNESH R LUHARIYA a student of MBA-II semester,

Shree Samanvay Institute Of MBA, BOTAD Bhavnagar University admit that this

project report with KRISHAK BHARTI CO-OPERETIVE LTD is the result of our study

which carried out during 04 May to 13 June, 2009 and has not been previously submitted

to any other university or institute for any other examination and for any other purpose by

any other person.

Place: Surat

Date: 13.6.2009 JIGNESH R LUHARIYA

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ACKNO WLEDGEMENT

I am glad to express my profound sentiments of gratitude to all who rendered theirvaluable help for the successful completion of this project report titled, A Project Report

On COMPETENCY MAPPING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT.

First of all, I like to thank to divine power i.e. GOD and my parents, as it was their

blessing, which gave me this golden opportunity of carrying out this project.

I record my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. N K SAHOO (Chief Mgr.-HR) who had

given me a chance to do a project under this roof of KRIBHCO and given opportunity to

work under his guidance.

I would like to express my deepest and sincere thanks to our project guide-MISS

AMI PANDYA as it is due to their instructions, guidance, support and their valuable

suggestions during an project work, and dedication making us to do the best work, was

the basic reason in our efficiency in doing an project work.

I would also like to thank sincerely from the deep of my heart to all those persons

who constantly guided me and gave me the practical knowledge and materials of the

subject.

I would finally like to thank all employees of KRIBHCO for their kind cooperation,

guidance and support which lead us to right direction of our research.

My genuine sense of gratitude goes to my university that gave me a chance to

brighten my academic qualification that provided me this opportunity to have a practical

knowledge of relevant fields.

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PREFACE

The MBA training of the SHREE SAMANVAY INSTITUTE OF MBA, BOTAD

BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY, Bhavnagar provides the Students an opportunity to haveand insight of any large scale unit so that we get the exposure to an Actual managerial

environment of company. I am lucky to have vocational training in a company like

KRIBHCO Ltd which is considered to be one of the largest fertilizer establishments in

India.

During this period, I had an overview of the HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

within which I could make a detailed study of all the section which comes under the roof

of human resource management in KRIBHCO. This training will help me to correlate

theoretical knowledge and its practical applications. It was a thrilling experience while

studying working of KRIBHCO and understanding it. This programme has led me to

realize the contribution of KRIBHCO to the Fertilizer Industry of India.

I am grateful to all the employees of KRIBHCO for their cooperation and interest in

my project without which it could not have been possible to go ahead with my project.

With due honor, I present this project which consists of a brief study of KRIBHCO

Ltd.

JIGNESH R LUHARIYA

MBA (First year)

SHREE SAMANVAY INSTITUTE OF MBA

BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

BOTAD

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Success of any organization depends largely on its competent employees and the

extent to which the knowledge is shared in that organization. Competency Mapping is aprocess through which one assesses and determines ones strengths as an individual

worker ad in some cases as a part of an organization where as Knowledge acquisition

involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association

and reasoning. Hence, competency mapping and management of knowledge and its

resources play a significant role in growth and development of the organization.

Knowledge Management ('KM') comprises a range of practices used by organizations to

identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. It is divided into stages like acquiring

knowledge, sharing, storing and leveraging the knowledge both at personal level as well

as professional level.

Competency mapping examines two areas: emotional intelligence quotient

(EQ),and strengths of the individual in Areas like team structure, leadership, and decision-

making. Knowledge management refers to all systematic activities for creation and

sharing of knowledge so that knowledge can be used for the success of the organization.

KM processes provide a framework for connecting people to people and people to

information, to develop and share distilled learning and best practices.

This report is an attempt to check the competency level and study the status of the

Knowledge management in this organization. The report starts with Introduction of the

Company, its achievements and then elaborates the concept of competency mapping and

Knowledge Management; in KRIBHCO, and data analysis and interpretation on the basis

of perception of employees.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasoninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasoninghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge


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CONTENTS

Declaration 2

Acknowledgement 3Preface 4

Executive Summary 5

_______________________________________________________________________

Company Profile 7

1. Competency Mapping 21

2. An Introduction to Knowledge Management 30

3. Knowledge Management 32

4. Knowledge Management Roles and Organizational Structure 37

5. Why Knowledge Management 42

6. An Overview of Knowledge Process 43

7. Barriers for implementing Knowledge Management 44

8. Challenges for HR Professionals in Knowledge Industry 46

9. Research Methodology 50

10. Data Analysis and Interpretation 52

11. Questionnaire 82

12. Research Findings 88

13. Suggestions 90

14. Conclusion 91

15. Bibolography 92

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India lives in villages said Mahatma

Gandhi decades ago. It is true even today. Like

every developing economy, the economy of Indiais also agro-based. Agriculture accounts for

nearly 1/4th of India's GDP and more importantly,

about 2/3rd of the country's population is

dependent on agriculture and allied activities for

their livelihood. As per statistics nearly 175 lakh

MT of fertilizer nutrients are required every year in this country. The demand of fertilizers

was so high that India had to import almost 30% of its requirement from other countries.

Therefore, to achieve the economic growth, agriculture base of the country must be

strengthened. To attain this objective, agriculture practices have to be improved from their

traditional pattern to a higher technological track involving better irrigation and use of

better quality seeds, fertilizers, insecticides & pesticides. Therefore, chemical fertilizers

are key player in this process and fertilizer industries plays quite a major role in increasing

food production in the country and also helps to modernize the out look of the common

farmers and make them innovative and respective to the new technology change.

A fertilizer is any material, organic, inorganic, natural or synthetic, that is placed on

or incorporated into the soil to supply plants with one or more of the chemicals elements

necessary for normal growth. Fertilizer is the material, which supplies the chemicals

elements required for plant growth. Primary nutrients like nitrogen, phosphates and

potassium (required for fertilizer land) are supplied through chemical fertilizer. Fertilizer

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Introduction to Fertilizer Industry


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response studies have proved that one kg. of fertilizer nutrient application can the food

grain production by 8-10 kg.

Fertilizer production is of permanent importance for this country because fertilizer

increases agriculture productivity. One hand population increasing but on the other thesupply of land is totally fixed. So we have to produce more without any increase in arable

land area. This can be done if productivity goes up. And fertilizer plays a major role in

productivity escalation.

As this is a vital commodity it is in the interest of nation that farmers get fertilizers

at reasonable rate and in adequate quantity. Looking to the poor economic condition of

Indian farmers Government of India framed fertilizer policy in 1977 based on Maratha

committee report. The purpose behind introducing this policy was to supply fertilizer to

resource poor at a price they could afford, so as to increase the consumption of fertilizer,

to increase food production, and ensure fair return to fertilizer producers.

With this twin objective, Retention Price Scheme (RPS) for fertilizers came into

picture. In this scheme government has brought the fertilizer under the preview of

Essential Commodities Act (ECA) in which the retail price of fertilizer to the farmer is

notified by the Government of India from time to time. This retail price to the farmer is

uniform throughout the country and is subject to local taxes applicable under the

respective States.

Further under ECA, the government also operates a system of distribution control

in which the manufacturers including the handling agents for the imported fertilizers are

directed to sell specified quantities of fertilizers in given states/union territories. While

doing so, the logistics of fertilizer distribution including storage, transportation, handling

etc. are also suitably regulated conforming to overall supply plans of the government to

meet the requirement in all the parts of the Country.

Now manufacturers also should get reasonable rate of return as all incentive for

producing fertilizers. Manufacturers should get at least that much, which call enable them

to remain in the industry.

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Government of India fixes the price of fertilizers in such a way that manufacturer's

cost of production including cost of marketing is covered and the manufacturer gets a

12% post tax return on net worth of the unit at a pre-defined capacity utilization. Norms

are fixed for consumption of raw material, utilities, services, capacity utilization,

depreciation etc. The price so fixed is called Retention Price (RP). This price is reviewed

every three years.

In a nutshell fertilizers can not be sold in open markets and producing unit has

almost nil say in fixing fertilizer price. Then how to increase profits? By operating plant

efficiently only.

The work of administering the Retention Price Scheme (RPS) is entrusted to

Fertilizer Industry Co-ordination Committee (FICC) which works under the control of

department of chemicals and fertilizers.

Growth of Fertilizer Industry

One of the most significant achievement of the post Independence period of our

country has been the ability to achieve self-sufficiency in food grain production. This

achievement is due to the rapid growth and improvement of Fertilizer industry. The

Fertilizer industry is growing at the rate of 4% for the last 10 years and has been

contributing a significant part of G.D.P.

The growth and importance of Fertilizer industry in India can be divided in to three

distinct phases, these are given below.

1. Pro Green Revolution Period:

This period is described in 1952-1953 era where increased growth of food

grains took place however this increased production in food grains took place due to

increased irrigation methods. In this phase the land under agriculture was made more,

during this period about 80% of the country's population was involved in Agriculture either

directly or indirectly. During this period the fertilizer's which were manufactured were

Super Phosphate & Ammonium Sulphate. Irrigation was thought to be heart of

Agriculture.

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2. Green Revolution Period:

During this phase Government stated the programme aimed at making our

country self sufficient in Food Products. This was the period between the years 1959-

1960. This plan laid the emphasis on production of High Yielding Varieties. To make thisplan a success there was a high need to make soil fertile by providing it with nutrients like

Phosphorus, Nitrogen and Potassium.

During this phase Fertilizer industry tried to play a vital role, became one of

the most important, and inherits part of our economy.

3. The Post Green Revolution Period:

The world's population along with Indian population has kept on growing at a alarming

rate, the fertilizer companies all over India are trying to expand their scale of operations in order to

increase the production rate. The demand for fertilizers per year is increasing. The current demand

of fertilizers in India is 18 million tones.

Fertilizer Industry Scenario in India

In India, First of all in 1906, A Single Super Phosphate (SSP) manufacturing

unit was set up at Ranipat near Chennai (Madras) with annual capacity of 6000 tones per

annum.

1. Public Sector

The Fertilizer And Chemicals Travancore Ltd. (FACT)

Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd. (HFC)

Madras Fertilizer Ltd. (MFL)

Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL)

Naively Lignite Corporation Ltd. (NLC)

Pyrites, Phosphates And Chemicals Ltd. (PPCL)

Pradeep Phosphates Ltd. (PPL)

Rashtriya Chemicals And Fertilizers Ltd. (RCFL)

National Fertilizer Ltd. (NFL)

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2. Co - Operative Sector

There are only two fertilizer manufacturing societies in Co-operative sector.

Indian Farmers Fertilizers Co-Operative Ltd. (IFFCO)

Krishak Bharati Co-Operative Ltd. (KRIBHCO)

3. Private Sector

There are 17 companies in private sector, which are producing fertilizer.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizer Co. Ltd. (GNFC)

Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL)

Hari Fertilizer

ICI India Ltd.

Indo Gulf Fertilizers & Chemicals Corporation Ltd.

Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (MCFL)

Southern Petro Chemicals Industries Corporations Ltd.

Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemical Ltd. (NFCL)

Shri Ram Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd.

Tuticorian Alkali Chemicals & Fertilizer Ltd.

Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd.

Bindali Agro Chemicals Ltd.

Chambal Fertilizer & Petrochemical Corporations Ltd. (DEPCL)

E.D.I. PASSY (I) LTD.

Gujarat State Fertilizer Company (GSFC)

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Krishak Bharti Co-operative Limited

KRIBHCO the worlds premier fertilizer producing co-operative has an

outstanding track record to its credit in all spheres of its actives. Since 17th 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.

KRIBHCO Network: -

A. Head office: - fertilizer plant, Noida, Delhi

B. (i) Plant: - Surat Gujarat

(ii) Bio fertilizer plant: - Surat (Gujarat)

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(iii) Seed processing plant: -Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, haryana, M.P. Punjab,

Rajasthan, U.P. (For Punjab&Haryana)

C. Zonal offices: - Bhopal, Bangalore, Lucknow and Chandigarh.

D. State mktg. offices :- Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Banglore, Patna,

Lucknow, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Guwahati,

Dehradun, Kolkota

Besides marketing its products KRIBHCO carries out various other

programmed like farmers benefit programmed, sanket Haran bima yojana, marketing

of BVFCL (Brahmputra valley fertilizer corporation limited) vred seed multiplication

programmer, gramin vikas trust (rural development trust)

A cooperative thrives on the trust of, its members. Membership of KRIBHCO is

open to government of India, national state and district and village level cooperative

society. At the initial stage, way back in june, 1981 the total membership in

KRIBHCO was only 221 cooperative societies which rose significantly to 6044

cooperative societies as on march 31,2005 as against 5790 as on march 31 2004.

Phenomenal progress made by the society becomes a testimony to the ever-increasing membership over the years.

The total paid up share capital as on March 31, 2005 was rs.39, 354.15 lakh as

against rs.49, 170.72lakh in the previous year. During the current financial year, the

society has refunded share capital of rs.9700 lakh to IFFCO and government of India

respectively .the state wise membership with share capital contribution as on March

31,2005 vis--vis march 31 2004.

MISSION: -

A) To contribute to agriculture &rural development in the regins.

B) Services to members of cooperatives society by selecting financing

C) Managing society desirable and commercial profitable investment

opportunity preferable at multiple locations.

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VISION:-

They want to be a world class organization that represents the farmer community

and maximizes returns to them through specialization in agricultural inputs and

products and other diversified businesses that maximize stakeholder value.

OBJECTIVES: -

a) To undertake the activities for the rural upliftment and agriculture development.

b) To promote economic interest of its members by undertaking manufacturing of

chemical fertilizer & allied product.

In furtherance of these objectives KRIBHCO may undertake one or more of the

following activities: -

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(I) To undertake production processing, manufacture, sale distribution, marketing,

import export and to otherwise deal in agriculture production requisites.

(II) To set up storage units for storing fertilizer and other goods by itself or in

collaboration with other agency.

(III) To act as warehousing agency under the warehousing act and own godowns or

hire godowns for the storage of fertilizers and other goods.

AWARDS: -

The excellence performance of the society has brought a number of laurels from

various organizations .The awards received during year were as follows: -

(I) National productivity council has awarded productivity award the society for bio

fertilizer product for the year 1999-2000, 2001-2002 in the year 2003-2004.

(II) Certificate of merit by public relations society of India, Hyderabad chapter for

house journal of KRIBHCO

(III) Best technical innovative award for the year 2003 by fertilizer association of

India.

(IV) Certificate of merit Gujarat safety council for relining 30 lakh accident free man-

hours.

(V) Hazira ammonia extension project (HAEP) rotating shield winner and certificate

for lowest disabling injury index in group-c industries.

(VI) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Agriculture and Technical University, Meerut All

India Farmers Fair And agro Industrial Exhibition First Prize To Kribhco on

10-03-2005.

(VII) Kribhco has won first prize for Bio-Fertilizer Production, Marketing And

Promotion Award For the year 2003 And 2004 by National Productivity Council

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(NPC). Award Has been given formal function held on 10 th May,.2005 by

Honble Minister For Agriculture Shri Shard Pawar Ji.

(VIII) Special Participation Award in Corporate Sector Event Vyapar 2005 Event

Organized By Southern Gujarat Chamber OF Commerce And Industries From

February 11 16, 2005, the theme of pavilion was Development OF Bio-

Technology In Kribhco

HISTORY OF KRIBHCO: -

Encourage with the successful operation of fertilizer plant of Kalul, Kandla

and Phulpur in the co-operative Limited. (IFFCO) higher to the one and the only co-

operative in the fertilizer industry has promoted another co-operative namely

KRIBHCO Ltd to made the new giant plant of Hazira.

MILE STONES: -

(I) Project zero Date : 31/03/1981

(II) Foundation stone laid by Smt. Indira Gandhi : 5/02/1982

(III) Project completion : 31/03/1985

(IV) Plan completion : 26/11/1985(V) Commercial production : 1/3/1986

(VI)Percent capacity utilization : Urea 99%

Ammonia95%

(VII) Plant ready of production : January/September 1985

(VIII) Gas available by ONGC : PHASE 1 & PHASE 2

18-9-85 6-11-85

(IX) Trial production Ammonia : PHASE 1 & PHASE 2

14-11-85 30-11-85

Urea (stream 11/31) 26-11-85 13-12-85

Ammonia (stream 21/41) 31-12-85 01-12-85

(X) ISO certificate (I) KRIBHCO plant

ISO 9001-2000

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(II) KRIBHCO plant

ISO 14001

(III) KRIBHCO Mktg office

ISO 9001-2000

DEPARTMENT AND MANPOWERS AT KRIBHCO

Director 05

Financing & Accounting 49

Vigilance 01

Training 09

HR 58

Security 72

Material 50

Medical 31

Mechanical 172

Transportation 39

Fire safety 29

Instrument 69

Electrical & civil 88

Ms System 13

Labratory 35

Production 365

Technical 27

Total Manpower 1112

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PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHT

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Highest Production Urea 18.06 Lakh mt

(Previous Best 17.73 Lakh mt, 2003-

2004)Highest Dispatch Of Urea 18.05 Lakh mt

(Previous Best 17.85 Lakh mt, 2003-

2004)Lowest Urea Energy Consumption 5.861 G.Cal/mt

(Previous Best 5.886 G.Cal/mt, 2003-

2004)Lowest Ammonia Energy

Consumption

8.204 G.Cal/mt

(Previous Best 8.222 G.Cal/mt, 2003-

2004)Highest Production of Seeds 1.54 Lakh Qtls

(Previous Best 1.21 lakh Qtls, 2003-

2004)Highest Sales Of Seeds 1.49 Lakh Qtls

(Previous Best 1.11 Lakh Qtls, 2003-

2004)

Highest Sales Of Bio-Fertilizers 611 mt

(Previous Best 516 mt, 2003-2004)Highest KBSKs Turnover Rs.3608 Lakh

(Previous Best Rs.3052 Lakh , 2003-

2004)Highest KBSKs Profitability Rs.72.91Lakh

(Previous Best Rs.29.91Lakh , 2003-

2004)

Profit Before Tax Rs.183.83 Crores

Profit After Tax Rs.140.59 Crores

Proposed Dividend 20 %


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QUALITY POLICY

Management of KRIBHCO, Hazira plant is committed to operate and maintain its fertilizer

manufacturing complex through quality assurance, environmental protection and to the

satisfaction of customers.

KRIBHCO, Hazira plant shall achieve this quality policy through following objectives:

1. Continually upgrading technology to improve plant efficiency & reliability.

2. Maintaining & improving the safety & environmental performance.

3. Improving the skills & knowledge of personnel.

4. Continuously improving the quality Management system.

FUTURE PLANS

A joint venture fertilizer project in Oman:

Society has invested US$ 80 million as equity in Oman India Fertilizer plant

which has achieved commercial production on 14th July 2005. The Project has annual

capacity of 16.52 lakhs MT Urea and 2.50 lakhs MT surplus ammonia and has been built

at a cost of US$ 969 million. Marketing of Urea produced by this plant has since been

commenced by the society.

Hazira Phase-II

Society is in the process of setting up a state of the art mega size ammonia plant

of capacity of 1850 MTDP and urea plant of capacity of 3250 MTDP at existing fertilizer

complex at Hazira. Existing infrastructure facilities will be utilized resulting in saving of

cost. Plant will be based on natural gas and we have energy consumption.

Gujarat state energy generation limited (GSEG)

Society has diversified to power sector and has invested Rs. 48.75 crores being

30% equity in Gujarat State Energy Generation Limited, a joint venture company

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promoted by government of Gujarat, GSEG is operating 156 MW Power Plant at Mora,

District Surat.

KRIBHCOs Hazira plant is also going to be expanded. The society is also

exploring the possibilities to set up a 200 MW liquid fuel based power project at

Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Society has deposited a development security of Rs.25 lakhs with

Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB). Minister of power has given No Objection

Certificate (NOC).

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF KRIBHCO

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GM(P)

GM(Material)

GM(F&A)

GM(P&A)

GM(Tech)

CM(MIS)GM

(Mai.)

JGM(P)

JGM(Material)

JGM(F&A)

JGM(P&A)

JGM(Tech)

JGM(Maintain)

CM(P)

CM(Material)

CM(F&A)

CM(P&A)

CM(Tech)

CM(Maintain)

Government of India

Ministry of Agriculture

Department of fertilizer& Chemical

Chairman

Board of Directors

Managing Director

Operational Director

Ammonia

Urea

Power

PHP

Transportation

Purchase

Store

Process

Project

Laboratory

F&S

Civil

Instrument

Mechanic

Electrical


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COMPETENCY MAPPING

In todays competitive market, companies are aware that their workforce must be

properly trained and fully competent over a range of tasks within any given work

discipline.

Competency mapping is a process through which one assesses and determines ones

strengths as an individual worker and in some cases, as part of an organization. It

generally examines two areas: emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ), and

strengths of the individual in areas like team structure, leadership, and decision-making.Large organizations frequently employ some form of competency mapping to understand

how to most effectively employ the competencies of strengths of workers. They may also

use competency mapping to analyze the combination of strengths in different workers to

produce the most effective teams and the highest quality work.

Competency mapping can also be done for contract or freelance workers, or for those

seeking employment to emphasize the specific skills which would make them valuable to

a potential employer.

Competency mapping also requires some thought, time, and analysis, and some people

simply may not want to do the work involved to sufficiently map competencies.

Competency mapping alone may not produce accurate results unless one is able to

detach from the results in analyzing past successes and failures. Many studies find that

people often overestimate their abilities, making self-competency mapping results

dubious.

The value of competency mapping and identifying emotional strengths is that many

employers now purposefully screen employees to hire people with specific competencies.

They may need to hire someone who can be an effective time leader or who has

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demonstrated great active listening skills. Alternately, they may need someone who

enjoys taking initiative or someone who is very good at taking direction. When individuals

must seek new jobs, knowing ones competencies can give one a competitive edge in the

job market.

Usually, a person will find themselves with strengths in about five to six areas. Sometimes

an area where strengths are not present is worth developing. In other cases, competency

mapping can indicate finding work that is suited to ones strengths, or finding a

department at ones current work where one's strengths or needs as a worker can be

exercised.

A problem with competency mapping, especially when conducted by an organization is

that there may be no room for an individual to work in a field that would best make use of

his or her competencies. If the company does not respond to competency mapping by

reorganizing its employees, then it can be of little short-term benefit and may actually

result in greater unhappiness on the part of individual employees. A person identified as

needing to learn new things in order to remain happy might find himself or herself in a

position where no new training is ever required. If the employer cannot provide a position

for an employee that fits him or her better, competency mapping may be of little use.

However, competency mapping can ultimately serve the individual who decides to seek

employment in an environment where he or she perhaps can learn new things and be

more intellectually challenged. Being able to list competencies on resumes and address

this area with potential employers may help secure more satisfying work. This may not

resolve issues for the company that initially employed competency mapping, without

making suggested changes. It may find competency mapping has produced dissatisfied

workers or led to a high worker turnover rate.

Competency also means the collection of success factors necessary for achieving

important results in a specific job or work role in a particular organization. Success factors

are combinations of knowledge, skills, and attributes that are described in terms of

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specific behaviors, and are demonstrated by superior performers in those jobs or work

roles. Attributes include: personal characteristics, traits, motives, values or ways of

thinking that impact an individuals behavior.

Competencies in organizations tend to fall into two broad categories:

- Personal Functioning Competencies. These competencies include broad success

factors not tied to a specific work function or industry (often focusing on

leadership or emotional intelligence behaviors).

- Functional/Technical Competencies. These competencies include specific success

factors within a given work function or industry.

Three other definitions are needed:

Competency Map. A competency map is a list of an individuals competencies that

represent the factors most critical to success in given jobs, departments, organizations, or

industries that are part of the individuals current career plan.

Competency Mapping. Competency mapping is a process an individual uses to identify

and describe competencies that are the most critical to success in a work situation or

work role.

Top Competencies. Top competencies are the vital few competencies (four to seven, on

average) that are the most important to an individual in their ongoing career management

process. Importance to the individual is an intuitive decision based on a combination of

three factors: past demonstrated excellence in using the competency, inner passion for

using the competency, and the current or likely future demand for the competency in the

individuals current position or targeted career field.

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Although the definition above for competency mapping refers to individual employees,

organizations also map competencies, but from a different perspective.

Organizations describe, or map, competencies using one or more of the following four

strategies:

1. Organization-Wide (often called core competencies or those required for

organization success)

2. Job Family or Business Unit Competency Sets

3. Position-Specific Competency Sets

4. Competency Sets Defined Relative to the Level of Employee Contribution (i.e.

Individual Contributor, Manager, or Organizational Leader)

How can it help the overall HRD process of an organization?

Competency is a vehicle for organizational HRD applications such as:

Defining the factors for success in jobs (i.e., work) and work roles within the

organization.

Assessing the current performance and future development needs of persons holding

jobs and roles.

Mapping succession possibilities for employees within the organization.

Assigning compensation grades and levels to particular jobs and roles.

Selecting applicants for open positions, using competency-based interviewing

techniques ETC.

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Why Should Individual Employees Map Their Competencies?

A list of compelling reasons includes, at a minimum, the following. An individual:

Gains a clearer sense of true marketability in todays job market; once the individual

knows how his/her competencies compare to those that are asked for by the job market in

key positions of interest.

Projects an appearance as a cutting-edge and well-prepared candidate, who has taken

the time to learn about competencies, investigate those in demand, and map his/her own

competencies prior to interviewing.

Demonstrates self-confidence that comes from knowing ones competitive advantages

more convincingly, and from being able to articulate those advantages in specific

language.

Secures essential input to resume development - a set of important terms to use in

describing expertise derived from prior career experience.

Gains advanced preparation for interviews, many of which may be delivered using a

competency- based approach called structured behavioral interviewing or behavioral

event interviewing.

Develops the capability to compare ones actual competencies to an organization or

positions required/preferred competencies, in order to create an Individual Development

Plan.

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How Do Competencies Relate to MANPOWER PLANNING?

COMPETENCE MAPPING PROVIDES THE MANPOWER PROFILE

-1. Organization-Wide (often called core competencies or those required for

organization success)

2. Job Family or Business Unit Competency PROFILE

3. Position-Specific Competency PROFILE

4. INDIVIDUAL profile.

THE ANALYSIS OF THESE INDICATES TO THE MANPOWER PLANNERS

-required manpower/competency profiles -current availability of manpower/

competency profiles -estimated gap in manpower / competency .

THIS INFORMATION [COMPETENCY] IS USED BY MANPOWER PLANNERS IN

-Recruitment/Section Process Training Development

Since competency mapping provides database information for manpower planning they

are closely linked

-without competency mapping it is not possible to complete a successful effective

manpower planning.

How Does Competency-Based Interviewing and Selection Work?

Competency-based interviewing and selection presupposes that a set of organization-

wide, job family/department, or position-specific competencies have been identified by the

organization. Interviewers are then trained in the art of Structured Behavioral Interviewing,

which has several hallmarks:

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A structured set of questions is used to interview all candidates. Each question is

designed to elicit behavioral examples from the candidate which demonstrate the use of

one or more key behaviors underlying each competency that is accounted for in the

interview.

A team of interviewers is usually used and they typically divide the list of competencies

among themselves so that each interviewer can focus on asking the related detailed

behavioral questions and documenting candidate responses. Interviewers typically ask

open-ended and situation-based questions such as, Think of a specific time when you

faced ____________? How did you handle the situation? How did it turn out?

Interviewers record evidence of behaviors that the candidate relates, and they ask

probing questions to gather complete behavioral evidence that includes details of the

circumstance, the actions taken by the candidate, and the results achieved. This process

is called the CAR (circumstance, action, results) Model. At the conclusion of the

interview, all interviewers of a particular candidate meet and compare the behaviors they

heard from the candidate that support the assertion that the candidate possesses a

specific competency. If the candidate did not offer specific examples with relevant

behaviors, after additional attempts at rephrasing the question or asking different but

related questions, then the determination is made that the candidate does not possess

the competency.

The underlying philosophy here is that the best predictor of future performance is past

performance that was demonstrated by concrete, observable behavior. A final hiring

decision is made based on the total strength of competencies demonstrated by each

candidate, compared with those competencies that are considered essential for success

in the position and in the organization, and as compared with the competency strengths

of the remaining candidates for the same position.

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COMPETENCY MAPPING IS HR TOOL USED IN

-Recruitment /Selection

-Training/Development

-Performance Management

-Career Planning/Development

-Succession Planning

-Manpower Planning

-Human Resource Development

-Human Resource Planning

-Human Resource Strategic Planning.

etc

How Do Competencies Relate to Individual Career Development?

First and foremost, competencies must be demonstrated by individuals. Perhaps the most

common place where they are demonstrated is within the scope of a particular job or

project involvement. However, competencies are also developed and demonstrated by

individuals in the following settings: volunteer roles in the community, professional

associations, school projects, sports participation settings, and even within ones own

home life.

One of the first encounters with competencies for most individuals is in securing

employment with a new organization. Organizations that are purposefully using cutting-

edge methods to choose talent for positions or project roles are engaging in what is called

competency-based interviewing and selection. These interviewing and selection

methods are being used not only for hiring external applicants, but also for staffing

internal roles.

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Many organizations that use competency-based interviewing and selection are also later

using the same competencies to assess performance, to encourage future development

plans from individuals, and to plan for succession in the organization. Therefore, the

individual employees in such an organization will have an ongoing need to use and map

their competencies.

Up to this point, it is implied that the main need for identifying and mapping competencies

is for individuals who may be pursuing full-time employment with an organization.

However, the need for mapping of competencies also extends to independent contractors

seeking project work with those organizations that broker their services.

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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.

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 ascription 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

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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 chairit 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 in 3D.

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. Most

real problems have to be solved by taking advantage of a partial understanding of the

problem context and problem data. That is very different from the typical simple math

problems that we solve at school, where all data are given and we have a perfectunderstanding of formulas necessary to solve them.

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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 per se, 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

since 1995 with a body of university courses and both professional and academic

journals dedicated to it. Most large companies have resources dedicated to KnowledgeManagement, 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 multi-billion

dollar worldwide market.

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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.

Sustainable competitive advantage a firm has come from what it collectively knows, how

effectively it uses what it knows and how readily it acquires and uses new knowledge, in

short by becoming a Knowledge Driven Organization. Knowledge Management (KM)

provides an enabling framework to derive this advantage. It helps institutionalize

processes to fully leverage the collective knowledge in an organization.

Knowledge management refers to all systematic activities for creation and sharing of

knowledge so that knowledge can be used for the success of the organization. KM

processes provide a framework for connecting people to people and people to

information, to develop and share distilled learning and best practices.

Approaches to Knowledge Management

There is a broad range of thought on Knowledge Management with no unanimous

definition. The approaches vary by author and school. Knowledge Management may be

viewed from each of the following perspectives:

Techno-centric: A focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge

sharing/growth.

Organizational: How does the organization need to be designed to facilitate

knowledge processes? Which organizations work best with what processes?

Ecological: Seeing the interaction of people, identity, knowledge and

environmental factors as a complex adaptive system.

In addition, as the discipline is maturing, there is an increasing presence of academic

debates within epistemology emerging in both the theory and practice of knowledge

management.

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Key concepts in Knowledge Management

Dimensions of knowledge

A key distinction made by the majority of knowledge management practitioners is

Nonaka's reformulation ofPolanyi's distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. The

former is often subconscious, internalized, and the individual may or may not be aware of

what he or she knows and how he or she accomplishes particular results. At the opposite

end of the spectrum is conscious or explicit knowledge -- knowledge that the individual

holds explicitly and consciously in mental focus, and may communicate to others. In thepopular form of the distinction, tacit knowledge is what is in our heads, and explicit

knowledge is what we have codified.

Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) argued that a successful KM program needs, on the one

hand, to convert internalized tacit knowledge into explicit codified knowledge in order to

share it, but, on the other hand, it also must permit individuals and groups to internalize

and make personally meaningful codified knowledge they have retrieved from the KM

system.

The focus upon codification and management of explicit knowledge has allowed

knowledge management practitioners to appropriate prior work in information

management, leading to the frequent accusation that knowledge management is simply a

repackaged form ofinformation management.

Another common framework for categorizing the dimensions of knowledge include

embedded knowledge (knowledge which has been incorporated into an artifact of some

type, for example an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design)

and embodied knowledge (representing knowledge as learned capability of the bodys

nervous, chemical, and sensory systems).

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Knowledge access stages

Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after knowledge-related

activities.

For example, individuals undertaking a new project for an organization might access

information resources to identify lessons learned for similar projects, access relevant

information again during the project implementation to seek advice on issues

encountered, and access relevant information afterwards for advice on after-project

actions and review activities. Knowledge management practitioners offer systems,

repositories, and corporate processes to encourage and formalize these activities with

varying degrees of success.

Similarly, knowledge may be accessed before the project implementation, for example as

the project team learns lessons during the initial project analysis. Similarly, lessons

learned during the project operation may be recorded, and after-action reviews may lead

to further insights and lessons being recorded for future access. Note: In this context

recording knowledge relates only to those aspects of knowledge which can be codified as

text, or drawings.

Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making

content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement

plans. There is considerable controversy over whether incentives work or not in this field

and no firm consensus has emerged.

Drivers of Knowledge Management

There are a number of claims as to 'drivers', or motivations, leading to organizations

undertaking a knowledge management program.

Perhaps first among these is to gain the competitive advantage (in industry) and/or

increased effectiveness that comes with improved or faster learning and new knowledge

creation. Knowledge management programs may lead to greater innovation, better

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customer experiences, consistency in good practices and knowledge access across a

global organization, as well as many other benefits, and knowledge management

programs may be driven with these goals in mind.

Considerations driving a Knowledge Management program might include:

making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision

of products and services

achieving shorternew product development cycles

facilitating and managing organizational innovation and learning

leverage the expertise of people across the organization

benefiting from 'network effects' as the number of productive connections between

employees in the organization increases and the quality of information shared

increases, leading to greater employee and team satisfaction

managing the proliferation of data and information in complex business

environments and allowing employees rapidly to access useful and relevant

knowledge resources and best practice guidelines

managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the

expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals) as individuals retire and

new workers are hired.

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KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ROLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL

STRUCTURE

Knowledge management activities may be centralized in a Knowledge Management

Office, or responsibility for knowledge management may be located in existing

departmental functions, such as the Human Resource (to manage intellectual capital) or

IT departments (for content management, social computing etc.). Different departments

and functions may have a knowledge management function and those functions may not

be connected other than informally.

Personal knowledge management

Personal knowledge management (PKM) is a label for the effort to integrate personal

information management (PIM), focused on individual skills, with knowledge management

(KM), which takes an organizational perspective, in light of expanding knowledge about

human cognitive capabilities and the permeability of organizational boundaries.

Focus on Individual Knowledge Worker

PKM is focused on personal productivity improvement for knowledge workers in this

environment. While the focus is the individual, the goal of PKM is to enable individuals to

operate better in both in formal organizations and in looser work groupings. This is as

opposed to the traditional view of KM, which appears to be more centered on enabling

the corporation to be more effective by "recording" and making available what its people

know.

A core focus of PKM is 'personal inquiry', a quest to find, connect, learn, and explore.

PKM is a response to the idea that knowledge workers increasingly need to be

responsible for their own growth and learning. They need processes and tools by which

they can evaluate what they know in a given situation, and then seek out ways to fill the

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gaps when needed. This frequently implies technology, but one can be good at PKM

without much in the way of special tools.

Connections to Organizations and Groups

PKM has recently been linked to social book marking, blogging or knowledge logs (K-

logs). The idea is individuals use their blogs to capture ideas, opinions or thoughts and

this 'voicing' will encourage cognitive diversity, promote free exchanges away from a

centralized policed knowledge repository that is additional to ordinary work.

Some organizations are now introducing PKM 'systems' with some or all of fourcomponents:

Just-in-time Canvassing - templates and e-mail canvassing lists that enable people

looking for experts or expertise to identify and connect with the appropriate people

quickly and effectively

Knowledge Harvesting - software tools that automatically collect appropriate

knowledge residing on subject matter experts' hard drives rather than waiting for it

to be contributed to central repositories

Personal Content Management - taxonomy processes and desktop search tools

that enable employees to organize, subscribe to, publish and find information that

resides on their own desktops

Personal Productivity Improvement - knowledge fairs and one-on-one training

sessions to help each employee make more effective personal use of the

knowledge, learning and technology resources available to them, in the context of

their own work

PKM Skills

Skills associated with personal knowledge management.

Reflection. Continuous improvement on how the individual operates.

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Manage learning. Manage how and when the individual learns.

Information literacy. Understanding what information is important and how to find

unknown information.

Organizational skills. Personal librarianship? Personal categorization and

taxonomies.

Networking with others. Knowing what your network of people knows. Knowing

who might have additional knowledge and resources to help you

Researching, paying attention, interviewing and observational 'cultural

anthropology' skills

Communication skills. Perception, intuition, expression, visualization, and

interpretation.

Creative skills. Imagination, pattern recognition, appreciation, innovation,

inference. Understanding ofcomplex adaptive systems.

Collaboration skills. Coordination, synchronization, experimentation, cooperation,

and design.

KM concepts

The Knowledge management discourse has adopted, invented and refined concepts from

a wide range of disciplines and practices. There follows a list of concepts and language inuse in the field. At the moment there is no clear consensus on what is or is not a core

concept. The ordering of the list has no significance. Some knowledge of these terms and

their background could be summarized as what one should know to be considered a

proficient KM adviser and knowledge worker

Corporate memory- a collection of best practices, heuristics, process documents

and other texts that help define how a business operates. (Related terms:

organizational memory or group memory). Capturing, maintaining, and growing a

knowledge base, selecting appropriate technologies, and motivating quality

contributions are all key KM themes.

Intellectual capital- the intangible assets of a firm. These include competencies,

culture and connections that enable and foster innovation, agility, awareness,

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Practice vs. process - the balance between informal learning and strictly defined

repeatable activities. .

After action reviews (AARs) - learning by gathering participants after completion

of a significant project, exploring, reflecting, recording advances and mistakes.

Peer reviews - inviting colleagues who have experience with similar projects to

share their tips, tricks and lessons learned before starting out.

Knowledge mapping & audits - discovering opportunities, knowledge gaps and

charting flows. A survey to understand where current knowledge is created and

who needs it.

Lessons learned (learning histories) - a systematic review of failures and

successes conducted by a neutral party.

Narrative - growing in use in KM based on an adoption of "we always know more

than we say" to add "and we always say more than we can write down. The use of

narrative is growing in knowledge management as an alternative to content

management and CoP and is linked in part to social computing.

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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. Thatwould 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.

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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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BARRIERS FOR IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE

MANAGEMENT

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 a more 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.

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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. Knowledge Management may be

distinguished from Organizational Learning by a greater focus on specific knowledge

assets and the development and 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

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CHALLEN GES 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.

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 doneby:

a) Being accurate in all HR work

b) Being predictable and maintaining consistency

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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 in a 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 teams- a vertical team (Business/category) as well a

horizontal team (functional/knowledge domain), is the way forward to effectivelyleverage collective knowledge of an enterprise. HR should play a key role in

developing such a networked organization, through sponsorship and or facilitation

of knowledge communities, cutting across formal organizational silos.

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.

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E Learning is on line learning. It is made available through company web sites

and even 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 Band width 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 the company, archive them in the company training centre for reference for

future. This would not only support learning but could prevent repeat same

mistakes.

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.

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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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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Objective of the study: There are three main objectives of the study as follows:

1. To study the status of KM in the organization and to check the competency of theemployees.

2. To study the perception of employees on the basis of job profile towards

KM

3. To practice research methodology as a student

Research design: Exploratory as well as descriptive

Universe: Universe belongs to E, F and G grade employees belonging to KRIBHCO,

out of which 50 samples is selected.

Sampling design: Stratified random sampling design

Research method: Survey method

Research tool: Questionnaire and informal personal interview

Sources of data collection: Primary data and secondary data

Sample size: 50

Research area: KRIBHCO, SURAT (Hazira)

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

As reported earlier, the objective of the research is to get an idea regarding the

competency level of the employees and to check status of KM in the organization.

Through exploratory study data collection was done. It is based on the main parameter

namely job profile. Frequency distribution method is used for data analysis.

Job profile includes following three main categories: Chief Managers, Sr. Managers,

Managers, and Dy. Managers.

Graph showing the age of respondents:

AGE 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 50 &

AboveNo. of

Employees

0 0 0 1 3 18 28

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 50 & >

AGE

Graph showing the years of experience of the respondents:

YEAR 0-5 6-15 16-25 26-30 30 & Above

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No. of

Employees

0 1 17 20 12

0

5

10

15

20

6--15 16--25 26--30 30 & >

EXPERIENCE

QUESTIONS

1. Do you feel you are doing the job according to your job profile?

ANSWER YES NO CANT SAYNo. of Employee 45 5 0

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 90% of the respondents

agrees that they are doing the job according to their job profile while the 10% disagree.

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2. Do you finish every work assigned to you within the time limit?

ANSWER ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER

No. of Employee 42 8 0

0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 84% of respondents always

finishes every work assigned to them within the time limit, while 16% sometime complete

their work in time.

3. Do you require the guidance from your superior?

ANSWER ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVERNo. of Employee 0 45 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

Always Sometimes Never

No. of Employees

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Inferences: From the above table and chart it is clear that 90% of respondents

sometimes need guidance from their superiors while 8% never need any guidance from

their superior.

4. Do you feel you need training to perform your work?


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart its clear that 28% of respondents feel they

need training to perform their work, 64% do not need training to perform their work, while

8% were unable to say anything about this.

5. Do you feel the type of work you were performing at the time of your joining and

today is the same?


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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From the above table and chart we can say that 28% of respondents agrees

that the type of work they were performing at the time of their joining and today is the

same while 72% respondents disagree to the statement.

6. Does competency mapping helps you to do manpower planning?


0

10

20

30

40

50

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

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Inferences: From above we can say that 86% of respondents admits that competency

mapping helps them to do manpower planning and only 2% disagreed while 12% didnt

answered.

7. Do you perform competency mapping regularly in your company?


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employees

Inferences: From above we can say that 60% of respondents admits that competency

mapping is done regularly in KRIBHCO where as 20% disagreed and 20% didnt

answered.

8. Does Recruitment and Selection processes carried out considering competency

of the individuals?

ANSWER YES NO CANT SAY

No. of Employee 35 5 9

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0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Yes No Can't Say

No. of Employee s

Inferences: From above its clear that 70% of respondents agrees that Recruitment and

Selection processes carried out considering competency of the individuals while

competency mapping and knowledge managemet at kribhco jignesh r panchal luhariya

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