Knowledge Management Cycle at H&LPT

This analysis provides valuable insight on the knowledge management systems used by the company Home & Lifestyle Products Australia (H&LPT) based on primary data by direct observation as well as conversations with members of the company. 

Firstly, It identifies the core components of the knowledge management cycle at H&LPA, strengths, weaknesses, and provides recommendations. Secondly, it proposes a knowledge management plan with activities and technologies to implement at H&LPA and finally a conclusion. 



        H&LPA ORGANISATION’S OVERVIEW


H&LPA is an Australian company established in 1988 focused on importing products from all over the world mainly in Home and Lifestyle lines (H&LPA 2022). 

The company currently has 38 employees and evolved during the last decades to be a product developer, brand builder and supply partner with over a thousand products available to supply partners in the Australian market. 

H&LPA provides products to large Australian retailers directly as well as holding stock for them in warehouses and offers drop shipping service to deliver directly to their e-commerce clients (H&LPA 2022). 



        KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CYCLE (KMC) 


Knowledge Management (KM), according to Davenport and Prusak 1998, “KM consists of the systematic processes for acquiring, sustaining, applying, sharing, and renewing all forms of knowledge, to enhance the organisational performance and create value” (Davenport and Prusak 1998). 

While Knowledge Management Cycle (KMC) is described by Evans in 2015 as the processes in which knowledge is firstly identified and / or created, stored in a system, shared, used by the organisation’s members, and lastly, it is learnt with the objective of either improving existing knowledge in storage or creating new one to start the cycle again (Evans 2015). 

This analysis presents those core components of the knowledge management cycle applied to the company H&LPT and described based on the results obtained by direct observation of the KM systems and conversations with current leaders at H&LPT. 



        DESCRIPTION OF KMC AT H&LPA


H&LPA uses the tools provided by Microsoft SharePoint for its internal KM systems, this is a browser-based collaboration and document management platform from Microsoft which is also described as an Enterprise Content Management system (Microsoft 2019). 

H&LPA uses SharePoint as the main tool for document management together with other incorporated tools from Microsoft Office. 


Going through the cycle, members of the company H&LPA identify valuable information using search engines such as hybrid search, Microsoft integrated search and search useful to find information base on names, type of documents, location and other relevant characteristics. 


Storing information is possible thanks to the space on the cloud accessible for members from the company’s physical location as well as remotely making documents available in the company’s intranet,  internal websites and portals. 


Then, sharing information is done using the tool Teams which allows video conferences and helps improve the communication between team members using specific channels of conversation with chats per topics and projects.


Using the documents in the system is possible through an authorised account and can be done in computers and mobile devices as some team members do at H&LPA. 


Learning in the company occurs when members of the teams meet once a year and decide to point out which have been the learnt lessons, it is the responsibility of the management to encourage and provide spaces to record those learnings. 


Additionally, SharePoint provides tools such as Analytics for looking at the information and finding patterns that can be useful for the managers. 


Finally, according to the needs for matching new processes at H&LPA, information can be created from scratch if there are no previous records, or existing information can be improved  and stored again to continue the cycle (Evans 2015).



Written by Sergio Quintero, 2023, student of Master of Business Administration, 

Kaplan Business School, Melbourne, Australia.





REFERENCES



AIIM 2022, “What is SharePoint?”, Association for intelligent information management, retrieved 04 December 2022, <https://www.aiim.org/what-is-microsoft-sharepoint>



Davenport T., Prusak L. 1998, “Technologies for knowledge management”, Working knowledge: how organisations manage what they know, Harvard Business School Press 1998.



Evans M., Dalkir K., Bidian C., 2014, “A holistic view of the knowledge life cycle: the knowledge management cycle model”, McGill University, EJKM, volume 12, issue 2. 



Garfield S, 2016, Knowledge management technology components, Quora, retrieved 3 December 2022, <https://stangarfield.quora.com/Knowledge-Management-Technology-Components>



IFAD 2020, “Knowledge management plan”, International Fund for Agricultural Development, retrieved 02 December 2022, <https://ifadkmcentre.weebly.com/knowledge-management-plan.html>



Microsoft 2022, “SharePoint service description”, Microsoft, retrieved 04 December 2022, <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/servicedescriptions/sharepoint-online-service-description/sharepoint-online-service-description#available-plans>



Rao M. 2021, “Discovery, delivery, delight - how EY harnessed knowledge management and became one of the two most outstanding winners of the Mike award”, Your Story, retrieved 02 December 2022, <https://yourstory.com/2020/08/cii-knowledge-management-ey>



Saa Sworthy 2022, “Comparison knowledge management prices”, Microsoft SharePoint, retrieved 04 December 2022, <https://www.saasworthy.com/product/microsoft-sharepoint/pricing>



Zyngier, S. 2022, ‘5 Knowledge Management Strategies in Australia: Analysis of uptake and understanding’, University of Wollongong Press, Australian Studies in knowledge management (pp.487 - 521).



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