The purpose of the research Essays

The purpose of the research Essays The purpose of the research Essay The purpose of the research Essay The purpose of the research work is to specifically understand the concept of knowledge management, its difference in large enterprises and small enterprises, 7 different categories of knowledge (knowledge about customers, about company’s products/services, intellectual property rights management, about markets, about competition, about processes and methods, about regulatory environment), the criticality of knowledge creation and key challenges for knowledge-intensive SMEs(the identification, capture, storing, mapping, dissemination and creation of knowledge) from different perspectives and for different purposes.Methodology This paper uses a survey method to collect primary data to study knowledge creation and categorization in automotive components manufacturers. Knowledge creation is gaining importance but Ramp;D spending as a percentage of turnover is very low. International automotive components manufacturers have a better perception about knowledge creation compared to Indian firms. The key challenges for knowledge intensive SMEs are the identification, capture, storing, mapping, dissemination and creation of knowledge.Knowledge management is an integrated and complex social process which has culture, people, finance, technology and organizational structure at its core. Research study finds that innovators are more likely to experience growth than non innovators. The methodology of the research is based on 3 surveys conducted namely for international experts, Indian experts and auto component manufacturers.International experts were asked to give their views on knowledge creation and categorisation in knowledge management in international auto components SMEs whereas Indian experts were consulted for knowledge management in Indian auto co mponents manufacturers. Experts’ gave their views on the automotive components industry as a whole, thus giving a picture of the overall industry, which the researcher labels as macro perspective. Automotive components manufacturers responded to what is happening within the company, which the researcher calls as micro perspective.Findings The findings of the three different survey groups have been summarised in the tables below: Table 1 Rating of knowledge provided by government/associations (international experts) Criteria| Minimum| Maximum| Mean| Standard Deviation| Relevance| 1. 00| 6. 00| 3. 2857| 1. 54066| Latest| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 2857| 1. 20439| Timely| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 1429| 1. 23146| Table 2 Rating of knowledge provided by government/associations (Indian experts) Criteria| Minimum| Maximum| Mean| Standard Deviation| Relevance| 2. 00| 6. 00| 4. 2222| 1. 39443|Latest| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 3333| 2. 00000| Timely| 1. 00| 6. 00| 3. 6667| 1. 80278| Table 3 Importance of ranking of knowledge Importance ranking of knowledge types| Mean rank| Knowledge about markets| 2. 89| Knowledge about customers| 2. 34| Knowledge about new technologies| 3. 29| Knowledge about processes and methods| 3. 64| Knowledge about products/services| 4. 84| Knowledge about partners/alliances| 6. 16| Knowledge about regulatory environment andstandards| 4. 93| Table 4 Ramp;D Spending (% sales) Spending on Ramp;D| Response percentage|Less than 0. 5%| 41. 2| 0. 5-1%| 23. 5| 1-1. 5%| 5. 9| 1. 5-2%| 11. 8| 2-2. 5%| 5. 9| More than 2. 5%| 11. 8| Table 5 Knowledge by government/industry associations (automotive components manufacturers) Criteria| Minimum| Maximum| Mean| Standard Deviation| Relevance| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 3125| 1. 66208| Latest| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 0000| 1. 50555| Timely| 1. 00| 5. 00| 3. 3125| 1. 57982| Table 6 Test Results | Rating of knowledgeprovided by govt/associations – relevance(1 ? Very poor to7 ? Excellent)| Rating of knowledgeprovided by govt/associations  œ latest(1 ?Very poor to7 ? Excellent)| Rating of knowledgeprovided by govt/associations – timely(1 ? Very poor to7 ? Excellent)| Mann-Whitney U| 23. 000| 18. 500| 26. 000| Wilcoxon W| 68. 000| 63. 500| 71. 000| Z| -0. 936| -1. 406| -0. 607| Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)| 0. 350| 0. 160| 0. 544| Exact Sig. (2 *(1-tailed Sig. )]| 0. 408| 0. 174| 0. 606| Conclusion The spending on Ramp;D as a percentage of sales is quite low. The government and industry associations need to create awareness and sensitization programs for knowledge creation.It can be done through workshops, seminars specifically for top management for developing management talent as most of the ACMs are owner managed who lack management or technical education. These programs can also be used for convincing management for investments in innovation. This can be done by starting knowledge initiatives in few units like Knowledge Cells’ in association with ACMA, SIAM, CII . These efforts can be further substantiated by recognizing the firm with the Best Practices’ and creation of awards for Best Knowledge CEO’ and Best Knowledge Company’.Analysis shows that a select group of innovative SMEs are initiators of breakthrough innovation. They are often but not always high-growth SMEs. New firms represent a significant proportion of all patents filed by businesses, but this share varies strongly. Industry associations and governments need to have re-appraisal of their practices and make their working more useful, fast and updated. Government and industry associations should play an active role for creating the