Knowledge management is a process in which the information and knowledge of an organization is created, used, shared and managed. An organization puts to use the knowledge and information they possess by utilizing the knowledge management approach to ensure that their business thrives and they achieve their objectives (Wagner, 2006). Today there are many huge organizations which have set aside resources which are channeled towards knowledge management efforts. Knowledge management takes a keen focus on the goals of an organization such as gaining a competitive advantage, innovation, improving their performance, integration, continuous improvement and learning which involves sharing from experiences they have undergone.
Knowledge management systems are systems which have been created to aid in the analysis of knowledge and information to ensure that it can be utilized by an organization to help them achieve their objectives (Irgen & Landryoya, 2006). There are various knowledge management systems which are in use today. They can be categorized as workflow systems which are systems that have a method of representing processes which are associated with the maintenance and creation of the knowledge associated and generated by the organization (Alwis & Evi, 2008). The concept behind workflow systems as a perquisite in knowledge management systems are that they are in place to aid in creating and maintaining the knowledge that is created and maintained by an organization. Groupware are software that that help organizations and their staff to easily share and collaborate together as they use the information in an organization to achieve their designated jobs. Collaboration within any organization ensures that the company can grow because the whole team will work together in ensuring the objectives of the organization are achieved (Kamla & Olfman, 2005). Document and content management systems are systems that have been implemented in an organization to ensure automation in creating document and web content. Enterprise portals are software that have been built to aggregate information across an organization so that it can be utilized by the employees such a project teams while they use a program such as Microsoft SharePoint (Choudrie & Mohamad, 2004). ELearning are software which enable organizations to create customized training material which is used to educate their employees. Scheduling and planning software are used to automate maintenance and scheduling creation within the company. The planning software also aid in project management within a company so that the progress of a project can be known to ensure it is effective and accomplishes its goal (Mason & Pauleen, 2008). Telepresence are software that aid individuals in conducting virtual meetings on a face to face level without them being physically present in the same location. One good example of this is using video conferencing facilities when carrying out meetings in an organization.
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As can be observed knowledge and management systems are necessary to use in ensuring that an organization is able to effectively operate and achieve their objectives. One such field is the oil and gas industry. Knowledge and management systems are used to ensure that the companies in the industry survive in their operations. If there exists a knowledge gap there will be a problem for companies which are in this sector to operate effectively (Mason & Pauleen, 2008). With the implementation of knowledge and management systems they will be able to retain information and practices which can grow the industry and enable business and industry continuity to take place. The current economic conditions are very tough and this translates to the companies in the oil and gas industry needing to venture into ways in which they may use information to maximize their business by growing their returns and businesses (Peter & Scott, 2005). There have been various reasons which have brought up the use of knowledge management systems in the industry. A good example was the Deepwater horizon disaster which led to a lot of losses. The incident was one of the reasons that displayed why knowledge management systems are important because they help to capture information and improve on the facts or issues that may occur. Knowledge management systems are created with the purpose of ensuring an organization can use them to efficiently run their operations (Mason & Pauleen, 2008). They are usually created due to various issues that may face an organization. One of these reasons is to store information on how they run their operations so that they may never be faced with a knowledge gap. The oil and gas industry has been in operation for a long time. The practices which are in use have always improved over time. However, with a high dependency on machines there is a knowledge gap that is slowly coming up (Irgen & Landryoya, 2006). It is essential that this knowledge gap is filled adequately to ensure that companies who do business in the industry are able to survive and thrive. The presence of knowledge management systems does this by collecting and automating nearly all the tasks that are entailed in running such a business (Nonala, Toyama & Konno, 2000). In the long run creation of knowledge management systems will have a huge benefit because these systems can be relied upon to aid in running a business in the oil and gas industry effectively. BP is a company which is active in the oil and gas industry. They realized the benefits in which knowledge management systems had and created a knowledge management culture within the organization. The culture would be applicable to communities of practice. The way in which BP has strategically placed a knowledge management culture in its operations ensures that the staff can learn these culture by embracing various knowledge management initiatives and owning them by actively practicing them (Mason & Pauleen, 2008). As the staff continually practice this culture they own it and it becomes a continuous process that is embedded within the organization’s culture.
The most common knowledge management systems in the oil and gas industry are the decision support system (DSS). This system assists in utilization of specific information and documents in order to support specific decisions which are being made in the industry. In a study done by Landryoya and Irgens on the use of information processing and data systems in the oil and gas industry, they displayed how extensive the use of technical ICT aspects has impacted the industry (Irgen & Landryoya, 2006). The supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) is one of the technologies that has impacted the industry. SCADA, together with the Rule Based Expert System (RBES), generate knowledge and information on how oil refinery equipment corrodes. This information system displays corrosion levels by displaying them on SCADA screens (Kamla & Olfman, 2005). The DSS system shares information between employees on the levels of corrosion which is sourced from the SCADA system.
An organization usually implements knowledge management systems after they have done an analysis of their operations and discovered that they would be better strategized in the field if they have one. The systems are usually created to capture data and to ensure the operations of a business are at optimum levels. In the oil and gas industry such systems are created to ensure that knowledge is preserved which will aid in business continuity. It also ensures the business operations in companies which deal in oil and gas are effective and they are able to achieve their goals (Edwards, 2008). Knowledge systems are able to capture data in various ways. The oil and gas industry has recently had an influx of investment as many companies invest heavily in the promise of getting a huge return on investment. The use of new technologies enables these companies to harness its power in improving their operations and generating more profit. Data capture is very essential in this digital age because companies are generating a lot of data (Irgen & Landryoya, 2006). This data from the company and the markets can be used for business analytics purposes to give them an upper hand in their operations. Data which is generated from various sources can be captured by a knowledge management system and it can synthesize this data into a form that is beneficial to an organization. For the gas and oil industry they can be able to have a lot of information and improve in their operations through the use of knowledge management systems (Desouza, 2003). The systems that can be used to capture data including the eLearning system. This system is structured in a way that is presents data to the staff in a company so that they are able to train them on new technologies and practices which will ensure their survival in the industry.
There are two models which are commonly used in knowledge management systems architecture. They are the repository and network systems (Leavitt, 2002). The repository model is meant to capture data which is being generated within an organization. It includes all the procession of data that occur in knowledge management processes such as storage, retrieval, creation, dissemination and collection of company knowledge. The repository model utilizes document management systems and databases. The oil and gas industry has faced issues in knowledge development and capture. This is because of new technologies, outsourcing and new partners (Dattero, Stuart & Richard, 2002). All these new approaches give new ways of coming up with dynamic and better strategies of managing information that causes organizations to continually adapt to their practices so that they may compete on the same level.
The network model or transference is used in sharing of information among individuals who work in an organization. They usually use information systems, communication channels and person to person systems. The network model architecture does not store information generated by a company but it does store the source of the information (Collision & Parcell, 2004). A good example of a network model architecture is the yellow pages. These yellow pages usually are used to store employee information. Video conferencing systems are also an example of the network model architecture because of the way in which they transfer knowledge within an organization (Choudrie & Mohamad, 2004). The sharing of data within an organization can possible with the use of enterprise application integration systems such as client server systems that create a network in which knowledge can be shared within an organization. In the network model architecture contains software which have innovative components that assist in coordination of knowledge management processes within the organization.
Data from knowledge systems is collected and retained in databases. The database is a way in which the company can easily and effectively save the large amounts of data which they generate and utilize every day. When this data is secured it ensures that the company can act on it to thrive in the market. The data will also ensure that all active processes within the organization are recorded so that there is no knowledge or data gap that might hinder operations within the company (Amar, Coakes & Maria, 2010). Data retention can be a very hard task if the data is not organized. The data retention plan of the company should be updated to the latest technologies so that the company has an organized framework in terms of data retention. The data should be secured also because it is a very valuable resource to any company. In the oil and gas industry data helps in planning for various events that may occur. If the database is tampered with or stolen by malicious individuals it may cost the oil and gas company heavily. They might not operate effectively and may lose their competitive advantage in the market if their data is sold to a competitor (Alwis & Evi, 2008). It is therefore important for oil and gas industry companies to secure their data as they utilize it effectively in their operations.
Knowledge management systems are very effective and their use gives any company including those in the oil and gas industry an advantage as they operate in their business. It helps them keep up with the current standards of operation as they grow their businesses and ensure that they can be able to mine oil and gas to make profit (Wagner, 2006). Their operations are the backbone of the industry and therefore should operate on optimum levels.
References
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