Question1
Using the trigger questions it is evident that one of the most critical knowledge that Monsanto needs is what makes it different within the market. By understanding the one thing that distinguishes a business from other businesses and the target important markets to the business.
Monsanto needs to identify its key competencies. The organization needs to understand how its key competence can be used to achieve its goals. The organization also needs to identity its key value-adding processes. The organization should also identity its important goods or services. For example, the organization’s Monsanto’s MON810 is one of its most important products.
Monsanto needed to be aware of the markets it influenced and their uniqueness in the market. This unique identity of Monsanto was due to their transparency and ethical concerns it had in its operations. The service delivery was also key and was characterized with technological advancements in improving crop production and offering services to customers in terms of management and ways of increasing production while preserving the environment.
The company was to be aware of their brand and identity in the market. This was due appreciation of employees who toiled in making the objectives achievable. They depended on support systems which made the Monsanto company a force in the market and highly competitive standards. These support systems included employee training and consultations with research institutions and scientists in the field of agriculture.
In addition Monsanto should be aware of its functionality and impact on the environment around it noting the extent of its effectiveness from other businesses in achieving its mission and vision. The organization should be aware of these roles and sources of knowledge to ensure proper knowledge management. An organization needs good organizational management skills in time, resources and information, proper communication and laying out strategies that employees can relate to.
Question 2
Knowledge flow domains refer to the environment in which a business operates, and how it relates with itself and other external factors. In the case of Monsanto these domains include the external relationships of the organization with other organizations, systems and processes within the organization and human resources in terms of capital and labor.
The flow domains are categorized into two levels; level 1 involve the objectives of an organization that are achievable from laid out priorities while level 2 is concerned with the implemented initiatives aimed at minimizing waste and all forms of inefficiency.
The knowledge flow analyses four main areas of concern by asking the questions why, what, how and where. It examines the importance of the flow and the understanding of the implementers on the value of the flow of the knowledge which answers the question why?
The other focus is on the strategies that are required to be followed to achieve the desired objectives. The question how refer to the modalities of transferring the knowledge and suitability of the skills possessed by the implementers in achieving the goal. Finally, the question where try to point out the barriers and challenges inhibiting achievement of the effective flow of knowledge.
Question 3
Strategic knowledge management priorities will enable Monsanto get competitive advantages over other organizations. A SWOT analysis is done to get a clear picture of the situation and help come up with effective strategies to remedy the situation. The key priorities fall on security of the organization in implementing the knowledge sharing. Sharing of knowledge is helpful in establishment of knowledge based economies that reap well but faced with security challenges. It would be rationally important to look at the threats facing the process of knowledge management in terms of weaknesses and understanding the opportunities involved and taking advantage of them. Key attention should also be paid on external and internal environments that the organization could easily influence to implement strategies. Innovation would be a key priority in knowledge management because it would bring new and positive ideas to the process. Below is a knowledge management strategy map for Monsanto.
Question 4
A value chain is a series of events undertaken by an organization in view of delivering new products or improving service delivery and products quality. For this organization to gain a competitive advantage and superiority in its business operations and influence, it had to increase its service delivery mechanisms where customers would be getting timely and quality services. These marketing strategies were to pass through all levels of knowledge domains to be effective and yield any results as per the objectives. The importance of this value chain is to increase quality delivery of services at relatively lower costs while maximizing sales and profits. This is more so pivoted towards replenishing relationships between the internal and the external environments.
Question 5
The main reason for choosing the strategies used were due to their ease of applicability in addition, relevance to the team bestowed the mandate of implementing them. They targeted implementers who were the sales persons and were conversant with sales and marketing under the management of the sales manager. These stakeholders were the best fit to implement the strategies as illustrated. This strategy was best suited in studying the market and laying out plans for the best opportunistic alternative to employ in making the best of the situations. A market strategy was developed to look into both the short and long term results and they discovered it was the best for the organization to experience any positive results. It helped them get better relations and customer service delivery, reduction of operational cost and increase in sales as was their objective. Monsanto team were able to achieve these since they took advantage of their upper hand in utilization of advanced technology, diversification of their operations and devising means of increasing productivity. The team embarked on studying the market and taking advantage of the emerging market trends over the globe. Further they focused to develop high yielding plants in collaborations with research institutes like the USDA.
References:
Easterby-Smith, M., & Lyles, M. A. (2003). The Blackwell handbook of organizational learning and knowledge management. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub
King, W. R. (2009). Knowledge management and organizational learning. Dordrecht: Springer.
