Knowledge Management Assignment: Business Case Analysis of Amazon

Question

Task: Select the company of your choice and prepare a detailed business report on knowledge management assignment addressing the following sections:
Section 1: Knowledge and information management
Section 2: Evaluation of knowledge and information management models/theories
Section 3: Investigation of KM techniques used by the company

Answer

Introduction
The primary purpose of writing this report
A brief introduction of the company Amazon is discussed here in this report, and the appropriate knowledge and information management theories that the company undertakes are also discussed. It becomes essential to mention that the most important models and principles used by amazon.com are explained in this report. Moreover, essential knowledge and information management theories that help the organization satisfy the customers and achieve competitive advantage are also discussed. The report also discusses and evaluates knowledge and information management models and theories in a very systematic approach. The proper investigation of the knowledge and information management techniques used by the company amazon.com is also discussed, and the importance of these theories in the standard operating procedure of Amazon is also given consideration.

The brief introduction of amazon.com
Amazon.com is an American multinational technology company specializing in cloud computing, digital streaming, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce. It is one of the most renowned and big five companies in the United States in the information technology sector and is well known to the customers. It is also considered the world's most valuable brand. It is essential to mention that Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in Washington in 1994. Amazon.com first entered the United States E-Commerce industry in 1995, and the company has a good reputation in the market. The company has worldwide operations, and essential products are fire tablet Kindle Fire TV and many more (Posey, 2019).

Moreover, Amazon also has an E-commerce website that is amazon.com and the Amazon Alexa, Amazon Luna Amazon music Amazon Prime Amazon Web Services, and Amazon Prime video, which is also very renowned in the market for the differentiated services. Amazon.com is an E-commerce website launched in 1995 with worldwide operations multi-level sales strategy that focuses explicitly on business to consumer relationship between itself and its consumer and business to the business relationship between itself it supplies and then the facilitation of consumer to the consumer. The Amazon Marketplace acts as an intermediary for smooth transactions.
Therefore, under this assignment, the SECI model is effectively utilized to evaluate the knowledge management system within Amazon.

The main expectation and outcome from this report
The main expectation from this report is to evaluate, understand and investigate the importance of knowledge and information management for Amazon (da Silvaet al., 2018). It is also essential to assess the importance of knowledge management tools and how it helps in the smooth functioning of the overall process within the organization with the collaborative approach.

Section 1 Knowledge and information management
Background of Amazon
In 1994, Jeff Bezos named the company Amazon after the largest river in the world for making it the biggest company in the world. Amazon.com is an internet-based enterprise and a Commerce website that sells books, music, movies, electronics, toys, and several goods directly or as a middleman between the other retailers and Amazon customers. The company launched the Amazon Web Services in 2000, which is a great innovation for making Amazon a Tech company rather than an online retailer exclusive. In 2006, Amazon expanded the Amazon Web Services portfolio by introducing the elastic compute cloud system and simple storage services. It is essential to mention that its headquarters is situated in Seattle, Washington. Girish LED company started bookselling and clarified that the Amazon commerce site is not merely a retailer of consumer products. Still, it is a technology company that helps in simplifying online transactions for customers (Athaydeet al., 2019). It is essential to mention that Amazon had more than 1 million customer accounts within a year of functioning. The revenues were also very favorable, around 20 million in 1996 to more than 150 million in 1997 and more than 600 million in 1998. Jeff Bezos initially started the company to quickly sell the books online, mainly focusing on books and music. Still, in the later years, a company began selling consumer electronics, video games software, home improvement items, toys games, and many more items and sustaining the overall growth of Amazon. It was essential to have private investors support the expansion process. It is why Amazon opened its virtual dose to the customers, and without making any profit, the company became a public listed company raising more than 50 million. It is essential to mention that the company also launched Amazon Web Services in 2002 we became very popular.

What is knowledge and information management?
Knowledge management is a process that provides a systematic set of solutions for streamlining the process of capturing, distributing, and effectively using the knowledge. The knowledge management system provides a set of parameters that offer attractive and cost-efficient services to the organization and helps improve the decision-making process, thereby improving productivity and making the organization more innovative and competitive in the market (Clec'het al., 2018). It is very important to mention that the knowledge management system help in providing an understanding of the organization and effectively dealing with both qualified and unqualified knowledge. Such knowledge is also considered the most important and valuable type of knowledge the organization must expand very productively and efficiently (Baiet al., 2021). Knowledge management systems focus on the people and the overall process making the organization more efficient in functioning and also helps in better interaction collaboration and mentoring process. It becomes essential to mention that the applications of the knowledge management system help bring people together and see their communication standard for a very productive atmosphere in the organization to work efficiently and to the best of their ability.

Why knowledge management is essential for Amazon
The knowledge management system comes with specific knowledge management tools that are very important for enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the organization's operations. The document management system of knowledge management tool helps retrieve the crucial documents regulatory compliance very quickly. It also helps the organization manage the password backup procedures providing enhanced security standards with no extra cost (Moreno-Gutierrezet al., 2020). The knowledge management system in Amazon help in providing one portal and one interface making it a one-stop shopping portal. It is essential to mention that the knowledge management system helps in delivering a consistent presentation where product specification reviews and other information of the product is displayed, which comes from the unique content management system, which is part of the knowledge management tool (Young and Gilmore, 2017). The content management system consists of databases that are computer applications along the customers to capture store analyze the data making the information more accessible. Knowledge management also helps in social networking, which is a critical parameter for the success of Amazon. The knowledge management process is essential for Amazon because

• It helps in a speedy decision-making process.
• Improving communication standards in the organization
• Providing security for intellectual property
• Help in Idea generation
• Easy access to knowledge and essential information of the organization

How knowledge management helps in satisfying customers and achieving competitive advantage
It is essential to mention that the process of knowledge management system helps satisfy the needs and aspirations of the customers, thereby providing the companies with a competitive advantage. The knowledge management system helps provide opportunities for the team to collaborate and communicate and get help in developing mutual trust between the groups to mention the operations and processes more aligned, which results from the inefficient operation. It also makes the process more streamlined and guides the best action (Futemmaet al., 2020). Management system entirely well-defined service and support to the customers and it shows that the company's staff is well equipped to support the customer when the need arises. It is essential to mention that the knowledge management system helps in cyclical improvement. The knowledge management system provides good inside into the future needs and expectations of the customers show that the team would effectively meet the needs and expectations of the customers.

• Helps in proper alignment of the operations
• Helps in making the process more streamlined and also improves the problem-solving speed
• Helps in enabling customer self-service
• Improve service standards of the company
• Provides proper insights into the customer Expectations and also helps in cyclical improvements

Section 2
Evaluation of knowledge and information’s management model and theories
The concept of knowledge and information management has become very popular in the modern competitive business environment as it provides appropriate information to the management for making sound and efficient decisions (McNallyet al., 2019). With the help of effectively utilizing the theories of knowledge management that primarily provide appropriate information about creating, sharing, using, and maintaining a wide variety of organizational communication and for decision making, large scale business organizations like Amazon can effectively penetrate through the consumer market along with predicting demand most favorably. Practically that is helpful towards achieving a competitive advantage within the industry.

How is knowledge generally embedded in products and service concepts in the tacit knowledge of individuals?
Embedded knowledge primarily refers to the process of integrating knowledge within a specific product or service to make it worthwhile for use and serve the purpose. Embedded knowledge can also be identified as a key feature of a product or a service that makes it distinct and unique from a wide variety of products within the industry. Along with ensuring that it can undertake specific activities in a much more innovative and unique manner, making it valuable and differentiated. Knowledge can be formally embedded within a particular product or service under a situation where the management effectively formalizes it as a structured routine beneficial for the same. On the other hand, knowledge can also be in formerly embedded and then specific products of the organization under a situation where the management chooses to effectively integrate two or more knowledge types within the particular product or service. The overall process of managing knowledge embedded within a specific product or service of the organization involves a wide variety of differentiating challenges. Such are the differences in the level of tacit knowledge within individuals of the organization such as the customers and their employees (Kepuska and Bohouta, 2018). Therefore, it becomes very important for the organization's management to effectively frame a proper structure of business operation to ensure appropriate knowledge creation and use within over organizational structure that is capable of providing a competitive edge to the business in the long run and the modern competitive business environment.

Therefore, to effectively integrate knowledge within the product and services of the organization, the management makes effective utilization of code of conduct manuals, rule books, and informal, structured operating procedures such as organizational culture. These different types of structured and unstructured business activities help effectively embed knowledge within the organization's product and service concept and a significant role in assisting the tacit knowledge of individuals (Jimenezet al., 2019). Through the effective utilization of product manuals and rulebooks and positive adherence to the organization's code of conduct, employees undertake structured business operations and ensure that business activities are undertaken in a predetermined manner without deviating from the actual standard or structured operating procedure. On the other hand, through effective incorporation of appropriate knowledge and information regarding the specific product and services within the product description section, the target consumer market becomes aware of the primary utilities. Such utilities include the product that is capable of offering and making positive and well-informed consumer decisions (dos Santos Filgueiraet al., 2021). It also helps in difficulty in handling the organization's brand equity and ensuring that the organization's customers are well satisfied with the favorable and consumer-operated business operations.

Evaluation of the SECI model
Nonaka effectively communicated this model that communicated the four-mode of the knowledge conversion process that effectively created under situations where the explicit and implicit knowledge interacts with one another. Socialization: it is the process that effectively converts tacit knowledge through a process of shared interaction and experience through daily social interaction. Externalization is the primary process under which t-shirt knowledge is effectively articulated within explicit knowledge to ensure appropriate sharing of new knowledge. Combination: under this process, explicit knowledge already generated within or outside your organization is further combined with other systematic and complex explicit ability to effectively create a new explicit set of knowledge capable of providing enhanced value to the management of the organization (GXdPet al., 2020). Internalization is the primary process under which explicit knowledge created within the organization is directly converted towards basic knowledge by individuals such as customers and employees. Through the effective utilization of this knowledge management process, knowledge is primarily used in practical situations to undertake new development for enhancing organizational growth.

How systematic approach helps the organization in sharing and exchanging knowledge
Systematic approach primarily implies the process used by modern business organizations towards exchanging valuable information's within your organization to ensure appropriate availability of data to every department of the organization for undertaking informed decisions to support collective growth and development. Therefore, the systematic approach also helps create a general awareness within the organization that helps towards undertaking structured and well-informed business operations and ensuring long-term sustainability and profitability (Islamet al., 2021). The systematic approach also helps effectively collect a wide variety of raw and unstructured data and ensure appropriate conversion of the same into structure information through specialized knowledge and activities undertaken by the management toward converting data into valuable information. Therefore, the process in which a systematic approach help towards sharing and exchanging knowledge within the organization is effectively discussed below.

Firstly, appropriate authorities and departments within the organization are provided with the responsibility to collect raw and unstructured data of the organization's internal and external business activities that directly impact long-term profitability and sustainability (Coelhoet al., 2021). This data is effectively stored in computer devices to be effectively referred to in the future under contingent situations.

Secondly, this raw and unstructured data is passed on to the management and other competent authority to be effectively analyzed and converted into useful information that a wide variety of organizational departments can effectively utilize for undertaking informed and practical decisions.

Lastly, the information effectively generated by the management and other competent authorities is effectively distributed amongst a wide variety of organizational departments within the organization through a wide variety of means such as direct communication, digital communication along with through the effective utilization of the organizational structure like horizontal or vertical structure and also through the utilization of a gangplank.

Section 3
Importance of knowledge in Amazon’s SOP
Knowledge has become increasingly crucial for a wide variety of large-scale business organizations as they provide appropriate scope for undertaking future business development and provide a significant scope of enhancing revenue-generating capacity and organizational sustainability in the long run (Krauseet al., 2020). Therefore, the importance of knowledge in the structured operating procedure of Amazon is effectively discussed below.

Firstly, as Amazon is consistently engaged with undertaking mergers and acquisitions of a wide variety of small scale and large scale business organizations, with the help of favorable and positive knowledge management, Amazon can effectively spinner the primary need of codifying knowledge along with encouraging its external and internal team to effectively share expertise that not only helps towards creating a general awareness but also helps towards ensuring successful business operations.

Secondly, with the help of knowledge, the management of Amazon can effectively and take real-time decisions about its operating structure (Pérez and Smith, 2019). It helps your organization effectively undertake favorable business actions in real-time and grab opportunities without losing them to competitors.

Lastly, the operating structure of Amazon is primarily identified for its innovation and creativity, and food with the help of positive knowledge management. The employees gain an appropriate scope of business development and undertake innovative business operations that provide a competitive edge to the organization and ensure best practice and reduced employee turnover.

Outcomes of knowledge management techniques used by Amazon
Through the effective utilization of knowledge management techniques, Amazon has effectively achieved a competitive and comfortable position within the Global consumer market. Some of the outcomes of knowledge management techniques used by Amazon are effectively listed below.

• The organization has effectively expanded business operations towards developing nations by analyzing the demand through positive knowledge management.

• Amazon was also able to effectively gain more than 50% of the total E-Commerce industry of the United States by developing a consumer-friendly website through effective analysis of consumer demand (Athaydeet al., 2017).

• Amazon has also filed more than 49 patents in the recent past, considering the growing demand for a wide variety of products and services.

• Lastly, The Organization was also able to effectively increase its sales revenue by more than 100 billion dollars and increase profitability by approximately 84% true favorable knowledge management that supported positive decision making.

Areas of improvement in Amazon.com
The overall evaluation of the operating structure of amazon.com, along with a detailed evaluation of the organizational structure, reveals some areas on which the management of Amazon must focus. To enhance its consumer experience and ensure appropriate market share enhancement through competent and well-equipped business operations (Lawrence, 2020). These areas of improvement are effectively discussed below.

• Firstly the management must focus on enhancing the level of customer interaction to ensure that the needs of specific organizational customers are effectively met, and issues of the customers have been resolved in real-time.

• The management must also focus on effectively enabling an integrated system of inventory management that is capable of updating inventory in real-time so that the customers have a real picture of product availability (Arnettet al., 2018).

• Lastly, to effectively enhance consumer satisfaction, the management of Amazon needs to make its website and application more consumer-friendly and digitally equipped for catering to specific customer needs.

Conclusion and recommendation
This assignment effectively provides a detailed discussion regarding the overall concept of knowledge and information management and its applicability towards modern and large-scale business organizations. With the effective utilization of knowledge and information management process, the management makes favorable decisions capable of providing a competitive edge and enabling the organization to undertake revenue generating and sustainable business operations. Under a modern competitive business environment, it is very important for business organizations to effectively associate appropriate knowledge and information with the products and services to make them unique. Along with ensuring that knowledge and information Management process and the unique selling proposition that helps the organization undertake efficient business operations in the long run. Therefore, this assignment clearly states that it is very important for modern business organizations to effectively integrate knowledge and information management systems within their organization. It helps enhance revenue-generating capacity and ensures favorable business operations in the long term run. Therefore, it is also highly recommended for the management of Amazon to effectively integrate an open-equipped and managed system of knowledge and information management to effectively address the areas of improvement for ensuring appropriate growth and development within business operations.

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