An article I found on cio.com outlines the importance that Google places on organising and accessing information in the world. In achieving this mission, Google has recognised that an estimated 40% of world information is found within organisations. Although this information is recognised as being important to achieving the strategic goals of an organisation by management, the information, although organised in databases, has not been easy to access by personnel who could best utilise the information. According to a report quoted in the article “the Butler Group estimated that, 10-12% of labor costs are wasted because employees can’t find or access the information they need to do their jobs.”
In order to implement and actively engage knowledge management in the organisation a system is required to capture, retain, harmonise, store, protect and retrieve knowledge for further use, both explicit or formal knowledge and tacit knowledge which includes hunches and personal experiences of employees.
Google has developed a concept of universal search for the enterprise whereby users are able to search all the content sources in their organization, including content on the corporate network (file shares, content management systems, corporate intranets, databases, customer relation management systems, and other enterprise applications); the desktop (documents, presentations, spreadsheets, meeting notes, emails, IM chats and reports); and the World Wide Web (news, research, images, blogs, products and print content). In addition, they can “compare and rank the information in real time, and view a single, integrated, secure set of search results that gives them precisely what they’re looking for.”
The benefits accorded to the implementation of this corporate search solution include significant increases in productivity, reduction in duplicated work, more informed decision making in a shorter time period, reduced training time and costs, consolidated IT solutions with an ensued reduction in IT costs.
The Google Universal Search tool for enterprises is a good example of the use of information and communications technologies to improve the strategic positioning of the firm by harnessing the knowledge existing both within and outside the organisation. Further, the Orbicom Report on Monitoring the Digital Divide and beyond suggests:
Google has developed a concept of universal search for the enterprise whereby users are able to search all the content sources in their organization, including content on the corporate network (file shares, content management systems, corporate intranets, databases, customer relation management systems, and other enterprise applications); the desktop (documents, presentations, spreadsheets, meeting notes, emails, IM chats and reports); and the World Wide Web (news, research, images, blogs, products and print content). In addition, they can “compare and rank the information in real time, and view a single, integrated, secure set of search results that gives them precisely what they’re looking for.”
The benefits accorded to the implementation of this corporate search solution include significant increases in productivity, reduction in duplicated work, more informed decision making in a shorter time period, reduced training time and costs, consolidated IT solutions with an ensued reduction in IT costs.
The Google Universal Search tool for enterprises is a good example of the use of information and communications technologies to improve the strategic positioning of the firm by harnessing the knowledge existing both within and outside the organisation. Further, the Orbicom Report on Monitoring the Digital Divide and beyond suggests:
“the managing of the knowledge of the firm is not just about inputs, the transformation process, and outputs; it is also about how the firm navigates towards its goals in an ever-changing economic and social environment. At this more strategic level the firm must go beyond just reacting to market signals and develop a memory, a foresight capacity, and a strategic vision to enable it to deal with change. At an even higher level, the management must be prepared to abandon the existing vision and make a radical change if the firm is to survive and prosper in a world of turmoil. This hierarchy of management practices, from the basic and tactical through the complex and strategic to the radical and transforming, does not just apply to firms but to any organization, including governments.” (Sciadas, 2003, 103)
The use of tools such as the Google universal search for enterprise tool provides all firms with a method to bridge the gap between the desire to utilize knowledge within the firm to develop a competitive advantage and strategic transformation, and its practical implementation.
