A01 chaf6542 06 se fm indd

  Purpose 

 To identify appropriate cultural changes that may be necessary for digital business 

success.  

  Activity 

 Review the four general categories of organisational cultural orientation summarised 

by Boddy  et al  . (2001) and take each as characterising four different companies and 

then suggest which is most appropriate for digital business. State whether you think 

they are most likely to occur in a small or a larger organisation. 

  Answers to activities can be found at    www.pearsoned.co.uk/chaffey      

  

Knowledge management (KM)

  still has an important role within digital business since 

business success is critically dependent on staff knowledge about all aspects of the  micro‑ 

 environment such as customers, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors and how to shape 

internal processes to best deliver customer service. These help inform strategic, tactical and 

operational decisions. That said, today KM is often referenced as part of broader  

Business 

Intelligence

  or Business Insight initiatives or as an aspect of managing Big Data ( Chapter   11   ) 

and content marketing ( Chapter   12   ). See, for example, the coverage by the KM World ( 

www.

kmworld.com

 ) portal, which also commonly features these broader issues. 

 KM is only introduced here. A more detailed coverage of how KM can support business 

processes is available in Chaffey and White (2011).     

 With the move towards globalisation and responding more rapidly to changing market 

conditions, knowledge transfer is a key to competitiveness. KM is also a change management 

response to the problems of staff retention referred to earlier. As Saunders (2000) puts it: 

  Every day, knowledge essential to your business walks out of your door, and much of it 

never comes back. Employees leave, customers come and go and their knowledge leaves 

with them. This information drain costs you time, money and customers.  

  Knowledge 

management (KM) 

  Techniques  and  tools 

disseminating knowledge 

within an organisation.   

  Business 

Intelligence 

  Methodology,  process 

and technologies 

used to support the 

transformation of different 

data sources to improve 

strategic, tactical and 

operational   decision- 

 making to improve 

business  performance.   

 Knowledge  management 

  Focus  on 

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