SUMMARY
Title: Knowlege Management via Information Technologies, Case Study: Quality
Control Plans In Siemens A&D ET
Author: Asli Morali
Supervisor: Anders Hederstierna
Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology
Course: MBA thesis, 10 credits.
Background and Problem Discussion: Efficient knowledge management becomes day
by day a very critical issue for organizations by being considered as one of
the most important competitive advantages. Globalization brings more complexity
into business environments and communication and information technologies are
very critical for control and coordination. IT gained much importance allowing
organizations to manage knowledge in global scale. The knowledge sharing is
even more complex and critical for multinational organizations. This study will
help to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of IT in knowledge
management process in multinational companies. As an example, Siemens AG is a
well-known multinational involved in intense global knowledge management and
sharing. Siemens A&D ET is one of the divisions of Siemens AG which is looking
for an IT solution for knowledge management about quality control plans
worldwide. The case study will try to find the most efficient IT solution for
Siemens A&D ET to share knowledge internationally about quality control plans.
Purpose: The primary purpose of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of
the effects of IT in knowledge management process in multinational companies.
The secondary purpose of this study is to give some advices about how knowledge
on quality control plans could be shared in between different locations by use
of IT within Siemens A&D ET.
Method: Inductive, Exploratory, Qualitative Case Study. Primary data is
collected from headquarters and international production locations of Siemens
A&D ET with the help of unstructured interviews and questions sent by e-mail.
Theory: The theory section is constructed at different levels. I started by
discussing the knowledge in general and the classification of knowledge as a
basis for the study. Next, I presented the literature about knowledge
management. Then, I covered Knowledge Management and Information Technologies
to discuss finally the knowledge management in multinational companies by use
of IT.
Analysis: I have used the theory chapter as much as possible to analyze the
current situation in Siemens A&D ET. The analysis is done based on the
empirical study, first I analysed the situation in international production
locations, then I analysed the options of IT solutions. Lastly, I combined both
analysis to drive a conclusion.
Conclusion: There is a high dependence on IT for knowledge sharing in
multinationals and the expectations from IT is high. The risk to fall into the
trap of investments for expensive IT solutions is very high for multinational
companies. Multinational companies possess dispersed knowledge all around the
world and it is important to recognize that most of the part of this knowledge
is tacit. Therefore even though IT facilitate the knowledge management and
sharing between different units of multinational companies, it is crucial to
develop other means to share the tacit part of the knowledge base.
For Siemens A&D ET Case it is technically easy to design an IT solution to
share, manage, update and coordinate the quality control plans. 4 different IT
alternatives can be a solution for Siemens A&D ET. Secure Data Exchange Folders
and SharePoint are very easy to initiate and the required level of investment
is relatively low, they might be used as a short term temporary solution. A&D
CADIM Web Client and SAP Q solutions are relatively hard to initiate and the
required level of investment is higher. Therefore, those solutions are suitable
as permanent and long term solutions. However, as the study shows the main
problem starts with the tacit part of the knowledge about quality control
plans. Results show that ...