Ethics, Human Resource Management, Information Systems/Knowledge Management Systems

improve Organizational Performance

Most of the time, it can go unnoticed of what concepts are combined to improve organizational performance. Deconstructing three articles that discuss knowledge management systems, mobile cloud computing, and ethics help in identifying three concepts that can be used together to positively influence organizational performance. A case study on General Electric is used to show the application of the three concepts in improving employee performance.

Theory– Article Deconstruction

Linking Knowledge Management Orientation to Balanced Scorecard Outcomes

Main points

Lin (2015) asserts that the balanced scorecard (BS) approach can be used to determine comprehensively the effectiveness of knowledge management orientation (KMO) on organizational performance. Measuring how various dimensions of KMO influence organization performance helps in the implementation of KMO in the organization. In order to succeed, organizations need to build on the existing knowledge continuously using knowledge they gather from external sources to be able to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge management is one of those assets that other competitors cannot imitate and good knowledge management practices helps in creating a sustainable competitive advantage. More so, knowledge management helps organizations to identify and quickly take advantage emerging business opportunities before newer competitors do.

Evidence

Traditionally, organizations used to employ financial related indicators and innovation performance to determine the effectiveness of their knowledge management systems. However, the two tangible and intangible methodologies fail to give a holistic picture of how the systems perform. The author makes use of secondary sources to support the evidence.

Analysis

Lin (2015) uses a structural equation modeling approach to determine how the dimensions of KMO which are- organizational memory, knowledge sharing, knowledge absorption, and knowledge receptivity influence the outcomes of the BS approach. The outcomes are- learning & growth, internal process, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. With the use of flow charts, hypotheses are tested on how each dimension influences each outcome using a sample of 244 knowledge management managers working in Taiwan.

Linking

The author has gathered evidence from secondary sources to make it known that the implementation of knowledge management systems is being weakened because; the performance of the systems is not effectively measured. Lin (2015) has conducted a qualitative study to test the applicability and effectiveness of the balanced scorecard approach in filling the gap. From the study, the author has established how the dimensions relate with the BS outcomes, which motivates organizations to know how to make use of the four dimensions of KMO to increase organizational performance.

A Survey on Mobile Cloud Computing with Embedded Security Considerations

Main points

Victor, et al. (2014) discuss about the possibilities of employing mobile cloud computing to help those mobile devices that are deficient in the resources needed to run applications gain access to the resources in the cloud. According to the author, even though the new development might help the weak mobile devices a lot, the creation, and adoption of the mobile cloud computing has certain challenges that will need to be addressed. Some of the challenges are-the technical issues that emerge when integrating cloud computing with mobile networks. Not all mobile networks will be strong enough to perform in cloud computing. In addition, not all applications are accessible everywhere. Moreover, mobile cloud computing may pose security threats to the mobile devices, the users and data, and to the cloud platform. More so, there are privacy concerns that emerge in the anticipated new developments.  

Evidence

The authors point out some of the resources that constrain mobile devices when trying to run an application. Some mobile devices have small storage spaces, mobile devices need to have updated versions to run the applications well, and other issues. The evidence used is factual that is obtained from related research works.

Analysis

Victor, et al. (2014) employ the principles of cloud computing to understand better how mobile cloud computing can be developed. A survey on existing literatures that discuss related projects is done within the context of cloud computing principles

Linking

Cloud computing technology and the technology that supports the functions of mobile devices attract the use of technical language to make explanations. However, Victoria, et al. (2014) have used minimal technical terms to express their main ideas. More so, the authors have used examples that are familiar to every user of smart mobile devices. Only a few technical parts are not easily understood to nonprofessional.

Steps to strengthen ethics in organizations: Research findings, ethics placebos, and what works

Main points

Pope (2015) discusses how organizations fail to strengthen organizational ethics by overlooking the need to and the opportunities to do so. There are barriers that hinder organizations’ efforts to strengthen organizational ethics and they include- upholding the culture of remaining silence, making wrong use of ethics code, and others. To address the barriers, there are important steps that organizations can take to make a successful change. The steps are to conduct a survey on- how the current leadership enforces ethics code and ethical behavior in the organization, the organizational culture, and stakeholders to determine what needs to be done to make a better change.

Evidence

A number of news headlines have been used to illustrate how certain organizations betrayed their ethics and the costs they incurred for doing so. For example, General Motors choosing to sell knowingly defected cars for more than a decade led to increased rates of injuries and deaths caused by road accidents. Thus, the authors make use of secondary sources to present factual evidences to support the article’s main ideas.

Analysis

The article reviews related research works and the steps needed to make the change required.

Linking

By reviewing the different cases where organizations such as Enron made wrong use of ethics code, the authors have made it clear how barriers such as the habit of choosing to remain silence hinders the efforts of strengthening organizational ethics. Therefore, based on the logical flow of the discussion and proper selection and use of evidence presented, it has been understood how the steps that should be taken to strengthen organizational ethics relate to the barriers mentioned.

Case Study Application: General Electric

At General Electric, the management has decided to make an important change from the way it used to command its employees and control their performance using annual performance reviews. The company expected employees to improve continually their performance and those that failed to make significant improvements were at risk of being fired. That is, performance reviews were used to force employees to improve their performance and no conversations were held with those that failed to make improvements. Recently, the management has realized that all along, the use of annual performance reviews brought no organizational progress and were only used as a ritual to command and control workers. The change being made is the use of mobile application, which enables the management to connect with the employees and inspire them to work harder. Even though the traditional performance reviews will continue, the use of mobile application will enable employees to get quick feedbacks on how they are performing and get more encouragements (Nisen, 2015; Sarar, 2016).

Relating General Electric’s case with the concepts gathered from the three articles deconstructed, it could be said that General Electric is making proper use of its knowledge management systems where new knowledge obtained from workers/management is to be used to improve the existing knowledge. More so, knowledge is shared from consultations frequently made using the mobile app and applied to improve performance. That is, employees are required to have a positive attitude towards the feedback they receive and accept them to improve their performance. In regards to mobile cloud computing, the new technology may benefit General Electric to make it easy for using mobile applications to encourage its employees to perform better. The way General Electric used annual performance reviews to force employees to work harder or terminate them can be said to have been an unethical leadership act. Performance reviews can be biased and they may misguide Hrs on what actually motivates people to work. However, with a change of leadership style to ethical leadership, General Electric’s management has considered the interest of the employees to establish how consultations and conversations can help inspire workers to perform. Thus, in the past, the firm used to ignore the need and the opportunities to strengthen its ethics and that made the company incur costs of losing talented employees, which negatively affected its organizational performance in the long-term.

Conclusion

The three concepts- knowledge management systems, ethics, and information systems can be used together to influence organizational performance. At General Electric, the knowledge about an employee’s weaknesses that affects his/her performance, is what the company needs to determine how the weaknesses can be addressed with new knowledge obtained with the help of a mobile app. The change demanded ethical leadership that takes into consideration the interests of the employees.

References

Lin, H-F. (2015). Linking knowledge management orientation to balanced score outcomes. Journal of Knowledge Management, 19(6), 1224–1249.

Nisen, M. (2015). Why GE had to kill its annual performance reviews after more than three decades. Retrieved< https://qz.com/428813/ge-performance-review-strategy-shift/>.

Pope, K. S. (2015). Steps to strengthen ethics in organizations: Research findings, ethics placebos, and what works. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, 16(2), 139-152. Doi: 10.1080/15299732.2015.995021.

Sarar, H. (2016). Implications of performance appraisal at General Electric Company. Archives of Business Research, 4(4). Doi: 10.14738/abr.44.3120.

Victor, W., Abah, J., Adewalwe, O., Abdullahi, M., & Ume, A. (2014). A survey of mobile cloud computing with embedded security considerations. International Journal of Cloud Computing and Services Science, 3(1), 53–66.