The current and potential use of Knowledge Management within the Grocery Retails

Résumé du document

Knowledge management is paramount in companies as it permits to seek, find, collect and share information and data. This long process allows the managers, the employees and the people in charge to answer to the needs of the customers. With an aim of increasing its productivity, its effectiveness and of acquiring competitive advantages in its sector to dissociate them or answer competition, it is important for a company to learn from new methods (innovation). With the rise of the use of Internet and new technologies, the retailers have developed the concept of Intellectual Capital. Companies are trying to understand Balanced Scorecard, index Intellectual Capital, Relationship Capital, Customers Capital and Structural Capital.

Extraits

[...] Types of Intellectual Capital The knowledge management can be regarded as an organisational resource. According to Fernstorm & Roos, there exist 5 types of capital: Relationship Capital, Organisational Capital, Physical Capital, Monetary Capital and Human Capital. The alliance of this capital gives a strategy. However, the three most important are the relationship capital, the structure capital and the customer capital. The Relationship Capital The capital relationship gathers several basic elements of the company: such as for example network (external Web), alliances, customers or reputation. [...]

[...] These three multinational corporations represent with the group Metro approximately $700 billion in 2007. This sector of grocery retails is very important in the whole world because the customers are numerous. Indeed, everyone or almost consumes goods coming from the supermarkets or the hypermarkets. The target of customers is very broad. Use current of Knowledge Management in Grocery Retail The grocery retail need unceasingly to improve, to have the good products, at the good moment, the best prices and know everything about the market in real-time. [...]

[...] The Structural Capital This type of capital is different from both others insofar as it concerns intellectuals and inhuman means. Indeed, whereas the two first are more turned towards the economic actors and social, this capital relates to the processes, methods as well as new technologies (Information Technologies). In this mode, the concept of innovations is very important because it easily gives a competitive advantage to the company which the competitors do not have. Indeed, the innovation is the key of success. [...]

[...] These things are essential for the future of the company. Indeed, by this means, new prospects are possible. As far as the grocery retail's sector is concerned, it will be still present during still several decades even of the centuries, because it is essential in economic environment in the whole world. Even if the hostesses are replaced by machines, the customers are always present and learn to each other. Even if the number of stores falls with the profit of the blinds, the number of customers is stable or even can increase because in all the cases, the customer buys products either in a store or on line. [...]

[...] The companies prefer to invest in machines and the e-learning, rather than to engage people. Indeed, in this last case, the firms must pay their formations and to pay wages to them, while concerning the machines, the money given is an investment with more or less term. In the sector of the grocery retails, the pay desk hostesses will be replaced by "minute pay desk". That means that all the pay desks will be almost automatic. The number of employees will fall considerably. The data and information will be shared. [...]