Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

The role <strong>of</strong> Critical Success Factors in Acquiring
Competitive Advantages in Two Industrial Factories,
Tehran ,Iran
Seyed Esmaeil Asgharpour 1 and Gholamreza Taleghani 2
1
Islamic Azad University <strong>of</strong> Shahre Rey Branch, Tehran, Iran
2
University <strong>of</strong> Tehran, Tehran, Iran
e_asgharpour12@yahoo.com
ghtaleghani@yahoo.com
Abstract: Knowledge management (KM) is one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most significant initiatives in dealing with global
competition and new business challenges. KM efforts typically to focus on organizational objectives such as
improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, <strong>the</strong> sharing <strong>of</strong> lessons learned, integration and
continuous improvement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> organization. “Most managers now seem to understand that <strong>the</strong>y will find
competitive advantage by tapping employees” most essential humanity, <strong>the</strong>ir ability to create, judge, imagine and
build relationships. “The champion managers <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> InfoTech Age will be those who do it fastest and best” Stated
by Ge<strong>of</strong>frey Colvin.This paper is based on <strong>the</strong> role <strong>of</strong> critical success factors <strong>of</strong> knowledge management in
acquiring competitive advantage in two industrial bread producing factories which is located in Tehran province.In
this research, researcher considers five elements <strong>of</strong> Critical Success Factors <strong>of</strong> knowledge management and <strong>the</strong>
role <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se elements in gaining competitive advantage in <strong>the</strong> mentioned factories. The independent variables
are: attitude <strong>of</strong> senior management, knowledge sharing culture, learning-training, information technology and
document information repository .The dependent variables are: increasing market share ,innovation, quality <strong>of</strong>
products ,decrease <strong>of</strong> product delivery time and reducing production cost.This study is based on survey method,
library studies and experience <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> author. The Knowledge Management Assessment Tools (KMAT)
questionnaire was distributed among <strong>the</strong> experts, skill and semi-skill workers in both factory <strong>the</strong>n data ga<strong>the</strong>red
from <strong>the</strong>se questionnaires were analyzed to get favorable results. The result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> research indicates that <strong>the</strong>re
are no significant differences between critical success factors <strong>of</strong> knowledge management and gaining competitive
advantage in two factories.
Keywords: critical, knowledge management, competitive, innovation, culture, success, strategy
1. Introduction
Knowledge management that fit well with <strong>the</strong> technological and economic environment may obtain
critical organizational capability (Sadat Bid Gholi 2009). Knowledge management plays an important
role in <strong>the</strong> global economic competition. Organizations applying knowledge management in <strong>the</strong>ir
organizations can obtain good results. It is extremely important for managers to understand, exploit
and smo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> political climate in <strong>the</strong> company to maximize <strong>the</strong> organizational outcome and
satisfaction levels <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people. In o<strong>the</strong>r words, <strong>the</strong>ir outputs are exceeded to inputs, when much
money was invested on knowledge development in organization, it can be considered as winners <strong>of</strong>
economy and industry. Similarly, <strong>the</strong> knowledge assets existing at any given time provide an
opportunity for sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> author selected two bread firms for
his research in order to find out how <strong>the</strong>se five critical success factors <strong>of</strong> KM can affect on gaining
competitive advantage. The knowledge is based on <strong>the</strong> view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> firm that can explain convincingly
why certain firms are more competitive under <strong>the</strong> same market conditions (Seyed Javadin 2005). KM
is a policy within an organization <strong>of</strong> keeping information about every one’s knowledge and training.
Therefore, establishing KM in <strong>the</strong> organization is an essential part <strong>of</strong> organizational strategy and
stated as thought investment in <strong>the</strong> organization. Competitive strategy is an outline <strong>of</strong> how a business
intends to compete with o<strong>the</strong>r firms in <strong>the</strong> same industry. There are ten management ideas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
twenty-first century: scientific management, assembly line manufacturing, <strong>the</strong> modern corporation,
leadership, <strong>the</strong> management guru, labor rights managing by <strong>the</strong> numbers, quality, re-engineering, and
knowledge management. The most important element <strong>of</strong> managerial work is <strong>the</strong> efficient skills to carry
out basic functions and fill fundamental roles. These are technical, interpersonal, conceptual, and
diagnostic skills. Technical skills are <strong>the</strong> skills necessary to accomplish specific tasks within <strong>the</strong>
organization .Interpersonal skills are skills that managers use to communicate with, understand, and
motivate individuals and groups .Diagnostic skills allow managers to better understand cause and
effect relationships and recognize <strong>the</strong> optimal solutions to problems.
Knowledge Management efforts can help individuals and groups to share valuable organizational
insights to reduce redundant work. In a general sense, knowledge management can be exerted in <strong>the</strong>
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