Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Gunilla Myreteg
needed routine. Another problem was that when the user had found the routine, he did not know how
to work it. A third problem that kept on surfacing was how to take advantage of the smart solutions or
automatic data processing functions that the vendor had demonstrated at the sale. An explanation to
why these smart functions could not be used lay in the poor quality of the database. Data was often
incorrect or incomplete, and an unsolved issue concerned the matter of when and who should fill in
the gaps and correct poor data.
4.1 Where do I...?
Based on the model of the organizational memory by Stein and Zwass (1995) the situation of where
information or a data routine was located needs to be separated into two instances. The first relates to
the acquisition and retention of a memory. When a user experiences something that should be
remembered in the future, information has to be fed into the ERP system. This is done through the
use of a data routine, and ensures the retention of the experience. The individual memory is hereby
transformed into an organizational memory. An example is when a sales person receives a call from a
customer wanting to order a product. The sales person has to know where to find the order form. This
instance may be paralleled to finding something on a map: the user knows there is a routine, and
needs to know how to start it. This type of problem decreased as users got acquainted with the ERP
system.
Another instance was when a user wanted to find a piece of information. This is a matter of retrieval of
information that exists in the data base. An example is when a production planner wants to know how
many pieces of a certain detail are needed to make one product of type X. The production planner
needs to know how to search for the specifications for product X, and where in the list of
specifications the wanted detail occurs, which might be in several operations. This problem also
decreased as users got more and more acquainted with the ERP system. For some information the
problem however remained. This was when the design of the ERP system was not prepared for a
certain mode of search. For instance, the sales person in Beta often got a call from customers saying
“I want to order what I had last time, but I don’t know what you call that thingy!” Since the last order
may have been placed and delivered two or three years earlier, the sales person had no chance of
remembering what product the customer had bought. Since neither of them knew the name or article
number of the product, it was impossible to fill out the electronic order form. To proceed, the sales
person needed to check the customer’s history to see old orders, and through this list find the article
number of the wanted product. The ERP system that were used did not, however, support a search
for order history sorted by customer. The only way for the user to find the needed information was to
instead turn to the old IT system, and make the search there. Since no new information was entered
into the old IT system, this would soon be out of date; new orders were not retained. The solution to
the problem was therefore seen as temporary, and a better solution was needed.
4.2 How do I...?
A firm has to decide and communicate what information is necessary to retain (Stein and Zwass,
1995). The analysis identifies this to be an intricate potential obstacle to a firm’s use of an ERP
system. When the needed data routine is found, it is not always easy to fill it out. The question often
is: How do I make this routine work out? The routine might ask for some information to be entered into
a data field without the user being sure what information is requested, or the user has to decide
whether a box should be ticked or not. Informants tried to solve this type of problem by making lists
for themselves where they noted explanations or advice on how to fill out certain fields et cetera.
Advice was given by the administrative staff, by the vendor of the ERP system and also between
colleagues. Sometimes, informants said, it was not possible to wait to get some good advice because
of the hurry to complete tasks; perhaps an order was running the risk of getting a late delivery, or the
hurry was due to difficulties in planning and the risk of a fall in production. In these cases users felt an
urge to move the goods forward in the chain of productions. For these instances he or she had to
come up with a solution, and sometimes the simple solution was to chance it and insert some
information regardless of its quality. This was especially mentioned among users in production in
department Alpha.
Another example of solution that illustrates the users’ interest of finding simple solutions is the issue
of creating a new article in the ERP system. The norm, coming from management and administration,
was to start from scratch and insert all information that was needed. The user should open a new
form for an article, insert a product name, make a list of specification and note all operations et cetera.
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