256 Al-Shammari
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patterns, using advanced computer models and business intelligence (BI) systems is
becoming a prerequisite to establishment of strong customer relationship.
Knowledge for customer sources relate to personal knowledge possessed by
employees themselves or related to employees’ work such as corporate manuals,
guidelines, memos, and meetings. Knowledge that resides in people’s heads can be
extracted through person-to-person contacts or through the usage of computer-sup-
ported collaborative work (CSCW) technologies, that is, intranets and Lotus Notes, or
through e-mails.
Knowledge from customers is another important knowledge for GTCOM that is
collected through market surveys.
Therefore, the focus of this case study will be on the most vital form of business
knowledge, namely, knowledge about customers and will be referred to as KAC from now
on.
Who Hold and Should Hold CK?
Comprehensive CK is created through acquisition and processing of fragmented
information found in files and databases specific to the particular application which was
designed to process whatever transactions were being handled by the application, for
example, billing, sales, accounting, and so forth. Currently, each of GTCOM’s customer
contact/delivery channels (e.g., phone, e-mail, fax, store) as well as front-office depart-
ments (marketing, sales, and customer services) was operating as a silo with its own
island of automation; information from each customer contact/delivery channel was
owned as a separate entity by that unit. However, with each unit having its own
information, leveraging information across the myriad of customer contact channels was
not carried out nor was it possible to provide a consistent customer service experience.
For example, a customer may telephone a call center to inquire about a transaction
conducted through the Web site only to be told to call the Internet department.
GTCOM does have knowledge about its customers, but frequently this knowledge
is in a fragmented form, difficult to share or analyze, sometimes incomplete, and often
unused for business decisions. Advances in ICT are increasingly providing GTCOM
with opportunities to support customer service operations, and integrate KAC through
several contact/delivery channels.
Direct users of KAC are power users at customer-facing departments, namely, sales,
marketing, and customer services. Managers of these departments currently hold KAC,
but that knowledge doesn’t provide analytical 360-degree view of customers. In addition
to power users, there are other users with authorized access to GTCOM’s KAC. These
users are as follows:
- Basic users: operational staff at the clerical level
- Administrative users: IT people
- Executive Users: senior managers, GMs, and CEs
The organizational structure of GTCOM does not reflect the needs for effective
utilization of knowledge resources. No special unit was found in charge of promoting KM
activities and programs where knowledge ideas can be computerized and shared across
different departments. In addition, no person was found in charge of the generation,
storage, sharing, distribution, and usage of KAC, that is, there is no Chief Knowledge
Officer (CKO).