Week # 11 "Knowledge Transfer In the E-World"

Intranets: These are the Internet technology which is used to cater the internal needs of an organization. Intranets are used to link the knowledge workers and users 24/7. Usually used when no. of employees are moderate to large.

Extranets: An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of business’s Information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners or customers. An Extranet can also be viewed as part of a company’s intranet that is extended to users outside the company.

Groupware: Software designed to facilitate collective working by a number of different users. Such groupware applications are commonly email, newsgroups and chat. Groupware are often divided into two categories related to time and two other categories related to place. When employees are using an application at the same time, it is synchronous groupware. Workers using the same application at different times are using asynchronous groupware. The place-related categories are collocated, groupware that is used by people in the same place; and distance. 

Groupware Applications: Following are the common Groupware applications widely used these days:

• Emails
• Newsgroups and work-flow systems
• Chat rooms
• Video communication
• Knowledge sharing groupware
• Group calendaring and scheduling

E-Business: E-business (electronic business), derived from such terms as "e-mail" and "e-commerce," is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. One of the first to use the term was IBM in October, 1997. Companies are using the Web to buy parts and supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions, and to do joint research. Exploiting the convenience, availability, and world-wide reach of the Internet, many companies, such as Amazon.com, the book sellers, have already discovered how to use the Internet successfully. Some of the problems and drawbacks of E-business are:

• System and knowledge reliability.
• Viruses cause unnecessary delays, file backups, storage problems, etc.
• Danger of hackers accessing files and corrupting accounts
• Corporate weakness to access by the competitor

Supply Chain Management: Supply Chain Management is to have the right product in the right place, at the right time, at the right price and in the right condition. It requires teamwork, knowledge sharing of logistics, and agreement among knowledge workers and suppliers. The major goals of Supply Chain Management are to improve the efficiency and profitability of the organization.

Customer Relationship Management: It entails all aspects of interaction that a company has with its customer, whether it is sales or service-related. CRM is often thought of as a business strategy that enables businesses to:

• Understand the customer
• Retain customers through better customer experience
• Attract new customer
• Win new clients and contracts
• Increase profitably
• Decrease customer management costs