Knowledge management is indispensable strategy today - Free Essay Example

For some decades ago, in business world, many companies had been successfully operated, and of course, many were eradicated out of the game. we can easily predict that the former firms might have good managers to run their business effectively, or such firms might have the right choice of offering goods and services that have high demand at that period, or it may be other factors contributing to their success such as employees skills, effective cost production and so on. For the later firms, the outcomes of these unsuccessful ones might be resulted from being lack of effective managers, or because of wrong goods and services they were offering, and etc. Today business world, in order to have long-lasting survival, in addition to effective managers, cost effective production, good employees, and right product choices, firms have to maintain, store, and enhance what their managers and employees know such as experiences about setting effective and efficient plan for their company and the way company is managed, understandings of customers , experiences about making products or services, and so on. In other words, knowledge of employees and staffs in the company must be maintained for the application of next generation. It is the truth that today firms are more focus on knowledge maintenance, especially in high technology industry in order to keep their position in the business world, and hence, knowledge management is one of the most important policy firms put it on priority among their goals and objectives. An in-depth analysis into this issue will provide you background of knowledge at different views, how knowledge management is performed in today business competitive industry, why it is important to entities, and its life cycle as well. Body Knowledge Suppose that two employees who have the same period working in a garment company but why their production is considerably different after a specific time? People may commonly answer tha t it is due to the difference of their working skills, knowledge, and experiences. Of course, we can easily realize that employee who has high production would have better skills, knowledge and experiences compared with the remaining one. It will be profitable if all employees are high production ones. The truth is that the more skills, knowledge, and experience employees possess, the more value the company will be added. That is why knowledge management will somehow play a major role in the company strategy. To understand about knowledge management, we have to know what is the knowledge. Imaging that we know how to cook a bowl of Hue-style-beef noodle, (a traditional food in Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam), the method and the skills we cook are considered as our knowledge. Therefore, knowledge can be come from physical ones such as books, newspaper, magazines, and etc, and hence people can learn cooking from any teaching-cooking boob. Besides, knowledge also can be d rawn from experiences of people. For example, a person does not learn cooking through a book, but from what he or she observes other cookers, and then he or she will have knowledge about cooking. To have more understanding about knowledge, lets us consider some views of knowledge. In Elias M. Award and Hassan M. Ghaziris view (2003), knowledge is defined as understanding gained through experience or study (1). For this definition, knowledge may come from familiarity with how to do a special work or also may draw from accumulating facts, procedures rules, or heuristics. It is also defined that knowledge is the process of translating information (such as data) and past experience into a meaningful set of relationships which are understood and applied by an individual (2) (Shelda Debowski, 2006). Looking at these two views, we can see that the formers view has a broader look and more succinct compared with the laters one despite of its short definition. As it has been mentioned abo ve, knowledge can be drawn from experience and study as well, but the thing is that what will we name knowledge from experience, and knowledge from study, making it easy to have a closer look at knowledge . If we want to have an in-depth understanding about knowledge, we have to know it in details, and It will be more understandable for readers if knowledge can be categorized. That is the reason why knowledge experts from different countries have categorized knowledge into two common types, the tacit knowledge and the explicit knowledge. It is not difficult for us to understand about tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit means to be silent, and hence it might not be spoken out, meaning that if a person has tacit knowledge, he or she might not be able to hand it over to other people by the means of communication, or writing description and the like. In other words, it is the knowledge we know but we do not realize we have known , and how we know it, thus we might not be ab le to make it understandable . For instance, knowing how to drive a bike is what tacit knowledge is about because it is very difficult to teach people driving via any writing description. Indeed, we all know about how to drive it but we cannot teach others step by step, or by writing the process of how to write a bike. This results in that no books teaching about bike driving are published in the world. Talking about explicit knowledge, we can realize that explicit means to be clear and directed. Therefore, such knowledge can be learned via academic and technical methods such as books, writings, chatting, communicating, and the like. A person knows how to cook through direction from a book is the explicit knowledge. In order to specify what is belong to tacit knowledge, and what is belong to explicit knowledge, we should realize characteristics each type of knowledge possesses. According to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995)(3),tacit knowledge has the following characteristics: It is the knowledge used to create explicit knowledge. It is best communicated personally through dialogue and scenarios, with the use of metaphors. It is the knowledge embedded in the mind of human. And the explicit knowledges characteristics are listed as follow: It can be codified and digitized in books reports and so on. It can be retrieved and transmitted more easily than tacit knowledge. Professor Ikujiro Nonaka (2011), in an interview with Vietnam Economist Times, characterized tacit knowledge as subjective knowledge that is difficult to express in word and explicit knowledge as objective and rational knowledge that can be expressed in words (4). All of these characteristics, it is better for us to summarize that tacit knowledge is subjective (only existing in ones mind)and explicit is objective (exist outside ones mind as a real thing) and rational. Knowledge management Imaging that in a specified time, a manufacturing company possesses a very good emplo yees and staffs, and hence reaches low production cost, meaning that it will add more value to the firm because products are produced at a low cost by such employees. After two or three decades, most of those employees and staffs are retired according to employment rules, and new employees will be recruited into the company. Of course, these new employees are not good as those who have retired in terms of skills, and awareness of production process. As a result, the company will somehow face high production cost, reducing companys income, and that becomes a problem for that company. We can easy realize that it is the problem of knowledge management. If that company initially had knowledge management plan, the problem might not came. Knowledge management is about managing knowledge, especially in today companies, helping them maintain knowledge that their current employees, staffs, experts, and all managers possess in order to survive and to have positions in today competitive mar ket. According to Kimiz Dalkir (2005), knowledge management is the process of applying a systematic approach to the capture, structure, management, and dissemination of knowledge throughout an organization in order to faster, reuse best practices, and reduce costly rework from project to project(5. We can consider that knowledge management can be standard for companies that have the same industry, but the knowledge management approach in these companies might be different in terms of size, operational style, power of the company. Apple corporation is a manufacturing firm(producing cellular phones, Ipads, computers, and etc) that has more power than other companies having the same industry to run knowledge management effectively. That is the reason, the company publishes new generations of Iphone, Ipad in every year. For small companies, knowledge management might not be well operated, this may be because they do not have enough capital to use for knowledge management or may be due t o their poor management style. The outcomes of effective knowledge management are quite considerable. It adds more value to companies, and helps companies keep its position in the competitive market. To improve knowledge management outcomes, one factor companies must consider is about their customers, and what customers need and what customers desire from the company will somehow contribute to companys advantages. Apple corporation has been aware about that factor, and hence, new features and favorite shape of Iphone are added to new generation, attracting customers to buy the new. Another factor companies should take a look at it is the product life cycle. If firms just concentrate on knowledge management but do not care about whether products they produce is out of date or not, the problem will come. Motorola corporation is an example, when become the global leader in pager market, leaders in the company effectively performed knowledge management strategy, and thus new generati on of pagers was published, but the problem is that pagers was out of date due to advent of cell phones. Therefore, product life cycle consideration will in some ways contribute to the outcomes of knowledge management. Leaderships and skills needed to enhance knowledge management process Who will be important to knowledge management must be considered if we want our company have good knowledge management strategy installed. Managers are necessary to knowledge management plan in a company. They play a very vital role in supporting, implementing, and encouraging employees of their company. Both middle and top managers might have direct management of these employees. Knowledge management plan will be effectively and efficiently planned , if managers have good skills on planning and are aware of the importance on knowledge management. Besides, managers have to focus on knowledge management cycle in order to reach the best knowledge management strategy. According to Nonaka and Take uchi(1995), there are four stages in the cycle of knowledge management. Managers should follow these stages. For example, the first stage managers can do is to gather personal skills of employees by the mean of socialization such as face to face communication. Managers should then convert these collected knowledge into meaningful ways that people can understand, that we call the process of externalization. Combination of these meaningful ways must be performed in order to reach a new form. The last stage is that managers have to encourage employees to extend the knowledge using their own tacit knowledge. If the four stages are well performed, the outcomes of knowledge management will be very considerable. Conclusion To sum up, knowledge management can be viewed as a new vital strategy of any entity in today competitive market as it adds more value to business and keep companys position in the future. That is the reason why many companies have concentrated on knowledge manageme nt. Footnotes: (1): Elias M. Award and Hassan M. Ghaziri, (2003), Knowledge Management, Prentice Hall. (2): Shelda Debowski, (2006), Knowledge Management, first edition, Sydney and Melbourne, John Wiley and Sons Australia. (3): Kimiz Dalkir (2005), Knowledge Management In Theory and Practice, Elsevier. (4): Ikujiro Nonaka ( April 2011), Drawing on Knowledge, Vietnam Economic Times, p.31.

What Is the Definition of Art

There is no one universal definition of visual art though there is a general consensus that art is the conscious creation of something beautiful or meaningful using skill and imagination. The definition and perceived value of works of art have changed throughout history and in different cultures. The Jean Basquiat  painting that sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s auction in May 2017 would, no doubt, have had trouble finding an audience in Renaissance Italy, for example.   Etymology The term â€Å"art† is related to the Latin word â€Å"ars† meaning, art, skill, or craft. The first known use of the word comes from 13th-century manuscripts. However, the word  art and its many variants (artem, eart, etc.)  have probably existed since the founding of Rome. Philosophy of Art The definition of art has been debated for centuries among philosophers.†What is art?† is the most basic question in the philosophy of aesthetics, which really means, â€Å"how do we determine what is defined as art?† This implies two subtexts: the essential nature of art, and its social importance (or lack of it). The definition of art has generally fallen into three categories: representation, expression, and form. Art as Representation or Mimesis.  Plato  first developed the idea of art as â€Å"mimesis,† which, in Greek, means copying or imitation. For this reason, the primary meaning of art was, for centuries, defined as the representation or replication of something that is beautiful or meaningful. Until roughly the end of the eighteenth century, a work of art was valued on the basis of how faithfully it replicated its subject. This definition of good art has had a profound impact on modern and contemporary artists; as Gordon Graham writes, â€Å"It leads people to place a high value on very lifelike portraits such as those by the great masters—Michelangelo, Rubens, Velà ¡squez, and so on—and to raise questions about the value of ‘modern’ art—the cubist distortions ofPicasso, the surrealist figures of Jan Miro, the abstracts of Kandinsky  or the ‘action’ paintings of Jackson Pollock.†Ã‚  While representational art still exi sts today, it is no longer the only measure of value.Art as Expression of Emotional Content.  Expression became important during the Romantic movement with artwork expressing a definite feeling, as in the sublime or dramatic. Audience response was important, for the artwork was intended to evoke an emotional response. This definition holds true today, as artists look to connect with and evoke responses from their viewers.Art as Form.  Ã‚  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the most influential of the early theorists toward the end of the 18th century. He believed that art should not have a concept but should be judged only on its formal qualities because the content of a work of art is not of aesthetic interest. Formal qualities became particularly important when art became more abstract in the 20th century, and the principles of art and design (balance, rhythm, harmony, unity) were used to define and assess art. Today, all three modes of definition come into play in determining what is art, and its value, depending on the artwork being assessed. History of How Art Is Defined According to H.W Janson, author of the classic art textbook, The History of Art, â€Å"...we cannot escape viewing works of art in the context of time and circumstance, whether past or present. How indeed could it be otherwise, so long as art is still being created all around us, opening our eyes almost daily to new experiences and thus forcing us to adjust our sights?† Throughout the centuries in Western culture from the 11th century on through the end of the 17th century, the definition of art was anything done with skill as the result of knowledge and practice. This meant that artists honed their craft, learning to replicate their subjects skillfully. The epitome of this occurred during the Dutch Golden Age when artists were free to paint in all sorts of different genres and made a living off their art in the robust economic and cultural climate of 17th century Netherlands. During the Romantic period of the 18th century, as a reaction to the Enlightenment and its emphasis on science, empirical evidence, and rational thought, art began to be described as not just being something done with skill, but something that was also created in the pursuit of beauty and to express the artist’s emotions. Nature was glorified, and spirituality and free expression were celebrated. Artists, themselves, achieved a level of notoriety and were often guests of the aristocracy. The Avant-garde art movement began in the 1850s with the realism of Gustave Courbet. It was followed by other modern art movements such as cubism, futurism, and surrealism, in which the artist pushed the boundaries of ideas and creativity. These represented innovative approaches to art-making and the definition of what is art expanded to include the idea of the originality of vision. The idea of originality in art persists, leading to ever more genres and manifestations of art, such as digital art, performance art, conceptual art, environmental art, electronic art, etc. Quotes There are as many ways to define art as there are people in the universe, and each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of that person, as well as by their own personality and character. For example:   Rene Magritte Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist. Frank Lloyd Wright Art is a discovery and development of elementary principles of nature into beautiful forms suitable for human use. Thomas Merton Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. Pablo Picasso The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. Lucius Annaeus Seneca​ All art is but imitation of nature. Edgar Degas Art is not what you  see, but what you make others see. Jean Sibelius Art is the signature of civilizations. Leo Tolstoy Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands-on to others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these feelings and also experience them. Conclusion Today we consider the earliest symbolic scribblings of mankind to be art.  As Chip Walter, of National Geographic, writes about these ancient paintings, â€Å"Their beauty whipsaws your sense of time. One moment you are anchored in the present, observing coolly. The next you are seeing the paintings as if all other art—all civilization—has yet to exist...creating a simple shape that stands for something else—a symbol, made by one mind, that can be shared with others—is obvious only after the fact. Even more than the cave art, these first concrete expressions of consciousness represent a leap from our animal past toward what we are today—a species awash in symbols, from the signs that guide your progress down the highway to the wedding ring on your finger and the icons on your iPhone.† Archaeologist Nicholas Conard posited that the people who created these images â€Å"possessed minds as fully modern as ours and, like us, sought in ritual and myth answers to life’s mysteries, especially in the face of an uncertain world. Who governs the migration of the herds, grows the trees, shapes the moon, turns on the stars? Why must we die, and where do we go afterward? They wanted answers but they didn’t have any science-based explanations for the world around them.† Art can be thought of as a symbol of what it means to be human, manifested in physical form for others to see and interpret. It can serve as a symbol for something that is tangible, or for a thought, an emotion, a feeling, or a concept. Through peaceful means, it can convey the full spectrum of the human experience. Perhaps that is why it is so important. Sources Graham, Gordon, Philosophy of the Arts, An Introduction to Aesthetics, Third Edition, Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group,  New York.  Janson, H. W., History of Art, Harry Abrams, Inc. New York, 1974.Walter, Chip, First artists, National Geographic. Web. January 2015.

People Watching Movies For Different Entertainment

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Many of these genres intertwine, such as Home A lone is a comedy and family genre. I Know What You Did Last Summer is a horror, mystery, and thriller all in one. Pearl Harbor is an action, drama, and history altogether. To emphasize, different genres of movies set out to entertain not always for in one way but many. These are a few of many movie genres and different groups of people who aim to watch various genres different reasons explained. Kids entertain by different genres of movies for different reasons. One way kids entertain isShow MoreRelatedDifferent Forms Of Entertainment For Many Different Types Of People1144 Words   |  5 PagesThere are many forms of entertainment for many different types of people. The two forms of entertainment that I would like to discuss are books and movies, both of which I love. Though both of these subjects have their differences, they also have similarities. Some of which we do not even think about. 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Ramses the Great Essay Example For Students

Ramses the Great Essay Ramses the Great In the Egyptian pyramids of Giza,Ramses the Great ruled as the greatest pharaoh of all times. Ramses the Great, also known as Ramses II, or justRamses, was born in 1304 B.C., and was given the namethe Justice of Ray is Powerful. He had the knowledge ofthe kingdom, and became the focus of the court at an earlyage. Ramses and his father spent most of their timetogether, and at age ten, Ramses became heir to thethrown. He took the thrown in the year of 1292 B.C. Thepharaoh lived over all other people in the kingdom. According to historians, the Nile river was the source of lifeto the Egyptians. The Nile river provided the Egyptianpeople with water, fish, and fertile soil to grow crops on. The peasant folk in Egypt lived on a diet of wheat bread,fish, and corn. Also, the death rates there were said to bevery high. When Ramses became pharaoh, he got manyriches. For example, Ramses had as many women as hisheart desired. The women did everything for Ramses,which includes dancing for him. Ramses II was the mostpowerful king in all of ancient Egypt, and his Queens werehis greatest supporters. Ramses had many wives, but heloved one particular wife the most of all of them. Ramsesthe Great was also known for his fighting. In 1275 B.C., hewent into battle with about 2,000 men. It was about noonon a spring day, and Ramses II was encamped with hisarmy near the city of Kadesh in Syria. He and his armywere planning a surprise attack on the Hittites. WhileRamses was waiting for his army to assemble, Hittitechariots showed up out of nowhere and attacked. Frightened, the Egyptian forces fled and left Ramses theGreat to face the enemy alone. Luckily, he escaped with hislife. Later, Ramses II had scenes from the battle carved ontemple was all over Egypt. According to the carvings,Ramses prayed to Amon, the chief Egyptian god, to savehim. He said, My soldiers and charioteers have forsakenme, but I call and find that Amon is worth more to me thanmillions of foot soldiers and hundreds of thousands ofchariots. After that, the carvings show that he rallied hisforces and had victory over the Hittites. Furthermore,Ramses II raised many monuments to commemorate all ofhis victories. Despite their battle, in 1284 B.C., Ramsesand the Hittites signed a treaty that set the borders of twoempires, which ended the costly struggle between them. Many historians believe that Ramses the Great is thepharaoh that is written about in the Bible. The story thatthey think Ramses might be in, is the one where Moses toldthe pharaoh to let his people go. Other people also thinkthat when Ramses died, he became a god. Ramses spentmost of his 67-year reign reviving the empire and fightingthe Hittites of Asia Minor. Ramses was 92 years old whenhe died, and was mummified and put into a temple. Theprocess of mummification took about 70 days. Three of thefour gods are carved in the side of a large temple, and aresaid to guard Ramses. The fourth god was the god of theunderground, so he remains in eternal darknessunderground, on the inside of the temple. History