Managing Communication: Knowledge and Information

Managing Communication: Knowledge and Information In the background of twenty first century, the firms are competing with each other in this challenging and complex environment. It is transformed by numerous factors such as diffusion of technologies, technological development, and information technology along with the use of right knowledge (Hitt, Keats, DeMarie, 1998). This landscape requires every firm to act differently to flourish and survive. For that they have look for new resources of the competitive advantage and some new forms of competition. This it requires the proper understanding of information, knowledge and the proper communication process for gaining competitive advantage. Information is required and it acts as the back bone of the todays business and vital part of large business firms. The massive storage of data needs the purposes from the decision making processes to risk management process. Ernst Young have adopted the combination of information, knowledge and communication ties strategic themes on the basis of globalization such as operational excellence, clients, financial stability and people. This firm confines and takes action on the knowledge within their organization. Information, knowledge and communication process describes their strategies to ensure that they are acting upon to gaining competitive advantage. This large firm uses ERP for their work so that they have achieved higher operational excellence in their work. They use internet and intranet within their organization and its all offices are interconnected with each other. For carrying out the communication process, they held regular meetings for transferring information form one department to other departments. Thus makes it easy for them to gain competitive advantage by adding strategies to their business growth. The large scale business is globally distributed and having reliable as well as stable infrastructure along with the network administration. Its applications handle and run the fast processing. The information technology has enabled the business firm to offer services well. The business communication process has become very vital for managing business growth as well its success. The Ernst Young Company has achieved efficiency with network-based communications such as email and web presence. These tools have supported the customer support that has grown the companies to compete in the larger markets. Some communication applications have made it easier for the firm to communicate and collaborate efficiently with their clients and customers. Thus there is a strong need of the combination of information, knowledge and communication process in the organization. The firm has gained competitive advantage by establishing and providing professional services. This company has provided a broad collection of services for capturing growth and managing risk just by adopting proper communication process. The information, knowledge and communication plays an important role for gaining competitive advantage and it is a better meaning of providing competitive advantage. They all are required in the tangible form to meet the needs of the company. The companies fail due to its inability for managing these points to meet internal as well as external requirements (Hodgson, 1999). As it s discussed in the previous section, EY has adopted information system for communicating with their clients and customers. The company has achieved efficiency with network-based communications. These tools have supported the customer support that has grown the companies to compete in the larger markets. Thus it helps them to grow in the global market. The company has gained the competitive advantage by achieving excellence at the firms level. What managers are doing to improve decision making by using information and knowledge internally and externally to improve decision making and taking? Answer Generally managers make decision on the basis of their perception, understanding, events and people around them. They can experience some instances where their perception is taken as mistakes. The perception along with the right information and knowledge plays an important role in decision making. But it has suggested that managers may get into some problems that result from wrong perceptions, and are considered as rare and they are often negligible. For any decision to be effective, it should make use of relevant, timely and accurate use of information (Ajayi et al., 2007). Managers work on knowledge based activities while decision making. Broadly these activities are divided into two categories such as process and practice oriented practices. The managers use process oriented approach by getting the tactic knowledge. This knowledge can be taken from formal interviews and meetings. The requirements of knowledge and information are known as an outline of the decisions that are to be proved as effective in decision making. The importance of information has not only been at present, but had played quite an important role even in earlier days as Mudrick Rose (1971) suggested that for an organization to survive, information plays supreme role. Managers gather the knowledge and information from some internal and external sources. On the basis of the available data, they implement it for the decision making. The managers in Ernst Young firm play an important role in decision making and they are having good decision making capabilities. The managers take decision on the basis of collected information and gathered knowledge from internal and external sources. They conduct meeting with their peers, their juniors and with their other executives for better decision making process. By doing this, they can get the information at internal level. Also they collect information from the external sources. They communicate with their clients and customers for getting feedback and for knowing about the needs. In addition to these, the time in todays scenario makes use of various ERPs for information handling. Big giants like Ernst Young make use of these information handling techniques for better decision making process. Even the organizations today make use of software tools such as SAP, which has its own intelligence techniques to recommend for better performance and growth of an organization. Managers use these tools for their decision making and various strategic decisions too. Therefore, the time has changed and the approach of managing situations too has changed. Thus, MIS has been in use increasingly at present times. The technique helps in finding the disturbances that are there within the system to help the management take a step for getting against the problem (Obi, 2003). The first step of any decision making process involves the process to define the problem. Managers need to define the problem that exists within their organization. For this purpose, they arrange meetings with their colleagues to know about the exact situation. Based on the analysis made from the meetings, strategic level of management finds out the exact problem statement within an organization. This problem is then taken as the main factor to collect the information related to it there within the organization (and that existing outside the organization as well). From the information collected, various conclusions are drawn that help in exploration of ways to sort out the situation. The management then makes use of the information along with the problem statement to process the information. This processed information is further made use of to come to the final conclusion by making decisions. What are the strategies to increase personal networking to widen Employees Involvement in the decision-making process? Answer Involvement of employee in decision making process creates the basic need of todays marketplace. Managers make an effort to increase the involvement of employees in the organization. Therefore, the well integrated organization results in better outcomes. There are a number of ways by which an organization makes an effort to increase the employee involvement in decision making process using the personal networking approach. The increased rights given to employee to raise his voice and involve in decision making process helps him attain outcomes (Macleod Bradey, 2004). The strategic management department makes an effort to arrange regular get together there within the organization to raise the number of communication of employees. This raises the strength of relationship of members with each other. This also helps them feel comfortable in working with each other. The employees make an effort to communicate with each other at such instances and get rid of any personal distances. This helps in creation of better relations of employees, which raises the opportunity of better performance. The employees work with each other in a better manner using the personal network (Robinson et al., 2004). Therefore, the importance of personal network cannot be ignored. The personal networking helps in establishing better relations there within the organization. The employee feels comfortable working with the organization, thus acts in favour of the organization. Increased power provided to the employee is the root cause of this change in behaviour. The management shall increasingly favour creative and innovative ideas in the meetings and give the employees an opportunity to represent these ideas in meetings. This would help in better opportunities among employees to participate in organizational activities. Therefore, the decision making opportunities are increased. This would further result in motivation among individuals due to increased importance provided to them. Therefore, the operational activities are improved of individuals. The management enjoys benefits due to this act, as the innovation and creativity gives an opportunity of accomplishment and new insights among individuals. The very common cause of employee leaving an organization to join the other is due to lack of importance provided to the employee. Other factors besides this include promotion and rewards (CIPD, 2007). If an organization gives the individuals an opportunity to participate in decision making process, this helps them motivate to work for the organization. Therefore, the management shall incorporate such a kind of strategy at work place that there are improved personal relations of employees there within the organization, and therefore, results in improved performance for the success and growth. Employees shall give the employees an opportunity to discuss directly with the top management in case of any problem. The problems shall be duly heard by the managers. This would further help in improved personal relations of employees. This would act in favour of individuals as well as organization. The staff would be increasingly active to participate in decision making process. This would act as a strong motivating factor for individuals. In addition to this, the employees shall be given an opportunity to discuss their experience with others. There should not be stiff restrictions at place for the management process. This would ensure better flow of information transfer and communication process. Therefore, would help in betterment of the organizational objectives. One should remember that the retention of top performers is of supreme importance for an organization. Therefore, personal networking should retain the employees for long term success. Develop a communication process to improve the decision making and organizational knowledge for your chosen organization. Answer Decision is considered as the form of a communication which takes social prospects of the people in the organizations (Andersen, 2003). There are three groups of the communication process: temporal prospects to the future, accurate prospects at the organization and social prospects that are directed at the participants in the communication process. Communication process plays supreme role for the success of an organization. There should be thorough communication between the two or more entities to ensure the proper flow of information. For Ernest and Young, it is suggested that managers shall arrange regular meetings with their team to motivate them. The targets shall be clearly stated by the managers (As they are at present), along with the motivational meetings. At present there is a hierarchical process for communication between different staff members. However, it is recommended to make use of the shorter channel. There should be a separate software application at work place to communicate. The staff members shall make use of this application to communicate with each other. This should be more or less like Skype. Therefore, the staff would be able to communicate with each other in a faster manner. This communication shall not restrict to particular group of people, but the integration should be of such an extent that an operator can even communicate with the strategic level of management. Thus, the hierarchical structure would be able to communicate with each other without the limitation of any particular group of people. This would be of help in ensuring that there is faster communication within the organization and the prop er strategic decisions are made. The operational level of staff would be able to communicate with the strategic level, thus helping them getting rid of problem conditions, if any. This would ensure the right use of technology and healthy work flow of the staff operations. Decision is an organizational process and can be created when the decisions are interconnected with each other and that can cause the uncertainty in decision making. It is considered that first decision in the process is no longer evaluated further (Seidl and Becker, 2006). The organization would be able to make better decisions thereon. The management would be able to communicate with each other through a direct channel. Therefore, the chances of miscommunication would reduce greatly. This would help in reduction of problem conditions. The flow of information would take place smoothly through this approach within the organization. This would further result in reduced risks of wrong information transfer. The back- up of whole information transfer, whether audio or textual or video, would be recorded to the main server. Therefore, the details are completely saved to the main database. This would help in reviewing all the discussions done, as and when required. Furthermore, the access of previous discussion would also help in analysing the flaw areas that exist within the complete network of Ernst and Young. The business is expected to grow through this strategy. Increased pace of communication and decision making process would help in attaining better results. The decision makers would thus be able to utilize the previous communication details to know about the approach that had helped them gain in the past. Based on this analysis, they can formulate future strategies for growth. This would help them to minimize the risks and make optimal solution of resources. Thus, the strategy is expected to help them in gaining better results. The organizations revenues are also expected to increase through this strategy. What role Knowledge Management plays in managing organisation strategically? Knowledge enables the companies to compete with each other. Knowledge about the customers, competitors, their strategies is very required. Firms have adopted knowledge management in their organization as the strategic orientation. For an example, low cost strategies are required for cost cutting in the organizations. Lowering prices and shortening of cycle times are some differentiation strategies that add value to the organizations. Thus it differentiates firms from their competition. Organizational knowledge theory tells how the knowledge plays an important role for managing organizations strategically. Organizational knowledge is known as the implicit and explicit knowledge that every individual try to acquire about the products, process and systems. The tactic knowledge can be gained by using the forms of cultures, routines etc and explicit knowledge is gained by some databases and manuals (Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998; Grant, 1996; Nonaka Takeuchi, 1995). Knowledge management is very critical to achieve competitive advantage. External as well as internal sources are considered as important factors of the firms (Kogut Zander, 1992). Ernst young is an independent firm and it is renowned as most admired knowledge enterprises (MAKE). This organization is well known for its corporate knowledge driven firm and it works more on becoming strategically important. This firm creates and leverages the easy access to their knowledge to their clients as well as their practitioners and that has differentiated itself from other companies in the market. The main strategy of the company is that it emphasizes on both learning as well as sharing of knowledge. It connects the skill and ability of their people with the firm to be better that their competitors. EY have adopted client oriented approach or strategy that has been transmitted form the company to the teams for its applications. An applied knowledge management protocol has been implemented for making use of information in decision making, work and information alignment for optimizing performance levels, facilitating problem solving and distribution of knowledge for strategic purpose (CAPa, 1997). This application is effectively assisting the high and value added activities with the strategic context. It also broadcasts its business practices to meet differences. Generally there are two types of organizations that rely on codifying knowledge strategy to make total use of knowledge for individual stores it for easy access by using information and communication technology tools. There are the companies that rely on the personalization strategy for channeling of individual expertise to the right place for person to person interaction. Ernst Young is making explicit knowledge and inserting it in the store areas. It also promotes people network along with the technology based networks. It has also worked for knowledge management strategy but with the interpersonal relationship with their clients. This has emerged as a core concept for the firm. They create better balance between the internal as well as external part with the view of the globalised world (Ezingeard et al., 2002; Bartlett, 2000; Collins, 2002, 1998). The figure states the two dimensions in which one axis shows the degree for developing knowledge management on the technological frameworks from low degree to high. The other axis represents the personal networks on which the organization develops its knowledge sharing capabilities at personal level. The high degree shows the strong integration with the knowledge networks. It is high in the case of the EY firm. It has become a fact that new venture are growing rapidly, thus they have adopted the knowledge management in their organization to become strategically strong. It has been argued that knowledge management is not different issue. Xxxx company have some unique feature of the knowledge management how they are managing the knowledge strategically. This firm has emphasized different knowledge management activities. The adoption of organizational knowledge theory has become very important phenomenon for this firm. Effect of Caffeinated Sports Drink: Exercise and Heart Rate Effect of Caffeinated Sports Drink: Exercise and Heart Rate Manpreet Nijjar The Effect of a Sports Drink containing caffeine or Carbohydrates and the combination combined on Exercise and Heart Rate INVESTIGATION TASK This study investigated the effects of different energy drinks (a carbohydrate based sports drink, a caffeine based sports drink, a drink with the carbohydrates and caffeine combined), on resting heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), run time-to-exhaustion (RTTE), peak exercise HR, and return time to resting HR. RESEARCH QUESTION Would the consumption of particular energy drinks affect one’s heart rate and ability to exercise for longer? BACKGROUND INFORMATION Sports science which incorporates the effective use of nutrition and exercise science is now widely recognised in contributing factor optimising athlete performance. It follows that if an athlete wants to train for longer periods and minimise recovery period between exercises then he or she needs to be well nourished. Many of the body’s metabolic processes involved in exercise are dependent on the components of an athlete’s diet and therefore by adjusting these components, they may be able to change athletic capacity. Recently amongst many young people the use of energy drinks has become fashionable in addition to the more traditional use of multivitamins to improve athletic performance. Illicit taking of performance enhancing drugs, such as anabolic steroids, is also widely-recognised as a means of achieving rapidly improved athletic capabilities. [1, 2]. Despite these widely held beliefs, there is minimal evidence to underpin the claims of manufactures of these energy drinks that they have any significant effect on cardiovascular efficaciousness and overall performance, in particular that of short duration exercise. [3] There is no evidence to suggest that water alone is superior when compared to sports drinks in achieving increased exercise duration and capacity although the reverse has often been demonstrated. [1,5,8] [5-9 not used] A review of various research articles on the use of energy drinks and exercise performance reveals apparently inconsistent findings: Improved performance levels in exercises such as sprint cycling and cycling duration, weight lifting and sprinting. [10-15] No significant difference in exercise performance [11,14,15] Ingredients in the most popular sport drinks include caffeine, and the amino acid taurine, which both may impact on heart rate [18,19], Bichler and colleagues [20] investigated the combination of caffeine and taurine vs. a placebo and found it actually caused a significant decline in heart rate. Additional ingredients are carbohydrates, flavorings, herbs and B-vitamins. The amount and types of carbohydrate found in sports drinks was found to be variable. There were some ‘diet’ energy drinks that had zero carbohydrates compared to some with medium amounts (e.g. Powerade at 3.9g/100ml), and some very high amounts (KX drinks at 9g/100ml). The capacity of the drink to enhance performance is governed by its carbohydrate content. Simple carbohydrates (a combination of sucrose, glucose, and fructose) have been shown to be absorbed swiftly and oxidised easily to release energy; two factors vital to athletes to improve performance. [5,6]. The body uses carbohydrates to do ‘work’ – it is the preferred material for muscle contraction, the central nervous system and fat oxidisation. The body would prefer to use carbohydrates rather than have to break up proteins for energy. Ingested carbohydrates are digested into the bloodstream in the stomach and small intestines as smaller sugar components mainly of fructose, galactose and glucose. Fructose and galactose are then converted to glucose in the liver and released back into the bloodstream where it is used as required. The brain can only use glucose for its energy requirements. After ingestion of carbohydrates, the glucose levels increase in the bloodstream as per the above mechanism. If the body does not utilise this glucose, the excess glucose is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen which is initiated by the enzyme insulin released by the pancreas. The human body can only store about 20000 calories equivalent of glycogen. Excess glycogen above this level is stored as fat (adipose tissue). When the body is exercising, it will use up the glucose as first choice. When the glucose levels have been depleted, an enzyme called glucagon will reverse the above process –turning glycogen back to glucose- and thus glucose levels in the bloodstream will increase. As muscles can only use the glycogen in them – they cannot borrow from resting muscles – so once the glycogen levels have been used, muscle fatigue results. It is thus important for athletes to restore glycogen levels back to their original levels by consuming carbohydrates. The use of a carbohydrate drink should thus aid by increasing the glucose levels directly after absorption from the stomach – typically 20 minutes after ingestion – and keep glucose levels high so that exercise can be done for longer duration. It should also help recovery time as any used glycogen can be quickly replenished. Another benefit that energy drinks could give the athlete is the restoration of any depleted electrolytes. An action potential sent down a nerve causes the muscle to contract which requires certain electrolytes for it to happen. It the muscle is repeatedly contracted, the electrolytes will become spent. As sports drinks contain electrolytes in them, these spent electrolytes are replaced and thus muscle contraction could happen at peak level. From the above, it can be reasonably assumed that ingestion of a carbohydrate energy sports drink 20 minutes before the commencement of exercise should enhance the athlete’s performance and also aid post exercise recovery. Caffeine, a naturally occurring alkaloid also known as trimethylxanthine, is found in coffee and tea plants and acts as an agonist of the central nervous system. Caffeine is also found in chocolate (from cocoa bean) and used as an additive in fizzy drinks. The percentage found in fizzy drinks is relatively small (approx.12mg/100ml) whereas in sports drinks, it is generally a lot higher (approx. 40mg/1000ml). Caffeine, which has a half-life of between three to five hours, (i.e. the time taken to decrease its concentration by half), is absorbed in the small intestine, then broken down into its components in the liver cell and distributed to body tissues within 45 minutes of ingestion. Caffeine breaks down into the following components [22]: Caffeine Metabolites Of the three metabolites of caffeine, theophylline, which only accounts for 4%, has minimal effect on the body. Of the other two, theobromine, formerly known as xantheose, is a bitter alkaloid and causes vasodilation and decreased ADH hormone production in the kidneys and thus leads to increased urine volume. The final metabolite of caffeine is paraxantine, a competitive nonselective phosphodiesterase inhibitor and a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist. The effect of paraxantine on the human body is to: raise intracellular cAMP (a second messenger)which would lead to increased bloodstream glucose levels. A second messenger is a molecule that relays signals received at receptors on the cell surface to the target molecules in the cytosol and/or nucleus and will sometimes amplify this signal. raise free fatty acid concentration in serum by lipolysis (lipid breakdown) -raise plasma epinephrine (adrenaline) levels and increase diastolic blood pressure The overall mechanism and enzymes that caffeine interacts in order to be broken down are shown below, which is taken from PharmGKB website. [27]: [27] From the above information, it is reasonable to expect that following ingestion of a caffeine drink 20 minutes prior to exercise that the resting heart rate would increase due to the release of adrenaline by the caffeine metabolites. One would also expect the athlete to perform better and recover quicker after exercise as the caffeine increases lipolysis and increased glucose levels. Post exercise the resting heart rate will still be higher as the half-life of caffeine is between 3-5 hours. Composition of the drinks used in the experiment: Carbohydrate sports drink Carbonated water, Dextrose (87%), Maltodextrin, Magnesium Carbonate, Acidifier (Citric Acid), Anti-Caking Agent (Magnesium Salts of Fatty Acids), Flavouring, Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6 Caffeine content 0mg per 250ml serving Carbohydrate content 24.2g per 250ml serving KX sugar free stimulation drink Carbonated water, citric acid, taurine (0.4% ), acidity regulator (trisodium citrate), flavouring, guarana extract (0.12%), colour, sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K) caffeine , preservative (potassium sorbate), inositol, B vitamins. Caffeine content 80mg per 250ml serving Carbohydrate content 0mg per 250 ml serving KX simulation drink Citric Acid, Flavouring, Stabilisers (Acacia, Glycerol Esters of Wood Rosins), Caffeine, Preservative (Potassium Sorbate), Inositol, B Vitamins (Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12) Caffeine content 80mg per 250ml serving Carbohydrate content 25g per 250ml serving Placebo drink Carbonated water, flavouring Caffeine content 0mg Carbohydrate content 0g Hypothà ¨ses Hypothesis General Prediction: The consumption of the carbohydrate energy drink will result in no appreciable increase in resting heart rate as well as after any physical activity. I would expect the participants to be able to do physical activity for longer and at a higher intensity. The consumption of the high caffeine energy drink will result in an increase in the resting heart rate and pre and post physical activity. I would also expect the participants to be able to do physical activity for longer and at a higher intensity. The consumption of the combined high caffeine and high carbohydrate drink will I believe increase the resting heart rate due to the caffeine content and also after physical activity it will still remain high. The amount of and intensity of physical activity done by the participants should be higher than the carbohydrate or caffeine drink alone. Post exercise the resting heart rate will be higher although one would expect the recovery time to be quicker than the other drinks. The placebo drink should have no appreciable difference on any resting heart rate or physical activity. Hypothesis: Carbohydrate drink: Consumption of carbohydrates will increase the amount of glucose in the bloodstream after absorption from the GIT. This means a temporarily high amount of glucose in the bloodstream after approximately 20 minutes but if resting, this high glucose amount will induce the production of insulin which will convert the excess glucose to glycogen. This glycogen conversion will reduce the glucose levels in the bloodstream to levels prior to the consumption of the carbohydrate drink. Although there is a popular belief that consumption of sugar-containing food or beverages can lead to temporary hyperactivity, sometimes referred to as a ‘sugar rush’, this is in fact scientifically disproven. [28] Caffeine drink: ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is produced by almost all living things in their cells organelles called mitochondria, and it is one of the nucleotides that make up DNA. It also acts as a cellular signal and the triphosphate acts an energy source for enzymatic reactions. It is not energy itself, but rather temporarily stores energy in its phosphodiester bonds. When the third phosphate bond is created, it immediately is broken and energy is released that can fuel the metabolic chemical reactions required by living organisms, which otherwise would be inefficient. This creates ADP which has one less phosphate attached to the group. An analogy to use with ATP is to think of it as a battery that is getting charged and when it is fully charged, it lets off a spark. This spark initiates the chemical reaction to start to do work in the body. Caffeine acts as an agonist(stimulant) on adenosine receptors but in a very general sense. As caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant which increases metabolism and therefore, the cellular consumption of ATP will cause the heart rate to elevate. So, post consumption, caffeine increases ATP levels in the body, which causes heart rate to elevate. Post exercise the heart rate will stay elevated (higher resting rate) because the presence of caffeine causes increased levels of cAMP, and at the same time enables cAMP to stay active for longer. Increased levels of cAMP result in an increase in ATP; resulting in an elevated heart rate for a longer period. METHOD: To ascertain whether the energy drink affects the resting heart rate: I will be choosing one subject and will be observing the effects the energy drink has on the heart rate at rest as well as after physical activity . Subject must be of normal BMI and without any health ailments in order to make sure I do not have any other factors affecting Subject’s heart rate. First I will be monitoring and recording the subject’s heart rate at fixed intervals after consumption of caffeine. Through this I will be able to conclude the amount of increment in the heart rate caused by the consumption of the energy drink I will also be able to determine the amount time it takes for the heart rate to reach its highest level after the consumption of an energy drink. Further on I will test the effect the energy drink has on the heart rate after physical activity. First I will record the heart rate of subject after running on the treadmill for time of 2 minutes on set speed of 7 km/ph which will give me subject’s heart rate after physical activity without the effect on the energy drink. After which I will make the subject perform the same . I will be making the subject perform this physical activity only after subject reaches peak heart rate after consuming the energy drink (Red Bull).