ARTICLE 5- ROLE OF IT IN KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION
What is KMS?
Knowledge Management System is generally based IT which is referred as modern IT namely [Lotus Notes, Intranet, Extranet] which enables to manage, capture and expertise knowledge in an organisation according to (Turban, Leidner, McLean and Wetherbe 2006, 370) and (Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2007, 66), why it is IT, Is KMS completely depend on IT alone ? No, but it is most recent outcome and therefore they need to use it.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
As we have come around, there are many systems namely; Management Information System (MIS), Transactional Processing Systems (TPS), Decision Support System (DSS), Executive Information Systems(EIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supplier Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Expert Systems (ES) and Knowledge Management System (KMS) now what is this systems? How they differ? According to (Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999) KMS is the only system where individuals in an organisation contribute and form a continuous improvement as I have told you it is purely focussing on creating, gathering and implemented which means in simple words data or information is converted to knowledge and then transformed into knowledge Management this type of connectivity is done by system known as KMS.

Types of KMS
There are 3 main types according to (Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2007);
· Enterprise wide knowledge – it is used for general purpose for collect, store and structuring knowledge, according to (Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2007).

· Knowledge work systems – This is done for specific purpose ex: 3D visualisation, virtual Reality according to (Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2007).

· Intelligent techniques – This is tool to solve the problems ex: data mining, fuzzy logic according to (Laudon K.C. & Laudon J.P., 2007).

KM IN ORGANISATION
According to (Knowledge Management: Measuring Knowledge Management in the Business Sector, 2006, 20), the purpose of the KM in Organisation need to first analysis the answers for why, how and what? This is purely depends on the Company policy but in general;
Why questions deals with; what already exist in an organisation and how to meet this to the environmental needs it deals with transformation of stocks, increase in opportunities.
How questions deals with; with creating and implementing a framework, which means how it is created either by one person or many it also tells about the knowledge gained is transformed and stored in database which is use by all members in the organisation.
What questions deals with; with the basic problems like price, market and technological competitiveness.

After lots of research (Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999) as narrated his own points, knowledge management is emphasised in three main parts namely; Information based, Cultural based, technology based

Information based is primarily concern with the current information used in the environment therefore it ensures the customer there will not be any old or wrong data stated by (Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999). Management/ culture based on sharing the knowledge with all the members and they can openly express their views stated by (Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999). Technology based is associated with data warehousing, enterprise- wide systems, experts and intranet which make the outcome more effective and efficient stated by (Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999). Therefore it is well said that how IT is needed in an organisation through technology based knowledge.

REFLECTION FROM PRACTICE
Let us now see with my personal experience how IT is playing a important role in an organisation, as I am working as a interpreter in a birth centre, all the queries to the patient are computerised when I was talking to one of the chief observer, She told it is good that everything is computerized where all the information are stored in the database so that it is easy for us to complete our work and therefore time and energy spend for the documentation of the report is reduced as though everything is clearly stated in the form of print out this makes the patient and ourselves by completing our work to the fullest. How this is related to KMS? The database is the IT component and the computer is the knowledge management system, therefore KMS is well authorized it goes in hand with IT.

REFERENCE
1. Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999.Knowledge Management Systems: Emerging Views and Practices from the Field. Proceedings of the 32nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. IEEE (accessed on 13rd March, 2009).

2. Alavi M. & Leidner D.E. 1999. Knowledge Management Systems: Issues, Challenges and Benefits, vol 1, 4-20 (accessed on 14th March, 2009)

3. Knowledge Management: Measuring Knowledge Management in the Business Sector, (2006), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), pp20 (accessed on 11st March, 2009).

4. Laudon K.C. and Laudon J.P. (2006). Management information systems: managing the digital firm (10th edition). New Jersey:Prentice Hall, pp 66 (accessed on 13rd March, 2009)

5. Turban E., Leidner D., McLean E, Wetherbe J., (2006). Information Technology for Management: Transforming organizations in the Digital Economy (5th Edition) pp370 (accessed on 13rd March, 2009)