Bangkok--14 Dec--ARC Worldwide
Thammasat University’s Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy (as known as Thammasat Business School: TBS) has recently hosted a seminar on ‘Knowledge Management for Business Sustainability’ with an attempt to promote a powerful concept of knowledge management to help gear Thai organizations towards sustainable development. The seminar is part of the 72nd anniversary celebration of the Faculty.
The world-renowned scholar and inventor of the internationally referenced SECI Model Professor Ikujiro Nonaka and Secretary General of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation Under Royal Patronage M.R. Disnadda Diskul were making their appearance to deliver keynote speeches on knowledge management and how it can be embedded in development of business sustainability.
The seminar, which took place at the United Nations Conference Center, also featured guests speakers from both public and private sectors, namely Dr. Thosaporn Sirisumphand, Secretary General, Office of the Public Sector Development Commission; Ms. Lyn Kok, President & CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (Thailand); Mr. Pornthep Charussri, Knowledge Management Manager, The Siam Cement Public Company Limited; and Dr. Edward Rubesch, Director of Thammasat IMBA Program and Global Entrepreneurship International MBA Program Coordinator, sharing their views on the latest thoughts and comprehensive practices of knowledge management in the context of business sustainability.
The main goal of this seminar centered around the intertwined concepts of knowledge management and sustainable business, which proved to be critical to managing business in the current volatile environment.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kulpatra Sirodom, Dean of Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, “In today’s world, modern organizations have a pivotal role to play in developing the knowledge-based economy. Intellectual capital is considered an important asset that has significantly leveraged the value of the organization and contributed to its sustainable growth in a long run. The form of intellectual capital is often referred to as a repertoire of ‘knowledge’ which is either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizational process or practice. A research reveals that the strategic application of intellectual capital can make a difference in the overall organizational performance. With this respect, both academics and professionals have extensively discussed about a way in which a modern organization creates the wealth of intellectual capital over time so as to achieve not only its profitability but also sustainability of the stakeholders. In essence, intellectual capital is rare, inimitable and non-substitutable by other organizations or competitors’, thereby leading to the organization’s sustained competitive advantage.
The concept of knowledge management has been invented to serve the objective of organizations in need of intellectual capital to succeed. It is a systematic process of identifying, creating, representing, distributing and enabling the knowledge among the organization members. The sharing of knowledge in a practical way helps develop the workforce to be well-rounded and knowledgeable so as to operate their work more efficiently. By the same token, the process of knowledge management can be applied in any context, including sustainable development, which does allow the organizational members to exchange their insights and experiences to embrace sustainability in the organization.
Professor Ikujiro Nonaka plays a key role in initiating the concept that can be applied in the development of the corporate value chain. His theory has been translated into practice in both public and private organizations from different countries. Thailand is one of the countries that have adopted the concept of knowledge management as part of organization development toward sustainability.
Regarding the concept of sustainable development, it is a pattern of resource use that aims to build the integrative foundation of economy, environment and society in equilibrium. Its basic principles start from identifying the causes of the resource utilization problem, analyzing alternatives for the best possible solution, developing and executing a work plan through a close collaboration of the stakeholders; this process will result in a better understanding of sustainable development among the stakeholders. In this context, a sustainability-embedded organization tends to formulate policies that include the social and national development in the corporate agenda. Today, an increasing number of organizations have adopted a policy of sustainable development which sets the tone of modern business practices.
“An integration of knowledge management and sustainable development has formed a unique construct of a powerful business concept that essentially compliments each other. Any organization that implements the knowledge management scheme revolving around sustainable development is likely to become a learning organization with sustainability. And that organizational success in a long run is a positive consequence of it. Over time it is believed that such a learning organization will be a living example for other organizations to study and apply in their own contexts. This is apparently a reinforcing exercise of knowledge management in a larger scale.
Assoc. Prof. Kitti Siripullop, Director of Corporate Communications and
International Affairs of Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University discussed the benefits and importance of knowledge management that supports the sustainability of an organization that, "With the momentum from both internal and external environments that are highly volatile, doing business in the current economic situation requires businesspeople to include a new approach to sustainable development into their strategic choices so as to gain a sustained competitive advantage. The knowledge management process focuses on the thrust of better sharing of existing knowledge which leads to the second thrust — the creation and conversion of new knowledge through the process of innovation that gives the best long-term pay-off. In a nutshell, knowledge management is about the management of intellectual capital in a systematic way that creates the value of the organization in the long run. Unfortunately, such a powerful concept has not been well shared among organizations in a proper fashion.”
"This seminar highlights various showcases of the organizations from both public and private sectors that have succeeded in building a learning organization with sustainability. It is a great opportunity to learn how the organizations from different sectors achieve sustainable growth through an implementation of knowledge management. Knowledge management is critical to all organizations, particularly for a public sector, although they are not familiar with knowledge transfer practices. If it is fully realized and properly implemented, it will help raise the bar of the governmental agencies’ performance in the long run,” added Assoc. Prof. Kitti Siripullop.
With this respect, knowledge management in the private sector organizations is also imperative. It will be an important tool that enables them to become top companies in their respective businesses. The seminars in this area will allow business executives to seek a perfect fit of how to embed knowledge management into their organizations through seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Dr. Edward Rubesch, Director of Master's Degree in Business Administration (International Program) of Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, pointed out that, “As far as the old educational system of Thailand is concerned, the students are considered just the recipients of 'information' delivered by the teacher. That is still pretty far from the realm of knowledge development in individuals. At present, the world is changing and we all have a role in changing the world with vital knowledge and sustainability-driven sense making. We take this to heart by designing our International MBA (IMBA) curriculum to serve the future need of the business community in particular and the global society in general. Our IMBA students are groomed to be “change makers” who are eager to make change toward a triple bottom line when doing business. Thammasat University's International MBA program aims to cultivate the concept of sustainability into all IMBA students’ mindsets through research-based practices and social activities which enable them to gain hands-on experiences and maximize learning capabilities. Their project-based activities are required to be measured in three dimensions, namely environmental, economic and human impacts. This is how “business” knowledge management and sustainable development merges at IMBA Program so as to nurture a new generation of “socially responsible entrepreneurs” to the world of business in the future.
It is hoped that this seminar serves as a wake-up call for organizational leaders from both public and private sectors to embrace and execute the concepts of knowledge management and sustainable development on the same platform. They are essentially key levers to achieving a sustainable growth of Thai organizations as well as building an even stronger business community of Thailand in years to come.