It is important, when implementing strategies, that the responsibilities for each activity
relating to the critical success factors are properly identified. The area where this could
go wrong is database maintenance, hence a need for knowledge workers (Johnson
6
and Scholes, 1999). Any organization aspires towards recruiting and keeping the best
skills and capabilities, which human resources can offer. This edge makes an
organization a sought after commodity. Thus, one of the main aims of the human
resources section of an organization is to attract and retain those employees who
enable the organization to be at the cutting-end of competitiveness.
For today's college graduates, the use of information technology as a means of
accessing information and communicating with colleagues is a given (Porter and Miller,
1985). It can thus be assumed that new graduates will be keener to go for those
employers who can provide the technology that they are familiar with, and are
knowledgeable about. A company can, therefore, make a strong case that
implementing e-business is a way for all employees to learn a new skill that will
become vital in the very near future, helping to ensure their employability.
Old information, which is not necessary for daily use, can be archived and stored on
compact disks to enable newcomers to "get up to speed" very easily as they can
access the information through the database of the organization. Knowledge gained
by people over a period of time can thus be stored for future reference, even when the
original author has long left the organization. Knowledge workers are becoming a vital
resource in the 21st century company. One of the goals of knowledge management is
to deliver the intellectual capacity of the firm to the knowledge workers who make the
day-to-day decisions that determine the success or failure of a business (Cross and
Baird, 2000). According to Granovetter (1973), knowledge repository plays an
important role in preserving organizational memory. Nevertheless, technology is only
one form of memory that employees tap into when solving problems – and its use is
limited.