Knowledge management based on information technology in response to COVID-19 crisis

With the emergence and spread of a novel coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19), a new public health crisis is threatening the world. This new virus has caused serious panic and has dominated public attention. In response, healthcare organizations have been bearing the brunt of the crisis and the workload of medical personnel has increased exponentially. Consequently, healthcare systems may face collapse without the implementation of active adequate intervention. The advent of COVID-19 is an unprecedented crisis that requires crisis management (CM) efforts to mitigate the situation. CM can be viewed as a set of ongoing, systematic, and interrelated processes for identifying, analyzing, treating, and learning about crises by applying management strategies and practices. While the management strategy implies the importance of effective decision-making, decision-makers face relatively high uncertainty and complex contexts when making crisis- related decisions, which differs from conventional decision-making contexts. Therefore, it is crucial to help managers make timely and suitable decisions in response to the crisis using different means.
Knowledge is the most valuable resource an organization possesses. In times of crisis, where rapid responses are required, it is vital to conduct appropriate knowledge-management (KM) activities to enable or facilitate effective managerial efforts. KM can support managers in making effective use of key resources and develop strategies for ensuring the prosperity and survival of organizations by mitigating damage that may be caused by the crisis. Additionally, information technology (IT) can serve as a facilitator of the performance of CM and KM, thereby helping organizations achieve their goals. In crisis situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the threats posed by such crises to healthcare organizations are constantly escalating. Therefore, how to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 and contain nosocomial infections to minimize damage is an urgent problem requiring an immediate solution.

QUESTION 1 (25 Marks)

“In times of crisis, where rapid responses are required, it is vital to conduct appropriate knowledge-management (KM) activities to enable or facilitate effective managerial efforts.” Elaborate on why crisis management needs KM and relate the discussion to any field or organisation.

QUESTION 2 (25 Marks)

The development of KM involves a number of technologies. Report on the technologies that will be useful in developing a KM; the combinations of which will produce a system that can collect, sort, store, and share information throughout the organisations. Report on the technologies to consider when developing a knowledge-management systems (KMS) for crisis management.

QUESTION 3 (25 Marks)

“Knowledge is the most valuable resource an organisation possesses. In times of crisis, where rapid responses are required, it is vital to conduct appropriate knowledge-management (KM) activities to enable or facilitate effective managerial efforts.” Analyse and report on the KM activities that should be conducted to facilitate effective decision-making related to crisis management.

QUESTION 4 (25 Marks)

“Additionally, information technology (IT) can serve as a facilitator of the performance of CM and KM, thereby helping organisations achieve their goals.” Apart from the beneficial aspects of using KM for CM, there are numerous challenges. Provide a critical review on the challenges related to using KM for crisis management. This discussion to focus on any field or organisation. Provide recommendation to the challenges discussed.

Answers to Above Questions on Knowledge Management

Answer 1: Knowledge management is highly essential for every type of organisation and its importance increases especially during times of crisis such as Covid 19 Pandemic. The situation of crisis management can be dealt with in an effective way by the application of knowledge management, as it helps in rapid decision making during the crisis situation. Knowledge management is also important in facilitating collaboration and communication among members in different departments. The effective utilization of resources to the optimum level can be possible by applying knowledge management and it aids significantly specially during crisis situations.