Knowledge Management as a Strategic Tool for Competitive Advantage at Safaricom Limited Kenya

Abstract

In the rapid changing business environment and the high technology atmosphere of the 21st century organization are becoming more innovative than ever before. Most organization in the developing and the developed world are opting for change in management, looking for ways to improve their ability to create new ideas and develop the best environment for creation of ideas. Knowledge management is now recognized as an organization most valuable asset, because knowledge is a complex asset it must be managed in a different way unlike other resources. In the fasts changing business environment, knowledge has become the mainstay of every organization in creating and sustaining competitive advantage differentiation. The recent trend in the field of strategic knowledge has been it emphasizes the role of organization knowledge as the basis of the effective competitiveness Knowledge management is the key to effective competitiveness in an organization. However, no study has focused on the impact of Knowledge management on competitive advantage. This study sought to investigate Safaricom Limited has used knowledge management as strategic tool for achieving competitive advantage. This study adopted a case study since the unit of analysis was one organization. The study used interviewed guide to collect primary data was where researcher distributed the interviewed guide personally. The study used open- ended questions that enabled the researcher to collect qualitative data. This was used in order to gain a better understanding and possibly enable a better and more in sightful interpretation of the results from the study. The respondents of this study staff working at Safaricom where the study targeted to interview 5 respondents. A content analysis and qualitative analysis were employed. The data was then presented in a continuous prose as a qualitative report on risk knowledge management as a strategic tool for competitive advantage at Safaricom limited Kenya. From a target of five respondents all respondents targeted completed the interview guide making a response rate of 100%. The study concluded that Through knowledge management Safaricom has developed a range of products and services which include roaming services, data messaging, M-pesa, voice services, information and security services, Video Conferencing Telepresence, Virtual Computing and much more. Policies laid down by the government such as taxation are key challenges that the organization face in creating polices and strategies on knowledge management. On the impact of knowledge management on competitive advantage, it was established that knowledge management policy at safaricom limited is a long term strategy focused on transforming lives. The turbulent business environment, with global trends and the stringent competition in the world market resulted in the significant changes that Safaricom Limited should introduce in their current business operations. The changes are necessary for survival in the market. The Safaricom should adopt to changes in the external environment and make changes in the internal environment in terms of innovation, increasing competitiveness, employee training, increasing flexibility, improving processes and business performance.