Knowledge products and role of Academia

Only those industries/companies that have built-in methods to learn from the accumulated human experience will survive market rivalry and business survival skills in current times. This allows them to remove redundancies, hence increasing efficiency. Consequently, these learning organizations can better fulfill the needs of their employees and customers. Those with a static mindset, on the other hand, will perish over time because their businesses will fail to suit the needs of their employees and customers. In a knowledge-based economy, knowledge products optimize resources.

Digital learning systems and learning management systems are crucial to resource optimization because they enable effective data queries for various models. A corporation may, for instance, use a digital system to take product orders from customers, and then store the data in a database for record-keeping. However, the data is available for other searches, such as determining which products sell the most. What items are sold in the smallest quantities? Therefore, digital systems are the foundation of learning since they retain raw data that can generate patterns. This information, when combined with other sets of information, can generate knowledge, and this knowledge can enhance the leadership acumen. Consequently, firm leadership is able to make prudent decisions based on empirical knowledge rather than intuition. The digital systems increase human capital in this manner.

The theme of a corporation is determined by the leadership conduct, as leadership offers vision. The majority of businesses rely on digital systems for efficient data processing nowadays. For example, hospitals use digital systems to record patient information. Nonetheless, some businesses extract patterns from raw data and combine them with other information to create expertise. These businesses employ technology as a decision support system because they use knowledge to make better judgments. Some businesses further process and store their information to expand on their earlier experiences, and they may also make the knowledge accessible to other businesses. For instance, hospitals can identify patterns of prevalent diseases in a region and share this information with pharmaceutical and medical schools so they can develop treatments.

Knowledge management is comprised of four basic components. i.e. the leadership or management of a company entity, as the attitude of the leadership dictates the conduct of lower-ranking employees. Leadership provides knowledge management with vision, progress, and an enabling environment. In contrast, the organization aspect concentrates on procedures and processes for daily activities. Multiple ways in which technology optimizes information flow exist. For instance, email systems, databases, decision support systems, and communication technologies enhance the efficiency of the workplace. The built-in learning system is a further significant component. Consequently, different departments should be able to query the data to make more informed decisions if all operations of a business are integrated for data collection purposes. Similarly, academic institutions should employ knowledge management systems to support the knowledge-products economy. Theoretical information on a library shelf is useless to humanity if it cannot be converted into a product. Therefore, academic institutions should store and integrate their database querying systems with those of other organizations. Therefore, knowledge should be preserved so that it may be easily consumed both internally and externally. If someone in Islamabad is working on a topic and a student at Punjab University has published a thesis on it, then consumers in Islamabad do not need to reinvent the wheel and expend unnecessary effort on the same thing. He can contribute to his thesis while seated at Punjab University. This is only conceivable if all dissertations are available in digital format and mechanisms are integrated to allow access by third parties. In addition, text-based knowledge is superior to scanned images of paper since machines cannot search text on images. Therefore, knowledge should be encoded in a machine-searchable format.

Virtual universities and online education Since 2001, web-based solutions have grown in popularity and represent a step forward in the field of education. MOOC platforms are also used by traditional universities to provide their courses to online learning communities. On their web-servers, the majority of universities have either blackboard or Moodle systems. These systems offer a variety of activities to increase learner engagement. These online systems include discussion board, survey, assignment submission, concept map, wiki, and resource-sharing modules. So that students can interact and socially build knowledge. These systems provide colorful resources and a diversity of expressive options. Teachers are not restricted solely to written resources. They can share videos, audio pod casts, and materials with active links. Moreover, students from various countries and time zones can communicate and learn from one another.

Globalization and information technology are fostering cooperation between communities of diverse cultures, religions, and languages. In addition, people are learning to be a part of the knowledge economy and not merely to receive a pay raise, as the majority of jobs today are in the private sector, which does not offer compensation increases based on academic credentials. The private sector seeks practical talents required by the firm, such as problem-solving, communication, cooperation, time management, and the capacity to interact with individuals of different cultures. Therefore, it is imperative that curriculum be revised to reflect these changes by policymakers. The curriculum should incorporate the aforementioned abilities as key competencies. More possibilities should be made available for students to participate in exchange programs and to learn new technology. Additionally, pupils should be encouraged to be learners for life.

Changes to policies are very simple, but execution is challenging due to the university staff’s inflexible mentality. The presence of unions exacerbates the difficulty. Nevertheless, policies require revision and implementation. New disciplines and/or majors should be implemented. The funding for university research must be greatly expanded, accompanied by a list of key performance measures to ensure that the new funds are utilized effectively. The technical infrastructure of universities must be improved to improve knowledge management. Plan a capacity building program for university management employees to increase system efficiency and bring the university up to level with the world’s leading universities. Last but not least, colleges must adopt a corporate-style democratic leadership in which departments have greater authority.

The business dynamics of corporations are rapidly evolving and tending toward knowledge products. Therefore, academic institutions should upgrade their systems in order to develop a labor force with appropriate employable skills for the knowledge goods of contemporary corporate cultures. This might be accomplished by emulating corporate culture within institutions. Leadership, organization, technology, and learning must be continuously enhanced in order to produce marketable personnel for the private sector.

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