Page 171 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

152 5 Innovative EC Systems: From E-Government to E-Learning, Knowledge Management, E-Health, and C2C Commerce

Figure 5.5 The knowledge
management system cycle
Create

Assess, Capture
Evaluate

Knowledge
Disseminate Refine
Management

Manage Store

These tasks can be viewed as a cyclical process, as In the past, KM and EC initiatives were dealt with indepen-
shown in Figure 5.5. The objective of e-commerce is to dently; however, they can be used together for mutual benefit.
automate KM activities as well as help in using the stored
knowledge. Examples
For a comprehensive list of KM activities and tools, According to Britt (2013), “E-commerce retailers are using
see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management and knowledge management solutions to pull together order,
kmworld.com. inventory, sales, and other transaction information, as well as
to improve customer feedback and to enhance the overall
e-commerce experience.” Britt provides the following
Knowledge Sharing
examples:
Knowledge is of limited value if not updated and shared. The
• Dog is Good Inc. (a merchant of “canine-themed apparel”)
ability to share and then distribute knowledge decreases its is using KM to help in the integration of EC subsystems
cost per user and increases its effectiveness. Shared knowl-
(ordering, inventory, order fulfillment, accounting, and
edge can also decrease risk and uncertainty and facilitate EC stores) using the offerings from NetSuite.
problem-solving. An example of a knowledge-sharing sys-
• Ideeli, Inc., an online daily flash retailer, uses KM analyt-
tem at Infosys Technologies is provided in Morin (2014).
ics (ForeSee Satisfaction Analytics) to learn about cus-
tomer experiences from collected feedback.
Software Tools for Knowledge Sharing • Ideeli, Inc. also uses KM analytics (ForeSee’s mobile
analytics solution) to identify the needs of frequent visi-
There are many software knowledge-sharing tools. Some tors (by segments on mobile devices). As a result, the
call these “knowledge-sharing technologies.” In this chapter
company modified its e-commerce strategies.
and the book, we cover the following:
• Retina-X Studios provides tracking and monitoring of
activities on mobile phones, computing devices, etc. The
• Expert and expertise location systems (Section 5.3) KM system is used to improve the handling of EC charge-
• Knowledge management systems (Section 5.3)
backs due to cancellation. The company turned to Avangate’s
• Social networks and Web 2.0 tools (Chapter 7)
e-commerce solution that cut costs and improved customer
service.
How is Knowledge Management Related
to E-Commerce? Some managers believe that a major EC-related role of
KM is linking EC and business processes. Specifically,
Organizations need knowledge, which is provided by KM, in knowledge generated in EC contributes to the enhancement
order to better perform their tasks. of three core processes: CRM, SCM, and product develop-