How the IRCTC used knowledge management to its benefit

In recent years, globally competitive companies have discovered the importance of an organization-wide knowledge management system (KMS).

KMS provides employees with instant access to knowledge gained throughout the organization, thereby enhancing business effectiveness. From being a hygiene factor, KMS has now evolved into a “must-have” component for customer-facing units or departments. For organizations that are spread across the globe, this is a necessity.

Customers contact the firm at various touch points, i.e. physical office or branch, the telephone and internet access 24×7. They expect instant resolution for a bulk of their queries, if not all of them. Successful companies utilize the opportunity of constant contact to build loyalty. And how? By giving frontline staff rapid access to adequate customer and product information, thus speeding up problem resolution.

As an example, in the mid-1990s, Citibank India changed the rules of competition with its campaign “The Citi never sleeps”. It was the first bank to introduce phone banking to the Indian customer where he could call and transact anytime — day or night.

By announcing that it worked 24×7 for its customers, in striking contrast to its competitors who operated strict business hours, it raised the bar so high that it enjoyed unassailable competitive advantage and high brand recall for a very long time. This was made possible by ensuring information availability to employees at all times.

Read the entire story here.

Related posts:

1. Hyatt improves knowledge management
2. ABC: An Introduction to Knowledge Management (KM)
3. Article : What’s Next After Knowledge Management? A Scenario
4. Is the term Knowledge “Management” misleading?
5. Knowledge Enterprises