As organizations develop enterprise-wide e-commerce portals we believe hat KM must play a key role (von Lubitz & Wickramasinghe, 2006; Rosen, 2000). We highlight this in the framework we present in Figure 5. Our framework specifi- cally emphasizes integration of the many disparate e-commerce systems. Such an Enterprise-wide e-commerce portal is intended to offer a single focal centralized point for linking to a collection of applications, and a method for initiating processes
Figure 5. Framework for enterprise-wide e-commerce portal
Administration Security Load Balancing A pplication Integration Integrated e-portal
Middleware to convert into customized applications – contextualizing and dynamic profiling capabilities
Content Management – standards and interface with all protocols, multi-lingual features, messaging capabilities
Intelligence Capabilities – search agents, DSS, data mining, OLAP, and business intelligence
Portal gateway
Universal interface components – search, query, calendar, news, e- mail/chat
Databases: operational, analytic, knowledge Intranets/Extranets Internet/ Web
Enterprise integration
application (EIA)
Suppliers Customers
that transcend multiple systems. In an integrated portal, users can go to one place and perform searches across disparate repositories such as a Lotus Notes database, Microsoft Exchange public folders, Web sites, file systems, databases, and a col- lection of other repositories (Ceri & Bongio, 2000; Hille, 2001; Retter & Calyniuk, 1998; Stehle, 2001). Portal’s core functions include e-mail, group calendaring and scheduling, shared folders/databases, threaded discussions, and custom application development to support B2C and B2B business models. Furthermore such a portal should include all of the following capabilities: (1) workflow and routing of docu- ments; (2) discussion threads; (3) User-chat sessions; (4) dynamic group and team creation; (5) interactive collaboration, including video, voice, and application sharing;
(6) cross-repository searching; (7) business intelligence; (8) CRM; (9) discussion threads; (10) document management; (11) e-mail; (12) ERP; (13) online chats; (14) personal and group calendar; (15) reporting; (16) sales-force automation. All of these capabilities can be grouped into broad categories such as database design, messag- ing technologies, supply chain, multilingual content, security solutions, electronic payment systems, content management, middleware and knowledge management and thus the framework evolves as depicted in Figure 5.
Current Web pages in general and especially current medical Web-portals and on-line databases such as Medline provide the decision maker with voluminous informa- tion that he/she must then synthesize to determine relative and general relevance;
i.e., they are passive in nature. In contrast, we suggest that a “smart” portal (Figure 4.6a) that enables the possibility to access the critical information rapidly is more useful and should be the future of portal design (von Lubitz & Wickramasinghe, 2006). Sequential knowledge generation is achieved by the decision maker initiat- ing a search from the smart portal and receiving the necessary germane knowledge pertaining to that request, where this germane knowledge is generated by utilizing the intelligence capabilities of the smart portal (Figure 6b) and hence provides as- similated and synthesized information that is relevant and structured in a useable fashion to the decision maker. Thus, the smart portal is active and provides the decision maker or effector with relevant data, information, and knowledge so he or she does not need to determine the relevance of relative pieces of information and knowledge rather only needs to apply the knowledge and information to make a sound decision.
Other design elements unique to the smart portal (Figures 6a and 6b) include the ability to navigate well through the system (i.e., the smart portal must have a well structured grid map to identify what information is coming from where, or what information is being uploaded to where). In order to support the ability of the smart portal to bring all relevant information and knowledge located throughout the system to the decision maker there must be universal standards and protocols that ensure the free flowing and seamless transfer of information and data; the ultimate in shared services. Finally, given the total access to the system provided by the smart portal to the decision maker it is vital that the highest level of security protocols
Figure 6a. Smart portal
Figure 6b. Intelligence capabilities of the smart portal
SMART PORTAL
Security &
standards/protocols Cartography/
Grid map
Input from grid
Output to grid Real-time
processing of gathered information
Intelligent DSS capabilities
Effector activities:
Databases:
operational, analytic, knowledge to support DSS functions
Access to specific node
Intranets/
Extranets
Internet/ Web The Intelligence Capabilities from
Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics
documents
are maintained at all times; thereby ensuring the integrity of the system at all times.
The smart portal provides us with a vision of the future and serves to underscore the confluence of ERP, e-business, and knowledge management. Moreover, it is important to stress that while ERP and e-business techniques are necessary for its correct functioning, it is through the incorporation of the techniques of knowledge management that the true power of the portal can be realized.
Chapter Summary
The myriad business processes together constitute the business infrastructure of an organization. Current management initiatives such as TQM, BPR, SCM, and CRM are aimed at trying to ensure these processes are more effective and efficient.
Contemporaneously, growth in B-to-B ecommerce is necessitating even faster and hyper efficient and effective flows of information, while the advent of ERP has ne- cessitated re-evaluation of traditional “back-end” business functions. Organizations spend millions of dollars trying to design and develop more effective and suitable business process however, without an understanding the role of knowledge in these processes or the utilization of the data, information and knowledge generated by various business processes, all attempts at making business processes will be sub- optimal. The tools and techniques of knowledge management must be applied in conjunction with any or all these initiatives before organizations can maximize the full benefit of their business infrastructure and ensure that they are in fact design- ing and implementing value-adding process. All initiatives such as TQM, BPR, SCM, and CRM will never be truly successful unless they incorporate knowledge management.
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Endnote
1 Refer to http://www.ge.com/sixsigma/ for complete details on Six Sigma at GE.