Knowledge Memo Knowledge Assets Memo

Knowledge Memo

Knowledge Assets Memo

Carl Schmidt, CEO and Steven McFadden, COO

As a privately owned corporation of medium size, control over operations, distribution, and sales is easily and efficiently controlled. The major knowledge assets of the company are found in the CEO and COO, both of whom have engineering knowledge, practical experience as dirt bike users and now years of business experience as well. Other employees in the organization also have experience as dirt bike users, and their input is regularly sought in design, planning, and marketing efforts.

Identification of Problems and Needs

Operating as it does only in the western and mid-western portions of the Unites Sates, Dirt Bike USA is limited in its growth potential and also faces stiff competition from larger corporations with much higher operating cash flows and more extensive market reach. In order to remain competitive and increase growth potential, Dirt Bike USA will need to explore possibilities of expansion and increase its market share.

III. Identification of Options or Alternatives

The current system of distribution utilized by Dirt Bike USA, in which only authorized dealers and repair shops are allowed to sell and/or service the company's products limits growth potential significantly. The size of the marketing team at the company is also a factor that limits growth potential. Increasing the size of the marketing team and allowing Dirt Bike USA's products to be sole by any willing retailer will greatly increase the company's market share without reducing the quality of the product.

IV. Decision Recommendations

It is recommended that Dirt Bike USA expand its marketing efforts and its marketing reach through increased attention to the regions of the country in which the products are not currently offered, and by making the products sold by the company available in a wider array of retailers. The company does not currently have the knowledge assets to facilitate this expansion, having been built very carefully with limited growth and centralized control the primary goals of the founders and officers. Bringing executives with national branding and sales experience into the team is recommended in order to make these expansion efforts truly successful while maintaining the centralized control of the CEO and COO.

V. Implementation Tactics

In addition to building the company's knowledge assets by bringing experienced marketing executives on board, developing a more comprehensive knowledge management system that will allow sales and retail information to be communicated to the company's executives and to design and engineering departments as well. There will necessarily be some loss of centralized control from these changes; the company will have to become more responsive to consumer forces which means less responsive to direct control by the company officers. This will not diminish their role in the company, however, and the product quality can remain just as high without issue.