Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Knowledge Concept Map: Structured Concept Analysis From Systematic Literature Review, Philip Sisson, Julie J.C.H. Ryan

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation JEMI

A Maturing Civil Society In China? The Role Of Knowledge And Professionalization In The Development Of Ngos, Jennifer Yj Hsu, Reza Hasmath

Reza Hasmath

Knowledge Sharing And Knowledge Management System Avoidance: The Role Of Knowledge Type And The Social Network In Bypassing An Organizational Knowledge Management System, Susan A. Brown, Alan R. Dennis, Diana Burley, Priscilla Arling

Priscilla Arling

Knowledge sharing is a difficult task for most organizations, and there are many reasons for this. In this article, we propose that the nature of the knowledge shared and an individual's social network influence employees to find more value in person-to-person knowledge sharing, which could lead them to bypass the codified knowledge provided by a knowledge management system (KMS). We surveyed employees of a workman's compensation board in Canada and used social network analysis and hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the data. The results show that knowledge complexity and knowledge teachability increased the likelihood of finding value in person-to-person knowledge …

Beyond Ubiquity: Co-Creating Corporate Knowledge With A Wiki, Helen M. Hasan, Joseph A. Meloche, Charmaine Pfaff, David Willis

Helen Hasan

Despite their reputation as an evolving shared knowledge repository, Wikis are often treated with suspicion in organizations for management, social and legal reasons. Following studies of unsuccessful Wiki projects, a field study was undertaken of a corporate Wiki that has been developed to capture, and make available, organizational knowledge for a large manufacturing company as an initiative of their Knowledge Management program. A Q Methodology research approach was selected to uncover employees subjective attitudes to the Wiki so that the firm could more fully exploit the potential of the Wiki as a ubiquitous tool for tacit knowledge management.

Activity As A Unit Of Analysis For Knowledge Management Frameworks, Leoni Warne, Irena Ali, Helen Hasan

Helen Hasan

The authors of this paper take the view that knowledge management is a set of practices for systematically adding value to the knowlege of individuals, which is generated and shaped through interaction with others. It is therefore appropriate that knowledge management research be conducted in the context of particular organisations, focusing on local activities. To that end two of the authors have conducted a four-year research program investigating the factors in organizations that enhance and enable the assimilation, generation, sharing and building of knowledge that transfonns an organization into a learning organization. Human activities in organisational contexts have been analysed …

Encouraging Entrepreneurship: Microfinance, Knowledge Support, And The Costs Of Operating In Institutional Voids, Subrata Chakrabarty, A E. Bass

Subrata Chakrabarty

The Development Of A User Self-Help Knowledge Management System For Help Desk: Deployment Of Knowledge Management Approach And Software Agent Technology, Kar Yin Leung, Sim K. Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

Most help desks have admitted their call volume has increased in the past decade while “help unavailable when needed” is the major reason for service delivery failure and user dissatisfaction. The habit of calling help desk for simple problems has prompted the investigation of transferring part of first-level troubleshooting duty from help desk to user. This research proposes the development of user self-help knowledge management system that allows user to solve simple and routine technical enquiries. The proposed approach incorporates software agent to allow autonomous handling of enquiries so that the most appropriate solution and user communication can be facilitated.

Knowledge Management In Information Technology Help Desk: Past, Present And Future, Kar Yin Leung, Sim K. Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

Information technology has changed the way organizations function. This resulted in the reliance of help desks to deal with information technology related areas such as hardware, software, and telecommunication. Besides, the adoption of business process reengineering and downsizing have led to the shrinkage of the size of help desk. The shorter information technology product life cycle has worsened the situation by increasing the already sizeable help desk’s user base. Consequently, the help desk has to cover more information technology products and resolute more technical enquiries with less staff. Thus, the outcome is clear that users have to wait comparably longer …

Relieving The Overloaded Help Desk: A Knowledge Management Approach, Kar Yin Leung, Sim Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

No abstract provided.

An Ontology-Based Knowledge Management System To Handle Queries In It Help Desk, Kar Yin Leung, Sim Lau

Dr Sim Kim Lau

No abstract provided.

The Customization Of Knowledge Management Techniques In Information Technology Help Desk, Kar Yin Leung, Sim Lau, Geng Liang

Dr Sim Kim Lau

Information Technology (IT) has converted a majority of organizational activities to automatic and electronicbased. This conversion greatly increases Help Desk (HD)'s coverage on IT related areas. Alternatively, the adoption of business process reengineering and downsizing has led to the shrinkage of the size of HD. This not only leads to the loss of priceless knowledge, but also coerces HD to provide more service with less staff - the outcome is clear that users have to wait comparably longer before HD staff is available. This paper describes how generic Knowledge Management process can be customized to improve support process in HD.

A Knowledge Mapping Approach To Facilitate Strategic Human Resource And Knowledge Management, Debbie Richards, Peter R. Massingham, Peter Busch

Peter Massingham

A key challenge facing organisations is how to effectively connect employees who seek knowledge with those who have the necessary knowledge. From case studies conducted in three separate knowledge intensive organisations, briefly introduced in this paper, we found that locating and measuring expertise were major challenges with no current satisfactory solutions. We offer a method to map intellectual capital within organisations distinct from previous expertise location methods in several significant ways. First, it includes the measurement of knowledge value within the context of the organisation's strategy and activities. Second, it addresses concerns with existing methods such as subjectivity associated with …

Articulating Knowledge Work: The Contributions Of Activity Theory And Task-Based Knowledge Management, Henry Linger, Frada Burstein, Helen M. Hasan

Helen Hasan

This chapter addresses issues of knowledge work in organisations with a concern that mainstream knowledge management (KM) has fallen short of expectations. The real nature of knowledge work remains hidden, and thus inaccessible, to those who are trying to improve organisational outcomes through KM practices. The authors have conducted independent research within a new discourse on knowledge work in the context of modem complex organisations, the results of which are converging to a common understanding of this critical phenomenon. Their two theoretical frameworks, one task-based and one activity-based, are described here as eminently suited to this research. Two sets of …

The Wiki: An Environment To Revolutionise Employees' Interaction With Corporate Knowledge, Helen M. Hasan, Charmaine C. Pfaff

Helen Hasan

Some corporations have adopted a Wiki on their Intranets for employees to collectively store, edit and access workrelated material such as reports, best-practice features, and documents. As such collaborative software moves from the social to the corporate arena, it is bound to challenge management authority, engaging the knowledge worker in a more participatory knowledge capability and environment. This paper explores the implication that this revolution has for the interaction of corporate users with technology that will lead to a profound change in organisational culture.

Q-Methodology For The Active Process Of Knowledge Management, Joseph A. Meloche, Helen M. Hasan, Michelle Mok

Helen Hasan

Knowledge Managament for the provision of Health Information Services is a developing field and one that is usefully informed by applied research. The current study is conducted with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) professionals to capture and distil their views in regard to a developing a Web-Based Information Service. This service is provided by a central coordination and monitoring unit for intensive care units across NSW, Australia. The study is part of a larger research initiative that is being done to advance the provision of health information in ICU's across the state. Given the complex and dynamic context of ICUs, there …

Overcoming Organisational Resistance To Using Wiki Technology For Knowledge Management, Charmaine C. Pfaff, Helen M. Hasan

Helen Hasan

Although Wikis emerged in the public domain more than a decade ago, a number of business organisations are now discovering the advantages of using Wiki technology to manage knowledge. However, there are many who are not convinced about the merits of this relatively new Wiki technology and are not yet prepared to risk its adoption because it exhibits many ideas that have yet to be tested and many issues that have yet to be resolved. This paper studies the merits of using a Wiki for knowledge management. While some cases of corporate adoption of Wiki technology have been reported, cases …

Collaborative Knowledge At The Grass-Roots Level: The Risks And Rewards Of Corporate Wikis, Charmaine Pfaff, Helen M. Hasan

Helen Hasan

The open source movement is founded on the concept of democratising knowledge to freely collaborate and exchange information at the grass-roots level. As Wikis are philosophically grounded in this movement, the use of corporate Wikis in the collaborative creation and operation of knowledge management systems holds considerable potential. However, the impact of using corporate Wikis in the business environment has uncovered some challenging issues such as licensing, accountability and liability regarding copyright, which may require a change in the way we think about intellectual property and licensing in this connected world.

Evaluating The Knowledge Assets Of Innovative Companies, Helen M. Hasan, Maen Al-Hawari

Helen Hasan

In the current post-industrial society, knowledge is recognised as a primary source of a company's wealth. However knowledge assets are much more difficult to identify and measure than are the physical assets with which we are much more familiar. (Boisot 1998) As a company's innovative capacity may be dependent upon its ability to take advantage of its knowledge assets, it is important to be able to identify and measure those assets. While large companies can afford extensive knowledge management projects, there is a acute need for a method by which managers in smaller organisations can easily and reliably locate and …

Developing Adaptability: A Theory For The Design Of Integrated-Embedded Training Systems, Steve W. J. Kozlowski, Rebecca J. Toney, Morell E. Mullins, Daniel A. Weissbein, Kenneth G. Brown, Bradford S. Bell

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] This convergence of forces – environmental, technological, and economic – is driving a reconceptualization of the nature of training systems. Training is shifting from an inefficient, time consuming, and expensive enterprise to one that can be delivered efficiently, as needed, and just-in-time. It is shifting from an off-site single episode to a systematic series of learning experiences that are integrated in the workplace and embedded in work technology. It is shifting from a primary emphasis on retention and reproduction to a broader emphasis that also includes the development of adaptive knowledge and skills (Kozlowski, 1998). Training will not be …

Self-Assessments Of Knowledge: Where Do We Go From Here?, Bradford Bell, Jessica Federman

Bradford S Bell

[Excerpt] In this paper, we argue that there remain several unanswered questions surrounding self-assessments of knowledge that must be addressed before we can reach a more definitive conclusion on the viability of these measures. The answers to these questions may provide further evidence that self-assessments should not be used as an indicator of learning or they may serve to qualify the conditions under which self-assessments can be used with reasonable confidence. In either case, addressing these issues is critical if work in this area is to influence how researchers and practitioners evaluate trainees’ learning.

Goal Orientation And Ability: Interactive Effects On Self-Efficacy, Performance, And Knowledge, Bradford S. Bell, Steve W.J. Kozlowski

Bradford S Bell

This study examined the direct relationship of goal orientation – and the interaction of goal orientation and cognitive ability -- with self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge in a learning context. The current paper argues that whether a particular type of goal orientation is adaptive or not adaptive depends on individuals' cognitive ability. Results indicated that the direct associations of learning and performance orientations were consistent with previous research. Learning orientation was positively related to self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge, while performance orientation was negatively related to only one outcome, performance. The interactions between goal orientation and ability also supported several hypotheses. As …

Revisiting A Proposed Definition Of Professional Service Firms, Asghar Zardkoohi, Leonard Bierman, Daria Panina, Subrata Chakrabarty

Subrata Chakrabarty

Democratising Organisational Knowledge: The Potential Of The Corporate Wiki, Helen Hasan, Charmaine Pfaff

Helen Hasan

Attempts to impose knowledge management often ignore the vast organisational resource of workrelated tacit knowledge possessed by knowledge workers. Our research reveals that activities supported by social technologies such as Wikis, may provide a more appropriate capability for tacit knowledge management where a network centric focus is adopted. A corporate Wiki has the potential to engage the collective responsibilities of knowledge workers to transfer their collective experience and skills into a dynamic shared knowledge repository. However, the traditional organisational culture can be reluctant to allow this power shift which surrenders the monopolistic control of the few over the creation and …

A Documentary Of Innovation Support Among New World Wine Industries, D. K. Aylward

David K. Aylward

During the past two decades, the international wine industry has undergone a ‘seismic shift’. Old World producers no longer dominate production, export and marketing of wine to the extent that they once did. Instead, New World producers such as California, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have successfully married production, management, marketing and innovation to emerge as a new force on the global wine landscape. It is the innovation supports within these selected New World industries that this paper seeks to document, in order to highlight different approaches and outcomes and how they may or may not contribute to an …

Knowledge, Technology Trajectories, And Innovation In A Developing Country Context: Evidence From A Survey Of Malaysian Firms, Deepak Hegde, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira