Editorial

Citation

Stankosky, M. (2006), "Editorial", VINE, Vol. 36 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/vine.2006.28736caa.001

Editorial

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal on a discussion of why management trends quickly fade away. One blamed consultants who venture into these areas with little to no expertise. Many applied these ideas with little to no validation, context, nor expertise. Some of it was also attributed to the customers, who are always in a hurry-search of a new way to run a business better. We tend to follow the simple, “silver-bullet-approach” to complex situations, and only focus on the idea at hand. I often tell my students that we will never solve our transportation problems, because we look at them as only transportation problems. The real solution lies in the higher issue: urban planning, of which transportation is only a subset. You will not find a secretary of urban planning on the state governor’s office, but you will find a secretary of transportation.

So, what is the answer? I have a hypothesis: these so-called fads were/are indeed worthwhile, and add value. The reason for their failure was/is the lack of a framework to operate in; and they became the main focus of the organization. Like the human body, all essential organs have to operate in some type of harmony; otherwise, sickness, and possibly death, follows. What I am advocating is the development, in academia and business, of a discipline and practices that treat the organization and all its stakeholders, to include competitors and partners, with all their moving parts, as an entity – as an enterprise. What we need is a discipline, with its theory and practices, of how to engineer, integrate, and manage an enterprise: hence the name of the discipline: Enterprise Management Engineering and Integration (EMEI). You will hear more about this from me and other authors in future publications. For now, this journal has already laid some of the foundational thinking for EMEI. The articles in this issue cover a wide range of applicable topics, since they make references to frameworks, integration, boundaries, and differences.

The portfolio articles continue with: Arthur Murray and Kent Greenes on the search for the enterprise of the future. This centerpiece research was designed for EMEI. Francesco Calabrese and Carol Orlando add their touch to enterprise processes by trying to make sense of the various proposed implementation of knowledge management (KM) “steps”, whether they are eight, ten, or 12. The number is not as important as making sure we get them working under a framework, and ensuring sustainability, consistency, and adaptability in a world of rapid change and speed. Alex Bennet continues her prolific writing with a new frame of reference for learning in complex enterprises – how learning can be extrapolated across organizations. Theresa Jefferson shows how a major disaster again showed the necessity for interoperability and coordination across information systems. This critical need is also necessary for the enterprise of the future to function successfully. Julie Ryan treats us to new perspectives on knowledge security in a global and political context. I always advocated “political engineering” as a must-for-success in large organizations. Julie has taken this to a new level here. Finally, Annie Green takes us on a journey where business intelligence (BI) is leveraged across the enterprise. She discusses a holistic approach to implementing knowledge valuation in an enterprise environment.

For our Executive interview, we are treated to the incredible experiences and insights – dare I say wisdom – of a KM legend: Kent Greenes. Kent’s journey with KM started at BPAmoco, took another trip with SAIC (a high technology, systems engineering and integration company), and continues with his own consulting company. Kent has many disciples around the globe, and his touch is a Midas one.

For the peer-reviewed articles, we have a list of prominent scholars and practitioners. We start out with Kevin Desouza, on a future look at KM. Some critics say that KM is dead; others that this is the second, perhaps the third, wave. What they do not seem to know is that knowledge assets are the principal resources for delivering the goods and services of the twenty-first century economy. Why KM? It is all about KM! In that regard, Alex Bennet has teamed up with Shane Tomblin on a learning network framework for organizations in the twenty-first century. They integrate well the notions of organizational learning, knowledge management, and information and communications technologies.

I recently read an interesting article in The Economist (2006), entitled “The physical internet”. It is referring to the impact supply chain management (SCM) is having on integrating the global economy; just as the virtual internet has. Without these physical and virtual networks, our economic world would clearly be different. The real questions this raises are: “What is the ideal or optimum blend of these two factors?”; and“Are there others ones of equal impact; and if so, how do we integrate and measure their contribution?” Javad Soroor and Mohammad Tarokh take us on a journey into those two domains, and investigate wireless technologies and services that can enhance the operations of the “physical internet”.

Finally, Hsin Kao, Peng-Hsian Kao and Thomas Mazzuchi take us on a cultural journey, showing us how groups of Taiwanese executives, in two different regions of Asia, use KM. They conclude that cultural and contextual variables may not affect the mix of knowledge-sharing problems. Rather interesting!

I hope by now that the readership of this journal has a sense of the richness of our contributors, and the dynamics that go into taking the various areas of expertise and stitching them together; trying to make sense of the global and knowledge economy that organizations are operating in. The key words here are “stitching together”, for that is where the magical work is in operating successfully across many boundaries and functions. Each idea, by itself, is rich; stitched together, under a workable framework, is priceless. Let us know what you think!

Best wishes.Michael Stankosky