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This paper aims to study the evolution of definitions of internet of things (IoT) through time, critically assess the knowledge these definitions contain and facilitate sensemaking by providing those unfamiliar with IoT with a theoretical definition and an extended framework.

164 articles published between 2005 and 2019 are collected using snowball sampling. Further, 100 unique definitions are identified in the sample. Definitions are examined using content analysis and applying a theoretical framework of five knowledge dimensions.

In declarative/relational dimensions of knowledge, increasing levels of agreement are observed in the sample. Sources of tautological reasoning are identified. In conditional and causal dimensions, definitions of IoT remain underdeveloped. In the former, potential limitations of IoT related to resource scarcity, privacy and security are overlooked. In the latter, three main loci of agreement are identified.

This study does not cover all published definitions of IoT. Some narratives may be omitted by our selection criteria and process.

This study supports sensemaking of IoT. Main loci of agreement in definitions of IoT are identified. Avenues for further clarification and consensus are explored. A new framework that can facilitate further investigation and agreement is introduced.

This is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first study that examines the historical evolution of definitions of IoT vis-à-vis its technological features. This study introduces an updated framework to critically assess and compare definitions, identify ambiguities and resolve conflicts among different interpretations. The framework can be used to compare past and future definitions and help actors unfamiliar with IoT to make sense of it in a way to reduce adoption costs. It can also support researchers in studying early discussions of IoT.

This study aims to investigate the importance of relational and conditional knowledge by assessing how service and signaling competences affect manufacturing firms’ productivity. These relationships are explored in the context of Africa, where, paradoxically, firms selling abroad must satisfy different market demands than firms that serve only domestic markets.

The authors draw on the World Bank Enterprise Survey to perform a cross-sectional analysis of 4,683 manufacturing firms. These surveys cover the period 2009-2017 and 35 different African countries. The authors define service competence development as co-location with knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms, measured through KIBS density at city level. Signaling is measured through outward-looking competences.

This paper shows that African exporters differ significantly from their non-exporting counterparts in terms of productivity and competences. External service competence generates productivity gains for exporters but has the opposite effect for non-exporters. Results consistent with previous research also show that signaling competences generate productivity gains, but the effect for firms serving domestic markets is stronger than the effect for exporting firms. The authors use paradoxes of learning to interpret these results.

This study detects nuances of the African context that increase the understanding of knowledge management in emerging markets. The findings would benefit from confirmation in a longitudinal and causal setting.

African exporting firms should establish mechanisms to develop joint knowledge with external partners (know-with) to enhance their competitiveness, whereas African non-exporters should prioritize building knowledge credibility.

The study develops a novel empirical approach to analyzing firm competences in Africa. It also shows that contextualization of existing knowledge management theories matters, opening a research avenue to test further existing theories in emerging economies.

The present study aimed to present a structural model of the relationships between personality traits, metacognitive awareness, creativity and academic achievement in virtual students.

The statistical population of the study consisted of all students of the electronic Islamic Azad University in Tehran, where 240 of them were selected as sample group by random sampling method. Research instruments included the short form of the Creative Behavior Inventory (Linger), the Metacognitive Awareness Questionnaire (Schraw and Dennison) and NEO Personality Inventory (McCrae and Costa). Data were analyzed using LISERL software and the path analysis method.

The findings indicated a mediating role of metacognitive awareness and creativity in the relationship between extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness personality traits with academic performance. It was also found that metacognitive awareness has a direct, significant positive effect on creativity.

According to the results of the present study, the level of creativity in virtual students can be developed through training and strengthening meta-cognitive skills. The findings also suggest that meta-cognition and creativity are traits that can have intrinsic and personality roots.

The purpose of this article is to investigate how organization retain the knowledge of Contract Workforce (CWF) and to understand the associated challenges in this regard.

Adopting an inductive approach, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers, project heads and consultants working in leading oil and gas companies across eight countries (USA, Australia, UAE, KSA, Pakistan, UK, Thailand and Russia). Thematic analysis was carried out to analyze the data collected.

CWF appears to be a significant source of knowledge attrition and even knowledge loss in the oil and gas sector. There are various risks associated with hiring of CWF, such as hallowing of organizational memory, repeated training of contractors, no knowledge base, workforce shortage among others which can impede the knowledge retention capability of O&G companies in the context of contract workforce. Various knowledge retention strategies for CWF have been revealed, however, there is interplay of various factors such as proportion of CWF deployed, proper resource utilization, cross-functional multi-level teams' involvement and strength of transactional ties. Maintaining strong relationships (Transactional ties) is crucial to maintain a virtual organizational memory (partial knowledge retention) and to follow a adopting a rehired when required policy.

The knowledge retention issue in the context of CWF has not be addressed in past researches. This article attempts to fill this gap.

This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing the adoption and diffusion of knowledge management systems (KMSs) in Australia.

A qualitative field study was undertaken, in which six Australian organizations of various sizes, all in various stages of KMS adoption and diffusion, were studied via face‐to‐face interviews with key personnel in the organizations.

A comprehensive combined model of adoption and diffusion of KMS was developed and is presented in detail.

This paper explains how the combined model can be used for practical applications in companies that are embarking on KMS adoption and diffusion.

This study contributes to the KMS literature by taking a qualitative research approach to develop a comprehensive model.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical types of knowledge lost when employees depart companies in the oil and gas field.

The study adopts a grounded theory methodology. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with elite informants in the oil and gas sector to gain an in-depth insight into the research problem. ATLAS.ti was used for data analysis and coding.

In the oil and gas industry, employees generally have job rotation and work at various geographical locations during their career. The departing employees possess valuable types of knowledge depending on the role and duties they have performed over the years. These include specialized technical knowledge, contextual knowledge of working at different geographical locations, knowledge of train wrecks and history of company, knowledge of relationships and networks, knowledge of business processes and knowledge of management.

The study findings might only be applicable to the oil and gas sector.

This paper fulfills an identified gap on the identification of critical areas of knowledge loss when employees depart from oil and gas companies. The study adds to the existing body of literature on this underexplored area in the knowledge management literature.

The purpose of this paper is to describe different concepts of valuable knowledge that are perceived to be lost when an older expert departs from a knowledge-intensive organisation.

A multiple case research methodology and semi-structured interviews involving 17 participants from five small-to-medium enterprises (SME).

Five concepts of valuable knowledge have emerged from the interviews: subject matter expertise; knowledge about business relationships and social networks; organisational knowledge and institutional memory; knowledge of business systems, processes and value chains; and knowledge of governance.

The scope of the research project is restricted to SMEs in New Zealand and this restriction limits the generalisation of the results to other contexts. This study may serve as a starting point for future investigations including larger organisations that may have a greater number of older experts.

By identifying the different types of older experts' knowledge, organisations are able to realise the potential of retaining that knowledge within the organisation.

This is one of the first investigations of the knowledge that older experts in the professional services industry possess within a small-to-medium enterprise context.

Principles of Peer Leadership is an undergraduate course developed through the collaboration of leadership educators with colleagues from residence life and fraternity/sorority life to provide instruction to undergraduate students serving in peer leadership positions across campus. The course comprises online and recitation components to connect leadership concepts to the students’ peer leadership practice. This application brief is intended to a) provide an overview of the course along with relevant scholarship used in its design, b) detail the course format and its various components for developing leadership skills, and c) offer educator reflections about how the course has worked well, and areas for improvement. Among the recommendations for future practice is a clear message of collaboration with university stakeholders and continuous assessment.

This paper investigates the effectiveness of metacognitive teaching methods on students' reading comprehension through a lesson study case conducted in Shanghai.

This study adopts an experimental design with control groups and experimental groups. Plan–do–check–act (PDCA) cycles of lesson study were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of modeling, self-questioning, think aloud and KWL strategy in Chinese language lessons. Metacognitive teaching strategies were implemented at a junior high school in Shanghai. The data was collected via lesson observation, interviews and pre- and posttests.

Results identified a significant difference between the incremental scores of students' reading comprehension in the experimental group and control group. The findings from the lesson observation showed that metacognitive teaching strategies in Chinese language developed students' reading comprehension. Moreover, PDCA cycles of lesson study helped the teachers improve metacognitive teaching strategies.

Few studies have been conducted to validate metacognitive teaching through lesson study in the context of China schools, and this study contributes to a new research dimension of lesson study on developing pedagogical practices to improve student learning outcomes.

With the popularity of the internet, access to health-related information has become more convenient. However, the easy acquisition of e-health information could lead to unfavorable consequences, such as health anxiety. The purpose of this paper is to explore a set of important influencing factors that lead to health anxiety.

Based on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework, we propose a theoretical model of health anxiety, with metacognitive beliefs and catastrophic misinterpretation as the mediators between stimulus factors and health anxiety. Using 218 self-reported data points, the authors empirically examine the research model and hypotheses.

The study results show that anxiety sensitivity positively affects metacognitive beliefs. The severity of physical symptoms has a significant positive impact on catastrophic misinterpretation. Metacognitive beliefs and catastrophic misinterpretation have significant positive impacts on health anxiety.

Based on the S-O-R model, this paper develops a comprehensive model to explain health anxiety and verifies the model using firsthand data.