Search results

The purpose of this exploratory case study is to determine how an enterprise can identify and measure a key resource capability (critical knowledge area) to enhance competitive advantage, in the context of the emerging field of knowledge management. On the basis of the literature on resource capabilities and strategic management, the term critical knowledge area has been formulated as a label for a key resource capability.

The ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic is contingent upon the ability to effectively manage its heterogeneous knowledge resources. Knowledge mapping represents a great opportunity to create value by bringing stakeholders together, facilitating comprehensive collaboration and facilitating broader in-depth knowledge sharing and transfer. However, identifying and analysing critical knowledge areas is one of the most important steps when creating a knowledge map. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to appraise the critical knowledge areas for managing COVID-19, and thereby enhance decision-making in tackling the consequences of the pandemic.

The methodological approach for this study is a critical literature review, covering publications on knowledge management, knowledge mapping and COVID-19. EBSCOhost, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, TRID, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library were searched for full text, peer-reviewed articles written in English that investigated on critical knowledge areas for managing the spread of COVID-19. After full screening, 21 articles met the criteria for inclusion and were analysed and reported.

The study revealed seven critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. These are cleaning and disinfection; training, education and communication; reporting guidance and updates; testing; infection control measures, personal protective equipment; and potential COVID-19 transmission in health and other care settings. The study developed a concept knowledge map illustrating areas of critical knowledge which decision-makers need to be aware of.

Providing decision-makers with access to key knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be crucial for effective decision-making. This study has provided insights for the professionals and decision-makers identifying the critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study advances the literature on knowledge management and builds a theoretical link with the management of public health emergencies. Additionally, the findings support the theoretical position that knowledge maps facilitate decision-making and help users to identify critical knowledge areas easily and effectively.

This study fills gaps in the existing literature by providing an explicit representation of know-how for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper uses an objective and qualitative approach by reviewing related publications, reports and guidelines in the analysis. The concept map illustrates the critical knowledge areas for managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework on knowledge loss in a manufacturing sector based on three aspects: likelihood of knowledge loss, critical areas of knowledge loss and relevance of each of these knowledge areas in terms of utilization and alignment with organizational goals and strategy. Such a conceptual framework can be helpful to the practicing managers in understanding the types of knowledge that is lost of a given departing employee and thus deciding on a measure to retain the critical employees or capture their knowledge before they leave.

Using a case study approach, data has been collected from a multinational battery manufacturing company based in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted and analyzed through CAQDAS ATLAS.ti to generate the themes which were then used to develop the conceptual framework.

The findings revealed that the likelihood factors of knowledge loss in the manufacturing sector include layoffs, retirement, immigration and job change. The critical areas of knowledge loss comprise the knowledge of relationships and networks, especially with the customers and suppliers, the technical knowledge (battery and process technology) and knowledge of management, among others. The relevance of each of these knowledge areas needs to be determined through proper analysis whether these knowledge areas are needed in future projects, up to date and aligned with organizational goals and strategy along with other factors.

Using the developed conceptual framework, managers and executives can identify critical employees in the manufacturing sector and accordingly take some appropriate measures to retain their knowledge. Caution should be taken while applying the findings of this study in other industries and context.

This paper is an attempt to reduce the dearth of empirical studies by exploring knowledge retention in the manufacturing sector, especially in the development of proper conceptual frameworks to assess the potential knowledge loss of employees.

Elegant multi-market models and intricate discounting methods are difficult, at times impossible to utilize in the real world because the necessary data just are not available. While there is no perfect substitute for adequate data, there are good ones that are capable of improving policy decisions. This paper describes one such substitute by way of an example: the designation of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for West Coast salmon and steelhead. The example shows how a cost-effectiveness approach can mitigate (to some extent) the effects of poor data on the monetary benefits of regulatory actions.

The purpose of this paper was to develop an integrated framework for assessing the flood risk and climate adaptation capacity of an urban area and its critical infrastructures to help address flood risk management issues and identify climate adaptation strategies.

Using the January 2011 flood in the core suburbs of Brisbane City, Queensland, Australia, various spatial analytical tools (i.e. digital elevation modeling and urban morphological characterization with 3D analysis, spatial analysis with fuzzy logic, proximity analysis, line statistics, quadrat analysis, collect events analysis, spatial autocorrelation techniques with global Moran’s I and local Moran’s I, inverse distance weight method, and hot spot analysis) were implemented to transform and standardize hazard, vulnerability, and exposure indicating variables. The issue on the sufficiency of indicating variables was addressed using the topological cluster analysis of a two-dimension self-organizing neural network (SONN) structured with 100 neurons and trained by 200 epochs. Furthermore, the suitability of flood risk modeling was addressed by aggregating the indicating variables with weighted overlay and modified fuzzy gamma overlay operations using the Bayesian joint conditional probability weights. Variable weights were assigned to address the limitations of normative (equal weights) and deductive (expert judgment) approaches. Applying geographic information system (GIS) and appropriate equations, the flood risk and climate adaptation capacity indices of the study area were calculated and corresponding maps were generated.

The analyses showed that on the average, 36 (approximately 813 ha) and 14 per cent (approximately 316 ha) of the study area were exposed to very high flood risk and low adaptation capacity, respectively. In total, 93 per cent of the study area revealed negative adaptation capacity metrics (i.e. minimum of −23 to <0), which implies that the socio-economic resources in the area are not enough to increase climate resilience of the urban community (i.e. Brisbane City) and its critical infrastructures.

While the framework in this study was obtained through a robust approach, the following are the research limitations and recommended for further examination: analyzing and incorporating the impacts of economic growth; population growth; technological advancement; climate and environmental disturbances; and climate change; and applying the framework in assessing the risks to natural environments such as in agricultural areas, forest protection and production areas, biodiversity conservation areas, natural heritage sites, watersheds or river basins, parks and recreation areas, coastal regions, etc.

This study provides a tool for high level analyses and identifies adaptation strategies to enable urban communities and critical infrastructure industries to better prepare and mitigate future flood events. The disaster risk reduction measures and climate adaptation strategies to increase urban community and critical infrastructure resilience were identified in this study. These include mitigation on areas of low flood risk or very high climate adaptation capacity; mitigation to preparedness on areas of moderate flood risk and high climate adaptation capacity; mitigation to response on areas of high flood risk and moderate climate adaptation capacity; and mitigation to recovery on areas of very high flood risk and low climate adaptation capacity. The implications of integrating disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation strategies were further examined.

The newly developed spatially explicit analytical technique, identified in this study as the Flood Risk-Adaptation Capacity Index-Adaptation Strategies (FRACIAS) Linkage/Integrated Model, allows the integration of flood risk and climate adaptation assessments which had been treated separately in the past. By applying the FRACIAS linkage/integrated model in the context of flood risk and climate adaptation capacity assessments, the authors established a framework for enhancing measures and adaptation strategies to increase urban community and critical infrastructure resilience to flood risk and climate-related events.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the construction industry, yet still, it is unclear from existing studies about the critical challenges imposed on quality assurance (QA), particularly Cross-border Construction Logistics and Supply Chain (Cb-CLSC). Thus, this study aims to identify and examine the critical challenges of QA of Cb-CLSC during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim is achieved via an embedded mixed-method approach pragmatically involving a desk literature review and engaging 150 experts across the globe using expert surveys, and results confirmed by semi-structured interviews. The approach is based on Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) as its foundation.

The study revealed ten critical challenges of QA, with the top four including “the shortage of raw construction material (C7)”, “design changes (C6)”, “collaboration and communication difficulties (C1)” and “changes in work practices (C10)”. However, examining the interrelationships among the critical challenges using ISM confirmed C7 and C10 as the most critical challenges. The study again revealed that the critical challenges are sensitive and capable of affecting themselves due to the nature of their interrelationship based on MICMAC analysis. Hence, being consistent with why all the challenges were considered critical amid the pandemic. Sentiment analysis revealed that the critical challenges have not been entirely negative but also positive by creating three areas of opportunities for improvement: technology adoption, worker management, and work process management. However, four areas of challenges in the QA include cost, raw material, time, and work process, including inspection, testing, auditing, communication, etc.

The finding provides a convenient point of reference to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and decision-makers on formulating policies to enhance the effectiveness of construction QA during the pandemic through to the post-pandemic era.

The study enriches the extant literature on QA, Cb-CLSC, and the COVID-19 pandemic in the construction industry by identifying the critical challenges and examining the interrelationships among them. This provides a better understanding of how the construction QA has been affected by the pandemic and the opportunities created.

This work analyses autonomous ships' specific needs of external and environmental information in restricted pilotage waters. Harbour pilots use conventional well-tested techniques when piloting the manned vessel. In this work, the authors propose technological solutions to be installed or adapted in ports to feed the autonomous ships' systems with the information considered relevant by pilots.

To investigate what pilots consider relevant, the authors submitted a questionnaire to the pilotage of Paranaguá Port. Then the authors presented a case study including the critical areas for the navigation of ships.

These technological solutions aim to allow vessels reaching critical areas in a position, a time, a speed and a course that compensates the external forces and/or avoid high-risk situations. The authors have proposed technological solutions considering those already available in the ports, particularly in Paranaguá and Antonina in Brazil.

There is little published data on navigation of ships in pilotage waters. So far, there has been little discussion on autonomous ships in restricted waters.

This study aims to explore the critical application areas of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for sustainable buildings.

The quantitative research approach was adopted through a structured questionnaire administered to relevant stakeholders of construction projects. The data collected were analysed with the exploratory factor analysis, relative importance index (RII) and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

The study’s results have categorised the crucial areas of application where construction industry stakeholders should focus their attention. These areas are divided into four categories: management technologies, production technologies, sensing technologies and monitoring technologies. The findings from the FSE indicate that monitoring technologies represent the most significant category, whereas management technologies rank as the least significant. Moreover, the RII analysis highlights that tools management stands out as the most important application of RFID, while dispute resolution emerges as the least significant RFID application.

The study establishes the core areas of RFID application and their benefits to sustainable buildings. Consequently, it helps stakeholders (consultants, clients and contractors) to examine the RFID application areas and make informed decision on sustainable construction. Furthermore, it provides systematic proof that can aid the implementation of RFID in developing countries.

The study provides an insight into the possible application areas and benefits of RFID technology in the construction industry of developing countries. It also developed a conceptual frame for the critical application areas of RFID technology in the construction industry of developing countries.

Prior research in the area of organizational change highlights the critical role played by HR practices during organizational change as it may require altering employee behavior to support the change direction. human resource (HR) function is considered to be well positioned to influence employee behavior by institutionalizing HR practices that support change. Further there is a significant body of literature that suggests that employee behavior is significantly influenced by the perceptions of HR practices during change. HR practices which create positive employee perceptions increase employee commitment to change. The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that identifies critical HR practices that support organizational change and examines their impact on employee perception and commitment to change.

First, an extensive literature review on organizational change at macro level has been done to identify critical practices desired from key organizational members during organizational change. Second, a case for importance of HR function as a key organizational member during change is presented. Further literature on effectiveness of HR practices adopted by HR professionals during organizational change is examined to find out the gap areas. Third, literature on employee perception and commitment to change is examined to find out possible linkages to HR practices during organizational change. Finally, eight propositions are presented to build an integrated conceptual framework identifying critical HR practices during organizational change and their impact on employee perception and commitment to change.

The study suggests that HR practices undertaken in the area of culture, leadership, cross functional integration, training, communication and technology if introduced and implemented will positively influence employee perception reducing resistance and increasing commitment to change. Therefore assessing employee perception about critical HR practices at different stages of change initiation, implementation and consolidation can enable understanding about employee commitment to change. This would also help HR professionals understand how effective the HR practices implemented during change have been.

This framework can be used by the researchers and practitioners to study, guide, frame and model empirical research into the area of studying critical HR practices during organizational change. So far literature provides a generic view of desired organizational practices during change. Moreover there are few studies available on employee perception about HR practices implemented during organizational change and its impact on employee commitment to change. The framework presented in this paper would help explore the effectiveness of specific HR practices implemented during change by evaluating its impact on employee perception and commitment to change.