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1 – 10 of over 9000This paper aims to introduce the term, knowledge harvesting, as an aid for researchers in comprehending what knowledge strategies influences projects, where to find knowledge, how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to introduce the term, knowledge harvesting, as an aid for researchers in comprehending what knowledge strategies influences projects, where to find knowledge, how to visualize knowledge, how to cultivate knowledge, who distributes project knowledge and how to gain former project knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The term knowledge harvesting emerged after having analyzed employees interviews at a Danish welding machine manufacturer using an adjusted grounded theory.
Findings
Employees’ knowledge harvesting strategies involve collecting knowledge, making knowledge visible in projects, introducing knowledge in projects, identifying knowledge deficiencies, cultivating knowledge to support projects and ensuring readily available historical knowledge termed para-knowledge.
Practical implications
To strengthen how significant and relevant knowledge harvesting can be, researchers need to apply knowledge harvesting as an explanation in their own research projects. Only then will knowledge harvesting becomes a solid explanation of what knowledge strategies employees apply and their implications for organization learning.
Originality/value
Knowledge harvesting introduces new understandings regarding employees’ knowledge acquisition processes during product development. Knowledge harvesting can help researchers to understand and identify how, why and what knowledge processes take place throughout product development.
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Rodney Coyte, Federica Ricceri and James Guthrie
The paper's aim is to examine processes used to control the management of knowledge resources in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to compare the findings with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper's aim is to examine processes used to control the management of knowledge resources in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to compare the findings with the underlying assumptions and prescriptions of intellectual capital guidelines designed for SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
An in‐depth case study of a successful Australian SME is conducted to identify the means used to control strategizing and the management of knowledge resources.
Findings
It was found that informal, intensive dialogue based processes, structured by an overriding management philosophy, governed strategization and the management of knowledge resources. These governance processes were affected by a combination of formal and informal controls and serendipitous outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The paper examines only one organization and the study can be extended to other SMEs to develop more detailed specific policy recommendations.
Practical implications
Intellectual capital management guidelines developed for SMEs may have little benefit due to assumptions of resource availability and the fundamental importance of formalization of strategy and control, ignoring possible scarcity of resources and the benefits of flexibility and responsiveness afforded by informal controls in SMEs. The research shows that knowledge harvesting is affected through the way knowledge is used rather than what is developed.
Originality/value
The paper empirically examines the management of knowledge resources in an Australian SME and outlines the way formal and informal controls were interwoven in organizational practices to manage knowledge harvesting. It provides a critique of intellectual capital guidelines in SMEs, highlighting a potential mis‐match between practice and key assumptions underlying the guidelines.
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Knowledge management (KM) has been a ten‐year “buzzword”, yet few successful KM projects have been written up in the literature and few organisations seem to claim strategic…
Abstract
Knowledge management (KM) has been a ten‐year “buzzword”, yet few successful KM projects have been written up in the literature and few organisations seem to claim strategic advantage from KM. This paper suggests that technology may at last be able to provide the tools necessary for effective KM. More importantly, organisations are beginning to realise that key strategic advantage arises from the harvesting of tacit knowledge in addition to the more easily handled explicit knowledge. Together, tacit and explicit knowledge management can give rise to a corporate knowledge store – an organisational memory.
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The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges regarding methodological approach in studying learning organizations as well as the following content related issues: knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges regarding methodological approach in studying learning organizations as well as the following content related issues: knowledge harvesting in project work, role of middle managers in creating energized learning environment, structuring individual activities to promote learning, impact of context-related factors (spaces of performance) and content-related factors (storytelling) on learning in higher education and diverging assessments of learning organizations with regard to hierarchy and organizational size.
Design/methodology/approach
Conclusions and models presented in the paper have been designed based on the systems perspective, critical thinking and critical review of previous contributions.
Findings
Findings refer to suggestions regarding further empirical work based on solid normative contributions in the field of learning organizations in general and its specific topics such as learning in project work, organizational design, role of middle managers, learning organization perceptions and learning challenges in higher education.
Research limitations/implications
Conclusions and models provided in the paper need further empirical testing and validation.
Practical implications
Implications for practitioners have been identified in terms of recommendations regarding possible methodological approaches in further studies of learning organizations, as well as regarding the following areas: knowledge creation cycle, structuring of individual activities to promote learning, role of middle managers in creating energized learning environment, learning challenges in higher education and divergent assessments of learning organizations regarding organizational hierarchy and size.
Originality/value
Contributions from previous authors have been systemically and critically reviewed, adapted models have been provided and suggestions for practitioners in this regard have been offered.
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This article provides an overview of a range of techniques and processes used in knowledge management to surface the tacit knowledge held by staff in an organisation. Examples…
Abstract
This article provides an overview of a range of techniques and processes used in knowledge management to surface the tacit knowledge held by staff in an organisation. Examples from health and social care are provided.
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Yulong Li, Monideepa Tarafdar and S. Subba Rao
The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a framework analyzing the relationship of collaborative knowledge management practices (CKMP) with supply chain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a framework analyzing the relationship of collaborative knowledge management practices (CKMP) with supply chain integration and supply chain knowledge quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The design of the study is based on a survey of 411 firms from eight manufacturing industries that are actively involved in inter‐firm knowledge management practices with supply chain partners. First a measurement instrument for CKMP was statistically validated with confirmatory factor analysis. Then the structural equation modeling (SEM) path analysis was used to assess the structural relationship of CKMP with supply chain knowledge quality and supply chain integration.
Findings
The study found that engagement in CKMP can lead to better integration between supply chain partners and increased organizational knowledge quality.
Research limitations/implications
The study was conducted at the firm level for activities involving inter‐firm knowledge sharing. Some measurement inaccuracy might be generated with a single respondent from each organization answering questions about both supply chain management issues and knowledge management‐related issues.
Practical implications
By identifying collaborative knowledge generation, storage, access, dissemination and application as the major components of CKMP, this study advises organizations on how to collaborate with partner firms on sharing supply chain knowledge. CKMP's positive relationship with knowledge quality and supply chain integration provides organizations with practice‐related motivation for engaging in collaborative knowledge management and alerts them to the possibility of other potential benefits from it.
Originality/value
As one of the first large‐scale empirical efforts to systematically investigate collaborative knowledge management processes in a supply chain management context, this paper can be used as basis for enhanced homological understanding of this domain, by exploring antecedents and consequences of collaborative knowledge management.
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Nawaf Alharbe and Anthony S. Atkins
Expert knowledge is an important organisational resource, and organisations need to retain the knowledge learned by experience, which can be shared as part of inter-professional…
Abstract
Purpose
Expert knowledge is an important organisational resource, and organisations need to retain the knowledge learned by experience, which can be shared as part of inter-professional learning. In a healthcare context, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and ZigBee technologies can be used together, to provide real-time information for decision support and to create a secure and reliable smart hospital management information system (SHMIS) that allows the dynamic control of objects and transforms operational processes, while minimising any potential risks to patients and staff. Currently, the RFID technology in Saudi Arabia is being solely used for the monitoring of newborn infants, and some difficulties have been encountered during the different stages of tagging and monitoring. The current system in Medina Maternity and Children’s Hospital (MMCH) uses battery-powered active RFID tags, which are expensive and require routine maintenance. This study aims to discuss the way in which the MMCH in Medina, Saudi Arabia, could be transformed into an SHMIS.
Design/methodology/approach
The extraordinary growth of RFID and ZigBee technologies has made it possible to identify, locate and track objects in various environments in real time. The RFID technology is a non-contact identification technology that is cheap and reliable but has limited range in the case of passive tags. ZigBee has greater range and lower power consumption, giving more precise location of the object’s movements (0.6 m). Passive RFID when combined with ZigBee technology can be used to improve services provided by healthcare organisations through continuous data collection and supporting real-time decision-making, by applying expert knowledge of domain experts to data produced by communication from electronic and sensor technologies.
Findings
A prototype object-tracking system using RFID and ZigBee was developed to support the knowledge transformation for knowledge reasoning for decision support (KRDS), and the outcome of this research was validated with domain experts in hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Two feasibility case studies were conducted at MMCH in Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the proposed system. A survey was also conducted to address the requirements at MMCH, and the researcher adopted a range of strategy techniques, including interviews and meetings with staff, and the setting up of communities of practise (CoPs) at the target hospital.
Research limitations/implications
This paper has investigated the transformation process of an automatic healthcare tracking and monitoring systems for the purpose of developing a smart system in Saudi hospitals. For the scope of the project, the prototype implementation was restricted to a laboratory environment, to demonstrate the proposed proof of concept. The next phase will include conducting a scale up of the system, with implementation and testing done in a real hospital environment.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a prototype application of an (SHMIS that allows the dynamic control of objects and transforms operational processes, while minimising any potential risks to patients and staff.
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The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of generic knowledge management critical success factors, in conjunction with an overview of the factors that has been found…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of generic knowledge management critical success factors, in conjunction with an overview of the factors that has been found to be critical in implementation journeys in selected South African companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature research was used.
Findings
Most of these factors are very specific to the organizational context and have had a significant impact on the success of implementations. These unique factors include the creation of a shared understanding of the concept of knowledge management, identifying the value of co‐creation of the knowledge management strategy, and positioning of knowledge management as strategic focus area in the organization.
Originality/value
Knowledge management is a complex discipline with many factors contributing to successful implementation. The factors that contribute to successful implementation of knowledge management are highly dependent on the environment and specific context, and can therefore not always be accurately predicted at the start of a knowledge management endeavor. This paper highlights some of the critical success factors of knowledge management in leading companies around the world and specifically in South Africa.
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Dimitris Apostolou and Gregoris Mentzas
The Know‐Net knowledge management solution, that includes a theoretical framework, a consulting method and a software tool, is based on a knowledge asset‐centric design that…
Abstract
The Know‐Net knowledge management solution, that includes a theoretical framework, a consulting method and a software tool, is based on a knowledge asset‐centric design that innovatively fuses the process or human approach with the product or content approach of knowledge management. This paper describes how Know‐Net was applied in four companies of the software sector. It outlines how specific business areas such as an R&D unit, the bid management process and collaboration between geographically‐dispersed teams can benefit from knowledge management. It outlines the role specific Know‐Net components played within the transformation of existing business processes and structures, and provides key recommendations based on this experience.
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