Search results

A Community of Practice (CoP) on discharge planning was established in South East Wales to test whether it could support sustainable service improvement. We describe the methodology, and report on its piloting and the lessons learnt. A member survey produced positive feedback, but the response rate was low and contained no data on improvements generated.

Organizational culture is a critical factor in building and reinforcing knowledge management in organizations. However, there is no theoretical framework that comprehensively explains the effect of organizational culture on knowledge management in organizations. This paper endeavors to develop a theoretical integrative framework for organizational knowledge management and organizational culture.

This is a conceptual paper. It modifies the “competing value framework” by adding a new dimension representing ethical and trusting culture, and then integrates it with the SECI model of knowledge creation and conversion by identifying the conceptual parallels between the two frameworks and then analyzing the interaction effects among the dimensions.

Based on the congruity between the modified competing values framework and the knowledge creation and conversion framework, the paper formulates six propositions about the propensity of organizations of different dominant cultural styles to engage in the four processes of knowledge creation and conversion.

The dynamic nature of the framework presented in the paper points to the importance of longitudinal and comparative research in understanding the effects of organizational culture on organizational knowledge management systems in organizations.

The proposed integrative framework would facilitate organizational learning and lead to the improvement of knowledge management practices in organizations as it helps managers to understand the linkages between culture and knowledge management.

This paper presents a new framework linking organizational culture to knowledge management. It moves away from analyzing culture only in terms of its positive and negative influences on knowledge management. Instead, it suggests a typology of the kind of knowledge management processes that organizations are likely to focus on depending on the culture that prevails in an organization.

This paper aims to present an exploration of the contributions of the military organization to knowledge‐based development within and beyond the boundaries of its home country.

After first defining knowledge, several frames of reference for considering knowledge are presented. Then the nature of contributions to societal knowledge from military organizations is explored, with a focus on leadership and values as knowledge contributions. A large part of this paper is a case study which introduces the core values of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and looks at SAF's knowledge contributions to the city‐state of Singapore and Singapore's allies and regional neighbors.

The knowledge and learning that occur in military organizations are entangled with the knowledge and learning of the country they serve, in terms of both individuals moving through the military setting and back into society, and the military organization's larger knowledge contributions made in service to its citizens. Using SAF, specific examples are cited that support the movement of knowledge from the military to the public and private sectors and enhance the growth of knowledge‐based development. The strong values needed for effective military defense clearly carry over to the nation's civilian needs in terms of leadership.

The paper takes a unique approach to exploring the role of military organizations and personnel in knowledge‐based development of the country they serve, intertwining descriptions of military values and knowledge with individual examples of leaders who move from the SAF to the public and private sectors, and stories provided by current and past SAF leaders. A new conceptual model of the relationship between moral values and knowledge is introduced.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of a knowledge transfer project, part funded through TE3, designed to encourage innovation and improve the capability of SMEs in the West Midlands region of the UK. Knowledge is critical to developing competency within small businesses and managers that understand how their customers behave and translate that insight into innovative products/services are more likely to succeed.

Adopting an action research methodology, the paper aims to describe the TE3 funding process and address the effectiveness of a project designed to overcome some of the contextual issues relating to the development of SME capability through technology supported learning. It describes the development of a knowledge transfer framework (The Collaborative Learning Environment) designed to specifically target the needs of SMEs.

Firms that efficiently tap into all relevant sources of knowledge are likely to thrive, whilst those that cannot may struggle. However, an obstacle to SME development is often an inability to access technical and business knowledge. The Technology Enhanced Enterprise Education (TE3) initiative was found to provide a solution to this problem by funding the development of technology supported learning solutions delivered through a collaborative network of UK Higher Education Institutions

The paper outlines a proposal for a collaborative learning environment. This model will provide value to designers of virtual learning environments and funded support providers.

This paper aims to explore the influence of dimensions of organizational culture, namely, development culture, group culture, rational culture and hierarchical culture, on healthcare supply chain resilience (HCRES). Further, the study explored the moderating role of technology orientation on organizational culture dimensions and healthcare resilience linkages.

The study adopted a multi-unit study of different hospital supply chains (SCs). Consequently, perceptual data were gathered from seven dominant entities in a typical medical/hospital SC: hospitals, hotels, chemistry and pharmaceutical, marketing/public relations/promotion, medical equipment manufacturers and surgical suppliers, food and beverage providers (i.e. restaurants) and insurance providers. The responses were gathered using online survey and were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Based on 276 completed responses, positive influences were found for development, group and rational cultures on HCRES. As expected, a negative influence of hierarchical culture was found on HCRES. Further, technological orientation was found to enhance the positive effects of development, group and rational cultures on HCRES. However, no prominent moderation was noted for hierarchical culture’s influence on HCRES. The findings suggested managers to focus more on developing competing values framework (CVF)-based dimensions of organizational culture dimensions for effective risk mitigation so as to provide healthcare services in a timely manner to patients.

The study is the first to investigate the effects of organizational culture’s dimensions on resilience. The study has empirically established the association between CVF view and dynamic capabilities. The study underlined the importance of resilience in healthcare SCs. Resilience is an important dynamic capability in healthcare SCs to provide uninterrupted treatments and services to patients. Any failure in such a service can be fatal. Further, the study developed the measures of development, group, rational and hierarchical culture for further investigation in healthcare. This study is also the first to develop a measure for resilience in the healthcare sector.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

The need for EDI standards was highlighted at the ‘Babel’ conference as long ago as 1986. BIC was set up in 1991 to be responsible for their development and promotion. On the European front, it also provides the secretariat for EDItEUR, a pan‐European book sector EDI group which coordinates work in Europe on the UN global EDI standard, EDI FACT. The article ends with an appraisal of the benefits of EDI for all links in the chain.

Throughout American industry, there is more evidence now than ever before of the need for change. Many analysts are pointing to the traditional leadership style used in the vast majority of American companies as a major obstacle to growth and improvement. Sixty‐eight per cent of college educated women reported job discrimination, especially at the upper corporate level, because of their sex (The New York Times, 1982). The relationship between what will be required for corporate survival and the innate talents of women managers has not been recognised enough by corporate leadership (Loden, 1985). It seems that women managers possessing certain distinct feminine talents and characteristics may be better prepared to cope with the challenges of the future than many traditional males. The skills they were encouraged to leave behind when they entered the world of management are finally being recognised as critical to their companies' long‐term health and viability.

With an increasing urbanization trend over the last decades, urban agglomerations are facing different challenges that affect its inhabitants: pollution, traffic congestion, thriving population growth rates, and economic uncertainty. In the context of Latin America, where less than 20% of its inhabitants live in rural areas and with a projection to decrease to close to 10% by the year 2030, providing solutions to reduce the impact of this increase of population, on at least one of the issues, seems logical.

This study focuses on the urban logistics component to propose a classification method for homogeneous areas, using Factor Analysis (FA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) as the main supporting tools. The proposed methodology builds up on the square kilometer (KM2) methodology developed by MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, applying it in a neuralgic section of the downtown area of a mid-sized city in Latin America: Córdoba, Argentina. The selection was made considering the logistic restrictions, commercial density, and the relevance of the area for the city. Our proposed methodology uses relevant variables for urban logistics to perform the statistical analysis. The main goal is to develop a data-driven methodology to identify clusters to guide Córdoba's urban logistics policy and decision-making processes.

The results suggest a clear relationship between the different commercial activities and the location inside the area, splitting the area under study clearly into two main sections with similar overall characteristics and two subsections inside each one of them, which should be considered as a basis for further urban logistic analysis and implementation of specific best practices that fit the particular needs.