The role of HRM practices in building intellectual capital in knowledge-based teams

In this paper, we investigate the ways HRM systems support development of intellectual capital in teams in three case studies of knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) in Denmark. By focusing on team composition and structure, findings build on the rapidly growing body of literature on HRM’s role in supporting intellectual capital development. Specifically, we make a theoretical contribution to this literature by identifying three distinct ways KIFs develop intellectual capital: 1) through HRM development systems that build relationship-centric team-based intellectual capital by targeting development of social capital; 2) through HRM employee relations systems that build human-centric team based intellectual capital by targeting human capital; 3) through a balanced approach to HRM that builds polycentric team-based intellectual capital through focusing on all aspects of intellectual capital. The findings also have managerial implications regarding the need to align team composition and structure, HRM systems, and intellectual capital focus to support development of team-based intellectual capital.

The impact of professional development on early childhood educators’ confidence, understanding and knowledge of education for sustainability

In recent times, Australia has recognised and enacted a range of initiatives at service, system and community levels that seek to embed sustainability into the early childhood sector. This paper explores the impact of a professional development (PD) session that provided opportunities for early childhood educators to learn and share ideas about the theory and practice of sustainability generally and early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS) specifically. The PD was entitled ‘Living and Learning about Sustainability in the Early Years’ and was offered on three occasions across Tasmania. A total of 99 participants attended the three PD sessions (one 5 hour; two 2 hour). The participants had varying levels of experience and included early childhood teachers, centre based educators and preservice teachers. At the start and end of the PD, participants were invited to complete a questionnaire that contained a series of likert scale questions that explored their content knowledge, level of understanding and confidence in regards to ECEfS. Participants were also asked at the start and end of the PD to ‘list five words you think of when you consider the word sustainability.’ A model of teacher professional growth was used to conceptualise the results related to the changes in knowledge, understanding and confidence (personal domain) as a result of the PD related to ECEfS (external domain). The likert-scale questions on the questionnaire revealed significant positive changes in levels of knowledge, understanding and confidence from the start to the end of the PD. Differences as a function of length of PD, level of experience and role are presented and discussed. The ‘5 words’ question showed that participants widened their understandings of ECEfS from a narrow environmental focus to a broader understanding of the social, political and economic dimensions. The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has been characterised as having a pedagogical advantage for EfS suggesting that early childhood educators are well placed to engage with EfS more readily than might educators in other education sectors. This article argues that PD is necessary to develop capability in educators in order to meet the imperatives around sustainability outlined in educational policy and curriculum documents in ECEC.

An observational study of nutrition and physical activity behaviours, knowledge, and advice in pregnancy

Maternal obesity, excess weight gain and lifestyle behaviours during pregnancy have been associated with future overweight and other adverse health outcomes for mothers and babies. This study compared the nutrition and physical activity behaviours of Australian healthy (BMI ≤ 25 k/m2) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) pregnant women and described their knowledge and receipt of health professional advice early in pregnancy. Methods Pregnant women (n=58) aged 29±5 (mean±s.d.) years were recruited at 16±2 weeks gestation from an Australian metropolitan hospital. Height and weight were measured using standard procedures and women completed a self administered semi-quantitative survey. Results Healthy and overweight women had very similar levels of knowledge, behaviour and levels of advice provided except where specifically mentioned. Only 8% and 36% of participants knew the correct recommended daily number of fruit and vegetable serves respectively. Four percent of participants ate the recommended 5 serves/day of vegetables. Overweight women were less likely than healthy weight women to achieve the recommended fruit intake (4% vs. 8%, p=0.05), and more likely to consume soft drinks or cordial (55% vs 43%, p=0.005) and take away foods (37% vs. 25%, p=0.002) once a week or more. Less than half of all women achieved sufficient physical activity. Despite 80% of women saying they would have liked education about nutrition, physical activity and weight gain, particularly at the beginning of pregnancy, less than 50% were given appropriate advice regarding healthy eating and physical activity. Conclusion Healthy pregnancy behaviour recommendations were not being met, with overweight women less likely to meet some of the recommendations. Knowledge of dietary recommendations was poor and health care professional advice was limited. There are opportunities to improve the health care practices and education pregnant women received to improve knowledge and behaviours. Pregnant women appear to want this.

Knowledge management in criminal investigation : empirical examination and re-conceptualisation of dean's investigative thinking styles

This thesis explored the current state of knowledge management in policing. A psychometric instrument was created and validated for use within police agencies as a means of facilitating the capture and transferral of critical investigative knowledge. The aim is to ensure that investigative expertise is not lost when detectives retire or leave the service. Improved knowledge management strategies that rely on this psychometric instrument can lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness in criminal investigation.

A Bayesian network approach to modelling temporal behaviour of Lyngbya majuscula bloom initiation

Lyngbya majuscula is a cyanobacterium (blue-green algae) occurring naturally in tropical and subtropical coastal areas worldwide. Deception Bay, in Northern Moreton Bay, Queensland, has a history of Lyngbya blooms, and forms a case study for this investigation. The South East Queensland (SEQ) Healthy Waterways Partnership, collaboration between government, industry, research and the community, was formed to address issues affecting the health of the river catchments and waterways of South East Queensland. The Partnership coordinated the Lyngbya Research and Management Program (2005-2007) which culminated in a Coastal Algal Blooms (CAB) Action Plan for harmful and nuisance algal blooms, such as Lyngbya majuscula. This first phase of the project was predominantly of a scientific nature and also facilitated the collection of additional data to better understand Lyngbya blooms. The second phase of this project, SEQ Healthy Waterways Strategy 2007-2012, is now underway to implement the CAB Action Plan and as such is more management focussed. As part of the first phase of the project, a Science model for the initiation of a Lyngbya bloom was built using Bayesian Networks (BN). The structure of the Science Bayesian Network was built by the Lyngbya Science Working Group (LSWG) which was drawn from diverse disciplines. The BN was then quantified with annual data and expert knowledge. Scenario testing confirmed the expected temporal nature of bloom initiation and it was recommended that the next version of the BN be extended to take this into account. Elicitation for this BN thus occurred at three levels: design, quantification and verification. The first level involved construction of the conceptual model itself, definition of the nodes within the model and identification of sources of information to quantify the nodes. The second level included elicitation of expert opinion and representation of this information in a form suitable for inclusion in the BN. The third and final level concerned the specification of scenarios used to verify the model. The second phase of the project provides the opportunity to update the network with the newly collected detailed data obtained during the previous phase of the project. Specifically the temporal nature of Lyngbya blooms is of interest. Management efforts need to be directed to the most vulnerable periods to bloom initiation in the Bay. To model the temporal aspects of Lyngbya we are using Object Oriented Bayesian networks (OOBN) to create ‘time slices’ for each of the periods of interest during the summer. OOBNs provide a framework to simplify knowledge representation and facilitate reuse of nodes and network fragments. An OOBN is more hierarchical than a traditional BN with any sub-network able to contain other sub-networks. Connectivity between OOBNs is an important feature and allows information flow between the time slices. This study demonstrates more sophisticated use of expert information within Bayesian networks, which combine expert knowledge with data (categorized using expert-defined thresholds) within an expert-defined model structure. Based on the results from the verification process the experts are able to target areas requiring greater precision and those exhibiting temporal behaviour. The time slices incorporate the data for that time period for each of the temporal nodes (instead of using the annual data from the previous static Science BN) and include lag effects to allow the effect from one time slice to flow to the next time slice. We demonstrate a concurrent steady increase in the probability of initiation of a Lyngbya bloom and conclude that the inclusion of temporal aspects in the BN model is consistent with the perceptions of Lyngbya behaviour held by the stakeholders. This extended model provides a more accurate representation of the increased risk of algal blooms in the summer months and show that the opinions elicited to inform a static BN can be readily extended to a dynamic OOBN, providing more comprehensive information for decision makers.

Knowledge and behaviours of drunk driving offenders in Guangzhou, China

Background Alcohol is a major contributor to road crashes in China (Li, Xie, Nie, & Zhang, 2012; Cochrane, & Chen, 2003). Two levels of offence are defined in legislation: the lower level is driving under the influence (DUI, also translated as “drink driving”) and the higher level is driving while intoxicated (DWI, also translated as “drunk driving”, where the driver has BAC>0.08mg/100ml). This study focuses on a 2011 legislative amendment that made drunk driving (DWI) a criminal offence. However, it is not known whether drivers are aware of the law, and whether this knowledge, their exposure to enforcement and the existence of alcohol use disorders relate to their drink driving behaviour. This study explored these relationships in a sample of convicted drunk drivers. Method A survey collected information about offenders’ knowledge and practices related to drunk driving in Guangzhou. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (Babor, & Grant, 1989; Chen, & Cheng, 2005) assessed hazardous drinking levels. In total, 101 drunk driving offenders were recruited while in detention. Results Males represented 90% of the sample; the average age was 33.6 years (SD=8.7; range 17-59 years). The average age at which offenders reported starting to drink alcohol was 19.5 years (SD=4.1; range 8-30 years). Driver’s licences had been held for a median of 7 years. Knowledge about legal limits for DUI and DWI offences was surprisingly low, at 27.7% and 40.6% respectively. On average, offenders had experienced 1.5 police alcohol breath tests in the previous year (SD=1.3; range 1-10). AUDIT scores indicated that a substantial proportion of the offenders had high levels of alcohol use disorders. Higher AUDIT scores were found among the least experienced drivers, those with lack of knowledge about the legal limits, and recidivist drunk drivers. Discussion and conclusions Limited awareness of legal alcohol limits might contribute to offending; high levels of alcohol consumption by many offenders suggest that hazardous drinking levels may also contribute. Novice drivers are a concern and their higher AUDIT scores merit some followup. Overall, this study provides important information to assist in refining community education and prevention efforts to align with China’s new regulations.

Elementary teachers’ knowledge of legislative and policy duties for reporting child sexual abuse

This study examined elementary school teachers’ knowledge of their legislative and policy-based reporting duties with respect to child sexual abuse. Data were collected from 470 elementary school teachers from urban and rural government and nongovernment schools in 3 Australian states, which at the time of the study had 3 different legislative reporting duties for teachers. Teachers completed the 8-part Teacher Reporting Questionnaire (TRQ). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with (a) teachers’ legislation knowledge and (b) teachers’ policy knowledge. Teachers with higher levels of knowledge had a combination of pre- and in-service training about child sexual abuse and more positive attitudes toward reporting, held administration positions in their school, and had reported child sexual abuse at least once during their teaching career. They were also more likely to work in the state with the strongest legislative reporting duty, which had been in place the longest.

Rich and purposeful mathematical knowledge of mothers and children in a Torres Strait Islander community

This paper focuses on a pilot study that explored the situated mathematical knowledge of mothers and children in one Torres Strait Islander community in Australia. The community encouraged parental involvement in their children’s learning and schooling. The study explored parents’ understandings of mathematics and how their children came to learn about it on the island. A funds of knowledge approach was used in the study. This approach is based on the premise that people are competent and have knowledge that has been historically and culturally accumulated into a body of knowledge and skills essential for their functioning and well-being (Moll, 1992). The participants, three adults and one child are featured in this paper. Three separate events are described with epiphanic or illuminative moments analysed to ascertain the features that enabled an understanding of the nature of the mathematical events. The study found that Indigenous ways of knowing of mathematics were deeply embedded in rich cultural practices that were tied to the community. This finding has implications for teachers of children in the early years. Where school mathematics is often presented as disembodied and isolated facts with children seeing little relevance, learning a different perspective of mathematics that is tied to the resources and practices of children’s lives and facilitated through social relationships, may go a long way to improving the engagement of children and their parents in learning and schooling.

Complexity and the science of implementation in health IT — knowledge gaps and future visions

Objectives The intent of this paper is in the examination of health IT implementation processes – the barriers to and facilitators of successful implementation, identification of a beginning set of implementation best practices, the identification of gaps in the health IT implementation body of knowledge, and recommendations for future study and application. Methods A literature review resulted in the identification of six health IT related implementation best practices which were subsequently debated and clarified by participants attending the NI2012 Research Post Conference held in Montreal in the summer of 2012. Using the framework for implementation research (CFIR) to guide their application, the six best practices were applied to two distinct health IT implementation studies to assess their applicability. Results Assessing the implementation processes from two markedly diverse settings illustrated both the challenges and potentials of using standardized implementation processes. In support of what was discovered in the review of the literature, “one size fits all” in health IT implementation is a fallacy, particularly when global diversity is added into the mix. At the same time, several frameworks show promise for use as “scaffolding” to begin to assess best practices, their distinct dimensions, and their applicability for use. Conclusions Health IT innovations, regardless of the implementation setting, requires a close assessment of many dimensions. While there is no “one size fits all”, there are commonalities and best practices that can be blended, adapted, and utilized to improve the process of implementation. This paper examines health IT implementation processes and identifies a beginning set of implementation best practices, which could begin to address gaps in the health IT implementation body of knowledge.

Dilemmatic spaces : high-stakes testing and the possibilities of collaborative knowledge work to generate learning innovations

This paper examines collaborative researcher-practitioner knowledge work around assessment data in culturally diverse, low- socioeconomic school communities in Queensland, Australia. Specifically, the paper draws on interview accounts about the work of a bridging knowledge flows between a local university and a cluster of schools. We draw on Bernstein’s (2000) concept of recontextualisation to explore the processes of knowledge mediation in dialogues around student assessment data to design instructional innovations. We argue that critical policy studies need to explore the complex ways in which neoliberal education policies are enacted in local sites. Moreover, we suggest that an analysis of collaborative knowledge work designed to improve student learning outcomes in low-socioeconomic school communities necessitates attention to the principles regulating knowledge flows across boundaries. In addition, it necessitates attention to the ways in which mediators navigate dilemmatic spaces, anxieties and affects/feelings in order to generate innovative learning designs in the current global context of high-stakes national testing and accountability regimes.

Management of project knowledge in a project-based organisation : a case study of research enterprise

Knowledge Management (KM) is vital factor to successfully undertake projects. The temporary nature of projects necessitates employing useful KM practices to reduce any issues such as knowledge leakiness and rework. The Project Management Office (PMO) is a unit within organisations to facilitate and oversee organisational projects. Project Management Maturity Models (PMMM) show the development of PMOs from immature to mature levels. The existing PMMMs have focused on discussing Project Management (PM) practices, however, the management of project knowledge is yet to be addressed, at various levels of maturity. A research project was undertaken to investigate the mentioned gap for addressing KM practices at the existing PMMMs. Due to the exploratory and inductive nature of this research, qualitative methods using case studies were chosen as the research methodology to investigate the problem in the real world. In total, three cases selected from different industries: research; mining and government organisations, to provide broad categories for research and research questions were examined using the developed framework. This paper presents the findings from the investigation of the research organisation with the lowest level of maturity. From KM process point of view, knowledge creation and capturing are the most important processes, while knowledge transferring and reusing received less attention. In addition, it was revealed that provision of “knowledge about client” and “project management knowledge” are the most important types of knowledge that are required at this level of maturity. The results also revealed that PMOs with higher maturity level have better knowledge management, however, some improvement is needed. In addition, the importance of KM processes varies at different levels of maturity. In conclusion, the outcomes of this paper could provide powerful guidance to PMOs at lowest level of maturity from KM point of view.

Doctors' knowledge of the law on withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment

Objectives To examine the level of knowledge of doctors about the law on withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults who lack decision-making capacity, and factors associated with a higher level of knowledge. Design, setting and participants Postal survey of all specialists in emergency medicine, geriatric medicine, intensive care, medical oncology, palliative medicine, renal medicine and respiratory medicine on the AMPCo Direct database in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Survey initially posted to participants on 18 July 2012 and closed on 31 January 2013. Main outcome measures Medical specialists’ levels of knowledge about the law, based on their responses to two survey questions. Results Overall response rate was 32%. For the seven statements contained in the two questions about the law, the mean knowledge score was 3.26 out of 7. State and specialty were the strongest predictors of legal knowledge. Conclusions Among doctors who practise in the end-of-life field, there are some significant knowledge gaps about the law on withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults who lack decision-making capacity. Significant consequences for both patients and doctors can flow from a failure to comply with the law. Steps should be taken to improve doctors’ legal knowledge in this area and to harmonise the law across Australia.

A loss of bioscience knowledge in nursing students

Background: Knowledge of the human biosciences is fundamental to the development of competent nurse practitioners (Smales, 2010) with the requisite knowledge and skills, necessary for high quality patient care and good patient outcomes (Logan and Angel, 2011). Many of these students study bioscience units which cover topics in anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and microbiology. Studies of science recall in general and medical education, report up to 33% loss of knowledge in the first year which declines to 50% in the subsequent year (Custers, 2010). Objectives: The objectives were to test the recall of bioscience knowledge by nursing students and to ascertain their perceptions of the testing. Questions explored: What would the results be for multiple choice questions in fundamental microbiology and gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology (A&P) undertaken by nursing students 4, 9 and 16 months after their first bioscience exam on these topics? Would pre-warning the students of a microbiology quiz and not a gastrointestinal A&P quiz affect the findings? How would the students respond to the testing when surveyed? Recall results: The nursing students performed better in the final exam on gastrointestinal A&P than on fundamental microbiology. There was an approximate 20% loss in knowledge of gastrointestinal A&P after 4 months and this did not change significantly over the next 12 months. Although there was an improved performance in microbiology quizzes after 4 months, there was no significant difference in results over the next 12 months. Survey results: More than 50% of students thought the testing helped them focus for the lectures and made them aware they had some pre-knowledge of the lecture topics. Discussion: Although there was a loss of knowledge of gastrointestinal A&P, it appears that warning the students about the microbiology quiz may have helped their recall. The majority of students valued the testing as a useful learning exercise. References: Custers, E. J. F. M. (2010). Long-term retention of basic science knowledge: a review study. Advances in Health Science Education, 15, 109-128. Smales, K. (2010). Learning and applying biosciences to clinical practice in nursing. Nursing Standard, 24(33), 35-39. Logan, P.A., & Angel, L. (2011). Nursing as a scientific undertaking and the intersection with science in undergraduate studies: implications for nursing management. Journal of Nursing Management, 19(3), 407-417.

An urban design perspective to classify knowledge precincts : a typological analysis of global best practices

Purpose: The paper seeks to investigate emerging knowledge precincts under the urban design lens in order to identify recurrent spatial patterns of urban forms and functions to gather an understanding of physical aspects that contribute to the creation of place quality. Scope: This paper focuses on the physical design and layout of specific precincts. Although socio-economic and other factors come into play imparting the distinctiveness; this paper only focuses on the spatial dimensions. Method: The research first develops a design typology framework through the lead of literature, and then utilizes it to identify recurrent elements in knowledge precinct design in order to develop taxonomy of patterns and layouts. Results: The research reported in this paper provides preliminary insights into the various form and functional factors playing role in the design of knowledge precincts and evaluates the elements that contribute to the success of these urban interventions. Recommendations: The paper recommends the use of particular design-based solutions in order to enhance the place making in knowledge precincts. Conclusions: The study concludes that despite the locational, regulatory and other contextual differences, the underlying driving principle of providing place quality to people leads to the emergence of identifiable spatial patterns across the knowledge precincts.

The building blocks of digital media literacy: Socio-material participation and the production of media knowledge

This article outlines the knowledge and skills students develop when they engage in digital media production and analysis in school settings. The metaphor of ‘digital building blocks’ is used to describe the material practices, conceptual understandings and production of knowledge that lead to the development of digital media literacy. The article argues that the two established approaches to media literacy education, critical reading and media production, do not adequately explain how students develop media knowledge. It suggests there has been too little focus on material practices and how these relate to the development of conceptual understanding in media learning. The article explores empirical evidence from a four-year investigation in a primary school in Queensland, Australia using actor–network theory to explore ‘moments of translation’ as students deploy technologies and concepts to materially participate in digital culture. A generative model of media learning is presented with four categories of building blocks that isolate the specific skills and knowledge that can be taught and learnt to promote participation in digital media contexts: digital materials, conceptual understandings, media production and media analysis. The final section of the article makes initial comments on how the model might become the basis for curriculum development in schools and argues that further empirical research needs to occur to confirm the model’s utility.