KM governance:the mechanisms for guiding and controlling KM program

Purpose: To establish and sustain their KM programs organizations need to establish mechanisms to ensure their governance. KM programs require business integration, senior management involvement and decision making authority. The present research investigates the KM governance mechanisms organizations use to guide and control their KM programs. The research seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the governance of KM and to support organizations in the development of their KM programs. Methodology: The study employs multiple case research methodology to analyze the KM governance arrangements of twelve international organizations and identify patterns in their governance configurations. Findings: The analysis identifies a range of structural, process and relational mechanisms that are critical for governing an organizational KM program. Different patterns among the KM governance mechanisms are identified which lead to the development of generic KM governance typologies. Research implications: The development of the KM governance framework allows future research to systematically investigate the KM governance phenomenon. As the present study is based on a configurational analysis future research should particularly target the performance implications of different KM governance configurations. Practical implications: The research provides insights into the diversity of KM governance mechanisms and their impact on a KM program. The KM governance framework can assist managers in reviewing their present and prospective KM programs and thereby support benchmarking or re-organization efforts. Originality: Building on prior research that has focused on individual KM governance aspects, the present study adopts a comprehensive perspective integrating structural, process and relational governance mechanisms.

Using HLT for acquiring, retrieving and publishing knowledge in AKT:position paper

AKT is a major research project applying a variety of technologies to knowledge management. Knowledge is a dynamic, ubiquitous resource, which is to be found equally in an expert's head, under terabytes of data, or explicitly stated in manuals. AKT will extend knowledge management technologies to exploit the potential of the semantic web, covering the use of knowledge over its entire lifecycle, from acquisition to maintenance and deletion. In this paper we discuss how HLT will be used in AKT and how the use of HLT will affect different areas of KM, such as knowledge acquisition, retrieval and publishing.

Climate change and knowledge politics

This paper addresses the paradox that although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reached a broad consensus, various governments pursue different, if not opposing policies. This puzzle not only challenges the traditional belief that scientific knowledge is objective and can be more or less directly translated into political action, but also calls for a better understanding of the relation between science and public policy in modern society. Based on the conceptual framework of knowledge politics the use of expert knowledge in public discourse and in political decisions will be analysed. This will be carried out through a country comparison between the United States and Germany. The main finding is that the press in both countries relies on different sources of scientific expertise when reporting on global warming. In a similar way, governments in both countries use these different sources for legitimising their contrasting policies.

Social control and knowledge in democratic societies

In this article we introduce the notions of knowledge policy and the politics of knowledge. These have to be distinguished from the older, well-known terms of research policy, or science and technology policy. While the latter aim to foster the development of innovations in knowledge and its applications, the former is aware of side effects of new knowledge and tries to address them. While research policy takes the aims of innovations as largely unproblematic (insofar as they help improving national competitiveness), knowledge policy tries to govern (regulate, control, restrict, or even forbid) the production of knowledge.

Managing software engineers and their knowledge

This chapter begins by reviewing the history of software engineering as a profession, especially the so-called software crisis and responses to it, to help focus on what it is that software engineers do. This leads into a discussion of the areas in software engineering that are problematic as a basis for considering knowledge management issues. Some of the previous work on knowledge management in software engineering is then examined, much of it not actually going under a knowledge management title, but rather “learning” or “expertise”. The chapter goes on to consider the potential for knowledge management in software engineering and the different types of knowledge management solutions and strategies that might be adopted, and it touches on the crucial importance of cultural issues. It concludes with a list of challenges that knowledge management in software engineering needs to address.

A survey of continuous improvement practices in the United Kingdom and Mexico

With the advent of globalisation companies all around the world must improve their performance in order to survive. The threats are coming from everywhere, and in different ways, such as low cost products, high quality products, new technologies, and new products. Different companies in different countries are using various techniques and using quality criteria items to strive for excellence. Continuous improvement techniques are used to enable companies to improve their operations. Therefore, companies are using techniques such as TQM, Kaizen, Six-Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and quality award criteria items such as Customer Focus, Human Resources, Information & Analysis, and Process Management. The purpose of this paper is to compare the use of these techniques and criteria items in two countries, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which differ in culture and industrial structure. In terms of the use of continuous improvement tools and techniques, Mexico formally started to deal with continuous improvement by creating its National Quality Award soon after the Americans began the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The United Kingdom formally started by using the European Quality Award (EQA), modified and renamed as the EFQM Excellence Model. The methodology used in this study was to undertake a literature review of the subject matter and to study some general applications around the world. A questionnaire survey was then designed and a survey undertaken based on the same scale, about the same sample size, and the about the same industrial sector within the two countries. The survey presents a brief definition of each of the constructs to facilitate understanding of the questions. The analysis of the data was then conducted with the assistance of a statistical software package. The survey results indicate both similarities and differences in the strengths and weaknesses of the companies in the two countries. One outcome of the analysis is that it enables the companies to use the results to benchmark themselves and thus act to reinforce their strengths and to reduce their weaknesses.

The knowledge competitiveness of regional economies: conceptualisation and measurement

Whereas the competitive advantage of firms can arise from size and position within their industry as well as physical assets, the pattern of competition in advanced economies has increasingly come to favour those firms that can mobilise knowledge and technological skills to create novelty in their products. At the same time, regions are attracting growing attention as an economic unit of analysis, with firms increasingly locating their functions in select regions within the global space. This article introduces the concept of knowledge competitiveness, defined as an economy’s knowledge capacity, capability and sustainability, and the extent to which this knowledge is translated into economic value and transferred into the wealth of the citizens. The article discusses the way in which the knowledge competitiveness of regions is measured and further introduces the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index, which is the first composite and relative measure of the knowledge competitiveness of the globe’s best performing regions.

Patterns of corporate governance and technical efficiency in Italian manufacturing

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between the corporate governance system and technical efficiency in Italian manufacturing. We use a non-parametric frontier technique (DEA) to derive technical efficiency measures for a sample of Italian firms taken from nine manufacturing industries. These measures are then related to the characteristics of the corporate governance system. Two of these characteristics turn out to have a positive impact on technical efficiency: the percentage of the company shares owned by the largest shareholder and the fact that a firm belongs to a pyramidal group. Interestingly, a trade-off emerges between these influences, in the sense that one is stronger in industries where the other is weaker. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Knowledge management: a review of the field and of OR's contribution

This paper examines the field of knowledge management (KM) and identifies the role of operational research (OR) in key milestones and in KM's future. With the presence of the OR Society journal Knowledge Management Research and Practice and with the INFORMS journal Organization Science, OR may be assumed to have an explicit and a leading role in KM. Unfortunately, the origins and the evidence of recent research efforts do not fully support this assumption. We argue that while OR has been inside many of the milestones there is no explicit recognition of its role and while OR research on KM has considerably increased in the last 5 years, it still forms a rather modest explicit contribution to KM research. Nevertheless, the depth of OR's experience in decision-making models and decision support systems, soft systems with hard systems and in risk management suggests that OR is uniquely placed to lead future KM developments. We suggest that a limiting aspect of whether OR will be seen to have a significant profile will be the extent to which developments are recognized as being informed by OR.

Crisis and institutional change in urban governance

Recent studies of new institutional spaces typically underplay the uneven and contested process of institutional change by undervaluing the role of inherited institutions and discourses. This is a critical issue as neoliberal networked forms of governance interact with inherited institutional arrangements, characterised by important path dependencies that guide actors. Contradiction and tensions can emerge, culminating in crisis tendencies, and producing both discursive and material contestation between actors. It is with an understanding of path dependencies, ideas (structured into discourses), and (perceived and actual) crisis tendencies that this paper examines contested institutional change through a case-study analysis of one city, and a critical engagement with neoinstitutionalism. The purpose is to examine, firstly, the significance of inherited path-dependent arrangements in fostering conflict and crisis tendencies during interaction with emergent state action; secondly, the extent to which crisis is evident in processes of institutional change and the form that this takes; and, thirdly, the importance of ideas in producing institutional transformation. It is found that institutional conflict is evident between inherited institutions and emergent state action, and stems both from the way agents are organised by the state and from certain path dependencies, but that this does not lead to an actual material crisis. Rather, the nation-state, in partnership with senior city government actors, use ideational/discursive ‘crisis talk’ as a means by which to induce institutional change. The role of ideas has been in critical in this process as the nation-state frames problems and solutions in line with its existing policy paradigm and institutional arrangements, and with discourses further reinforcing existing material power relations.

Organization studies as an applied science:the generation and use of academic knowledge about organizations : introduction to the special issue

The relationship between theory and practice has been discussed in the social sciences for generations. Academics from management and organization studies regularly lament the divide between theory and practice. They regret the insufficient academic knowledge of managerial problems and their solutions, and criticize the scholarly production of theories that are not relevant for organizational practice (Hambrick 1994). Despite the prevalence of this topic in academic discourse, we do not know much about what kind of academic knowledge would be useful to practice, how it would be produced and how the transfer of knowledge between theory and practice actually works. In short, we do not know how we can make academic work more relevant for practice or even whether this would be desirable. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we apply philosophical, theoretical and empirical perspectives to examine the challenges of studying the generation and use of academic knowledge. We then briefly describe the contribution of the seven papers that were selected for this Special Issue. Finally, we discuss issues that still need to be addressed, and make some proposals for future avenues of research.

Strategic and operational risk in an international collaboration agency: a knowledge management solution

The International Cooperation Agency (identified in this article as IDEA) working in Colombia is one of the most important in Colombian society with programs that support gender rights, human rights, justice and peace, scholarships, aboriginal population, youth, afro descendants population, economic development in communities, and environmental development. The identified problem is based on the diversified offer of services, collaboration and social intervention which requires diverse groups of people with multiple agendas, ways to support their mandates, disciplines, and professional competences. Knowledge creation and the growth and sustainability of the organization can be in danger because of a silo culture and the resulting reduced leverage of the separate group capabilities. Organizational memory is generally formed by the tacit knowledge of the organization members, given the value of accumulated experience that this kind of social work implies. Its loss is therefore a strategic and operational risk when most problem interventions rely on direct work in the socio-economic field and living real experiences with communities. The knowledge management solution presented in this article starts first, with the identification of the people and groups concerned and the creation of a knowledge map as a means to strengthen the ties between organizational members; second, by introducing a content management system designed to support the documentation process and knowledge sharing process; and third, introducing a methodology for the adaptation of a Balanced Scorecard based on the knowledge management processes. These three main steps lead to a knowledge management “solution” that has been implemented in the organization, comprising three components: a knowledge management system, training support and promotion of cultural change.

TRial of an Educational intervention on patients' knowledge of Atrial fibrillation and anticoagulant therapy, INR control, and outcome of Treatment with warfarin (TREAT)

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with a high risk of stroke are recommended anticoagulation with warfarin. However, the benefit of warfarin is dependent upon time spent within the target therapeutic range (TTR) of their international normalised ratio (INR) (2.0 to 3.0). AF patients possess limited knowledge of their disease and warfarin treatment and this can impact on INR control. Education can improve patients' understanding of warfarin therapy and factors which affect INR control. Methods/Design Randomised controlled trial of an intensive educational intervention will consist of group sessions (between 2-8 patients) containing standardised information about the risks and benefits associated with OAC therapy, lifestyle interactions and the importance of monitoring and control of their International Normalised Ratio (INR). Information will be presented within an 'expert-patient' focussed DVD, revised educational booklet and patient worksheets. 200 warfarin-naïve patients who are eligible for warfarin will be randomised to either the intervention or usual care groups. All patients must have ECG-documented AF and be eligible for warfarin (according to the NICE AF guidelines). Exclusion criteria include: aged < 18 years old, contraindication(s) to warfarin, history of warfarin USE, valvular heart disease, cognitive impairment, are unable to speak/read English and disease likely to cause death within 12 months. Primary endpoint is time spent in TTR. Secondary endpoints include measures of quality of life (AF-QoL-18), anxiety and depression (HADS), knowledge of AF and anticoagulation, beliefs about medication (BMQ) and illness representations (IPQ-R). Clinical outcomes, including bleeding, stroke and interruption to anticoagulation will be recorded. All outcome measures will be assessed at baseline and 1, 2, 6 and 12 months post-intervention. Discussion More data is needed on the clinical benefit of educational intervention with AF patients receiving warfarin. Trial registration ISRCTN93952605

The European Union and global governance:a handbook

The role of the European Union in global politics has been of growing interest over the past decade. The EU is a key player in global institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and NATO. It continues to construct an emerging identity and project its values and interests throughout contemporary international relations. The capacity of the EU to both formulate and realise its goals, however, remains contested. Some scholars claim the EU’s `soft power’ attitude rivals that of the USA’s `hard power’ approach to international relations. Others view the EU as insufficiently able to produce a co-ordinated position to project upon global politics. Regardless of the position taken within this debate, the EU’s relationship with its external partners has an increasingly important impact upon economic, political and security concerns on an international level. Trade negotiations, military interventions, democracy promotion, international development and responses to the global economic crisis have all witnessed the EU playing a central role. This has seen the EU become both a major force in contemporary institutions of global governance and a template for supranational governance that might influence other attempts to construct regional and global institutions. This volume brings together a collection of leading EU scholars to provide a state-of-the-art overview covering these and other debates relating to the EU’s role in contemporary global governance. The Handbook is divided into four main sections: Part I: European studies and global governance – provides an overview and critical assessment of the leading theoretical approaches through which the EU’s role in global governance has been addressed within the literature. Part II: Institutions – examines the role played by the key EU institutions in pursuing a role for the EU in contemporary international relations. Part III: Policy and issue areas – explores developments within particular policy sectors, assessing the different impact that the EU has had in different issue areas, including foreign and security policy, environmental policy, common commercial policy, the Common Agricultural Policy, development policy, accession policy, the Neighbourhood Policy and conflict transformation. Part IV: The global multilevel governance complex and the EU – focuses on the relationship between the EU and the institutions, regions and countries with which it forms a global multilevel governance complex, including chapters on the EU’s relationship with the WTO, United Nations, East Asia, Africa and the USA.

User interface design support for the development of knowledge-based systems

The present scarcity of operational knowledge-based systems (KBS) has been attributed, in part, to an inadequate consideration shown to user interface design during development. From a human factors perspective the problem has stemmed from an overall lack of user-centred design principles. Consequently the integration of human factors principles and techniques is seen as a necessary and important precursor to ensuring the implementation of KBS which are useful to, and usable by, the end-users for whom they are intended. Focussing upon KBS work taking place within commercial and industrial environments, this research set out to assess both the extent to which human factors support was presently being utilised within development, and the future path for human factors integration. The assessment consisted of interviews conducted with a number of commercial and industrial organisations involved in KBS development; and a set of three detailed case studies of individual KBS projects. Two of the studies were carried out within a collaborative Alvey project, involving the Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees Scheme (IHD) at the University of Aston in Birmingham, BIS Applied Systems Ltd (BIS), and the British Steel Corporation. This project, which had provided the initial basis and funding for the research, was concerned with the application of KBS to the design of commercial data processing (DP) systems. The third study stemmed from involvement on a KBS project being carried out by the Technology Division of the Trustees Saving Bank Group plc. The preliminary research highlighted poor human factors integration. In particular, there was a lack of early consideration of end-user requirements definition and user-centred evaluation. Instead concentration was given to the construction of the knowledge base and prototype evaluation with the expert(s). In response to this identified problem, a set of methods was developed that was aimed at encouraging developers to consider user interface requirements early on in a project. These methods were then applied in the two further projects, and their uptake within the overall development process was monitored. Experience from the two studies demonstrated that early consideration of user interface requirements was both feasible, and instructive for guiding future development work. In particular, it was shown a user interface prototype could be used as a basis for capturing requirements at the functional (task) level, and at the interface dialogue level. Extrapolating from this experience, a KBS life-cycle model is proposed which incorporates user interface design (and within that, user evaluation) as a largely parallel, rather than subsequent, activity to knowledge base construction. Further to this, there is a discussion of several key elements which can be seen as inhibiting the integration of human factors within KBS development. These elements stem from characteristics of present KBS development practice; from constraints within the commercial and industrial development environments; and from the state of existing human factors support.