Achieving closure through knowledge management strategy

Case studies of knowledge management practices are often conducted in organizations where the aim is to manage knowledge for future operational improvements. What about knowledge management for organizations with limited life-spans that are preparing for closure? Such organizations are not common but can benefit from knowledge management strategy. This case study concerns the knowledge management strategy of an organization that is preparing for its final phase of operations. We facilitated two group workshops with senior managers to scope a strategy, following which the organization initiated a set of projects to implement the resulting actions. This paper reviews their implemented actions against those designed in the workshop to shed light on knowledge management in this uncommon situation.

Intelligence agents (knowledge management)

Reports some insights into knowledge management (KM) derived from UK one-day workshops with six businesses, three non-profits and one public sector organization. Lists the four questions posed to participants and discusses the themes which emerged, e.g. the need for a KM strategy to make raw information more useable, KM performance measurement etc. Stresses the need for commitment from a top-level champion and a wide range of employees to make this work and identifies three types of solutions for improving KM strategy: technological (e.g. databases and intranets), people (e.g. motivation, retention, training and networking) and processes (e.g. procedural instructions and balancing formal/informal knowledge sharing methods). Finds that accountants and senior managers do not generally see KM as very important but argues that management accountants are suitable knowledge champions who could develop explicit links between KM and organizational performance.

Building user commitment to implementing a knowledge management strategy

In the IS literature, commitment is typically considered to involve organizational or managerial support for a system and not that of its users. This paper however reports on a field study involving 16 organizations that attempted to build user involvement in developing a knowledge management strategy by having them design it. Twenty-two IT-supported group workshops (involving 183 users) were run to develop action plans for better knowledge management that users would like to see implemented. Each workshop adopted the same problem structuring technique to assist group members develop a politically feasible action plan to which they were psychologically and emotionally dedicated. In addition to reviewing the problem structuring method, this paper provides qualitative insight into the factors a knowledge management strategy should have to encourage user commitment. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Manufacturing knowledge management strategy

The study sought to understand the components of knowledge management strategy from the perspective of staff in UK manufacturing organizations. To analyse this topic, we took an empirical approach and collaborated with two manufacturing organizations. Our main finding centres on the key components of a knowledge management strategy, and the relationships between it and manufacturing strategy and corporate strategy. Other findings include: the nature of knowledge in manufacturing organizations; the relevance of (in)formal processes; top-down and bottom-up communication; taking ownership for information processes. We also make comments on the development of action plans for better knowledge management. The implications are that, for an integrated approach to knowledge management strategy in manufacturing organizations, involvement across the organization and at all levels is necessary.

Knowledge management systems:finding a way with technology

Purpose - To consider the role of technology in knowledge management in organizations, both actual and desired. Design/methodology/approach - Facilitated, computer-supported group workshops were conducted with 78 people from ten different organizations. The objective of each workshop was to review the current state of knowledge management in that organization and develop an action plan for the future. Findings - Only three organizations had adopted a strongly technology-based "solution" to knowledge management problems, and these followed three substantially different routes. There was a clear emphasis on the use of general information technology tools to support knowledge management activities, rather than the use of tools specific to knowledge management. Research limitations/implications - Further research is needed to help organizations make best use of generally available software such as intranets and e-mail for knowledge management. Many issues, especially human, relate to the implementation of any technology. Participation was restricted to organizations that wished to produce an action plan for knowledge management. The findings may therefore represent only "average" organizations, not the very best practice. Practical implications - Each organization must resolve four tensions: Between the quantity and quality of information/knowledge, between centralized and decentralized organization, between head office and organizational knowledge, and between "push" and "pull" processes. Originality/value - Although it is the group rather than an individual that determines what counts as knowledge, hardly any previous studies of knowledge management have collected data in a group context.

Using decision support systems to facilitate the social process of knowledge management

The social processes involved in engaging small groups of 3-15 managers in their sharing, organising, acquiring, creating and using knowledge can be supported with software and facilitator assistance. This paper introduces three such systems that we have used as facilitators to support groups of managers in their social process of decision-making by managing knowledge during face-to-face meetings. The systems include Compendium, Group Explorer (with Decision Explorer) and V*I*S*A. We review these systems for group knowledge management where the aim is for better decision-making, and discuss the principles of deploying each in a group meeting. © 2006 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intellectual capital disclosures by South African companies:a longitudinal investigation

Most of the previous studies on intellectual capital disclosures have been conducted from developed countries' context. There is very limited empirical evidence in this area from the context of emerging economies in general and Africa in particular. This paper is one of the early attempts in this regard. The main purpose of this study is to examine the extent and nature of intellectual capitaldisclosures in ‘Top 20’ South African companies over a 5 years period (2002–2006). The study uses content analysis method to scrutinise the patterns of intellectual capital disclosures during the study period. The results show that intellectual capital disclosures in South Africa have increased over the 5 years study period with certain firms reporting considerably more than others. Out of the three broad categories of intellectual capital disclosures human capital appears to be the most popular category. This finding stands in sharp contrast to the previous studies in this area where external capital was found to be most popular category.

Community knowledge management (CKM): a framework for community action

Knowledge management (KM) is a developing field that focuses on harnessing knowledge for use by a person or community. However, most KM research focuses on improving decision making capacity in business communities, neglecting applications in wider society and non-decision making activities. This paper explores the potential of KM for rural communities, specifically for those that want to preserve their social history and collective memories (what we call heritage) to enrich the lives of others. In KM terms, this is a task of accumulating and recording knowledge to enable its retention for future use. We report a case study of Cardrona, a valley of approximately 120 people in New Zealand’s South Island. Realising that time would erode knowledge of their community a small, motivated group of residents initiated a KM programme to create a legacy for a wider community including younger generations, tourists and scholars. This paper applies KM principles to rural communities that want to harness their collective knowledge for wider societal gain, and develops a framework to accommodate them. As a result, we call for a wider conceptualization of KM to include motives for managing knowledge beyond decision making to accommodate community KM (cKM).

Business processes and knowledge management

Knowledge has been a subject of interest and inquiry for thousands of years since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, and no doubt even before that. “What is knowledge” continues to be an important topic of discussion in philosophy. More recently, interest in managing knowledge has grown in step with the perception that increasingly we live in a knowledge-based economy. Drucker (1969) is usually credited as being the first to popularize the knowledge-based economy concept by linking the importance of knowledge with rapid technological change in Drucker (1969). Karl Wiig coined the term knowledge management (hereafter KM) for a NATO seminar in 1986, and its popularity took off following the publication of Nonaka and Takeuchi’s book “The Knowledge Creating Company” (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Knowledge creation is in fact just one of many activities involved in KM. Others include sharing, retaining, refining, and using knowledge. There are many such lists of activities (Holsapple & Joshi, 2000; Probst, Raub, & Romhardt, 1999; Skyrme, 1999; Wiig, De Hoog, & Van der Spek, 1997). Both academic and practical interest in KM has continued to increase throughout the last decade. In this article, first the different types of knowledge are outlined, then comes a discussion of various routes by which knowledge management can be implemented, advocating a process-based route. An explanation follows of how people, processes, and technology need to fit together for effective KM, and some examples of this route in use are given. Finally, there is a look towards the future.

Knowledge management in knowledge intensive service networks:a strategic management approach

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to analyze knowledge management in service networks. It analyzes the knowledge management process and identifies related challenges. The authors take a strategic management approach instead of a more technology-oriented approach, since it is believed that managerial problems still remain after technological problems are solved. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the literature on the topic of knowledge management as well as the resource (or knowledge) based view of the firm. It offers conceptual insights and provides possible solutions for knowledge management problems. Findings – The paper discusses several possible solutions for managing knowledge processes in knowledge-intensive service networks. Solutions for knowledge identification/generation, knowledge application, knowledge combination/transfer and supporting the evolution of tacit network knowledge include personal and technological aspects, as well as organizational and cultural elements. Practical implications – In a complex environment, knowledge management and network management become crucial for business success. It is the task of network management to establish routines, and to build and regularly refresh meta-knowledge about the competencies and abilities that exist within the network. It is suggested that each network partner should be rated according to the contribution to the network knowledge base. Based on this rating, a particular network partner is a member of a certain knowledge club, meaning that the partner has access to a particular level of network knowledge. Such an established routine provides strong incentives to add knowledge to the network's knowledge base Originality/value – This paper is a first attempt to outline the problems of knowledge management in knowledge-intensive service networks and, by so doing, to introduce strategic management reasoning to the discussion.

Loan loss provisions, earnings management and capital management under IFRS:the case of EU commercial banks

Prior research has shown that loan loss provisions are primarily used as a tool for earnings management and capital management by listed banks. Effective 2005 all listed companies in the European Union (EU) are required to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Adherence to IFRS, it is claimed, should enhance transparency of reporting practices relative to local General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). The overall objective of this paper is to examine the impact of the implementation of IFRS on the use of loan loss provisions (LLPs) to manage earnings and capital. We use a sample of 91 EU listed commercial banks covering a period of 10 years (before and after implementation of IFRS). Since early adopters may have different incentives and motivations relative to those who adopt mandatorily, we dichotomize our sample into early and late adopters. Overall, we find that earnings management (using loan loss provisions) for both early and late adopters while significant over the estimation window is significantly reduced after implementation of IFRS. We also find that, for risky banks, earnings management behavior is more pronounced when compared to the less risky banks, but is significantly reduced in the post IFRS period. Capital management behavior by bank managers is not significant in both pre and post IFRS regimes. Overall, we conclude that the implementation of IFRS in the EU appears to have improved earnings quality by mitigating the tendency of bank managers of listed commercial banks to engage in earnings management using loan loss provisions.