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.

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.

Responding to crisis through strategic knowledge management

Purpose - Many managers would like to take a strategic approach to preparing the organisation to avoid impending crisis but instead find themselves fire-fighting to mitigate its impact. This paper seeks to examine an organisation which made major strategic changes in order to respond to the full effect of a crisis which would be realised over a two to three year period. At the root of these changes was a strategic approach to managing knowledge. The paper's purpose is to reflect on managers' views of the impact this strategy had on preparing for the crisis and explore what happened in the organisation during and after the crisis. Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines a case-study of a financial services organisation which faced the crisis of its impending dissolution. The paper draws upon observations of change management workshops, as well as interviews with organisational members of a change management task force. Findings - The response to the crisis was to recognise the importance of the people and their knowledge to the organisation, and to build a strategy which improved business processes and communication flow across the divisions, as well as managing the departure of knowledge workers from an organisation in the process of being dissolved. Practical implications - The paper demonstrates the importance of building a knowledge management strategy during times of crisis, and draws out important lessons for organisations facing organisational change. Originality/value - The paper represents a unique opportunity to learn from an organisation adopting a strategic approach to managing its knowledge during a time of crisis. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

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.

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.

Knowledge management in support of enterprise risk management

Risk management and knowledge management have so far been studied almost independently. The evolution of risk management to the holistic view of Enterprise Risk Management requires the destruction of barriers between organizational silos and the exchange and application of knowledge from different risk management areas. However, knowledge management has received little or no attention in risk management. This paper examines possible relationships between knowledge management constructs related to knowledge sharing, and two risk management concepts: perceived quality of risk control and perceived value of enterprise risk management. From a literature review, relationships with eight knowledge management variables covering people, process and technology aspects were hypothesised. A survey was administered to risk management employees in financial institutions. The results showed that the perceived quality of risk control is significantly associated with four knowledge management variables: perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing, perceived quality of communication among people, web channel functionality, and risk management information system functionality. However, the relationships of the knowledge management variables to the perceived value of enterprise risk management are not significant. We conclude that better knowledge management is associated with better risk control, but that more effort needs to be made to break down organizational silos in order to support true Enterprise Risk Management.

The essentials of knowledge management

This book reviews the field of Knowledge Management, taking a holistic approach that includes both "soft" and "hard" aspects. It provides a broad perspective on the field, rather than one based on a single viewpoints from Computer Science or Organizational Learning, offering a comprehensive and integrated conception of Knowledge Management. The chapters represent the best Knowledge Management articles published in the 21st century in Knowledge Management Research & Practice and the European Journal of Information Systems, with contributors including Ikujiro Nonaka, Frada Burstein, and David Schwartz. Most of the chapters contribute significantly to practise as well as theory.

Knowledge management in support of enterprise risk management

Risk management and knowledge management have so far been studied almost independently. The evolution of risk management to the holistic view of Enterprise Risk Management requires the destruction of barriers between organizational silos and the exchange and application of knowledge from different risk management areas. However, knowledge management has received little or no attention in risk management. This paper examines possible relationships between knowledge management constructs related to knowledge sharing, and two risk management concepts: perceived quality of risk control and perceived value of enterprise risk management. From a literature review, relationships with eight knowledge management variables covering people, process and technology aspects were hypothesised. A survey was administered to risk management employees in financial institutions. The results showed that the perceived quality of risk control is significantly associated with four knowledge management variables: perceived quality of risk knowledge sharing, perceived quality of communication among people, web channel functionality, and risk management information system functionality. However, the relationships of the knowledge management variables to the perceived value of enterprise risk management are not significant. We conclude that better knowledge management is associated with better risk control, but that more effort needs to be made to break down organizational silos in order to support true Enterprise Risk Management.

Vágyott kultúra és reális értékítélet - Tudásmenedzsment-rendszer kiépítésének előfeltétele egy felsőoktatási intézményben (Desired culture and real value judgement – Precondition of development a knowledge management system in a higher education institution)

A tudásmenedzsment-rendszerek kiépítése és működtetése egyre népszerűbb vállalati cél. A legnagyobb igyekezet ellenére is kudarccal végződhet egy ilyen változás megvalósítása, ha a szükséges feltételek nélkül próbálkozunk ezzel a beavatkozással a szervezet életében. Az egyik legfontosabb előfeltétel a bizalomra, közös tanulásra, fejlődésre épülő, nyitott szervezeti kultúra, mely a tanulószervezeti jellemzőkkel írható le. A szerzők kutatásukban arra voltak kíváncsiak, milyen elképzeléseik, vágyaik vannak a felsőoktatásban oktató kollégáknak az ideálisnak nevezett szervezeti kultúráról. Ezeket az elképzeléseket egy külső tanácsadó cég által végzett kérdőíves felmérésen alapuló vizsgálat segítségével tudták meg, melynek kiértékelésére a circumplex-módszer szolgált. Az eredményeket összevetették a tanulószervezeti jellemzőkkel, vizsgálva azt a hipotézist, miszerint az oktató kollégák tudat alatt is olyan ideális szervezetet képzelnek el, mely a tanulószervezeti kultúra jellemzőivel azonos. _________ To create and to operate a knowledge management system is becoming a more and more popular target of the companies. Realizing the changes above can result in a failure – in spite of the biggest will – if organizations lack certain prerequisites which are necessary in companies’ lives. One of the most important prerequisites is organizational culture which can be characterized by confidence, common learning, development and open atmosphere. This is called a learning organizational culture. In their research the authors would have liked to know what kind of dreams the colleagues have about their own organizational culture. They achieve these results from an investigation with questionnaires which were realized by an advisory team. To evaluating the results of this investigation circumplex method was used. These results were compared with the characteristics of learning organization to confirm our hypothesis. According to this idea colleagues have the same images about their successful organization as the characteristics of learning organizations.

A gestão do conhecimento na administração pública municipal em Curitiba com a aplicação do método OKA - Organizational Knowledge Assessment

O presente artigo objetiva analisar como a gestão do conhecimento se manifesta na administração pública da Prefeitura Municipal de Curitiba; para tanto, buscou-se a aplicação do método Organizational Knowledge Assessment (OKA), criado pelo Banco Mundial e organizado pela Escola Nacional de Administração Pública (Enap). No que tange aos procedimentos metodológicos, utilizou-se o estudo de caso como instrumento de pesquisa e coleta dos dados. Como resultado, identificaram-se o processo de avaliação organizacional, indicando as similaridades e distinções do desenvolvimento do método de cada área-fim, e a importância de implantar sistematicamente um processo de avaliação aliado ao planejamento da organização pública com estratégias para disseminar, compartilhar e aplicar o conhecimento produzido.

Knowledge management in multinational companies: the repatriates’ role in the competitive advantage in subsidiaries

This paper addresses the topic of knowledge management in multinational companies (MNCs). Its purpose is to examine the role of expatriates in knowledge acquisition and transfer within MNCs. Specifically it focuses on knowledge acquisition and transfer from one MNC head office located in Germany to two Portuguese subsidiaries as a basis for competitive advantage in their Portuguese subsidiaries. A qualitative research methodology is used, specifically through an exploratory case study approach, which examines how international assignments are important for the role of expatriates In knowledge acquisition and transfer between foreign head offices and their Portuguese subsidiaries. The data were collected through semi structured interviews to 10 Portuguese repatriates from two Portuguese subsidiaries of one foreign MNC. The findings suggest that the reasons that lead to expatriating employees from Portuguese subsidiaries to foreign head offices are connected to (1) knowledge management strategies to development the subsidiary’s performance; (2) new skills and knowledge acquisition by future team leaders and business/product managers in Portuguese subsidiaries; (3) procuring knowledge, from agents in head office, to be disseminated amongst co-workers in Portuguese subsidiaries; (4) acquiring global management skills, impossible to acquire locally and; (5) developing global projects within MNC. Also our results show that knowledge acquisition and transfer from foreign head office, through subsidiaries’ expatriates, contributes directly to the Portuguese subsidiaries’ innovation, improved performance, competitive advantage and growth in the economic sectors in which they operate. Moreover, evidence reveals that expatriation is seen as a strategy to fulfil some of the main organisational objectives through their expatriates (e.g., create new products and business markets, develop and incorporate new organisational techniques and processes, integrate global teams within multinational corporation with a responsibility on the definition of global objectives). The results obtained suggest that expatriates have a central role in acquiring and transferring strategic knowledge from MNC head office to their subsidiaries located in Portugal. Based on the findings, the paper discusses in detail the main theoretical and managerial implications. Suggestions for further research are also presented. The study’s main limitation is the small size of the sample, but its findings and methodology are quite original and significant.

Knowledge management in higher education institutions: a framework to improve collaboration

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework that increases knowledge sharing and collaboration in Higher Education Institutions. The paper discusses the concept of knowledge management in higher education institutions, presenting a systematization of knowledge practices and tools to linking people (students, teachers, researchers, secretariat staff, external entities)and promoting the knowledge sharing across several key processes and services in a higher education institution, such as: the research processes, learning processes, student and alumni services, administrative services and processes, and strategic planning and management. The framework purposed in this paper aims to improve knowledge practices and processes which facilitate an environment and a culture of knowledge collaboration,sharing and discovery that should characterize an institution of higher education.