Organizing decision making process in public administration: the impact of knowledge visualization

Abstract

The growing complexity of the competitive context imposes on organizations the necessary to make effective decisions in a short time. Consequently, the organization must make decisions on an ever-increasing volume of data and information to increase their competitive advantage. For this reason, the decision- making process must be supported by new tools capable of facilitating and time reduction the knowledge transfer. The public administrations are a particular and very emblematic case. Indeed, public administrations are characterized as bureaucratic organizations with lengthy, often ineffective decision-making processes. The main consequence is a loss of value for the reference community. Hence, improving decision-making in public administrations can have a direct impact on society. On this wise, knowledge visualization by transforming knowledge into different visual tools (e.g., images, tables, graphs, knowledge maps, etc.) can support the decision-making process, speeding up the knowledge transfer process. A growing field of studies is focusing on the knowledge visualization, and on tools to support the decision-making process. The knowledge visualization in complex organizations appears to be a subject that has not yet been fully explored. The objective of this study is to understand the impact that knowledge visualization has on the decision-making process in public administration. In this study the methodological approach implemented has qualitative and exploratory nature. The exploratory nature aims to build the theoretical premises regarding knowledge visualization, the use of knowledge visualization in public administration, and the operational and strategic capacity to support decision- making. The data was collected through the analysis of a case study. This study is part of knowledge management studies, with particular emphasis on knowledge. visualization. The results of this study, based on the observation of a case study, offer theoretical reflections on the impact of knowledge visualization in the decision-making processes of public administration. The managerial implications of this study offer an overview of the knowledge visualization tools used in public administration and the impact of knowledge visualization in the decision- making process.