Knowledge-intensive Practices Research Articles

Pathways from information to the adoption of conservation agriculture practices in Malawi and Tanzania

Abstract To reduce agriculture's carbon, land and water footprint, the diffusion of conservation farming methods is one commonly cited proposition. Yet the process of translating available information on new conservation farming methods into farmers' practices is often a black box in many studies. This understanding is critical to inform strategies for scaling these complex, knowledge-intensive, but necessary practices for improving agriculture's resource and climate balance sheet. By implementing a series of mediation analysis using data from 700 households in Malawi and 930 households in Tanzania, this study examines how an improved understanding of conservation agriculture (CA) principles is an important mediator in the pathway from extension contact to the adoption of two of the CA practices examined. For the adoption of conservation tillage, the share of the mediated treatment effect was in the 31.5–34.4% range, while it was 31.6–46.9% for the adoption of soil cover (mulching). Our results suggest that unless learning from external sources strongly correlates with improved farmers' technical understanding of new farming practices, private learning by doing must be a critical adjunct to other avenues of learning. Beyond the basic promotional goals, improving farmers' technical know-how needs to be the centerpiece of holistic efforts in support of conservation farming and similar knowledge-intensive practices necessary for agriculture's sustinability goals.

Skills, management practices and technology adoption in Greek manufacturing firms

The Greek economy has so far failed to shift its production structure towards more complex, high value-added activities incorporating knowledge-intensive practices. Greece lacks a systemic “activating knowledge” dimension. Given the country’s low performance in innovation and knowledge diffusion relative to EU peers, we focus on two specific problem areas of Greek industry: skills and management practices. Both areas are key requirements to achieve robust productivity growth, in which Greece has been shown to be chronically lagging behind its peers. First, we provide an in-depth look at skills indicators to identify the scope for action, particularly in addressing mismatch. A novel result is that, by utilising mismatch indicators aggregated from microdata sourced from the recent OECD Survey of Adult Skills that was conducted as part of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), we show that Greece has the highest overskilling for professional occupations. We also corroborate previous findings about the negative relationship between skills mismatch and firm productivity. Second, we use firm-level data from the World Management Survey to give a review of management practices in Greek industry and explore the quality of these practices and their association with productivity. Finally, we use information from a novel survey on entrepreneurship, technological developments and regulatory change, and examine structural characteristics of innovation activity and technology adoption by Greek firms, with a focus on the role of size, ownership structure, global value chain participation and human resource practices. Our empirical findings provide valuable input into concrete policy proposals to increase productivity in Greek manufacturing.

RetrofittAR: Supporting Hardware-Centered Expertise Sharing in Manufacturing Settings through Augmented Reality

Since almost the onset of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), the community has been concerned with how expertise sharing can be supported in different settings. Here, the complex handling of machines based on experience and knowledge is increasingly becoming a challenge. In our study, we investigated expertise sharing in a medium-sized manufacturing company in an effort to support the fostering of hardware-based expertise sharing by using augmented reality (AR) to ‘retrofit’ machines. We, therefore, conducted a preliminary empirical study to understand how expertise is shared in practice and what current support is available. Based on the findings, we derived design challenges and implications for the design of AR systems in manufacturing settings. The main challenges, we found, had to do with existing socio-technical infrastructure and the contextual nature of expertise. We implemented a HoloLens application called RetrofittAR that supports learning on the production machine during actual use. We evaluated the system during the company’s actual production process. The results show which data types are necessary to support expertise sharing and how our design supports the retrofitting of old machines. We contribute to the current state of research in two ways. First, we present the knowledge-intensive practice of operating older production machines through novel AR interfaces. Second, we outline how retrofitting measures with new visualisation technologies can support knowledge-intensive production processes.

Client information systems’ support for case-based social work: experiences of Finnish social workers

ABSTRACT In recent years, Finland has seen extensive development in the area of social and healthcare information management aimed at harmonizing client information systems (CISs) and ways of documenting client information. The developments aim to support the utilization of recorded information at different levels of service systems, including the level of social work practice. This article investigates the relationship between social work practice and the use of CISs by answering the following question: To what extent do CISs support case-based social work in Finland? Social work is approached as a knowledge-intensive practice in which CISs have become increasingly important for managing case work. The research question is considered in relation to recent national developments in social and healthcare information management. The study uses survey data from a subpopulation of social workers (n = 309) working in municipal social services and combines quantitative and qualitative data. The findings reveal that current CISs do not offer sufficient support for case-based social work. Although CISs serve reasonably well for storing and documenting case-based information, they generally serve social workers poorly in terms of providing them with the tools they need to understand cases in their entirety and form comprehensive knowledge for their practice. To provide adequate CISs that support case-based social work, it is necessary to see social workers as active users of information and understand the role of CISs in the knowledge formation process in social work.

Knowledge Management in the Dark

The voluntary use of private devices by employees without the formal approval of the IT department, commonly termed Shadow IT, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. In this article, the authors study the role of private smartphones (and related applications like WhatsApp) in knowledge-intensive practices in the manufacturing domain. With an in-depth case study based on data gained from observations and interviews, the authors are able to empirically illustrate why workers use their private smartphones (contrary to company guidelines) and how they find significant gains of productivity by using the forbidden applications. This study gives rich insights into the rise of Shadow IT in a manufacturing context which takes place in a self-organised way without knowledge of the management.

Assessment of the relationship between adoption of a knowledge-intensive water-saving technique and irrigation conditions in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) is an irrigation technique developed to save water in paddy rice farming. We investigated how local paddy irrigation conditions affected the adoption of AWD by farmers in An Giang province of the Mekong River Delta region, Vietnam. To this end, we used community-level statistics collected in the dry seasons of 2009–2010, 2011–2012, 2013–2014, and 2014–2015. We focused on paddy elevation, density of channel networks, and degree of triple-cropping as indicators of irrigation conditions. We performed a partial rank order correlation coefficient analysis between AWD adoption rates and these irrigation conditions and several other related factors. Variations in irrigation conditions caused by paddy elevation and infrastructure status were identified as affecting AWD implementation. Although AWD is a knowledge-intensive practice for optimizing watering amounts and timing in paddy rice farming, and requires no extra infrastructure or machinery, it does require well-arranged irrigation conditions. Moreover, the significance of the channel network in AWD adoption was emphasized in a year with low rainfall, indicating that farmers prefer continuous flooding to AWD as a hedge against water shortages. In AWD, continuous flooding is considered a waste of water from the viewpoint of rice plant physiology; however, where irrigation conditions are less than ideal, continuous flooding includes the role of water reservoirs. Therefore, the prerequisite conditions for diffusion of AWD need to be reconsidered.

Conceptual modeling for knowledge management to support agile software development

AbstractAgile software development (ASD) has emerged as a result of consolidated values proposed under the lightweight methods of software engineering. Despite bearing some criticisms, the initial deployment and results observed in the practice environment represents its increasing domination over the traditional software development practices. Any ASD method, in particular, requires knowledge-intensive practices and typically employs multi-disciplinary expert team working extended periods of time for weeks on a nearly continuous basis. A huge amount of tacit knowledge creation and exchange happens in the entire process over the project lifecycle, which attracts the attention of research in the domain of knowledge management (KM). In this paper, first, we have mapped the agile values and agile principles, and in its support, we have argued upon and the need for integrated KM infrastructure and proposed a KM model that can be employed within the organization. We have also developed a conceptual framework for knowledge sharing and learning for the individual practitioners for the sustainability of agile team. We attempt to create an organizational learning framework for knowledge creation and exchange among the involved entities in a collaborative practice environment.

Large-scale sugarcane farmers' knowledge and perceptions of Eldana saccharina Walker (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), push–pull and integrated pest management

A push–pull strategy for controlling Eldana saccharina Walker is being promoted as part of an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programme in the South African sugar industry. Understanding farmers' perceptions of pests and pest management can improve rates of adoption of pest management strategies, in particular for knowledge-intensive practices such as AW-IPM. Fifty-three large-scale sugarcane farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Respondents recognised the threat which E. saccharina posed, and 83% had heard of push–pull and IPM. Ecozone delineations played a more important role in adoption decisions than demographic and general enterprise factors such as farmer age, experience and land tenure, supporting the suggestion that experiential learning activities with small, local groups of farmers are suitable for introducing new pest management strategies. Notwithstanding good basic knowledge of E. saccharina, push–pull and IPM which farmers demonstrated, there is still a need for more detailed and practical knowledge on the implementation of push–pull at farm level. This knowledge should be made available to farmers in a hands-on manner with an emphasis on locally-oriented field days and model farms. Eldana saccharina may not be a priority for all farmers in the region where surveys were conducted. However, farmers should not be allowed to become complacent about this pest, as its range is increasing. These results will be used to formulate future push–pull and AW-IPM dissemination activities amongst large-scale sugarcane farmers in South Africa.

From the Inside Out: Examining a Knowledge-Based Practice in Large Public Organizations

This article outlines a study into a specific knowledge-intensive practice (Web information architecture [IA] — the organizing and structuring of information on an organization's website) across a number of large public organizations. Using a practice as the unit of analysis it is found that the practice is fledgling, fragile, and lacks legitimacy and that a mindlessness of the practice exists. These new understandings of specific practice enable organizational members within and outside the practice to provide more supportive environments for the work. The article argues that attention to practices uncovers subtle, deeply held realities and knowledge that would otherwise remain obscured.

Stages of knowledge management systems in policing financial crime

A stage model for knowledge management systems in policing financial crime is developed in this paper. Stages of growth models enable identification of organizational maturity and direction. Information technology to support knowledge work of police officers is improving. For example, new information systems supporting police investigations are evolving. Police investigation is an information-rich and knowledge-intensive practice. Its success depends on turning information into evidence. This paper presents an organizing framework for knowledge management systems in policing financial crime. Future case studies will empirically have to illustrate and validate the stage hypothesis developed in this paper.

Computer Information Systems in Financial Crime Investigations

Information technology to support knowledge work of police officers is improving. For example, new information systems applying data mining techniques that support police investigations are evolving. Police investigation is an information-rich and knowledge-intensive practice. The purpose of this article is to explore information and communication technology in the context of computer information systems to support financial crime investigations. White-collar crime is not as visible as conventional crime and detection is difficult. For instance, in a homicide case, there is generally a body and forensic evidence. In the case of financial crime, accounting and computer forensics are currently the investigators best tools in detection and implemented in most white-collar investigations in recent years.