Opportunities For Knowledge Management Research Articles

Do clusters matter for foreign subsidiaries in the Era of industry 4.0? The case of the aviation valley in Poland

Many scholars underline the significance of clusters for knowledge spillovers and related benefits in terms of innovation and firm competitiveness. The Industry 4.0 technological scenario emphasizes dispersed technologically interconnected activities and distributed knowledge management opportunities, while clusters focus on proximity, which is why many question the attractiveness of the latter for firms. Bearing in mind the scarcity of studies on the relationship between digitalization and clusters, the paper discusses how clusters may be attractive for foreign subsidiaries in times of the fourth industrial revolution by referring to the case of the Aviation Valley in Poland as explanatory example supporting conceptual considerations proposed.

Knowledge Entrepreneurship: Institutionalising Wiki-based Knowledge-management Processes in Competitive and Hierarchical Organisations

Social media in general and wikis in particular offer unique opportunities for knowledge management. Despite widely publicised successes in public settings, wikis in businesses evince mixed results; enterprises struggle to apply wikis to institutionalise knowledge-management practices. We investigate the inherent tensions underlying knowledge-sharing in competitive and hierarchical organisations. Our application of the multi-level organisational learning framework demonstrates that, although wikis facilitate some important learning stages, other critical challenges remain. A unique blend of project leadership can facilitate the institutionalisation of wiki-based knowledge-management processes. To observe the leadership archetype, we use a longitudinal case study of wiki use within a division of NBC Universal. On the basis of our observations, we propose a new archetype of project leadership called Knowledge Entrepreneurship that integrates managerial skills, technology affordances, and critical factors in knowledge-management processes.

English

The evolution and development of information technology have facilitated greater sharing of data and knowledge management for the collection of electronic information by data owners such as governments, corporations, and individuals. Therefore, they have created huge opportunities for knowledge management and information retrieval. Recent develoments have helped improve decision making especially in the fields of medical information, research, and public health organization, among others. Recently, the control and sharing of data or knowledge management has received notable attention in research communities. Many approaches have been proposed for different data publishing needs in different fields. The sharing of data needs control and management to ensure system integration. Integration is required especially in the management of patient data to secure sensitive information such as patient identification. Several studies have focused on the management of data in medical applications to ensure system integration. However, the management and sharing of data in different fields may result in misuse of information. Therefore, there is a need to build models or design certain algorithms to manage shared data efficiently and to avoid misuse. The goal is to ensure authenticity of the data system. In the present study, we systematically summarize and evaluate different approaches to control the sharing of data and knowledge management in order to ensure system integration. Moreover, we study the challenges in controlling the sharing of data and clarify the differences and conditions that distinguish the control of sharing of data from other related problems. Finally, we correspondingly propose future research directions in the conclusion. Key words: Knowledge management, electronic information, information retrieval, decision making integration, authenticity.

The Role of Agribusiness Innovation Incubation for Africa's Development

The global economic crisis coupled with increases in food and fuel prices and the looming impacts of climate change have necessitated that Africa should urgently rise up to these challenges and opportunities by promoting growth, food security, employment, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. A unique strategy for realizing Africa's potentials for development in the wake of these challenges is through agribusiness innovation incubation. The strategy seeks to turn the challenges into opportunities by harnessing the knowledge and information infrastructures as underlying mechanisms to encourage demand-driven research and for-profit entrepreneurship in Africa's rich agricultural sector. This paper examines the economic, social and knowledge management opportunities offered through agribusiness innovation incubation for Africa's sustainable development. This paper further provides various models and prerequisites for realizing this objective.

Knowledge about HIV/AIDS among professionals working with migrants in Switzerland

Switzerland faces an HIV epidemic that is concentrated among certain groups, including migrants from high‐prevalence countries. This study explores the HIV/AIDS knowledge of professionals providing asylum and integration services at cantonal level, with a view to optimising the role they can play in HIV prevention. Data was collected by means of a self‐administered questionnaire; 266 of the 368 professionals (72%) approached responded. Answers were analysed with regard to the respondent's sex, age, workplace and geographical location. General HIV/AIDS knowledge is sound, although there are deficits regarding the vulnerability of migrants. Staff working for non‐governmental organisations are significantly more likely (39%) to attach high importance to HIV/AIDS than civil servants (25%). They are also significantly more likely to have undergone training in HIV/AIDS (25% compared with 15%). Respondents from the German parts of Switzerland are significantly more likely (75%) than those from Romandie and Tessin (48%) to feel sufficiently well informed to be able to address the HIV/AIDS needs of migrants.Professionals providing asylum and integration services could be familiarised more systematically with HIV/AIDS policy documents and with the HIV/AIDS projects and materials in place for migrants. There is also scope to institutionalise targeted training and knowledge management opportunities better.

Critical factors for knowledge management in project business

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify and examine various factors that influence the success or failure of knowledge management (KM) initiatives in project‐based companies.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a literature review, the study proposes a conceptual model of six factors of potential importance to the success of KM initiatives. The model is then examined through an online survey of project managers and assistant managers from project‐based businesses in Finland.FindingsThe study finds that a lack of incentives and the absence of an appropriate information system are the most significant barriers to successful KM initiatives in projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the study may be restricted in terms of generalisability because of the limited empirical study.Practical implicationsProject managers should formulate an attractive incentive package to encourage project members to participate in KM initiatives and to suggest ideas for new KM opportunities. Managers should also ensure that an effective user‐friendly information system is in place before introducing KM initiatives.Originality/valueThe study proposes a new model of critical success factors for KM initiatives in the context of project‐based business.

A content analysis of literature regarding knowledge management opportunities for librarians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on the progress of research regarding the opportunities for librarians within the context of knowledge management.Design/methodology/approachA content analysis of 28 full‐length journal articles indexed by Library Literature in the past ten years was conducted.FindingsFindings indicate that more researchers than practitioners are aware of knowledge management opportunities, utilised more literature reviews and based their findings on theory. In addition, an unexpected finding was that the majority of researchers communicated their findings in professional rather than scholarly journals. Practitioners should therefore give attention to studies conducted by researchers to become aware of opportunities they could not identify themselves.Research limitations/implicationsOnly full‐length journal articles indexed by Library Literature were included. Thus the findings may have limitations in their generalisability.Practical implicationsResults of the study may assist in the improvement of teaching and research in library and information science. Additionally, librarians may become aware of the opportunities and acquire guidelines on how to attain the necessary requirements towards enhancing their role and ultimately boosting their image.Originality/valueThe study shows the progress of research regarding the knowledge management opportunities for librarians to researchers and practitioners interested in this field.

Knowledge management opportunities for cycle time reduction

Focusing on knowledge management activities, this study examines the roles of knowledge management in the reduction of new product development cycle time and the moderating role of innovation-technology fit in the relationship. I found that knowledge management plays significant roles in improving the performance of new product development. In particular, the results suggest that the speed of knowledge acquisition and the availability of knowledge dissemination facilities affect the cycle time and new product development and, thus, contribute to the improvement of financial performance. Innovation-technology significantly moderates the negative impact of speed on performance. A theoretical explanation is discussed.

Knowledge management configurations in Italian small‐to‐medium enterprises

To survive in the global economy small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have to improve their products and processes exploiting their intellectual capital in a dynamic network of knowledge‐intensive relations inside and outside their borders. By erasing traditional constraints to SMEs innovation ability and leveraging their flexibility and responsiveness, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) provide SMEs with opportunities for Knowledge Management (KM) today in most cases largely unexploited. Focusing on the area of Product Innovation (PI) and drawing evidence from the analysis of a multiple‐case study on 47 Italian SMEs, patterns in the adoption and use of new ICT tools are explained in relation both to Contingencies and to KM internal processes. Complexity at both product and system levels, emerges as a key factor driving technological choices. Three different KM configurations emerge in relation to ICT approaches. Implications of this study are relevant for both SMEs managers and ICT developers/vendors.

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The author discusses two contextual problems associated with responses to his article. After discussing how documentation relates to business models, he concludes that communicators, to ensure their longevity, should pursue knowledge management opportunities.

Chauffeured by the User

Librarians have not traditionally been the developers of iiifurnuition retrieval systems. However, with the growth of the World Wide Weh and online knowledge management opportunities, academic librarians have begun to emerge as online system developers and designers. As librarians jockey lor position as experts in understanding information-seeking behavior in this virtual landscape, they must learn about usability testing. Usability testing reveals how users search for online information and is a key component in determining when a product is easy to use and ready for public use. Both the University of Arizona and OCLC have undergone usability evaluation in various ways and have integrated results of these evaluations into their Web and online product designs.