Knowledge Management Paradigm Research Articles

Technical and Collaboration Breakdown Structures: Drivers of collaborative problem solving approaches in a supply chain context

Abstract For a long time the Problem Solving Methodologies have been a cornerstone element of the firms' strategy on achieving effective continuous improvement. But the enterprise's evolution towards an extended environment characterized by network-based organizations has radically changed the problem solving and the knowledge management paradigms. This paper aims to establish the global framework for the definition of a generic and collaborative methodology addressing more complex and distributed problems. Such methodology deals with Supply Chain issues, distributed Experience Feedback processes and aims to have a key role as a driver for building global competitive advantages and creating superior performances at a Supply Chain level.

Migration of health workers and health of international migrants: framework for bridging some knowledge disjoints between brain drain and brawn drain

A paradox in knowledge management paradigms is posed: that leading to a dichotomy between factor-endowment and factor-use in the health sector of any given country. While investment in acquiring health knowledge embodied in overseas health workers from other countries could lead to better health and therefore higher productivity of the native workforce in the developed North countries, immigration of overseas non-health-workers, particularly those at the lower end of the skill spectrum, could neutralise that advantage if their health and therefore productivity is allowed to wither away. For the developing South countries, this adds a new question in the policy debate on brain drain – whether ‘drain’ of knowledge for the origin country as defined in terms of loss of benefits to the people physically left behind within its sovereign geographical territory, or a more inclusive and wider definition of ‘drain’ of knowledge for its people irrespective of their physical location in a globalised and interconnected world. The latter definition could have significant implications for bridging our knowledge disjoints between health policies involving migrants and migration policies involving health workers.

Online crisis communication response: A case study of fraudulent banking transactions in South Africa

The emergence and advancement of information technology – specifically the replacement of face-toface services with innovative self-service technology, such as banking transactions on the Internet – is forcing companies to adopt a proactive approach to online crisis communication response, and to combine the management and control of online messages during a crisis. In the financial services industry, deregulation and the rapid growth in technology have removed entry barriers in the online environment, forcing financial institutions to transform from the traditional brick-and-mortar to click-and-mortar service delivery, while at the same time allaying customers’ fears (and the perceived risk) of fraudulent online transactions. Although studies have been conducted on the adoption, use, perceived risk and purchase intention of self-service technology, limited research has examined the knowledge management of an online crisis communication response. Knowledge management, which focuses on the acquisition, transfer and assimilation of information, is one way in which to manage messages effectively before, during and after an online crisis communication response situation. The main aim of this article is to identify and characterise typologies of the management and control of messages in an online crisis communication response, through an interpretative and critical analysis of fraudulent websites, based on the main premises of the knowledge management approach. This is done through a case study approach: the website of one of the top ten banks in South Africa was studied in terms of it dealt with fraudulent banking transactions, specifically from the knowledge management paradigm.

Socio-Technical Knowledge Management and Epistemological Paradigms: Theoretical Connections at the Individual and Organisational Level

An international association advancing the multidisciplinary study of informing systems. Founded in 1998, the Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a global community of academics shaping the future of informing science.

Towards a Knowledge-Based Economy – the Case of Botswana A Discussion Article

Botswana is keen to position itself as a knowledge-based economy as early as 2016 due to the realisation that to compete on a global scale, efficient knowledge value chains must be put in place, which includes indigenous knowledge management systems. This realisation is primarily caused by falling demand in the price of diamonds (due to the world’s recession), which is the country’s current economic mainstay. Today, Botswana is pushing for further economic liberalisation and diversification by employing and encouraging novel frontiers of knowledge with emphasis placed on research and efficient knowledge management as a vital resource for national development. In Botswana, the role of scientific and technical knowledge is being emphasized as the main driver of sustainable development, but not forgetting the potential contribution of indigenous and mythological knowledge to this aim. Several initiatives have been devised or implemented by both the government and the public sector to position Botswana as a knowledge-based economy. This paper surveys the fundamental concepts on which this paradigm shift is based and brings out the different initiatives that have been undertaken while emphasizing the role of research and efficient knowledge management paradigms in shaping Botswana as a knowledge-based economy.

A framework for learning collaborative networked organisations

This paper introduces a theoretical framework for Learning Collaborative Networked Organisations (L-CNOs). It merges both Organisational Learning (OL) and Knowledge Management (KM) paradigms to support the main elements presented as part of the framework. An overview about both paradigms is presented. An introduction to the CNO discipline and the importance of learning and knowledge in the CNO context are provided. The rationale behind the proposal is that CNOs still lack research on and work for enhancing the long-term knowledge production associated with their usage. Throughout the proposed framework, the corporate knowledge (tacit, explicit and potential knowledge) can be retained, organised, shared and reused to the benefit of individuals, the entire CNO and its respective members via organisational, technological and human elements. Evaluation procedures, some conclusions and further steps of this research are also presented.

The Paradigm of Knowledge Management in Higher Educational Institutions

The dynamics of the modern market, fast development of science and technology, changes in society require a new attitude to the management of organizations. New requirements are set to the employees as well. The understanding of the necessity to improve constantly, to raise the professional level becomes a very important trait of the employee along with the perfect professional knowledge. The professional must not only have new ideas, but also it is necessary to know and be able to use the experience of the organization, that is able to improve the work quality and productivity. The spreading of the telecommunication means such as internet allow creating a homogeneous global information storage system, that significantly raises the possibility of the information search and mastering. The penetration of informational and innovational technologies into all spheres of our lives, the usage of e-learning created preconditions to establish management systems. The recognition of the importance of intellectual

Knowlege, Literacies and the teaching of reading English as a foreign language

This paper addresses some key issues cutting across disciplinary fields and influencing EFL reading teaching and research. Reading models have been informed by Information and Knowledge Management paradigms, gradually focusing on different components of prior knowledge and schemata. Lexis has proven to be determinant in cognitive models, as it provides direct access to concepts, stocked as semantic propositions. But schemata are built in the speaker’s mind according to the individual experiences, depicting reading acts as meaning creation on a socio-pragmatic basis. Secondly, the parallel evolution of the Literacy and Reading concepts calls up for multi-literacy approaches, which integrate digital competence into the learning goals, as technologies force changes in information, the way we access it, and on the pedagogical approaches to learning, and to EFL reading. The role of overt teaching, meta-cognitive strategies and individual factors, such as motivation or attitudes, continue being the focus of present and future research.

A web-based Knowledge Management system for Cardiovascular Disease

The objective of this paper is to examine the efficacy of the Knowledge Management (KM) paradigm for a web-based Patient Administration System (PAS) for Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) management. The role of contemporary Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for the management of electrocardiographic information and how this can act as a foundation for a KM-based system is discussed. Moreover, the proffered CVD KM system, coupled with the tools, technologies and techniques of the Intelligence Continuum (IC) is presented as a suitable model to enable critical information to be captured and accessed in a timely fashion by clinical decision makers, thereby ensuring the highest level of quality care in CVD treatment.

A knowledge management paradigm in the supply chain

Supply chain management has profited tremendously from the advance of Web technologies during the last decade. New applications as well as optimized existing applications have used the Web as the medium to provide efficient and effective services to internal and external company users. The new paradigm in the universal World Wide Web is the semantic web, where the use of ontologies allows for knowledge management in ways that were not possible before. The supply chain management sector can benefit immensely by moving toward such technologies. The basic elements of a prototype knowledge management system for supply chain management are presented in this paper. In these basic characteristic sets of ontologies we examine how the semantic web can provide considerable improvements over previously used paradigms.

A process-knowledge management approach for assessment and mitigation of drilling risks

The purpose of this paper is to impart the development of a Process-Knowledge Management System (P-KMS) designed to investigate drilling in gas hydrate environments, identify potential well risks (well control, borehole stability and/or well integrity), and assess mitigation of them due to alteration of drilling parameters and/or strategies. Since successful drilling in gas hydrates environments is influenced strongly by numerous parameters and relations that are sometimes ill-defined, or not understood properly, the P-KMS developed needs to permit users the ability to update the knowledge utilized, as well as handle uncertainty as multidimensional phenomena. For this, traditional engineering simulations and uncertainty handling by soft computing have been combined in a novel approach with knowledge management paradigms. This allows the inclusion of knowledge from multiple field experts, and its combination with approved company best practices and guidelines. In order to consider the uncertainties associated with knowledge, approximate reasoning by type-2 fuzzy logic is combined with relevant numerical simulations (pressure and temperature fields, thermodynamic and kinetic gas hydrate behavior). This combination of knowledge is established by the P-KMS through the construction of individual reasoning blocks and a coherent reasoning lattice. Because expert knowledge (expressed in rules and equations) and standard engineering calculations are combined in a modular form, updating of knowledge, as well as well situation-specific applications of it, are assisted. The P-KMS can be applied in two reasoning modes, either for dynamic process assessment (simulation mode) or static well situation analysis (parameter inference mode). During reasoning, uncertainties employed are monitored constantly in such a way that knowledge gap identification and system performance evaluation is supported. Consequently, it is anticipated that using such a P-KMS approach will lead to (1) increase in well-site security, (2) reduction of overall well costs, and (3) creation of experience in development, implementation and maintenance of a P-KMS for similar problem areas.

From Communities of Practice to Communities of Resistance: Civil society and cognitive justice

Maja van der Velden looks at how knowledge and power are played out in development literature and practice examining the role of knowledge, public goods and the new information communications technology (ICT) in managing and sharing knowledge. She discusses the World Bank's knowledge-for-development paradigm arguing that the paradigm of knowledge management on which it is based will lead to a grave loss of knowledge. She concludes that civil society can further its social justice and developments objectives by protecting knowers and their physical and cultural environments and by facilitating the dialogues of different knowledge.

Towards a holistic knowledge management model

Knowledge management (KM) has been gradually established as a strong methodology to support business viability, competitiveness and growth; however, the lack of maturity is obvious, as evidenced by divergent points of view in critical sub‐domains of the related theory and practice, such as the spectrum of processes and the clusters of tactics scheduled to underpin them. The systems thinking logic, the discipline for seeing structures underlying complex phenomena, is perceived as a promising direction for consolidating the various approaches and developing a holistic KM paradigm. Through the integration of the fragmented landscape of knowledge management on a transparent and concrete framework based on cause‐effect relationships, not only the underlying theoretical assumptions are clarified and subjected to further analysis at a strategic level, but also practical issues concerning planning and decision making become less complicated, increasing effectiveness.

Knowledge management – the new librarianship? From custodians of history to gatekeepers to the future

Explores the knowledge management paradigm, and offers a model for understanding the future role of knowledge and information professionals. The article starts by exploring the concept of knowledge management and the strategies for its implementation in business organizations. This theme is developed into a consideration of knowledge management in the public sector. Three main roles are proposed for knowledge professionals: managing knowledge repositories; facilitating of knowledge flow and communication; and leveraging value generation capacity.

From data to knowledge and back again: understanding the limitations of KMS

AbstractResearchers in the field of information systems (IS) view IT‐enabled knowledge management solutions as novel approaches to the stimulation of creativity and innovation in post‐industrial organizations; hence, the focus by researchers on the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) in enabling and supporting knowledge work. However, despite some success stories, recent research indicates that the majority of knowledge management systems (KMS) have been unsuccessful. This situation has led some to voice deep‐seated concerns about the knowledge management paradigm and its influence on the IS field—particularly the belief that IT can help capture, store and transfer knowledge. This paper's objective is to deepen the IS field's understanding of the limitations and capabilities of knowledge management systems. A case study of an Irish software vendor's experiences in developing KMS using case‐based reasoning technologies is undertaken to help achieve this objective. The findings of this study illustrate that: (a) the KMS developed in the organization studied did not meet the claims of their creators, as the applications provided a poor approximation of the ‘horizons of understanding’ of domain experts whose knowledge these systems purported to capture, store and transfer; (b) the ontological and epistemological perspectives of developers were overtly functionalist in orientation and were insensitive to the socially constructed and institutional nature and context of knowledge. The findings lend weight to the claim that information technology deals with data only, and knowledge management requires social as opposed to technical support, in that appropriate institutional mechanisms, rather that technological solutions, constitute the corporate memory. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reflections on customer knowledge management in e‐business

Customer knowledge is an important asset for all businesses. The rhetoric of e‐business emphasises the opportunities for knowing customers in the digital economy. This article sets the context with a brief summary of the key characteristics of the knowledge management paradigm. This is used as a platform for the themes that form the core of this article: defining the knowledge that the organisation requires; knowledge tools and the relationships between data, information and knowledge; the role of customer communities in CKM; bounding and structuring organisational knowledge communities; ownership of knowledge assets; integrating customer knowledge across channels; and comparing customer knowledge management with customer relationship management. The overarching message of the article is that customer knowledge management is not just about data. Organisations need to develop strategies that enable them to capitalise on the dynamic integration of systems and people.

Eight questions for customer knowledge management in e‐business

Customer knowledge is an important asset for all businesses. The rhetoric of e‐business emphasises the opportunities for knowing customers in the digital economy. This article sets the context with a brief summary of the key characteristics of the knowledge management paradigm. This is used as a platform for the formulation of the questions that form the core of this article: What customer knowledge do businesses require? What customer data can be collected? What are the challenges for translating data into information and knowledge? Can knowledge cultures be created in online customer communities? Whose knowledge is it anyway? How can knowledge assets be identified and managed in virtual organisations? How can customer knowledge from e‐business be integrated with customer knowledge from other channels? Who needs customer knowledge anyway?

Knowledge management to support fate and transport modeling efforts in risk-based decision-making frameworks – salient issues and paradigm development

Risk-based corrective action goals are increasingly being adopted to regulate and manage contaminated sites all across the world. While the potential benefits of these efforts are laudable and indeed desirable, the success of this knowledge-oriented paradigm shift requires a commitment to continual learning on the part of the regulators. Hence, there is an imminent need for local and state regulatory agencies to promote individual and collaborative learning that is necessary to develop scientifically credible and cost-effective solutions that are both transparent and consistent at all levels. The need to effectively assimilate and disseminate information within an organization has led to the development of an umbrella concept called knowledge management. The objective often is to capture pertinent information that is scattered and localized within an organization and make it accessible to all, using management strategies and information technologies. Fate and transport modeling is an important element of environmental risk-based decision-making process, and knowledge related to this component is often disjointed and even unavailable to regulators in many local and state regulatory agencies. The objective of this study is to develop a knowledge-management paradigm in support of learning related to fate and transport modeling. A knowledge taxonomy is developed here and utilized to guide a proposed five-step management framework that aims to identify, assimilate, acquire, disseminate, and evaluate knowledge pertinent to fate and transport modeling applications in regulatory settings. Several applicable management strategies and information technologies are identified and evaluated to lend additional implementation assistance to the proposed knowledge-management scheme.

Breaking the Myths of Rewards

Many CEOs and managers understand the importance of knowledge sharing among their employees and are eager to introduce the knowledge management paradigm in their organizations. However little is known about the determinants of the individual’s knowledge sharing behavior. The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the factors affecting the individual’s knowledge sharing behavior in the organizational context. The research model includes various constructs based on social exchange theory, self-efficacy, and theory of reasoned action. Research results from the field survey of 467 employees of four large, public organizations show that expected associations and contribution are the major determinants of the individual’s attitude toward knowledge sharing. Expected rewards, believed by many as the most important motivating factor for knowledge sharing, are not significantly related to the attitude toward knowledge sharing. As expected, positive attitude toward knowledge sharing is found to lead to positive intention to share knowledge and, finally, to actual knowledge sharing behaviors.

Knowledge Management: The “Fifth Face” of Institutional Research

AbstractBuilding on the main themes presented in the volume, this chapter explores their implications for institutional research. Their underlying premise is that institutional research could and should play a critical role in advancing the knowledge management paradigm: transforming data into information into knowledge and ultimately gaining organizational “wisdom” and building competitive advantage. This concluding chapter looks at the advantages and challenges of knowledge management from an institutional research perspective.