Knowledge Management at Tata Chemicals, Mithapur

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Sanjay Verma ◽  
Mukund Dixit
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
External Knowledge ◽  
Management Function ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Knowledge Assimilation ◽  
Chemical Companies ◽  
Mind Set

This case describes the knowledge management (KM) initiatives at the level of a unit of one of the largest chemical companies in India. The unit, Tata Chemicals Ltd, Mithapur, has a unique knowledge base accumulated over generations of experiments, trials, and errors. It is in the midst of implementing a rejuvenation plan that has created opportunities for external knowledge assimilation and new knowledge generation. With details on the initiatives for knowledge collection, sharing, measurement of performance and the systems for rewards and recognition, the case provides an opportunity to the participants of a programme on Knowledge Management to analyze the initiatives and make recommendations for the future to the head of Knowledge Management function at the company. The participants would be able to map the realm of knowledge management in an organization and discern - how KM initiatives contributed to the transformation of the organisation from manufacturing centred mind-set to customer focused one.

Knowledge Management

2007 ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Petter Gottschalk
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Increasing Returns ◽  
Organizational Resources ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Organizational Resource ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future

Knowledge is an important organizational resource. Unlike other inert organizational resources, the application of existing knowledge has the potential to generate new knowledge. Not only can knowledge be replenished in use, it can also be combined and recombined to generate new knowledge. Once created, knowledge can be articulated, shared, stored, and re-contextualized to yield options for the future. For all of these reasons, knowledge has the potential to be applied across time and space to yield increasing returns (Garud & Kumaraswamy, 2005).

Innovation and Driven Knowledge Management

2011 ◽  
pp. 392-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eng K. Chew ◽  
Petter Gottschalk
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
External Knowledge ◽  
It Managers ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
And Performance

As described in Chapter X, fundamental to the company’s innovation capabilities is the level of collaboration and knowledge management capabilities available to support the innovation process. The ability of an organization to identify, acquire, and utilize external knowledge, known as knowledge absorption, can be critical to the firm’s operational success (Adams, Bessant, & Phelps, 2006). A survey by Adams et al. (2006) shows that three areas of knowledge management are critical for innovation management: idea generation, knowledge repository (including the management of tacit and explicit knowledge), and information flows (including information gathering and networking). Further they note that several researchers have found that the firm’s ability to “absorb and put to use new knowledge,” known as knowledge “absorptive capacity,” has direct impact on the firm’s innovation and performance (Chen, 2004; Tsai, 2001). Popadiuk and Choo (2006) have further shown that innovation and knowledge creation are related. Innovation is a result of knowledge creation. Innovation is related to the firm’s ability to combine new knowledge with existing knowledge to create new knowledge that is unique to the firm. It is also related to the firm’s ability to diffuse knowledge throughout the organization so that the organization as a whole increases its absorptive capacity. Knowledge diffusion can be facilitated by IT infrastructure and knowledge management system. Knowledge management is aimed at leveraging internal and external knowledge to create value from the firm’s intangible assets. According to Metaxiotis and Psarras (2006), knowledge management contributes to value creation by enhancing: intellectual asset management, operational efficiency, customer and competitor intelligence, continuous improvement, organizational learning, innovation in products and services, and time to market. They report of findings from American Productivity and Quality Center that greater emphasis should be made by firms on “using knowledge management to become more efficient innovators.” To leverage knowledge management for business innovation, IT managers must first understand the basic principles, theories, and practices of knowledge management. Next, they must understand how knowledge management will contribute to innovation. This chapter aims to address both topics to help make IT managers become the IT innovators.

scholarly journals Evaluation of new knowledge generation in the oil and gas sector of Russia through the prism of patent activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 04004
Author(s):  
Valeriy Kryukov ◽  
Anatoliy Tokarev
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Patent Activity ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Modern Knowledge ◽  
Oil And Gas Sector

One way to describe the evolution of the modern knowledge base in the Russian oil and gas sector (OGS) is to consider it through the dynamics and results of patent activity related to inventions. On the whole, we observe rising complexity of the industrial knowledge base of OGS, which responds to changes in the resource base of OGS and reflects world- wide trends of innovation-driven growth. Notably, Russian inventions for OGS comprise rather limited use of technologies from complementary knowledge fields.

Mapping the Road to Future Projects: Roadmapping as a Balancing and Transformation Process

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Bengtsson ◽  
Lars Lindkvist
Keyword(s):  
Future Orientation ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
The Road ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation

Based on a longitudinal case study in a large technology-based firm, this article shows how roadmapping can bring about an increased focus on explorative activity and a stronger future orientation in an organization. The case study shows how a radical technology vision, presented in the first roadmapping attempt, contributed to creating an awareness of the value of looking long into the future. This was, however, far from sufficient, and a second attempt with a stronger focus on collaboration and new knowledge generation was initiated to further the desired changeover. Interestingly, the case study points to the significance of visualizations as a means to support knowledge generation, as well as to protect exploration. More generally, we propose how roadmapping can be developed into a balancing and transformation tool associated with mapping as well as the creation of roads.

scholarly journals Application of the European tourism indicator system (ETIS) for sustainable destination management. Lessons from County Clare, Ireland

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 273-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmet McLoughlin ◽  
James Hanrahan ◽  
Ann Marie Duddy
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Indicator System ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Desk Research ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Information Gaps

Purpose Despite indicators being regarded as ideal tools to help achieve sustainability in tourism, their application within Ireland remains under researched. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to advance the knowledge base in the hospitality and tourism field by presenting baseline research from the first application of all 43 of the indicators that make up the European tourism indicator system (ETIS) in county Clare, Ireland. Design/methodology/approach This study used the pre-existing visitor, enterprise and resident surveys that accompany the ETIS indicator system in a number of honey pot destinations within county Clare. This approach was complemented further through desk research to gather the necessary data on all 43 core indicators of the ETIS. Findings While the application of the ETIS in county Clare constitutes a significant advancement towards evidence informed planning for tourism. There does exist a number of information gaps relating to specific core indicators of the ETIS. Which, if not monitored and benchmarked over time, could have serious ramifications for the future sustainability of tourism in Ireland. Originality/value This paper not only discuss the findings from the application of all 43 core indicators of the ETIS in one specific destination but also develops new knowledge on the use of tourism indicators and the move towards evidence informed planning for tourism. Furthermore, this study contributes significantly to the theoretical development of our field, as the ETIS has not been applied in its entirety throughout Europe.

Organizational knowledge generation: lessons from online communities

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fouad Zablith ◽  
Samer Faraj ◽  
Bijan Azad
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Organizational Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Knowledge

Purpose – Knowledge capturing and sharing within an organization have been extensively studied in the literature. In this stream of work, an influential focus is on the process of encoding and managing knowledge to enable effective reuse within the organization. With the advancement of internet and web technologies, there is an increased interest in the study of knowledge flows in online communities. The authors highlight in this paper the fact that the boundaries between internal and external organizational knowledge are disappearing, mainly due to the extensive use of online-based platforms to support organizational operations. The authors believe that this will affect the activities of knowledge management in today’s businesses. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines for organizations on how to bridge their internal and external knowledge using an integrated semantic approach. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper the authors review two classes of approaches, those that target internal organizational knowledge, and those that target online knowledge flow processes. Then the authors identify the challenges involved in today’s knowledge environments. To address those challenges, the authors propose a framework to bridge and integrate internal and external organizational knowledge. The authors map the activities handled in the framework to the existing knowledge management activities identified from the literature, and highlight how emerging technologies are used to support such activities along the knowledge management process. The authors apply the approach in the context of an organization’s process that heavily depends on the appropriate alignment of internal and external knowledge. The authors focus on the use of emerging technologies that support collaboration and the generation of explicit and reusable semantics. Findings – Interaction points within organizations can be used to define the scope of knowledge exchanged. Following a methodology around the proposed framework, it is feasible to create conceptual connections around internal and external knowledge through explicit semantics. Such connections that are created to support online communities’ knowledge exchange can be applied to internal organizational knowledge, and used as a bridge to external knowledge sources. Originality/value – The paper provides a roadmap for organizations on how to manage organizational knowledge processes in a coherent and collaborative semantic platform, with a view to what is available outside the boundaries of an organization.

The Implementation of WikL: An Educational Wiki Supporting Collaborative Learning in Engineering University Courses

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Zander ◽  
Tom Tanneberger ◽  
Juliane Peukert ◽  
Georg A. Mensah
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Information Platform ◽  
University Courses ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Knowledge Platform

A wiki called “WikL” is developed and employed at the Institut für Strömungsmechanik und Technische Akustik (ISTA) of Technische Universität Berlin to shift teacher focused lecturing to student focused learning in University engineering education. In this wiki, students create articles collaboratively which supports not only the gain of new knowledge but also the sharing and critical evaluation of this knowledge. This paper describes the various applications of the WikL in different classes and how it improves teaching. One of the advantages of the WikL is that it offers the possibility to link multiple courses over more than a single semester by giving access to other classes results that students might not have participated in before. For instance, it enables students that take a class on combustion to study topics of turbulence, if needed. Moreover, real measurement data taken in one course can be used to demonstrate the different effects of various analysis methods that are taught in another class. The wiki as a data and knowledge platform thus allows for cross-class teaching concepts. Though, the WikL is used with different learning concepts in the different classes, the underlying DokuWiki software allows for the customization of the WikL to meet course-specific requirements. In the future, the data and knowledge base of the WikL will grow with each semester providing a more and more valuable information platform for our students. The introduction of the WikL in more classes of our institution is intended.

Adopting Knowledge-Centred Principles in Innovation Pursuits

2011 ◽  
pp. 335-353
Author(s):  
Andrew Goh
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Knowledge Assets ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Knowledge Age

With the emergence of the knowledge economy, organizations are beginning to see a need to apply knowledge management (KM) practices to their business activities. While knowledge management (KM) has gathered considerable momentum to be a vital source of competitive advantage, how its role could harvest knowledge assets for innovation has yet to be firmly established. This chapter aims to address this issue by examining how innovation can be fostered through knowledge-centered principles. It first describes the globalization of economies and the coming of the new knowledge age as the backdrop to Singapore’s vision of transiting into a knowledge economy. Then it discusses how knowledge management (KM) practices can be harnessed better for innovation management and explains why organizations should foster innovation by adopting an evolving set of knowledge-centered principles. Next, based on the case of Singapore Airlines (SIA), it provides a theoretical review of these principles. Finally, it outlines the future challenges of exploiting knowledge for innovation.

Welcome to the marriage of human capability and artificial intelligence

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Ryan Scott ◽  
Malcolm Le Lievre
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Workplace Change ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Future ◽  
Human Capability ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Crucial Part ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore insights methodology and technology by using behavioral to create a mind-set change in the way people work, especially in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Design/methodology/approach The approach is to examine how AI is driving workplace change, introduce the idea that most organizations have untapped analytics, add the idea of what we know future work will look like and look at how greater, data-driven human behavioral insights will help prepare future human-to-human work and inform people’s work with and alongside AI. Findings Human (behavioral) intelligence will be an increasingly crucial part of behaviorally smart organizations, from hiring to placement to adaptation to team building, compliance and more. These human capability insights will, among other things, better prepare people and organizations for changing work roles, including working with and alongside AI and similar tech innovation. Research limitations/implications No doubt researchers across the private, public and nonprofit sectors will want to further study the nexus of human capability, behavioral insights technology and AI, but it is clear that such work is already underway and can prove even more valuable if adopted on a broader, deeper level. Practical implications Much “people data” inside organizations is currently not being harvested. Validated, scalable processes exist to mine that data and leverage it to help organizations of all types and sizes be ready for the future, particularly in regard to the marriage of human capability and AI. Social implications In terms of human capability and AI, individuals, teams, organizations, customers and other stakeholders will all benefit. The investment of time and other resources is minimal, but must include C-suite buy in. Originality/value Much exists on the softer aspects of the marriage of human capability and AI and other workplace advancements. What has been lacking – until now – is a 1) practical, 2) validated and 3) scalable behavioral insights tech form that quantifiably informs how people and AI will work in the future, especially side by side.

Conceptualising a New Knowledge Management Logic Model for Global Health: A Case-Study Approach

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 1550015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saori Ohkubo ◽  
Sarah V. Harlan ◽  
Naheed Ahmed ◽  
Ruwaida M. Salem
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Logic Model ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Program Outcomes ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Health Field

Over the past few decades, knowledge management (KM) has become well-established in many fields, particularly in business. Several KM models have been at the forefront of promoting KM in businesses and organisations. However, the applicability of these traditional KM models to the global health field is limited by their focus on KM processes and activities with few linkages to intended outcomes. This paper presents the new Knowledge Management for Global Health (KM4GH) Logic Model, a practical tool that helps global health professionals plan ways in which resources and specific KM activities can work together to achieve desired health program outcomes. We test the validity of this model through three case studies of global and field-level health initiatives: an SMS-based mobile phone network among community health workers (CHWs) and their supervisors in Malawi, a global electronic Toolkits platform that provides health professionals access to health information resources, and a netbook-based eHealth pilot among CHWs and their clients in Bangladesh. The case studies demonstrate the flexibility of the KM4GH Logic Model in designing various KM activities while defining a common set of metrics to measure their outcomes, providing global health organisations with a tool to select the most appropriate KM activities to meet specific knowledge needs of an audience. The three levels of outcomes depicted in the model, which are grounded in behavioural theory, show the progression in the behaviour change process, or in this case, the knowledge use process, from raising awareness of and using the new knowledge to contributing to better health systems and behaviours of the public, and ultimately to improving the health status of communities and individuals. The KM4GH Logic Model makes a unique contribution to the global health field by helping health professionals plan KM activities with the end goal in mind.

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