Knowledge Sharing in Consulting Companies: Opportunities and Limitations of Knowledge Codification

2005 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 201-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snejina Michailova ◽  
Akshey Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Codification ◽  
Knowledge Requirements ◽  
The Common ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Organisational Level

This paper is a study of the knowledge-sharing difficulties experienced by three departments in a knowledge-intensive firm. The case organisation is a global consulting firm that has been on the forefront of knowledge management and has won several knowledge management related international acclaims. Our analysis shows that there are strong disincentives in place for departments to share knowledge. We found that the nature of the businesses of the departments was very different and so were their knowledge requirements and their preferred ways to seek knowledge. Additionally, confidentiality agreements with clients and lack of cross-departmental interaction inhibited knowledge sharing outside departmental boundaries. Contrary to the common belief in the organisation, we found that one single IT system could not satisfy the context-specific knowledge-sharing needs of the different departments. We suggest that some very recent breakthrough technologies could be applied to facilitate cross-departmental knowledge sharing provided they are implemented at the strategic organisational level.

A Knowledge Management Tool for the Interconnection of Communities of Practice

2013 ◽  
pp. 56-76
Author(s):  
Élise Lavoué ◽  
Sébastien George ◽  
Patrick Prévôt
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Geographically Distributed

In their daily practice, practitioners belong to local communities of practice (CoPs) within their organisation. This knowledge is rarely capitalised upon because discussions are mainly verbal. Practitioners can also belong to general CoPs online. Within these general CoPs, discussions are rarely linked to the context in which they appeared, since the members are from different companies or institutions. This paper (1) connects these two levels of CoPs by contacting practitioners belonging to CoPs centred on the same general activity but who are geographically distributed and (2) capitalises on the produced knowledge by contextualising, allowing it to be accessible and reusable by all the members. The authors detail the main results of the research: (1) a model of the interconnection of CoPs (ICP) to support knowledge sharing and dissemination; and (2) a specific knowledge management tool for the ICP knowledge base. The authors apply the model and platform to university tutors by: (1) developing a use case, which links the model and the TE-Cap 2 platform and highlights the new possibilities offered by the knowledge management tool; and (2) conducting a descriptive investigation lasting for five months.

The Influence of Collaborative Web on Knowledge Management, Organizational Structure and Culture in Knowledge-Intensive Companies

2011 ◽  
pp. 184-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin Kirchner ◽  
Mladen Cudanov
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Organizational Structure ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Project Teams ◽  
Management Change ◽  
Community Orientation ◽  
Web Tools ◽  
Knowledge Intensive

Knowledge-intensive companies are quickly changing, involving many people working in different activities. Knowledge in such companies is diverse and its proportions immense and steadily growing. The distribution of knowledge across project teams, communities of practice, and individuals is therefore an important factor. With collaborative Web, tools like wikis, blogs, or social networks are used for collaboration and knowledge sharing. In this chapter, we question what influence these tools have on knowledge management, organizational structure, and culture of knowledge-intensive companies. As a result of our interviews and surveys done in Serbia, we found that with collaborative Web, organizational structure, culture, and knowledge management change is perceived among employees and that employee’s loyalty changes from company orientation toward virtual community orientation.

scholarly journals Knowledge management in knowledge-intensive organisations: Understanding its benefits, processes, infrastructure and barriers

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred H. Mazorodze ◽  
Sheryl Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Knowledge Flow ◽  
Management Process ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Microsoft Excel ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Knowledge Intensive

Background: Knowledge management aims to improve organisational performance and it marks the beginning of organisational transformation. Most knowledge-intensive organisations engage and practise knowledge management without a full understanding of its benefits. A knowledge-intensive organisation is an organisation whose services and operations are heavily reliant on professional knowledge. The study, therefore, provides a solid understanding of knowledge management benefits, processes, infrastructure and barriers in knowledge-intensive organisations.Objectives: To understand knowledge management, its benefits, processes, infrastructure and barriers in knowledge-intensive organisations. The research objectives extend our understanding of knowledge management in organisations, identify and describe knowledge management benefits. Identification of the most important knowledge management process and associated infrastructure are among other objectives.Method: A survey was used to solve the problem. A structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 112 participants from knowledge-intensive firms in Namibia. The quantitative data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2013 spreadsheet package.Results: The study has revealed that the prime benefit of knowledge management in knowledge-intensive organisations is to allow improved knowledge flow, thereby enhancing the capability of the organisation to manage change with more than 50% representation of the participants. In addition to that, the study also found that knowledge sharing is the most important knowledge management process, among other processes such as knowledge creation, knowledge capture and knowledge reuse. All the participants (100%) concurred that a flat organisational structure supports knowledge sharing. The research findings have further discovered that the biggest barrier to effective knowledge management is the lack of budget to support knowledge management efforts. This was represented by 67.9% of the participants. Lack of executive support and lack of time were also among the great barriers with 57.1% and 52.7%, respectively.Conclusion: Knowledge management allows improved knowledge flow in knowledge-intensive organisations. We can, therefore, conclude that the participants believed that knowledge sharing is more important than creation, capturing, transferring and reuse. It is, therefore, important to underscore that knowledge sharing should be taken as a priority if organisations are to remain competitive. Research results have also revealed that a flat organisational structure is the best for knowledge sharing. For improved organisational performance, knowledge management barriers must be removed with the assistance of management.

A Knowledge Management Tool for the Interconnection of Communities of Practice

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Élise Lavoué ◽  
Sébastien George ◽  
Patrick Prévôt
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Use Case ◽  
General Activity ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Geographically Distributed

In their daily practice, practitioners belong to local communities of practice (CoPs) within their organisation. This knowledge is rarely capitalised upon because discussions are mainly verbal. Practitioners can also belong to general CoPs online. Within these general CoPs, discussions are rarely linked to the context in which they appeared, since the members are from different companies or institutions. This paper (1) connects these two levels of CoPs by contacting practitioners belonging to CoPs centred on the same general activity but who are geographically distributed and (2) capitalises on the produced knowledge by contextualising, allowing it to be accessible and reusable by all the members. The authors detail the main results of the research: (1) a model of the interconnection of CoPs (ICP) to support knowledge sharing and dissemination; and (2) a specific knowledge management tool for the ICP knowledge base. The authors apply the model and platform to university tutors by: (1) developing a use case, which links the model and the TE-Cap 2 platform and highlights the new possibilities offered by the knowledge management tool; and (2) conducting a descriptive investigation lasting for five months.

Intellectual Property Protection in Software Enterprises

2009 ◽  
pp. 697-702
Author(s):  
Juha Kettunen
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Ip Protection ◽  
Business Environments ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Critical Phases

Enterprises are facing challenges in protecting their intellectual property (IP) due to the rapid technological changes, shortened lifecycles, and the intangibility of products. The IP protection granted by the national intellectual property rights (IPRs) legislation does not correspond very well with the needs of enterprises operating in a rapidly changing business environment (Andersen & Striukova, 2001; Bechina, 2006). The most valuable assets of knowledge intensive enterprises are the knowledge and skills embodied in human capital, which cannot be protected using the traditional and formal IP protection (Coleman & Fishlock, 1999; Kitching & Blackburn, 1998; Miles, Andersen, Boden, & Howells, 2000). The challenges for IP protection in the context of knowledge intensive small enterprises lie in creating business environments that support the knowledge sharing and creation, innovativeness, and IP protection. In particular, the challenges are related to the identification of such formal and informal protection methods which improve the business process. The aim of knowledge management is to stimulate innovation and create knowledge. Knowledge management allows knowledge with critical and strategic characteristics in an enterprise to be located, formalised, shared, enhanced, and developed. The purpose of this study on information security management is to explore how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) protect their IP in software business. This study investigates how strategic IP protection supports the knowledge sharing and innovation creation and explores the critical phases of IP protection in small software enterprises. This study also describes and develops management, using the approach of knowledge management and applying the spiral of knowledge creation in software development. The article is organised as follows. The IP protection of enterprises operating in software development is introduced in the background section. The main attention of the article concentrates on IP protection, which is analysed using the framework of knowledge management. IP protection is investigated in the various phases of knowledge creation in software development. Thereafter some future trends are described. Finally, the results of the study are summarised and discussed in the concluding section.

Software Development Knowledge Management System Using Web Portal

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-118
Author(s):  
Kamalendu Pal ◽  
Idongesit Williams
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
System Design ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Global Software Development ◽  
Web Portal ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Collaborative Knowledge

Software development is a knowledge-intensive practice. Software development teams rely on human resources and systematic approaches to share knowledge on system design. This collaborative knowledge sharing and preserving mechanism is known as “knowledge management” in software industries. In the software development process, coordination of system design functionalities requires knowledge-sharing infrastructure within the team members. Semantic web service computing (SWSC) provides opportunities and value-added service capabilities that global software development team requires to exchange information. This chapter describes the features of an ontology-based web portal framework, called CKIA (Collaborative Knowledge Integration Architecture), for integrating distributed knowledge in a global software development project. The CKIA framework uses a hybrid knowledge-based system consisting of Structural Case-Based Reasoning (S-CBR), Rule-Based Reasoning(RBR), and an ontology-based concept similarity assessment mechanism. A business scenario is used to present some functionalities of the framework.

The effect of HRM practices on knowledge management capacity: a comparative study in Indian IT industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharmila Gope ◽  
Gianluca Elia ◽  
Giuseppina Passiante
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Acquisition ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
It Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Capacity ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Knowledge Intensive

Purpose Successful businesses demand high-performing human resource management practices (HRMP) and effective knowledge management capacity (KMC) to enhance the overall organizational performance. Rapid growth of both local and multinational companies operating in knowledge-intensive industries has increased the global competition in the labor market, also for the developing economies. Therefore, attracting valuable human capital, retaining talents and managing effectively knowledge to deliver on the latest technologies and innovative solutions and services are the biggest challenges in the modern IT industry. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of HRMP on KMC through a cross-case analysis including four companies operating in Indian IT sector. Based on the existing studies in this field, five key HRMP have been identified (i.e. recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation and reward, employee retention and career development), as well as two key processes supporting the KMC (i.e. knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing). Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a qualitative research method based on a multiple case study, and it uses primary and secondary data collected through desk research and field interviews. Findings Results show the existence of HRMP aiming to enhance the individual learning, motivation and retention of employees for knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing, in the strategic perspective to improve the organizational performance. Research limitations/implications The paper presents some limitations, which may provide scope for future research. First, being the study a qualitative multiple case analysis, a more extensive research is needed to generalize the results and investigate further relationships existing between HRMP and KMC. Moreover, a deep investigation on the organizational performance dimensions (e.g. sales growth, cash turnover, financial goal achievement) is required to verify the existence of possible links. Finally, a further limit consists in considering only knowledge acquisition and knowledge-sharing processes, excluding another crucial knowledge management (KM) process such as knowledge application. As for the research implications, the paper contributes to investigate the role of HRMP in supporting KMC in Indian IT companies, which represents a context of research not so much investigated. Practical implications From a practitioner point of view, the study can be helpful to HR and KM managers for motivating employees to undertake learning processes and enhance their performance, as well as to acquire and share knowledge resources that are useful for the organization to remain innovative and stay competitive. Originality/value As the influence of HRMP on KMC has not been widely studied in the Indian IT industry, the study may open the field for further studies on a deeper investigation of the relationships existing between human resources management (HRM), KM and organizational performance in knowledge-intensive industries in India and, more in general, in developing economies.

The Competent Organization

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-44
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Single System ◽  
Know How ◽  
Knowledge Codification

Competent organizations must be principled about managing knowledge, whether leading corporate efforts, knowledge sharing, or knowledge codification activities to grow their employees and organizational capacity and improve the dynamic business capability. Those organizations that are principled understand their responsibilities. They understand the value of resources; humans are valuable assets, and employee know-how is critical to an organization's outcome. In this chapter, necessary principles for an organization to have are discussed. These principles are the start of building a single system of performance management of integration of knowledge management and competence-based approaches, which leads to practical outcomes for businesses hoping to meet their desired performance.

When Things Go Right in Disasters

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Arvind Gudi ◽  
Weidong Xia ◽  
Irma Becerra-Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Emergency Managers ◽  
Emergency Operations Center ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
And Task

Since emergency management tasks are complex and knowledge intensive, task performance is dependent on the dynamic interplays among task characteristics, the type of knowledge involved and the ways in which such knowledge is effectively integrated. Based on literature reviews, extensive field observations and a survey of emergency managers involved in a large emergency operations center (EOC) in the southeast region of the US, the authors test a set of research hypotheses that depict the moderating role of knowledge specificity on the relationship between task complexity and task performance, and between knowledge integration and task performance. The authors conceptualize two dimensions of task complexity: components and interactive complexity. Two types of specific knowledge, discipline-specific and context-specific knowledge, are measured. The results indicate that the two task complexity dimensions negatively affect task performance, knowledge integration positively affects task performance, and these relationships are moderated by the type of specific knowledge that is used.

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