Emergency Preparedness and Information Systems

This chapter is about the design and implementation of an information system, using Wiki technology to improve the emergency preparedness efforts of the Claremont University Consortium. For some organizations, as in this case, responding to a crisis situation is done within a consortia environment. Managing knowledge across the various entities involved in such efforts is critical. This includes having the right set of information that is timely, relevant, and is governed by an effective communication process. It is expected that issues such as training in use of system(s), a knowledge sharing culture between entities involved in emergency preparedness, and a fit between task and technology/system must be there to support emergency preparedness activities given such structures. This study explored the use of Wiki technology to support knowledge management in the context of emergency preparedness within organizations. While initially found to be useful for supporting emergency preparedness, continuing experience with the system suggests that wikis might be more useful as a collaborative tool used to train people involved in emergency preparedness, rather than being used to support response activities during an actual emergency.

A Method for Knowledge Modeling with Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Since knowledge management (KM) is considered to be an important function of the successful business operation, many organizations are embracing KM. The success of a KM project is dependent upon its contents. This paper presents a method for building an effective knowledge model which can help businesses analyze and specify knowledge contents. The method takes a decision-oriented view. For the modeling language of the method, Unified Modeling Language (UML) has been chosen. The method is applied to the vessel scheduling process in a maritime shipping company. The steps and rules are explained using an example, and the strengths and weaknesses of the method are discussed.

Community of Practice

In developing a conceptual framework of a Community of Practice’s (CoP) role in organisational KM this chapter summarises preliminary findings of a long-term Action Research study. Interventions address CoP identification, group boundaries, trust related issues, communication, knowledge work and resources. It is argued that these aspects equally need to be addressed as part of complex multilevel organisational KM strategy. The organisational challenge is to achieve strategic alignment between knowledge activities of informally operating CoPs and formalised organisational processes. The conceptual framework aims at providing a comprehensive approach to KM strategising.

Knowledge Management Systems

This chapter is motivated by one simple question: Why do so many knowledge management systems (KMS) fail when implemented in organizational knowledge work practice? Indeed, imbalance between the desire for accurate content and the workload required to achieve this still appears to be a critical issue, resulting in KMS of little use for organizational members. Hence, KMS maintenance is an important research subject. With the objective to contribute recommendations for how to integrate KMS with everyday knowledge work, we apply general lessons learned from development of groupware applications as a theoretical lens to analyze empirical experiences of three implemented and evaluated KMS. Theorizing the relationship between the recommendations developed and extant KMS design theory, the chapter offers implications for IS research and practice.

Developing and Analysing Core Competencies for Alignment with Strategy

Although it is widely accepted that alignment of knowledge with corporate strategy is necessary, to date there have been few clear statements on what a knowledge strategy looks like and how it may be practically implemented. We argue that current methods and techniques to accomplish this alignment are severely limited, showing no clear description on how the alignment can be achieved. Core competencies, embodying an organisation’s practical know-how, are also rarely linked explicitly to actionable knowledge strategy. Viewing knowledge embedded in core competencies as a strategic asset, the paper uses a case study to show how a company’s core competencies were articulated and verified for either inclusion or exclusion in the strategy. The study is representative of similar studies carried out across a range of organisations using a novel and practically proven method. This method, StratAchieve, was used here in a client situation to show how the core competencies were identified and tested for incorporation or not in the strategy. The paper concludes by considering the value of the approach for managing knowledge.

Integrating Knowledge Management with Programme Management

Knowledge reuse has long been an issue for organizations. The management, reuse and transfer of knowledge can improve project management capabilities (i.e. learning, memory, cycle time) resulting in continuous learning. Although knowledge management has been recognized as a critical success factor in program management very little research has been conducted to date (Lycett, Rassau, and Danson 2004, Soderlund 2004). A framework is discussed that demonstrates how knowledge is created, transferred, captured and reused within project and program management, resulting in improved project management maturity. The framework utilises a task based approach to knowledge management and assumes that knowledge is created, transferred and reused as a result of an individual performing a specific task, which in this context is a project at the project level and a program at the program level.

A Dialectic on the Cultural and Political Aspects of Information and Knowledge Sharing in Organizations

This chapter raises issues concerning information and knowledge sharing in organizations and why such sharing is often difficult to achieve. In particular, it compares an organizational cultural analysis with an organizational political one. The authors believe that the issues raised are not only important but are often insufficiently attended to by practitioners who are attempting to build technological information and knowledge management systems. The driver for the chapter is the fact that despite impressive advances in technology, and its now almost ubiquitous presence in organizations many of the benefits originally expected concerning improved information and knowledge sharing have not materialised as was once confidently expected. One of the authors argues a basic reason for this lies in the lack of attention to the cultural foundations of organizations, while the other contends it is more because matters relating to organizational power and political matters are often misunderstood, overlooked or ignored. These different perspectives are discussed and contrasted in order to tease out the important differences between them and assess the prospects for a synthesis. It is concluded that, while there are important commonalities between the two perspectives, there are also fundamental differences, including concerning what are causes and what are effects and, therefore, how to go about effecting change regarding information and knowledge sharing.

Think Social Capital Before You Think Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer has been promoted as a critical and necessary condition for organizations to sustain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that successful transfer of knowledge within organizations will depend on the accumulated social capital embedded within organizational social networks. We pose social capital as critical factor for knowledge transfer and hypothesize that the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital must be developed within an organization for knowledge transfer to impact organizational performance. The study uses data collected from Egypt to test the model. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model is used to explain how cultural attributes limit the accumulation of social capital and the effectiveness of knowledge transfer in developing countries.

Toward a Receiver-Based Theory of Knowledge Sharing

Managers and researchers alike have sought new ways to address the challenges of sharing dispersed knowledge in modern business environments. Careful consideration by sharers of receivers’ knowledge needs and behaviours may improve the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. This research examines how sharers react to their perceptions of receivers’ knowledge needs and behaviours when making choices relating to sharing knowledge. The focus of this article is to propose and explore a theoretical framework for a study of the role of the receiver in knowledge sharing – receiver-based theory. Data collected from two case studies highlight a key role played by perceived receiver knowledge needs and behaviours in shaping sharer choices when explicit knowledge is shared. A set of receiver influences on knowledge sharing is provided that highlights key receiver and sharer issues. The paper concludes that companies should develop better ways to connect potential sharers with receivers’ real knowledge needs. Further, the findings suggest that sharing on a need-to-know basis hinders change in organisational power structures, and prevents the integration of isolated pockets of knowledge that may yield new value.

Human Effect of Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge sharing is important for organizational success. Once IT-driven KM approaches are proliferated, they sometimes fail to operate as expected. Social perspectives of KM, especially the human effect on knowledge sharing, are expected to be important because people can choose to share or conceal knowledge. Management of knowledge is not all about collection, but more about connection. This study investigates an individual’s behavior type as a cooperator, reciprocator, and free rider with respect to knowledge contribution. We view shared knowledge in a community of practice as a public good and adopt a theory of reciprocity to explain how different cooperative types affect knowledge contribution. People are assumed to react in one of three ways; sharing knowledge without need for reciprocity (cooperators), feeling obligated to share their knowledge (reciprocators), or taking knowledge for granted (free riders). Results reveal that the fraction of cooperator is positively related to total knowledge contribution and to reciprocity level, while the reciprocity level positively affects knowledge contribution.