Institutional innovation: synthesis of programme outcomes

Report of the work of the Projects funded by the JISC Institutional change/innovation Programme 2008-2010. Report produced by the Synthesis and Benefits Realisation Team linked to the Programme

An Ethnographic Study of Motivations to Participate in, and Contribute Knowledge to, a Hybrid-Economic Professional I.T. Community

This dissertation explores motivations for knowledge sharing in the professional community oriented around the use, design, and engineering of Microsoft SharePoint. An original, mixed-methods ethnographic study identifies motivations to participate and contribute knowledge, and examines the sociotechnical structures that are both the product of diversely-motivated social action and the context in which participation and knowledge sharing is performed. A focus is placed on social information systems - information technologies designed and used to process information about the individual in order to mediate such social constructs as peer recognition and reputation - and the effect these systems have as rewards on problems of low levels and diverse types of participation. Results from a cultural consensus analysis survey finds that the opportunity to learn job-related skills, gain access to knowledgeable experts, and make and maintain social connections for personal and professional purposes were primary among motivations to participate. Additionally, data suggests a sub-culture may exist that runs contrary to the primary cultural beliefs in the community, believing instead that the pursuit of symbolic recognition and "fame" most-motivate participation. Socio-structural analysis identifies market- and commons-based structures in the SharePoint community, and finds that participation, its motivations, and the enacted structuration processes cannot be reduced to either market or commons structures. The SharePoint community is better understood as a hybrid-economic community that produces knowledge and knowledge-sharing contexts out of the complex relationship between market- and commons-based modalities. The study concludes with a critical analysis of the Microsoft MVP Award, a product of the hybrid-economic SharePoint community and a progenitor to social media-based social information systems for recognition, reputation, and reward. Findings raise specific issues for adopters of "Gamification" - a design paradigm in which game elements are introduced to non-game contexts - particularly concerning cases where social information systems are used as assessment methods or motivational devices. The study advances theory by introducing an alternative to the marketplace and the commons as social contexts for knowledge creation by explicating specific structuration processes underlying hybrid-economic knowledge sharing. Finally, the study contributes to the advancement of research methods by specifying a process for integrating qualitative and quantitative ethnographic data.Ph.D., Information Studies -- Drexel University, 201

Exploring IT-Based Knowledge Sharing Practices: Representing Knowledge within and across Projects

EXPLORING IT-BASED KNOWLEDGE SHARING PRACTICES: REPRESENTING KNOWLEDGE WITHIN AND ACROSS PROJECTS Drawing on the social representation literature combined with a need to better understand knowledge sharing across projects, this research lays the ground for the development of a theoretical account seeking to explain the relationship between project members’ representations of knowledge sharing practices and the use of knowledge-based systems as boundary objects or shared systems. The concept of social representations is particularly appropriate for studying social issues in continuous evolution such as the adoption of a new information system. The research design is structured as an interpretive case study, focusing on the knowledge sharing practices within and across four project groups. The findings showed significant divergence among the groups’ social representations. Sharing knowledge across projects was rather challenging, despite the potential advantages provided by the knowledge-based system. Therefore, technological change does not automatically trigger the intended changes in work practices and routines. The groups’ social representations need to be aligned with the desired behaviour or patterns of actions

Knowledge Management as a Strategy & Competitive Advantage: A Strong Influence to Success (A Survey of Knowledge Management Case Studies of Different Organizations)

There has been a great deal of recognition in the business world that information and knowledge management can be vital tools in organizations. Knowledge management can be proven a competitive advantage of any organization. The rationale of this exploratory study is to investigate the link among knowledge management system & techniques and organizational success by using knowledge as completive advantage. It is a qualitative research study of different case studies of the use of knowledge management as competitive advantage in different organization that leads to success. A total of 8 different organizations are studied and results propose that by using knowledge management as strategy and competitive advantage, these organizations earn high profit. And it has a great influence to success. Implication and Directions are also discussed together with limitation and suggestions for future research. Keywords: Knowledge Management, Organization, Tacit Knowledge, Explicit Knowledge, KMS, KM Strategies, KM Technologies, Productivity, Competitive Advantage

Knowledge management in higher education: a case study using a stakeholder approach

Provided that valuable knowledge is: collected from all existing sources including people, systems, databases, file cabinets, etc.; it is stored, categorized and organized; and it is disseminated to those people and systems that need it; “The right knowledge would reach the right person or system at the right time” (Seiner, 2000) and businesses would be transformed into knowledge organizations and economies into knowledge economies. This is in fact the global business phenomenon of our modern world economy (Malhotra, 2003); or at least we aspire that it will be. The wealth of today’s businesses and modern nations lies on their competences and capabilities as knowledge-based economies (Boisot, 1998). Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are increasingly exposed to marketplace pressures, in a similar way to other businesses, and the environment in which they are operating today has also changed drastically (Kara & DeShields, 2004), (Cranfield & Taylor, 2008); they experience intense pressure and are required to respond to the global integration (Blose, et al., 2005). The strategic management of knowledge of a university may provide the competitive advantage that universities need and has potentially several benefits to offer to higher education in general. Knowledge Management (KM) which includes management strategies, and methods, as well as the necessary information and communication technologies may potentially leverage intellectual capital and know-how in order that businesses can benefit from gains in human performance and competitiveness. Examples and best practices are available in the literature but very few of them are specific to higher education and involve the use of KM by HEIs. Amongst those who believe that KM has a lot more to offer to Higher Education (HE) is Rowley (Rowley, 2000) who said that “we are a long way from a scenario in which each member of the university community has access to the combined knowledge and wisdom of others in the organization, and has access to that knowledge in a form that suits their particular needs”. This study was initiated to study KM practices in a HEI and create a case study of a KM implementation specific to a HEI following a stakeholder approach. The HEI under study is the largest (over 5,000 students) private HE institution in Cyprus. While involving all areas required for the successful introduction of KM in a HEI, the study delivers a KM solution to satisfy the need of internal stakeholders, being the administration, faculty and staff members and the students. All aspects of KM are examined in the study which being exploratory in nature carries out an organization-wide survey to explore the HEI’s stakeholders’ perceptions of the “knowledge organization”, their current practices including strategy, leadership style, and culture and their needs and expectations relating to KM. Research objectives are satisfied with the utilization of focus groups and surveys conducted via questionnaires and personal interviews for the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. As data are analyzed the results and recommended actions lead to a case study which describes the implementation of a kick-off KM project in the HEI. The case study has an explanatory nature and takes the reader through all of the steps, from the initiation to the completion, of the KM project. It may be replicated, customized, and re-used as necessary for other KM implementations in the HEI under study, other HEIs, or other organizations with similar needs

Bringing Knowledge to Imbedded Collaboration Tools Within an Irish Financial Services IT Department

The field of organisational knowledge management attempts to define and identify work practices and the use of technologies which provide an organisation with sustained competitive advantage. This research presents findings from analysis carried out in an Irish financial services organisation. The organisation has no defined knowledge management strategy yet as this research will indicate that this firm can be classified as a Knowledge-Intensive Organisation. Many of the desired attributes of a knowledge management strategy and characteristics for a knowledge management system can be found within the organisations technology and cultural structures. This project, having reviewed the established literature which defines the characteristics of knowledge management and knowledge management systems then compares them against the target organisation to identify activities which are in place and identify gaps. The social characteristics are explored through a survey of the employees of the target department with the in situ tools analysed for their knowledge management capabilities. Finally having identified potential gaps within the departments’ current use of technology a new approach to organising and using the existing technology is presented to a peer group for consideration

How digital equity and workplace learning influence acceptance of a knowledge sharing technology in the higher education workplace

How organizations share knowledge is very important. Research has shown that organizations are implementing knowledge sharing technologies, but employees are not using them. This study used an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to explain to what extent and under what conditions employees accept and use a knowledge sharing technology, Microsoft SharePoint (SharePoint), in the higher education workplace. In an effort to understand the complexities of employee acceptance and use of technology in the higher education workplace two additional moderators were incorporated into the context of UTAUT – digital equity (i.e., individual level) and workplace learning climate (i.e., organizational level) factors. The rollout of SharePoint as a knowledge sharing technology at the University of Illinois provided the opportunity for this study. Using a mixed-methods approach, data was collected from 390 survey respondents and 18 focus group participants from three campuses at the University of Illinois. Using multiple regression analysis, this data was examined to answer three research questions: To what extent and under what conditions do digital equity factors influence predictors (i.e., performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence) of intent to use a knowledge sharing technology (SharePoint) in the higher education workplace? To what extent and under what conditions does workplace learning climate affect predictors (i.e., performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence) of intent to use a knowledge sharing technology (SharePoint) in the higher education workplace? Which moderator (digital equity factors or workplace learning factors) would better influence the use of a knowledge sharing technology (SharePoint) in the higher education workplace? The results suggested that gender, job position, and workplace learning climate factors influenced employees’ acceptance and use of a knowledge sharing technology in the higher education workplace. Specifically as moderators to effort expectancy and social influence. Focus group participant responses provided a more in-depth understanding of these quantitative data results. These results provided contributions to both research and practice. With digital equity in the workplace being primarily overlooked in the literature, this study attempts to fill in this gap and provide a quantitative as well as contextual analysis of how factors of digital equity impact technology acceptance and use in the workplace. Likewise, the interaction between individual and organizational-level factors and technology acceptance and use provides a framework that researchers can use for future studies. Employers wanting to implement a knowledge sharing technology in their organization can benefit from the results in this study. Specifically the challenges and benefits noted by focus group participants are invaluable insights into a successful implementation of SharePoint

Project management software and its utilities : case: JIRA and Microsoft Project

Nowadays, projects are daily initiated in every organization from all corners of the world. From nonprofit projects to multi-million euro projects, without right project management, project failure can be an inevitable result. Therefore, the need for project management software is rapidly increasing, not only in IT-related projects, but also in projects of all other fields. The question is how to utilize project management software in different projects of different purposes to serve the project’s progress. In this thesis, the authors focus on answering the mentioned question by researching the theories of project management, together with studying the case of two project management softwares. This thesis studies the utility of two project management softwares in corresponding cases (JIRA and Microsoft Project 2013). Meanwhile, a list of criteria will be defined, for measuring the software, from available studies. Deductive research approach is applied to answer the research questions. For data collection, available books and articles were studied to generate the summary for the literature review, while semi-structured interview was used to examine participants’ experiences. Then, answers from participants’ experiences were compiled and compared to the summarized literature review. The result displayed how project management softwares were utilized in each case, and how relevant the software was to the generated criteria. These criteria can be considered as guidelines for the selection process of project management software. On the other hand, the result posed its limitations. Thus, the authors recommend more research to be done for the completion of this matter

Mediating boundaries between knowledge and knowing: ICT and R4D praxis

Research for development (R4D) praxis (theory-informed practical action) can be underpinned by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which, it is claimed, provide opportunities for knowledge working and sharing. Such a framing implicitly or explicitly constructs a boundary around knowledge as reified, or commodified – or at least able to be stabilized for a period of time (first order knowledge). In contrast ‘third-generation knowledge’ emphasizes the social nature of learning and knowledge-making; this reframes knowledge as a negotiated social practice, thus constructing a different system boundary. This paper offers critical reflections on the use of a wiki as a data repository and mediating technical platform as part of innovating in R4D praxis. A sustainable social learning process was sought that fostered an emergent community of practice among biophysical and social researchers acting for the first time as R4D co-researchers. Over time the technologically mediated element of the learning system was judged to have failed. This inquiry asks: How can learning system design cultivate learning opportunities and respond to learning challenges in an online environment to support R4D practice? Confining critical reflection to the online learning experience alone ignores the wider context in which knowledge work took place; therefore the institutional setting is also considered