Knowledge Management Practice at a Bulgarian Bank: A Case Study

This paper reports on knowledge management (KM) practices in the customer service and lending departments of one of Bulgaria's top retail banks and investigates how KM processes can be further improved. The Bank's KM activities have been studied using observations, interviews and informal discussions for data collection. Findings were compared and contrasted with existing literature in similar contexts. Although rudiments of knowledge sharing are evident from the KM activities in different departments of the bank, the limitations such as resistance to change of the implemented KM systems are impeding the effectiveness of the knowledge management process. More training and incentives are needed to increase knowledge creation and sharing. Moreover, a clearly articulated KM strategy along with success criteria and commitment and support from senior management is needed. There is a severe lack of knowledge management studies in Bulgarian context in general and Bulgarian banking sector in particular. The authors' findings will potentially help in improving knowledge sharing practice as well as provide a valuable insight into knowledge management related issues in the Bulgarian context. The findings from this research can be useful to companies from Eastern Europe and other regions in improving their knowledge sharing practice

The adoption of e-business technology by SMEs

The paper examines the key factors influencing the adoption ofe-business technology by SMEs. To this end, the paper draws on a rangeof literatures on the diffusion of new information and communicationtechnologies (ICTs), many of which have hitherto been treated asseparate. The reasons for this are two-fold. First, e-businesstechnologies are the latest in a line of new ICT technologies. Whenexploited successfully, ICTs have increased firm competitiveness eitherby raising the efficiency of internal communication and organisationand/or supply chain relationships, or by facilitating the development ofnew/improved products and services. Second, it is hypothesised that manyof the factors affecting the successful adoption of new technologies aregeneric in nature. With regards to SMEs specifically, consideration ofearlier research may assist us in identifying a set of enablers andbarriers to e-business adoption. Hence, by explicitly acknowledging thecontext and prior history of research in the area, we are able to mapout the dimensions of future theoretical and empirical research ine-business adoption by SMEs. In addition to drawing together factors identified by existing research,the paper highlights the implications of network externalities for thetiming of technology investments and the returns that accrue to earlyand late adopters. It also draws attention to a number of problemsassociated with the analytical concept of ‘the SME’ when it is appliedto this area. The research proceeds by clearly defining thetechnological and organisational characteristics of the e-business modeland a brief consideration of the trends in adoption in the UK vis-à-visadoption in the other G7 countries. Together these set up a detailedconsideration of the internal and external factors influencing adoption.A qualitative approach, in the form of a detailed case study, is thenused to explore the potential usefulness of the factors that have beenidentified. The results of these findings are then drawn together in theconcluding section of the paper.economics of technology ;

Impact Of Intranets On Employee Perception And Behavior: A Case Study In A UK Bank

This paper deals with the question of how intranets impact on employee perception and behavior. The study uses a five year longitudinal study following the evolution of an intranet in a UK bank to analyze how it changed the relationships between employees and between managers and employees. The discussion integrates two different research domains, the intranet literature and the organizational trust literature. Qualitative data is presented to show the impact of intranets on communication, sharing of information, collaboration, organizational bonding, feeling of empowerment, power distance and sense of closeness. The discussion uses three metaphors to convey the key findings: The Plumbing System, the Iconic Building and the Soap Opera. The main contribution of this paper is in using constructs from the organizational trust literature to better understand how intranets impact on employee perception and behavior

Knowledge Management and The SECI Model: A Study of Innovation in The Egyptian Banking Sector

The emergence of knowledge management (KM) as a practical business discipline is connected to the growing realisation that knowledge is an essential resource for organisations to retain sustainable competitive advantages. The SECI model, proposed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) best embraces the nature of KM and of knowledge conversion. This model uses four processes of knowledge conversion: socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation to create knowledge in organisations. A review of the relevant literature, however, suggests that the application of the SECI model is suffering from a lack of research in banking, even though this is a knowledge-intensive industry. Since the model was driven from Japanese values, the applicability of the model in different cultural contexts is also arguable. This study aims to examine the use of the SECI model in Egyptian banks and its effect on the innovation process. To examine the model in a different cultural context, Egypt as the biggest Arab country was a suitable research site. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to achieve the research aims. The qualitative data were used to triangulate the quantitative data by detailing the SECI conversion process, and its relation to innovation. Two hundred and ten self-administered questionnaires were used to investigate to what extent Egyptian banks perform the SECI and innovation activities, and 26 semi-structured face-to-face interviews provided details about how the Egyptian banks perform these activities. The survey data were analysed by using Predictive Analytic SoftWare (PASW). Different types of statistical applications were used, namely factor analysis, Cronbach’ alpha, descriptive analysis, multiple regression, t-test and one-way ANOVA. Content analysis was used to analyse the interview data were by looking for noticeable patterns to be connected to the research framework. The findings indicate that the SECI processes were used for knowledge creation in Egyptian banks. However, some self-imposed limitations minimised the benefits of the socialisation and externalisation processes in creating and sharing knowledge. In contrast, internalisation and combination faced fewer limitations, revealing that Egyptian banks focus more on formal rather than informal knowledge. Therefore, the study supports the view of the model as being universal, but the use of each process is subject to the cultural context, leadership support, and types of task. The findings also suggest that the SECI processes - whether separate or as a whole - positively influence the innovation process by increasing the generation of ideas for banking services, products and processes. The internalisation process had the most positive influence on innovation, followed by the combination, externalisation and socialisation processes respectively. Many of the product and process innovations in the last few years were due to the introduction of new technologies

Two case studies on electronic distribution of government securities: the U.S. Treasury Direct System and the Philippine Expanded Small Investors Program

The case study on the U.S. Treasury Direct examines the evolution of the electronic distribution systems for marketable and nonmarketable government securities, the main objectives, and the basic legal infrastructure and the preconditions enabling the system. The U.S. experience highlights that the enabling environment and infrastructure (for example, in terms of information databases such as Pay.Gov) make a large difference in terms of both the security and convenience that customers can expect in the use of the system. The system also achieved important cost savings for the Bureau of the Public Debt. The case study on the Small Investors Program of the Philippines looks at a program that the Philippine government has been experimenting with to sell its securities directly to retail investors over the Internet. The recently revised version of the program-called the Expanded Small Investors Program-aims to increase access to government securities and distribute them more widely, develop better savings products, and enhance competition in the primary markets for these securities. The authors analyze whether the program's main goals can be achieved while mitigating the risks. Their analysis suggests thatthere are good reasons to believe that the new program will succeed. Still, regular and responsive assessments and adjustments will be required as the program moves forward.International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Environmental Economics&Policies,Fiscal&Monetary Policy,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform

Troli tong gas

Tong gas adalah sebahagian daripada keperluan rumah yang sangat penting untuk kegunaan dapur. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), atau petroleum gas biasanya digunakan untuk aplikasi perumahan (tong gas masak) dan tujuan komersial. LPG terutamanya terdiri daripada campuran hidrokarbon seperti propana (C3H8), propene (C3H6), n-butana (C4H10), isobutena (metil-propana), dan pelbagai butanes lain (C4H8) (Mustapa, Gitano Briggs, 2008). LPG disimpan cair dalam tong pada tekanan tinggi, tekanan wap sekitar 6 hingga 7 bar (Petrolium Nasional Berhad, 2013). Oleh itu, tong gas perlu diperbuat daripada silinder keluli bertekanan tinggi. Tong gas digunakan hampir di semua perumahan, termasuk rumah pangsa, kondominium dan apartment. Kebiasaan penghuni perumahan bertingkat yang tidak mempunyai lift terpaksa mengangkat tong gas menggunakan tenaga empat kerat, kadang kala menggunakan troli biasa untuk menggangkut tong gas tersebut bagi memudahkan dan meringankan kerja. Troli adalah peranti yang digunakan untuk membawa beban atau memindahkan bahan dari satu tempat ke yang lain. Untuk aplikasi yang berbeza pelbagai jenis troli digunakan Kebanyakan pekerja domestik juga menggunakan tenaga tulang empat kerat untuk kerja-kerja pemindahan troli .

Competitive intelligence and its effect on UK banking strategy

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Performance and technology on the travel industry

Much of the technological development taking place in the travel trade and transport sectors is, surprisingly, still at the embryonic stage. The extent to which the subsectors utilize the technology will undoubtedly grow substantially in the future. This may have the effect of increasing the market or alternatively it may merely displace business by changing channels of distribution.travel industry, technological development, distribution