Beyond Knowledge Management -- Introducing a Framework for Learning Management Systems

In the knowledge economy, a firm’s intellectual capital represents the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. Intellectual capital manifests itself, predominantly, in the individual and collective competencies of employees in organizations. Hence, the ability to learn and to manage learning becomes critical to the success of organizations. Firm’s adopting knowledge management initiatives seek to facilitate the sharing and integration of knowledge. This approach has had limited success, primarily because of its focus on ‘knowledge as a resource’ rather than on ‘learning as a people process’. A strategic ‘people-oriented’ approach to the management of learning is now emerging in many organizations and a new breed of information system (IS), the ‘Learning Management System’ (LMS), is being used to manage organizational learning. As with previous IS innovations, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, industry practitioners and IT vendors, are addressing the ‘Learning Management’ challenge; consequently, there is a paucity of empirical research on LMS in the IS field. It is well-accepted that with little researched or understood phenomena, a research framework is required to identify fundamental constructs and variables so that such phenomena can be rigorously studied. Based on an exhaustive analysis of previous research and an extensive case study of an LMS implementation, this paper proposes a conceptual model and framework that delineates a role for LMS with respect to theories that deal with knowledge and learning management and IS which are argued to support learning and knowledge management in organizations. In so doing, this study highlights the roles that LMS can play in the support and management of learning within knowledge-intensive business enterprises

Going beyond operational efficiency in HR using IT – A Literature Review of Human Resources Information Systems

Leading academics claim that the management of human resources will be most critical in gaining competitive advantage.Today, the human resources departments (HR) are transforming themselves from an administrative cost-center to an internalpartner delivering additional business value. In this transformation process, information technology (IT) could play a keyrole. Therefore, this paper aims to unfold both the current state of knowledge concerning the value contribution ofinformation systems (IS) for the HR function and approaches that go even beyond operational efficiency. Reviewing nearly8,000 articles, published in the proceedings of eight major IS conferences reveals that in total 35 articles exclusively dealwith the topic of human resources information systems (HRIS) but only very few research approaches show, how HRIScould help to go beyond operational efficiency. Furthermore, the literature analysis identifies that approaches dealing with theIT support for HR planning processes are completely missing so far

Online Knowledge Sharing: Investigating the Community of Inquiry Framework and Its Effect on Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Online Learning Environments

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the CoI framework can predict self-reported knowledge sharing behaviors within graduate-level online courses. The overall goal was to determine if high levels of social, teaching, and cognitive presence can lead to increased knowledge distribution within online learning environments, leading to the co-construction of knowledge among learners. As part of the study, graduate students from the field of education were asked to complete a survey, which combined Swan et al.\u27s (2008) CoI survey instrument and Yu, Lu, & Liu\u27s (2010) knowledge sharing survey tool. The survey assessed students\u27 perceptions of social, teaching, and cognitive presence within their respective online courses, and also measured their knowledge sharing behavior within these same courses. The independent variables were totaled scores of social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence. The dependent variable was the totaled score of knowledge sharing behavior. A standard multiple regression design was utilized to determine whether the independent variables (social presence, teaching presence, and cognitive presence) are predictors of the dependent variable (knowledge sharing behavior). Regression results indicated that an overall model with two independent variables - teaching presence and social presence - significantly predicts knowledge sharing behavior, R2 = .637, R2adj=.615, F(2, 33) = 29.001, p \u3c .001. Cognitive presence, however, was not shown to significantly contribute to this model. In line with existing theories - including social capital theory, the organization knowledge creation theory (OKCT), and self-determination theory - results suggest that the more social elements of the CoI framework might better motivate students to interact and share knowledge. On the other hand, cognitive presence, which is more closely tied to individual learning outcomes, plays a smaller role in motivating students to participate and share knowledge within online learning environments

Individual Appropriation of Learning Management Systems—Antecedents and Consequences

IT support in the learning process constitutes a key factor for the success of innovative teaching/learning scenarios. To ensure learning success in innovative teaching/learning scenarios, learners need to faithfully apply learning management systems (LMS). However, we lack theoretical insights into which factors affect whether they do so. To help solve this issue, we first used adaptive structuration theory to identify antecedents and consequences regarding faithful LMS appropriation and embed them into a theoretical model. Second, we conducted a survey study with 173 participants to evaluate the model. The results show that the perceived IT support, interactivity, and the task-technology fit significantly affect the degree to which learners faithfully apply a LMS. Moreover, the results indicate that faithful appropriation is a significant indicator of the learning process satisfaction as well as perceived learning success. The present paper thus theoretically contributes to the scientific discussion concerning technology-mediated learning processes while also making a practical contribution by deriving implications for LMS application