Knowledge management during radical change: Applying a process oriented approach

During periods of radical organisational change two elements - namely the organisation's strategy and its people - are affected profoundly. Strategic change involves refocusing the organisation in a direction that has little bearing on its past. People are affected by changes, as they are displaced to other parts of the organisation in different roles, or perhaps, are removed under the euphemism of de-layering, rightsizing and re-engineering. Hence, rather than enhance knowledge, senior managers inadvertently destroy knowledge during a radical organisational change. Yet pressures to change and the pace of change are unrelenting. Senior managers are forced to take an approach that can be summarised as ''change first - limit the damage to knowledge later''. Thus, this paper argues that organisations need a process to manage knowledge during periods of radical organisational change. The paper proposes such a process through case study evidence. It highlights actions managers take to ensure that they navigate the paradox of leading the organisation through radical change and nurture knowledge

The knowledge management kaleidoscope: Keeping stakeholders and their expectations in focus

information systems field. Over many years the roots and foundations of the definition of knowledge and its constructs have upheld the view that knowledge is an amorphous entity to be harnessed in its abundance. This developmental paper argues that knowledge is context sensitive and reliant upon an inter-relationship between stakeholders, their expectations, and associated organisational cultural factors which are modified by the lens of organisational context. By using the systems dynamics concept of the Eroding Goals systems archetype, a conceptual model- the Knowledge Management Kaleidoscope - is developed to explain and describe these components as an alternative model of identifying knowledge

Morphing by design

Classic theories of organisational change are proving unrealiable in today's fast-moving business environment. Fresh models are emerging that require businesses to embrace a more responsive, flexible approach to enable them to evolve continuously as needed

Strategies, contributions and inhibitors of information systems to organizational competitiveness: An empirical analysis within the Caribbean

The study examines the impact of Information Systems (IS) through a consideration of improved competitiveness within a multi-business Caribbean firm. The methodology draws on a participant-observer approach for data collection and compares the application of IS by three business units within each of three organizations. It is argued that while there is already a substantial amount of research on IS effectiveness its value in the context of developing countries such as those of the Caribbean will be most significant. In this context firms are perceived to face more constraints than in developed countries so there is a need to explicitly recognize the effects of ‘inhibitors’. The study finds that for two of these businesses IS can be shown to have contributed to improved competitiveness, while the third had a less satisfactory experience. Analysis of the data revealed that in the two business units where IS contributed the units had been able to improve specific business processes in pursuit of identified competitive strategies. In the unit that did not derive such advantages, limitations in the functionality of the core application combined with insufficient adjustment of business processes, led to the unsatisfactory results. It is also observed that the explanatory value of the empirical analysis is enhanced if we identify inhibitors of IS for competitive advantage and make their effects more explicit

Exploring continuous organisational transformation as a form of network interdependence

In this paper we examine the problematic area of continuous transformation. We conduct our analysis from three theoretical perspectives: the resource based view, social network theory, and stakeholder theory. We found that the continuous transformation can be explained through the concept of Network Interdependence. This paper describes Network Interdependence and develops theoretical propositions from a synthesis of the three theories. Our contribution of Network Interdependence offers fresh insights into managing complex change and offers new ways of looking at organisational transformation

It’s a Relationship: A Qualitative Exploration of the Challenges to Interorganizational Collaborative Relationships

Interorganizational collaboration is increasingly used to address social issues, but it can fail when the underlying relationships become damaged. This study explores the qualities, characteristics, and processes that can fracture collaborative relationships and the consequences of failing to correct these fractures. Using a qualitative design, interview data were collected from 19 executive directors of Canadian human service organizations. The findings highlight several challenges to collaboration and show the importance of exploring negative outcomes of inaction. An additional aim of this study is to provide strategies for building and nurturing collaborative relationships