Knowledge Management Challenges in Renewal of R&D Processes in Software Business

A software company operates in a dynamic, knowledge intensive business. To stay competitive in such a business, the R&D processes and their development play a significant role. Knowledge management becomes a factor when organizing knowledge work. This paper is based on a qualitative case study conducted in a software company moving to component based production. In addition to theoretical insights, the paper describes the KM challenges involved in this process and suggests solutions to these. Also some managerial implications are proposed

How Do Practitioners Perceive Assurance Cases in Safety-Critical Software Systems?

Safety-critical software systems are those whose failure or malfunction could result in casualty and/or serious financial loss. In such systems, safety assurance cases (SACs) are an emerging approach that adopts a proactive strategy to produce structuralized safety justifications and arguments. While SACs are recommended in many software-intensive safety-critical domains, the lack of knowledge regarding the practitioners' perspectives on using SACs hinders effective adoption of this approach. To gain such knowledge, we interviewed nine practitioners and safety experts who focused on safety-critical software systems. In general, our participants found the SAC approach beneficial for communication of safety arguments and management of safety issues in a multidisciplinary setting. The challenges they faced when using SACs were primarily associated with (1) a lack of tool support, (2) insufficient process integration, and (3) scarcity of experienced personnel. To overcome those challenges, our participants suggested tactics that focused on creating direct safety arguments. Process and organizational adjustments are also needed to streamline SAC analysis and creation. Finally, our participants emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing about SACs across software-intensive safety-critical domains

Model of regional management instruments in economy based on innovation and communication

The following paper has been inspired by the main challenges that have been created for the regional development by the process of globalisation. The paper presents an attempt at creating a new model and instruments for regional development management in which regional character of knowledge creation, territorial interdependencies, sustainable development and both democratic and individual decision making processes have been taken into consideration. The problem of emerging notion of regional management and its relation to the knowledge management in the process of regional development has been discussed. The paper presents the concept of regional knowledge creation process as the essential method of description of a region's development and competitiveness. The model of management of an autopoiesis system as an essential method of description of development and knowledge creation in a local community has been presented. The process of knowledge development in a region is assisted by ICT, including the Internet portal and corporate knowledge base. The technique of analyse field and space of choice and its role in the regional process of knowledge creation as the tool serving the process of describing and diagnosing the ability of knowledge creation as well as individual and regional strategies. The description of development changes in a region have been presented in the categories of critical points focusing on the zones of degradation and development. The results obtained with the help of the proposed model of regional development can serve to develop the international standards of risk and critical points of regional management. The fact of using the knowledge management principles for the interpretation of regional processes changes considerably the role of regional development agencies. The introduction of the Internet portal and critical points analysis provides a new way of presenting the knowledge about a region. The solution proposed in the presented paper based on the corporate knowledge data bases creates contextual character of relations and connections between different measured parameters and therefore it unceasingly creates new knowledge in compliance with the spiral upward movement. The introduced indicators analysis serves to describe state of individual components (people, organisations, natural ecosystems) of the region in question, and first of all it determines their development abilities and adaptability to their environment. The territorial structure creates a complex spatial system of interrelations in which local community relates to its environment in the intensive process of communication that determines how the external components are used in the process of regional development. Such instruments as the regional Internet portal, regional communitces of practice, regional staff of knowledge management and leaders of local development become the most important tools of assistance in local development processes. The presented paper provides a coherent model of regional management which is in compliance with "regional standards" assuring predictable character of changes in the region and leading to stable economic development of the whole region.

An approach to managing the complexity of knowledge intensive business processes

Organisations face ever growing complexity in the business environment and use processes to deliver value in a stable, sustainable and controllable way. However complexity in the business environment is threatening the stability of processes and forcing their continuing evolution in ever shorter time cycles, which then creates significant management challenges. Addressing complexity requires a change in management thinking about processes.The research explores the nature of complexity, how businesses respond to it, and the consequent impact on process complexity. The research reviews the notion of complexity and its relevance to organisations, business processes and knowledge contexts. The research focuses on knowledge intensive firms, as these exhibit several of the features and allow early application of the approach suggested by this thesis. The research draws upon concepts from several fields including complexity and complex systems, business process management, and knowledge management.This thesis addresses the question: “How can organisations address the complexity of knowledge intensive business processes?” In answering the question the thesis argues the need to integrate multiple perspectives involved in managing such processes, proposes an approach to complex knowledge intensive business processes that reduces the management challenge, and argues the need to develop an agile shared knowledge context in support of the approach.This thesis develops a theoretical framework consisting of a set of hypotheses rooted in the literature, and then proposes an approach to addressing complex knowledge intensive business processes based upon these hypotheses. Then,through a series of QDS investigations and action research cycles, this thesis tests the hypotheses, further develops the approach and examines its application in different problem domains in multiple organisations. This thesis then discusses the process and the outcomes of applying the approach, identifies its limitations, assesses its contribution to knowledge and suggests directions for further research

How do collaboration and investments in knowledge management affect process innovation in services?

Purpose Despite the keen interest in radical and incremental innovation, few studies have tested the varying impact of firm-level factors in service sectors. This paper analyses how collaboration with existing and prospective users and investments in knowledge management (KM) practices can be adapted to maximise the outputs of radical and incremental process innovation in a knowledge-intensive business service industry. Design/methodology/approach Original survey data from 166 information technology service firms and interviews with 13 executives provide the empirical evidence. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data. Findings Collaboration with different types of users, and investments in KM practices affect radical versus incremental process innovation differently. Collaboration with existing users influences incremental process innovation directly, but not radical innovation; and prospective user collaboration matters for radical, but not incremental innovation. Furthermore, for radical innovation, investments in KM practices mediate the impact of prospective user collaboration on innovation. Research limitations/implications While collaboration with existing users for incremental process innovations does not appear to generate significant managerial challenges, to pursue radical innovations firms must engage in intensive collaboration with prospective users. Higher involvement with prospective users requires higher investment in KM practices to promote efficient intra- and inter-firm knowledge flows. Originality/value This study is based on a large-scale survey, together with management interviews. Radical and incremental innovations in the service industry require engagements with different kinds of users, and the use of KM tools

Methodology and Tool Support for Adaptive Idea Exploitation in Open Innovation

The lack of efficiency and transparency regarding cross-company collaboration in the field of open innovation often leads to cost intensive and unsuccessful products and services. This is because traditional approaches fail to cope with emerging requirements in innovation projects, e.g., the vertical and horizontal integration of strategic partners within and across the company’s value network. However, to maintain their competitive advantage, companies seek a constant and sustainable development of their product and service portfolio. In this context, knowledge work plays an important role in the collaborative development of innovative product and service ideas. For that reason, knowledge workers need systematic support regarding both methodological and operational challenges. The concept of Adaptive Case Management emerged from the necessity to support knowledge workers in unpredictable and highly creative working environments, especially in the field of Business Process Management. Therefore, the contribution shows, both from a conceptual and technological point of view, how to combine those approaches to support knowledge workers in dynamic innovation projects. To test the validity of the concept, a software prototype serves as the foundation for interviews with experts of the innovation department of a large international industrial company

Managing Knowledge and Technology to Foster Innovation at The Ohio State University Medical Center

Biomedical knowledge is expanding at an unprecedented rate—one that is unlikely to slow anytime in the future. While the volume and scope of this new knowledge poses significant organizational challenges, it creates tremendous opportunities to release and direct its power to the service of significant goals. The authors explain how the Center for Knowledge Management at The Ohio State University Medical Center, created during the academic year 2003–04, is doing just that by integrating numerous resource-intensive, technology-based initiatives— including personnel, services and infrastructure, digital repositories, data sets, mobile computing devices, high-tech patient simulators, computerized testing, and interactive multimedia—in a way that enables the center to provide information tailored to the needs of students, faculty and staff on the medical center campus and its surrounding health sciences colleges. The authors discuss how discovering, applying, and sharing new knowledge, information assets, and technologies in this way is a collaborative process. This process creates open-ended opportunities for innovation and a roadmap for working toward seamless integration, synergy, and substantial enhancement of the academic medical center’s research, educational, and clinical mission areas

Framework Architecture Design for Emergency Response System

Emergency management is essential to mitigate the effects of unforeseen situations. However, this task is complex due to the large amount of information and complex procedures to be handled. To address these challenges, it is necessary to have tools that allow flexible responses to problems classified as knowledge-intensive procedures (KIP). In this sense, we propose the design of a framework for an Emergency Response System (ERS) based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that integrates Adaptive Case Management (ACM) and Business Process Modelling (BPM). This framework is characterised by its interoperability with devices and collaborative systems, which allows the creation and association of content related to emergency management, thus improving usability. In addition, it is designed to be scalable, allowing the incorporation of new modular functionalities. Once the development of the framework has been completed, future lines of research will be opened for its validation and comparison with other ERS

Biotechnological conversion of methane to methanol: evaluation of progress and potential

Sources of methane are numerous, and vary greatly in their use and sustainable credentials. A Jekyll and Hyde character, it is a valuable energy source present as geological deposits of natural gas, however it is also potent greenhouse gas, released during many waste management processes. Gas-to-liquid technologies are being investigated as a means to exploit and monetise non-traditional and unutilised methane sources. The product identified as having the greatest potential is methanol due to it being a robust, commercially mature conversion process from methane and its beneficial fuel characteristics. Commercial methane to methanol conversion requires high temperatures and pressures, in an energy intensive and costly process. In contrast methanotrophic bacteria perform the desired transformation under ambient conditions, using methane monooxygenase (MMO) enzymes. Despite the great potential of these bacteria a number of biotechnical difficulties are hindering progress towards an industrially suitable process. We have identified five major challenges that exist as barriers to a viable conversion process that, to our knowledge, have not previously been examined as distinct process challenges. Although biotechnological applications of methanotrophic bacteria have been reviewed in part, no review has comprehensively covered progress and challenges for a methane to methanol process from an industrial perspective. All published examples to date of methanotroph catalysed conversion of methane to methanol are collated, and standardised to allow direct comparison. The focus will be on conversion of methane to methanol by whole-cell, wild type, methanotroph cultures, and the potential for their application in an industrially relevant process. A recent shift in the research community focus from a mainly biological angle to an overall engineering approach, offers potential to exploit methanotrophs in an industrially relevant biotechnological gas-to-liquid process. Current innovations and future opportunities are discussed