Knowledge management in extended enterprises

This paper highlights the importance of Knowledge Management (KM) in extended enterprises.Global competitiveness poses flexibility challenges in a time-based competition.One of the strategies adopted in industry is to develop extended enterprises by improving the level of collaboration between various autonomous firms. This coupled with several knowledge changes require a new focus on effective knowledge management.Judicious use of IT to form and support extended enterprises that gain from KM efforts is important.This paper presents the need and scope of Knowledge Management in enterprises facing the global competitive challenges.The emphasis of knowledge management as a process with a synergy between university and industry efforts is also outlined.A visionary approach based on a simulator and AI based architecture is discussed. It is suggested that models that promote IT based integration between objectives, decision and information (ODI) integration will be expedient for the evolving extended enterprises and virtual enterprises domains

A method for recruitment of lead users from virtual communities to innovate IT enabled services for consumers in global markets

Contemporary information technologies enable firms to re-think and innovate with their service offerings. The difficult challenge with new service development (NSD) is how to engage the potential new service users in firm’s NSD activities. The lead user method has been a promising approach to tackle this problem. However, the finding and recruiting of the lead users has been found very arduous for the firms. The paper designs and tests a method for identifying and contacting the lead users, and employs laddering interviewing for subsequent data collection. The data consists of 55 laddering interviews conducted in Finland and Hong Kong. Our findings demonstrate that the proposed method can be considered effective. The results of the study show that with the proposed method we can facilitate design activities between new service developers and potential new service users. Our study also reveals interesting differences in the data sets regarding how interviewees provide reasoning for their potential service use. This finding provides basis for future research in understanding how culture affects new service development

Conocimientos y prácticas de un grupo de agricultores de bija de Chintadó, Chocó : una mirada desde la teoría de creación de conocimiento organizacional

Resumen Objetivo - comprender la creación de conocimiento del grupo de productores de Bija de la comunidad de Chintadó, Chocó a través de la exploración de prácticas y conocimientos que el grupo ha construido en la práctica agrícola que caracteriza la producción de Bija. Diseño/ metodología / enfoque - Para comprender el proceso de creación de conocimiento del grupo de agricultores de Bija de Chintadó, se exploraron sus prácticas y conocimientos a través de la observación y la construcción de la historia oral bajo un enfoque cualitativo de carácter micro etnográfico. Los datos se analizaron y presentaron bajo la mirada de la Teoría de Creación de Conocimiento Organizacional. Hallazgos - El grupo crea conocimiento a través del intercambio de conocimiento tácito ininterrumpido, la tradición oral y la vida en comunidad. Agentes externos al grupo como entidades gubernamentales, ONGs y comercializadores de bija juegan roles determinantes en la fase de combinación del grupo. La creación de conocimiento del grupo da indicios de ser una capacidad que les permite a sus miembros sobrevivir en un contexto socioeconómico adverso. Sin embargo, existen limitaciones propias del contexto que impiden que la creación de conocimiento se materialice en innovaciones generadoras de desarrollo socioeconómico para el grupo y la comunidad a la que pertenece. Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación - El estudio no ofrece una exploración sobre todos las prácticas y conocimientos técnicos del grupo. Las limitaciones de tiempo y orden público restringieron la profundización en algunos aspectos del trabajo de campo. Originalidad/valor – el estudio es el primero que brinda una explicación de una realidad socioeconómica propia de un contexto particular como el del Chocó, en Colombia bajo la mirada de la Teoría de Creación de Conocimiento Organizacional.Abstract Objective – To understand knowledge creation of a group of annatto farmers from the Chintadó community, in Chocó through the exploration of practices and knowledge that the group has built in the agricultural practice that characterizes annatto production. Design / methodology / approach - To understand the knowledge creation process of the group of annatto farmers from Chintadó, their practices and knowledge were explored through observation and construction of the group’s oral history under a qualitative micro ethnographic approach. The data were analyzed and presented under the gaze of the Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Findings - The group creates knowledge through the uninterrupted exchange of tacit knowledge, oral tradition and community life. Agents outside the group such as government entities, NGOs and annatto marketers play decisive roles in the group's combination phase. The group’s knowledge creation process gives indications of it being a capacity that allows its members to survive in an adverse socio-economic context. However, there are context-specific limitations that prevent the creation of knowledge from materializing in innovations that generate socio-economic development for the group and the community to which it belongs. Limitations / implications of research - The study does not offer an exploration of all the practices and technical knowledge of the group. Time and public order limitations restricted the deepening of some aspects of field work. Originality / value - the study is the first one that provides an explanation of a socio-economic reality of a particular context such as Chocó, in Colombia under the view of the Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory

COMPETITIVE DYNAMICS IN ELECTRONIC NETWORKS - ACHIEVING COMPETITIVENESS THROUGH INTERORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS

Many dramatic and potentially powerful uses of information technology involveinterorganizational systems (IOS). These systems, defined as distributed computing systems thatsupport shared processes between firms, have become fundamental to business operations,spanning multiple activities in value/supply chains. They have opened avenues to unprecedentedcollaborative linkages between firms. As IOS-mediated relational networks are rapidly evolving,roles of IOS have progressively changed beyond those of efficiency and power functions.To fully appreciate modern roles of IOS in e-business, this dissertation addresses two keyresearch questions: (1) How do firms achieve competitiveness through IOS? (2) How do IOSinfluence competitive behaviors of the competing firms in intertwined electronic networks? Itdoes so by integrating three research streams – social network analysis, interorganizationalsystems, and competitive dynamics – into a model of competitive dynamics in electronicnetworks. This study focuses on the paired relationships between the three constructs of networkstructure, IOS use, and competitive action, and empirically investigates nine general hypotheses.Data collection focuses on second-hand data in the automotive industry. A total of 805collaborative relationships, 106 IOS technologies and applications, and 305 competitive actionsinvolving nine major automakers are collected. Data sources include databases, major tradepublications, Web sites, and industry indices. Data analysis includes network analysis, ANOVAtest, and correlation.Empirical results support the general contention that network structure and IOS use coevolveand influence competitive action. Building on these results, a framework characterizingIOS\u27s roles in achieving firm competitiveness is concluded and advanced. This dissertation broadens our view of IOS\u27s roles in e-business. It contributes to IS/IOS theory, methodology, and practice. First, this study examines IOS-mediated networks inmultiple levels, including firm-level, pair-level, and network-level. It provides new theoreticalconceptualizations of IOS\u27s roles. Second, this study advances a new IT value measureaddressing limitations of the traditional measures. Third, it introduces a novel, usefulmethodology for data collection. Fourth, results from this study can guide a firm\u27s e-businessinitiatives for using IOS as powerful tools for achieving firm competitiveness

İmalat işletmelerinde kurumsallaşma ve kurumsal modelleme

06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.İşletmelerin varlıklarını devam ettirebilmeleri günümüz koşullarına uyum sağlamalarına bağlıdır. Uyumun düzeyi işletmelerin kurumsallaşma düzeyleri ile doğru orantılıdır. İşletmelerin kurumsallaşabilmeleri hayatiyetlerini sürdürebilmeleri ve gelecek nesillere ulaşabilmeleri açısından oldukça önemlidir. Ülkemizdeki KOBİ'lerin büyük çoğunluğunun planlı ve sistemli bir büyümeden ziyade koşullara reaksiyon göstererek, liderlerin yönetiminde geliştikleri bilinmektedir. Bu noktada kurumsal mekanizmaların oluşturulması ve lider bağımlı yönetimden sistem temelli yönetim anlayışına geçiş hayati bir önem kazanmıştır. Bu çalışma ile bir kurum ile ilgili bütün elemanların analizi, tasarımı, uygulanması ve çalışması ile ilgili bilgiler, prensipler ve disiplinler bütünü olarak tanımlanan Kurum Sistem Mühendisliği Yaklaşımı kullanılarak KOBİ' ler için bir kurumsallaşma modeli ortaya konmuştur.The continuity of the companies depends on their capability of adaptation to the economical and business conditions. The level of the consistency between the companies and their environment is connected with the institutionalization level of the firms. The institutionalization of the enterprises is important to maintain their existence and to access the next generations. In our country, the improvement of the SMEs is known as the reaction of the environmental conditions and is executed by the pressure of the top management instead of the planned and systematical improvement. In this point, the progress from the leader oriented management to the system oriented management becomes the vital issue for the enterprises. In this thesis, Enterprise System Engineering and the enterprise modeling approach are used to constitute a reference model for the SMEs, which guide them during their institutionalization process

Aligning Future Employee Action and Corporate Strategy in a Resource-scarce Environment

Can employees’ planned future actions and company strategy be aligned in a resource-scarce organization, and if so how? So begins this action research Industrial PhD study that zooms in on the time period that preceded the implementation of a deliberate, top-down strategy at a resource-scarce diesel engine company, and followed its development. The research question takes a point of departure in a seemingly simple task: to align action planning with a strategy. This simplicity is deceptive, however, since in reality such alignment is a highly complex and challenging endeavor for organizations – and more so in an environment of resource scarcity brought on by a market downturn which forces managers to think in shortterm deliverables and to deprioritize long-term activities and setting a new strategic direction. Resource scarcity places time and financial constraints on strategy consultants’ possibilities to support strategy implementation: managers and their employees have little – if any – time to familiarize themselves with the new strategy, let alone think about how their own actions can support the strategy. To maximize complications, add a layer of pronounced organizational problems that needs to be solved at the same time

Enhancing pharmaceutical innovation through the use of knowledge management

Pharmaceuticailn novation is a complex task that is reliant upon the availability of relevant information and knowledge. To date, the aspects of how, when and where this information and knowledge is applied throughout the drug development processes, has been lightly researched. Furthermore, the science of Knowledge Management can potentially aid the drug development processes and allow an organisation to reduce the time and costs associated with innovative drug development. This thesis examines these issues in greater depth through a series of case studies conducted within the innovative pharmaceutical organisation AstraZeneca. The end result of this research is a Knowledge Management tool set which is capable of driving pharmaceutical innovation. The thesis firstly explores the literature associated with innovation, pharmaceutical innovation, Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital. The second aspect of the research used the literature review to develop a novel research framework with which to examine pharmaceutical innovation in greater detail. The third stage of the research utilised the results of the previous stages to develop a novel Innovation and Knowledge Management focused model. The fourth stage of this research utilised the research findings to develop a Knowledge Management tool set that can be used to drive innovation. This tool set is comprised of three distinct levels of functionality, namely: the social and collaborative level, the information assimilation and dissemination level and a level that encourages the capture of knowledge. The final stage of the research concludes with a discussion on evaluating Knowledge Management and its use in driving pharmaceutical innovation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo