Factors Affecting Knowledge Transfer in Project Environments

Most project teams consist of knowledge workers, and the issue of how to better transfer knowledge across individuals and groups becomes a central concern. The main purpose of this article is to study the factors affecting the knowledge transfer process and their importance for project’s success. The factors analyzed in this article are trust among individuals, members of the team, project culture, values and the beliefs of the individuals and motivation of those involved in the project, both intrinsic and extrinsic. In order to overcome the barriers affecting the knowledge transfer process, project managers must create an environment where knowledge workers must feel free to share and re-use their knowledge.barriers; knowledge transfer; motivation; trust; project management.

A theoretically grounded model to reduce the risk of knowledge loss in organisations: an energy company evaluation

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between knowledge sharing and knowledge loss through creation of a conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing and a conceptual toolkit, able to be used by managers as an analysis tool. A theoretical, constructive approach was taken to the research through the use of a theory-building methodology to create the conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing in organisations. Empirical research was carried out using a case study at an energy infrastructure organisation in the UK through questionnaires and formal interviews to validate the model. A new conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing was developed and evaluated, further improving the model. The empirical research showed validation of past literature and created additional elements to the model. The main limitation is that only one industry case study was used for empirical validation. This was due to the limited timeframe of the research, which suggests that further research should involve multiple case studies, covering a wide variety of industries. The model of factors affecting knowledge sharing allows managers to analyse their knowledge management strategies and offers suggestions of ways to reduce any risk of knowledge loss. There is a lack of conceptual models based on knowledge loss, and this paper aims to solve this issue. This will be useful to businesses, helping them to improve their knowledge management initiatives, retain knowledge and gain competitive advantage over competitors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Factors Influencing the Implementation and Use of a Portal for Knowledge Management in Higher Education

This study investigates the factors affecting the implementation and use of a portal to assist knowledge management objectives in higher education. The study explored factors influencing knowledge distribution by deriving a conceptual framework consisting of four (4) dimensions: knowledge volume, knowledge quality, knowledge dissemination, and information system management. This study found that there are many factors influencing the selection and structure of information and knowledge. The importance of information quality was also addressed and the study found that while it is imperative for a portal to focus on quality information, accountability for quality assurance of information rests with organizational policy imperatives. The study explored knowledge dissemination techniques available via portals and identified that personalisation of knowledge is a high priority. The characteristic of a portal to integrate many systems into one central repository and provide users with their personal view of many systems was acknowledged as a productive means to distribute information within a higher education institution

An Exploration of Cultural Factors Affecting Use of Communities of Practice

On-line communities of practice are potentially powerful social learning networks that can improve organizational performance. Unfortunately, administrators of on-line communities of practice report that community members do not take full advantage of this potential. This study used Shaw and Tuggle\u27s (2003) factors of knowledge management (KM) culture affecting organizational acceptance of a knowledge management initiative to explore this issue. It was hypothesized that respondents whose communities of practice possessed higher average community use per member would rate KM culture variables higher than respondents whose communities possessed a lower average community use. An analysis of survey data collected from Air Force Knowledge Now communities of practice identified two KM culture variables with a significant relationship between how individuals rated their community on each KM culture variable and use

The impact of enterprise social networking on knowledge sharing between academic staff in higher education

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonHigher education institutions have always considered knowledge sharing critical for research excellence and finding proper methods for sharing knowledge across academic staff has therefore been a major issue for universities and knowledge management research. Recent evidence shows that many universities have embraced enterprise social networking tools to improve communication, relationships, partnerships, and knowledge sharing. To date, there is little understanding of the critical factors for online knowledge sharing behaviour between academic staff, and the impact of these factors on work benefits for academic staff which differ between consumptive users and contributive users in higher education. This study employed the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to examine factors affecting knowledge sharing about the consumptive use and contributive use of enterprise social network (ESN) behaviour. The study adopts a critical realism philosophical approach and employed a grounded theory mixed methods. The conceptual model was validated through structural equation modelling based on an online survey of 254 academic staff using enterprise social networking as a part of their work in the United Kingdom. The findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for researchers and policy makers. The research has developed a cohesive ESN use model by extending and modifying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. The findings indicate significant differences around factors affecting consumptive and contributive usage patterns within ESNs. Due to advances in communication technologies, this research argues that a previous model suggested by Venkatesh et al. (2003) is no longer fit for purpose and the new communication tools can lead to improved knowledge in higher education. This research also makes valuable contributions to universities from a managerial viewpoint, suggesting that universities could help their scholars find a more comprehensive range of funding sources matching scholars' ideas

How getting knowledge from colleagues affects organizational creativity: The moderating influence of ICT and top management support

Despite the abundance of studies focusing on organizational creativity, only few considered it as a dependent variable. Further, while the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational creativity seems more solid for extant literature, the role of ICT use and top management support yet calls for further investigation. Based on this, we ground on the interactionist perspective drawn by Woodman et al. (1993) and investigate organizational creativity by combining interpersonal dynamics with contextual influences. In order to capture the inherent complexity of organizational creativity, we start from the importance of individuals getting knowledge from others and then consider two contextual elements affecting organizational creativity, namely top management support and the use of Information and Communication Technology. Accordingly, our aim is to answer the following research question: \u201cWhat is the relationship between knowledge collecting, ICT use and top-management support in determining organizational creativity?\u201d. For this purpose, we analyze data of 362 employees from five Multinational Corporations\u2019 (MNCs) subsidiaries located in Italy. We show that while knowledge collecting, ICT use, and top management support positively affect organizational creativity, a high ICT use negatively moderates the relationship between knowledge collecting and our dependent variable. Based on this, this work provides evidence on how organization-level factors (ICT, top management support) might contribute to organizational creativity, while showing that firms should carefully plan their ICT investments as they may hamper the positive linkage between knowledge flows and organizational creativity

Relationship of the KM process in accordance with the Jasper model with the components influencing the development of new products (Case study: Leading companies in the oil industry)

Knowledge management is a comprehensive and comprehensive approach to the organization and will lead to the achievement of the effectiveness of the organization. Today, knowledge management has become increasingly important as the most important competitive advantage of organizations. Hence, successful implementation of knowledge management process can affect the performance of organizations. According to theoretical and theoretical issues, knowledge management is considered as factors influencing the development of new products.The existence of these connections in the theoretical discussions led to the study of the relationship between the dimensions of the knowledge management process (production and acquisition of knowledge, the storage and organization of knowledge, sharing and dissemination of knowledge and the use of knowledge) with the components affecting the development of new products. For this research, a three-part questionnaire (demographic information, effective factors on the development of new products and knowledge management process questions), which was confirmed by experts, was used. And 97 employees of an organization were selected as the statistical sample and responded to the questionnaire questions. The results of data analysis showed that knowledge management dimensions have a positive and significant effect on the components affecting the development of new products

Knowledge and Practices of Cypriot Bovine Farmers towards Effective and Safe Manure Management

Manure from bovine farms is commonly used as an organic fertiliser. However, if not properly managed, it can spread significant biological and chemical hazards, threatening both human and animal health. The effectiveness of risk control hugely relies on farmers' knowledge regarding safe manure management and on the application of suitable management practices. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and practices of Cypriot bovine farmers towards safer manure management, from its generation to its final use, in line with the One Health approach. Factors affecting farmers' knowledge and applied practices are also investigated through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was developed and sent to all eligible bovine farmers in Cyprus (n = 353), and 30% (n = 105) of them returned the completed questionnaire. Results revealed there are some gaps in farmers' knowledge. The use of manure for fertilising crops dominated. Only half of the farmers stored manure in appropriate facilities, with 28.5% of them using a dedicated area with cement floors and 21.5% utilising leakproof tanks. The majority (65.7%) stored manure for more than three months before its use as a fertiliser in a dried form. In multiple regression analysis, education level and farming purpose were significant determinants of farmer knowledge. In conclusion, Cypriot farmers' knowledge must be reinforced to ensure proper manure management. The results highlight the importance of providing relevant training to farmers. Although the current practices partially decrease manure pathogens, interventions to promote the use of more effective treatment methods, such as biogas transformation and composting, would be beneficial

Determinants of electronic commerce adoption: Case study among Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Klang Valley / Nur Atiqah Zainuddin … [et al.]

Nowdays, electronic commerce or e-commerce is the most important tool in business market especially in digital online marketing. It‘s create more competitive marketing among the business around the world and focusing on Small Medium Enterprise formerly SME. In Malaysia, e-commerce is among the tool use by SME with the role to expand their business that can be reachable by customers. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting adoption of e-commerce by SME in Klang Valley and to identify the most influential factor on e-commerce adoption. A conceptual framework comprises of five factors that are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, top management support and knowledge and resources constraint is being taken as variables for research. Multiple regression analysis generated is being carried out to test hypothesis and to establish the causal effect of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, top management support and knowledge and resources constraint towards adoption of e-commerce. The result shows that relative advantage, compatibility, and top management support and knowledge have significant and positive impact on adoption of e-commerce. Therefore this study concluded that relative advantage, compatibility, and top management support and knowledge would increase adoption of e-commerce among SME. Therefore, the government should take initiatives and pay more attention to promote e-commerce among SME because SME has potential market growth and high contribution for economic development in Malaysia