Interactions of Organizational Culture and Collaboration in Working and Learning

This paper reports the methodologies and findings of research done into learning processes in two diverse environments. The research focused on identifying factors that enable and facilitate social learning. These factors are discussed in view of the preliminary architecture and in view of the sociotechnical environment within people work and learn. The paper concludes by suggesting that the development of information system requires an understanding of the cultural and interpersonal issues prevalent in work environments.Knowledge Management, Organizational culture, Organizational learning, Socio-tehnical approach

The Nature of the Professional Leadership Culture and its Perceived Relationship to Student Learning

The purpose of this case study was to examine the perceptions of school-level professionals regarding the nature of the professional leadership culture and its perceived relationship to student learning. For the purposes of this study, the professional leadership culture was defined as shared assumptions, practices, beliefs, and values concerning leadership activities that were understood and practised among professional members. There is a wealth of research and theory relating to school culture (e.g. Seashore Louis & Wahlstrom, 2011); yet there remains a gap in our understanding of how professional leadership culture is developed and sustained, and how this phenomenon relates to student learning within the school. There has also been an increasing volume of research on the impact of formal (administrative) leadership on student learning (Leithwood, 2011). However, research into the impact of the professional leadership culture more generally has been scant. Schein’s (2010) organizational culture and leadership model provided the theoretical support for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data. A qualitative case study approach was used. Qualitative data were collected from one school (pre K to 8) in one urban school division. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with school administrators and teachers. Researcher observations of school level professional interactions were also used as a complementary data source. This study provided support for Schein’s model, though several elaborations were made, based on the professional contexts of this case. Regarding the professional leadership culture of the school, professionals recognized professional leadership culture as a group phenomenon rather than an individual one. By far the most pronounced and frequent representations of the professional leadership culture were: the pervasiveness of collaboration among professionals, a culture of trust, and a supportive environment. It was apparent that these qualities had, over time, become significantly embedded in the culture of the school. The practice of shared leadership in the form of co-teaching was viewed as a major influence on student learning at this school. At this school, teachers exerted their influence on student learning by modelling working together. They believed that one strong way to improve student learning was through collaboration. Teachers also agreed that administrative leadership built on the sharing of leadership between teachers and administration also had an indirect influence on student learning, mainly through administrative collaboration and through the priority given to support for teachers. Implications from this study prompt some reflection for theory building around the nature and role of context in organizational culture. Suggested areas for future research included replication studies in other school contexts, and studies eliciting the voices of parents, students, community, and various other school professionals as pertain to improving student learning through the building of relationships. The study also raises questions about the nature and roles of the professional leadership school subcultures: how these are related to the broader culture and how a study of these subcultures may extend theories related to organizational culture

Teacher collaboration: strategies to overcome barriers to effective collaboration in the foundation phase.

M.Ed.This study investigates the characteristics of effective collaboration, which can be distilled from existing teaching practice in the Foundation Phase (of a particular primary school in Lenasia, Gauteng). The relevance of collaborative and collegial practices and the various ways in which it could be incorporated into schools is explored. Collaborative schools are places where the underlying norms, values and beliefs support, encourage and reinforce teamwork, collegiality and interactions about problems of practice in schools where the staff have developed and nourished a collaborative culture, the energies and skills of everyone are unlocked. The main argument is that collaboration, as a part of the school will foster a sense of professional community that can support wide project planning and innovation. The type of analysis used in this study is a conversation and ethnomethodological analysis as well as its concomitant conversation analysis connected to an ethnographic case study inquiry. The processes of data collection and data analysis are described and the main themes, which emerged from the different data sources, are identified. These themes are disclosed within the framework of collaborative and collegial practices The findings revealed five important themes, which formed the pivot around which members in the case study school engaged in collaborative relationships. Firstly the teachers were learning with and from colleagues in a range of ways, including team teaching, collaborative planning, being mentored and mentoring others. Secondly a close reflection and evaluation of practice with colleagues was evident. Thirdly PDF Created with deskPDF PDF Writer - Trial :: http://www.docudesk.com teachers’ participation in whole school or team collaborative inquiry and problem solving remains a norm in the case study school. They thus develop resources and ideas with colleagues. The school described in the case study developed a collective commitment to a learning culture. Teachers therefore engage and contribute to an optimal mix of individual and organizational processes leading to the school’s ultimate success. Professional learning includes organizational learning as well as individual learning. This is evidenced by members identifying shared professional development needs, working together in planning, implementing and evaluating school initiatives, sharing research findings to guide and enhance practice as well as engaging in professional conversations about teaching and learning.Mr. W.A. Janse van Rensbur

Transformational Leadership: Building an Effective Culture to Manage Organisational Knowledge

This paper reviews the current literature of management to indicate how transformational leaders contribute to organisational knowledge by building an effective culture. The paper is based on a review of leadership theories, organisational knowledge, organisational culture and the integration of concepts from the knowledge-based view of the firm. This review also indicates that to develop organisational knowledge transformational leaders act as change agents who influence organisational culture which can in turn mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and organisational knowledge

Uncovering the impact of organisational culture types on the willingness to share knowledge between projects

Current literature has established that organisational culture influences knowledge management efforts; however, it is only recently that research on project management has focused its interest on organisational culture in the context of knowledge sharing and some preliminary studies have been conducted. In response, this paper adds a significant contribution by providing rich empirical evidence of the relationships between culture and the willingness to share knowledge, demonstrating which cultural values are more and which are less likely to improve inter-project knowledge sharing behaviours. The use of interviews and the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) (Cameron & Quinn, 2005) in the cross-case examination of culture in four participating cases has resulted in rich empirical contributions. Furthermore, this paper adds to the project management literature by introducing the Competing Values Framework (CVF) of Cameron and Quinn (2005) to evaluate knowledge sharing in the inter-project context

Investigating knowledge management factors affecting Chinese ICT firms performance: An integrated KM framework

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in the Journal of Information Systems Management, 28(1), 19 - 29, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10580530.2011.536107.This article sets out to investigate the critical factors of Knowledge Management (KM) which are considered to have an impact on the performance of Chinese information and communication technology (ICT) firms. This study confirms that the cultural environment of an enterprise is central to its success in the context of China. It shows that a collaborated, trusted, and learning environment within ICT firms will have a positive impact on their KM performance

The antecedents of e-learning adoption within Italian corporate universities: A comparative case study

The implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in business education appears to be influenced by a number of organizational issues, such as culture and technological sophistication. However, extant research has had very little to say about the antecedents that shape the adoption and diffusion of ICT across companies. In order to shed light on the phenomenon under investigation, this paper presents a comparative case study between five Italian companies that have instituted a corporate university. By distinguishing companies in typical cases and deviant cases with regard to the extensive use of e-learning technologies, our findings provide some useful insights about the antecedents that make companies more or less prone to employ the new frontiers of technology in their CUs

Motivational Aspects of Teacher Collaboration

The mutual dependency of teacher collaboration and motivation has emerged as a promising research field. This article now sets out to systematically review peer-reviewed articles on the interconnection of these concepts. It looks at main findings, identifies ambiguities and contradictions in the constructs and highlights their contested nature. It is shown that many studies use different theoretical approaches and conceptual operationalizations. This leads to inconsistent empirical findings. In addition, teacher collaboration is often perceived as a threat to teacher autonomy. This is surprising considering that both teacher collaboration and teacher autonomy positively affect teacher motivation according to many empirical findings

Managing Virtual Teams

{Excerpt} Virtual team management is the ability to organize and coordinate with effect a group whose members are not in the same location or time zone, and may not even work for the organization. The predictor of success is—as always—clarity of purpose. But group participation in achieving that is more than ever important to compensate for lost context. Virtual team management requires deeper understanding of people, process, and technology, and recognition that trust is a more limiting factor compared with face-to-face interactions. A team is a cooperative unit of interacting individuals who are committed to a common purpose on tasks; endowed with complementary skills, for instance, in technical competence, problem-solving ability, and emotional intelligence; and who share interdependent performance goals (with indicators and deadlines) as well as an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. (People try to accomplish with others what they cannot do alone.) When they are effective, teams are typified by intelligibility of purpose, trust, open communication, clear roles, the right mix of talent and skills, full participation, individual performance, quality control, risk taking, collective delivery of products and services, an appropriate level of sponsorship and resources,and balanced work-life interactions. Their stages of development are likely universal. But here commonalities end: thanks to globalization and, chiefly, the advent of the Internet, unusual teams whose members may never meet face to face have come to proliferate. Their distinct configurations raise unique challenges for managers, to which literature and practice are only just beginning to pay attention

Cultural Competency in Capacity Building

Discusses different capacity building approaches to improving cultural competency that are informed by community participation and multicultural organizational development