Knowledge Integration in Software Teams

This research investigates knowledge workers’ individual time management practices. At an academic institution in the United States, a set of in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted to explore how individual knowledge workers manage their time demands and respond to the temporal norms and boundaries designed by their organizations. This research extends and applies taxonomies used for knowledge management to time management. Based on the qualitative analysis, a variety of approaches to managing time were identified. Personal time management practices mainly involve individual and organizational constraints that guide the perception of time and the allocation of resources around deadlines, distinguishing between work and family contexts. Moreover, the research shows that knowledge workers focus on conditional knowledge of time (i.e., understanding when the deadlines are), and pragmatic knowledge (i.e., finding out appropriate strategies for achieving time management goals). Study limitations and future research opportunities are also discussed

A Randomized Field Study of a Leadership WalkRoundsTM-Based Intervention

Background: Leadership WalkRoundsTM have been widely adopted as a technique for improving patient safety and safety climate. WalkRoundsTM involve senior managers directly observing frontline work and soliciting employees’ ideas about improvement opportunities. However, the hypothesized link between WalkRoundsTM-based programs and performance has not been rigorously examined in a set of randomly selected hospitals. Objective: To fill this research gap, we conducted a randomized field study of a WalkRoundsTM-based program. Research Design: Fifty-six work areas from 19 randomly selected hospitals agreed to implement an 18-month long WalkRoundsTM-based program to improve safety. We compared their results to 138 work areas in 48 randomly selected control hospitals. Participants: We conducted the program in four types of clinical work areas: operating rooms/post-anesthesia care units; emergency departments, intensive care units, and medical/surgical units. We collected survey data from nurses in those work areas. Measures: To measure the program’s impact, we collected pre and post survey data on perceptions of improvement in performance (PIP)—a proxy for quality and an important organizational climate antecedent for positive, discretionary behaviors of frontline staff. We compare change in PIP in the treatment work areas to the same type of work areas in control hospitals. Results: On average, compared to control work areas, our WalkRoundsTM-based program was associated with a statistically significant decrease in PIP of .17 on a 5-point scale (4.5%). Conclusions: Our study calls into question the general effectiveness of WalkRoundsTM on employees' perceptions, which had been assumed in prior literature

Knowledge Creation for Competitive Advantage: An Organizational Networks Perspective

The importance of knowledge as a key organizational resource contributing to competitive advantage is undisputed in research and in practice. Yet, the way in which such knowledge is created in organizations is relatively poorly understood. This paper develops a theoretical model elucidating how organizations create knowledge for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage. I have cast this investigation within the context of organizational networks, arguing that knowledge creation indeed occurs in such networked structures in organizations. Particular knowledge resources that are competitively advantageous to the firm change, as the basis of competition itself changes over the organization’s life. Therefore, I have distinguished between two different competitive situations faced by organizations- relatively stable periods of competition, and turbulent periods of radical change. I have compared and contrasted the antecedents and processes of organizational knowledge creation under these two competitive modes, highlighting the differential role of information technology in the process

An Empirical Investigation on Knowledge Workers Productivity in Telecom Sector of Pakistan

This study intends to investigate the expectations of knowledge workers from their organization. The firms that understand the expectation of their knowledge workers can more effectively satisfy the needs and increase the productivity of their knowledge workers, which ultimately lead to gaining of competitive advantage. Literature does not depict any research study related to knowledge worker productivity that focuses on Pakistani organization. Hypothesized model consists of organizational culture, reward and technology and their effect on knowledge sharing and finally on knowledge worker productivity. Questionnaire was developed based on rigor method of constructs operationalization, including face, content and reliability. The sample size was 210, which was selected randomly from telecom sector. The data is analyzed by structural equation modeling. The results depicts that if the organization focus on organizational culture, reward and technology, it can achieve highest degree of productivity of knowledge workers. Therefore, the organizations must develop a strong strategy for identification and retention of their knowledge workers. In order to increase the knowledge worker productivity, management required to learn the expectation of knowledge worker from them and organization. Study has significant importance for management in strategic planning, human resource management strategy and retention program

How Many Teams Should We Manage at Once? The Effect of Multiple Team Membership, Collaborative Technologies, and Polychronicity on Team Performance

We explore the relationship between multiple team membership (the extent to which team members are engaged in more than one team and switch between different teams in a work day) and team performance. We argue that the number of MTMs has an inverted U-shaped relationship with team performance while the team average daily MTM is negatively related to performance. We propose that the use of collaborative technologies moderates the above relationships: when MTM is low technology use helps teams attain higher performance, when MTM is high collaborative technology use reduces performance. Conversely, variance in perceptions of technologies’ usefulness negatively moderates the above relationships. Finally, we expect teams whose members are more polychronic to perform better when MTM is high, but teams whose members are very diverse in terms of polychronicity to experience reduced performance. We are exploring these issues through a mixed-methods field study conducted in an IT consulting firm

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT AND MULTITASKING BEHAVIORS: A MIXED-METHOD STUDY

This paper investigates how individual perceptions and attitudes about an organization influence multitasking behaviors in the workplace. While we know that individuals’ behaviors are influenced by the characteristics of their organizations (e.g., ICTs, physical layout), we still do not know much about how the way individuals interpret their organization influences their multitasking behaviors. We first hypothesize that individual perceptions of organizational preferences for multitasking (i.e. organizational polychronicity) have impacts on actually enacted multitasking behaviors. We also hypothesize that the attachment to the organization (i.e. organizational identification) moderates the above relationship. We conducted a mixed method study in two knowledge intensive organizations and collected data through a survey, diaries, and semi-structured interviews. Our findings support the first hypothesis but not the moderating role of organizational identification. However, this latter seems to be directly related on how much a person is willing to work on different activities, but not on how much she interrupts others or accepts being interrupted. Further, our study suggests that not only the organizational context should be investigated in the study of multitasking behaviors, but also the larger work context, including the individuals’ professional communities

The role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on software development work activities

Software development group effectiveness depends on many factors, and understanding those factors is vital to project success, especially when considering the time and money that is dedicated to said projects.  Therefore, this study examines the role of worker tenure and employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation work completed within an organization’s software development group.  Analysis of time tracking data within one financial services organization over a three years period demonstrates that worker tenure and employment heterogeneity do play an important role in shaping work activities.  Worker tenure exhibited a negative relationship with exploration and exploitation activities, suggesting a critical mechanism through which an organization can elicit innovative and incremental development efforts.  Further, the positive effect of employment heterogeneity on exploration and exploitation suggests that employment diversity can also provide a means to encourage innovative and incremental development activities.  Findings highlight the notion that group composition plays a meaningful role in shaping the focus of software development work within an organization

Risks in major innovation projects, a multiple case study within a world's leading company in the fast moving consumer goods

This paper investigates which risks characterise radical innovation projects. In-dept case studies were carried out via interviews and a questionnaire. The risk concept applied in this study includes three dimensions: certainty, controllability and impact. Three structural or unambiguous risks were found: new product performance according to specification, reliability of suppliers and new product adoption by consumers. The incidental or ambiguous risks that were found relate to: internal organisation and project management. These results can provide guidance for project teams and innovation managers regarding issues they must seek to tick off early and issues that continuously require team and management attention