Course profiling system

Course Profiling System (CPS) is a document management system for self-evaluation of first degree programmes at Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs). The framework provides systematic compliancy-checking of curriculum design with the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA)Minimal Standards; and a more holistic view of the programme and its constituent courses.The novelty is the system’s design that reduces efforts and errors inherent in manual process.Apart of serving as a repository and retrieval of course profiles, CPS is also a platform for managing and monitoring the quality of PHEI’s programme for application and upkeep of MQA accreditation or renewa

Using Conceptions of Knowledge Management in Selected Travel Agencies in the Tarnów Sub-Region

Globalization of economy, technological development and increasing competition about limited resources make tangible values, including knowledge, the key factor in economic growth. These phenomena influence national economies, households and enterprises. As a result, an increasing group of business entities, including also tourism companies, use the concept of knowledge management. The aim of this thesis is to analyse knowledge management performed by selected travel agencies from Tarnowski Subregion. Two main research methods are used in the thesis: documentation research method and diagnostic survey method. Based on the documentation method and using data from the secondary sources, one has made an inventory of travel agencies located in Tarnowski Subregion. Then, based on the diagnostic survey method and by means of questionnaire technique a research has been carried out on use of knowledge management at 44 travel agencies. The surveyed owners or managers of travel agencies indicated financial resources, then human resources and tangible resources (knowledge, patents, know how) as the most important groups of resources. Knowledge management is the most popular concept of management used at the surveyed travel agencies. Using and acquiring knowledge are the processes most frequently realized within this method. The most often used knowledge management tools there are: intranet, document management systems and workflow systems. According to the respondents, knowledge resources and trust-based interpersonal relations are the most important areas of knowledge management at their enterprises. It seems that large significance of the issues discussed in the thesis makes reasonable to continue research on this subject area

A Managers’ Guide to KMS Adoption and Diffusion

This paper reports and summarises the important findings of a study into the factors that influence the adoption and diffusion of knowledge management systems (KMSs) in Australian organizations. The implications for managerial practices are discussed. The future research directions are also presented

ePublishing: Challenges & Opportunities

The recent explosive development in information technology (IT) is challenging the traditional forms of communication and publishing. The new IT tools open a new kind of research practice that is impossible several years back. Journal publication is at a crossroad. Academics and Publishing houses have tough choices to make: either leave the journal system as is and face possible erosions or adopt and exploit the opportunities IT is providing. It seems academics are adopting the latter choice. Many publishers are adopting e-publication and more adopting the parallel publishing. However switching from traditional to electronic publishing raises a number of opportunities and challenges to the journal systems. The opportunities are: ease of access, fast response to authors, cost savings, large storage capabilities, fluidity of electronic document etc. Challenges include: Quality control of published material, preserving the peer review system, preserving the Intellectual property. The purpose of this paper is to review experiences in electronic journal publication and examine the opportunities and challenges facing the journal system. It will also attempt to set requirements and standards for e-journal publication

¿Para qué dedicar tiempo a una intranet en una biblioteca universitaria?

Peer Reviewe

A knowledge chain framework for construction supply chains

Construction is a project-based industry and construction supply chains generally work with a unique product in every project. Commonly, project organizations are reconfigured for each project. This means that construction supply chains are characterised by various practices and disjointed relationships, with the result that construction supply chain actors generally have transient relationships rather than long term risk sharing partnerships. A consequence of this is the lack of trust between construction clients, designers, main contractors and suppliers. Because the construction supply chain works as a disparate collection of separate organisations rather than as a unified team, the supply chain suffers from lack of integration. Knowledge flow in construction supply chains are hindered due to the reasons such as inadequate adaptation to collaborative procurement type projects, inadequate collaboration between the downstream and upstream supply chain, lack of interoperability of the design tools, lack of well structured SCM process and lack of well developed knowledge management applications. These characteristics of the construction supply chains are the main reasons for its low efficiency and productivity in project delivery. There is a need for the development of appropriate systems to ensure the effective diffusion of knowledge such that each actor of the supply chain adds value to the project delivery process. This is expected to result in the creation of knowledge chains in construction. It is believed that construction supply chain management (SCM), when integrated with knowledge management (KM), can successfully address the major problems of the industry The main aim of this research was to develop a framework to transform construction supply chains into knowledge chains . To reach this aim, the research first provided an overview of practices and issues in SCM across a range of industry sectors including construction, aerospace, and automotive industries. It discusses research and developments in the field of SCM and KM in construction industry, the key SCM issues with a knowledge flow focus, and the best practices from other industries to improve the construction supply chains. Furthermore, the results of the company specific and project specific case studies conducted in aerospace and construction industry supply chains are presented. These results include the key SC problems, key issues related to knowledge flow and the presentation of knowledge requirements of each supply chain actor. Following the data analysis process, a framework to transform the construction supply chain into a knowledge chain taking full cognisance of both the technical and social aspects of KM was presented. The main purpose of the knowledge chain framework was to enable construction bid managers/project managers to plan and manage the project knowledge flow in the supply chain and organise activities, meetings and tasks to improve SCM and KM throughout the supply chain in an integrated procurement type (PFI) project life cycle. The knowledge chain framework was intended to depict the knowledge flow in the construction supply chain specifically, and to offer guidance for specific business processes to transform the supply chains into knowledge chains. Finally, this research focused on the evaluation of the framework through industry practitioners and researchers. An evaluation of the Framework was conducted via workshop followed by a questionnaire comprising industry experts. The findings indicated that adoption of the Framework in construction project lifecycle could contribute towards more efficient and effective management of knowledge flow, standardisation and integration of SCM and KM processes, better coordination and integration of the SC, improved consistency and visibility of the processes, and successful delivery of strategic projects. The overall research process contributed the construction research in many perspectives such as introduction of knowledge chain concept for construction supply chains; comparative analysis of the SCM practices in different industry sectors, identification of best practices for construction supply chains, better demonstration of the maturity level and critical factors of the SCM within the construction industry, demonstration of the KC framework which integrates the supply chain process and knowledge sharing within a single framework which covers all the recent trends in the construction industry like collaborative procurement route projects, creation of better integrated SCs, applications like off site construction and BIM where all supply chain management and knowledge management should take place

Using Thin-client Architecture to Access the Legacy Training Database Within the Federal Aviation Administration Academy

Applied Educational Studie

Gli impatti organizzativi delle piattaforme di Enterprise Content Management sui processi decisionali

L\u2019obiettivo della tesi di ricerca \ue8 quello di analizzare le correlazioni esistenti tra il vantaggio competitivo, associato al miglioramento del processo di decision making, e la gestione dei contenuti aziendali attraverso le piattaforme di Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Con questo contributo si intende pertanto incrementare la letteratura presente all\u2019interno del Knowledge Management (KM) ed in particolare sul rapporto esistente tra i sistemi di Knowledge Management, di Enterprise Content Management e la gestione dei processi decisionali. All\u2019interno della letteratura del Knowledge Management, le piattaforme di Enterprise Content Management, sino ad ora, sono state analizzate solo attraverso la Transaction-Costs Theory (Reimer, 2002; McKeever, 2003; Smith e McKeen, 2003; O'Callaghan e Smits, 2005; Tyrv\ue4inen et al., 2006) e vengono generalmente descritte come dei sistemi utili per la riduzione dei costi di gestione dei contenuti aziendali presenti all\u2019interno dell\u2019organizzazione. Nello specifico attraverso analisi empiriche i diversi autori hanno evidenziato come gli strumenti di ECM siano in grado di aumentare l\u2019efficienza della gestione delle informazioni aziendali, riducendone il costo di gestione e ricerca. Analizzando gli articoli presenti all\u2019interno della letteratura manageriale, si pu\uf2 facilmente constatare che, a tutt\u2019oggi, non esiste una definizione univocamente accettata del concetto di ECM. Esaminandoli congiuntamente si possono per\uf2 riscontrare alcune analogie. La distinzione non dipende dal contenuto ma dal focus utilizzato dal ricercatore per descrivere, analizzare ed interpretare i sistemi ECM. Pochi ricercatori hanno per\uf2 studiato gli impatti che tali strumenti di Content Management hanno sull\u2019organizzazione e sui processi aziendali. In particolare, nessuna ricerca ha mai evidenziato il ruolo strategico delle piattaforme ECM nella gestione dei contenuti aziendali (Gupta et al., 2002; Helfat e Peteraf, 2003; Smith e McKeen, 2003; O'Callaghan e Smits, 2005). Per analizzare ed interpretare i valori rilevati all\u2019interno del case study, verr\ue0 utilizzata la teoria della Knowledge Based View. Si considera infatti che i siano le risorse strategiche utili per raggiungere e mantenere il vantaggio competitivo (Conner e Prahalad; 1996; Choi et al.; 2008). I sistemi di ECM non verranno analizzati secondo un approccio gestionale, cio\ue8 non si valuter\ue0 l\u2019aumento di efficienza connesso al miglioramento della gestione delle informazioni aziendali, bens\uec si andr\ue0 ad analizzare l\u2019evoluzione delle performance aziendali connesso con lo sviluppo del processo decisionale. Nel corso dell\u2019analisi, si andr\ue0 ad analizzare se la conoscenza contenuta all\u2019interno delle organizzazioni, risulta essere fondamentale per lo sviluppo e la crescita aziendale (Wernerfelt, 1984; Grant, 1991; Penrose, 1995; Grant, 1996; Prusak, 1996; Teece et al., 1997; Piccoli et al., 2000; Piccoli et al., 2002). Le informazioni assumono per\uf2 un reale valore solamente quando possono essere gestite facilmente all\u2019interno del processo di decision making per il mantenimento di un vantaggio competitivo. Per migliorare le prestazioni aziendali, risulta fondamentale riuscire a trasformare i numerosi contenuti aziendali \u201cpassivi\u201d in sorgenti \u201cattive\u201d. La potenzialit\ue0 dei sistemi di Enterprise Content Management consiste nella loro capacit\ue0 di elaborare elevati volumi informativi, fornendo all\u2019utente finale o al sistema di Decision Support Systems (DSS), tutte le informazioni utili ai fini decisionali. In tal modo le migliori performance dell\u2019attivit\ue0 del decision maker avviene non solo attraverso l\u2019incremento della qualit\ue0 e della quantit\ue0 delle informazioni di ingresso al processo decisionale ma anche grazie ad una migliore formalizzazione della conoscenza presente all\u2019interno della memoria organizzativa. Il metodo di ricerca utilizzato sar\ue0 il cosiddetto \u201cinterpretative case study\u201d, il quale risulta particolarmente utile per esaminare un fenomeno nella sua naturale evoluzione (Benbasat, 1984). Il metodo del case study \ue8 stato scelto anche perch\ue9 pu\uf2 rappresentare un veicolo ideale per giungere ad una pi\uf9 profonda comprensione dei processi di business espliciti ed impliciti, ma anche per comprendere meglio il ruolo degli attori all'interno dei sistemi organizzativi (Campbell, 1975; Hamel et al., 1993; Lee, 1999; Stake, 2000). Si utilizzer\ue0 l'azienda come unit\ue0 di analisi (Yin, 1984) sia quando si analizzeranno le relazioni col mercato che il comportamento dei singoli partecipanti ad un processo (Zardini et al., 2010). Inizialmente si andranno ad analizzare alcune delle pi\uf9 significative definizioni di conoscenza presenti all\u2019interno della letteratura e per ciascuna si evidenzieranno i punti di forza e di debolezza. Inizialmente sar\ue0 ripresa l\u2019enunciazione proposta da Polanyi (Polanyi, 1958; Polanyi, 1967), la quale verr\ue0 poi integrata con gli studi condotti da Nonaka, Takeuchi e Konno (Nonaka, 1991; Nonaka e Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka e Konno, 1998; Nonaka et al., 2000). Si passer\ue0 dal concetto generale di conoscenza alla nozione di knowledge assests, i quali verranno identificati anche come delle risorse intangibili generate internamente all\u2019impresa, difficilmente acquistabili sul mercato. Dopo aver accertato che la conoscenza pu\uf2 essere considerata una risorsa importante per l\u2019ottenimento di un vantaggio competitivo (Grant, 1996b; Prusak, 1996; Alavi e Leidner, 1999; Earl e Scott, 1999; Piccoli et al., 2002), il capitolo terminer\ue0 contestualizzando il concetto di knowledge assets anche all\u2019interno della teoria della Knowledge Based View. Nel secondo capitolo verr\ue0 esplicitato il processo di creazione della conoscenza e si identificheranno le tre tipologie di Knowledge Management Systems. Il capitolo terminer\ue0 con una disamina dei principali sistemi di Knowledge Management utilizzati per la creazione, l\u2019analisi ed il mantenimento della conoscenza presente all\u2019interno della memoria organizzativa. Nel terzo capitolo si proceder\ue0 alla disamina delle componenti principali presenti all\u2019interno del processo di decision making e con l\u2019analisi degli strumenti di KM specifici per il miglioramento del processo decisionale medesimo. Il capitolo si concluder\ue0 con la descrizione e la disamina dei sistemi a supporto delle decisioni. Nella quarta sezione si definir\ue0 il termine \u201ccontenuto aziendale\u201d e lo si assocer\ue0 al concetto di dynamic capabilities (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt e Martin, 2000; Helfat et al., 2007). Successivamente si analizzeranno tutte le fasi presenti all\u2019interno del ciclo di vita dell\u2019informazione: dalla creazione di un nuovo contenuto sino alla catalogazione, al salvataggio ed all\u2019eventuale modifica o cancellazione dello stesso. Avendo circoscritto il concetto di content si proceder\ue0 con l\u2019analisi delle definizioni presenti all\u2019interno della letteratura. Il capitolo terminer\ue0 con lo studio delle componenti principali presenti all\u2019intento dei sistemi ECM ed in particolare con l\u2019analisi degli strumenti utili a supportare i processi decisionali presenti all\u2019interno delle organizzazioni. Nell\u2019ultimo capitolo si proceder\ue0 alla disamina della metodologia dell\u2019Action-Research, analizzandone i punti di forza e le criticit\ue0. Successivamente si seguir\ue0 l\u2019approccio proposto da Baskerville (Baskerville, 1999), secondo cui il termine \u201cRicerca-Azione\u201d da un lato identifica un metodo di investigazione per le scienze sociali, dall\u2019altro rappresenta una sub-categoria che la distingue dagli altri sotto-metodi presenti. Procedendo con l\u2019analisi si giunger\ue0 al modello di Baskerville e Wood-Harper (Baskerville e Wood-Harper; 1998) secondo cui si possono individuare dieci distinte forme di Action-Research all\u2019interno della letteratura dei Sistemi Informativi, e tra queste, la Multiview ed in particolare la Multiview2, sar\ue0 la metodologia di riferimento utilizzata per testare il framework teorico all\u2019interno del case study.The focus of this thesis is to analyze the correlations between the competitive advantage, associated to the improvement of the process of decision making, and the content management through the Enterprise Content Management platform (ECM). One scope of this work is to increase the Knowledge Management (KM) literature and in particular to seek the correlation between the ECM Systems and the Decision Support Systems. Enterprise Content Management platforms largely have been analyzed according to Transaction Cost Theory (Reimer, 2002; McKeever, 2003; Smith and McKeen, 2003; O'Callaghan and Smits, 2005; Tyrv\ue4inen et al., 2006) and generally are described as useful for the reduction of ECM costs inside an organization (McKeever, 2003). Through empirical analyses, various authors have stressed that ECM tools increase efficiency and reduce management and research costs. Few studies consider the impacts of these tools on the organization or company processes. In particular, no research has highlighted the strategic role of ECM platforms in Enterprise Content Management (Gupta et al., 2002; Helfat and Peteraf, 2003; Smith and McKeen, 2003; O'Callaghan and Smits, 2005) as a means to improve and speed up the decision-making process. The case study will be analyzed by the Knowledge Based View. Specifically, the knowledge-based view (KBV) constitutes a fundamental essence of the resource-based view (RBV; Conner and Prahalad, 1996), reflecting the importance of knowledge assets. The knowledge and enterprise content generated thus can be interpreted not only as strategic resources to achieve or maintain a competitive advantage but also as useful tools for developing and expanding the company\u2019s ability to respond promptly to unexpected events in the external environment and therefore perfect decision making within the organization. According to several authors (Barney, 1991; Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Peteraf, 1993; Winter, 1995; Grover et al., 2009), the Resource Based View (RBV) cites knowledge as a resource that can generate information asymmetries and thus a competitive advantage for the enterprises that possess it. Reconsidering the general theory on the RBV and including knowledge assets among an enterprise\u2019s intangible resources easily results in the KBV. If the term \u201cacquired resources\u201d from the general RBV proposed by Lippman and Rumelt (1982) and Barney (1986) gets replaced by \u201cknowledge,\u201d the result is KBV theory, and knowledge represents one of the strategic factors for maintaining a competitive advantage (Grant and Baden-Fuller, 1995; Grant, 1996c; Teece et al., 1997; Sambamurthy and Subramani, 2005; Bach et al., 2008; Choi et al., 2008). The availability of content thus is necessary, but it is not a sufficient condition to improve the decision-making process and company performance. Rather, the company also needs to transform \u201cpassive\u201d contents, such as unused information within the boundaries of organizational memory, into \u201cactive\u201d sources that are integral to the decision-making process. To improve the decision-making process and create value, the enterprises must enrich the quality and quantity of all information that provides critical input to a decision. The goal therefore involves an ability to manage knowledge in- and outside the organization by transforming data into knowledge. In the case analyzed, decision-makers achieve the best performance not only improving the quantity and quality of input information to the decisional process but also thanks to a better formalization of the knowledge included in all phases of the process. In this view, ECM platforms are advanced KM tools that are fundamental for the development of a competitive advantage, in that they simplify and speed up the management (creation, classification, storing, change, deletion) of information, increase the productivity of each member, and improve the efficiency of the system (McKeever, 2003; Nordheim and P\ue4iv\ue4rinta, 2004; O' Callaghan and Smits, 2005). By implementing an ECM system, the company has not only an effective means for creating, tracking, managing, and archiving all company content but also can integrate business processes, develop collaborative actions through the systemic organization of work teams, and create a search engine with specialized \u201cbusiness logic views.\u201d Standardized contents and layout, associated with a definition of content owners and users (i.e., management of authorizations), and document processes support the spread of updated, error-free information to various organizational actors. Similar to business intelligence systems, ECM platforms support decision making inside the organizations in terms of viewing and retrieving data and analyzing and sharing information\u2014and thus increase organizational memory\u2014as well as their storage and continuous maintenance along the life cycle of the enterprise. For the analysis of the case study, this study employs the action research method (Lewin, 1946; Checkland, 1985; Checkland and Scholes, 1990), and specifically Multiview2 (Avison and Wood-Harper, 2003). The original Multiview concept assumed a continuous interaction between analysts and method, including the present situation and the future scenario that originated by application of the methodology. In some respects, the original definition was limited, in that it did not describe the function of each element and the trend of possible interactions (Avison and Wood-Harper, 2003). Multiview2 fills these gaps by taking into consideration the action and reaction generated by the interactions of the elements. The three macro-categories therefore must be aligned to conduct an organizational, socio-technical, and technological analysis (Avison et al., 1998; Avison and Wood-Harper, 2003). The researcher provides a clear contribution that matches the theoretical framework used as a reference and measures and evaluates in subsequent phases the results obtained from those implemented actions