TIME MANAGEMENT – IN THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

Nowadays scientists say that we are in the early stages of the knowledge revolution and the wealth and power in the XXI century will arise from intangible intellectual resources and more specific from knowledge capital. Facing all these changes, when the demands of our life exceed our resources, we can experience the damaging effects of bad stress. We can help control stress through good time management and learning to use our time wisely. This should result in more satisfaction with our life and not just a longer list of tasks finished.knowledge-based economy, knowledge-based management, time management, leader, team

Lessons Learned from Client Projects in an Undergraduate Project Management Course

This work proposes that a subtle combination of three learning methods offering ‘just in time’ project management knowledge, coupled with hands-on project management experience can be particularly effective in producing project management students with employable skills. Students were required to apply formal project management knowledge to gain real-world experience managing a 12-week client project. ‘Lessons Learned’ reports prepared by 112 students enrolled from Fall 2009 - Fall 2011 were collected and analyzed to assess the student experience. Analysis of the ‘lessons learned’ data illustrates the challenges and successes students faced as project managers of a client project in seven of the nine project management knowledge areas. Finally, a number of ‘teachable moments’, made possible by the innovative learning environment, including the difference between conceptual learning and experiential learning with respect to integration, risk, communication and HR management and the difference between ‘leading’ and ‘managing’, demonstrate the added value of integrating hands-on skills with ‘just in time’ knowledge to create an authentic project management learning environment

Aircrew fatigue management in the New Zealand aviation industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Aviation at Massey University

In the past two decades, fatigue has been widely studied and has proven scientifically to be a threat to flight operations and aircrews, as evidenced in disastrous aviation accidents. Internationally, it is recognised that the prevention or minimization of fatigue requires a collaborative approach, hence not just individuals. However, because of individual differences in coping with fatigue, the complex factors associated with fatigue, and the dynamics in aviation operations, it has proven unrealistic to expect to have a "one size fits all" policy to manage fatigue. Nevertheless, with increased competition in the aviation domain, aircrews are increasingly made to work according to organisational requirements through rosters or schedules that function in "24/7" settings. Such arrangements have been, and are still being mandated by flight and duty time limitations in civil aviation rules elsewhere. With increased knowledge on the effects of fatigue in the cause of accidents and incidents, it has for some time been known that the historical prescriptive approach does not address potential fatigue-related factors. Australia and New Zealand Civil Aviation Authorities have led the way in developing an alternative approach in the management of fatigue, in a move to operate beyond mandated flight and duty time limitations. Such an approach does not intend to breach current prescriptive rules, but rather incorporate industry views by establishing an alternative strategy in managing aircrew fatigue considered best for the operation, organisation and the pilot. Given the minimal information available on fatigue management in the New Zealand Aviation Industry, this study was initiated to gather perceptions from management, rostering staff and pilots on how their organisations are currently managing fatigue, via a questionnaire. Results of the study showed that 33% of participants reported maintaining AC119-2 in meeting their flight and duty time limits, 9% indicated using AC119-2 with dispensations, 11% stated that they have an accredited fatigue management scheme, 10% indicated "don't know" and 38% reported using "other" methods as an alternative to mandated flight and duty time rules. The high percentage of participants opting for "other" methods is an indication that participants are not confident in positively identifying constructive strategies existing within their organisation. This reveals that knowledge on current rules and guidelines pertaining to flight and duty time limitations is lacking. The main implication of the study is that knowledge on prescribed flight and duty time limitations (AC119-2) and fatigue management (AC119-03) in the aviation industry requires substantial enhancement to ensure an effective and sustainable non­ prescriptive approach in the management of fatigue. The study further suggests that more informed education on AC119 -2 could be advocated in the industry as a starting point, which may form a strong and mature basis for the development of successful and effective fatigue management schemes. These suggestions warrant a participatory and combined effort involving the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority and the New Zealand Aviation Industry

Web 2.0 and knowledge management for local government in England – A model for the public sector?

PURPOSE Delivering success in the public and private sector requires staff to have access to the best knowledge possible about how to do their jobs well so a major challenge for employers is how to ensure their staff are making decisions based on the latest knowledge of best practice. 21st century professionals and policy makers are increasingly being required to demonstrate that their practice and decision making is evidence based. This paper examines a new public sector knowledge management initiative across local government in England and Wales which aims to improve knowledge sharing across local government. In response to a number of drivers for improvement, the Improvement and development Agency for local government in England (IDeA) has harnessed web 2.0 tools to support knowledge creation and sharing, and just in time learning to create a professional networking online environment - a ‘Facebook’ type environment for local government. The result is an pnline Communities of Practice for local government initiative . DESIGN This initiative was launched across local government in England and Wales in January 2008 and an arrangement with the local government improvement services in Scotland provides similar access to local government officers there. At the time of writing the initiative has over 30,000 members in over 700 online communities with new members joining every day. The knowledge management strategy discussed in this paper was developed following a review of knowledge management literature and an analysis of the specific needs of the local government sector by the Improvement and Development Agency for local government in England. The data reported come from a number of sources including web statistics which are collected automatically and interviews carried out to identify ways in which the initiative is having impact. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS The impact of knowledge management initiatives can be hard to quantify but the paper outlines some proxy measures which give some indication of the value for money of this knowledge management strategy. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The argument is made that online communities of practice can very quickly provide advantages and significant cost benefits to the public sector in spite of the limitations of the software and the fact that working practices will take many years to change. It is argued that the approach set out in this article provides a model for other public sector organisations. ORIGINALITY/VALUE Knowledge transfer and research impact are areas in England of concern to both government and academics who in the REF 2013 will be judged on the impact of their research This online communities of practice initiative is a new way of knowledge sharing and working across a whole public sector. It has the potential to revolutionise the ways professionals learn and carry on learning as well as the relationships between academics and potential users of research However, the establishing and managing of such an initiative requires national leadership on behalf of a sector

Knowledge sharing:at the heart of knowledge management

Knowledge sharing is central to knowledge management in organizations. The more tacit the knowledge, the harder it is to share. However, successful knowledge sharing means looking not just at the content of the knowledge, and the people and technology concerned in the sharing, but the context in which that sharing takes place. This chapter discusses relevant theories from knowledge management and other fields. It goes on to present a model covering the time, place and context of the knowledge sharing activity, developed using theories about decision support systems. This forms the final part of a three-stage approach intended to help managers (and others) make decisions about how to support knowledge sharing activities in organizations. Each stage takes the form of a question to be answered, as follows: 1) What are the business processes concerned? 2) What is the knowledge to be shared related to - knowledge creation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge refinement, knowledge storage, or knowledge use? 3) What does this mean for the time, place and context of the knowledge sharing?

Growing Managers, Not Bosses

{Excerpt} In the 21st century, managers are responsible for the application and performance of knowledge at task, team, and individual levels. Their accountability is absolute and cannot be relinquished. In a changing world, successful organizations spend more time, integrity, and brainpower on selecting them than on anything else. The right stuff are inspiring, caring, infusing, and initiating managers who go about their business quietly, on the word of Henry Mintzberg. Warren Bennis, always keen on leaders, sees them as white knights who can somehow herd cats. Most people would be happy with either variety. Indeed, they would be happy with any of the prototypical characters drawn in management textbooks. But the fact is that such high-caliber material is not available for nearly all organizations. So it is important to make the most of what organizations do have and to spend, therefore, more time, integrity, and brainpower on making people decisions than on anything else. There are good reasons for this: experience shows that one in three promotions ends in failure, that one in three is just about effective, and that one in three comes to pass right. The quality of promotion and staffing decisions reveals the values and standards of management and whether it takes its duties seriously

Innovation through process oriented knowledgemanagement in a regional e-cluster system

A regional e-cluster system and its cybernetics are characterised by a high degree of complexity which requires a comprehensive strategy. The identification of the key components of this e-cluster system and its interrelationships show that the component “knowledge management” is a critical and decisive process in an e-cluster system. ClusterNet builds the strategic frame for a process oriented knowledge management in a regional e-cluster system. The strategy of knowledge management consists of objectives, activities and measures to reach the vision that the resource of knowledge is used effectively in the cluster specific processes. Consequently this strategy requires the processes of knowledge management to be combined with the cluster processes in a technical and organisational way. The knowledge of an e-cluster can therefore just in time with the cluster processes be identified, acquired, developed, used, distributed and finally stored.

Just-in-time Knowledge: Knowledge Mobilization in a Public Health Network

One question of great importance to Information Systems (IS) researchers is how to effectively and efficiently move expertknowledge from researchers to practitioners. This paper identifies a novel knowledge use process – knowledge mobilization– which focuses on the process of organizing knowledge and making it ready for active service within a community. Aliterature review of knowledge management concepts including knowledge transfer, reuse, sharing, sourcing, and informationseeking suggests that knowledge mobilization is a distinct concept, distinguishable from the other concepts in the existing ISliterature. A case study of a public health-oriented network (Supercourse) provides an example of a knowledge mobilizationsystem that delivers just-in-time knowledge

Sustainability in IS: the case for an open systems approach

Common sense tells us that cost cutting leads to saving, and spending should therefore be minimized. However, a little reflection tells us that this sometimes leads to false economies. In an organizational context, these can lead on to a downward spiral of organizational ‘suicide’. Examples of false economies may include: saving on maintenance; saving on research and development expenditure; saving on margins (waste or just-in-time management); and saving on ‘how’ we do things, as opposed to ‘what’ we do. Common sense cost cutting makes ‘how’ invisible, and only recognizes ‘what’. It is vital that we also remember to consider ‘why’ activities are undertaken. Professional competence implies not only skill/knowledge in a particular field, but also desire to apply that knowledge in accordance with certain values, and engagement with the context of application so that learning through reflection may take place. Professional work therefore includes scope for extra-role behaviour, such as suggesting innovative methods or identifying and developing new opportunities (Bednar and Welch, 2010). We suggest that a naïve pursuit of ‘efficiency’ is likely to constrict and curtail possibilities for extra-role behaviour, with disastrous consequences for the development and growth of the business. Creation of systems experienced as sustainable therefore requires us to focus attention on perceived usefulness, rather than efficiency