Knowledge management in the not-for-profit sector: introduction

Knowledge management in the not-for-profit sector: introductio

Critiquing the Knowledge Management: Strategies of Non-profit Organizations in Australia

Non-profit organizations are identified as knowledge intensive. This qualification, coupled with a range of environmental forces exerted by both the public and for-profit sectors have irrevocably changed the landscape within which the not-for profit sector works, and its consequent functioning. Non-profit organizations, faced with an increasingly competitive environment, require adoption of a strategic approach to ensure sustainability, part of which requires strategic management of their knowledge assets. Debowski’s model of Knowledge Development is presented as a framework for examination of the level of conscious adoption of Knowledge Management strategies of the non-profit sector in Australia. Though competing with the for-profit sector, it will be argued that the uniqueness of non-profit organizations prevents them from directly adopting strategies used by the for-profit sector. Consequently, not only do strategies need to be tailored to suit the nuances of the non-profit sector, a number of external stakeholders, more specifically the public (Government) and for-profit sector, need to directly contribute to the development of non-profit sector’s capacity in this area. It is argued that these contributions are required, as both the public and for-profit sectors create significant barriers for such development, and that non-profit sector should be supported because of their significant economic and societal contributions

Knowledge brokering: an insider action research study in the not-for-profit sector

This study contributes an original, practice-based analysis of knowledge brokering in inter-organisational communities of practice in the not-for-profit sector. Defining characteristics of the not-for-profit sector include its social values, principles and practices. Existing literature understates or overlooks the significance of values and principles that are manifested in and enlivened through every day social practices and practitioner encounters. The study contributes by presenting knowledge brokering as a knowledge sharing intervention which integrates people, processes, values and principles into practice. Knowledge brokering and other practice interventions in the not-for-profit sector have to align with its social mission, if they are to be compatible and effective. This is especially so in multi-agency partnerships and inter-organisational communities of practice where collaboration and co-existence rather than assimilation are the primary objectives. This study finds that values-compatible knowledge brokering interventions, boundary bridging, co-creation, common artefacts and knowledge sharing, enable inter-organisational communities of practice to evolve without sacrificing individual autonomy. Foundational knowledge brokering literature emphasises the structural position of the knowledge broker, their knowledge superiority and the benefits they accrue by operating on the periphery of a social network. The study contributes by arguing that knowledge brokering processes and roles can be examined through an alternative practice lens with the knowledge broker as an internal co-practitioner located within a network. The study was carried out in a new, time-limited multi-agency partnership project in the not-for-profit sector. The partnership constituted an inter-organisational community of practice comprising advice, information and support agencies that had agreed to work collaboratively to improve local services. The author was employed as the project s Knowledge Management Officer and carried out the study over a two year period using an insider action research approach. As an insider practitioner-researcher, the author contributed to the project s objectives, worked collaboratively with practitioners and gathered rich data. Action and research occurred simultaneously and the iterative processes enabled the cumulative learning to inform, develop and analyse the practice. The combination of using insider action research approach, an examination of knowledge brokering as a practice intervention and a multi-agency, not-for-profit setting, makes this a unique practice-based study untapping knowledge management lessons from the not-for-profit sector

Knowledge management in the voluntary sector: A focus on sharing project know-how and expertise

Voluntary sector organisations are operated principally by volunteers who are not obliged to share their knowledge, as might be expected in a for profit company, with a greater consequent loss of knowledge should individuals leave. This research examines how a volunteer-led organisation, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), acquires, stores and shares its project knowledge in the context of event management. Three annual CAMRA festivals of different sizes and maturity were selected to see how volunteers' knowledge is managed in the process of organising their festivals. Key festival officers were interviewed and focus groups, comprising of festival volunteers, were conducted. While the maturity of a festival and its size seemed to influence the ways in which knowledge was managed there were some commonalities between festivals. Evident was a strong master-apprentice model of learning with little formal training or record keeping except, that is, where legislation and accountability in treasury and health and safety functions were necessary. Trust between volunteers and their need to know and to share information appeared to be dependent, in part, on their perception and confidence in the success of the overarching project organisation, and this helped shape volunteers' knowledge sharing practices. Whilst there was evidence of a laissez-faire approach to codification and the sharing of knowledge, this was less so when volunteers recognised a genuine lack of knowledge which would hinder the success of their festival. The analysis also highlighted factors related to the sharing of knowledge that, it is suggested, have not been identified in the for-profit sector

Appreciating Formal and Informal Knowledge Transfer Practices within Creative Festival Organizations

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Raphaela Stadler, and Simone Fullagar, "Appreciating formal and informal knowledge transfer practices within creative festival organizations", Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 20 (1): 146-161, January 2016, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-11-2014-0484.Purpose – Problem-solving approaches to research have dominated the not-for-profit festival management field. Little attention has been paid to how festival organizations successfully create cultures where knowledge transfer is practised within the high intensity of a festival lifecycle. Drawing upon insights from Social Practice Theory and Appreciative Inquiry (AI), our purpose in this article is to offer a different conceptual approach to understanding how knowledge transfer ‘works’ as an organizational practice to produce a collaborative festival culture. Design/methodology/approach - This article draws upon an ethnographic case study with the highly acclaimed Queensland Music Festival organization in Australia. The research questions and methods were framed around an appreciative approach that identified formal and informal practices that ‘worked’ rather than a conventional problem focused analysis. Findings – Our research focused on appreciating the cultural context that shaped the interrelationships between formal and informal knowledge transfer practices that enabled trust and collaboration. We identified a range of knowledge transfer practices that contributed to the creation of a shared festival ethos and the on-going sustainability of the festival vision. Practical implications - The not-for-profit sector brings numerous challenges for festival organizations and there is a need to appreciate how collaborative and creative knowledge transfer can occur formally and informally. Festival organizers can benefit from understanding the relational and practice dimensions of knowledge management as they are performed within specific organisational contexts. Originality/value – An appreciative understanding of knowledge transfer practices has not yet been applied to not-for-profit festival organizations where problem-solving approaches dominate the field. Article classification - Research paperPeer reviewe

Knowledge Management Practices at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) Library: A Survey

KM needs a systematic approach to develop the evolution of knowledge into a key organizational resource. Most importantly, effective KM is now acknowledged as the key driver of new knowledge and ideas. Therefore, KM has become a significant issue in all types of organizations across the world irrespective of profit-making or not-for-profit organizations. An institution’s wide approach to KM can direct enormous improvements in creation and sharing of knowledge within the academic fraternity. In fact, academic institutions are the factory and laboratory of knowledge creation and the academicians are the best knowledge creators. Therefore, the application of KM tools and techniques in the academic sector is as important as it is in the corporate sector. The present study is an attempt to analyze the KM practices in six KM segments (i.e identification, acquisition, creation, sharing, storage and utilization) in four selected IIMs Library which seems to be the best management institutes of India and having the special status - “Institute of National Importance”. A survey method of research was adopted in this study and structured questionnaires are distributed to 504 respondents to collect primary data and resolved that KM practices are still in initial stage and need to do a lot for improvement

Knowledge management in the voluntary sector: a focus on sharing project know-how and expertise

Voluntary sector organisations are operated principally by volunteers who are not obliged to share their knowledge, as might be expected in a for-profit company, with a greater consequent loss of knowledge should individuals leave. This research examines how a volunteer-led organisation, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), acquires, stores and shares its project knowledge in the context of event management. Three annual CAMRA festivals of different sizes and maturity were selected to see how volunteers’ knowledge is managed in the process of organising their festivals. Key Festival Officers were interviewed and focus groups, comprising of festival volunteers, were conducted. While the maturity of a festival and its size seemed to influence the ways in which knowledge was managed there were some commonalities between festivals. Evident was a strong master-apprentice model of learning with little formal training or record keeping except, that is, where legislation and accountability in treasury and health and safety functions were necessary. Trust between volunteers and their need to know and to share information appeared to be dependent, in part, on their perception and confidence in the success of the overarching project organisation, and this helped shape volunteers’ knowledge-sharing practices. While there was evidence of a laissez-faire approach to codification and the sharing of knowledge, this was less so when volunteers recognised a genuine lack of knowledge, which would hinder the success of their festival. The analysis also highlighted factors related to the sharing of knowledge that, it is suggested, have not been identified in the for-profit sector

‘Value for Whom, by Whom’: Investigating Value Constructs in Non-Profit Project Portfolios

In most non-profit organisations (NPOs), there are multiple programs, projects or initiatives running simultaneously. The management of multiple projects in organisations can be coined as project portfolio management (PPM) (Archer & Ghasemzadeh 1999; Pennypacker & Dye 2002).  In any project-based organisation, it is critical that selected projects align with and deliver the organisation’s strategy or mission. Decisions about project funding are strategic decisions, particularly when there are resource limitations. In PPM decision making, the allocation of resources to projects requires a clear judgement of value across multiple perspectives. Value has often been expressed in financial terms, however increasingly research indicates that non-financial considerations are equally important in evaluating value.A key task in project portfolio management is to maximise value across the portfolio.  However, value can be a subjective notion, as each person may have different expectations of what is valuable. The involvement of diverse stakeholder interests could create complexities in decision making in non-profit organisations due to value being interpreted in different ways by the stakeholders. Furthermore in order to achieve its purpose, non-profits depend heavily on donors, patrons and sponsors - stakeholders who contribute to the portfolio but are often not the direct recipients of the services provided by the non-profit organisation (Kaplan 2012). Non-profit portfolios often compete with other initiatives for resources and attention from the same donors and sponsors, and may need to constantly justify the value they provide to these stakeholders.Most research about value in PPM has been conducted in the ‘for-profit’ sector. Recent value-based studies in the project portfolio field stress the importance of considering both commercial and non-commercial value in portfolio decision making (Killen, du Plessis & Young 2012; Kopman 2013; Martinsuo & Killen 2014; Thiry 2001, 2002). Non-commercial value includes the ecological, social, and learning dimensions of value (Martinsuo & Killen 2014), whilst commercial value is characterised by financial and economic measures like market value. The research reported in this paper is distinct as it investigates non-commercial value in the non-profit sector. The study extends our knowledge about strategic value and multi-stakeholder management in the non-profit sector. The findings also contribute to the overall understanding of PPM by providing insights about the multi-perspective aspects of value and the management of portfolios in complex environments involving multiple stakeholders.This paper commences with an outline of past and contemporary views about value and discusses how these views might relate to PPM and NPOs. Next, it deliberates the extent to which multi-stakeholder perspectives of value are discussed in the literature.  An empirical qualitative research design is used to explore value in project portfolios from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in two inter-related case NPOs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings to highlight several value perspectives drawn from the non-profit sector that have significant theoretical and practical contributions to understanding value typologies that underline stakeholder constructs of value and decision making in project portfolios

The effects of management education upon strategic practice and performance: the case of the German SME machinery and equipment sector

This thesis is concerned with understanding the nature and impact of strategic management education upon management behaviour and performance. Previous research findings are limited, with continuing research being proposed. The aim of this research is to fill respective gaps. The research is carried out in the German machinery and equipment industry sector. This sector was selected because it is of strategic importance for Germany’s economy and it is faced with imminent and ongoing challenges. The research concentrates on small and medium sized companies as these companies dominate this sector. The desk research consists of a comprehensive literature review on the subjects: strategic management, SME community and research sector, previous empirical research results and management education. The field research adopts a quantitative methodology with a survey questionnaire in a cross sectional time horizon. The field research is complemented by six “micro case studies” using qualitative data from the questionnaire and publicly available information. Findings suggest that management education and, in particular, strategic management does not play an important role in German universities. Engineering faculties generally neglect strategic management education in their curricula. Evidence suggests that executives with engineering background have less knowledge in strategic management and generate a lower return on sales than those with business economic background or MBA qualified. From the research findings it can be concluded that German SMEs in the machinery and equipment sector profit from the implementation of strategic management. This thesis closes with recommendations to policy makers regarding management education in Germany and proposals for further research

Post-bureaucracy and reanimating public governance: A discourse and practice of continuity?

Purpose 'Seeks to examine changes in the environment in which public policy and public management operate and the claim that bureaucracy has been replaced by post-bureaucracy as a result of these changes. Design/methodology/approach – It proposes reanimated public governance as a concept that occupies the space between public administration and restructured public governance (including reinvented government and New Public Management (NPM). Rather than accepting the existence of post-bureaucracy, per se, the paper argues that there has been a process of extending bureaucracy that cuts across public and non-public boundaries rather than the development of post-bureaucracy per se. Findings – In examining the claims for post-bureaucracy, we are witnessing a discourse and practice of continuity rather than difference. The need for economies of scale and scope, standardisation and the existence of indivisibilities in public services suggest that public sector reforms and proposals for new governance models establish extended or flexible forms of bureaucracy rather than post-bureaucratic organisational forms. Attempts to introduce ICT-based services and the need for regulatory agencies to oversee the contracts with private and non-profit service providers reinforce these findings. Research limitations/implications – The arguments in this paper are based on marshalling the literature and debates surrounding public sector reform to advance a central thesis. It draws on real world examples but does not advance direct empirical evidence. There is scope for internationally comparative case-studies of different public service functions and discourses and practices in different countries Practical implications – Policy makers and managers should treat the clarion call of post-bureaucracy as a way of liberating public services from a lack of creativity, innovation and accountability with healthy scepticism. In particular, the view that public sector reforms through post-bureaucratic re-organisation will lead to efficiencies is one to be challenged. Reforms in any service driven organisations are not zero-cost and any implied operational cost saving should be considered against increased transaction costs. Originality/value – There have been heroic claims made for post-bureaucracy in many organisations enabled by developments associated with the concepts of information society and knowledge society. By locating public sector reforms under the rubric of 'restructured public governance' a deeper investigation of the implications for the discourses and practices associated with public sector reform is advanced