Measuring the Performance of Corporate Knowledge Management Systems

Whereas knowledge management systems (KMS) continues to gain popularity as a corporate most advanced information systems, the acceptance of standardized KMS assessment approaches has logged. Developing metrics to assess a corporate KMS is inherently problematic due to the intangible nature of knowledge-based resources, and for the fact that measurement is a precursor to improvement. This is true for knowledge management capabilities of an organization. Nonetheless, assessment is of vital importance for valuation purposes as well as to help managers determine whether particular KMS are effective working. The main focus of this paper is to explain the value of knowledge management and provide a general overview of measurement approaches. Finally, developing an improved measurement system for corporate KMS is considered the key to the competitive success of the organization.Corporate Knowledge, Knowledge Management Systems, Measuring the Performance

Knowledge management in extended enterprises

This paper highlights the importance of Knowledge Management (KM) in extended enterprises.Global competitiveness poses flexibility challenges in a time-based competition.One of the strategies adopted in industry is to develop extended enterprises by improving the level of collaboration between various autonomous firms. This coupled with several knowledge changes require a new focus on effective knowledge management.Judicious use of IT to form and support extended enterprises that gain from KM efforts is important.This paper presents the need and scope of Knowledge Management in enterprises facing the global competitive challenges.The emphasis of knowledge management as a process with a synergy between university and industry efforts is also outlined.A visionary approach based on a simulator and AI based architecture is discussed. It is suggested that models that promote IT based integration between objectives, decision and information (ODI) integration will be expedient for the evolving extended enterprises and virtual enterprises domains

Ontology based approach in knowledge sharing measurement

For many years, physical asset indicators were the main evidence of an organization’s successful performance. However, the situation has changed following the revolution of information technology in the knowledge-based economy and in the new ideas in economy; knowledge assets are a critical strategic resource in economy. Knowledge management [KM] tools have become very important and in order to gain a competitive advantage, it is necessary to create, store, share and apply knowledge. Knowledge sharing is one of the key issues in knowledge management. One of the main challenges facing pioneer firms is to provide an effective strategy to exchange knowledge formally or informally. In this paper, we will discuss the effectiveness of knowledge sharing and our proposal for an effective knowledge sharing strategy. Based on a review of knowledge sharing literature, we will focus more on the trust and knowledge contexts as key issues in knowledge sharing.Trust is the most important issue when creating a relationship, knowledge sharing and partnership. Moreover, there are a number of forms that trust can take in these relationships and the most regularly cited forms are competence and benevolence trust. In this paper, we will explore these two forms of trust and will examine their role in knowledge sharing and how they can be defined and measured. On the other hand, we will apply ontologies to explore the knowledge context. Ontologies are used in widespread application areas particularly to provide a semantically shared domain knowledge in a declarative formalism for intelligent reasoning. Even ontology enables knowledge sharing; however, the complexity of knowledge being conceptualized in the ontology is critical to the success of knowledge sharing efforts. Other factors like trust in the source of knowledge can also affect knowledge transfer. In this paper, we propose metrics to measure the complexity of ontology for knowledge sharing. Finally, the effectiveness of our proposed knowledge sharing methodology is presented both using a fuzzy-inference engine and a crisp system

The Role of Knowledge Management in Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to examine the state of knowledge management research in supply chain management from three standpoints, methodological approach, supply chain management area, and knowledge management processes. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this, a systematic review is conducted over the period 2000-2014 on the basis of a qualitative content analysis. Findings: Major results showed that knowledge management can be viewed as a leverage mechanism for: (i) supply chain integration; (ii) the enhancement of intra and inter-relations across the supply chain; (iii) supply chain strategy alignment; and (iv) the reinforcement of knowledge transfer in product development. Some supply chain management areas such as reverse logistics, inventory management, forecasting/demand planning, outsourcing, and risk management have been explored only to some extent. Furthermore, knowledge transfer is being studied in the majority of the articles, mainly by both case study and survey approach; mathematical models and simulation techniques are used in very limited articles. Findings concerning theoretical perspectives and managerial issues are also described. Research limitations/implications: The limitation of our study encompasses the aspects of search period (2000-2014), selection of search databases (Web of Science and SCOPUS and language selection (English). Practical implications: The exhibition of the KM processes within the SC context may help practitioners and managers interested in implementing KM initiatives to replicate the methodologies in order to increase the possibilities of a successful KM adoption. Originality/value: The systematic review will contribute to the understanding of the present state of research in the knowledge management theory, with focus on the supply chain, as there are no state-of-knowledge studies that report a systematic literature review approach.Peer Reviewe

Redesigning the United States Marine Corps contingency contracting process of knowledge sharing and tool usage

Marine Corps contingency contracting is a critical function of supporting deployed Marine forces. Contingency contracting provides key logistical support for deployed operational forces when normal supply channels cannot. Characterized by a small number of contingency contracting officers, enlisted personnel and high turnover rates, the contingency contracting knowledge base is not being maintained. The purpose of this study is to design a knowledge management system that captures, retains and shares the knowledge that is essential to the deployed contingency contracting process (DCCP). This study builds upon recent work to integrate knowledge management and system design and utilizes knowledge-based organizational process redesign (KOPeR), a measurement-driven redesign knowledge system, for analytical support. Results from this study suggest that DCCP knowledge management and process performance can be improved substantially.http://archive.org/details/redesigningunite10945969

THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON SUPPLY CHAIN PERFORMANCE: A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

Supply chain management has become an increasingly important management tool to help organizations improve their business operations. Although information and communication technologies have been used extensively in supply chains, there is a lack of systematic evidence regarding the mechanisms through which IT creates value. Furthermore, as supply chain objectives are going beyond operational efficiency towards pursuing higher-order goals, such as understanding the market dynamics and discovering new partnering arrangements to provide greater customer value, the capabilities that are needed for supply chains to sustain their competitive advantages need to be well understood by researchers and practitioners. To fill this gap, this research investigates the effects of the supply chain?s collective knowledge management capability on the supply chain performance. Drawing from the resource-based view of the firm and the relational view of firm?s competitive advantage, this dissertation proposes a framework of supply chain IT capability as facilitating/inhibiting the supply chain?s knowledge management capability. First, an empirical study using survey-based data collection was conducted. Second, a simulation model was built to investigate the mechanisms through which IT- enabled knowledge management activities affect firms? long-term knowledge outcome

Optimising the information and knowledge environment within the Leicestershire Constabulary

Police forces in the UK have embarked on a recent Government initiative to implement mobile information technologies, which may be one of the most significant changes in policing history since the introduction of the two-way radio. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of mobile technology on employees and existing information and knowledge intensive business processes within a UK police force, the Leicestershire Constabulary. [Continues.

Knowledge technologies process and cultures - improving information and knowledge sharing at the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA)

Over the last few years the ASA determined KM as a priority to assist with reducing knowledge loss, realising information assets and reducing work duplication by attempting to implement IKM tools and strategies. This research employed a pragmatic viewpoint, using a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods to check reliability, to ensure validity while undertaking the task of implementing the IKM tools. Using a case study strategy and action research was justified, as to be pragmatic the researcher needed to understand the extent of the problem within a specified context. The research discussed in this thesis, provides a new framework for implementing KM tools; focusing on the NSO category, which the case study organisation falls into. The literature agrees enlisting influential members onto the project is vital for success; however, the findings suggested that success was not only tied to this buy-in alone, but also to the organisation s ability to retain these members for the duration of the project. The research proposed the use of a newly developed tool within the new framework, as an approach to reduce the time it takes to undertake traditional social network analysis of the organisation, as it became clear that there was a need for a method of producing updated results of the SNA, which would span the length of long projects within organisations with significantly high staff turn-over rates. Privacy was given as a factor to consider the in literature; however, the findings from this study indicated that a majority of the participants were comfortable with the system. Email knowledge extraction, and email social network systems are not new concepts, however this research presents EKESNA; a novel tool that combines both concepts in a way that allows for the continuous discovery, visualisation, and analysis of knowledge networks around specified topics of interest within an organisation; linking conversations to specific expert knowledge. EKESNA s continuous discovery of the organisation s knowledge network affords members up-to-date data to inform business process reengineering. This is a potentially ground breaking new tool that has the possibility of transforming the KM landscape in NSOs as well as a whole range of other kinds of enterprises

Developing an inter-organisational knowledge transfer framework for SMES

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of LutonThis thesis aims to develop an inter-organisational knowledge transfer (KT) framework for SMEs, to help them have better understanding of the process of the KT between a SME and its customer (or supplier). The motivation is that knowledge management issues in SMEs is very neglected, which is not in line with the importance of SMEs in the UK national economy; moreover, compared to KT within an organisation, between organisations is more complicated, harder to understand, and has received much less attention. Firstly, external knowledge is generally believed to be of prime importance for SMEs. However, there is little empirical evidence to confirm this hypothesis. In order to empirically evaluate the hypothesis, and also specifically to identify SMEs' needs for external knowledge, a mail questionnaire survey is carried out. Then, based on the key findings of the survey, some 5MB managers are interviewed. The conclusions triangulated from both the key findings and the interview results strongly support the hypothesis, and demonstrate that SMEs have very strong needs for inter-organisational KT, and thus provide very strong empirical underpinning for the necessity of the development of the framework. Secondly, drawing support from a process view, a four-stage process model was proposed for inter-organisational KT. Then a co-ordinating mechanism underpinned by social networks and organisational learning is developed. The process model, co-ordinating mechanism together with cultural difference between organisations constitute an initial framework. Through interviews with SME managers, the initial framework is revised a final framework. The framework validation exercise shows that the final framework could help SMEs have better understanding of the KT. In order to remind and help SMEs to address the 'boundary paradox' embedded in interorganisational KT, and further reflect its complexities and difficulties, the important factors related to each stage of the framework are identified from a strategic perspective, with the help of the co-ordinating mechanism and relevant literature. The factors are also verified by interviews in SMEs. As a result, the initial factors are revised by removing the factors that are perceived as unimportant. The interview results demonstrate that the important factors, as a checklist, can remind and help SMEs to address the 'paradox', and are thus very useful for them

Optimal Ranking and Sequencing of Non-domestic Building Energy Retrofit Options for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

Whether it is based on current emissions data or future projections of further growth, the building sector currently represent the largest and singular most important contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally. This notion is also supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change based on projection scenarios for 2030 that emissions from buildings will be responsible for about one-third of total global emissions. As such, improving the energy efficiency of buildings has become a top priority worldwide. A significant majority of buildings that exist now will still exist in 2030 and beyond; therefore the greatest energy savings and carbon footprint reductions can be made through retrofit of existing buildings. A wide range of retrofit options are readily available, but methods to identify optimal solutions for a particular abatement project still constitute a major technical challenge. Investments in building energy retrofit technologies usually involve decision-making processes targeted at reducing operational energy consumption and maintenance bills. For this reason, retrofit decisions by building stakeholders are typically driven by financial considerations. However, recent trends towards environmentally conscious and resource-efficient design and retrofit have focused on the environmental merits of these options, emphasising a lifecycle approach to emissions reduction. Retrofit options available for energy savings have different performance characteristics and building stakeholders are required to establish an optimal solution, where competing objectives such as financial costs, energy consumption and environmental performance are taken into account. These key performance parameters cannot be easily quantified and compared by building stakeholders since they lack the resources to perform an effective decision analysis. In part, this is due to the inadequacy of existing methods to assess and compare performance indicators. Current methods to quantify these parameters are considered in isolation when making decisions about energy conservation in buildings. To effectively manage the reduction of lifecycle environmental impacts, it is necessary to link financial cost with both operational and embodied emissions. This thesis presents a novel deterministic decision support system (DSS) for the evaluation of economically and environmentally optimal retrofit of non-domestic buildings. The DSS integrates the key variables of economic and net environmental benefits to produce optimal decisions. These variables are used within an optimisation scheme that consists of integrated modules for data input, sensitivity analysis and takes into account the use of a set of retrofit options that satisfies a range of criteria (environmental, demand, cost and resource constraints); hierarchical course of action; and the evaluations of ‘best’ case scenario based on marginal abatement cost methods and Pareto optimisation. The steps involved in the system development are presented and its usefulness is evaluated using case study applications. The results of the applications are analysed and presented, verifying the feasibility of the DSS, whilst encouraging further improvements and extensions. The usefulness of the DSS as a tool for policy formulation and developments that can trigger innovations in retrofit product development processes and sustainable business models are also discussed. The methodology developed provides stakeholders with an efficient and reliable decision process that is informed by both environmental and financial considerations. Overall, the development of the DSS which takes a whole-life CO2 emission accounting framework and an economic assessment view-point, successfully demonstrates how value is delivered across different parts of the techno-economic system, especially as it pertains to financial gains, embodied and operational emissions reduction potential.Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Nigeri