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

Development and Validation of a Knowledge Management Capability Assessment Model

Although many assessment tools and methodologies for measuring knowledge management capabilities are becoming available in the practitioner world, none of them has been tested for validity. In this paper, we first present a knowledge management capability assessment (KMCA) methodology for determining the capability levels of an organization in various knowledge areas. The KMCA defines the knowledge capability areas and a five-level metric for assessing capabilities within each area. We then present the results of an empirical study conducted to validate the ability of the KMCA methodology to correctly ascertain capability levels within knowledge areas. The validation consists of two different tests: The first test, called the absolute test, validates the five-level metric within the KMCA by showing that a lower capability level is a prerequisite for achieving the next higher level. The second test, called the relative test, demonstrates the ability of the KMCA to compare relative capabilities (1) across knowledge areas within a single organization and (2) across multiple organizations for a given knowledge area. The KMCA was developed in concert with a leading manufacturing company in the semiconductor industry. The data for this study was collected from over 700 knowledge workers from multiple large organizational units within the company. The results show that the KMCA is robust, in that it is able to correctly estimate the capabilities of the knowledge areas it was designed to measure

Knowledge Capabilities and Performance of County Governments in Kenya: A Survey of County Departments of Kiambu County Government

There is a growing need for governments globally to develop and implement strategies of knowledge capabilities to take advantage of distributed knowledge assets to enhance the performance of their employees. Knowledge capabilities are viewed as a tool for harnessing the knowledge value and engaging it in integrative processes with organizational infrastructure, people, and processes. Organizations must leverage its existing knowledge capabilities and apply the knowledge in its operation to sustain competitiveness both locally and international. The county government systems are barely 10 years old and there is the growing need to leverage on the essential asset of human resource brought about by knowledge management for realization of fast growth. The main objective of this study was to determine how knowledge capabilities influence the performance of County governments in Kenya. The study determined the effect of knowledge acquisition capabilities, knowledge application capabilities, knowledge storage capabilities and knowledge protection capabilities on the performance of County governments in Kenya. The study adopted census method targeting 34 management staff of Kiambu County. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaire. The questionnaires were piloted with 4 staffs from the neighboring Nairobi County to determine their validity and reliability. Quantitative data was analyzed using Descriptive statistics analysis which was done by measuring central tendencies which included frequencies, means, standard deviations and regression. Descriptive statistics were carried out using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Inferential statistics which included correlation (r) and regression (R2) through the use of Multiple Linear Regression model were employed to establish the significance of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The study found that knowledge acquisition capabilities have a positive and significant effect on the performance of county governments in Kenya (β1=0.690, p-value=0.000). Moreover, knowledge application capabilities have a positive and significant effect on the performance of county governments in Kenya (β2=0.596, p-value=0.000). Further, the study found that knowledge storage capabilities have a significant and positive effect on the performance of county governments in Kenya (β1=0.548, p-value=0.009). This study therefore recommends that County governments should develop proper strategies such as creating a suitable learning culture and facilitating innovativeness to encourage the acquisition of knowledge and skills. In addition, the county governments should use appropriate technology for application of knowledge as well as incorporate knowledge into organizational processes, procedures, culture and identity, routines, policies, systems, and documents, as well as individuals to aid in the application of knowledge. Keywords: Knowledge Capabilities, Acquisition, Application, Protection, Performance DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-6-08 Publication date:March 31st 202

A systematic review of research into the management of manufacturing capabilities

Our study aims to explore the past and present knowledge related to the management of manufacturing capabilities and to assess the extent to which our knowledge of this field has developed. It places specific emphasis on the philosophical foundations of the field, while also providing a set of directions for future research. A systematic review is applied, covering 104 articles. The authors unfold a strong dominance of the positivist paradigm, and call for a more balanced and informed approach in philosophical and, more specifically, methodological selection by scholars. In terms of the research content, a strong bias exists towards measuring the impact that certain manufacturing capabilities, and various configurations of these, may have on key performance indicators, such as cost. Our review warns on the dangers of following a dominant paradigmatic stance and on the limitations of researching a limited area of the complex and dynamic manufacturing capabilities arena

THE ROLE OF DYNAMIC CAPABILITY IN MEDIATING THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMISM AND MANAGERIAL CAPABILITIES ON FIRM PERFORMANCE: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

SSmall and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face many challenges from the coming rapid changes such as technology advancement, competitions, limitations and supports from government regulations, and limitations in terms of capital supply, product knowledge, and company management. Building and maintaining the firm performance of SMEs can be achieved through external factors (environmental dynamism) and internal factors (managerial capabilities). By using the dynamic capabilities as an intervening variable, it is expected to have an impact on firm performance by measuring the perceptive from owners or managers of SMEs. By using PLS-SEM analysis, the selected samples in this study consisted of 30 owners or managers of SMEs from Surabaya, Indonesia. The results indicated that the environmental dynamism and managerial capabilities have a significant influence on firm performance with dynamic capabilities as the intervening variables. Environmental dynamism also has a significant influence on firm performance. Meanwhile, managerial capabilities do not have a significant influence on firm performance

How to Measure Intellectual Capital?

Converting knowledge or intellectual capital into long-term business value is, in practice, a far more difficult process than in theory. While developing and implementing knowledge or intellectual capital philosophy’s in management processes, companies experience difficulties in measuring the contribution of their intangibles to business results and, what is more critical, companies fail in their efforts to reproduce the conditions and the processes that have unlocked the value creation potential of their intangibles. The challenge for corporations in the coming years is to identify all the elements of their value creation cycle (their strategically important tangible and intangible resources) and how these must flow, interact and contribute to sustain the organic development of the organization and significantly enhance its value creation capabilities. Without a method and instruments to identify the inter-relationships and the conversion process between intangible assets – knowledge, competencies, partnerships – and all the situations and contexts to which they add value, performance measurement systems will not be able to reveal the true performance of a company or reveal the patterns of value creation. The concepts and methods that we will describe in this paper propose a critical and practical point in designing and implementing a performance measurement of intellectual capital.intellectual capital,intangible active,performance measurement system.

Knowledge Measurement Barriers: Results from a Case Study

The discussion about barriers is primarily involved with knowledge sharing issues and the implementation of knowledge management in general. The successful application of measurement strategies requires an understanding on how knowledge measurement processes are perceived by the participants. Measuring the skills and capabilities of knowledge workers is increasingly recognized as a source of competitive advantages and has to be embedded in the organizational culture. The objective of this paper is to increase the understanding of barriers associated with knowledge measurement processes. An exploratory study with 100 interviews at an European Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendor was conducted to establish a knowledge measurement system and identify associated measurement barriers. The analysis of the results identified 21 measurement barriers in three categories: (1) individual, (2) organizational, (3) measurement process. It is concluded that these barriers need to be minimized to improve measurement acceptance and to support a knowledge measurement culture in organizations

Ergonomics evaluation of workplace at car tyre service centre

The project title is to evaluate an ergonomic on workplace at car tyre service centre. Too many people are injured while working in automotive workshops. Questionnaire survey on the workers by through interview session is used to identify a level of body discomfort area and sources of injury or uncomfortable feelings. Direct observation is performed by "walk through" inspection using digital camera to evaluate and identify ergonomic risk factor based on work activity that has ergonomic stressors present at the workplace. In particular, the application of Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) is used to evaluate exposures to postures, forces and muscle activities that have been shown to contribute to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). From questionnaire survey findings, the twelve (12) of respondents have body discomfort in the neck (8 each), shoulder (10 each), elbow/forearm (9 each), hand/wrist (11 each), knee (7 each), lower leg (7 each) ankle/foot (4 each) and lower back (9 each). The main sources of injury/uncomfortable feeling in workplace are poor body posture (75%), bending the back (75%), highly repetitive motion (75%), heavy lifting object (83.3%), the long term standing (66.7%), long term squatting (58.3%), bending the neck (66.7%) and high hand force (58.3%). And about 50% reported that poor workplace design was contributed to source of injury while 41.7% reported in use of hand tools. Eight (8) pictures were taken by using digital camera for the eight (8) different tasks to identify the ergonomic physical risk factors. Most of the physical risk factors identified were awkward posture from working with the hands above the shoulders, neck bending, bending the back forward, repeated bending, reaching, squatting and kneeling on the hard surface. Lifting heavy objects more than 10 kg, not wearing a hand gloves and exposed to high hand arm vibration when using high impact wrench (air gun) also contributed to the ergonomic physical risk factor. The REBA analysis showed, mostly in a score of eleven (11), very high risk which require action to be taken immediately. This study also includes controlling, minimizing and eliminating the risks of work-related entire body disorders exposure. There is a two hierarchy of controls that are widely accepted for modifying ergonomic hazards in which are engineering controls and administrative controls. Engineering controls involve changing the workstation layout, selection and use of tools, position of process materials, or work methods used to complete a task. Administrative controls are policies or practices directed by management that can reduce or prevent exposure to ergonomics risk factors. The study will be useful to ergonomists, researchers, consultants, workshop managers, maintenance workers and others concerned with ergonomics design in workplace

Resource determinants of strategy and performance: the case of British exporters

This study adopts the RBV of the firm in order to identify critical advantage-generating resources and capabilities with strong positive export strategy and performance implications. The proposed export performance model is tested using a structural equation modeling approach on a sample of 356 British exporters. We examine the individual as well as the concurrent (simultaneous) direct and indirect effects of five resource bundles on export performance. We find that four resources/capabilities: managerial, knowledge, planning, and technology, have a significant positive direct effect on export performance, while relational and physical resources exhibited no unique positive effect. We also find that the firm’s export strategy mediates the resource-performance nexus in the case of managerial and knowledge-based resources. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research by providing better specification of the nature of the effects – direct or indirect – of particular resource factors on export performance