Organisational learning - a critical systems thinking discipline

Original Paper European Journal of Information Systems (2001) 10, 135–146; doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000394 Organisational learning—a critical systems thinking discipline P Panagiotidis1,3 and J S Edwards2,4 1Deloitte and Touche, Athens, Greece 2Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK Correspondence: Dr J S Edwards, Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK. E-mail: [email protected] 3Petros Panagiotidis is Manager responsible for the Process and Systems Integrity Services of Deloitte and Touche in Athens, Greece. He has a BSc in Business Administration and an MSc in Management Information Systems from Western International University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA; an MSc in Business Systems Analysis and Design from City University, London, UK; and a PhD degree from Aston University, Birmingham, UK. His doctorate was in Business Systems Analysis and Design. His principal interests now are in the ERP/DSS field, where he serves as project leader and project risk managment leader in the implementation of SAP and JD Edwards/Cognos in various major clients in the telecommunications and manufacturing sectors. In addition, he is responsible for the development and application of knowledge management systems and activity-based costing systems. 4John S Edwards is Senior Lecturer in Operational Research and Systems at Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK. He holds MA and PhD degrees (in mathematics and operational research respectively) from Cambridge University. His principal research interests are in knowledge management and decision support, especially methods and processes for system development. He has written more than 30 research papers on these topics, and two books, Building Knowledge-based Systems and Decision Making with Computers, both published by Pitman. Current research work includes the effect of scale of operations on knowledge management, interfacing expert systems with simulation models, process modelling in law and legal services, and a study of the use of artifical intelligence techniques in management accounting. Top of pageAbstract This paper deals with the application of critical systems thinking in the domain of organisational learning and knowledge management. Its viewpoint is that deep organisational learning only takes place when the business systems' stakeholders reflect on their actions and thus inquire about their purpose(s) in relation to the business system and the other stakeholders they perceive to exist. This is done by reflecting both on the sources of motivation and/or deception that are contained in their purpose, and also on the sources of collective motivation and/or deception that are contained in the business system's purpose. The development of an organisational information system that captures, manages and institutionalises meaningful information—a knowledge management system—cannot be separated from organisational learning practices, since it should be the result of these very practices. Although Senge's five disciplines provide a useful starting-point in looking at organisational learning, we argue for a critical systems approach, instead of an uncritical Systems Dynamics one that concentrates only on the organisational learning practices. We proceed to outline a methodology called Business Systems Purpose Analysis (BSPA) that offers a participatory structure for team and organisational learning, upon which the stakeholders can take legitimate action that is based on the force of the better argument. In addition, the organisational learning process in BSPA leads to the development of an intrinsically motivated information organisational system that allows for the institutionalisation of the learning process itself in the form of an organisational knowledge management system. This could be a specific application, or something as wide-ranging as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation. Examples of the use of BSPA in two ERP implementations are presented

Cultural change through the implementation of an enterprise system: a UK university case study

Purpose: Organisations spend a lot of money, time and resources on Enterprise System (ES) implementation and often they do not realise the expected benefits from these complex systems. There is a gap in the literature in providing sufficient insight into the implementation process or how an ES might influence or contribute to a culture change. The aim of this article is to address the gap in the ES literature around culture by exploring the implementation that was undertaken within a large UK university. Design/methodology/approach: This paper contributes to the Higher Education (HE) and enterprise systems literature through an in-depth study of an enterprise system, SITS, implementation within a university in the UK. The study was undertaken over a three year period where one of the authors was embedded within the organisation. Findings: Using a cultural analysis framework the extensive rich data was analysed and the outcomes indicate that SITS has had a huge influence on the culture of the university; the technology’s rigid structure has imposed many changes that had not been anticipated. Originality/value: ES have recently emerged in the higher education sector where they are intended to support the management of student data and provide strategic management information. Although there are many studies which have explored important aspects of the implementation of enterprise systems, one area that appears to have been under-researched is how these systems are implicated in culture change within organisations. The results of this study will enable managers as well as IT specialists to gain rich insights into an ES implementation in the HE sector and to use this knowledge for future implementations

Managing IS projects in SMEs – Tailoring the PRINCE2TM1 methodology

The history of information systems project management is littered with many well documented disasters, and even more that have not been recorded in the literature for a range of political and commercial reasons. Such failures in the public sector gave rise to the development and deployment of the PRINCE2 project management methodology, which is now used extensively in the public sector and increasingly in the private sector also. PRINCE2 is, however, a ‘big beast’ – a large and quite complex set of concepts, tools, processes and techniques – which can appear rather daunting when undertaking fairly small scale projects in small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper examines how two companies have adapted the PRINCE2 project management methodology to control information systems (IS) projects in organisations of circa 200 employees, on projects of about 12 months duration. The first case study (Aeroengine Bearings UK Ltd) is implementing a product life cycle management (PLM) system to control and integrate shop floor engineering and design information. In the second case study, a financial services company specialising in electronic funds collection (Allpay.net) has used PRINCE2 to project manage the implementation of a bespoke middleware product that integrates its back office systems that provide customised payment statements to individual clients. Both these business projects were undertaken via the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme, which supports university academics working with industry on strategic projects. Field of Research: project management, information systems, SMEs, knowledge transfe

Effects of knowledge capabilities on the post-implementation benefits of enterprise resource systems within South African firms

Thesis (M.Com. (Information Systems))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015.This study recognized as a research problem that the size and complexity of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems makes their implementation a specialized discipline with a number of reported failures. Valuable insights have emerged from studies into factors critical for a successful ERP implementation, however it has been noted that the successful implementation of an ERP system does not necessarily translate to sustained business performance. Literature has explored some of the ERP factors which are necessary for sustaining benefits post-implementation. This literature points to the importance of ERP knowledge as well as the role of other organizational, contextual, and contingency factors in the realization of post-implementation benefits. However, empirical studies of the role of ERP knowledge capabilities in sustaining the post-implementation effects of ERP systems still remains under-explored. Therefore, the aim of this research study was to contribute to this gap. Specifically, it developed and tested a research model underpinned by the Resource and Knowledge-Based View of the Firm, Contingency Theory, and Transaction Cost Theory. A systematic literature review was conducted to gauge the state of the field, and thereafter the research model was developed. This model investigated the role of internal ERP knowledge capabilities, namely business process knowledge and ERP module knowledge, in sustaining the Operational Benefits of an ERP system. The model also investigated the conditions under which it is necessary for organisations to develop an internal ERP knowledge capability. Lastly, the model investigated the role of two contingency factors (structural complexity and environmental turbulence) in moderating the relationship between an internal ERP capability and the operational benefits obtained from ERP systems. The research model was tested using a survey methodology. This involved operationalizing the variables hypothesized in the research model and collecting data through a questionnaire instrument. The self-administered online questionnaire was administered to 900 key informants representing large organisations that have implemented ERP systems in South Africa of which 198 returned responses. Following initial screening, 130 usable responses were retained for analysis. The usable data passed through reliability and validity tests which confirmed that the construct measures provided consistent and reproducible results (reliability) and accurately represented the constructs they were intended to measure (validity). After reliability and validity was demonstrated, correlation and regression was used to test the hypothesized research model. The results of the study indicate ERP module knowledge is an important internal ERP capability for sustaining the post-implementation benefits of ERP systems. The results also found business process knowledge to be more important to realization of post-implementation benefits for firms with higher levels of structural complexity. ERP firm specificity was found to have no influence on the building of internal ERP knowledge capabilities, and the question as to why some firms seek to develop stronger internal ERP capabilities remains a question for future research. The study of post-implementation benefits from ERP systems still remains a topic of interest for both academics and practitioners. Through the application of the Resource and Knowledge- Based View of the Firm, Contingency Theory, and the Transaction Cost Theory this study has advanced our understanding of the importance of ERP knowledge capabilities and contributed results that offer practical implications for vendors and for organisations that have implemented or are considering implementing ERP systems

Planning and implementation of effective collaboration in construction projects

The 21st century is now seen as the time for the construction industry to embrace new ways of working if it is to continue to be competitive and meet the needs of its ever demanding clients. Collaborative working is considered by many to be essential if design and construction teams are to consider the whole lifecycle of the construction product. Much of the recent work on collaborative working has focused on the delivery of technological solutions with a focus on web (extranets), CAD (visualisation), and knowledge management technologies. However, it is now recognised that good collaboration does not result from the implementation of information technology solutions alone. The organisational and people issues, which are not readily solved by pure technical systems, need to be resolved. However, approaches that exclusively focus on organisational and people issues will not reap the benefits derived from the use of technology, especially in the context of distributed teams which are the norm in construction. Work currently being undertaken at Loughborough University aims to bring together the benefits enabled by the technology, with the organisational, and its people issues to provide a framework enabling high level strategic decisions to be made to implement effective collaboration. This paper reports on the initial stages of the project: the background to the project, the methodology used, and findings from the literature survey and the requirements capture survey conducted as part of the project

Advance management education for power-engineering and industry of the future

The objectives of this study are to substantiate the principles of advance education and the requirements for the new generation of educational programs aimed at developing competences for the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of complex industrial systems integrated into intellectual production, environments, and robotic systems. The study included formulating a hypothesis, refining the conceptual framework, creating the necessary empirical base, reviewing the cases of world leading universities, and presenting and substantiating the main features of advance management education that meet the current challenges. A flexible modular architecture of the educational process was developed which allows making timely adjustments to the content and teaching methods to include new knowledge. The experience of testing the results obtained in consulting practice, in teaching master's degree students at Ural Federal University (Russia) and in educational projects for leaders and breakthrough teams of large energy corporations is described. The academic novelty of the results lies in the comprehensive examination of the issue of advance education, the conditions and the tools for its implementation within the framework of the proactive management methodology developed by the authors for sustainable business development in a revolutionary and changing industrial landscape. © 2019 by the authors.Government Council on Grants, Russian FederationThe work was supported by Act 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract No 02.A03.21.0006. This research received no external funding

Experiences in the development of big data for enterprise management course

Comunicació presentada a EDULEARN17. 9th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (Barcelona, Spain 3-5 July, 2017)The Universitat Jaume I (UJI) of Castellón, Spain, is teaching the Master's Degree in Intelligent Systems. The main objective is to cover the great lack of consistent and updated Intelligent Systems skills in the university graduate students. It involves perception, learning and automated decision processes, robotic manipulation, data storage and processing, contextual information, visualisation and interactive environments. The master is composed of 20 courses. One of them addresses the development and implementation of a Big Data ecosystem in an organization. Big Data has become a key factor for organizations to gain a competitive advantage over competitors because it can help to bring a lot of benefits to organizations, such as to develop new products or services; make better, quick and automated strategic and operational decisions; or identify what was happened, and predict what will happen in the immediate future. The big data for enterprise management course equips students with the necessary basic knowledge and competencies they need to design and utilize Big Data for enterprise management, considering not only technological aspects, but also the management of organization policies and people. The aim of this paper is to describe the course objectives, the target competencies, the course contents, the assessments, and how the teaching methodology and the resources are used to teach the subject

Knowledge management framework to the university libraries

Documento em formato pdf referente à artigo em inglês "Knowledge management framework to the university libraries" de Roberta Moraes de Bem, Christianne Coelho de Souza Reinisch Coelho e Gertrudes Aparecida Dandolini de 2016. Localização apenas no formato digital.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a knowledge management framework for university libraries (named GC@BU). The framework consists of three modules: knowledge management coordination; knowledge resources; and learning commons, and uses as theoretical assumptions the design of an university library (developed for the context of the framework), the standards for libraries in higher education of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the characterization of the university library as a complex adaptive system (CAS). Design/methodology/approach – This framework was structured by a literature review and based on models, methodologies and existing frameworks, being afterwards evaluated through focus groups composed of managers of university libraries, resulting in an enhanced version. Findings – After evaluation, the GC@BU framework showed to be easy to apply in the context for which it was created (university libraries). It is noteworthy that in addition to the knowledge management application, the GC@BU reinforces the importance of concerning for the quality and the services, since it uses as a parameter the standards of the ACRL. In addition, the perspective used to characterizing university libraries (as CASs) was well accepted by the tool evaluators. Research limitations/implications – The proposed framework is focussed on university libraries, but its use in other contexts should not be dismissed as long as the manager makes the necessary adjustments for this purpose. Practical implications – Since knowledge management is an intangible element, its application and benefits are not easy to conceive. This tool provides the implementation of knowledge management in university libraries, and knowledge is considered from different approaches (from the user, the collaborator, the library collection). Besides, the tool is arranged so (in modules and verification criteria) as to allow the manager to administer the library as a whole, from the point of view of knowledge management. Originality/value – This study is considered innovative and applicable on the global stage of university libraries, because despite being evaluated by Brazilian managers it uses international standards and has a strong ability to adapt to different contexts. Keywords Knowledge management, Framework, University libraries, Librarian, Complex adaptive systems, GC@BU Paper type Research pape

Sistema de gestión del conocimiento académico para alumnos en la Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego usando características sociales de Pinterest

La gestión del conocimiento, la evolución de la web y el avance de la tecnología nos ha llevado a dar un paso más en la educación, la gestión del conocimiento en los estudiantes universitarios o sea el intercambio de conocimiento en estudiantes se ha dado desde siempre, entonces, por qué no apoyarnos en las tecnologías para gestionar este conocimiento. La presente tesis consiste en la implementación de un sistema de gestión del conocimiento a nivel universitario para llenar ese vacío que apoye al desarrollo de conocimientos de los estudiantes durante su carrera universitaria. Para la creación del sistema, se analizaron diferentes sistemas de gestión del conocimiento, normalmente aplicados en empresas, se analizó la plataforma de social de Pinterest y se aplicó su estructura social en un modelo de gestión del conocimiento, concluyendo con un modelo adaptado para la gestión del conocimiento académico y a su vez se puso en práctica con un prototipo realizado con Django, AngularJS y PostgreSQL utilizando metodología XP que se aplicó sobre los alumnos de Ingeniería de Computación y Sistemas de la Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego. Logrando así una mejora en la gestión del conocimiento académico y trazando el camino hacia nuevas formas de gestión del conocimiento.Knowledge management, the evolution of the web and the advancement of technology has led us to take a step further in education, knowledge management in university students, or the exchange of knowledge among students has always existed, then why not rely on technology to manage this knowledge. This thesis is the implementation of a knowledge management system at the university level to fill that void to support the development of knowledge of students during their university career. To create the system, I studied different knowledge management systems, typically used in enterprises, I analyzed the social platform Pinterest and applied its social structure over a knowledge management model, concluding with a suitable model for the management of academic knowledge. Beside I implement a prototype made in Django, AngularJS y PostgreSQL using XP methodology that was applied over students of Computer Systems Engineering of the Private University Antenor Orrego. Achieving an improved academic knowledge management and charting the path to new ways of knowledge management.Tesi