Organizational Memory: an Approach from Knowledge Management and Quality Management of Organizational Learning Perspectives

The recognition of the fact that, as of late, knowledge represents one of the most important assets of an organization, decisively influencing its competitiveness, has led to some comprehensive approaches of organizational memory. The organizational memory and the organizational learning capacity are the main sources for a competitive edge, so the main challenge is to effectively manage knowledge while maintaining the quality of formation services. The scientific investigation of literature (Crosby, 1979; Deming, 1982; Juran, 1990; Barcet and Bonamy, 1994; Barnabé, 1997; Bouchard and Plante, 2002; Demeuse and Strauven, 2006) specific to the area of management of services related to organizational learning, reveals the orientation of research, based on: (a) conformity between delivered services and the demanded characteristics or specifications; (b) meeting client’s needs; (c) studying the existing adequacy between result and what had been announced, foreseen or promised; (d) improving overall functioning of the organization by defining and implementing of a quality project, one that will involve the whole necessary staff for satisfying the needs of the learners. This paper will present: (1) contributions to a coherent point of view regarding the organizational memory from the perspective of the principles of quality management of services associated to organizational learning and based upon Knowledge Management; (2) the analysis of the main quality models that may be employed in organizational learning related services; (3) a study regarding the perception of successful organizational factors in the field of Knowledge Management-based training services amongst Romanian companies and institutions.organizational learning services quality management, organizational learning success model, cognitive acquis, organizational memory, knowledge management methods

Knowledge Management, ICT and Innovation

The concept of innovation and knowledge management were reviewed in this paper. Their impact on organizational competitiveness also analysed. In this paper, the concept of knowledge management is expanded to productive knowledge where valuable knowledge is identified to fulfil organizational needs and employee talent pool. This paper has a goal to explore role of knowledge to create innovations and organizational competitiveness. Through productive knowledge, organization can understand the new trend of market demand set new policy to facilitate effective knowledge management practice in their organization. The analysis result showed the steps as the effort taken to start knowledge management initiative to nurture productive knowledge. In conclusion, organizational performance needs organisation adaption o productive knowledge to reach the higher innovation through productive knowledge policies. Keywords: innovation, knowledge management, organizational competitiveness, productive knowledge, polic

Customer knowledge management in the insurance industry in Malaysia. The role of knowledge sharing, market and technology turbulence / Ahmad Suffian Mohd Zahari

Customer Knowledge Management (CKM) is derived from the knowledge management concept, which can be applied by organizations strategies to satisfy their customers’ needs and wants. The dimensions of customer knowledge management are developed from the knowledge flow perspectives such as knowledge for customers, knowledge about customers and knowledge from customers. In this manner, CKM refers to the management of knowledge for customers, knowledge about customers and knowledge from customers to improve organizational performance. This study examined the effects of CKM dimensions in influencing organizational performance in insurance industry in Malaysia. This study also investigated the influence of moderating effects of market and technology turbulence in the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance and between CKM and organizational performance. This study also examined the mediating effects of knowledge sharing in the relationship between CKM and organizational performance. A total of 180 managers from various insurance companies in Malaysia are involved in this study by voluntarily completing the survey questionnaires. A series of statistical analyses were applied including descriptive analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regressions analysis using the SPSS software. The finding of this study contributed to advance understanding of CKM and organizational performance in a number of important ways. First, the results of the study indicate support for the relationship between CKM dimensions and organizational performance. Knowledge for customers, knowledge about customers and knowledge from customers were found to have significant influences on organizational performance. Second, the results reveal that CKM dimensions have significant influence on knowledge sharing. With regard to the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance, the results show that knowledge sharing was found to be significantly associated with organizational performance. Furthermore, the results also indicate that knowledge sharing as a mediator significantly mediated the relationship between CKM and organizational performance. Looking at the moderating effect of technology turbulence, the results show that technology turbulence significantly moderated the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance. In contrast, market turbulence did not moderate the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance. Finally, regarding the moderating effect of market turbulence on the relationship between CKM dimensions and organizational performance, the study revealed that market turbulence did not moderate the relationship between CKM and organizational performance. Furthermore, technology turbulence also did not moderate the relationship between CKM dimensions and organizational performance. The findings of this study contribute to knowledge management and marketing literature by adding new empirical evidence on the relationship between CKM, organizational performance, knowledge sharing, market and technology turbulence. In terms of managerial implications, the findings help insurance companies in organizing CKM dimensions, particularly in strategizing, marketing, decision making and positioning themselves in the insurance industry

Individual emergence in contextual analysis

Located within the tradition of Hermeneutic Dialectics (HD) this paper offers an approach which can further an analysis of a fit between information and organizational systems. Drawn upon Information Systems Development projects a relationship between theory and practice is aided through a multi-disciplinary approach to sense making activity. Using a contemporary version of contextual analysis to understand a way in which individuals construct adapt and create meaning from their environment offers a route to improve a systems analysis process. This type of enquiry into contextual dependencies of knowledge creation can help direct a development of systems that have the intention to serve specific organizational actors and their needs. Combining methods outside of a traditional polar divide, sense making research undertaken within a systems thinking arena can enrich understanding by complementing qualitative and / or quantitative analysis with reflective depth. Drawing together interdisciplinary strands through a critical systems thinking approach offers new levels of professionalism for computer- and management-, practitioners or researchers in the 21st Century

Knowledge Management and Sustainable Agriculture:the Italian Case

The contemporary knowledge-based economy requires global usage of information in all aspects of modern society. Pertinent information is an important asset for successful business, therefore an application of knowledge management in organisational practice has become a crucial factor for the viability and sustainable development of enterprises. This is particularly relevant for the agricultural context, which needs modern practices for enhancement and development. However, information and knowledge, due to their intangible character, seem difficult to manage and organize. Therefore the paper targeted at developing sustainable organizational model of knowledge management for small and medium enterprises. Italian agriculture is considered as a context for this study, and knowledge management was offered as a tool for facilitating agricultural performance and increasing competitiveness of agricultural sector. A wide concept of knowledge management and specified agricultural context require a theory-based approach to research and a survey. Thus, the research methodology includes the next four parts. The first one contains literature review and examines definitions, strategies, approaches and models of sustainable knowledge management. The second part includes content analysis of 105 scientific publications. The third part of methodology is based on the results of the two previous parts and includes creating the model of knowledge management. Verification of this model is the last part of the research. Verification was executed through on-line questionnaire distributed to Italian agricultural enterprises throughout the country on their intentions and awareness towards knowledge management and developed model of knowledge management. The results of the survey have demonstrated farmer’s incentives to implement the developed knowledge management model with flexible approach in its organisation

Problems and Solutions in Knowledge Transfer

A central feature of innovation systems is that innovation arises from interaction between organizational units. This requires 'cognitive distance' that is sufficiently large to yield novelty of combinations, but not too large for mutual understanding. Two problems and solutions in the transfer of knowledge, especially to small firms, are identified and discussed. There is a problem not only of expressing tacit knowledge, but also of absorbing new knowledge when it needs to replace existing tacit knowledge. Next to issues of learning or competence development there are also issues of governance, in the management of relational risk of dependence and spillover. The analysis yields a number of tasks and functions for regional systems of innovation.knowledge transfer;regional innovation systems;small business;technology policy

A Review of Two Decades of Research on Language in International Management (1997 - 2022) - Supplemental Material

This research reviews over two decades of research on language within international management. This comprehensive review codes and summarizes 263 articles, highlighting the impact of language in various strategic areas of management: language policy; HRM and organizational behavior; internationalization; HQ-subsidiary relationship; knowledge sharing; corporate reporting and governance; and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and inter-firm strategic collaboration. This study also highlights two major needs within the discipline (internal vs. external focus of language and level of analysis – individual, group and organizational), and addressed the call for a broader future research agenda

Analyzing requirements of knowledge management systems with the support of agent organizations

Knowledge Management (KM) is considered by many organizations a key aspect in sustaining competitive advantage. Designing appropriate KM processes and enabling technology face considerable risks, as they must be shaped to respond to specific needs of the organizational environment. Thus, many systems are abandoned or fall into disuse because of inadequate understanding of the organizational context. This motivates current research, which tends to propose agent organizations as a useful paradigm for KM systems engineering. Following these approaches, organizations are analyzed as collective systems, composed of several agents, each of them autonomously producing and managing their own local data according to their own logic, needs, and interpretative schema, i.e. their goals and beliefs. These agents interact and coordinate for goal achievement defining a coherent local knowledge system. This paper presents a novel methodology for analyzing the requirements of a KM system based on an iterative workflow where a pivotal role is played by agent-oriented modeling. Within this approach, the needs for KM systems are traced back to the organization stakeholders’ goals. A case study is used to illustrate the methodology. The relationship of this work with current studies in agent organizations and organizational knowledge management is also discussed. Differently from other works, this methodology aims at offering a practical guideline to the analyst, pointing out the appropriate abstractions to be used in the different phases of the analysis